Ellefson Appointed to South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center Board of Directors

Greenville, S.C. – Anne Ellefson has been appointed to the South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center (SCTAC) Board of Directors. The appointment was made by the Greenville City Council at its April 27 meeting.

Ellefson is the daughter of Phil Southerland, the 2009 Chairman of The Donaldson Development Commission who passed away on Feb. 28 at the age of 81. Southerland was known as “Mr. Donaldson” for his years of service and dedication, serving on the Donaldson Board from 1986-94 and on the Donaldson Development Commission from 2003 until his death.  John D. Hopkins, Jr. took over as chairman following Southerland’s passing.

Ellefson’s role as a board member is to oversee the economic development of SCTAC. Her term is four years. She is a former Chairperson of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

“I have spent many years discussing with my father the progress of Donaldson Industrial Park, and more recently South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center, as it has become increasingly important to economic development in our State,” Ellefson said. “I am truly honored to become a member of the Board at this time and carry on the work that was so important to him.”

The South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center is unique to the state of South Carolina. It is the largest general aviation airport in S.C. with more than 50,000 flights annually and its total economic impact is $222 million, more than all of the general aviation airports in the state combined. No other business facility in the state has a fully-operational general aviation airport, a state-of-the-art control tower, an 8,000 ft. runway capable of handling large aircraft, and a second, 5,500 ft. runway that is already built and can be activated.

SCTAC is a hub for industrial, technological and aviation facilities, and provides direct access to an airport infrastructure that contains an aircraft maintenance and modification center suited for air cargo and aviation-related businesses.

Strategically situated along the I-85 corridor in Upstate South Carolina, two hours south of Charlotte, N.C., two hours north of Atlanta, Ga., and three hours northwest of the historic port city of Charleston, S.C., the South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center is also within 30 minutes of some of the country’s best colleges and universities, including Clemson University, Furman University, Wofford College, and Greenville, Spartanburg and Tri-County Technical Colleges.

The South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center (www.sc-tac.com) opened in 1942 as Greenville Army Air Base. When the Air Force decided to close the base in 1962, the city and county of Greenville purchased the property and named it after Greenville native, Captain John O. Donaldson, a World War I flying ace, and it became known as Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park. It changed its name to the South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center in 2008 and currently employs more than 4,000 people from more than 80 local and international companies and organizations, including Fortune 500 companies 3M, Lockheed-Martin and Michelin. For more information, please visit the center’s website at www.sc-tac.com.