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Tag: Ty Davenport

  • Director of Economic Development Ty Davenport leaving County

    WINNSBORO – Fairfield County Director of Economic Development, Ty Davenport, has announced he will be leaving the county on May 25.

    Davenport

    Davenport is the eighth top county official to leave the county’s employ in the last year including the county administrator, assistant county administrator, attorney, clerk to council and several department heads.. Two more department heads will be leaving later this year to run for public office.

     “During the five years Ty was with the county, he did an incredibly good job,” said Davenport’s former boss at the county, former County Administrator Jason Taylor who is now the Town of Winnsboro Town Manager.

    “He had a long run of sustained economic development that turned the county around,” Taylor said. “As far as recruiting new industry while Ty was here, we brought in 1,000 new jobs and $90 million in new investment.” 

    In 2016, the year both Taylor and Davenport were hired by the county, its unemployment rate was 14 percent and had been in the double digits for years.

    “His work brought the county’s economic development to a vibrant, thriving level and the county’s unemployment rate down to three percent. The pandemic has brought it back up to about five percent,” Taylor said, “but the industry he brought in during his tenure will be responsible for generating over $1 million in new annual revenue for the county starting next year. “

    In 2016, the county had five available industrial buildings standing vacant. Today there are none.

    Taylor also credited Davenport as being significantly instrumental in settling the Dominion lawsuit in regard to economic development.

    “The way we crafted it for the future of the county and the moneys we got for economic development, the bulk of it went to the industrial park and the proposed sewer plant. That has kind of set the stage for future growth and to help keep taxes down,” Taylor said.

    “My involvement with the Dominion settlement in regard to economic development was very satisfying,” Davenport said. “I think it did put Fairfield in a position to compete and win more industry. Jason, Chris (Clauson) and I are very proud of the settlement and the opportunities it gives the county while maintaining our relationship with Dominion, a very important and valued ally.”

    In 2016, the county only had 34,000 gallons per day of sewer capacity available for new industrial users. Working with the Town of Winnsboro, Davenport and Taylor guided the development of a plan to access an additional 500,000 gallons per day within the next two years.

    “This new capacity will enable Fairfield to compete for projects that in the past exceeded the waste water system’s capabilities.” Davenport said.

    “With Jason’s and Chris Clauson’s experience,” Davenport said,” we worked on a two million gallon per day long term sewer solution that, with the funds made available by the settlement, is currently in the works and should be complete in four years.

    “Jason deserves all the credit for the vision and establishment of the Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System, and I am proud of my contribution to help bring it to fruition,” Davenport said. “The new sewer capacity that will be created by the new facility will be a game changer for the county.”

    County councilman Douglas Pauley said Davenport’s work leaves the county in excellent shape as far as economic development, moving forward.

    “We have a $450,000 square foot graded pad complete and ready for a large industrial user. Grading on a 1,000,000 square foot pad is designed and permitted and will commence in June,” Pauley said.

    “Grading on a 270,000 square foot pad is also designed and permitted and will begin in June with a 100,000 square foot speculative building to be built on that pad,” Pauley said. “And mass grading (over 1.4 million square feet) on the county’s I-77 International Mega site will begin later this month or next.”

    Davenport added that the county has purchased and optioned property for the next 500-acre industrial development using 100 percent grant funding.

    In an email to county employees, Executive Assistant Gwendolyn Ashford released a two sentence notice of Davenport’s departure.

    “This is to report to each of you that Ty Davenport is resigning as Fairfield County Economic Development Director on May 25. We are grateful to Mr. Davenport for his contributions to the County during his time here and we wish him well in his next endeavor.” 

    “Ty has done a great job for the county, and his hard work will pay off for years to come for some of the companies he recruited,” said Taylor who was hired by the county on the same day as Davenport was hired. “I’ve enjoyed working with him while he was here. It was a very productive relationship, and we wish him well in the future.”

    Davenport has not yet disclosed where he will go after he leaves the county, but he said he will still be working in the Midlands.

  • Magazine: Fairfield is SC’s next big boom

    COLUMBIA – An online magazine, Business in Focus, has dubbed Fairfield County as ‘South Carolina’s Next Big Boom’ in the cover story of its February 11 issue.

    The article credited the County’s purchase of a 1,200-acre industrial mega site along I-77 at Exit 34 as the catalyst for the boom – stimulating future economic growth and manufacturing capacity.

    The county acquired the site two years ago with a $3 million investment plus a $6 million grant from the state. Ty Davenport, Director of Fairfield County Economic Development, said the county is currently completing design work for the site’s infrastructure, paid for with another $2 million state grant.

    The article also highlights the county’s other important but frequently overlooked amenities – Lake Wateree to the east and Lake Monticello to the west featuring water sports and fishing as well as the lush rural areas that are havens for hunting, sprawling farms and cattle ranches.

    BOMAG facility in Walter Brown Industrial Park

    “Fairfield County is an untapped resource that a lot of people don’t know about. We really have something good going on here. We’re poised for growth,” Davenport is quoted in the article.

    The magazine targets industrial leaders and manufacturing companies looking for locations.

    “It [the magazine] is designed to be a marketing tool,” Davenport told The Voice, “and it does a great job in this piece on Fairfield.”

    The article points out the county’s ideal location with easy access to airports, seaports and other transportation networks.

    “Within an hours’ drive from the county seat of Winnsboro, residents have access to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, the fifth busiest international airport in the world as of 2017. When it comes to labor for industry, there is a large pool of more than 500,000 skilled workers who live within a forty-five-minute radius,” the article states.

    “There are really big opportunities here for people who want to grow their businesses,” Davenport said. “The county is on a very solid financial footing which gives us the ability to do projects, install infrastructure and help companies that are moving in. Our workforce is also younger than the national and state average.

    “If, for instance, a major auto manufacturer should show interest in our mega site, we will be able to meet their needs in every way including infrastructure, internet and transportation,” Davenport said.

    The article stated that Fairfield’s Economic Development Office is part of two regional development alliances that help market the county. The first is the Central South Carolina Alliance which is based in Columbia and mainly markets the area’s eight central counties to companies around the world. It also belongs to the South Carolina I-77 Alliance, which represents the five counties through which I-77 runs, known as the I-77 Corridor. This stretch starts out in Columbia and runs to Charlotte, North Carolina.

    “Together, we are promoting the county and all it has to offer – especially in terms of manufacturing and distribution,” Davenport said.

    According to the County’s Economic Development Office, the article states, Fairfield has many sites suitable for commercial, industrial, and distribution activities, making it an ideal spot for businesses.

    “What makes it even better is the fact that South Carolina offers significant incentives that really benefit industry. This means that you can have a facility in Fairfield County and enjoy lower costs while still benefitting from Charlotte and Columbia’s amenities,” Davenport added.

    This budding industrial haven has a lot to offer both new and seasoned manufacturers, the article states. With vision and drive, the magazine concludes that the leadership of Fairfield County is working to grow the county into the economic powerhouse it deserves to be.

  • Davenport: Fairfield County short on inventory

    RIDGEWAY – The County’s Director of Economic Development, Ty Davenport, is tickled pink that the county has a potentially interested buyer for its only spec building, a 75,000 square foot big box in the Walter Brown Industrial Park off Cook Road, but his elation is exceeded by his worry that the County doesn’t have the marketable industrial properties that it needs to stay up with its competition.

    Some Fairfield County residents, however, have voiced objection when the County considers purchasing more land for economic development.

    Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor, left, and the County’s Director of Economic Development Ty Davenport, survey infrastructure construction in the Fairfield Commerce Center off Peach Road that is scheduled to be finished in the spring. | Barbara Ball

    “When it comes up that the County is looking to buy several hundred acres of property for economic development, the perception is that the County owns all this property and has a tremendous amount of inventory,” Davenport told The Voice last week during a tour of the County’s 600-acre Fairfield Commerce Center off Peach Road, the second of its two industrial parks.

    “But we don’t,” he said. “Our marketable territory is pretty slim today compared to the main counties we compete with. We have a total of about 600 buildable acres. Chester County has 1,353 marketable acres available, twice what we have. Kershaw has 1,000+ marketable acres and Orangeburg County, a big competitor of ours, has 1,850 acres ready to go,” Davenport said. “Orangeburg has 10 industrial parks compared to our two – the Fairfield Commerce Center and the Walter Brown Industrial Park. And these numbers don’t include mega sites.”

    Davenport said the County has about 475 buildable acres in the Fairfield Commerce Center and only 32 total buildable acres in the Walter Brown Park.

    “When recruiting industry, we have to be ready for them. Things happen faster today than they did 20 years ago, and the county that has marketable, ready-to-go property is going to do better,” Davenport said.

    Asked what other inventory there is in the County, Davenport said there are six available buildings – the former Mack Truck building, (676,000+ square feet), the former Caterpillar building (50,000+ square feet), the spec building (75,000 square feet), the 123,000-square-foot Charm building in Ridgeway that has only 22,000 square feet available, the Fazio (Plastec) building (175,000 square feet) on Highway 34 and about 20,000 square feet available in the 65,000+ square foot Ying Zin building in Walter Brown Park. All but the spec building are privately owned but marketed by the County.

    “With the improving economy, the Mack Truck building has been getting lots of looks lately. It’s one of only six buildings over 600,000 square feet available in the whole state. It has rail and a new $3 million roof. It’s a clean building inside with a clean environmental report. It’s ready to go,” Davenport said. “It’s a big property with a lot of value on 150 acres. It could be expanded up to a million square feet fairly easily. A company that’s interested in a big building in South Carolina will look at it,” Davenport said. “Besides the potential jobs, that building can bring in significantly more property taxes annually for the County than the $400,000 it now generates.”

    The only other site that could hold a building the size of the Mack Truck building is a 100-acre site located in the 210-acre second phase of the Fairfield Commerce Center. That site will be ready to market in late spring. Graders are currently adding water and sewer lines and roads.  That work is being financed with $7 million from the County’s $24 million bond money.

    Davenport said the County has saved about $1 million on the project by redesigning part of the site and securing almost $700,00 in grants. The County harvested a portion of the timber on the property and plans to use the proceeds to pre-grade building pads for new users.

    Driving past BOMAG, a mid-size company that sits at the entrance to the Fairfield Commerce Center, Davenport pointed to a yard full of shiny yellow road paving equipment that the company assembles. He described the company as fantastic.

    “It’s an international French-owned German company that employees 120 people and owns 120 companies around the world. That’s a good connection for us.” Davenport said.

    For some in the County, the 1,200-acre mega site purchased last year on Highway 34 east of I-77 is the elephant in the room. Shortly after the County purchased the site, Val Green, a local engineer, announced during public comment session of a County Council meeting, that the property was full of granite and would be difficult to develop. Davenport said the state conducted geo technical studies on the property that show the granite to be well below the surface and should not be an issue. He also said soil borings were conducted on the site. Davenport conceded that this site, like all sites, has grading challenges. He also said the site would require water, sewer and natural gas before it would be marketable. However, he said the site has two big pluses.

    “It’s the only industrial site the County owns that has rail access,” Davenport said. “That’s a top priority for the more desirable industrial sites.”

    Another plus is that while the property cost a whopping $8,700,000, the County only had to kick in approximately $3,000,000. The Department of Commerce covered the remaining $6,000,000. The state has also agreed to assist in covering the cost of infrastructure for the site.

    “This site is for the big one, the big user, the grand slam, the home run,” Davenport said of the mega site. “But it’s not going to be marketable for 12-18 months. We still have to design truck access.  As for rail access, a spur just needs to be constructed from the track to reach into the site,” Davenport said.

    In the meantime, Davenport said the County is trying to recruit more good mid-size companies like BOMAG for sites soon to be available in its two existing industrial parks. “I’d like to bring in 10 companies like BOMAG,” Davenport said. “Ten companies bring in 10 accountants, 10 lawn care people, 10 people doing whatever. We want those people in the County. We’re trying to figure out ways to drive the local economy, not the national economy.”

    While Davenport said he feels the County is woefully short on marketable properties, he rattles off some of the County’s assets.

    “The region is attractive, and the County brings a lot to the table to attract good, clean industry,” he said. “We have 1.2 million people in a 60-minute drive time, giving us access to a good workforce – about half a million employed people – and companies are looking for people who are currently employed. We have Lake Wateree, Lake Monticello, proximity to an international airport in Charlotte and a world class zoo and university in Columbia. We have the Fairfield County museum and Carolina Adventure World in our back door, Gamecock sports, plenty of great housing in Columbia, Northeast Columbia, Blythewood and other rural and small town settings in the County. And the shopping in Ridgeway and Winnsboro is getting better every day. There’s something for everyone here,” Davenport said.

    Another plus, Davenport said, is that Winnsboro and the County are becoming big assets to each other. He said the two leaderships are working together now to make things happen.

    “County Administrator Jason Taylor has a background in town administration and understands town development. He has a passion for it.  We have a new grant writer in the Town, and the County has hired a new community development director who will be working not only with Winnsboro but the smaller towns in the County as well. What he’s doing will make my product easier to sell,” Davenport said.

    “More than anything, I hope the people in the county understand that when the County buys land, we are not just land banking. We are trying to acquire an inventory to accommodate different size buildings that meet the needs of multiple end users,” Davenport said. “We have to have outside money coming in or the town and county will wither up. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to recruit money into the County.”