Trane unveils expanded Columbia facility, delivering environmental, workforce and community benefits

Company celebrates investments in its newly-expanded facility with ribbon cutting event, and makes donations to advance technical education for local students

Trane®, a leading global provider of indoor comfort solutions and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, today held a celebration marking significant expansion to its Columbia, South Carolina facility, and ongoing efforts in environmental, social and business sustainability. Governor Henry McMaster, local and statewide public officials, and other esteemed members of the community joined Trane business leaders, employees and customers to:

• Celebrate the more than $100 million expansion of the facility, and the high-performing, energy-efficient HVAC products it manufactures;
• Highlight the facility’s installation of a 1,342 kW solar power system, which reduces over 74,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the system’s 25-year lifespan;
• Present a grant from the company’s charitable foundation to further educate and train the next generation of skilled workers and STEM enthusiasts; and
• Recognize employees for their personal commitment to the plant’s expansion.

Trane unveiled more than 1 million square feet of space for advanced manufacturing equipment, maintaining the innovation and production of heating, cooling and ventilation products for the company’s Commercial HVAC business. The investment applies Trane’s expertise in environmental technology and energy efficiency to reduce energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and waste-to-landfill.

“This is a celebration of our commitment to customers, employees, and our community,” said Donny Simmons, president, Commercial HVAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa. “As a major employer in the area, we know that investments in our people and plant will give back to the Columbia community for years to come. We thank the state of South Carolina, as well as Richland County, for their partnerships.”

“We’re excited but not surprised that Trane chose to expand in Columbia,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “Trane is a world-class organization that needed a world-class workforce and a collaborative business environment, and they found it in South Carolina. We celebrate their expansion and continued success.”

Trane leaders presented a $5,000 grant through the Ingersoll Rand Foundation to EdVenture Children’s Museum in support of early STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education in the area. With this grant, Trane Columbia will sponsor the museum’s summer 2020 Robotics Camp, including financial support for local underprivileged students.

“EdVenture Children’s Museum has worked proudly with Trane and the Ingersoll Rand Foundation since 2015,” said Nikki Hill, executive vice president, EdVenture. “Trane’s ongoing support, including through this latest grant, enables our continued efforts to provide innovative, hands-on learning experiences to local students that inspire a new wave of lifelong learners.”

The Columbia facility expansion, along with workforce initiatives and community donations, are in line with the company’s 2030 Sustainability Commitments, which it announced in May upon accepting the World Environment Center’s 35th Annual Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development. The company designed these commitments to:

• Meet the challenge of climate change including reducing customer carbon footprint from buildings, homes and transportation by one gigaton1 CO2e– equivalent to the annual emissions of Italy, France and the United Kingdom combined.
• Transform its supply chain and operations to have a restorative impact on the environment including achieving carbon neutral operations and giving back more water than we use in water-stressed areas.
• Increase opportunity for all, strengthening economic mobility and bolstering the quality of life of our people including gender parity in leadership roles, a workforce reflective of our community populations, maintaining livable market-competitive wages and broadening community access to cooling comfort, housing and food.

To learn more, visit www.IngersollRand.com/2030.

Richland County Council Releases Statement:

Following is a statement from Richland County Council Chair Paul Livingston in reference to the unveiling of Trane’s new facility in Northeast Richland on Aug. 28. A news release from Trane follows the statement:

On behalf of Richland County Council, I want to congratulate Trane on the opening of its new state-of-the-art facility in the Columbia, S.C., region. Trane’s commitment to Richland County represents one of the largest expansions of manufacturing jobs in our county’s history, and it makes an emphatic statement that Richland County is an excellent place for manufacturers to do business.

Trane’s expansion is a continuation of the tremendous success the county has enjoyed since forming our economic development office in 2012. County Council has seen repeatedly that when we invest in ourselves, great things happen.

I wish to thank my County Council colleagues — in particular Richland County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson, in whose district the Trane facility is located, and County Councilman Chip Jackson, the chair of our economic development committee — for their continued support for creating quality job opportunities for our citizens.

We are working together to build a stronger tax base that supports government services and our top-notch school system. When Trane evaluated our community for this expansion, they saw that from our primary and secondary schools — to Midlands Tech and our higher education system — our community produces an abundance of smart, talented people.

Our community has an eager, qualified workforce and a remarkably high quality of life, and Trane is an excellent employer committed to providing a quality place to work.

 

About Trane

Trane is a brand of Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR), which advances the quality of life by creating comfortable, sustainable and efficient environments. Trane solutions provide comfortable indoor environments through a broad portfolio of reliable, energy efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, parts and supply. For more information, visit www.trane.com.