NEWS - Lowcountry News

Groundbreaking for the new 31,200 sq. ft. CareCore National, LLC corporate headquarters kicked off Monday morning at Bluffton’s Buckwalter Place near the intersection of Buckwalter Parkway and Bluffton Parkway.

Donald R. Ryan, Chairman and CEO of CareCore National, LLC, presided over at the groundbreaking together with Joe Fraser, Jr., president of Fraser Construction Inc. of Bluffton, Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka, Bluffton State Legislator Bill Herbkersman, and Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton.

CareCore National’s Ryan said, “we are pleased about this groundbreaking because it not only means we are making a capital investment in our community and creating needed knowledge-based jobs, but also because we selected an outstanding local general contractor, Fraser Construction through a very competitive bid.”

Fraser said the new structure “was designed hand-in-hand with the management of CareCore National and architect Tom Parker of Lee & Parker Architects.” He said it has been designed to be “an extremely comfortable work space with a sophisticated cooling and heating system as well as windows that make the best available use of outdoor light.”

The building is also being constructed with the goal of achieving LEED Certification (developed by the U.S. Green Building Council) which is a recognition attained by utilizing environmentally friendly building practices during construction.

Among the LEED Certification features of the headquarters building are the sophisticated air cooling and heating system, reflective roof materials, water efficiency plumbing techniques which will save 20% off normal water usage, low volatility paint and water-saving landscaping.

Fraser noted that office buildings which are LEED sensitive have shown themselves to lower levels of absenteeism among workers.

The new building will serve as CareCore National’s new headquarters location and house the company’s executive team as well as account management, sales and other business support functions.

Approximately 150 new jobs at CareCore National will be the result of the new building. CareCore National, LLC currently has approximately 1,000 employees nationwide, including close to 400 existing employees in Bluffton, SC.

Fraser said the building is expected to be completed in approximately eight months, and will provide approximately 40 additional jobs at the site and in the supply chain. At the peak of construction there will be approximately 50 workers on the site.

In addition to Lee & Parker Architects the rest of the design-build team consists of Fraser Construction Project Manager David Pettigrew, Civil Engineer Ward Edwards, Landscape Architect Patrick Rooney & Associates, Electrical Engineer CDDC Engineering, Mechanical Engineer ECHO Engineering and Structural Engineer Moulton Clemson Jones.