With a sharp reduction in U.S. industrial vacancies, real estate experts are predicting steady to slight increases in rents. Finding cost-effective storage space may be easier than you think.

While Clarkson Industrial is known as the specialized equipment mover for the Southeast, the company based in Spartanburg, S.C., has 63,000 square feet of inside temporary or long-term warehousing space. There’s also additional storage space in Clarkson’s four-acre industrial yard.

Clarkson offers a variety of storage options.

“Let’s say you are building something anywhere in the Southeast, but the facility is not 100% ready,” said Ron Kountz, vice president of sales at Clarkson Industrial Inc. “You’ve already cut a PO (purchase order) for some new equipment, but your facility isn’t ready for it. We can store it here.”

Right off of Interstate 85, Clarkson Industrial is about an hour’s drive from Charlotte, N.C., and three hours from Atlanta.

According to CoStar Group, a commercial real estate research firm, market recovery has been led by the office and warehouse sectors. Industrial vacancies fell to 9.4% nationally in the first quarter, and nearly all the top warehouse markets achieved occupancy gains compared to the same period a year ago. For a more comprehensive report, visit MarketWatch.

Clarkson’s warehouse space is in the same building and adjacent to its 30,000-square-foot specialty fabrication shop. From cutting, shearing, forming, rolling, welding or painting, Clarkson can handle all jobs big and small.

“We fabricated, right here, a 45,000-pound box girder that was 33 feet in the air,” Kountz said. “It’s all part of being a turnkey industrial contractor. We can do electrical, mechanical and fabrication.”

Do you have a project?

Clarkson Industrial Contractors provides heavy rigging and millwright, electrical, mechanical, piping, metal fabrication, construction, plant relocation and heavy hauling and shipping services throughout the Southeast and Midwest. Contact us today.

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Across the country Workers Memorial Day will be observed on April 28, a day of remembrance of those who became disabled, injured or lost their lives on the job. For those of us in manufacturing, we understand the magnitude of proper job safety, from company policy to equipment to training.

In 2010, there were 4,574 deaths on the job nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Forty years ago that figure was 14,000 deaths. Manufacturers have made significant progress in reducing job-related injuries and death.

The lessons learned at work, however, can also protect you off-the-job.

We recently stumbled upon this powerful video message from Tony Crow. For more than 20 years Crow followed safety protocol at work. He wore a hard hat, safety glasses and hearing protection at his job at a Texas power plant.

While he wore safety glasses “religiously” at work, he never thought to wear eye protection while hunting. In the blink of an eye, he was blinded in hunting accident.

When the doctor was asked if safety goggles would have made a difference, Crow said, “Without hesitation, he said, it would have.”

Crow is director of INJAM, a nonprofit organization. He gives speeches all across the country on job and gun safety. INJAM stands for, “It’s not just about me.”

“It’s not just about me,” he said about his accident. “It affected my family, my friends, my coworkers – everyone.”

As we head into Workers Memorial Day, let us remember those who were injured and lost on the job, and focus on educating and installing safer practices in the workplace.

At Clarkson Industrial, safety is a big part of our culture. Our Safety Manager Lee Wilson gives seminars and talks on workplace safety and OSHA regulations.

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With more than 192,000 vehicles exported from its South Carolina plant in 2011, BMW Manufacturing Co. is now the leading U.S. automotive exporter in the nation. Toss in Michelin NA and Bridgestone Americas Inc., and the Palmetto State is also the #1 exporter of tires.

We’re just getting started.

BMW announced that the export value of its passenger vehicles through the Port of Charleston in 2011 totaled $7.4 billion. According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, this accomplishment represents a 68% increase over BMW’s 2010 value.

The company currently produces more than 1,000 vehicles each day and is the exclusive exporter of passenger vehicles through the Port of Charleston to more than 130 global markets. In January, the plant announced that its volume would increase to 300,000 for 2012, and they would increase their workforce by 300 new hires.

“With their state-of-the-art facility and their 7,000-plus member team, BMW has established a foundation for success not only in the U.S. but internationally as well,” said Ron Kountz, vice president of sales at Clarkson Industrial Inc.

Located 13 miles from BMW’s plant in Greer, Clarkson has assisted the automaker, and a variety of automotive suppliers in the area, with their millwright, rigging, electrical and mechanical contracting services.

“With $5.2 billion in investment since 1992, we are so proud and thankful for the impact BMW has had on companies like us and the automotive suppliers we serve,” Kountz said.

Meanwhile, South Carolina ranked first among U.S. states in tire exports, holding nearly 30% of the share of U.S. made exported tires.

“South Carolina is poised to become the number one tire producing state in the U.S. and the tires that we make here are exported all over the world,” said Pete Selleck, chairman and president of Michelin NA in Greenville, in a press release.

As Michelin continues to invest in South Carolina, so are Bridgestone and Continental.

Bridgestone Americas, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp., is constructing a new 1.5 million-square-foot off-road radial tire manufacturing facility in Aiken County. The company is also adding a 474,000-square-foot expansion of the existing passenger and light truck plant.

Continental Tire the Americas LLC is building a new tire manufacturing plant in Sumter County. The $500 million investment is expected to generate 1,700 new jobs in South Carolina over the next 10 years.

“These investments are real game-changers,” Kountz said. “Manufacturing is very much alive and well in South Carolina.”

Got a project? When it comes to millwright, rigging, mechanical and electrical work, nobody has more experience than Clarkson. Contact us today.

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