SCC's Spark Center drives business innovation - UPSTATE BUSINESS JOURNAL - Upstate Business Journal

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For startups and businesses looking to expand, reorganize or launch innovative new ventures, Spartanburg Community College’s Spark Center has played a role in the Upstate’s economic development since the center’s inception in 2006.

With more than 400,000 square feet of “flex space” created from a former distribution facility at 1875 E. Main St. in Duncan, the Spark Center offers a variety of customizable spaces and support services for new companies and firms looking to expand.

According to Mike Forrester, SCC’s vice president for economic development, the center has enabled a who’s who of more than 130 local, national and international companies looking to innovate and expand in recent years.

According to the Spark Center’s most recent economic impact study released in June 2021, those companies have generated $35.4 billion in revenue and created nearly 53,000 jobs over the past 14 years.

The center serves four main project types: soft landings, small business incubation, workforce employment services and special projects, says Forrester.

Soft landings serve foreign and domestic companies looking to expand with short-term warehouse or production space. A recent example of this is Epica International, a global leader in mobile imaging technology that moved its headquarters to Spartanburg County in May 2021.

GML Industries LLC, a Florida-based wiring harness manufacturer that is looking to expand its operations, is setting up production space in the Spark Center to allow the company to continue to fill orders while it builds a new facility in Spartanburg County, says Kenny Frey, the company’s vice president of operations.

“It certainly gave us a great foothold,” Frey said. “This has saved us a tremendous amount of time and money.”

John Bruens, founder and president of Global Transplant Solutions, said his company wouldn’t exist, much less be experiencing a 600% annual growth rate in orders without the Spark Center.

“That place gave us the flexibility and gave us the security to take time to develop,” Bruens said.

Forrester says in addition to useful space, the center offers a variety of support services through partnerships with organizations like SCWorks Upstate, readySC, Upstate SC Alliance, SCORE and the Small Business Development Center.

Spark Center also offers fully furnished office space, training rooms and facilities, and conference rooms.

For more information, visit sccsc.edu/spark-sc.

Spark Center company graduates: