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German Company Bringing New Jobs, $3M Investment

By Jason Evans Staff Reporter jevans@thepccourier.com COUNTY — A new neighbor is moving into the “world-class neighborhood” that is the Pickens County Commerce Park. The company, era-contact GmbH, a world market leader in electrical railway couplings, announced last week that it will be locating its North American manufacturing headquarters in Pickens County. The $3.4 million…

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County Snags One More

PICKENS COUNTY — era-contact, a German based company that produces couplings for electric railways, announced a new facility to be built in Commerce Park off U.S. 123 in Liberty. The space will serve as the company’s North American headquarters, bringing 45 new jobs to the Upstate as well as a $3.6 million investment to the…

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Pickens County Welcomes Newest Industry

By GREG OLIVER THE JOURNAL PICKENS COUNTY – For the second time in a little less than a month, a major economic development announcement took place at the Alliance Pickens headquarters in Liberty as a German based company announced Wednesday that the county would serve as its North American headquarters. The company, called era-contact, is…

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Where Are They Now?

PICKENS COUNTY — The 2015 Alliance Pickens Scholar Technician of the year was Steven Hoke Durham, with Nathan Brown and Sylvia Townsend also placing as finalists. Durham is a graduate of the Machine Tool Technology program at the Pickens County Career and Technology Center who also attended Daniel High School. He is currently approaching his…

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Alliance Pickens’ Workforce Development Program Receives International Acclaim

COUNTY — Alliance Pickens, with input from Pickens County existing industry partners, the Pickens County Career and Technology Center (CTC), and Tri-County Technical College, developed the Scholar Technician initiative in 2012 as a work-force development activity and economic development program. This initiative focuses on the subject areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and…

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German Company Announces Plant, Jobs In Liberty

Project Big Apple came to fruition Wednesday, with the announcement that the world’s leader in high-speed railway couplings is moving its North American manufacturing headquarters to Pickens County. County Council gave final approval to a fee-in-lieu of taxes agreement and other incentives in a special meeting at Alliance Pickens headquarters to make way for the…

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Zero Connect Launching Operations In Pickens County

Zero Connect, an assembler and distributor of fiber optic and copper cables, is establishing operations in Pickens County. The new development will create 72 new jobs and lead to an investment of more than $1.3 million.  Zero Connect is a custom cable assembly manufacturer and supplier of off-the-shelf fiber and copper products for voice, data…

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Cable Assembly Firm To Create 72 Jobs In Easley

An Iowa-based company that assembles and distributes fiber optic and copper cables is opening up operations in Easley and plans to create more than 70 jobs, the company founder said. Zero Connect had decided to locate its new facility in Greenville before meeting Ray Farley, director of Alliance Pickens, and other Pickens County officials, Larry…

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Champion Aerospace Fires Up Aviation From Rural Upstate

When a pilot starts a turbine- or piston-powered aircraft, chances are good the ignition system or its components were made at Champion Aerospace in Liberty. The business, with more than a century of aviation history and a brand well known to automotive parts consumers, has manufacturing operations and research and development labs in a 220,000-square-foot…