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A proposed manufacturing facility for emergency vehicle warning systems claims it will bring over 100 high paying jobs to Fairfax.
The Allendale County Council and the Fairfax Town Council both held recent special called meetings in which they discussed local economic issues outside of their regularly scheduled meeting hours.
Fairfax Town Council special called meeting
On March 4, the Fairfax town council had a special called meeting in which it heard a proposal for a public-private partnership to create a manufacturing facility in Fairfax for emergency vehicle warning systems.
The project is being proposed by Craig Brown, the Chief Transformation Architect of Xceleon, a technology consulting firm in Atlanta, Ga. In the meeting, Brown claimed to council members that the facility would create “100-plus high-paying tech jobs” with an associated training and apprentice program for local workforce development. The project would require 10 acres of publicly owned land in Fairfax, which Brown and the council have not chosen yet.
“We’re planning on bringing a full-fledged organization there: logistics, administrative work, account management, inventory management, [and] generative AI,” Brown told the council. “We want to build an entire compound on a 10-acre tract of land.”
Council member Phyllis Smart said a previous meeting occurred in which the council met with Brown. Between that meeting and the March 4 special called meeting, Smart said, several parts of the proposal had changed, and further review of the proposal by the council is necessary.
Brown said the project would be funded by $5 million in capital obtained through grants as well as the company itself. However, the company does not have a grant writer and Brown expressed interest in getting grants for the project with help from the town’s recently hired grant writer, Brandon Upson.
“The last time you presented us at our council meeting, this was supposed to be a lessee and lessor [agreement],” Smart said. “Now we’re entering into a partnership where the town has to provide 10 acres of public land, pursue $5 million in grants [and] facilitate necessary permits and inspections. It seems like we have taken on some responsibility other than leasing out our space.”
Since the meeting was regarding a proposal, the council took no action on moving the project forward and has plans to review the project in more depth.
Allendale County Council special called meeting
On February 29, the Allendale County Council had a special called meeting in which it discussed the county’s sources of income.
Allendale County expects to bring in $2.9 million from fees in lieu of taxes, a type of payment that allows companies to avoid paying taxes by instead making a one-time payment.
In South Carolina, fees in lieu of tax laws apply for corporations that invest over $2.5 million in the state; this allows them to avoid up to 40 percent of property tax burdens, among other tax liability reductions.
At the meeting, Esther Bridges, the county’s finance director, said the county is waiting on several fees-in-lieu-of-tax payments, including one from the Department of Energy.
Elijah de Castro is a Report for America corps member who writes about rural communities like Allendale and Barnwell counties for The People-Sentinel. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep Elijah writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today.
