With hundreds of years of agricultural heritage, an ideal location halfway between Miami and New York, and within 10 hours of more than a third of the entire population of the United States, Northeastern South Carolina is a prime location for processing, harvesting, and distributing food and beverage products, raw materials, and other natural resources along the East Coast.
About a quarter of the South Carolina’s cultivatable farmland is in the nine-county region of the state’s northeastern corner. These farms produce more than $620 million in receipts annually. Local farmers are eager to work with and cultivate new relationships with food processors.
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) administers the issuance of federal permits in the state. DHEC gives priority to the permitting review of new facilities. Less than 1% of environmental permits in South Carolina are challenged.
Northeastern South Carolina sits atop the Middendorf Aquifer, which offers a virtually endless supply of naturally pure water that is ideal for beverage formulation and food processing. Numerous regional municipal systems are also flushed with significant excess water capacities as well.
Specifically for the food processing industry, we have identified several sites that have high tolerance waste-water systems, requiring less pretreatment, resulting in lower operating costs. Additionally, onsite pollution control equipment related to wastewater pretreatment systems are exempt from property taxes.
NESA and its member counties have dedicated tremendous financial resources to preparing its communities for future industry. As a result, extensive engineering and infrastructure due diligence has been completed and many industrial properties are “shovel ready”.
The northeastern region of South Carolina has a rich and constantly evolving agricultural history that has proven its success for over two hundred years. From farm-to-fork, Northeast South Carolina has a robust and established agribusiness supply chain and the critical transportation infrastructure needed to move product.
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