Jameson Corp. started out in a small basement room in downtown Charlotte, producing telecommunications maintenance equipment.

Fifty years later, Jameson has a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Westgate Industrial Park and multimillion dollar contracts with the military to produce lighting.

Throughout the growth, from two employees to nearly 60, Jameson has stayed a family company.

"Dad was running the business and Mom was the first secretary," Tom Crates, company president, told the crowd Friday. "As I look out here, I see so many friends and neighbors."

Gov. Mark Sanford was impressed at how Jameson grew from a 14-foot by 14-foot basement to a successful military and electric utility supplier.

"As a corporate family, you represent what I dream about when I talk about changes to South Carolina so that my boys and your kids can have a better shot at opportunity and a better shot at making a living in South Carolina," he said. "It really is a remarkable accomplishment."

First in business park

Jameson moved to Clover from Charlotte in 1999, becoming the first tenant of the business park. The company has stayed a family business even though Barry MacLean of MacLean-Fogg became a partner in 2000.

In the 1950s, Crates' father, James, and Walter G. Pearson began a partnership to manufacture telecommunications products, including fiberglass poles.

Jim Crates, James' son, joined the company 45 years ago. Tom Crates started in 1971.

In 1984, Jameson started the lighting business, producing drop-lights for manholes. The company also began manufacturing splicer scissors.

Jameson starting producing low-emission lights for the military in 1999, getting million-dollar contracts from the Department of Defense.

U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., who helped the company with contracts, calls Jameson's lights "the gold standard."

"What we celebrate 50 years of is a commitment not just to excellence, but tenacity along the way and entrepreneurial spirit," he said. "You'll see it when you walk on the plant floor."

Jameson has been supplying the military with portable fluorescent lamps suitable for hot climates like in the Middle East.

The popular item is portable tent lights, which military officials say are light weight, durable and low-heat. Last year, Jameson made $2 million worth of the lights for the Marine Corps.

Tom Crates said the company is waiting to get approval this year on a $7 million contract, which would be a nice anniversary gift.

For information, visit http://www.jamesonllc.com/