Red Bullet

Building upon a community’s manufacturing tradition to catalyze new opportunities. 

Anderson, South Carolina, an Appalachian community with an unemployment rate of 16.9% (2.04x the national unemployment rate), was prioritized for investment as the community was in desperate need of quality jobs. Despite the population growing by an annual rate of 5.3%, 39% of all residents are commuting out of Anderson County for employment to places like Greenville, Pickens, and Spartanburg. However, Anderson has a competitive advantage in that the county has a strong backbone in the manufacturing industry, with the number of employees working in the manufacturing industry outnumbering the second closest industry by over 5,000 people. 

To bring additional quality manufacturing jobs into Anderson County, The Innovate Fund supported the 150,000 SF expansion of an existing 168,000 SF manufacturing, warehouse, and office facility for the purpose of housing Pregis Films, LLC, a high tech, blown film manufacturer, by providing $10,000,000 of NMTC allocation. 

The expanded manufacturing space will support the retention of 36 jobs and the creation of 151 new, permanent full-time jobs. Additionally, the construction activities on site will support another 20 construction jobs. All permanent jobs created by the project will be quality positions with pay double the living wage for Anderson County and benefits such as healthcare, retirement, an employer funded wellness program in partnership with the local YMCA, and job training in partnership with Ready SC.

“With the NMTC subsidy, the initial construction expansion can begin and serve as a catalyst for the completion of the full scope of the project allowing Pregis to maximize the anticipated benefits to the community.” 

Jon McClure, President of SC Operations for Pregis Performance Flexibles