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Darlington County to Certify Industrial Park

July 21, 2009

Accepting Name Suggestions for New Park

Darlington, S.C. – July 21, 2009 – Darlington County is pleased to announce the acceptance of a grant to defray the certification costs of the new industrial park located near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Highway 340 at Exit 137.  Approximately 150 acres were purchased in 2008 by Darlington County with the intention of developing a new Class A industrial park to attract new industry and jobs to the community.

After many months of effort by the Darlington County Economic Development Partnership, the South Carolina Power Team has approved a grant totaling $40,500.  The SC Power Team is a marketing arm of Santee Cooper and the electric cooperatives in South Carolina, including Pee Dee Electric Cooperative that has actively supported the Partnership’s effort.

Darlington County is one of the few counties in South Carolina that does not currently have a certified site to assist industrial recruitment efforts.  The certification includes information on topography, soil conditions, environmental assessment, wetland delineation, infrastructure plan and a master plan under guidelines established by the South Carolina Department of Commerce.

“By having this new park certified, it can save a company interested in Darlington County upwards of three months on construction,” said Jim Ramsey, chairman of Darlington County Economic Development Partnership. “Being able to document a company’s ability to be in production quickly provides us a competitive advantage over non-certified sites.”

“On behalf of County Council, we are thankful to the SC Power Team and Pee Dee Electric Cooperative for their efforts,” said Wesley Blackwell, chairman of Darlington County Council.  “This certification will be the first step towards positioning Darlington County to take advantage of future grant opportunities as we develop this property into a park.”

"Pee Dee Electric is proud to continually support Darlington County with the development of new marketable property to assist the efforts for more jobs and increased tax-base,” said Toy Nettles, president of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative.

On a related note, this new park is currently unnamed. Darlington County wants help in naming it.  If you have an idea for a name for this new industrial park, please contact Robert Long at 843-413-3210 or rlong@darcosc.com with your suggestion.  Council plans to select the park’s name from the collected suggestions on August 17 at the next Council meeting.