Marlboro County lands new industry and 130 jobs

Marlboro County officials announced the decision by Arris Manufacturing, a producer of modular homes and modular panels for the residential building industry, to locate its operations in Marlboro County. This announcement represents a $11.9 million investment by the company and is projected to create 130 new jobs for the county.

Arris has purchased the former Baldor site in Clio and will begin improvements on the building beginning next month (January 2019).   The 162,000-square-foot building is located at 2660 Highway 9 East in Clio, S.C.  The Company’s schedule for recruiting employees and other details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Marlboro County Council and County Administrator/Economic Developer Ron Munnerlyn have been working on the project for some time and in a special called meeting last week, Marlboro County Council gave final approval to infrastructure credits for the project.  

Additionally, the South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development recently approved job development credits, as well as a $1 million Rural Infrastructure Fund grant, to assist with costs related to the project. 

State and local officials were quick to praise the Arris’ decision to establish operations in the county.

“Today’s announcement is proof positive of Marlboro County government’s commitment to recruiting new jobs and capital investment for our community. Most importantly, it is evidence of the pro-business environment of our county and the quality of our workforce,” said Marlboro County Council Chair Dr. Carolyn Prince.

Governor Henry McMaster remarked, “We’re excited to start the new year by celebrating this landmark announcement for Arris Manufacturing and Marlboro County. The 130 new jobs that will be created by this new facility will make a real impact on the local community, and I’m excited to see all that Arris Manufacturing will achieve in Marlboro County in the years ahead.” 

“We are beyond excited by Arris’ announcement.   It is great news for Marlboro County and the Town of Clio,” said County Administrator Ron Munnerlyn.  “We expect great things for Arris and look forward to working with the company as they ramp up operations in the coming year.”

Munnerlyn also expressed his belief that today’s announcement is a byproduct of county government’s strategic planning efforts completed in the fall of 2017.

“By developing strategic initiatives and empowering staff to focus on action and results, Council has cleared the way for even more good news like today’s announcement’” said Munnerlyn.  “With a well-defined strategy and with everyone on the same page, it makes it much easier to put together the details necessary for companies such as Arris to locate in our community.   Look for more good news in 2019.”

The Clio manufacturing site first opened in 1999 as a Rockwell International facility, producing heavy duty pulleys primarily for the mining industry.
Rockwell later sold the business to Baldor, which continued operations at the site until 2016, when the company closed the plant.  

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