3 business plans could add up to hundreds of new Rock Hill jobs

Around 200 new jobs could be on the way to Rock Hill, after the City Council approved an agreement with two new companies relocating to the city. At the same time, the council approved an expansion for another business that has already met and exceeded its growth targets.

Council members gave their approval Monday to a deal with two unidentified companies collectively called “Project Glass” in the meeting agenda, which will receive an infrastructure reimbursement agreement from Rock Hill in exchange for moving into the city limits.

“This is a manufacturer that has outgrown their facility and is considering locating in Rock Hill,” said Rick Norwood, the city’s director of industrial recruitment.

As part of the agreement, Project Glass will invest a minimum of $4 million into its infrastructure in an unidentified industrial park in the city. The companies will transfer 53 existing jobs from their other manufacturing facility, then add another 30 jobs in Rock Hill over the next five years.

The City Council still has to take a second and final vote on the Project Glass agreement next month.

While the city was setting targets for one project, council members also rewarded an existing business that already exceeded its goals.

Coroplast, a tape company, entered into a five-year agreement with the city on Feb. 7, 2014, to make a $12 million investment in a facility in the Antrim Business Park at Interstate 77 and Dave Lyle Boulevard.

Now little more than two years into the agreement, the company is considering another expansion, Norwood said.

The company will invest another $14 million into the facility, and add another 123 jobs to the facility before the extended two-year deadline.

In exchange, the company will get a reduction in the tax burden it owes the city.

“These agreements have clawbacks in them, so the city can get its money back if they don’t meet their targets,” said Councilman John Black, before adding that Coroplast has “already exceeded that.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 8:54 PM with the headline "3 business plans could add up to hundreds of new Rock Hill jobs."