|
 Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative made its initial RDA appropriation to
Oconee County in 1998. The sum of $105,000 was used to cover the cost
of relocating another utility’s transmission line on the site of
the proposed Pine River Plastics plant. That expenditure was the added
incentive that brought Pine River to the county, along with more than
40 new jobs.
In 2001, Oconee County Council and the Oconee County Economic Development
Commission embarked upon the creation of an industrial park. The Oconee
County Commerce Center came into being with the purchase of a 48-acre
tract on S.C. Highway 11, near its intersection with U.S. Highway 123,
approximately two miles east of Westminster. With the division of the
park into four parcels the following year, Compact Automation then erected
a new plant at the commerce center. After moving to the park from a previous
nearby location, Compact presently employs ___ workers there.
Blue Ridge RDA dollars were awarded to the Oconee County Commerce Center
in each of the years 2001-2003. A total of $800,000 of these funds has
been used to finance land acquisition, a roadway, and the construction
of a county-owned spec building that is now underway at the park.
Total Blue Ridge RDA contributions to Oconee County: $905,000
|
