A new industrial park is being developed in Orangeburg County.
Construction began in June on a road onto property at the new, 745-acre Orangeburg County Power Site Industrial Park.
“It is being marketed as we speak,” Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said. “We have a prospect looking at it. It is all about availability now.”
"In economic development, once you could show a cow pasture and say imagine a building here," Young said. "Now more companies are leaving to come here, hence the availability of a finished product is the thing that drives a lot of these deals."
The new park is located on U.S. Highway 21, about 1-1/2 miles south of U.S. Highway 178. It is roughly across the street from The Okonite plant.
The county and city will be partnering on the development of the site.
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The roadwork is being funded with a $600,000 site readiness development grant from the S.C. Department of Commerce. There will be no expense to the county for the road project.
Orangeburg-based Palmetto Site Prep is doing the work.
The Orangeburg County Development Commission says the site is ideal for heavy manufacturing. Of the 745 acres, about 725 are developable.
A speculative building may be built to make it more attractive to industry.
“Orangeburg County is really pushing hard to create jobs for our community,” Young said.
The S.C. Department of Commerce has designated the industrial park as a certified Palmetto Site, indicating due diligence work is done and the park is ready for future development.
Due diligence work completed at the property includes: a boundary survey, cultural resource identification, protected species assessment, geotechnical work, wetlands delineation and topographical surveys.
Young said the park “is taking advantage of high-volume utilities.”
“If a company needs high-volume sewer and water, it is the place they need to be,” Young said.
He said there is a high-volume wastewater plant, natural gas line, high-volume water capabilities and county broadband.
Young said the high-volume utility capabilities at the site are the reason it is currently being called a “power site.”
He said it could be renamed in the future.
The park is serviced by Orangeburg’s Department of Public Utilities. The park also has Norfolk Southern Rail access.
Orangeburg County Development Commission Executive Director Gregg Robinson said the property is unique, helping make Orangeburg County a “manufacturing hub inside the South Carolina Global Logistics Triangle." It is the 10th industrial park in the county.
“Each park offers unique deliverables of infrastructure and skill sets,” Robinson said. “We are creating a diversity in our portfolio of product.”
