Penny for Progress projects support Sumter's economic development, group leader says

Recruiting national and global industrial companies to set up shop in Sumter County is a catapult for the area's economic prosperity.

When voters said no to a 1% increase in sales tax to support millions in capital improvement projects during the next seven years in 2022, the team responsible for getting such companies to move here lost two years of progress.

Sumter Economic Development wants the vote to go the other way this November. Among the 30 projects, which were recently finalized by a committee then approved by Sumter County Council, that will be on Sumter voters' ballots in an all-or-nothing referendum is $3.5 million that would be used for two projects to bolster the city-county entity's ability to bring in companies and create new jobs.

DIRECT IMPACTS ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

If the Penny for Progress initiative passes this fall, $2 million of revenues from the capital penny sales tax would go toward industrial infrastructure to construct a 200,000-square-foot "pad ready" industrial site with options to expand for industrial recruitment.Work would include earth work, site work and civil engineering to prepare a property so that when a company does want to build in Sumter, a site is ready to break ground, according to Jay Schwedler, president and CEO at TheLink Economic Alliance and Sumter Economic Development/SumterEDGE.

The other $1.5 million would go toward property acquisition "to make sure we have enough certified industrial property in our portfolio," Schwedler said.

"It takes a long time to prepare an industrial site," he said. "It's different than commercial or retail (sites) that need a 4,000 (square-foot) footprint."

Industrial and manufacturing companies need to complete an endangered species report and wetlands analysis, a "whole host of due diligence. And they want that already done. … If you haven't done that, you're cut."

The footprints of Continental and others, most recently eVAC, a magnetic materials and solutions developer, "all of these wins, even down to commercial and retail to some degree, have all been as a result of prior penny passages. We had some of these projects to some degree on the 2022 referendum," Schwedler said.

In November 2022, after passing the previous two projects lists in 2008 and 2014, the initiative failed to secure majority support by 469 votes out of a total of nearly 27,400 votes cast. More than 100 came from one precinct, a rural area bordering Florence County. More than 2,000 ballots had the referendum question blank.

"Yes, we won eVAC, but we don't have the sites ready had we gotten the 2022 ballot," Schwedler said. "We've lost two years of work."

INDIRECT IMPACTS FOR COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT

While only two of the 30 proposed projects are directly related to buying or preparing property to be ready for a company to begin building, it's all connected, Schwedler said.

Spending $1 million on facility upgrades at Sumter Airport would allow for more taxi at a commute point often used by current and prospective industry leaders. Recreation and other quality-of-life projects entice companies to want to invest in the community.

"People want a good quality of life. Our clients, global industrial players, they appreciate our parks," Schwedler said. "Our tennis center is a political football because people are upset, rightly so, that our roads have potholes but we are building and paving walking trails and tennis complexes … but the penny isn't the fix-all for everything."

The proposed list does include $1.75 million for intersection safety, $21 million for county paving and resurfacing projects, $6 million for construction on U.S. 378, $10 million for a state road resurfacing match, $1.2 million for repaving on Pinewood Road, $1.5 million for redesign and streetscaping on Harvin Street, $300,000 for Pinewood sidewalks and an additional $3.5 million for community sidewalks and activity paths. The city and county do not own all the roads, so other projects can take longer if state and/or federal approval, planning and funding are required.

"The penny is an opportunity that is too good to pass up for all of us as a community. Not every project will appeal to every person," Schwedler said.

He said between 32% to 46% of revenue generated from previous penny initiatives came from people who don't live in Sumter County. It "levels the playing field" so that people passing through or visiting help fund these projects "rather than only citizens paying the tab for things that we need in the community."

"Preparation is not driven by the goodwill of a community's citizenry. It is driven by efforts the community makes to prepare to position the community for growth, and that is done ahead of time," he said. "And that is why the penny is so critical. It allows us to do these projects without raising property taxes."