Tramco expected to create 10-12 jobs at its East Coast office downtown

Chalk one up for quality of life in the Lowcountry.

A California-based software and consulting business that helps food distributors manage their freight shipments has picked Charleston for its East Coast operations center, largely because its top executive enjoys visiting the area so much.

Transportation Management Concepts Inc., or Tramco, said it expects to create about 10-12 jobs at its three-person office at East Bay and Hasell streets over the next two years.

Customers pressed the Sacramento-area company to open a second location to serve the other half of the country as its East Coast client base blossomed, said Paul W. Coulter, Tramco's president. "We've been fighting it for along time," Coulter said at an announcement outside the Charleston Regional Development Alliance's headquarters Tuesday.

The search began about a year ago. Tramco said it initially considered Baltimore, Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond and other "compatible" East Coast cities. Coulter became acquainted with Charleston while accompanying his wife to a conference at Patriot's Point.

When Tramco decided to establish an East Coast presence last year, Coulter and his wife decided to limit their options to cities where they could combine business and pleasure. Another key consideration: "Where would our clients like to visit," Coulter added. Charleston "quickly emerged as the winning choice," he said.

Tramco was formed in 1990 in Salt Lake City, where Coulter had been a finance executive with food service giant Sysco Corp., which remains a client of the company. Coulter said Tramco designs customized logistical software –- namely for food transporters –- that helps customers organize and manage their freight operations more efficiently, saving them money. It's a niche that developed after the nation's trucking industry was deregulated in the 1980s, he said.

Tramco also offers third-party services, such as accounting, consulting and claims management. Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said the company's new operations center is part of the city of Charleston's emerging digital corridor, a stretch of properties from the peninsula to Daniel Island that are specially zoned to attract technology businesses. He called the latest addition "a reaffirmation" of that concept.

"We believe the beauty of our community and the quality of life in Charleston are our key assets, along with a great work force and work ethic," Riley said. Coulter said Tramco did not receive any inducements for moving to the area."Actually that was not a consideration," he said.

Coulter commented that hostile business conditions in California are making that state increasingly less attractive for small employers like Tramco. Asked whether he would consider relocating his headquarters to Charleston, he responded: "Never say never."