Coastal Business | Hospice to open new office

Coastal Business

Myrtle Beach

Hospice to open new office

Mercy Care will hold a public opening for its new office location on March 24 at 3 p.m., according to representatives of the hospice.

The new facility at 8216 Devon Court will house the hospice's professional staff and supplement an office in Conway, said Lyn Rumage, director of business development and community affairs.

The hospice closed two of its three offices in Conway and began moving staff to the new facility at the end of February, Rumage said.

Mercy Care provides end-of-life services for patients in their homes and does not run its own hospice house, she said. The nonprofit has operated along the Grand Strand since 1981.

Surfside Beach

Hot air balloon

this weekend

Remax Coastal Living is hosting an event Saturday that will feature one of the company's 70-foot-tall hot air balloons.

The public is invited to see the balloon between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Martin Field in Surfside Beach.

If wind and weather permits, attendees will also have the chance to get in the balloon for free.

The real estate company is bringing the balloon as part of a customer appreciation event for Surfside Beach residents.

Charleston

Health care industry job fair

Employment officials have scheduled a job fair this week for the medical industry, a sector that has largely withstood the pressures from the recession.

The fair will host more than a dozen health care companies that are looking for new employees.

The event will be 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday at the Trident One Stop Career Center, 1930 Hanahan Road in North Charleston. Attendees are asked to bring copies of their resumes.

For more information, call 888-226-1606.

Newberry

Caterpillar to hire 500 in S.C.

Caterpillar plans to more than triple employment at its four-year-old diesel generator plant in Newberry, the company announced Tuesday.

The company expects within four years to add up to 500 workers to the 190 already employed at the plant, said spokesman Jim Dugan.

Hiring could start late this year, he said, with the pace of adding workers depending on the speed of the economic recovery.

Caterpillar is transferring generator work done at its Griffin, Ga., plant to Newberry, Dugan said. Caterpillar is making the moves as it "see signs that the economy is improving since last year," Dugan said.

The Newberry plant makes generators used in larger homes, retail operations and farms.