Chuck Heath is a man with a global vision born of years of experience in the international market.

When Jafza International's managing director visited Orangeburg on Tuesday, he was here to solidify the Dubai-based firm's commitment to Orangeburg for its first U.S. logistics project -- and to state that Orangeburg is part of a much larger global vision tied to expansion of container shipping.

"We're not new to the business," said Heath, a Delaware native and graduate of the Maine Maritime Academy who has spent a lifetime in international commerce. "We've been competing globally for years."

Heath joined Dubai World-owned Jafza more than two decades ago and has been a key player in projects such as the massive Jebel Ali Zone in Dubai.

Jebel Ali, covering about 35,000 acres, is considered among the fastest-growing free trade zone operations in the world. About 6,500 international companies operate there.

While the logistics center planned for Santee won't be of that scope, Heath makes no secret of its importance to Jafza.

"This is a showcase project," he said. "We'll do a lot of things in this project that we may not do in other facilities."

The idea is to make Santee more than a trucking center, with nearly half of the 1,300 acres owned by Jafza being devoted to open spaces.

Most of the remaining acreage will be warehousing and support businesses from food establishments to repair centers. Land across Interstate 95 may become recreation facilities.

The Santee site will use trees as a sound buffer and use elevated walkways over wetlands. It will be community-friendly, Heath said, while paging through a book complete with samples of what the company expects in Orangeburg.

Heath stressed the plans remain in the concept stage and may be changed several times before being finalized.

That the company plans to invest $600-700 million in the area to build the hub, with employment projections ranging to 10,000, is part of what Heath sees as a smart global strategy.

The international business veteran sees Charleston and Savannah becoming primary gateways into the United States, succeeding the West Coast. Jafza considers Orangeburg ideal for doing business with the ports of Charleston, Savannah and Jacksonville. Those ports are key destinations from other Jafza parks, including giant ones on the board in India.

Heath said about 60 to 65 percent of imports to the Port of Charleston or the Port of Savannah come from India. The Orangeburg County project will tap into that market.

"We will be building parks for those companies and letting them know that we have got another project in Orangeburg County that can serve that market," Heath said. "It is about developing that global network and Orangeburg will be in that global network."

"The more people I have running around the world talking about Orangeburg, the better."

Heath said the United States has been on the company's radar since the Jafza International division was started in 2000.

"Of all the people in our line of business, nobody has taken the concept globally," Heath said. "There are a lot of industrial parks, there are a lot of office parks, but nobody has a global network."

Having a global presence is key, Heath says, in that Jebel Ali has all but maxed out.

"We have approximately two more years and we will have no more land," Heath said, noting Jafza could either increase rents or lower expenses. "We felt it was good governance ... if we could help them (clients) ide.jpgy other global opportunities, partnering with somebody they have been doing business with 10 or 15 years. They know our credibility and they know the quality of the facilities we have put in."

Heath said the network and relationship Jafza has with international companies has sparked success in the Free Trade Zones begun by the company.

He said the company is close to global leaders such as Sony Corp., as well as other leading Japanese and Indian companies.

"Dubai has always been a trading center," he said.

As to what clients may locate in Santee, Heath declined to make projetions. However, an information sheet shows Jafza's client base consisting of DaimlerChrysler, Samsung, Sony, GM, Rolls-Royce, Goodyear and Nestle among 31 national and international companies.

"I would envision that we will most likely have big box operators over the life of the project," he said. "The vast number will be your tier 2 distributors. I don't see a BMW plant setting up on our park, but I see a lot of their suppliers setting up on our park to supply a BMW plant, as an example."

Heath said the company will also invest in some speculative buildings to enable companies to begin operations on a small scale through a lease while other facilities are being built.

The Southeastern ports are in growth mode, but they have no place to expand as container shipping grows. A facility such as Santee will provide a center for moving containers, Heath said.

Yet Heath's vision is not necessarily more and more trucks. As crucial as he terms a cloverleaf interchange at U.S. 301 and Interstate 95, he contends that's important for Santee as much as it is Jafza.

"We don't want those trucks getting off on Highway 6."

Heath is counting more on railroads in the long term. The Santee site has light rail infrastructure at present, but as container shipping grows, so should rail. Moving more and more by rail to and from Santee would be a priority.

"There are far too many trucks on the highways," Heath said. Within 10 to 15 years, more rail capability could reduce the number of trucks, which would be favorable to the environment and a boost to ensuring cargo security.

Heath said currently the company is engaging CSX, which has about a mile of rail line through the property, and Norfolk Southern.

He cites Interstate 26 congestion and the prospects of more trucks within five years, with or without a Jafza. Rail capacity is the key to reducing the load.

"We're going to keep it from getting worse," Heath said. "We believe the project is ideal here."

And so does former S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges.

Also in Orangeburg on Tuesday, Hodges said he first met with Jafza in July or early August.

He said he was contacted by law partners in Charlotte, N.C., working with the real estate portion of the project.

He has served as a strategic business adviser to the company

"I think this is a transformational project for this region," Hodges said. " This has the potential of having the same impact that BMW has had on the Upstate."

But it could be even better, since Hodges noted the state has prided itself on diversity of business and industrial clusters.

"The beauty of this project is that so many different industries are going to be relying upon this park that it creates an opportunity for a little more of a balance," he said.

Heath said with this opportunity the Southeast and Orangeburg County are poised to become the "gateway" into the Southeast and international shipping.

Comment on this and other stories online at www.TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.