Charlene McGriff, Councilmember, Lancaster County
In an interview with Invest:, Charlene McGriff, councilmember for Lancaster County, highlighted the county’s dual strategy of attracting new industries while supporting local business expansion. From healthcare advancements and workforce training to fostering inclusive growth across its diverse communities, the county’s efforts reflect a focus on sustainable development. With collaboration from schools, businesses, and civic groups, McGriff emphasized Lancaster’s commitment to balancing economic momentum with an enhanced quality of life.
How is the county balancing efforts to attract new businesses while fostering the growth and sustainability of existing local enterprises?
The county has an aggressive two-pronged approach for business recruitment and retention/expansion. Our recruitment focuses on targeting businesses that complement our existing, diverse business mix from headquarters operations and light manufacturing to exploring new industries with distribution and data center needs. We are very proud that our existing business, particularly with headquarters operations, such as Continental Tire and Nutramax, has expanded in the County. A key focus is the growth of the medical community, where the local hospital system, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) – Lancaster is expanding services with more specialty providers while enhancing operations to include transplants and robotics. This medical investment includes adding a residency program that will attract new doctors as well as building a new hospital to service the northern part of the county. Our retention and expansion efforts focus on having an ample and ready workforce, while also focusing on a high quality of life with low taxes and cost of living.
In your view, how is the role of education shaping Lancaster County’s economic future, and what key initiatives are in place to strengthen workforce development?
Education is key, particularly when information technology and automation become central pieces of the work and manufacturing environment. We are using the Lancaster County Schools Career Center, as well as York Tech, to help with our training and education needs. The local University of South Carolina at Lancaster offers several degrees online and in-person, with a unique program that area high school students can also obtain an Associate’s Degree from USC-:L at the same time they achieve their high school diploma. A lot of our local efforts have been to help our high school students be career-ready and grow our own local workforce. To that end, the County is sponsoring classes for high school students interested in pursuing a first-responder career as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or even a firefighter, to complete a curriculum to achieve the necessary certifications for both those positions and enter the workforce upon high school graduation.
What measures are being taken to ensure that Lancaster County’s economic growth is inclusive, providing opportunities for all residents across the county’s diverse communities?
Lancaster County has a diverse population as well as three diverse areas of the county from the more suburban, northern area of Indian Land, to the central city area with the City of Lancaster to the more rural southern area of the county. All three areas have a diverse business mix with more back office and headquarters operations in the northern part to the more agriculture-based and timber, plus gold mine, operations in the southern part, and everything in between. All area employers need workers and that is why our focus on having a diverse workforce to meet the needs of the local employers from helping job-seekers get Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL) and equipment operator certifications, to promoting trades and technical skills for our manufacturing and industrial businesses. The employment opportunities are limitless, no matter the skillset. In addition, the county’s area median income increased by more than 28% from 2022 to 2023.
How can businesses and community organizations best align with the county’s vision for long-term growth, and what role do you see them playing in Lancaster’s continued success?
The Lancaster County business and civic community has been outstanding and continues to support the schools and our many initiatives, particularly by providing employees to serve as community volunteers. The County’s vision focuses on enhanced quality of life and being a great place to live, learn, work, worship, play, and grow. The business community and other organizations are aligning with our vision through their continued investment in their operations, particularly with expansions, and growing the job base in the County. But they have a large part to play in helping our overall quality of life from supporting our first responders to helping invest in our greenways and parks and recreation amenities to supporting local ballot initiatives. As more people and businesses move to the county, particularly retirees, we are thinking about the amenities we will provide from investing in a new State Park along the Catawba River to developing a new 84-acre park and enhancing the programming for all ages in the community from the young to youth and adults to seniors and those with special needs. In addition, we are re-writing our development ordinance to have a mix of housing for different interests and incomes, plus thinking about our future road network, first responder staffing, service delivery models, and much more with the continued and anticipated growth that is to come in the next 10 years.