COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County Council took Tuesday evening to discuss three new economic development projects coming throughout the county.
Eastover Solar will be located in Lower Richland county. The company made a deal with the county for $77 million in infrastructure credits to allow them to move in more easily.
Councilman Paul Livingston explained that this deal will help continue to push the county's economy forward.
"As a county council member, I think one of the most important things I do is economic development. if we are going to pay for services our citizens need, whether it be education, recreation, law enforcement, and so forth, those things require financial resources," Livingston explained. "I think what happens is, when we are able to magnify economic development like we're trying to do now, it creates all kinds of opportunities for things we can do for our citizens."
The next company is nicknamed project connect and it's a substantial investment. The $2 billion project will be located in Richland County's industrial park and is expected to bring 4,000 jobs over the course of 40 years.
Finally, a company nicknamed project subtext. The $85 million investment will bring plant commercial developments and new housing to the county.
Former Columbia mayor, Bob Coble attended the meeting to watch out for this specific agenda item. He says it's exciting to see the City of Columbia and Richland working together to bring more dollars to the community.
"Let me just say, Richland County Council and the City of Columbia are on fire economically. It means more jobs, it means higher paying jobs, it means more investment in the community, increases our tax base and is just a win-win," Coble said.
Although two of the three projects cannot be named yet, Councilman Livingston says these details will be made public in the next few months.
The solar farm in Eastover has been approved in its third reading and has been given the green light to set up shop when they are ready.
As for Project Connect and Project Subtext, neither have a timeline for completion right now. These two developments just got approved in their second readings and will not make it to the third reading until March so it's likely that these projects might not be looked at again until March 21.
The next regular session Richland County Council meeting will be on March 7 at 6 p.m.