aeSolutions expanding operations with new Greenville County headquarters
April 26, 2012
Growth brings new jobs, investment, opportunity to Upstate
GREENVILLE, SC – April 26, 2012 – aeSolutions, a supplier of performance-based process safety engineering and automation solutions for the petroleum, chemical and process manufacturing industries, announced the consolidation of multiple Upstate facilities in a single corporate headquarters location in Greenville, S.C., investing upwards of $2 million and adding in excess of 40 new jobs in the process.
aeSolutions was founded in Greenville in 1998 by CEO Brian Merriman, Vice President of Engineering Ken O’Malley, and Vice President of Process Safety Mike Scott. The company has added service and delivery offices in Anchorage, Alaska; Baton Rouge, La.; Johnson City, Tenn.; and Houston, and currently boasts a skilled workforce of nearly 140 associates.
“Our mission is to continuously improve the safety performance of the process industry, and our vision is to be recognized and preferred by industry for our sustainable process safety lifecycle solutions,” said Merriman. “We are pleased to expand our corporate headquarters, engineering, and research and development operations here in Greenville County, and appreciate the support and leadership of the Greenville Area Development Corporation, the South Carolina Department of Commerce and all who assisted in making this advancement a reality.”
aeSolutions has experienced 100 percent growth over the last 18 months. The company will consolidate multiple Upstate facilities into 24,000 square feet of office space at 250 Commonwealth Drive in Greenville, updating and upfitting the space to accommodate its corporate headquarters, engineering and research and development teams in a single, state-of-the-art facility. The expanded operations will also provide for increased sales, marketing and administrative operations. Local automation manufacturing will remain at its current location in the Merovan complex on Woodruff Road.
“aeSolutions is an excellent example of a local, startup business that continues to prosper and grow in South Carolina. It’s always exciting to see one of our existing businesses expand right here. We celebrate aeSolutions’ decision to invest and create new jobs in Greenville,” said Gov. Nikki Haley.
Since its inception, the aeSolutions’ engineering and automation business has provided process control systems, safety instrumented systems, combustion and burner management systems and fire and gas systems to the process industry. In recent years, the company’s service offering has expanded to include process safety and operations and maintenance consulting services. The new Process Safety Division enhances the services aeSolutions provides to the chemical, petrochemical and oil and gas industries.
Additionally, aeSolutions has created a Software Products Group, chartered to develop world-class internet-based applications, to leverage its full range of engineering knowledge. The first new software product, called aeShield, automates the process industry-standard safety lifecycle and has recently been released to industry and is growing in popularity.
“South Carolina continues to see its manufacturing sector grow, and we appreciate aeSolutions’ decision to continue doing business in the Palmetto State. Our state also boasts a large proportion of engineers in its workforce, and this announcement helps bolster that reputation,” said Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt.
“aeSolutions is a wonderful example of a company that is using world-class technology, performance-based processes and locally developed talent to grow and succeed here in the Upstate,” said Chris Riley, chairman of the Greenville Area Development Corporation. “The company is an entrepreneurial business with innovative processes that is experiencing rapid growth, and is a great example of the opportunity to be found here in Greenville County.”
The jobs being added include process safety engineers, controls engineers, instrument and electrical engineers, application developers, and quality support positions, along with sales, marketing and administrative positions to support the organization’s rapid growth, noted Ken O’Malley, vice president of Engineering. To fill the remaining positions, aeSolutions is recruiting both locally and nationally; the new positions will pay “competitive-market wages with full benefits based on experience,” he added. Anyone interested in being considered for positions should submit resumes via the company’s career openings page at www.aesolns.com/careers.
For more information on aeSolutions, visit them at www.aesolns.com.
About S.C. Department of Commerce
As South Carolina’s leading economic development agency, the Department of Commerce works to recruit new businesses and help existing businesses grow. Commerce received the Silver Award from Business Facilities magazine, placing second in the 2011 Economic Development Deal of the Year competition. Commerce has been part of recruiting world-class companies to South Carolina such as Boeing, Bridgestone, Continental, Monster.com, Heinz, ZF Group, BMW and Google Inc. Commerce also supports small and existing business, rural development initiatives and offers grants for community development. For more information, visit www.SCcommerce.com.
