Originally settled as a booming gold mining community, McCormick County is nestled along South Carolina’s freshwater coast on the banks of Lake Thurmond, surrounded by the pines of Sumter National Forest. This location creates a wealth of opportunities. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Forest Service, and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources own almost half of the county,” says Mark Warner, Director of Economic & Community Development.
An additional 10 to 15 percent of the county is owned by private timber growers. “So, as you can imagine, lumber and the agricultural sector is one of our largest industries in the county. That also creates outdoor recreation tourism opportunities.”
The county boasts three state parks, each with their own extensive campgrounds for visitors and residents to enjoy. All but six miles of the county’s western edge border Lake Thurmond, the second largest Army Corps of Engineers impoundment east of the Mississippi River, with about 71,000 acres of water surface. The lake attracts about 4 million visits a year to the South Carolina and Georgia sides combined. “So, recreation is a huge draw,” says Warner.
Plenty of people don’t want to leave once they experience all that McCormick County has to offer, and luckily, the community has the housing to accommodate them. Local leaders began planning Savannah Lakes Village back in the late 1970s. The 5,000-acre, recreation-inspired anchor residential development is located on the Savannah River and has two 18-hole golf courses. “All the roadways, all the electrical lines, water lines, sewer lines, and fiber are all in place,” Warner says.
Savannah Lakes Village has plenty of lots for sale and continues to grow at a rapid pace. “Since 2016, there have been 704 new house permits issued in that development, in a county with about 9,300 residents, which is pretty phenomenal for a little community like this,” he says. “Part of the draw is a lot of the lots are either lakefront or golf course lots.”
The development was originally intended to attract retirees from the upper Midwest, the Northeast, the West Coast, and Florida. “And it’s doing that,” Warner says. But the growth doesn’t stop there. “The average age of the population is actually decreasing, which means we have a lot of people who are pre-retirees, or they’re people that have figured out how to work remotely and can live in a nice quiet community on the lake or on the golf course with a lot of other amenities. And one of the things that makes that possible is our broadband fiber provider. They have invested a little over $25 million in broadband fiber throughout this county. We have less than half a dozen addresses within the county that do not have access to broadband fiber. So, you can be in a very rural, very remote area, but still be able to conduct business over the Internet right from your deck, looking at the lake.”
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kennetta-Renee’ Robertson, D.Min., Ph.D., knows firsthand what McCormick County has to offer. “I’m a native of McCormick who recently came back,” she says. “I had to ask myself, why would I want to come back to McCormick? Beyond the fact of this being my home, what’s the feasibility of me being able to live and grow a business, be sustainable?”
The answer to that question quickly became clear as she considered her return. “It’s a good balance,” she explains. “I have likened McCormick to the iconic Hilton Head from the perspective that we have a lot of the natural resources that the low country [has]. Where they have an ocean, we have a lake. The demographics are somewhat similar. I really believe that McCormick is a well-kept secret. We are like a quintessential Hallmark town. We literally have a Main Street.”
Robertson came back after years of living in larger metro areas to take over her father’s 45-year-old plumbing business. She also bought the oldest historic landmark in the county, which was once known as the McCormick Hotel, built in 1884. “There are so many other opportunities,” she says. “Come in with some fresh eyes. Look at the potential. We’re a town that’s literally built on a gold mine. So you can find your gold mine.”
This figurative gold mine “doesn’t have to be monetary,” Robertson adds. “This is a place you can smell the roses… You can have peace of mind.” She encourages people to come with that potential in mind and ask, ‘What can I do to give back? What can I do to start a business? What is missing?’ then act on that gap in the market. “Be the solution,” she says. “Take the leap.”
MRCOOL is one company that has recognized McCormick County’s potential and made the leap. Based in Kentucky, the business imports and distributes HVAC units. “They located in McCormick to get closer to the southeastern market,” says Warner. This location “gets you to almost 60 percent of U.S. consumers.”
Previously, “They were bringing their products into Long Beach, California, putting them on railroad cars, railing them to Memphis, and then putting them on trucks and trucking them to Paducah, Kentucky,” Warner says of MRCOOL. “And they wanted to eliminate that long rail trip, 1,800 miles across the U.S., and putting them in McCormick did exactly that. It’s a significant savings on every container load of mini splits they bring in. And that’s one of the reasons that makes a county like McCormick attractive… From our industrial properties, you can be in Augusta in 30 minutes. You can be in Atlanta in under two hours. You can be in the Port of Charleston or Port of Savannah within about two and a half hours. It’s a prime location.”
The county expects to announce the addition of another company soon, and the community is well prepared for these, and future, newcomers. “We just finished rough grading a 210,000-square-foot building pad in our industrial park and we’re doing about a $6 million upgrade to our airport,” Warner says. “We’re adding to our infrastructure for those industrial jobs. We’re working on the infrastructure at the airport, so we’ve got the ability for people to fly in and visit, fly in and do business, or fly in and recreate.”
The county is also preparing future workers to fill jobs. “We have the only residential high school focused on agriculture in the U.S. located in this county,” Warner says. Located on a 1300-acre property, the South Carolina Governor’s School for Agriculture at John de la Howe welcomes students from throughout the region. “I think we have somebody from virtually every county,” says Warner. “We have a couple from out of state.” In addition to receiving an education in math, science, English, and other basic requirements, students “can focus on horticulture, on bovine programs, on equine programs, on environmental land stewardship,” he explains.
“There are so many wonderful young people that will love to stay here,” Robertson says of these students, and area employers can support these future employees for a win-win outcome. “If someone wants to, or is considering coming to McCormick, [they can] reach out to the school system, be a part of the programs that they already have existing, whether it’s with John de la Howe or the public school system. Come in, be the solution, find out what we need in McCormick. Go to the schools, find the resources, maybe start an apprenticeship program.”
Overflowing with opportunities for launching and growing a business, McCormick County is ready to welcome newcomers who are eager to take advantage of all the community has to offer. “We are good soil to build on,” Robertson summarizes. “We’d love for you to come and plant and build on it.”
