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AESC is seeking a third round of state funding to expand its already historic investment in Florence County.

The Japanese manufacturer is building a $1.6 billion electric vehicle battery cell production plant that will employ more than 1,600 people.

The factory was referred to as Project Agave in a March 20 meeting of the state’s Joint Bond Review Committee, which approved the additional funds, and a March 21 meeting of Florence County Council, which gave first reading to an ordinance to facilitate the funding.

Most of the $110 million would go to creating a “second facility for the production of EV batteries,” according to documents attached to the Joint Bond Review Committee’s agenda, while infrastructure costs and training center improvements would also be funded.

The initial investment of $810 million in 2022 would have created 1,170 jobs. The Dec. 12 announcement upped that total to 1,620.

The factory is being built across the street from Wilson High School and will create cells that serve as the individual power storage units inside an electric vehicle battery. A single electric vehicle could require thousands of cells.

These cells will be used to make electric vehicles at the 8-million-square-foot BMW plant in Spartanburg, which employs 11,000 people.

To read the full story, click here.

The Terrence F. Carraway Foundation will be holding a Taste of Blue event on Friday June 7th from 5:30pm – 8:00 pm at the Florence City Farmer’s Market.  Tickets are $20 each and kids 5 and under are free.

All proceeds from the Taste of Blue will go directly to the TFC Foundation’s main project – The South Carolina Fallen Officers’ Memorial in honor of the late Sgt. Terrence F. Carraway, located at 611 S. Main Street, Darlington, SC.

For more information, click here.

Andrew Marsh from Northwestern Mutual, was the Chamber’s radio guest on ChamberLink Radio this past weekend, talking about talking about Northwestern Mutual serving clients through all kinds of economic ups and downs, including recessions and even the recent pandemic. You can catch the conversation each Sunday from 12:00 – 12:30 pm on LIVE 95.3FM in Florence, SC.

This radio program is brought to you by the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.

Last  week, the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SC Ports) announced the purchase of the former WestRock paper mill site adjacent to the North Charleston Terminal, which will, over time, allow SC Ports to significantly expand capacity at the North Charleston Terminal. The purchase of the roughly 280-acre waterfront property will grow the terminal’s capacity to “…handle 5 million containers in the future and create 5,000 feet of linear berth space for container ships and around 400 acres of terminal space for cargo.”

In a statement, SC Ports President and CEO Barbara Melvin said, “South Carolina’s economy is prospering, and we must continue to invest in our world-class port system to support the companies investing in our state. This is an incredible opportunity to enhance our high-performing North Charleston Terminal with renewed capacity to handle future growth.”

The state is expected to appropriate general funds to help aid in the purchase of the property. The House included $55 million for the purchase of the property in their version of the budget (H.5100) that passed last week.