Engineering company expanding, adding jobs in Charleston County

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A governmental engineering company will invest $2.5 million to expand its Charleston County operations, it announced Thursday.

Defense Engineering Systems is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business that provides high-value engineering and manufacturing services for the aerospace and defense industry, governor’s office spokesman Brandon Charochak said.

“DES is excited to expand our engineering and prototype manufacturing operations in Charleston County. Operations have grown year over year for a decade,” Defense Engineering Services Managing Principals Bob Cole and Greg Gordon said in a joint statement, “This growth can be attributed to the business-friendly environment and technically capable workforce of South Carolina and Charleston County.”

The new investment will create 45 new jobs.

“We are fully committed to supporting our existing businesses, and we are thrilled to see DES’ announcement that will bring more than 45 jobs to Charleston County,” Gov. Henry McMaster said. “We look forward to further strengthening our long-standing partnership with them in the years to come.”

The company works to solve problems on high-performance systems involving mechanical and electrical engineering, testing and evaluation, design and systems engineering, and survivability engineering. DES services the U.S. Department of Defense through vehicle systems integration, automotive design, survivability solutions, reverse engineering and obsolescence issues, while also serving the U.S. Army with medical training systems and innovative armor, Charochak said.

The company’s new 53,000-square-foot facility at 6920 Weber Blvd. in North Charleston will accommodate manufacturing space for large-scale projects and add manufacturing capabilities to its prototype and low-rate initial production shop.

The expansion will be complete in May and operations are already online. Individuals interested in joining the DES team should visit the company’s careers page.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits related to this project.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.