Chiropractic Care near Ridgeville, SC

More details were revealed Wednesday about Volvo’s fully electric SUV that will be built in Ridgeville – and the massive effort it will take to roll them off the assembly line.

The Volvo EX90 made its debut in November as the Swedish car company’s new fully electric vehicle.

David Stenström, Volvo Cars USA VP manufacturing Americas, said at the 12^th annual South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance Automotive Summit on Wednesday that it will feature recycled plastics for the interior, which will be all animal/leather-free, among many other top-of-the-line and sustainable features.

He said it’s been a big challenge, but they are confident in overcoming those challenges.

The biggest of those challenges being:

Fifty percent more machines will need to be installed ahead of building the EX90s at Volvo’s Ridgeville plant — in addition to 1,300 new team members to be hired for its launch. The new employees will need to undergo eight weeks of training.

It takes seven years to design, build and then launch a new vehicle, said Stenström.

“The competition will be brutal for Volvo,” said Stenström. “If you’re not out there being the first, you probably will not survive (in this industry). But there is nothing hindering us from expanding what we have today and with the right people there is nothing we can’t do.”

Volvo CEO Jim Rowan said the EX90 ushers in a new era for safety for Volvo drivers and passengers.

“Born electric, born with lidar. The start of a new era of electrification, technology and safety,” Rowan said in a video presentation at the end of September. All Volvo EX90s will come with a combination of the latest technology powered by an understanding of the car’s outside environment and the person driving the vehicle, the company said.

Greenville and Spartanburg County Councils approved Volvo Cars USA’s fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreements in October. The FILOT applies to specific sites occupied by parts makers in the Upstate to prepare the company’s Ridgeville plant for building the electric SUVs.

Stenström said by 2025, they plan for a zero-carbon neutral site, in addition to these other mid-decade business ambitions:

Long-term Volvo ambitions include climate neutral company by 2040, pure electric car company by 2030, circular business by 2040, and recognized leader in responsible business. Currently, 90% of the EX90’s build is localized.

“South Carolina is blessed to have Volvo Cars here, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds as Volvo continues to innovate and grow here,” said Sara Hazzard, president and CEO of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance.

This year, the theme at Clay Hill Elementary in Dorchester District Four is “Home of the Extraordinary,” and by talking to students you know immediately they feel that way, cared for, and extraordinary. We’re in Ridgeville for our Cool School of the week.

They call it a hidden gem in Ridgeville. Clay Hill Elementary in DD4 has 165 students in Head Start through fifth grade.

Dr. April Sanders has served as principal at Clay Hill for three years. She says, “It is truly a hidden gem, and we are so small, but we have so much love to give every day to every student. The best. The absolute best. Just walking through the doors, you will feel what we feel every day. You feel the love, community, and the compassion.”

Sanders says the community school offers small class sizes and extracurricular activities.

“We make sure we provide interventions for our students for academics, but we also make sure we provide them with experiences. Some of those experiences include Hero Day, wellness walks, and different things to ensure they are being exposed to as much as they can. We have the Secret Society of Readers. It’s a secret book club. We have the Safety Patrol team,” Sanders said.

Safety Patrol allows students to help others and promotes responsibility. She says, “Students were selected based on an application process. They actually had to fill out an application. We selected the most unique candidates. They come out every morning. They open the car doors.. and help our SROs do different things.” Fifth-grade student Tristan Judson says, “It’s really fun! You get to open people’s car and put up the flag.”

Fourth-grade student Lauralynn Green says, “I just make sure people are safe.”

Principal Sanders says Clay Hill strives to nurture an inclusive environment by celebrating different cultures.

“This year, we actually took National Hispanic Month and we celebrated that. We had dancers come in, and we did the same for National Native American Month. We had dancers, and we did activities all throughout the week to celebrate those cultures.”

Third-grade student Madelynn Davis says, “It’s a really good school because everybody has a lot of fun here.”

“It’s really interactive,” said Tristan. “Our teachers really help us do our work, and they really push us to our limits so they can help us excel in the future.”

The school also has monthly Win celebrations to mark students’ accomplishments. Fifth grader Tristan Judson said that while leaving Clay Hill will be sad, he’s confident the school has prepared him for the next step.

“Most of my childhood has been here so it will be very sad to leave here. If you come here, you will leave very smart, very driven, very persistent, and you will have a lot of fun here.”

Teacher Kecia Simmons says to hear students talk about their school with pride is an incredible feeling. “It makes me feel good,” she said. “That’s my greatest success as a teacher. Each and every day you celebrate big and small accomplishments. You get to watch students grow, and at the end of the day, you feel good and proud knowing you are a part of that process. The love that we have at this school for our students, how passionate we are about their learning.”

Principal Sanders says the school strives to nurture the whole child by uplifting and empowering students to be innovative, inquisitive, and enthusiastic life-long learners.

“We’re Cool for so many reasons. It’s a great place to be. Our theme this year is home of the extraordinary. I believe we have extraordinary instruction, extraordinary teachers and students, and extraordinary community. My hope for students is one, they have received the academics they needed; two, they feel engaged included and involved; and third, they know they’re loved every single day.”

If you would like to nominate a Cool School or educator, send an email to Octavia Mitchell at omitchell@wcbd.com.

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For more information call Rebecca Lee-Grigg 843-599-8481

Walterboro, S.C.- Edisto, Ashepoo, Combahee- Native American influence is preserved all over the Low Country in names of rivers and communities familiar to everyone, according to Dana Muckelvaney, council woman for the local native tribe, Edisto Natchez-Kusso of South Carolina. Boy Scout Troop 646, working on merit badges for Indian Lore, learned about local history and culture of Native Americans, at their Monday night meeting held at The American Legion Headquarters.

The local tribe straddles Colleton and Dorchester Counties along the Edisto River in communities known as Creeltown and Four Holes Swamp, Muckelvaney explained. Documentation of the Natchez-Kusso’s in this area predate colonial European settlement in South Carolina. Land ownership indicated the Natchez -Kusso’s had large tracts between the head waters of the Ashley River in-land toward the area now known as Creeltown and Four Holes Swamp, Muckelvaney said. Spoons Plantation, commonly known as Pon-Pon near the Edisto River was land granted to the Kussoses around 1700.

“ Land was sold for traded commodities such as deer hides,” Muckelvaney said. “Also important records and documentation was lost when the Colleton Courthouse was burned.”

Today native individuals can be “card carrying” tribal members by documenting their family lineage to surnames. This is done through birth,and death certificates, and census records, Muckelvaney explained.

The Tribal Council is a governing body that meets monthly just like other county and city councils. Our Chief is John Glenn Creel who was elected by tribal members, Muckelvaney said.

A cypress boat paddle was displayed. The tribe also made cypress canoes. Pottery and white oak baskets were handmade by tribal members. “Unfortunately, the last of our local craftsmen have passed away.”

“Natural resources were valued, never wasted,” Muckelvaney explained. “Our language has also been replaced by English. Our former chief, Andy Spell, is the only person left who speaks the language, and he has no one to talk to.”

Another council member, Micheal Muckelvaney, addressed the scouts dressed in his dancing regalia. He also talked about hunting and fishing as an important part of the native culture.

“We used bows and arrows and sometimes blow guns for hunting game. Fish traps were baskets with a funnel inside that caught the fish in such a way they could not escape the trap. Traps are illegal now, but that was our old way of fishing.” he said.

“All parts of the deer were used, the hides for clothing and moccasins. Our drums are made from hides, deer, elk, buffalo. They are sacred instruments that should not be touched without special permission. Women are not allowed to play drums.”

Muckelvaney explained that regalia always has special meaning. He explained his own head dress, made from porcupine needles with a buffalo “tail.” Decorations of regalia are symbolic including favorite colors, depiction of spiritual animals, and can often have extensive beading. Most are hand crafted by the person who plans to wear the regalia.

Micheal Muckelvaney is also a tribal drummer, dancer, and singer. He explained the jingle dance and the grass dance that were both performed, accompanied by drummer, Brian Coleman. The jingle dance is a “healing dance” , performed by Kenley Muckelvaney and Alijah Coleman .

Micheal Muckelvaney and Luke DeBello performed the grass dance, a ceremonial dance for buffalo hunts.

Local sources of information on the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe of South Carolina can be found in displays at The Colleton Museum, The Dorchester Heritage Center at the St. George Courthouse, and by attending the annual pow wow.

“The pow wow is where we celebrate our culture, we honor our veterans. We dance and sing and drum and invite the public to participate with us,” Dana Muckelvaney said.

The 46th Annual Pow Wow will be celebrated on April 21-22 at 984 US 78, Ridgeville, S.C.

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By Christmas, Redwood Materials, a producer and recycler of anode and cathode battery components for electric vehicles, expects to be operating out of its 600-acre site at Camp Hall Commerce Park in Ridgeville.

“We are very much ‘building the plane as we fly it,’ which means building smaller buildings, getting production up and going while we're building other multimillion square foot (sized) facilities so we can scale and grow into those,” said Alexis Georgeson, vice president of communications and government relations for Redwood Materials at a Feb. 15 breakfast hosted by the Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce.

In late 2022, Nevada-based Redwood Materials — founded by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel —announced its $3.5 billion investment to establish operations in Berkeley County, marking the largest economic development announcement in the history of South Carolina. The company expects to create 1,500 new jobs over the next 10 years.

“Research and development a big part of our focus and there will be a lot of that happening at the Berkeley campus. We hope to be working very closely with ReadySC on a lot of worker training,” Georgeson told a packed house at the South Carolina Aeronautical Training Center at Trident Technical College.

Redwood Materials, created in 2017, is the first company in the world that recycles used electric vehicle batteries and other types of batteries to extract crucial components that can then be sent to car manufacturers to be put into new electric vehicle batteries. Currently, those components exclusively come from Asia.

“Our business model is a little bit different than some other battery recyclers (in that) they're not going further downstream and doing the refining. Unless you're going further into the refining process, you're actually having to export the material and relying on another country to refine it for you,” Georgeson said. “We feel the pressure every single day to get up and going as quickly as possible and be able to feed (automakers) these components domestically. They don't have any plans other than to send $150 billion overseas to Asia right now to source these components.”

Redwood Materials works with auto dismantlers to source used and end-of-life electric vehicle batteries, either when a car reaches the end of its life or was crashed and no longer drivable, Georgeson said.

“Until now, (dismantlers) haven't had a downstream plan for these batteries. They've pretty much been just storing them and waiting for someone like Redwood to come along and take these batteries off their hands,” Georgeson said. “We go into the field, we send our own fleet of trucks and collect these thousand-pound batteries safely, package them and transport them.”

One of Redwood Materials’ largest customers is Panasonic, which manufactures Tesla electric vehicles at Tesla’s gigafactory. Panasonic will be sourcing both anode and cathode battery components from Redwood.

“The beauty of these (components) is that they can be infinitely recycled,” Georgeson said. “At a certain point where our population starts (swapping) an internal combustion engine for an electric vehicle — and if you believe that at some point, we will all be driving electric vehicles — we can hit a plateau where we’re recycling one vehicle to create a new vehicle and we’re no longer having to mine these materials (from the Earth). That's really a future that we firmly believe is not too far off.”

Georgeson said Redwood Materials is continuously looking to streamline operations and open up new recycling avenues and opportunities—including a direct consumer recycling program for household electronics.

“We send graphite recovered in our mining process downstream for industrial lubrication. We’ve got gypsum as part of our downstream product and we send that to drywall manufacturers,” Georgeson said. “Everything that's recovered in the process is reused or sent to another partner that needs it in their process. In terms of rail and trucking, we anticipate using rail very heavily on the (Camp Hall) site.”

Since recycling is the hallmark of the company, the Berkeley County facility will use renewable energy to power its operations and water used in its hydro operations will be continuously recycled.

“Our facility in Nevada, as well as the one in Berkeley County, will use one hundred percent renewable energy and have no wastewater,” Georgeson said. “Our Nevada facility took twelve months from breaking ground to products coming out of the facility. We move fast. The ability to get going on the Camp Hall site very quickly was a critical factor for us, as well as being located in a great central downtown where we knew we'd be able to recruit and retain talent.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics, a specialist in modern cold storage solutions, today announced plans to establish operations in Dorchester County. The more than $70 million investment will create 69 new jobs.

Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics is a third-party cold chain services provider that focuses on handling, storage, distribution and value-added services for the food industry. The company works to bridge supply gaps within the cold chain industry through modern cold storage warehouse development and services.

Located at Ridgeville Industrial Campus, Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics’ new operation will support high-volume throughput handling services including a variety of value-added services, full pallet handling, case picking and transportation management. The company will utilize the Port of Charleston to support both import and export trade.

The facility is expected to be operational by early 2024. Individuals interested in joining the Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics team should visit the company’s careers page.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits related to this project. The council also approved a $250,000 Set-Aside grant to assist with the costs of building improvements.

QUOTES

“We are extremely excited about this project and want to express our sincere thanks to the South Carolina Ports Authority, Dorchester County, our Saxum Real Estate partners, the Governor and the Department of Commerce in the great state of South Carolina for their support. We are very bullish on the Charleston market — the advantages of the Port of Charleston as a Southeast gateway out of and into the U.S. — and on our ability to provide the specialized and unique handling and storage services that will be required for retailers, frozen and refrigerated food manufacturers, and fruit and produce importers to grow their market share in the region. Most importantly, we are proud to bring new jobs to Dorchester County and the surrounding communities.”-Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics Chief Executive Officer Chris Hughes

“The demand for efficient food distribution across the United States will only continue to grow, and it’s innovative companies like Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics that are answering the call and addressing supply gaps. We are proud to welcome this company to Dorchester County, and look forward to the positive impact they will make in South Carolina and on the U.S. food supply chain.”-Gov. Henry McMaster

“We are excited to welcome Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics to Dorchester County and celebrate the 69 new jobs that the company will create. South Carolina’s talented workforce, ideal East Coast location and efficient infrastructure network make our state the perfect location for Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics’ new operations.”-Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III

“South Carolina Ports is thrilled to support Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics’ impressive new cold storage facility at SC Ports’ Ridgeville Industrial Campus. Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics’ investment will bring substantial new cold storage capacity to the Charleston market. SC Ports has expanded on-terminal refrigerated cargo capacity and capabilities to efficiently handle fresh, refrigerated and frozen imports and exports. The booming Southeast market and growing population requires more cold storage capacity, and Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics’ new operation will further support retailers’ and grocers’ supply chains.” -SC Ports President and Chief Executive Officer Barbara Melvin

“We welcome Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics to Dorchester County. We are excited to offer advanced world-class port logistics and a healthy business-minded environment to support their growth and ensure that their investment here will be successful.”-Dorchester County Council Chairman Bill Hearn

FIVE FAST FACTS

· Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics is establishing operations in Dorchester County.

· More than $70 million investment will create 69 new jobs.

· Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics is a specialist in modern cold storage solutions.

· Located at Ridgeville Industrial Campus in Ridgeville, S.C.

· Individuals interested in joining the Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics team should visit the company’s careers page.