WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC-Lancaster County, SC, lures Red Ventures away from NC
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INDIAN LAND, SC (WBTV) - A major internet company is pulling up stakes in North Carolina and taking its business just south of the border.
The move is just three miles in distance, but for the company and its future, it is huge.
The move from North Carolina to South Carolina will save the company millions of dollars in tax revenue and will allow the company to expand and create hundreds of new jobs in Lancaster County, SC.
Six months ago, South Carolina resident Jennifer Clayton became a statistic when she was laid off from her job.
"What am I going to do now? What's the next step? How am I going to pay the bills?" were all questions Clayton asked.
She was out of work for three months and picked up a new gig at Red Ventures.
In November, hundreds of people who are looking for work in Lancaster County may feel the same way as Clayton.
Marshall Reiffsteck, who is with Red Ventures, said the company needed to move.
"In two years, we've already out-grown a building we thought we'd be in for 10 years," Reiffsteck said.
Instead of uprooting current employees, they found a place three miles away in a new state.
"Lancaster County and South Carolina were very aggressive in courting us," said Reiffsteck.
Red Ventures' new location will be at the 521 business park in Indian Land. Employees will be able to look out their window and see the state line just a mile away. That one mile means a lot to South Carolina.
Red Ventures' move will be a $20 million investment to South Carolina and within the next five to seven years, is expected to generate 1,000 jobs in Lancaster County.
"That's a thousand jobs which is huge," said South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.
Sanford was in Rock Hill Wednesday for the opening of another business. He thinks South Carolina will see more companies following in Red Ventures' footsteps and he says it comes down to incentives.
"What it says is, the business soil conditions are better in South Carolina than North Carolina, and that competition goes on every single day," said Sanford.
One incentive in which Lancaster County offered is a proposal to provide job training programs in partnership with the company.
They hope the partnership will provide a skilled work force that will help the company and county grow more rapidly in the coming years.
More than 18 percent of the residents of Lancaster County are jobless. Clayton hopes this move will help some of them find work like she did.
"There's going to be so much more opportunity for them," Clayton said.
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