Columbia area vs Greenville area (Donalds: condo, hotels, maintenance)

[Skyliner]

This may sound crazy to some, but according to a story published in a local periodical a few months ago, Greenville and the Upstate "dominate" the state's banking industry.

Edit: I realize a comment like this will require evidence, so expect more information after I am able to locate the article among the stored past publications.

[waccamatt]

I'm not certain about that because both B of A and Wachovia's state headquarters are in Columbia and First Citizens and SCBT are both based here. We'll have to look up some banking and finance employment figures to know for sure.

[gsupstate]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

Fun4, since you posted in the Columbia forum and asked about Columbia and Greenville, that's what we tried to answer. As far as opportunity, both cities probably offer similar levels of opportunity, but in different areas. Columbia is a college town with 8 colleges and universities and it is the state capital so there are a lot of jobs in education and government. Columbia is also a large insurance hub with 3 large insurance companies based here. Greenville's background is more industrial so you will see more jobs there in industry, including Michelin and BMW. IMO, the most important thing about making a move is the ability to earn a living, unless you are a student or retired, so that is where I would begin my search if I were you.

Fun4me, to clarify some of the notes in the post above.

Yes, Greenville has traditionally been a manufacturing hub. With that said, the above poster calls out Michelin as "industrial". What the above poster fails to note is that Michelin has it's North American Headquarters in Greenville. It is loaded with white collar office jobs (not manufacturing), at the headquarters office campus on Pelham Road. Fun side note, the famous Michelin Travel Guide is published in Greenville.

The other interesting fact about Greenville's industry is the fact that Greenville has the highest per capita investment of European companies / industry in the US. Since most of these companies have their only U.S. in Greenville, along with the manufacturing, most have significant back office / regional office functions that offer thousands of white collar jobs.
An example of this would be the GE campus....a manufacturing facility employing over 3,000 manufacturing water and wind turbines. GE also made this facility it's research center and employs a base of over 500, high six figure income, professional employees.

On banking, Greenville is home to The South Financial Group, the largest banking company in the state. The South Financial Group is also in the top 50 U.S.Banking companies nationwide ranked by assets. The only SC based bank group of substantial size.

In addition, several smaller banks are based in Greenville, as well as regional offices for several larger banks. Greenville County is number one in the state in deposits I believe (someone can please back that up with fact).

Greenville is also an engineering hub, being home to the government and nuclear divisions for Fluor (one of the worlds largest engineering firms). Fluor employs almost 4,000 highly paid, white collar professional in the area. Jacobs, Lockwood Greene and several other engineering firms have large campus settings in the Greenville area.

Hope this helps a bit.

[g-man430]

Is it hot in here or is just me?

[waccamatt]

While South Financial is the largest individual institution in the state, it is only one institution. As far as deposits are concerned, Greenville County has the largest population so it would stand to reason that it would have the most deposits. I am referring to the number of local jobs in the banking/finance profession, which I think would favor the Columbia area. I have worked in banking for over 20 years so I am pretty familiar with the profession.

[Akhenaton06]

Given the current state of the banking industry, and living in the nation's 2nd largest banking center, I'm not sure if the size of the banking industry in one particular place would translate into more available jobs. Since it appears that smaller regional and community-based banks haven't been as negatively affected as the larger banks and are doing relatively well--and plenty of them can be found in both Columbia and Greenville--that particular sector may be where the most plentiful and stable jobs can be found right now.

[g-man430]

Let's just put it like this. Charlotte and Atlanta still whoops both of our butts when it comes to jobs in the banking industry.

[Akhenaton06]

And Charlotte is feeling the pain for having so many of its jobs in the banking sector right now as well. It's a double-edged sword in times like these.

[motonenterprises]

Originally Posted by gsupstate

Fun4me, to clarify some of the notes in the post above.

Yes, Greenville has traditionally been a manufacturing hub. With that said, the above poster calls out Michelin as "industrial". What the above poster fails to note is that Michelin has it's North American Headquarters in Greenville. It is loaded with white collar office jobs (not manufacturing), at the headquarters office campus on Pelham Road. Fun side note, the famous Michelin Travel Guide is published in Greenville.

The other interesting fact about Greenville's industry is the fact that Greenville has the highest per capita investment of European companies / industry in the US. Since most of these companies have their only U.S. in Greenville, along with the manufacturing, most have significant back office / regional office functions that offer thousands of white collar jobs.
An example of this would be the GE campus....a manufacturing facility employing over 3,000 manufacturing water and wind turbines. GE also made this facility it's research center and employs a base of over 500, high six figure income, professional employees.

On banking, Greenville is home to The South Financial Group, the largest banking company in the state. The South Financial Group is also in the top 50 U.S.Banking companies nationwide ranked by assets. The only SC based bank group of substantial size.

In addition, several smaller banks are based in Greenville, as well as regional offices for several larger banks. Greenville County is number one in the state in deposits I believe (someone can please back that up with fact).

Greenville is also an engineering hub, being home to the government and nuclear divisions for Fluor (one of the worlds largest engineering firms). Fluor employs almost 4,000 highly paid, white collar professional in the area. Jacobs, Lockwood Greene and several other engineering firms have large campus settings in the Greenville area.

Hope this helps a bit.

At GE we manufacture gas and wind turbines, not water. We currently employ 3200 associates with several making $100,000 or more and most making towards the same on a hourly wage. I think you meant Lockheed Martin instead of Lockwood Greene. Never heard of it. Just for clarification.

[gsupstate]

Originally Posted by motonenterprises

At GE we manufacture gas and wind turbines, not water. We currently employ 3200 associates with several making $100,000 or more and most making towards the same on a hourly wage. I think you meant Lockheed Martin instead of Lockwood Greene. Never heard of it. Just for clarification.

Thanks for clarification on the gas vs. water

No I meant Lockwood Greene, they are engineering. Lockheed Martin is indeed also here with aircraft maintenance at Donaldson and offices in Brookfield Office Park.