Wood pallets manufacturer Tree Brand Packaging to invest $1.3 million in its new operations in Orangeburg County

Photo: the Tree Brand Packaging leadership team, left to right: Mike Helms, Vice President; Al Helms, Chairman; and Chris Helms, President

Charlotte-based Tree Brand Packaging, Inc., a manufacturer of wood pallets, skids and specialty crating, is launching its new operations in Orangeburg County. With a capital investment of $1.3 million, the company is projected to create 28 new jobs.

Tree Brand Packaging is a family-owned manufacturer and custom services provider operating in the southeastern U.S. Many of the jobs are expected to be above the county’s average manufacturing wage of $15 an hour. The company is locating on about 12 acres at the intersection of Old State Road and Bunch Ford Road. Operations are expected to begin as soon as possible. The 18,400-square-foot facility once housed utility pole manufacturer Pennington Crossarm Company. Tree Brand acquired the property from Pennington for about $750,000, according to Orangeburg County property records.

“Being closer to our customers in South Carolina is an important part of our strategic growth,” Tree Brand Packaging President Chris Helms said in a press release. “In addition to customers, South Carolina offers a healthy and robust forest sector that is an important part of our growth strategy. We are excited to be manufacturing in South Carolina, a great place to live and work,” he said.

Orangeburg County has provided the company with the multi-county industrial park and fee-in-lieu of taxes incentives. A multi-county industrial park is a mechanism designed to provide an industry with additional incentives. There is no physical park.

“Orangeburg County welcomes Tree Brand Packaging to eastern Orangeburg as another solid employer to our community,” Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright said. “We are grateful of their investment in our growing community and our residents.”

Holly Hill Mayor William Johnson praised the announcement. Johnson is a member of the Orangeburg County Development Commission’s executive committee. “We are strengthened by the capital investment and increase in opportunities for quality new jobs that a project like this brings to the greater Holly Hill area,” Johnson said. “We look forward to working with the company in the years to come.”

“Tree Brand Packaging’s expansion into the Palmetto State reflects its confidence in our state’s healthy, abundant and resilient forest resource,” S.C. State Forester Scott Phillips said. “The company is joining a very strong network of more than 700 secondary forest product manufacturers in South Carolina, each one strengthening the supply chain that supports our state’s $20 billion forest products industry.”

Gov. Henry McMaster said, “South Carolina is full of talented people, and that’s why we know a company like Tree Brand Packaging can succeed here. “This is the beginning of what we know will be a long partnership between our state and this fantastic company.”

“South Carolina continues to see its manufacturing and forestry sectors grow and create jobs,” Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt said. “Tree Brand Packaging’s new investment builds on our state’s success in those sectors and strengthens our global reputation.”

Tree Brand Packaging was founded in the Charlotte area in 1990 by Al Helms, a retired plant manager for a steel company. In March 2003, Tree Brand established a second manufacturing and service location in Chattanooga, Tenn. and has most recently expanded in the Atlanta area.