Located on the coastal plain between Myrtle Beach and Florence, South Carolina, Marion County is poised to take full advantage of being situated in one of the fastest-growing regions of one of the fastest-growing states in the country.
Communities that are rich in both history and potential for the future drive this growth with their low cost of living, access to the beach, quality healthcare, and gainful employment—and also endless amenities to enrich the quality of life.
“We offer a strong sense of community, historic towns, local businesses, and most importantly, room to enjoy the outdoors,” says Marion County Administrator, David Price, emphasizing that these are features the community seeks to preserve as it grows.
A plan and a way forward
Guided by a five-year comprehensive economic development strategic plan, Marion County 2025, Marion County has a strong sense of what it is, what it wants to be, and how it plans to get there.
As Zachary McKay, Executive Director of the Marion County Economic Development Commission (EDC), notes, “The dominoes are starting to fall,” and the economic development team is beginning to “see the forest through the trees.”
Home to a robust manufacturing landscape including automotive components, healthcare, and agribusiness, the region offers growth potential that can build on its existing success. While high-paying jobs are sought after, the county still balances development with the community’s agricultural roots, which fuel the regional supply chain.
“Our number one employer in the county is SOPAKCO, a food manufacturer. They actually manufacture MREs for the Department of Defense,” says McKay, who also names MUSC Health Marion Medical Center and PSI Molded Plastics as leading regional employers.
While the economy is strong, Marion County EDC has sought to boost it further through such developments as the Willoughby site, which has been the economic development team’s key focus and an exciting development for the county. “We’re partnering with R.J. Corman and CSX,” McKay explains. “They have broken ground within the last 45 days, beginning with rehabilitating a former rail line to bring back rail access in the county.”
The 220-acre site is county-owned and is ideally located across from the Marion County Airport, adjacent to Highway 76, six miles from a CSX interchange and less than 20 miles from Interstate 95 and Dillon Inland Port. It is also less than a mile from the proposed lines for Interstate 73, a project that appears to be gaining momentum.
“That’s going to be our first rail-served site,” notes McKay of the CSX Select Site Bronze Designation for rail-served industrial potential. “That rail extension was able to happen because we received a two-and-a-half-million-dollar grant from the State Department of Commerce.”
Growth in partnership
Proximity and good connections are vitally important logistically for the kinds of industry at home in Marion County, but also in attracting a talented and educated workforce and working with other regional stakeholders to leverage that asset. “We have a workforce of just under half a million within a 60-minute drive,” notes McKay.
To make the most of that asset, Marion County EDC is working in strategic partnership with local industry and workforce partners like the Academy of Careers and Technology and local career centers and educational partners (like Florence Island Technical College) to create a functioning talent pipeline for the growing industry and target sectors.
On the private side, Marion County Progress serves as a member-based organization to support economic development through private investment and stakeholder engagement. One such member is Marion County Healthcare Foundation, whom McKay praises: “They were a huge supporter of the strategic plan, a huge supporter of Marion County Progress and again, a huge supporter of Marion County as a whole.” Indeed, he confirms that the predominant attitude of stakeholders in Marion County, who are working together to improve the collective lot of all, is that “a rising tide lifts all ships.”
Celebrating wins
Part of Marion County’s efforts to preserve its character amid vigorous growth is deliberate forethought in setting priorities. Through comprehensive studies, it has identified goals and mapped out pathways to success.
Accommodation, both temporary and permanent, has also been a focus of the development team to ensure that economic development and quality of life go hand in hand. Last year, a feasibility study was conducted that uncovered a need for extended hotel accommodation, and as a result, with the support of the Rural Development Initiative through the Department of Commerce, downtown Marion will soon be home to Hotel Marion.
Further, a housing feasibility study has provided the county with actionable data that can support the addition of housing stock of all categories to ensure that Marion County remains “a county where young people can see a future for themselves,” notes McKay.
“Ultimately, it told us we have a true need for housing. We have a need for short-term units. We have a need for residential units. So, we are taking that data and we’re working with some developers. The county has identified a piece of land that is county-owned, so now we’re going to be able to leverage that,” he says, although planning is still at an early stage and will depend on development partners.
With the Willoughby site, plus a new hotel and housing underway, there is plenty to celebrate but still more to do. “In the near term, we need to support existing businesses, prepare competitive sites, strengthen the workforce pipeline, and move promising infrastructure projects forward,” says Price, who notes that over the long term, the goals are economic diversity and more high-paying jobs in the logistics and manufacturing sectors.
For Price, “The measure of success is whether growth creates lasting opportunities for Marion County residents. We want to create something that will last forever, or as long as it possibly can.”
This is the kind of thoughtful development that McKay believes will “create a community that we all want to live, work, and play in.”
