Sumter building to attract new industry, officials say

July 17, 2019

SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — State, county and city officials are among a group of people working to bring new industry to Sumter.

A new spec building is a part of their vision for growth. It will be 50,000 sq. ft. (expandable to 100,000 sq. ft.) and located in the Black River Industrial Park.

Once built, the vacant space will be a location for a company to open up in town.

"We've had buildings developed in this manner in the past and they've all been occupied, ... put people to work and created some new tax revenue for the community," Jay Schwedler, President and CEO of the Sumter Economic Development Board, TheLINK and the Sumter Smarter Growth Initiative said. "The number one priority for us is to make sure that we are creating bountiful, good paying jobs."

This will be the fifth building of its kind in the county, according to Schwedler, who says they expect to break-ground on the project in the next two to three weeks.

"We're just really excited to get this thing underway," Schwedler said. "We anticipate that a development, end user could come in and retrofit the facility in a matter of a couple months and have their product to market within six-months-time."

It is possible that the space will be filled with a business in the advanced manufacturing arena, but they have not yet confirmed a particular buyer.

Credit: WLTX 19