8 Spartanburg County projects seeking tax breaks could bring 900 jobs, $775M investment

Eight new economic projects totaling $775 million in investment and 903 new jobs were announced by Spartanburg County Council Monday.

Companies behind the projects are seeking tax breaks. One unnamed company is planning to create 470 jobs and another 240 jobs.

County Council approved the first of three readings for each project.

County Councilman David Britt said companies are continuing to invest in local projects despite national and global economic concerns.

"In spite of the winds of caution spiraling around the world relative to a recession, these companies are doubling down on their faith and trust in Spartanburg," Britt, chairman of the county's economic development committee, told the Herald-Journal. "I am confident that we will have several more projects announcing before the end of the year."

This year to date, Britt said a total $1.258 billion in investment and 1,724 new jobs have been announced.

Last year saw a record 44 new projects with $1.9 billion in capital investment, along with 4,045 new jobs, according to OneSpartanburg, Inc.

Among the largest projects announced last year was by Oshkosh Defense to produce its fleet of Next Generation Vehicles at the former Rite-Aid Distribution Center in Flatwood Industrial Park. The project is expected to generate 1,000 jobs with a $155 million investment. Production is expected to start in 2023.

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Also, Walmart announced plans to build a distribution center for fresh and frozen groceries in Lyman, Spartanburg County. The $450 million investment is expected to create more than 400 jobs. The facility is set to open in 2024.

"The reason we are having this success is because of the talented workforce here in Spartanburg and our pro-business community partners that continue to make us the economic powerhouse in the world," Britt said. "No one does it better than Spartanburg. We deliver the finest engineered products made anywhere."

Seven of the eight projects announced Monday are from companies seeking a reduced property tax rate of 6% through fee-in-lieu tax agreements.

"A fee-in-lieu reduces the assessment ratio for manufacturing business from 10.5% to 6%, which puts South Carolina in a competitive place with neighboring states," Britt said.

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The projects are given code names until the third and final readings, when the companies and locations are identified. A company could reveal itself prior to a third reading, according to Britt.

The new projects are:

► Project Tyger River Ridge, $137.7 million investment, no jobs.

► Project Moore, $251 million investment, 240 jobs.

► Spartanburg SF RRL, $61.8 million investment, 105 jobs.

► Project Flow, $200 million investment, 470 jobs.

► Project Whirlwind, $19.5 million investment, no jobs.

► Project Clay, $34.9 million investment, no jobs.

► The Cubes at Fort Prince, $65.5 million, no jobs.

The fee-in-lieu agreements contain a clawback clause that ends the tax breaks retroactively if the minimum investment is not met by the end of the investment period.

The eighth project, dubbed Blackberry, represents an existing company seeking $100,000 in special source credits over three years. The company plans to invest $4.5 million and create 88 new jobs.

"The special source credit reduces the amount of the taxes owed by the amount of the annual credit," Britt said. "This tool is used to help a company to offset infrastructure and other project costs of the project."

Contact Bob Montgomery at bob.montgomery@shj.com. Please support our coverage of Spartanburg County with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Spartanburg County projects that could bring jobs seek tax breaks