Council Gives Final OK to Tax Breaks for Coca-Cola, Loom Craft

Anderson County Council on Tuesday gave final approval for tax incentives for the merger of an Alabama textile firm with a local textile firm - Loom Craft of Belton - creating 49 jobs with an average salary of $12 per hour and a total capital investment of $2 million.

In a short meeting, council also approved an amended agreement with Coca-Cola Consolidated, which plans to invest $13.5 million to construct a new Regional Sales and Distribution Center in Anderson County.  The new 150,000 square-foot facility will be built on a  36-acre site off I-85 Exit 35, will serve retail customers and consumers throughout the Upstate of South Carolina and parts of North Georgia.

Also on Tuesday night, council:

• Approved on second reading an ordinance authorizing the execution of a lease-purchase agreement which will not exceed $5,300,000 for the acquisition vehicles and equipment by Anderson County.
• Received a brief update from David Shellhorse, economics development services manager for Appalachian Council of Governments (ACOG), on the group’s annual strategy for economic development in South Carolina. ACOG is a voluntary organization of local governments in the Northwest corner of South Carolina, serving a region that includes the counties of Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg.
• Heard a report on 2015 Acts that Affect the County from South Carolina Association of Counties.  A link to the document can be found here.
• Heard a report from the county finance committee concerning authorizing Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns and his staff to explore the possibility of a spec building and industrial park for Anderson County.
• Tabled a motion to shred old county documents.