COLUMBIA, S.C. — Some of South Carolina’s best recruits are companies that already call the state home. Of the more than 1,600 economic development projects the state announced from 2011 through 2026, 891, or more than half, were expansions by existing employers, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce.
Together those projects brought about 186,000 new jobs and close to $80 billion in investment over that stretch. State economic developers have increasingly shifted from chasing only new names toward helping established manufacturers and life sciences firms grow in place.
A recent York County project shows how that works. Re:Build, an engineering and manufacturing company with an existing plant in Rock Hill, is spending about $20 million on a new 130,000-square-foot advanced composites facility at 2021 Williams Industrial Blvd., adding 150 skilled manufacturing and engineering jobs. The company runs 12 locations nationwide and expects the new operation to come online this month. The state Coordinating Council for Economic Development gave York County a $100,000 grant to help with building improvements.
Pharmaceutical maker Ritedose is another repeat investor, putting more than $17 million into a lab expansion in Columbia that will triple its testing space for analytical chemistry and microbiology.
Employers point to the same advantages again and again: lower operating and utility costs, available workers, competitive taxes and fee-in-lieu agreements that trim property taxes, plus training help from state programs.
Logistics is a big part of the pitch. The Commerce Department puts the total economic impact of the state’s logistics and distribution sector at $48.3 billion, supporting 150,160 jobs, with employment up 7.5 percent since 2020. South Carolina maintains 41,000 miles of highways, and five interstates cross the state, putting 66.7 million consumers within a day’s drive.
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