Home Care In Richburg, SC

CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Albemarle Corporation announced plans this week to cut jobs and postpone several of projects in an effort to reduce costs.

The billion dollar corporation which works in special chemical manufacturing was working to bring a mega-flex lithium conversion facility to Richburg in Chester County, but now says that $1.3 billion investment is on hold.

Albemarle CEO Kent Masters says these actions will allow the corporation to achieve near-term growth while also preserving future opportunities. Masters says the company is working to bring its expenditures between $1.6 and $1.8 billion, down from the $2.1 billion Albemarle spent in 2023.

Kris Phillips the Assistant Director for Chester County Economic Development, which landed the Conversion Facility investment, says its not worried by the postponement as Albemarle staff are still working closely to ensure the facility gets finalized.

“They’ve assured us that a big priority for Albemarle is still that lithium mine in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and in order to have a place to take that lithium to, they’re going to need this Richburg plant, so as of today everything sounds really positive. They’re still planning on breaking ground on their site at some point this year,” Phillips said.

Economic Development staffed added that Albemarle is still working on site preparation for the conversion facility, and while work may slow, officials have no doubts about the corporation’s investment that is set to bring more than 300 new jobs to Chester County

Update: Albemarle released the following statement to CN2 News.

“When there are shifts in the markets we serve, we adjust accordingly. Looking ahead to 2024, there are certain capital projects that do not need to grow as fast in the short term, including the Richburg ‘mega-flex’ facility. While we re-evaluate timelines associated with the project, Albemarle remains focused on proceeding with permitting.”

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Even though Martin Luther King Jr. Day was earlier this week, Dr. King’s message continues throughout the year.

Winthrop University encouraged students to participate in service opportunities this week.

Thursday students with the NAACP and Student Ambassadors did just that and took time to work with Tender Hearts Ministries in York.

Tender Hearts focuses on providing assistance to those affected by poverty, homelessness, or addiction.

Students are helping Tender Hearts by sorting donated items before they are sent out to the Tender Hearts thrift store locations.

Winthrop says they have observed MLK Day as a day of celebration, remembrance and service with events sponsored by various departments and organizations for more than twenty years.

There are more service activities scheduled for the next couple of days.

There’s a new plan to bring hundreds of homes to Richburg, in Chester County.

Chester County Council approved the first of three votes needed to rezone property for the new subdivision. A public hearing will be needed. The properties combine for more than 170 acres on Gaston Farm Road, just west of I-77.

Plans from the company now known as Gaston Springs may look familiar.

This past spring Chester County saw two large residential projects that, combined, could have added 1,500 new homes. A D.R. Horton proposal for 1,100 homes, on close to 500 acres on Lancaster Highway south of Richburg, was withdrawn.

The other project was a Fielding Homes offering called Richburg Meadows. It would have put 400 homes on about 180 acres on Gaston Farm Road, by 2029. The Fielding Homes plan was withdrawn too. The property owner told county officials a new plan with a new builder would follow.

That new plan appeared when the property owner and partners presented it to the county planning commission in July. Fielding homes was replaced with Dream Finders Homes. The project still is for 400 homes.

There are new right turn lanes into the property from each access point. There are four parking spaces per home, including a garage and driveway. The site will have 40 acres of open space and a pond.

Homes would be in the 2,200- to 2,600-square-foot range, company reps told the planning commission.

Council heard more details last week on the subdivision that would have three main home products with the middle one priced in or around the low $300s, according to the builder. The property owner also said a development agreement would come before the next council meeting and there was an agreement for a $5,000 per home development fee.

Council still had questions on a range of issues from building density to whether homes would have front or side garage access, which would impact how many homes could go on the property. A workshop on zoning and other issues related to the plan is expected prior to a final approval vote.

“We have two more readings on this,” said Chairman Joe Branham. “All this does is just keeps the process moving.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2023, 12:00 AM.

RICHBURG, S.C. — A local Santa Claus whose full-time job is a science teacher asked the school for some time off this Christmas season so he could make some extra cash as St. Nick.

Excavators find burial spot of St. Nicholas, inspiration for Santa Claus, in Turkish church

However, district officials said that could lead to his termination, according to an online petition created by his supporters.

“He looks like Santa Claus,” Barbara Westbrook said of Timothy Davis, who teaches at Lewisville Middle School in Richburg, South Carolina. “You’ll see him as he walks out of the school with his white-bearded hair.”

Westbrook said Davis has taught science to both of her grandkids at Lewisville Middle.

“My granddaughter, Madison, came home from school this past Monday saying, ‘My teacher is being fired,’” Westbrook said. “I thought, ‘Why?’ She said because he wants to take time off to be Santa Claus.”

A local teacher with a Santa Claus side-gig could be out of a job soon. That's according to an online petition with thousands of signatures. The story and response from a local school district at 5pm on @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/3eeQmG2IOg

— Tina Terry (@TinaTerryWSOC9) November 16, 2023

The online petition claims Davis reached out to district leaders in July to tell them about an opportunity to make some more money.

He wants to be Santa from Nov. 27 until Christmas Eve, but he would need time off from teaching.

Davis got a notice from school leaders that he’d be terminated if he took the Santa job, according to the petition.

“I feel like good teachers need to be held onto,” said parent Emily Garcia. “They just had a job fair this past week, because there are teacher shortages.”

A statement from Chester County Schools said, “The district is unable to comment on specific staff-related personnel requests due to privacy laws. However, as it relates to staff leave and absences, the district follows protocols as established by board policy. We can, however, confirm that Mr. Davis is still employed with the district.”

Garcia is one of nearly 3,000 people who have signed the petition.

She wants leaders to show the science Santa some grace this Christmas season.

“My daughter’s third-grade teacher was a waitress and teachers already take their work home,” Garcia said. “I think teachers need more community support.”

Davis declined an interview with Channel 9.

VIDEO: Santa Claus: What you need to know

Kris Phillips helped lead Chester County Economic Development's charge to land a major project from Albemarle Corp.

He hoped to land the $1.3 billion investment to make Chester County a pillar of Albemarle's lithium ecosystem in the Charlotte region. Phillips, assistant director of the economic development group, chased the project under the code name Project Raven for nearly a year.

When asked about the emotional toll of such a pursuit, Phillips admitted the process was exhausting.

He replied: "You got about three hours to go through that?"

In the end, though, it was worth it.

In March, the Charlotte-based company's $1.3 billion lithium hydroxide processing facility in Richburg was formally announced. Construction on the project is expected to begin next year on the roughly 800-acre Richburg Magnolias site. On that timeline, operations would begin in 2026.

Tyler Windsor, Albemarle's operations manager for the Chester County facility, was the keynote speaker at yesterday's S.C. I-77 Alliance annual economic development summit. The infrastructure around the Richburg site was critical to Albemarle choosing to land there. The decision was validation for Phillips and Robert Long, director of the county's economic development team, after they worked to court Albemarle for 11 months.

"We identified the project from the very start as being a really good fit for Chester County because (Albemarle) needed rail and they need a lot of natural gas, which are two things we can provide to projects like that," Phillips said. "From the very beginning, we knew we would be a good fit but we also knew it would be very competitive. At that time, there were at least three or four states in consideration."

Along with the rail access, Windsor said proximity to ports and Interstate 77 was appealing for Albemarle, as was the broader region's workforce.

The Richburg Magnolias site along S.C. Highway 9 has long been touted by local leaders as one with potential. In early 2022, a plan was hatched to develop much of the site as a multi-building industrial park. The first building there was expected to be a speculative project of 105,000 square feet, and a pad was put down on the site as part of that effort.

However, Phillips and his team thought the site was a good fit for a major project from a single user. It was considered as a potential home for another marquee Chester County project — E. & J. Gallo Winery's massive East Coast operations hub. Gallo began operations late last year at its chosen site in Fort Lawn.

While the Richburg Magnolias was not chosen for that project in 2021, the process of getting it ready to pitch was productive. Gallo considering the site laid the groundwork for Albemarle to land there.

"We were able to leverage that project to get a lot of due diligence done," Phillips said of Gallo's interest in the Richburg site. "Having that information already in place was a huge, huge benefit to when we started to get into the weeds with Albemarle."

Albemarle is expected to create over 300 jobs at the Chester County facility, which will be developed in two phases. Those jobs will have average annual wages of $93,000, Windsor said yesterday. He added that the site's size leaves room for potential future expansions after the current project is completed.

Landing Albemarle, alongside other notable projects in the area such as Gallo, was a key victory for Chester County.

"There were times we hit some panic modes, but we stuck with it, found solutions and, 11 months later, we got that announcement on March 22," Phillips said.

Giti Tire USA, manufacturers of Giti- and GT Radial-brand tires, will start manufacturing more sizes of its popular GT Radial replacement tires for the North American market at its Richburg, South Carolina plant. Giti will focus on expanding its offerings in the Maxtour LX and Adventuro HT and ATX lines in the 18-20 in. rim diameter range, the company announced during a tour of its plant and ride-and-drive for dealers and the trade media in late May.

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“We have to continuously realign our products to remain relevant to the market,” said Mr. Wai-Yeen Phang, CEO of Giti Tire USA Manufacturing. “The changes over the last decade have been distinct. If you look at tire sizes and rim sizes, newer vehicles are driving the change in 18-, 19- and 20-in. rim diameters.

David Poling, director of tire development and product marketing, said as a key component of its global manufacturing strategy, Giti is relocating high-volume sizes from Indonesia to its Richburg facility, catering specifically to the North American market. Those sizes include 235/45R18 and its 19- and 20-in. counterparts. In addition, 10 new sizes for the Maxtour LX, focusing on 18- to 20-in rim diameters, will be added to the plant this year.

“We’re creating a strong message from this plant designed in America, made in America,” Poling said, referring to the R&D center attached to the factory.

He said certain sizes of the Adventuro HT and ATX will also be manufactured in Richburg later this year, also focusing on high-rim diameter and high-volume sizes. In all, Giti’s product mix in North America will include domestic production and imports from Indonesia. There, production has been shifted to less popular sizes like 15-in. fitments.

“Being in the market, we need to utilize this facility to develop and manufacture the tire sizes that are needed in this market,” Phang said. “Going forward, we plan to do more of this because we don’t want to encounter supply chain issues in the future.”

After opening its Richburg facility in 2017, Giti has not only added workers but also new tire-building machines to increase capacity and take on new tire types. Phang said despite the pandemic, which temporarily lowered the factory’s capacity, it is looking to enter phase two of the facility’s expansion, as employees at the factory have become experts in the equipment.

“The first phase was to build up a relevant workforce,” Phang said. “That means teaching employees skill sets and equipping them with the knowledge that is needed to support the factory. We call them the pioneer set of operators. These people are now being brought up to the level to become trainers for the future.”

Phang said the plant will be opening on-site training labs for more experienced employees to teach both new employees and their colleagues to get to the next level. Since the factory is an Industry 4.0 plant built with automation and material tracking built into the manufacturing process, training up new employees includes teaching them to understand data produced from the equipment to make production decisions accordingly.

“They are empowered to make decisions based on the data,” Phang said. “This factory isn’t just any factory. This is really the future—the future of made in America.”

With 700 employees and counting, the 1.7 million-square-foot plant operates using a straight-line manufacturing system – raw materials are mixed into the tire’s sub-components on the south end of the plant, and on the north end, the finished product is stored in a 400,000 square-foot warehouse. In addition, the factory uses a mix of automation and craftsmanship to produce around 8,000 tires per day.

During the tour of the plant, Giti and its partners were working to install more tire-building machines and curing presses to increase the plant’s capacity. That new equipment will need to be integrated into the factory’s workflow and linked to other machines before Phase 2 starts.

“Phase two would involve increasing capacity,” Phang said, adding that the Richburg facility is slated to produce 30,000 tires per day when fully equipped.

As it adds capacity, Phang said its workforce will need continuous training as software updates are installed so that they can adapt to the sophistication of the plant’s technology.

“It’s all about making sure that the people with the necessary skill sets are in place,” he added. “We would only do further automation when we have built up more engineering support.”

Phang added that as the factory heads into Phase 2 of development, it will continue to work with its dealer and distributor partners to realign with the needs of the market and evaluate what tire sizes the factory will need to produce.