By Betsy Finklea
What has been happening recently in Dillon County economic development?
This question was answered during a recent meeting of the Dillon County Council when Councilman Jamal Campbell questioned Dillon County Administrator Clay Young about what new industry has come to Dillon since Young had returned to Dillon County.
Young said that economic development-wise, Dillon County had been pretty successful compared to most counties in the state.
Some of the things that Young named included the following:
—Spectrum Quartz opened operations in Latta, a $22.5 million investment and 150 new jobs.
—Equus Capital Partners, Ltd. built a 373,000 square foot speculative warehouse logistics facility and are doing another spec building.
—Marlboro Development Team is currently construction a 200,000 square foot spec building and is looking at doing another.
—Acrilin, who has the spec building near Wyman-Gordon, is putting in equipment. This is about a $30 million project with 30 jobs.
—Wyman-Gordon is doing a half million square foot expansion.
—If the four-laning of Highway 34 from Harllee’s Bridge Road to Longstreet takes place, Young said it will be one of the biggest economic development projects in the entire state.
—Young said that the Ports Authority Master Plan study is about to be unveiled next month. It was paid for by the U.S. Department of Commerce and EDA. It is a $200,000 study with seven counties involved and is the number one study in South Carolina.
—Young said they are also getting ready to unveil the Water and Sewer Study that they have been working on closely with the City of Dillon. He said if they can’t treat sewer, the county cannot grow. This study was done with a $100,000 grant, written by Young.
—Young said they are also doing a traffic study with a $100,000 EDA grant.
Young said the U.S. Department of Commerce is funding these projects because they think they are important. He said the South Carolina Department of Commerce thinks they are of major importance.
Chairman T.F. “Buzzy” Finklea, Jr., said he thought they were doing well and challenged the council to name one county of their size doing more.
To view this meeting, watch the Dillon County Council 6/30/2021 meeting on The Dillon Herald’s channel on YouTube.
Editor’s Note: Another project that Young did not mention was the groundbreaking for Northwest Grains in June. This is a $2.5 million investment, expected to create about 10 jobs.
