DILLON, SC (WBTW) -A project that should bring hundreds of jobs to Dillon County moved forward Wednesday.
Harbor Freight broke ground on a one million square foot expansion that will bring around 500 jobs to the area.
“Since we opened our first facility here in 2001, the company has continued to grow and so has our need for a larger distribution center,” said Harbor Freight Founder and CEO Eric Smidt. “We’ve made an investment in Dillon, we’ve become part of the community, and we’re proud to expand our presence in this region.”
Governor Henry McMaster was at the groundbreaking this week.
“Harbor Freight is a great company, we’ve got great companies here, we have homegrown companies and companies coming from elsewhere and when you have this kind of quality economic growth it makes the quality of life better for everybody this is really a great day for us,” said Governor Henry McMaster.
When Harbor Freight built its initial 500,000-square-foot distribution center in Dillon in 2001, the company had 106 stores. Now with more than 800 locations around the country the retailer required a larger distribution center to serve as its East Coast hub to receive and distribute products to more than 450 stores in 30 states.