SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (August 4, 2020) – Dorchester County Economic Development and the Town of Summerville joined forces to launch a marketing campaign focused on recruiting investors in the county’s three Opportunity Zones.
The campaign includes a marketing prospectus, micro-website (dorchesteropportunityzones.com), a series of promotional emails aimed at potential investors and a targeted social media advertising strategy.
Summerville Mayor, Ricky Waring said “We’re excited to have an Opportunity Zone in Summerville and appreciate Dorchester County Economic Development for partnering with us to put this prospectus together. Our goal is to provide the highest possible quality of life for all Summerville residents, and being able to attract private investment to bring in the type of development needed to make that happen will help tremendously.”
Manufacturing and distribution investment opportunities are available in St. George and Ridgeville. In 2019 DHL announced a $100 million facility to be built in St. George’s Winding Woods Commerce Park and in July 2020 Walmart announced a three million-square-foot distribution center heading to Ridgeville Industrial Campus. These projects represent two of the largest economic development announcements the county has won in recent years, both being built within Opportunity Zones.
“We are seeing a lot of new interest in our industrial parks located in Opportunity Zones and Downtown Summerville is really hopping,” said County Council Chairman George Bailey. “This new prospectus will bring more companies to Dorchester County to see what the excitement is all about.”
Downtown Summerville and St. George present investment opportunities for residential and commercial projects, including housing, mixed-use buildings, office space, retail operations and boutique hotels.
“The Opportunity Zone initiative is an important part of our overall economic development strategy because it is focused on drawing in private investment,” said Michael Lisle, economic development coordinator for the Town of Summerville. “Identifying locations where residential, commercial, and industrial development will be beneficial to the community, and having the ability to attract needed quality of life elements such as affordable housing and high-skill, high-wage employers to Summerville is essential. These are concrete steps we can take to enhance our town’s quality of life.”
Opportunity Zones, which were created by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, aim to stimulate economic development and job creation in low-income urban and rural areas. This program provides federal tax reductions for investing unrealized capital gains in designated Opportunity Zones. Qualifying zones are identified by the state’s governors as low-income community census tracts. There are 135 such zones in South Carolina.
