Central Lancaster County
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Central Lancaster County Works For Your Business
The Central Lancaster area includes the City of Lancaster and is within a 30 minute drive of the Charlotte metro area. The former home to several textile manufacturing facilities and a call center operated by Springs Industries, this section of the County is an ideal location for light and heavy industrial, call centers, back office operations, and rail served companies.
Several of the County’s top manufacturing, distribution, and back office operations are located here including Procter & Gamble Duracell¸ ZF Lemforder¸Cooley Group¸ Humana-KMG Insurance, Nibrol, Synteen, and Metso Power. Why did these companies choose a location in Central Lancaster County?
- Abundant skilled labor that ranges from manufacturing to advertising, call center, marketing, management, and administrative – all displaced due to recent closures in the textile industry
- Customized workforce training programs at no cost to qualifying companies
- Large greenfield and industrial park sites zoned industrial – many with rail access
- Easy access to national and world markets via I-77 and I-85/I-485 via US 521/SC 9
- Available properties on the Lancaster & Chester Railway with connections to both CSX & Norfolk Southern Railway main lines
- Lancaster County Airport (6,000-foot runway) with adjacent available industrial property
- A quality of life in a small town setting with access to the Charlotte metro area
- Wage rates lower than the regional and national average
- Industrial park land at no cost for qualifying companies
- Competitive incentive packages at the state and local level to help your company become profitable from day one
See for yourself why central Lancaster County is such a great place to do business.
Market access
A Central Lancaster County location provides you excellent transportation access including
- Close proximity to 4-lane highways, U.S. Highway 521 and SC 9 and Interstates 77 and 485 in the Charlotte market.
- L&C Railway short line offers excellent service to industrial prospects in the area. The L&C connects to both CSX and Norfolk-Southern main lines – provding choice and potential savings to rail served companies.
- The nation’s #2 port, The Port of Charleston, is less than three hours away via I-77 and I-26.
- Charlotte Douglass International Airport is 40 minutes away and is a major air freight center.
- Lancaster County Airport provides a 6,000-foot runway access that can accommodate corporate jet and private aircraft.
Central Lancaster is located less than 30 miles from Charlotte, NC, within one day’s drive of more than half the U.S. population (70%) and Canadian destinations can be reached overnight.
Available Land
Among the 5,000 acres of available land for industrial and office use available in Central Lancaster are:
Highway 9 Industrial Site/Lancaster County Airport
584 acres zoned Heavy Industrial I-2
Located on SC 9 and only 8 miles from I-77
40 Minutes from Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Within ½ mile of Lancaster County Airport
Located on the Lancaster & Chester Railway main line
Infrastructure ready
Lancaster Business Park
Two tracts remain in this 200-acre Class A Certified Industrial Park
Located on SC 9 and only 11 miles from I-77
Only 40 minutes from Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Infrastructure ready
Land at no cost to qualifying companies
Trained Workforce/Available Labor
“We made the decision to place our new manufacturing facility in the Lancaster Business Park in Central Lancaster County due in large measure to the available skilled workforce, wage rates that are below the regional average, customized workforce training programs, and the support we received from the local leadership that included an incentive package that was highly competitive as well as a business friendly, non-union environment.”
~ Jim Longwith - Plant Manager - Metso Power Lancaster Service Center
Central Lancaster is also home to USC Lancaster, one of the five regional campuses of the University of South Carolina. Since its inception in 1959, USC Lancaster has become a comprehensive learning center, offering high-quality University programs and services to approximately 1,200 full- and part-time students from a service area of six counties (Lancaster, Chester, Chesterfield, Kershaw, Fairfield, and York). For more information about USC-L, go to usclancaster.sc.edu.
Other workforce resources include:
- Lancaster’s OneStop Catawba Workforce System, which helps companies fill positions with qualified employees. Visit CatawbaOneStop.com for more information.
- Not only does York Technical College have a campus located in Kershaw, but companies can also benefit from its Institute for Workforce Development. The Institute offers assessment and training programs to help workers meet the demands of today's manufacturing companies. Visit YorkTech.com and click on the links to Business & Industry or Off-Campus Centers for more information.
Business climate
There’s no better place to do business.
Lancaster County and the State of South Carolina offers a comprehensive package of incentives, and the corporate income tax rate of 5% is among the lowest in the Southeast. There is no state property tax or local income tax; no inventory, wholesale, or unitary tax on worldwide profits; and no sales tax on manufacturing machinery, industrial power, or materials for finished products. Your company may be eligible for a 5-year exemption from county ordinary property tax or a reduced fee in lieu of property tax.
Quality of Life
Did You Know?
That Procter & Gamble Duracell’s Lancaster operation manufactures all of the “AA” batteries in America? More than 1 billion batteries leave the Lancaster facility each year reaching homes across the United States – quality made – right here in Lancaster County.
Did You Know?
Springs Industries, one of the giants in America’s textile industry for nearly 120 years, operated several facilities in Lancaster County and was home to the Springs family. Today, Springs is now Springs Global and manufactures offshore - but thousands of skilled workers remain – loyal and ready to help make your company succeed for generations to come.
Did You Know?
The Lancaster & Chester Railway is one of the nation’s most successful short line railways. Once exclusively serving textiles mills owned by Springs Industries, today more than 80% of the L&C’s business is non-textile related. The L&C connects to both CSX and Norfolk-Southern main lines – which allows rail served companies the opportunity to substantially save on rail rates.
Central Lancaster County’s jewel is the City of Lancaster. Known as The Red Rose City, the City of Lancaster is a lovely and historic small town with a population of just under 10,000. The city’s residents enjoy the best of both worlds: a small, beautiful, and historic community nestled within a rich, undeveloped landscape, with nearby lakes and the Catawba River and the city is within easy reach of two large metropolitan areas—Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC.
Lancaster’s charms are complimented by the area’s low cost of living and moderate climate, which includes four distinct seasons; spring arrives early in March, and pleasant autumn temperatures last well into November. Winters are mild and most outdoor activities can be enjoyed year-round.
Several new residential areas have recently been developed to compliment established older neighborhoods in and around the City of Lancaster. The Edgewater community, just south of Lancaster on Fishing Creek Reservoir, offers affordable lakefront and lakeview homes along with a community golf course and other amenities. LGI Development’s Riverchase community offers residents large tracts of land in an amenity-rich development along the Catawba River just north of Lancaster and there are several other new home communities from which to choose as well. Contact us and we can help you search for the perfect community, or parcel of land to call home.
Education
The Lancaster School District provides K-12 educational opportunities for residents of Lancaster County. With a County-wide enrollment of over 11,000 students with 11 elementary, four middle, and four high schools, the Lancaster County School District provides quality instruction that is among the best in the Charlotte Region.
Private K-12 schools are also available in the County and regionally. The region is also home to 4 universities—including the University of South Carolina’s Lancaster campus, 11 liberal arts colleges, and 10 community colleges.
Culture and Entertainment
With the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, and South Carolina’s capital city of Columbia both an hour away or less, Lancaster County’s residents enjoy access to world-class visual and performing arts, museums, shopping, and dining, as well as professional sports leagues.
Closer to home, Lancaster County has its own active arts and culture scene, with a visual arts league, a community theater group, and a chamber choir. The USC-Lancaster Performing Arts series offers entertainment throughout the year at the Bundy Auditorium and there are several festivals in the County each year including the Kershaw Hog Jam and Heath Springs’ 4th of July Festival. For those looking for a great place to stay, there are several local hotels and one of the top bed and breakfast inns in the South – Kilburnie, the Inn at Craig Farm on the outskirts of the City of Lancaster. To learn more about what to do and see in Lancaster County visit seelancaster.com.
Outdoor and Historical Escapes
For the adventurous there is the Bermuda High Soaring School, a sailplane club and instructional facility. Lancaster Airport also offers recreational and commercial flying lessons. Back at ground level, the Carolina Motorsports Park, just south of Lancaster County, features a 2.3-mile racecourse where car and motorcycle enthusiasts can satisfy their need for speed.
Those who prefer a walking pace will find dozens of public and private golf courses in Lancaster County and the adjoining city of Charlotte including new courses at Sun City Carolina Lakes and the Edgewater community on beautiful Fishing Creek Reservoir.
Plus, Lancaster County is just two hours from the famed South Carolina coast and just three hours from the mountains of North Carolina—perfect for an occasional change of scenery.
For more information about Lancaster’s many cultural and outdoor attractions, please visit:
