White Claw Seltzer maker to invest $400 million, create 300 jobs in Richland County, SC
Mark Anthony Brewing, the company behind White Claw Hard Seltzer and Mike’s Hard Lemonade, plans to build a new brewery and production facility in Richland County that will create 300 jobs, according to S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s office.
Located in Pineview Industrial Park, the new facility also will produce Mike’s Harder Lemonade and Cayman Jack Cocktails.
The new facility will help keep up with consumer demand in the southern United States, the news release said. Warehousing and distribution operations will also be located on-site, making it one of the largest breweries built in the U.S. in over 25 years.
The company’s $400 million investment will be one of the county’s largest economic investments, according to the news release.
Mark Anthony Brewing provides supply chain management and brewing services for The Mark Anthony Group, according to the governor’s office.
Hard seltzers are mostly low calorie, gluten-free, ready to drink and brightly packaged cans of fermented cane sugar or malted barley with added flavors, according to drinksbusiness.com . A can of White Claw is 5% alcohol by volume.
IWSR, which provides data and analysis of the global alcoholic beverage market, estimates that the U.S. hard seltzer industry will likely surpass the consumption of both vodka and whisky combined by 2022. IWSR estimates hard seltzers will make up more than 20% of the total alcohol market value in the U.S. by 2024.
Hard seltzers jumped in popularity the summer of 2019, known in the beverage industry as the “the summer of hard seltzer” when the products grew faster than all other alcohol beverage categories according to IWSR, which foresees no slowing down.
Construction on the facility — expected to be more than 1 million square feet — is expected to start soon and be fully operational by Summer 2021.
The Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved job development credits related to this project and awarded a $4.6 million Set-Aside grant to Richland County for infrastructure improvement.
Richland County was also awarded a $1.5 million LocateSC grant to offset costs associated with acquiring and developing property adjacent to the project to develop rail-served industrial sites inventory now and in the future.
Mark Anthony Brewing President John Sacksteder said in a statement that Richland County was chosen because of the “spirit of collaboration and engagement” between the state, the Department of Commerce and the county. He added they understood the “ambitious timeline” to build the facility on a tight timeline.
Richland County Council Chairman Paul Livingston called the announcement “exciting news.”
“Thanks to county council’s unwavering commitment to invest in the future of our residents and the efforts of many people who worked to make this project a reality, our community has gained a substantial investment in our collective future,” Livingston said. “We are thankful for opportunities to bolster our local economy and Mark Anthony Brewing’s arrival is an economic game-changer for Richland County.”
The company is privately owned and has headquarters in Chicago. It also is opening a new brewing and packaging facility in Glendale, Ariz.
Individuals interested in employment should visit readySC’s recruitment website for more information, according to the news release.
This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 9:40 PM.