IBHS Multi-Peril Research Lab Land in Chester funded through JEDA
CHESTER, S.C. – Bond financing facilitated by the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority (JEDA) has helped with the construction of a Chester County facility that plans to help home and business owners everywhere weather the storm.
The $9 million in tax-exempt bond funding secured by the Florida-based Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) will be used to help finance a state-of-the-art, multi-peril applied research and training laboratory on a 90-acre site off S.C. 99 near Chester.
The site will be used for full-scale testing of residential, light commercial and agriculture structures against the destructive forces of wind, hail, rain and fire. It will include a laboratory, display hall and outdoor testing areas, all built and operated with extensive use of natural sound barriers and landscaping, renewable energy sources, and reclamation and cleaning of water and air used in testing.
The Tampa-based IBHS (www.disastersafety.org) is a non-profit organization wholly sponsored by major property and casualty insurers from across the country and around the world.
"We chose Chester County because of its ideal location near major markets, transportation and electrical infrastructure needed for us to perform our critical mission. We chose JEDA bond financing because it helped us to fulfill a critical part of our funding requirements," said President/CEO Julie Rochman.
The site is expected to be fully operational by mid-2010 and create ultimately 20 permanent jobs. Its mission is to identify and promote effective methods of property loss prevention and reduction, the Tampa-based organization said, with real-world applications that can lead to improved building materials and methods, more-sustainable communities and enhanced building codes.
"The decision by the IBHS to locate here in South Carolina speaks to our state’s potential as a home for innovative, practical research and development. We also are able to provide flexible, accessible funding mechanisms so essential to allowing this kind of economic growth to happen," said Harry Huntley, Executive Director of JEDA in Columbia.
"This is an exciting project – for Chester County, the state and the national building and insurance industries. We’re very pleased to have been able to play a role in making it happen," said April Lucas, bond counsel with Nexsen Pruet in Columbia.
IBHS Media Contact - Ed Domansky, EDomansky@ibhs.org