In May 1999, Porter, White & Company was engaged by American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPCO) to assist in the site search and location of a new large-diameter spiral weld steel pipe plant. Porter, White & Company worked closely with ACIPCO's in-house project team, its outside engineering and design contractor, Brasfield & Gorrie, and the law firms of Burr & Forman; Gordon, Silberman, Wiggins & Childs; and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.
Responding to a set of location criteria identified by ACIPCO which included required acreage, utility requirements, proximity to transportation, labor force characteristics, proximity to raw materials supply and proximity to finished product markets, we identified over 100 sites in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. In less than one month we developed a short list of three sites in three states, and one and one-half months later we completed negotiation of a package of economic development incentives that included a training program, infrastructure improvements and favorable tax treatment at the state and local levels. On July 19, 1999, ACIPCO formally announced that it will build its new plant in Richland County, near Columbia, South Carolina. The plant will employ approximately 50 people once it has reached full production.
