Western York County feels overlooked by economic developers

Jun 5, 2010 — The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)

Jamie Self

Jun. 5, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Leaders of western York County's cities, towns and chambers of commerce say the region has economic potential that the county Economic Development Board has overlooked.

Western York County is "underserved" by the development board -- which should be making it a priority, said York Mayor Eddie Lee.

"We're open for business," he said.

Lee and other leaders have asked the development board to strengthen its commitment to the region by increasing industrial zoning, improving marketing and creating more economic incentives for businesses.

They also want to see county personnel dedicated to the task of addressing the region's development.

Their objective: more jobs and a broader tax base.

Mark Farris, the county's economic development director, said many of the western York leaders' ideas are already part of the county's plans and that he will continue to promote the region.

"Western York County sometimes feels they're at a competitive disadvantage to eastern York County," Farris said, acknowledging that about 70 percent of the county's growth over the past 10 years has occurred within five miles of I-77.

He said his office doesn't distinguish between east and west in part because it makes it more difficult to market the county to prospective businesses.

"I don't think we can afford this divisiveness," Farris said.

Still, the disparity between growth and resources on each end of the county is difficult to ignore.

As the economy weakens, many companies prefer to move into existing facilities close to the interstate. That's why the communities along the I-77 corridor have weathered the economy and have developed more quickly than those in the west, Farris said.

The disparity is evident in the statistics Farris' office keeps:

From 2000-2010, the Clover and York areas gained about $258 million in capital investments in the form of new and expanding businesses and created a little more than 1,000 jobs.

Over that same period, the Rock Hill and Fort Mill areas added about $1.2 billion in capital investments, creating almost 11,000 jobs.

The Rock Hill and Fort Mill areas in the past decade have had almost twice as many new or expanding businesses as the York and Clover areas.

Western York County has experienced some growth, mostly in the form of existing businesses expanding, said Paul Boger, director of the Greater York Chamber of Commerce.

One example is AJAX Rolled Ring and Machine, on Wallace Way in York. The company, which forges steel rings used in large bearings and gears, recently re-filled positions left vacant in the economic downturn.

"We had about 130 employees at the height of 2008," said Simon Ormerod, AJAX's president and chief executive officer. "And in 2009 we cut to about half that -- to 65."

With an increase in customer demand since the beginning of this year, the company has slowly refilled about 15 positions, bringing its total to around 80.

To promote growth, Lee said, the City of York has invested in attracting businesses to the region by expanding its wastewater treatment facility and installing 5.3 miles of water lines along the Alexander Love Highway bypass.

That highway is being widened to four lanes as part of the county's Pennies for Progress program.

Once the expansion is complete, Lee said, the highway will be an "economic engine" for western York County.

But new infrastructure alone won't draw more industry to the York area, Farris said. Even along the bypass, he said, almost none of the properties are zoned industrial.

Making matters worse, it's unclear who should be responsible for industrial zoning of the properties located in or owned by the county. Farris' suggestion: Western York's cities and towns could annex property and zone it how they want.

York County has two industrial parks on its western end:

Westgate Industrial Park, north of Clover on U.S. 321

East York Industrial Park, just east of York off S.C. 5

"Westgate is a golden opportunity just sitting there waiting," said Clover Mayor Donnie Grice. "We want to be ready when the economy turns around."

While Lake Wylie hasn't been hit as hard by the economy as other communities, Susan Bromfield, president of the Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce, still supports pushing the Economic Development Board to revise its long-term goals.

"It would serve York County well if the county leaders would look at the county in 2010," Bromfield said. "What worked in the past, may not necessarily work now."

She said the region's focus in the past has been on rural, agricultural, and recreational enterprises. Now it could focus more on bringing in more manufacturing and distribution companies, in addition to retail and commercial businesses.

Doing so is going to require a collaborative effort, Farris said.

In addition to taking control of development through annexing property from the county, Farris also recommended that communities in western York County that want more commercial and retail businesses -- which fall outside of the development board's mandate -- take matters into their own hands by developing economic incentives to attract businesses.

Since most of the new business announcements in the county over the past year have been for businesses moving into already existing buildings, Farris said having more available buildings would help, too.

In the meantime, Farris has promised to address some of the problems with developing the region.

First, he wants to make it easier for manufacturing, distribution and office businesses that want to move to the county to take advantage of tax breaks.

Right now, companies willing to move into areas suffering from high unemployment and a lower per-capita income -- which Farris said run throughout the western part of the county -- must invest $5 million up front to be eligible to negotiate a fee-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, which lowers the business' property tax liability.

He wants that amount reduced to $2.5 million, the lowest state law allows, which would offer some businesses up to a 43 percent reduction in property tax liability, Farris said.

Another objective, he said, would be to increase awareness of the county's comprehensive plan and industrial recruitment efforts, letting prospective companies know about smaller industrial sites available in western York County for development.

"I'm very interested in making sure we have geographic diversity for industry in all of York County," Farris said. "It's a bad economy. There's no magic bullet.

"Economic development is not a sprint -- it's a marathon. It requires cooperation from everyone."

Newstex ID: KRTB-0173-45765932