The South Carolina Department of Commerce earned second place in the Business Facilities 2011 Economic Development Deal of the Year competition for the Continental Tire the Americas deal, which brings a new plant in Sumter County.
The $500 million investment is expected to generate 1,700 new jobs, including 80 new jobs in the company's headquarters in Indian Land.
The magazine's Economic Development Deal of the Year competition was open to any organization with an economic development mission limited to a defined city, state or region. Submissions were scored on their projected economic impact as well as a narrative describing the project's challenges, originality and likely impact on local community.
The award recipients were announced in December and have appeared in the January issue of Business Facilities.
The winners were chosen by a panel of industry experts who reviewed 23 submissions from across the U.S.
The Gold Award winner was the Kentucky-Ford Partnership for a $1.2 billion investment that uses incentives to spur growth at Ford Motor Co.'s Louisville facilities. The third place prize went to the city of Mesa, Ariz., for bringing the First Solar manufacturing facility to the greater Phoenix area.
Business News
The PPG Foundation has recently awarded two $5,000 grants to support Project Lead the Way Programs in local schools. One check was presented to Lee Green, director of Chester Career Center, on behalf of Chester High School. A second check was presented to Don Gillman, director of Rock Hill ATC, on behalf of South Pointe High School.
Pier 1 Imports, Michael's and Ross Store have renewed their leases at Manchester Village off Dave Lyle Boulevard.
Calendar
Feb. 11 - FATZ is hosting pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. at its 478 S. Herlong Ave. location in Rock Hill to benefit the Finley Road Elementary School PTO. Tickets for Short Stacks for Big Change, a pancake breakfast fundraiser, are $7 for adults and $4 for children younger than 12 and can be purchased by contacting Finley Road Elementary or by calling 803-981-1280.
Feb. 16 - A free workshop, "Improve Your Credit Score," will be held at 6 p.m. at the Fort Mill branch of Family Trust Federal Credit Union. Jennifer Panther, a certified financial counselor at Family Trust, will discuss how the credit score is derived, steps to take for improvements and how to dispute incorrect information on the credit report. For information, call Valerie at 803-326-2164 or email at vmoore@familytrust.org. The Fort Mill branch is at 430 Mercantile Place, near the intersection of U.S. 21 Bypass and Springfield Parkway.
