Commercial Roof Repair in Moncks Corner, SC

Treating patients during life altering and life threatening events takes a unique disposition, when optimism is in short supply and the patients keep coming.

May is Trauma Care Awareness Month. But what draws people to trauma care? It may be to experience the highest of health care highs when someone is brought back from near death. But it also comes with the lowest of lows.

Britney Ward of Moncks Corner has worked at Trident Hospital for close to 12 years. As she led the way to the trauma center, her unusually fast walking style offered a hint to her energy and her constant sense of urgency.

“I did ICU for four years and we would get the trauma patients after they stabilized them. I just remember my first trauma patient,” said Ward, an RN at Trident’s Trauma Center. “He was really hurt and very sick and very young. I just remember thinking about what it was like when he first rolled in. I’ve always loved trauma.”

Based on numbers provided by Trident Medical Center in North Charleston, in 2022 the medical center treated 2,127 trauma patients. Since the level II trauma center opened in 2016, there have been 14,000 patients treated.

“We get some bad ones, some very bad car accidents. We see people on their worst days,” said Ward. “Then when we do help them and they do get out of here, it is really nice to see that progress. It doesn’t always happen. But the ones that we do save — it’s very rewarding.”

The trauma center with all its wheeled apparatus, wires and various tones and dings obviously serves those with critical needs. More patients are treated for trauma at Trident Medical Center than any other hospital in the Lowcountry, according to information provided by the center. The three most common causes of trauma treated are related to falls, motor vehicle accidents and gunshot wounds.

“Anything car accidents, gunshots, stabbings. Anything,” she said. “It could be just a bad accident at work where they cut their arm. … Kids mess me up the most.”

And then there’s the crisis COVID put on the profession for years to come.

“I was here in for COVID and it was horrible,” Ward said. “If you want to know how things changed, it was COVID. It just changed nursing all together. I think it messed a lot of people up, nobody knew what was going on. We were just really scared.”

Ward and all the other trauma care providers are obviously very much appreciated by those they treat. They are providers you never think you’ll need — until you do.

Maybe a Trauma Care Awareness Month is needed — dates set aside to remind people about something no one ever wants to ever think about.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - The Berkeley County Family YMCA is closing its doors after nearly 30 years.

The YMCA of Greater Charleston sent a notice out to members on Jan. 30. The email cited the building as being “in need of substantial improvement.” The notice says the YMCA cannot provide that work and the efforts to operate in Berkeley County have “seriously challenged the financial capabilities” of the local YMCA.

Therefore, the YMCA of Greater Charleston Board of Directors and staff management have decided to close and sell the 210 Rembert C. Dennis Blvd. location in Moncks Corner.

President and CEO of the Charleston area operations, Paul Stoney, signed the email notification.

Stoney says the building was costing more than $100,000 a year to keep its doors open and still needed costly repairs, like a potentially $300,000 new roof. When the building is officially sold and closed, members are invited to use the Cane Bay location, and participate in continuing leagues and services.

“Physically, that YMCA does not meet the expectations of a YMCA, it is rapidly deteriorating,” Stoney says.

Stoney says the decision was based on being a good steward of community money, and the facility didn’t make sense anymore. But he says there are future options to collaborate with the help of land donations or developer deals.

“And as it relates to developers, if they’re able to, and it makes good business sense, then we would love to maintain a new presence in that community with a new facility. So that is being taken into consideration,” Stoney said.

The notice says all current members will be grandfathered in to the YMCA facility in Cane Bay, which is about a 20-minute drive across the county. The membership will last one year from the closing date of the Moncks Corner location, which has not been announced.

Kenneth Owens, a member since 1998, says he will miss the location.

“I’m sad it’s closing down because I’ve always enjoyed the people I work out with and the people who run the facility here are very nice people. But going to Cane Bay isn’t really going to be an option for me that’s a little bit further to travel,” Owens says.

The Cane Bay facility opened in April of 2019 and boasts 54,000-square-feet of new construction and assets.

Stoney says in the email that YMCA youth sports, fitness and programming will continue at satellite locations across the county and the non-profit will make every effort for current staff members to continue with the organization.

“Our programs, just like programs that we operate downtown, although we don’t have a physical presence, that is part of our service area. And we still operate programs downtown without having a physical presence. We intend to do the same thing in the Moncks Corner Berkeley County community,” Stoney says.

Stoney says he values the Moncks Corner members and is happy to field any question going forward with the process.

“This is part of a longer vision to continue to deliver a high caliber of programs throughout Charleston and Berkeley counties. And we take that very seriously. We also have to recognize when a facility is not up to our standards, and yes, tough decisions need to be made,” Stoney says.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – (Friday, January 27, 2023) – There will be a community-wide job fair happening Wednesday, February 1 in the Assembly Room of the Berkeley County Administration Building, located at 1003 N. Highway 52 in Moncks Corner.

The event will be open to Berkeley County high school students from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and the general public from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

The event will provide opportunities for Berkeley County industries that are hiring to connect with job-seeking residents and high school seniors. Employment opportunities in healthcare, manufacturing, law enforcement, hospitality, construction, information technology and other career fields will be represented. Berkeley County Government will also be on-hand to discuss its open positions.

Attendees are urged to bring an updated resume and come prepared to interview on the spot, if necessary.

For questions, please contact Berkeley County Human Resources at 843-719-4163.

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-Prepared by the Berkeley County Public Information Office-

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – (Friday, February 3, 2023) – Berkeley County received a ‘Clean Report’ or ‘Unmodified Opinion’ following a 2022 independent audit. The audit was presented to County Council on Monday, January 23, 2023 from the County’s outside auditors, Mauldin & Jenkins. Watch the full County Council meeting HERE.

“I’m pleased to say we do not have any audit findings to report to you on this year, meaning we noted no material weaknesses or sufficient deficiencies in the County’s internal controls in our audit. …Being one of the largest counties in South Carolina, you obviously have a significant amount of financial activity for which you have to account for. In addition, with all the new County standards and changes that are being implemented each year—and really just the complexity of all involved in the financial reporting process—it makes it all that more impressive to be able to present you all an audit with a clean opinion and no audit findings.” – David Irwin, CPA Partner, Mauldin & Jenkins

The report represents the best possible opinion the County can receive. The County has received this opinion several years in a row.

“Government has a fundamental responsibility to be effective stewards of the taxpayer’s money and this audit result reflects just that. A special thanks to my colleagues on County Council for their work throughout the budget process and most importantly to each and every Berkeley County employee for your daily efforts throughout the year. This TEAM effort allows us to continue to offer high level services while keeping our county government taxes the lowest in South Carolina.” -Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb

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-Prepared by the Berkeley County Public Information Office-

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - A metal processing company is planning to relocate from Kentucky to a facility in Moncks Corner, the South Carolina governor’s office says.

ZEB Metals, a newly-established joint venture with Glencore, announced plans to establish its first South Carolina operations.

“ZEB Metals is very excited about relocating our company to the Lowcountry and cannot wait to be a part of the community, company President and CEO Cole Lanham said. “South Carolina brings a unique opportunity in the recycling space with local businesses and government support. We’d like to thank everyone at Berkeley County for all their help in making this project come to life.”

The company plans to add 28 new jobs in Berkeley County. ZEB Metals’ new facility, near Highway 52 in Moncks Corner, will process dross and other types of secondary aluminum scrap that would otherwise be destined for a landfill. This is the first secondary re-melt facility of its kind in the Southeast region of the United States.

“This announcement is further proof that South Carolina has the necessary tools to support recycling companies across the state,” South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey said. “We welcome ZEB Metals and look forward to seeing how their investment in Berkeley County will create opportunities for South Carolinians.”

Founded in 2021, ZEB Metals is a buyer and trader of non-ferrous scrap, as well as a recycler of metals other than iron and steel. The company processes metals through shredding, melting, screening and sorting materials while providing full-service metal recycling including industrial clean-up and off-site demolition.

Glencore, a Swiss-based commodities trader and one of the world’s largest diversified natural resource companies, will partner with ZEB Metals to expand its current aluminum portfolio. The joint venture will allow for the development of a new line of recycled products to support the companies’ regional customer base.

Operations are expected to be online by late 2023. Individuals interested in joining the ZEB Metals team should visit the company’s contact page.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development awarded a $75,000 Set-Aside grant to Berkeley County to assist with site preparation and building construction.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

A chemical firm is shutting down a Moncks Corner plant that makes the raw material for products like water bottles and packaging, leaving 125 workers without a job.

DAK Americas LLC — a subsidiary of Monterrey, Mexico-based Alpek — will permanently close its plant along the Cooper River that producsd PET resin, a type of polyester that’s derived from petroleum.

Layoffs will begin on April 28 and will conclude by the end of the year when the plant shuts down, according to a statement from Ricky Lane, the Charlotte company’s director of public affairs, trade relations and corporate communications.

DAK Americas said it will be moving production from Bushy Park to another unidentified site. The Berkeley County plant, which was built in the early 1970s, had the capacity to make 170,000 pounds of the resin annually.

“This difficult decision was necessitated as we optimize our assets to remain competitive in the challenging global polyester markets,” Lane said in a letter to the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

That letter stated that DAK Americas “will formally and permanently close production operations on March 1, 2023.”

Lane, in an email to The Post and Courier, said March 1 represents the beginning of the plant’s shutdown and that the process will take at least 60 days to complete.

“It may be helpful to understand that these production operations are not like a light switch and cannot just be turned on and off,” Lane said. “These are highly technical polymer processes that must be stopped in a very systematic manner that takes many days/weeks to accomplish. Only after the 60-day period and once the shutdown process is complete for employees in their area of work will the written notice of individual layoff dates be given.”

The company said the shutdown will save it about $20 million a year.

Parent company Alpek said in a written statement that it is “constantly exploring ways to create value through optimization of its installed capacity and strengthening its cost competitiveness.”

The company said it plans to grow “through more efficient utilization of its assets.”

The closure notice was filed with state officials a day before Jorge Young Cerecedo took over as CEO of Alpek. Cerecedo, who has been with the company for 32 years, also will remain president of Alpek’s polyester division, which accounts for two-thirds of the parent company’s revenues.

Alpek acquired the Moncks Corner plant in a 2001 deal with DuPont, which was exiting the polyester market. Alpek created its DAK Americas subsidiary to operate the South Carolina site and other factories.

The planned plant closure comes less than two years after DAK Americas cut 200 full-time jobs and 40 contract workers at the Cooper River site as it wound down its polyester staple fibers business. The company blamed the decision on a flood of cheap imports.

Alpek, which is publicly traded on the Mexican Stock Exchange, reported revenues of $10.6 billion in 2022 — an 37 percent increase from the previous year — and net income of $789 million. It has more than 7,000 employees at 35 plants in nine countries.

Note: This story was updated March 6 with additional comment from the company.