UPSTATE FACILITY LOSES JOBS TO GEORGIA, TEXAS …
Nearly 400 full-time jobs and 130 temporary positions will vanish from the South Carolina Upstate within months as Caterpillar is shutting down its facility in Fountain Inn, S.C.
“It’s a great day in South Carolina,” people.
Caterpillar made the announcement this week – citing production issues as its reason for shifting a marine engine assembly line to Georgia and another engine assembly line to Texas.
According to reporter Brianna Smith of WSPA TV 7 (CBS – Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.), the company “will ramp down production beginning in the second quarter of 2014.”
The station adds that “employees in Fountain Inn have been sent home Tuesday to be with their families.”
Yikes …
The South Carolina layoffs were announced five days after Caterpillar reported a first-quarter 2014 profit per share of $1.44 – up from $1.31 in the first quarter of 2013. The company also raised its profit outlook for the rest of the year.
“I am pleased with our performance in the first quarter,” company chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman said.
Apparently he was less-than-pleased with the company’s South Carolina operations, though.
This isn’t the first time South Carolina has been jilted by the heavy equipment manufacturer. In 2012, Caterpillar made the decision to locate 1,400 new jobs in Athens, Georgia – dissing the Palmetto State (again). This decision was motivated in part by Georgia’s port system – which was given a major competitive boost by S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley in November 2011 (the infamous “Savannah River Sellout”).
“Caterpillar had looked in North Carolina, South Carolina and other parts of Georgia,” commercial real estate editor Douglas Sams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle observes.
Officials at Gov. Nikki Haley’s Department of Commerce (SCDOC) were not immediately available to comment regarding the layoffs – or about the value of taxpayer-funded incentives received by Caterpillar in connection with its Fountain Inn facility.
Haley has aggressively touted her “economic development” successes – even as the Palmetto State’s workforce hovers at an all-time low (five percentage points behind the nation’s abysmally low labor participation rate).
60 comments
But, but, but I thought Haley was the Jobs Governor. Just look at the ad she is running!
Compared to the democrat (Obama) she IS…
Obama is such a Total F*#k up…it does not take much to look good, compared to him. He is a Disaster. And it will be like the Emancipation Proclamation the day he leaves for the Rich Democrat (See Donald Sterling) Lecture – Pay-Off Tour…I know I’ll throw a party…
No, she isn’t. People like Donald Sterling and Cliven Bundy are Gods to you. Shame on you.
IKinda stupid for a democrat to mention Donald Sterling, isn’t, Dumb@$$…
Donald Sterling is a registered republican. Dumbass.
Donald Sterling is a registered republican.
Source?
Dumbass.
No citation needed.
She is the jobs governor. She provides jobs to Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee. Those governor’s love Nikki. Meanwhile, in Barnwell, dogs are starting to fight in the streets for scraps of cat intestines. Up in Florence Chase has layed off everyone from the old Fleet / Wamu operations center, Pedro’s super-center at the state line is looking pretty forlorn, and Grand Tango thinks that it’s all Obama’s fault, because white (or off-white sorta tan) Republicans clearly cannot have any responsibility for their own state or lives. Because funny thing – in a lot of other states life ain’t so bad.
When is ICAR going to produce some car ideas in Greenville? when is the Inland Port going to create big wealth as promised? When are the potholes going to get fixed? when are the schools going to create graduates who will compete with kids from India and China? notice how all your doctors have Asian names? that is no coincidence.
She meant “the blow jobs Governor”.
Just don’t bring in any of those UNION jobs!!! Better to have people starving than to have THOSE type of people working in SC.
You mean like the high unemployment rate, declining salaries, and skyrocketing inflation, under Obama…
Exactly!! Because I surely do miss those low unemployment rates, high salaries, and low inflation that existed before Obama. Ohh, those were the days.
News clip:
President Barack Obama applauded Caterpillar for moving jobs to the U.S. from Japan. Caterpillar announced plans to shift production from Japan to a new plant near Athens, Georgia.
Solyndra, Caterpillar GM Obamacare…get the picture…Hahahahaha…
LMAO: F*#k#d again, FITS…This is ANOTHER failure by your lord-god Obama, screwing the people of SC…
This just helps Haley because she has been FRIENDLY, while you, Obama and the Democrat Party…laugh when our people lose their jobs…And you vilify companies that Obama hates, because they are flourishing here…
You Dumb@$$…She has Kicked your A$$ yet again..and you’re so F*#king Stupid, you publicize it…
Yep, The Governor of Georgia is …opps! Never mind…
Again: This is just another failure associated w/ Obama…Dumb@$$…
Remember when that Dumb@$$ Obama, picked highly favored Ky. to beat a hapless SC basketball team..That stupid Some Beech even screwed that up…He can’t get anything right….
Your an idiot.. Under Obama Cat employs more Americans than ever – pays higher wages than ever. The only story here is they have decided not to employ South Carolinians – and that’s the fault of Haley and other state leaders – all who have an R after their titles – meaning – I assume – RETARD.
Don’t you Dumb@$$#$ always accuse Republicans of picking winners and losers????…But now it’s OK if Obama dumps favor onto Caterpillar, because Obama chooses to punish SC because we’re a political enemy…
This B@$*@rd thinks it’s fine if my children suffer, as long as his @$$-kissers and sycophants eat big, and thrive…What a FILTHY excuse for a president…
A double standard is a sign of simple, unethical and low-character people…So I hope you’re proud of what, and who, you are…I just thank you for showing me…
Again, your are an idiot. Obama hasn’t given anything to Cat. They decided to take a dump on South Carolina all on their own. And the truth is probably most of the employees will relocate to NE Georgia. So it just means 400 families will move to GA – leaving the the poor state of South Carolina behind. No one’s picking winners and losers – South Carolina is losing on its merits.
It’s funny how you are on a South Carolina Website jerking off because an Obama-centric company Took a ‘DUMP’ on South Carolina…
Yet you Obamites NEVER admit you are America-Haters, and you would NEVER admit to being a South Carolina Hater…
But your hatred for decent, working families, who will lose their jobs, is why democrats are so Despised by the best people of South Carolina…
We may disagree over politics, but I pull for ALL South Carolinians and all Americans vs non-American foes…
You are a Disgusting reminder of how hate and leftwing politics are selfish, greedy and non-caring, except for your hideous and racist special interest groups…You are America’s enemy, as much as the Taliban and Al Qaeda you side w/ against us…
I don’t hate anyone. I wish everyone in SC had a good education, access to healthcare and a shot at a good job. But they don’t because they’ve been electing idiotic morons like yourself with the big Retard symbol after their name. I didn’t dump on SC – the SCGOP does an extremely good job of that all by itself. Maybe instead of taking your misplaced anger out on others you should kick your own ass – you vote for them.
Typical liberal. I take your own words and define you for what you are…and you flee from it…
Again: You S#*t all over yourself w/ Glee because Obama is taking jobs from South Carolinians…and all I did was point out what YOU said……and you answer by regurgitating the same old Bull$#!* of indicting South Carolinians…while sucking off your demonic lord-god, Obama…
As for opportunities…the unemployment rate under the Bush Administration was about half what it is now…considering Bush’s numbers were REAL and Full-Time…not fabricated and PT to prop up Obama….
Not to mention my healthcare costs are skyrocketing because of Obamacare, and the employee mandate has yet to kick in..
So you are a F*#king liar if you say you want good things for us…but you support the masters of disaster…either you’re a liar or the Dumbest MotherF*#k#r going….Either way you need to STFU…you’ve done enough damage…
Too bad for you. Maybe you should move to a more liberal state and suck off the success of progressives. Or not.
Are you OK? I seriously don’t get where you’re coming from. Sounds a little demented to me. It’s good that Haley let Caterpillar go to Georgia? It’s good that she’d rather have no jobs than have union jobs in the state? It’s good that this state is one of the biggest welfare states in the union?
Yes, he has also said he is glad his, and our, financial information was stolen as well. He sees it as a positive for the Haley campaign and believes he benefited. Any screw up by a Republican is a good thing to him.
1) If Unions, and Obama use the people who make them profitable as political weapons. We cannot stop that…
2) Haley has done well to help keep or court jobs from: Bridgestone, Boeing, Amazon, Nephron, Continental Tire, Michelin, BMW…etc…
Idiots like you and FITS only recognize companies that play politics w/ peoples’ lives, like Obama likes to do…I say F*#k you, Obama and FITS…
Go live in one of the states that worships Obama and the Unions…and take the democrat-welfare districts in SC that drag us down w/ you…if you insist on remaining in poverty, Ignorant and voting democrat…good riddance…
If it weren’t for the way this state has been run for so long, there wouldn’t be so much poverty here. And what’s more, Republicans plan on keeping it right where it is – in the toilet – one of the worst in the country in education and many other areas. Did you know that SC is #1 in something? Yes, #1 in the number of women killed by men. Why is that? Ignorance! – Ignorance that comes because of the poor education system. You can sit in your little rich corner of the state and rant all you want about the poor, but I don’t see ANYBODY doing anything about it.
Hey! Don’t sell our state short. We’re also number 1 in being the “dirtiest state in America”. Give credit where credit is due!
And didn’t Sparkle City clock in recently as the fourth most miserable city in the US? Ah, yes, here it is:
4. Spartanburg, S.C.
• Well-Being Index score: 62.2
• Percentage of adults who have a college degree: 20.5%
• Percentage of adults who are smokers: 27.5%
• Median household income: $40,879
Spartanburg residents were among the poorest and unhappiest in the nation. Only 45.9% of people surveyed said they were especially happy about their current lives or future prospects, which ranks among the lowest in the nation. Few places had worse scores than Spartanburg for overall emotional health. Area residents were among the most likely Americans to report being depressed or angry. A large proportion of the residents were struggling financially. The median household income was $40,879 in 2012, among the lowest in the country. In many cases, residents did not have enough money for basic needs. Only a little more than 73% of respondents said they had enough money for food at all times in the previous 12 months, and 72.5% said they had enough money for health care and medicine. Both were among the worst figures in the nation.
Spartanburg has been going down hille since the demise of THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND!!!!!!!!!
lol, +1 dude
Can you think of a band that’s had more members?
Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers(who I saw in concert a couple of years back at the state fair) are the only two I can think of that come close.
Swingin” Medallions!
Nice!
Lynrd Skynrd
South Carolina is the poster-child for a welfare state and the ‘reddest’ state in the county. Coincidence? I think not.
‘The state with the lowest return on taxpayer investment is South Carolina. Its citizens pay $1 in taxes per capita for every $7.87 in federal funding received.’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/republican-states-most-dependent-government_n_5035877.html
You want fries with that?
Maybe Boeing R&D will make up for it, although their plan is to save $60,000/yr in salaries and benefits by moving from Everett WA to SC, AL or MO.
Dontcha just love living in a low-wage magnet?
Beats the F*#k out of the Food Stamp-Welfare H#!!, lazy pieces of $#!* like you perpetuate…
Even low skill people need jobs Tom. Don’t be such a hater.
Enjoy flying in a plane designed by such low-skill people, as if the Dreamliner didn’t have enough problems already.
Can’t stop hating can you? No worry Tom, there were people that hated Jap made cars when they first came out too, so dinosaurs like you have precedent.
Somehow the Japs persevered and thrived anyway.
Hey, but look over there, Vincent Sheheen is representing another dirty criminal!
Ah, if only everyone could be a half-witted bookkeeper for their parents “business.”
Around Lexington, for many years, they have said the “business” was not clothing. Wonder what it was?
And I always thought “fleece” was the hair of an animal used in clothing.
Now I realize it is also a verb.
Haley is NOT a jobs supporter. Her SCDEW Director is shutting down most of SC’s rural workforce training offices. Caterpillar couldn’t get trained workers. Georgia supports its WIA system. Haley doesn’t get it, she guts it.
““I am pleased with our performance in the first quarter,” company chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman said.”
You have to understand that Caterpillar’s “success” in the first quarter come solely from accounting shenanigans.
The actual long term outlook for Caterpillar is actually opposite its quarterly earnings report:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-23/why-caterpillar-trading-two-year-highs
So it’s not surprising Caterpillar is looking to consolidate and reduce overhead in that context.
The move was not due to poor performance in SC. We know the gen. mgr. who said the Freenville Cty operation has the highest productivity of any Cat facility in the US bar none. Rather, it’s because their preferential tax deal w/ the state of SC wxpired and GA offered them a nice juicey one… which is the problem when a state bribes off a company to open a plant. It expects to be subsidized forever more.
FITS – i first mentioned this in your comment section several months ago. Seems like you may need an upstate contributor. Now get to work on the law enforcement / SLED investigations on the Simpsonville City Council and police chief. Or should we just wait for a link to the local news when they lob up a half-baked story. You are missing your chance to break news.
Seems that Dawgs is better to employ than Tigers. UGA over Clemson on this one. Why are so many companies leaving SC? Why are so many SC employees being laid off? How will such a poor state pay for all these unemployment benefits. I wonder which pays better, the Cat heavy manufacturing job, or the box filler at Amazon? Why did Chase pull all their jobs out of Florence and move them to Florida, Texas and Ohio? Seems like those Republican male governors are just picking Nikki’s state naked.
Republicans feast upon the ignorance of the South.
Feast is too mild a phrase.
Republicans gorge themselves to excess and then regurgitate it in the ancient Roman vomitorium style. Then recover and fete themselves further until all the grain and wine are consumed…until the next election cycle.
“Look mom! I can gouge out my own eyes and the liberals are powerless to stop me!!!”
A vomitorium was an entrance-exit-way for a theater. Not what you imply.
I’m still surprised that in all the original outrage and the lingering displeasure over the Savannah River Sellout no one has looked into who at DHEC greased the wheels for the change in decision and instant approval of Georgia’s scheme. It wasn’t the new director as she hadn’t arrived yet. Who among the decision makers decided to change the decision and instead accept the concocted Georgia scheme? Who was it? Is that person still there or gone?
Is that engine really an inline 7-cylinder? Who would have thunk it?
If you are right, that’s awfully strange. You’d have thought the natural balance of an inline 6 would have been more appealing…I can’t tell if that’s the intake manifold above the head but it does look like it’s long enough for two more cylinders, obstructed by the control panel.
I don’t know much about Cat diesels sad to say, so I don’t know if there’s a inline 7 in their line up- a quick google yields nothing but inline 6’s.
I thought that thing on top was a rocker-arm cover, but maybe not. As I look at other photos of similar Cat marine diesels I think this is an inline 8 after all.
Oddly, I also see that Cat does apparently make some BIG 7 and 9 cylinder marine diesels (so big that max. rpm <600).
Not sure entirely what’s happened here as we don’t have all the facts. Especially from this website. However, the way these things tend to go in the South is that Georgia and Texas probably raced a bit quicker to the bottom than S.C. in terms of sweetheart tax deals and behind closed doors incentives.
Not to mention that S.C. pols are absolutely committed to destroying any sort of collective bargaining or union activity which might raise the standards of employment a teeny weeny iota back in favor of the workers a la Koch brothers style. So Georgia and Texas must be charging workers for the right to work at the plant while whipping their backs over a 20 hr work day.
One thing we do know is that Caterpillar is an evil corporate “citizen” in terms of their tax obligations that they’ve dutifully avoided lo these many years. In fact, they are currently being investigated by the US Senate along with other high profile US based corporates for tax evasion and fraud to the tune of over 4 billion dollars. Here’s the story:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/31/caterpillar-avoid-4billion-us-taxes-senate-report
And DAMN, NIMRATA can’t blame the UNION for these jobs leaving!
LIVE BETTER!
WORK UNION!
I DID!
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS!
YOU BETCHA!
Hooray for Nikki!
Winning jobs and then losing jobs is a zero sum game. The real losers are the citizens.