Brace For Snow

County hunkers down for frigid winter storm

By Mandy Catoe

Friday, January 6, 2017

Frigid temperatures are guaranteed and a blanket of snowfall is likely for Lancaster County this weekend as a blustery storm swings up the East Coast.
A winter-storm warning is in effect for the county from late tonight through Saturday afternoon. The National Weather Service in Columbia upgraded its watch to a warning Thursday afternoon.
The snow forecast has changed several times the past couple of days. The latest estimate puts most of the county in the 2- to 5-inch zone. But everyone agrees about the frigid temperatures ahead.
“On Monday, we will have dangerously cold weather,” said Darren Player, the county’s emergency management director.
“Lancaster County will experience some of the most frigid weather we’ve seen in several years, with possible wind chills of zero to below zero on Monday morning.”
Frostbite is a real danger, Player said.
The weather service is forecasting a low of 8 degrees Sunday night. The forecast highs for Saturday, Sunday and Monday will barely hit the freezing mark.
S.C. Department of Transportation trucks were out early Thursday spraying brine on primary roads including S.C. 9, S.C. 9 Bypass, S.C. 200 and U.S. 521. Crews in each of the state’s 46 counties began preparing snow- and ice-removal equipment Wednesday morning.
“We will be treating all primary routes today,” said John McKay, SCDOT resident maintenance engineer.
DOT crews will be working 24-hour shifts beginning today and will continue pretreating roads until plowing operations become necessary.
Lancaster County will assist DOT first on main thoroughfares and then secondary roads. Public Works Director Jeff Catoe said all equipment will be ready by this morning.
“We are inventorying our blades, salt and equipment and will have everything in place by Friday morning,” Catoe said.
Duke Energy said it does not expect power outages to be a problem during the storm.


The Lancaster Warming Center located at 1242 Trestle Lane will be open 24 hours through Monday morning beginning tonight at 6 p.m.
The regular hours of 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. will resume Monday, according to Melanie Outlaw, chair of the Lancaster Area Coalition for the Homeless.
“We operate with volunteers who have other jobs, and we don’t have staffing past Sunday night,” Outlaw said.
The Lancaster County School District postponed all after-school activities planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to Bryan Vaughn, district safety director.
“We’re monitoring the forecasts for the next few days, and postponing activities just makes sense,” Vaughn said. “We always make these decisions based on keeping students and staff safe.”
The storm will begin with rain tonight, changing to snow mixed with freezing rain and sleet through midday Saturday. The snow will taper off to light freezing drizzle Saturday afternoon.
The National Weather Service is forecasting 2 to 5 inches of snow here, along with a tenth of an inch of ice. Temperatures will drop below freezing this evening and to the upper 20s by Saturday morning. Visibility could be less than a mile early Saturday.

At Walmart 9 pm Jan 5

Walmart Bread section at 9 pm Jan 5

Duke Energy’s meteorologists issued this snowfall prediction Thursday afternoon. According to their estimates, the northern part of Lancaster County may get up to 4 inches of snow, shown in dark blue, and the southern half up to 3 inches.

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

(from last year)

The story behind the story.  Bobbie Catoe, my Mama, is the smartest, strongest woman I know and the most loving.

Let me add here that my Mama is an angel.  I watched her take care of Uncle Sonny for the past ten years.  She helped him keep his home until he could not afford it anymore and then she gave him the trailer in her backyard to live in.  When his health was such that he could not drive a car anymore, she helped him get a golf cart - a sporty golf cart.  She made that trailer into a home and looked after him until his health needs required him to be put in a nursing home. Then she made Room 121 at White Oak Manor into a home.  She did the paperwork to get him in the VA hospital for services, filed for his veteran's benefits for him, did the paperwork so he could receive his meds from the VA, helped him get his disability benefits, and fought many battles on his behalf that no one will ever know about.  She had to play the game at the end with White Oak and Springs Memorial that allowed him to keep his room at White Oak when the hospital stays exceeded the quota.  She is smart.  She is determined.  She lugged the wheelchair around with her when she took him to the many hospital, doctor's visits and VA appointments.  One of the most poignant moments I recall was when I was driving them to the VA on I-77 before the amputations.  He was in the front passenger seat, and mama could read his body language.  She told me to pull off at the next exit and she got out and rubbed the cramps out of his legs.  She just knew.  Intuitive.  Plugged-in - in the way that the great spiritual teachers tell us we should be.  I'm not talking about the internet or smart phones.  I'm talking about that invisible cord that connects us to each other and it vibrates with a subtle hum that only the spiritually awake can hear and feel.  My Mama is that advanced.  I've read so many spiritual books, but they pale in comparison to what she teaches with her life every single day.  A very beautiful scene from "It's A Wonderful Life" has God speaking to Clarence, an angel sent down to help George Bailey so Clarence could earn his wings.  Clarence asks God, "Is George Bailey sick?"  God replies, "No, it's much worse.  He's discouraged."

My mama held back the dark cloud of discouragement for Uncle Sonny with her countless visits, bringing treats, doing his laundry, bringing peppermint candy until he could not even eat that anymore.  The best thing she did was her daily reminder to him that despite this aggressive disease that took his legs and his ability to speak and eat that he was still Sonny and that as long as he was alive she would not let him forget that or forsake him.  She sat with him through the last night of his life holding his hand until he took his last breath.  She was whispering words of hope, acceptance, encouragement right to the end.  Then she took care of the details.  And with all that going on, she still gave us (who call her Mama, Grandma, or Aunt Bobbie) the best Christmas ever.

Clarence was sent back to earth to earn his wings.  I have no doubt that my Mama's wings are already waiting for her in Heaven.

January 1, 2016

Pope Hangs Up Robe

Longtime chief magistrate retires after 20 years on the bench

Jaqueline “Jackie” M. Pope, the first female chief magistrate in Lancaster County history, wore her Judge’s robe for the last time Friday.

Jaqueline “Jackie” M. Pope, the first female chief magistrate in Lancaster County history, wore her Judge’s robe for the last time Friday.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to do this,” said Pope, who is retiring after more than 20 years of service.
A Winthrop graduate, she worked in the school system 17 years before becoming a part-time magistrate for the town of Kershaw in November 1995.
Two years later, Pope was hired full time after being appointed as chief magistrate by Sen. Greg Gregory, head of the county’s legislative delegation.
Gregory said Pope was clearly the right choice.
“I’ve made thousands of decisions as senator for this district over the years, but I’ve never made a better decision than I did when I hired and appointed her as chief magistrate,” Gregory said.
Pope’s retirement plans revolve around a deliberate intention to enjoy and embrace every moment with her family.
Pope and her husband, former SLED agent Clayton Pope, have been married for nearly 49 years.
They have one daughter, Angie Jones, and two grandchildren, Will and Lainey.
“Clayton and I are just going to take one day at a time and enjoy each other and each day the good Lord gives us,” Pope said.

Centralized court
Gregory said one of Pope’s major accomplishments was overseeing the 1999 consolidation of the county’s magistrate system into one centralized location.
For years, the centralized office was on Wylie Street. After the space was outgrown, the office was relocated to S.C. 9 Bypass East.
The streamlining of court, combined with Pope’s leadership, Gregory said, “has given us one of the best magistrate courts in the state.”
Pope said she is proud of the improvements made in the judicial system the past 17 years. Becoming a centralized court was the biggest change, she said.
“Having all the records in one place has made everything easier,” she said.
Pope has also witnessed other changes and advancements in the last two decades.
“When I started as a magistrate, I had to do everything manually, but now, thanks to technology, everything is done by computer for all kinds of record keeping,” she said.
Pope said the most recent improvement at Central Court is video conferencing. That change means magistrates no longer have to go to the detention center on Pageland Highway for bond hearings.
“Our judges are here and this has made everything so much safer,” Pope said.
Pope insists the magistrate office’s “amazing staff” is the key to its success. The staff includes eight clerks and two constables who work with four judges.
“They are the most important part of the court system here and they are the ones who make the court run smooth,” she said.
Wendy Ellis, who has worked with Pope for the past 16 years as a clerk, describes Pope’s retirement as bittersweet.
“I think it’s great for someone to retire and be in perfect health to enjoy their remaining years like that,” she said.
“I’m happy for her, but it is sad for us. It’s hard losing a member of your family and we are family here. I love her dearly, and we are going to miss her.”
Ellis said Pope’s greatest strength is an even, motherly demeanor.
“She disciplined when she needed to discipline like any parent would,” Ellis said. “She treated us like family by caring for us and reprimanding us when we needed it.”
Pope said her faith and a strong prayer life have gotten her through the difficult cases.
She often looks to Micah 6:8 – “He hath shown thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God” – as a scriptural anchor.
Full circle
Pope’s time as a magistrate was indeed meant to be full circle. The first and last cases heard by Pope were argued by longtime local attorney Francis Bell.
Bell, a former Lancaster County Council member, lauded Pope for her consistency on the bench.
“She was a good judge who tried to be fair with everybody,” Bell said.
And Pope, the consummate judge, didn’t handle that final case any differently.
“When you put the robe on, everything changes with the way you see things,” she said. “You are completely neutral and detached and you only see the facts.”

Follow reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

Pet Sanctuary

Gloria Davey’s 10-year quest for no-kill shelter in the county

The pieces are falling into place for Gloria Davey, a cheerfully obsessed 64-year-old Indian Land retiree.
Six years ago, she started the nonprofit animal-rescue group Paws in the Panhandle, with a thrift shop to generate revenues. In 2014, the group paid $92,000 for 12 acres near Fort Mill. Now, with architectural plans ready, she is raising money to build her dream – a no-kill shelter that would save more than 1,000 dogs and cats each year.
“I feel so blessed to have such great people helping make this much-needed facility a reality,” Davey said.
“I could not be happier to be a part of this solution and to be where we are in such a short period of time.”
The 4,000-square-foot building will cost about $700,000, Davey said. She plans to raise half the construction cost in donations, then ask a bank to lend the rest. The nonprofit has collected more than $100,000 toward that goal.
“We are kicking off our capital campaign,” Davey said. “We have come this far with our resources and are now reaching out to the community.”
Davey got a good fundraising bump the Friday after Thanksgiving. She was explaining all this to a reporter at the thrift shop, PAWSitively Thrifty. The place was busy, with a dozen cars in the parking lot.
A woman walked up, interrupted Davey and asked for her 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-identification number.

“I’m playing Santa Claus today,” said the woman, Rep. Deborah Long, who is retiring from the S.C. Legislature after four House terms. “I have a big chunk of change left in my campaign account, and we are allowed to donate to a 501(c)(3).”
By the time Long left, Davey was $1,000 closer to her target.
Paul Craig of Indian Land, a longtime Davey backer, bought a love-seat recliner that day for $185.  
“We like to go through and find all kinds of treasures, and we like to support Paws in the Panhandle,” Craig said. “We are always contributing. We take some things out and bring things back in. It’s a great cause.”
Davey, a Chester native, retired in 2005 from Springs Industries after a 35-year IT career. At 55, she was too young and healthy to settle into the rocking chair on her porch. She had no children or grandkids to keep her busy. Her mother had recently passed away, and a divorce offered a new lease on life.
Davey signed up for a nine-month course to become a certified dog trainer.
She had never been to an animal shelter. During the course, she spent a lot of time on the dog side of those chain-link fences.
“I didn’t even know what a shelter was,” Davey said, with a little lingering embarrassment.
“I thought shelter animals were mean, aggressive and bit people.”
While getting her certification, Davey found her calling in life.

One step at a time
It started with Brownie, an abandoned mutt at the York County Humane Society. He was an unruly 65-pounder, and at age 3, his irresistible stage had long passed. It appeared he would spend his life without a family.
Davey began working with the dog several times a week, building trust and providing consistent care and discipline. Three months later, Brownie was adopted.
Davey spent the next several years volunteering in shelters, training abandoned and discarded dogs.
She decided she could save more animals by forming a rescue group. So in 2010, she founded Paws in the Panhandle. To fund the nonprofit, she started the thrift store on Whippoorwill Lane, just off Possum Hollow Road. All proceeds went to the rescue group.
At the time, Davey was orchestrating the rescue and placement of dogs with about 20 foster homes. She pulled dogs from county shelters, provided veterinarian care and hosted adoption events.
For a pet to be adopted, Davey interviewed the prospective owner, coordinated a meet-and-greet for the pet and checked references. The group averaged placing one dog each week in a permanent home.
Davey started making plans to build a sanctuary for homeless animals that would be inviting to people looking for a pet, a loving place for cats and dogs that had nowhere to go.
For six years, she has methodically pushed forward in her plans, step by step, through frustration, fatigue, bad knees and high blood pressure.
By the end of 2014, using profits from the thrift store and community donations, the nonprofit paid $92,000 for a 12-acre site near Regent Park in Fort Mill.
Davey realizes some pets have to be euthanized because of illness, injury or temperament, but at her sanctuary, no healthy animal will ever be killed because of limited space. There are only two no-kill facilities in the area, one in York County and one in Mecklenburg County.
On Davey’s refrigerator hangs a beautiful architectural drawing of the pet sanctuary. The facility would have 20 dog runs and house up to 50 dogs and, separately, 20 cats.
Most of them would come from area shelters, including the overcrowded Lancaster County Animal Shelter. According to shelter Director Alan Williams, 328 dogs were put to sleep there in 2015. The number is smaller this year, 151 through November.
The numbers for cats are much higher. In 2015, the county euthanized 1,043 cats, and 1,185 so far this year.

Ironing out details
The past two years Davey has cut back on adoption drives to focus on getting the sanctuary built. She has met with civil engineers, county zoning officials, architects and builders.
Since 2014, the thrift store and community donations have raised a third of the $350,000 needed to qualify for bank funding.
Donations of any amount can be made on the website www.pawsinthepanhandle.com, on the group’s Facebook page or in person at PAWSitively Thrifty. The group recently began a GoFundMe page, Paws in the Panhandle Sanctuary.
“If everyone in the county would give $2, we could build this,” Davey said. “We are in search of every single dollar from those willing to help us make this happen.”
Paws is seeking corporate and individual sponsors for one-time donations or ongoing contributions.
Davey said she’s confident that once the sanctuary is built, the income stream in place will provide the necessary $150,000 in annual operating costs.
Linda Taylor, one of three members of the nonprofit’s board of directors, said her longtime friend’s commitment to the project has been absolute.
“Gloria is a great person and very dedicated to this dream, and she is very focused on it,” Taylor said.
“This has been her life since 2010…. She has done everything in her power to make it happen. It has been a lot of work. I had no idea when she first started this what she was taking on, and I’m not sure she did either.”
Paws in the Panhandle’s board meets at 6 p.m. the first Monday of every month at the Del Webb Library in Indian Land. The public is welcome to attend.

Davey says her faith in her mission and a higher power keep her going.
“I have prayed about this so much,” she said.
“This is why I am here. I know it is. I pray, ‘Dear Lord, if this is something you want me to do, then give me some help.’”
Davey is ready to sit in that dusty rocking chair on her front porch. She has no doubt the sanctuary will be built and she can enjoy retirement at a slower pace, with her little, long-haired Chihuahua, Bella, in her lap.
Her plan for the sanctuary includes an ongoing advisory board with an attorney, a veterinarian and an accountant.
“I want it to run without skipping a beat when I die,” Davey said.

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.

https://www.gofundme.com/w9mk4b98

Want to help: Donations can be made on the website www.pawsinthepanhandle.com, on the groups facebook page or in person at PAWSitively Thrifty. The group's gofundme link is above - Paws in the Panhandle Sanctuary.

Surrender

From May 3, 2015
 

I'm sitting alone in a rented suite in Asheville on a Saturday night.  I will begin Yoga Teacher Training Monday, May 4.  My goal is to deepen my yoga practice, to deepen my experience of life, to deepen me - to live in the present moment more fully.  It's not about standing on my head or contorting myself into some human pretzel.  It's about standing firm in my life with an open heart and becoming love and sharing that love.  It's about tapping into the stillness beneath the turbulence and haze and inviting that Witness (Sakshi) within me to emerge.  The Witness is known by other names:  observer, eyewitness, Supreme Being, Pure Awareness.  It is that part of us that sees all the commotion but is unaffected.  It's all knowing, non-judging and pure love.  

And here with this blog, I will bear witness.  I will be the bare witness.  Raw and real.  Testifying.  Revealing.  Offering hope for all of us.    

I used to say that I wish I could take 28 days out of life, like an addict trying to recover,  to reconnect with my innermost self so that I could leave the "treatment center" with a more integrated me.  Life has a way of fragmenting and we rarely have time to defragment and become an integrated whole.  The inbox keeps getting full and there seems to not be enough time to empty it or give each item it's due.  Or it seems the noise keeps us from feeling our wholeness, experiencing the Witness.  We go through the motions with an ache that something is missing.  

I'm taking that time now.  I'm 52 and the stars lined up to make this all possible.  It was a matter of the old way of living leaving much to be desired combined with an auto accident settlement that gave me enough money to buy enough time to do this.  I quit my job and took my retirement and paid off my debt.  When is the right time to go to yoga teacher training?  When you can.  For me, that is now.  

In graduate school over 25 years ago, I wrote a paper suggesting that we should all be in recovery like addicts.  My point was we should all be recovering our humanity.  Many years have passed since that time and I believe it to be true and more necessary now more than ever.  I am in recovery - recovering the real me.  It's a journey that began a long time ago and the many ways I have connected with the authentic me is by running, cycling, writing, photography and now yoga.   

I have committed to live in such a way that I am always connected with my higher self.  I quit my job with the state, took my retirement money and paid off $34,000 worth of debt.  I now am worth more financially, than I owe.  Finally.  How does one amass such debt?  And let me tell you, that's a lot of debt for someone whose yearly income has not exceeded that level.  Credit cards make it easy.  Sometimes survival.  Sometimes distraction.  So, in January of this year, I drew the line in the sand.  Screamed "No More" to the universe, mostly to myself.  I changed my life and quit a job that was going nowhere but leading to more debt as I bought more distractions in order to remain on the misery go round.  I am now on a more honest and genuine path.  If I can't afford it, I won't get it - whatever it is.  The old debts are paid.  

Now the journey is inward, to set right any karmic debts with my soul and the universe.  In keeping with the recovery analogy, I will make any amends necessary and I will make and keep conscious contact with my Higher Power.  

So on Monday, May 4, I will pick up my proverbial, albeit symbolic, white chip of recovery - the universal symbol of surrender.  I'm so grateful for this journey.  I will no doubt be out of my comfort zone from time to time, but that is where the growth happens.  I've never really liked the comfort zone.  I'm a newcomer with the faith of a beginner.  I surrender…    

May 2015

Gilbert Tweaks Incentives

 New CompuCom deal avoids Fancy Pokket pitfalls
 

By Mandy Catoe

Sunday, December 25, 2016

The incentive package that helped land 1,500 CompuCom jobs is unlike any Lancaster County has offered before – molded by painful lessons from the Fancy Pokket deal and the experience of the county’s new chief business recruiter.
“I want our community to be the most aggressive county in the state for local incentives,” said Jamie Gilbert, who has been county economic development director since July. “At the same time, we expect performance and accountability.”
In the Lancaster County lexicon, “Fancy Pokket” has come to mean delays and frustration. Under the 2012 deal, the Canadian baker got free land in the county’s industrial park, and it promised to open a manufacturing plant by mid-2014 and employ at least 68 people there within five years.
Things didn’t work out as planned. The company built a gleaming $11 million facility, but it hasn’t produced anything. After multiple hiccups and a threat from county officials this year, the company announced in October that it would start hiring immediately and begin baking in January. But now there’s another months-long delay.
Gilbert says when he came on board, he suggested a different incentive structure. CompuCom is that new kind of deal, designed so “we won’t have any Fancy Pokket situations.”
The problem with the Fancy Pokket agreement, Gilbert says, is that it had only two benchmarks. The company had to get a certificate of occupancy for the manufacturing plant, and it had to create 68 jobs within five years of the plant’s opening. Failure to do either of those things would result in a single penalty: the company would have to pay $274,000, the value of the county’s free land.
But a cash payment that big is a hard thing to ask of a new employer who is investing $11 million here, Gilbert says. And getting a company to write you a big check is sometimes not easy.
Fancy Pokket missed the twice-extended deadline for its certificate of occupancy, responding only to the county’s ultimatum this year. Now that it has that document, it has five years to create the 68 jobs. Technically, Gilbert said, it could hire all 68 people on the last day of the fifth year and still be in compliance.
The CompuCom incentive package is much different. It contains small annual benchmarks for what the company agrees to accomplish each year. And the deal’s penalties are not cash payments from the company. They’re adjustments to CompuCom’s tax bill from the county.
“From this point forward, all our tax credits are done based on annual agreed-upon job-creation numbers that have to be hit yearly,” Gilbert said. “If they fall short, then their tax credit will be less.”
Every new agreement will have a mechanism for reporting to the county’s Economic Development Department and working with the county’s auditor to ensure that the jobs are there, Gilbert said.
If a new business creates 80 percent of the target number of jobs in a given time period, then they will receive 80 percent of the tax credit for that period.
“This is easier and fairer for the company,” Gilbert said, “and allows us to maintain the trust of the residents who pay us to create jobs.”
Not all has changed
Despite this key difference, some parts of the CompuCom deal are familiar.
Its incentive agreement gives the company a Fee-In-Lieu-of-Tax-Agreement (FILOT) and a Special Source Revenue Credit (SSRC), which is an additional  reduction of the FILOT payments.
The 30-year FILOT arrangement reduces the assessment rate on the company’s personal property from 10.5 percent to 6 percent and provides a fixed millage rate throughout the period.
Personal property includes furnishings and business equipment and is normally taxed at 10.5 percent, whereas real property is taxed at 6 percent. The county offered the 6 percent rate to compete with neighboring states.
The FILOT for CompuCom is for both the personal and real property. Had CompuCom moved into an existing building, rather than constructing a new one, the FILOT would have involved only personal property.
Because Fancy Pokket was on county land, it owed no property taxes at all until after obtaining the certificate of occupancy. It missed deadlines for two years before finally getting the CO in late October.
“Without the CO,” Willis said, “the company doesn’t pay taxes, because the building doesn’t go on the tax rolls until after obtaining that.”
But in CompuCom’s case, the developer owns the land, so even if there are delays, taxes on the land will be paid.
In the case of Fancy Pokket, Gilbert said he would have structured the agreement with a timetable of smaller milestones. For example, the county could have allowed the company two years to get the CO. If it didn’t meet that deadline, the company could repay the land value in five yearly installments of $54,000.
During each of those five years, Fancy Pokket could have lowered the annual payment if it had created some of the promised jobs. For example, if  the company produced 50 percent of the promised jobs in a given year, it would pay the county 50 percent of the $54,000 that year.
No cash incentives
The county does not lure businesses with cash as some states do with grants. Willis said the county learned that painful lesson in 2002 with FrontDoor Communications.
Willis said the county improperly advanced $636,569 to FrontDoor as part of an incentive package to start a media company at Catawba Ridge, in western Lancaster County along the Catawba River. The Catawba Ridge development failed to materialize.
“That was a complete failure,” Willis said. “The company paid the county back with a bad check.”
Eventually the company repaid the debt.
Rudy Carter, then council chair, had to sign bad-check warrants for the company.
Former County Administrator Chap Hurst disbursed the funds based on a letter offering incentives to the company, rather than on a contract signed by the county council.
The company was supposed to bring 1,600 jobs and a $150 million investment to the county. But FrontDoor opened only temporary offices in Lancaster County, hired just a handful of people and published a few issues of a Charlotte magazine before it folded.
The money advanced to FrontDoor was returned to the county in 2005 when its former CEO Robert M. Davis Jr. became involved in a new company called Focal Pointe, which bought land at Catawba Ridge.
Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.

Per-capita Incomes Skyrocket In The County

 Up 66% in 5 years, led by Panhandle

 

By Mandy Catoe

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Per-capita income in Lancaster County has shot up in the past five years, propelled mostly by gains in the fast-growing Panhandle.
The county was last in the state on the 2011 income list, at $22,897 per person. This year’s figure is $38,043, up 66 percent in five years, according to a new report from the S.C. Department of Revenue and Towncharts.com.
Lancaster now ranks ninth-highest among the 46 S.C. counties and well above the state average of $32,505.
“This is fantastic and clearly shows that Lancaster County is growing and is a very desirable place for companies with high-paying jobs to locate,” said County Administrator Steve Willis. “I wish that it was spread more evenly over the county.”
The more prosperous Panhandle’s average was $48,880.
The city of Lancaster came in at $37,440, followed by Kershaw at $35,235 and Heath Springs at $34,112.
“Pockets within any community will have income disparity,” said Jamie Gilbert, the county’s economic development director. “That’s not unusual or alarming.”
Kershaw’s average was helped by Haile Gold Mine’s good-paying jobs, Willis said.
“The gold mine itself is spending a lot of money with local vendors and suppliers in the Kershaw area,” he said.
The top ten counties in the state are Charleston, Beaufort, Greenville, Lexington, Richland, Georgetown, York, Spartanburg, Lancaster and Oconee. Charleston is the only county over $50,000, at $50,838.
Chester County came in at 32nd with $30,441 and Chesterfield 34th at $29,962, both below the state average. Kershaw County was 13th with $37,322. The lowest-earning county was Marlboro at $25,161.
Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.