The long-awaited ceremony for the widening of Highway 78 project between Bamberg and Denmark, with a portion of the highway here-after to be named the Thomas N. Rhoad Highway, was held Tuesday morning on the steps of the Bamberg County Courthouse with many local and state officials on hand.

On January 26, 2010, South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP) and SouthernCarolina Alliance (SCA) launched a regional program in Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell and Hampton Counties to meet the needs of existing and prospective industry through assessments, continuous improvement training, and business advising. This program is designed to make the workforce more employable and productive and to improve the manufacturing process for local industries through Lean Manufacturing principles taken from the Toyota production system’s very successful philosophies.

SouthernCarolina Alliance held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 to celebrate the completion of the CrossRhodes Industrial Building, located at 61 Innovation Drive in the CrossRhodes Industrial Park on Highway 301 South of Bamberg.

“It’s amazing what we can do working together, thanks to all of you, we’re just beginning to celebrate all sorts of accomplishments,” DeThane Johnson Vice Chairman of SouthernCarolina Alliance told the gathering of local and state governmental and business leaders from the four county area of Bamberg, Barnwell, Allendale and Hampton and the across the state of South Carolina.

The Hampton County Rotary Club distributed 198 dictionaries and pencils in Bamberg County on October 27. Club members Holbrook Platts and Josh Barnes handed out dictionaries to all the third graders and their teachers at Andrew Jackson Academy, Denmark-Olar Elementary School and Richard Carroll Primary School.

The Hampton Club has been distributing dictionaries to third graders in Hampton County for a number of years. The club had been distributing to the Ehrhardt Elementary School and was asked by Bamberg County Administrator Rose Dobson-Elliott if they would consider distributing to the entire county. Dobson-Elliott was a member of the Hampton Club when they started delivering the dictionaries.

BAMBERG COUNTY COUNCIL
BAMBERG COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION

Would like to inform the public on the proposed: Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Ordinance, Land Development Regulations and Mobile & Manufactured Housing Ordinance.

You can read a PDF copy of these plans by downloading this Public Information Booklet.

Public comments can be submitted to:
Bamberg County Administrator
PO Box 149
Bamberg, SC 29003. Or in person at the Bamberg County Courthouse.

Elite Equine Shavings, LLC, has announced the opening of their equine bedding manufacturing facility, creating 24 new jobs at the former Kicking Horse operation site on Industrial Road in Bamberg, South Carolina.

According to owner George Leontire, “As horse owners, we have been acutely aware of the shortage of quality shavings for equine bedding and we have a unique perspective on the market. Ultimately, we decided to enter the shavings business, buying our own state of the art shavings mill in Bamberg South Carolina.

Investment expected to bring 30 new jobs to the area

COLUMBIA, S.C. – July 8, 2009 – The South Carolina Department of Commerce and SouthernCarolina Alliance announced that Rockland Industries Inc. will consolidate operations to its facility in Bamberg County. The company plans to invest $800,000 and create 30 new jobs.

SouthernCarolina Alliance, the regional economic development organization representing Bamberg County, has announced that a new industrial building will be constructed at CrossRhodes Industrial Park, located on US Highway 301 in Bamberg. A photo opportunity event to celebrate the groundbreaking was held on Thursday, June 18, at the construction site with representatives of Edisto Electric Cooperative, Santee Cooper, Bamberg Board of Public Works, Bamberg County Council, S.C. Department of Commerce, SouthernCarolina Alliance and other economic development partners.

Gov. Mark Sanford, the South Carolina Department of Commerce, Barnwell County and SCANA today announced that Crane Co. will consolidate its North American vending operations into its Dixie-Narco facility in Williston, South Carolina. The consolidation of the North American vending operations to South Carolina has the potential to increase employment at the Barnwell County facility by 1,000 jobs over the next five years, and hiring is expected to begin within the next 14 months. Crane Co. will invest approximately $20 million over time in its Williston facility to increase operations.

The chairmen of four county councils met in Hampton on Friday, December 12, for the signing of a multi-county revenue sharing agreement, which states that the citizens of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell and Hampton Counties will share the tax revenue from future economic development projects in the region. The agreement, which had been duly passed by each of the four county councils over the last few months, was initiated to strengthen collaboration among the counties and provide an additional incentive to companies to bring their jobs to the Southern Carolina region of South Carolina.

S.C. Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor welcomed Horsehead Corporation to South Carolina today at announcement ceremonies in Barnwell, where more than 150 business leaders gathered to celebrate an $87 million economic development project now being built at the S.C. Advanced Technology Park.

Horsehead Corporation is North America’s largest recycler of zinc-bearing materials. The company’s investment is expected to generate up to 65 new jobs.

Neil Pruitt Jr. Chairman and CEO of UHS-Pruitt Corporation of Toccoa, Georgia and the corporate staff of the organization were in Bamberg on Monday November 24 to meet with the employees and staff of the nursing center, and county officials to discuss the transition of the nursing center into the care of UHS-Pruitt and the process that will go about after a transition occurs.