Wednesday, Jul. 23, 2008

Lexington County project to create about 300 jobs

Home Depot plans $25 million, 465,000-square-foot regional warehouse on U.S. 321

Home-building supply company Home Depot plans to construct a $25 million regional warehouse near Dixiana that would hire up to 300 workers, Lexington County and company officials said Tuesday.

No construction date has been announced for the 465,000-square-foot facility along U.S. 321, said Chuck Whipple, Lexington County’s economic development project manager.

It will be built within the next three years, company spokesman Craig Fishel said Tuesday.

New salaries at the Home Depot warehouse would average $10.50 per hour, Whipple said.

The warehouse will serve stores in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and parts of Georgia, Fishel said, although he could not say how many stores it will serve.

Fishel said Home Depot has been moving toward more regional distribution centers in the past couple of years in an effort to restock stores more quickly. The company plans to open five regional centers this year and a total of 20 by the end of 2010.

Lexington County Councilman Todd Cullum, whose district includes Dixiana, said this investment is a glimpse into the future of the U.S. 321 corridor. In addition to plans for a new state farmers market, Cullum says he expects other distribution facilities and manufacturing plants to locate in the area.

Home Depot is going into Sandhills industrial park, which does not typically draw big development because Dixiana has not, until recently, been growing as fast as other parts of the county.

Home Depot joins Shaw Industries and Michelin North America in making major economic development announcements this year.

Shaw said in March that it will spend $60 million and hire 350 workers over the next five years to expand nylon production for carpets at the former AlliedSignal plant on St. Andrews Road.

Michelin announced plans last month to spend $90 million to upgrade equipment and expand production at its two Lexington County tire plants. It was unclear whether the expansion would add jobs to the plants, which employ 1,700.

These announcements follow other large Lexington County projects in recent years, including:

• Another $110 million Michelin expansion

• SCANA’s plan to move its headquarters and other divisions to a $235 million campus in Cayce

• A Pella windows plant in West Columbia that employs about 320

All this comes to a county that typically has the state’s lowest unemployment rate.

Home Depot received about $1.4 million in grants and tax credits from the state and Lexington County in exchange for its investment, Whipple said.

The county incentive totaling $1 million will be extended over a 10-year period.

The state extended a $400,000 grant to help with infrastructure costs, which might include running water or sewer lines or constructing roads.

The warehouse will be built on about 55 acres across the street from a county landfill. The land has not been purchased, Whipple said.

Lexington County Council has given the proposal two of three votes needed to complete the agreement. A final vote is expected in late August.

Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664. Staff writers Kristy Eppley Rupon and Noelle Phillips contributed.