From Peach Orchard to Battery Plant: The Workman Family Land Behind BMW Woodruff
At the June 2023 groundbreaking, grandchildren of Woodruff peach grower S.J. Workman said selling the 315-acre family farm to BMW was bittersweet, but that their grandfather would be proud.
The Post and Courier's Stephanie Mirah reported on the June 27, 2023 groundbreaking for BMW's Plant Woodruff through the family whose land it sits on.
S.J. and Ruth Workman began farming in the 1940s. At their peak they tended about 25,000 peach trees on hundreds of acres in Woodruff. The farm wound down after S.J. Workman died in the late 1980s. Their four grandchildren, Sondra, Greg, Mark and Oliver Gilliland, sold the 315-acre tract off Highway 101 to BMW and stood under the tent at the groundbreaking. Greg Gilliland called it "bittersweet" and said their grandfather "would be very proud." Sondra Gilliland-Biggerstaff remembered him as a local business leader who helped start a radio station and opened movie theaters. She said he was always "trying to get things developed for the city of Woodruff."
The paper reported that the $700 million plant was part of a $1.7 billion BMW investment announced in 2022. Plans called for more than 1 million square feet, at least 300 jobs and sixth-generation high-voltage batteries for the electric X models built at BMW's Spartanburg plant about 15 miles away. Construction was expected to begin that fall and take about three years. Gov. Henry McMaster, Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey III and Mayor Kenny Gist were among those with golden shovels.
A basket of peaches in an original S.J. Workman box sat on the stage. BMW board member Ilka Horstmeier held up a peach next to a battery model and said, "It fits perfectly together: a battery and a peach." She told the family BMW would keep using the land in the spirit of Workman's goal of strengthening Woodruff.
Read the full story, with photos and video, at the Post and Courier.