Fuji opens new facility, gives back to community

Company celebrates completion of first major expansion

February 18, 2005

By WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal senior staff writer

Fujifilm marked the completion of a $100 million expansion to its Greenwood facilities Thursday with a gathering of company, community and state leaders.
“Almost 17 years ago, Fujifilm-South Carolina began construction of its very first U.S. manufacturing facility, the Pre-sensitized Plate Factory,” said Nick Sekiguchi, Greenwood Fuji Photo Film Inc. president. “Today, we are opening our very first major expansion to this original factory.”
The expansion adds a manufacturing facility for the production of digital Computer-to-Plate (CTP) pre-sensitized plates for the graphic arts industry.
The creation of the original plant was made with a $65 million investment, Sekiguchi said. The creation in the CTP plant has driven Fuji’s total local investments to more than $1.5 billion.
“This is truly the cornerstone of our growth over the next few years,” said Tim Combs, senior VP of safety and marketing for Fuji Enovation Graphic Systems. “The importance of this plant is critical. About one-third of our sales out of Greenwood will come out of here, and that is a growing one-third – probably approaching one-half of our sales over the next few years.”
“The associates here in Greenwood have more than 15 years of experience in manufacturing the world’s highest quality PS plates, and a strong track record of excellence in customer satisfaction,” said Fuji President and CEO Shigetaka Komori. “Greenwood’s associates have the skills and experience in customer satisfaction to make this new line live up to its full potential.”
While the plant expansion creates no new jobs for the Lakelands, the decision to invest in the Greenwood community is a sign of confidence in the state’s economy, said Tim Dangerfield, chief of staff of the S.C. Department of Commerce.
“Fuji has expanded 16 times since it came to Greenwood, and these are expansions that could have gone to Fuji’s other locations in Japan and Europe,” he said. “So we appreciate the confidence that this company has in South Carolina and our workforce.”
“It is a great day in Greenwood County and South Carolina,” said Greenwood County Council Chairman Robbie Templeton. “The people of this community appreciate the confidence that Fuji has shown in its associates and Greenwood County by continuing to make capital investments in Greenwood.”

Fuji donates $300,000 to 2 local institutions

February 18, 2005

By WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal staff writer

Fuji President Nick Sekiguchi saved a pair of valuable surprises for the end of his speech.
While outlining the creation and goals of newly created facilities at the Greenwood plant, he announced that the company is also donating $300,000 to a pair of community efforts.
Fuji presented the first installment Thursday of a $100,000 donation toward the creation a new library for Greenwood County. The company is investing another $200,000 in the Lander Comprehensive Capital Campaign.
“We believe that it is critical for more young people in our state and community to choose engineering, math and science as career paths,” Sekiguchi said. “Today, we are announcing an initiative in partnership with Lander University to develop a multi-disciplinary science and math summer program for top high school students in Greenwood County to encourage them to develop interest in these fields.”
The project will allow students hands-on learning experiences at Lander, the Drummond Center for Environmental Education and Fujifilm’s local research laboratories.
“Many of the students who have graduated from Lander have come to work for Fuji and other corporations as a result of the generosity of Fujifilm,” said Greenwood President Dan Ball. “This donation further represents the partnership and corporate citizenship that Fuji has brought to this community.”
“Building a new library will be yet another public- and private-sector venture that will help Greenwood grow. A new library speaks to our commitment to education and in building a knowledge-based community,” said Thornwell Dunlap, Greenwood County Library campaign chairman.
“It’s gifts such as these that will insure that those who live here will have a library that meets our needs now and well into the future,” he said.
The new library is expected to be built on the site of a former Winn-Dixie grocery store on Main Street, though land transfers are still pending.
“I’ve been coming out here ever since I was a kid in my 60s,” state S.C. Sen. John Drummond, 85, told the gathering. “This makes 16 major Fuji announcements since you came to South Carolina in 1988, and all of them have been a great success. Fuji has always been generous to the people of Greenwood County. Not only a good corporate citizen but a great partner.”

Setting things straight

February 18, 2005

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports writer

NINETY SIX — Wesley Patterson and Andy Schuster were not pleased with their performance at last year’s Class AA/A state individual championship.
Now, the Ninety Six High School wrestling duo wants to set things straight starting tonight when they enter the first day of action in the Class AA/A Upper State individual tournament, which starts at 5:30 p.m. at Broome High School in Spartanburg.
Both Patterson and Schuster come in as No. 1 seeds, at the 119- and 135-pound weightclasses, respectively.
The top four finishers from each weightclass advance to the state finals Feb. 25-26 at the University of South Carolina Coliseum.
“Me and Andy went to state last year and our minds weren’t really set,” said Patterson, who was honored as the boy’s Heisman winner for South Carolina.
“We didn’t really wrestle worth anything. So, this year, we’re trying to prove a point, because it’s our last year and we didn’t do what we should have last year.
“I’m glad our off year wasn’t our senior year, because a lot of people have that off year in their senior year. And there’s no going back from that. We have a chance to make up for it.”
Schuster also understands the enormity of what these next two weeks mean for him.
“If anything, this is everything I’ve worked for all through high school,” the senior said. “This year is everything.
“Last year, I treated it like it would be cool to win, but if I didn’t I still had one more year. But I can’t say that any more. After this I might not be wrestling anymore. And I love wrestling. I love practice. I love matches. I love everything about it.”
Patterson and Schuster will be accompanied by 11 teammates in the Upper State meet. The Lakelands area will have 18 more wrestlers competing for a shot at next week’s state championship meet.
Corbett Miller leads a group of three Greenwood wrestlers that qualified for the AAAA Upper State meet, which opens at 5:30 tonight at White Knoll. Miller earned a No. 2 seed in the 160-pound weight class after his performance at the Region I-AAAA meet Feb. 5.
Joining the Ninety Six 13, which include Will McClam (No. 4 seed at 112), David Womack (No. 4 seed at 125), Matthew Kidd (130), Daniel Ricketts (140), Donavan Moss (145), Cory Griffin (152), Jamie Johnson (160), Christopher White (171), Eric Abney (189), Michael Moore (No. 2 seed at 215) and Brent Werts (Hwt.), at Broome for the AA/A meet will be six from Emerald.
The Vikings are led by No. 4 seed at heavyweight Vicenti Wright. Joining Wright are Louis Jackson (215), Adam Newton (189), Kyle Logue (150), Dusty Boggs (140) and Justin Williams (135) will hit the mat tonight.
Joining the 13 from Ninety Six and six from Emerald is nine from Abbeville.
The Panthers are led by Daniel Roberts at 189. Abbeville’s Strom Scoggs (103), Evan Carroll (112), Tatum West (125), Jacobs Coursey (130), Bill Glace (140), Chris West (160), Jeremy Baughman (215) and A.J. Simpson (275) join Roberts.
Three wrestlers from Greenwood head to White Knoll for the AAAA Upper State meet.
Even though Patterson and Schuster were the only wrestlers from the Lakelands to qualify for the state individual finals last season, their finish was sub-par compared to their expectations.
Not only did the two Wildcats fail to achieve a top four finish in 2004 state meet, but Patterson, who entered the 2004 state meet as a No. 2 seed at 112-pound weight class, and Schuster, the No. 1 seed at 130, also failed to win a single match between them.
But the pair of Wildcats have put last season behind them, and have dominated on the mat in this, their senior year, and the two have done so despite a move up in a weight class.
Patterson had it in his mind to move from 112 to 119 as early as April of last year, after the tragic death of friend and teammate Jordan Galphin, who wrestled at 119 for the Wildcats.
Patterson finished the regular season with a 31-1 record, suffering only one loss to Crescent’s David Wellwood, who earned the No. 2 seed in Upper State tournament.
“In 119, everyone was stronger than what I was used to,” Patterson said. “I’m going out there knowing I’m not the strongest person, but I try to stay away from them muscling me and try to use my techniques and my speed.
“I’ve had to be way more aggressive this year.”
Like Patterson, Schuster has had plenty of success in his move up to 135. He was a perfect 32-0 in the regular season and has spent most of the year ranked No. 1 in the state, according to the scmat.com Class AA/A poll.
Schuster’s success has left many to think of a state championship for the senior, but Schuster remains grounded in the face of all of the hoopla.
“Nobody has won state (in wrestling) from Ninety Six, and people tell me all the time that I can do it, and I really want to,” Schuster said.
“It’s been a goal of mine since eighth grade when I first started wrestling. I want to win state, and the fact that nobody from here has ever done it makes it a bigger accomplishment.
“I wrestle every match, especially now that we’re in Upper State, like it’s my last.”

Opinion

Controversy over schools may have hidden benefits

February 18, 2005

If winter comes, spring, summer and fall are sure to follow. Likewise, anytime an issue of public interest comes up, some kind of rally more than likely won’t be far behind. Very often it’s two rallies, one supporting each side. Sometimes, of course, there are three if there happens to be a middle ground.
Two opposing sides did rally at the Statehouse in Columbia this week in an effort to make sure lawmakers are aware of what’s at stake in a dispute over education.
Those pro and con rallies were not surprising, of course. The “Put Parents in Charge” education initiative by Gov. Mark Sanford has, right from the beginning, attracted its share of praise and criticism. So what else is new?
They say politics makes strange bedfellows. It’s certainly true in this case.

THOSE LINED UP AGAINST “Put Parents in Charge” include the South Carolina Education Association (the teachers’ union), the School Board Association, the Association of School Administrators, and the state Superintendent of Education. What makes this strange? These groups don’t always see eye-to-eye. There are other parties, to be sure, but these are enough to indicate diversity.
Information designed to influence public opinion is flooding the state from both sides. A good bit of material opposing the proposal has come from school districts, too, and has involved some superintendents and other personnel.
The public might reasonably and legitimately wonder if this is a practice commensurate with what school districts should be doing. Should they be involved in partisan politics? After all, taxpayers on both sides of the issue contribute heavily to school district budgets.

BE THAT AS IT MAY, THIS is a subject that has shown how South Carolinians feel about their children and their schools, and that’s not bad. Pro or con, if the concern is about children, good. If about something else, such as turf protection, then it should be closely scrutinized by taxpayers.
One of the primary benefits of both Columbia rallies should be obvious to everyone. It means that people are taking more interest and getting more involved in the education of their children. That involvement, or lack of it, has been a source of concern for some time.
It’s a shame that it has to be wrapped in controversy. Still, it has more people than ever analyzing their schools. In a state where apathy is a constant reality, this controversy may be beneficial in ways unexpected.

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.

Obituaries

Luther Rodgers Collins

Luther Rodgers Collins, 76, of 611 Phoenix Road, husband of Delores Kirkland Collins, died Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005, at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Ninety Six, he was a son of the late Burell and Jessie Amanda Vaughn Collins. He was a graduate of Ninety Six High School, a World War II Navy veteran and a member of Masonic Lodge No. 25, where he served as Junior Warden, and the Hejaz Shrine Temple. He was a retired guard with the U.S. Department of Justice in El Reno, Okla.
Survivors include a daughter, Sandra Kay Cantrell of Fort Worth, Texas; two stepsons, William Moore of Mustang, Okla. and Cleighton Moore of Neptune, N.J.; a stepdaughter, Linda Thompson of Choctow, Okla.; three sisters, Faye Turner of Ninety Six, Lilly Knight and June Williamson, both of Charleston; and three grandchildren.
Services with Masonic rites are 4 p.m. Saturday at Harley Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. Kevin Carter. Burial is in Elmwood Cemetery, Ninety Six.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at the funeral home.
The family is at the home.
Harley Funeral Home
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Ray Richardson

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Ray B. Richardson, 65, husband of Fonda Richardson, formerly of Greenwood, S.C., died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005 at Fawcett Memorial Hospital.
Kays-Ponger Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Port Charlotte Chapel, is in charge.