Before employees stitch the white stars on the American flags turned out by Embroidery Solutions Manufacturing, they need to run the fabric through several pieces of preparation equipment at the Kingstree, South Carolina, plant.
Those crucial steps just got an upgrade, a lengthy process that involves considerable time and expense, said Larry Severini, the plant’s owner and president. But thanks to a $12,500 grant from South Carolina electric cooperatives, the 75-year-old company and employer of about 85 people got a break on some of those costs.
The preparation steps, which involve fabric inspection, sewing and yarn winding, are “vital to embroidery quality,” said Severini. “Modernization and automation in domestic manufacturing is absolutely necessary for any of us in any industry to stay competitive.”
The textile company is one of 11 South Carolina businesses reimbursed by co-ops for costs associated with teaching workers how to operate new or upgraded equipment. The Upskill Incentive is one of several economic development programs offered by the South Carolina Power Team for its 19 co-op members.
Those costs can be burdensome for small companies if they need to divert workers from production to extensive training, said Andrew Folks, South Carolina Power Team’s business retention and business manager.
“Our members are investing in new equipment and machinery all the time because they have to,” he said. “But frequently those investments are not creating new jobs, a major qualifier for many of the larger economic development incentives. There was no incentive offering a reimbursement for training existing employees on new machinery until the Upskill Incentive.”
Businesses can apply for grants of up to $25,000. Last year the Power Team, at the direction of its member co-ops, approved nearly $100,000 in Upskill grants to help businesses offset training costs on things like a laser welder, a twin-screw extruder and an e-commerce automation expansion.
“From our viewpoint, everyone wins,” said James Chavez, the Power Team’s president and CEO. “Workers become more valuable, and the company gets a new piece of equipment that’s made their whole operation even better and stronger.”
About 80% of Severini’s business comes from embroidering star fields on U.S. flags, so it’s important to keep production costs low. And when he learned about the grant opportunity from Folks, he applied immediately.
“These guys really extend themselves,” said Severini, whose power supplier is Santee Electric Cooperative, also in Kingstree. “They let us know that they’re here to help us, and, and they back those words. They do more than stop in once a year…They really back it.”
Honored recently by Site Selection magazine as a top utility in economic development, the Power Team seeks to drive capital investment, job creation and new electric load in co-op service areas by partnering with members on product, community and business development and business retention and expansion.
“Whether you are a new commercial entity on the co-op system, or a manufacturer that’s been powered by a co-op for decades, the co-op standard for member service is the same for all 19: excellence,” said Chavez. “The Power Team works to supplement co-op efforts to care for commercial members by administrating programs like the Upskill Incentive and creating connections that add value other than just selling electric power.”
Victoria A. Rocha is a staff writer for NRECA.