CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – A marine industrial park is on its way to the Bucksport area of Horry County.
Horry County Council Chairman, Mark Lazarus, said the project is a partnership between Horry County, the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation, Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority and Santee Cooper.
The goal is to bring in a boat manufacturer which Lazarus said could bring hundreds of new jobs.
“The key to this whole thing is to create jobs,” he said. “To create an economy. The more jobs we can create, higher paying jobs, we’ve diversified our economy by doing that.”
Lazarus said they are currently talking with a few companies which would be offered a tax break as an incentive to come to the area. A road off 701 South is already being constructed which would lead straight to the Bucksport Marina area so construction and industrial trucks wouldn’t be driving near residential areas.
GSWSA has a pending loan agreement with Santee Cooper for $5 million and a grant from Santee Cooper for $1 million to support the construction. The 47-acre plot of land is owned by GSWSA and Lazarus expects the project to be complete in two years.
You can read more about the agreement here.