‘A county in transition’: $46 million project another economic win for Chester County
Monday morning marked yet another milestone in what has been a year of huge economic progress in Chester County, SC.
County and state officials, including S.C. Sen. Mike Fanning, Chester County Supervisor Wiley Frederick and county council members, gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of a $46.4 million project at Chester Technology Park.
Last Step Recycling, a company that processes materials like copper and aluminum from shredding cars, will open a new facility at the site, 517 Ballymena Road in Chester, by July 2022, a press release said. The project will create 50 jobs.
Monday’s ceremony was a sign that after winning several economic development projects this year, Chester County’s momentum continues.
“We have as many projects in the pipeline now as we had in all of last year,” Chester County Economic Development Director Robert Long said. That’s 12 months of productivity in just six months.
Once supported mostly by a textile industry that ultimately disappeared, the county has seen economic depression for the last several decades. According to U.S. Census data, 17.7% of Chester County residents live in poverty, compared to the United States average of 10.5%. Employment dropped 8% from 2019 to 2020, data shows. The county has a population of roughly 32,000.
“We do have generational poverty here in Chester,” Long said. “We have to break the cycle.”
Now, Chester County may be headed toward a different future.
“In 10 years, you won’t recognize (Chester County),” Councilman Mike Vaughn said Monday.
Just recently, wine giant E&J Gallo Winery sealed a $423 million investment deal in Chester County -- the company’s first facility on the East Coast. Gallo’s facility, which is set to bring 496 jobs, will be built in Fort Lawn, a town that officials say has been particularly effected by the loss of textile mills.
“Gallo’s $423 million investment and the 496 new jobs in Chester County will transform the region,” S.C. Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt said.
And construction on a whitewater center in Great Falls continues to move on schedule. Vaughn said the project may even be ahead of schedule for an opening in August 2022.
Currently called the Great Falls-Dearborn Development, the recreation center will offer hiking, fishing, rafting, kayaking and canoeing.
Data produced by nonprofit American Whitewater says, from whitewater activities alone, the development will bring $3.1-$4.6 million annually to Great Falls.
Long called the project an opportunity to “help revitalize parts of the town of Great Falls.”
In 2017, Chester secured a $560 million investment from Giti Tire to build a manufacturing plant, which is now fully operational. Carolina Poly Inc., which produces plastic projects, invested $100 million to build its initial Chester facility in 2015, later adding a $25 million expansion.
Long says Chester’s location in the growing Charlotte-metro area, as well as access to railroads and “reasonable” land prices, has made the area attractive to new investors.
“We’re very much a county in transition,” he said. “The stars have kind of aligned to where we are today.”
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 3:31 PM with the headline "‘A county in transition’: $46 million project another economic win for Chester County."
