A 30-year-old manufacturing company that operates in Loris wants to now invest $2.5 million and bring 20 jobs to Horry County.
This comes after the county joined forces with Myrtle Beach to offer a tax incentive package to the company.
Horry County has certain criteria that companies have to meet before the county will typically offer big tax breaks. Those minimums are: $2.5 million in capital investment, an average hourly wage of $15 per hour and 35 new jobs created over a five-year period.
The Loris company does meet the investment and hourly wage criteria, but it falls short by offering only 20 new jobs. County council made an exception and approved the tax break for them anyway.
“Looking at it from a county council perspective, that’s a $2.5 million investment in a building that is not producing any tax revenue at this point in time,” said County Chairman Mark Lazarus.
In December, a tech company that opened in Myrtle Beach suddenly shut down leaving 50 employees without a job. Greenwood Hall, the company that went under, did not meet the $2.5 million investment requirement; it fell short by a million dollars and had prior financial instability. Horry County and the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation approved the incentive package anyway.
“Both companies showed positive financial indicators and, again, presented that to County Council,” said MBREDC President Josh Kay.
Kay said that the Loris company should also be rewarded for its local roots. “It’s an existing company,” he said, “That’s continuing to be profitable and believes that it can continue to be profitable in Horry County.”
