145 jobs, $26 million investment? Why these Beaufort County companies got tax breaks
Through a series of complicated political maneuvers, four companies looking to relocate to northern Beaufort County were granted tax breaks over the past four months.
The companies, all manufacturing businesses which previously would have had to pay a large chunk of property taxes (10.5%), will now pay the 6% rate paid by most other South Carolina businesses. Beaufort County Council granted the tax incentives by separately approving a set of multi-county industrial park agreements, intergovernmental agreements, special source revenue credits and fees in lieu of taxes over several months.
In total, the four businesses — a brewery, two glass manufacturers and a stone manufacturer — are expected to invest over $26 million and bring 145 jobs to the Beaufort County region, according to Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director John O’Toole.
That investment, O’Toole said, will help diversify Beaufort County’s economy and create jobs.
The tax incentives, called Special Source Revenue Credits (SSRC) and Fees in Lieu of Taxes (FILOT), are granted by county governments and allow businesses in South Carolina to reduce their property taxes if they promise to invest a certain amount of money in an area.
If a business does not live up to its investment promise, it has to pay the tax incentive back to the county.
SSRCs and FILOTs are used to bypass the state’s requirement that manufacturing companies must pay a 10.5% property tax rate — an antiquated provision that dates to the late 1800s, when state leaders worried about out-of-state investors disrupting the agricultural trade, O’Toole said.
By lowering that tax rate to 6% through a “work-around,” he said, Beaufort County is able to attract out-of-state businesses and remain competitive. The tax incentives will be in place for 20 years, according to the agreements.
O’Toole and the economic development corporation are working with the four companies (with code names) —Salt Marsh Brewing Company (Project Burger), Materials Research Group (Project Garden), GlassWRX (Project Glass) and StoneWorks Inc. (Project Stone) — to relocate to northern Beaufort County.
Where are the companies going?
Salt Marsh Brewing Company
The Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation began working with the owners of Salt Marsh Brewing Company in May 2019, O’Toole said.
The company, which owns a brewery inside Old Town Bluffton’s Fat Patties, is looking to expand in Port Royal next to Fishcamp on 11th Street.
The new Port Royal business will be an expansion of Salt Marsh Brewing and offer the same beers, as well as a new line of sour brews aged in oak barrels, The Island Packet previously reported. A 15-barrel brewhouse with a canning line will produce Salt Marsh’s line of beers, with plans to sell them in local stores.
The restaurant is yet to be named and won’t be another Fat Patties, owner Nick Borreggine previously said.
O’Toole said the new brewery will bring $4.5 million and 43 employees to northern Beaufort County. It’s expected to open later this summer, he said.
Called Wednesday, Borreggine said the tax incentive levels the playing field for manufacturing businesses.
“Any investment property is 6% except manufacturing,” he said. “It’s just not fair. Without doing [a tax incentive], we probably wouldn’t have done this project.”
Materials Research Group
A glass parts manufacturing company out of Roselle, New Jersey, Materials Research Group, is moving its operations to a 10,000-square-foot building in Beaufort Commerce Park.
The company, which largely makes glass parts for automobiles, is expected to invest $3.2 million and bring 26 jobs to the area, O’Toole said. It plans to open in January 2022.
GlassWRX
GlassWRX, a producer of glass products, moved into a vacant 84,000-square-foot building at 302 Parker Drive adjacent to the Beaufort Commerce Park.
The company, co-founded by Chris Fisher, the owner of Fisher Recycling in North Charleston, is expected to invest $15.15 million and employ 55 people, according to the tax incentive proposal.
StoneWorks Inc.
StoneWorks Inc. was one of the businesses along Hunter Road on Hilton Head Island forced to move for the expansion of the Hilton Head Island airport terminal.
O’Toole said his group worked with the company to make “the best out of a difficult situation.”
StoneWorks is operating its manufacturing center out of a new location at 779 Robert Smalls Parkway, founder John Baltzegar said. The company’s new showroom is being built in Bluffton, he said. He said they hope to have a grand opening in the near future.
The operation is expected to invest $3.2 million and create 21 new jobs, O’Toole said.
This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 4:40 AM.
