Whether heading to the beach on Highway 327 or traveling down Interstate 95, Exit 170 looks a lot different than it did two decades ago, thanks in significant part to Pee Dee Commerce City, a vision realized by Pee Dee Electricom in 1999. At that time, Pee Dee Electricom was a subsidiary of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative. Today, the more than 700-acre commerce park continues its impressive growth under the leadership of MPD Electric.
Pee Dee Electric Cooperative was formed in 1939, and its mission was to bring electricity to citizens other power companies would not serve, mainly in rural areas like the Pee Dee. But more than that, electric co-op forefathers recognized that electricity symbolized the natural human desire for a better quality of life. That notion is at the crux of the “cooperative way.” In fact, the seventh and final cooperative principle specifically calls on cooperatives to “work for the sustainable development of their communities.”
The leadership of MPD Electric Cooperative believes it is not enough to simply participate in discussions surrounding job creation; leaders must actively work to bring economic opportunities to the areas MPD serves, recruiting businesses and industry to create prosperity for citizens.
With that spirit and vision, Pee Dee Commerce City was born in 2000 and is gearing up to celebrate 25 years!
Commerce City is a shovel-ready, Class-A commercial/industrial park at the forefront of the region’s economic development. It is strategically located at Exit 170 and stretches all the way to Exit 169 at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Highway 327. It is 20 minutes from the Inland Port at Dillon, and just a 10-minute drive from Interstate 20 in Florence County. Commerce City offers 700 available acres of industrial development opportunities.
Commerce City is located at the critical midpoint between New York City and Miami and has more than a mile of frontage on the East Coast’s main transportation route. It is also a South Carolina Certified Site and was one of the first models for economic development used by others across the Southeast.
In November of 2000, more than 100 local, regional, state, and national officials gathered to break ground on the impressive endeavor.
“We have always believed that the key to job creation for the citizens we serve is economic growth and recruitment,” said William Fleming, president and CEO of MPD Electric Cooperative. “Pee Dee Commerce City was one of the first to realize this type of vision. That bold step forward two decades ago was just the beginning.”
Crenlo, a then producer of construction cabs for Caterpillar, Inc., was the first manufacturer to locate in the industrial park. Crenlo’s $40 million investment created 250 new jobs. The company’s leadership had considered more than 10 other sites before choosing Commerce City. Its leadership touted the park’s site readiness, the Pee Dee’s world-class workforce, and access to training at Florence Darlington Technical College as the deciding factor in their location. From there, several other companies chose the Park for development, including Johnson Controls, which built its new $35 million assembly and distribution center. Today, Clarios inhabits that space.
Pee Dee Commerce City was officially dedicated on October 26, 2001. Commerce City’s growth was so significant at the time that the South Carolina Senate adopted a state resolution honoring Pee Dee Electric’s management and members on the tremendous success of the “state-of-the-art industrial park” as a true catalyst for economic development.
The resolution inserted in the state’s records by the South Carolina Legislature read “This home-grown boon to economic development is yet another example of the perseverance of the people of the Pee Dee in their determination to improve the quality of life of the region’s residents.”
“This Commerce City will be dedicated to the people and communities of the Pee Dee Region as their incubator for economic growth and prosperity,” the resolution continued.
That sentiment continues today, as most of the Park’s East side is filled.
“Someone needed to jump-start growth in the Pee Dee. Our leadership asked, ‘Why not us,’” said Fleming.
In 2001, NRECA, the national association for electric cooperatives, presented Pee Dee Commerce City with its prestigious President’s Award for Economic Development.
But that was just the beginning.
Other Commerce City facilities have included Niagara Bottling, GE Medical, Performance Food Group, FedEx, Pepsi-Cola, Ruiz Foods, Florence City/County water treatment plant, McLeod Health, Innovative Construction Group, Harley Davidson, and recently announced Cheney Brothers to name a few.
As the publisher of Greater Florence, Pee Dee, Columbia, and Coastal Carolina Business Monthly publications wrote, “You not only provide light to thousands of homes, but you also shed light on the entire Pee Dee region.”
Now managed by Marlboro Development Team, a growing subsidiary of MPD Electric Cooperative also led by Fleming who actually began his career in 2005 as Pee Dee Electric’s Economic Development Administrator tasked with the recruitment efforts for the park, Commerce City has expanded even further across Highway 327. Aptly named Commerce City West, the latest site includes 175 additional acres. The team also completed the construction of a 117,000-square-foot Class A industrial speculative building on 17 acres. Just last month, Amazon leased this building from Marlboro Development Team to support last-mile deliveries.
“Commerce City West provides additional development potential with land owned by the co-op along I-95 from Exit 169 all the way to exit 170 of at least 500 additional acres and 1.1 million square feet of industrial space as well as retail, commercial, and hospitality parcels,” said Jeff Singletary, Chief Business Development Officer at MPD Electric Cooperative.
The future of Commerce City is bright. In fact, a Florence Buc-cees location, just across Interstate 95, was the very first one to locate in South Carolina because of the growth of Exit 170/Highway 327.
“Pee Dee Commerce City was and still is a powerful example of cooperation between business and government as well as between city and county governments. The ripple effects of spin-off jobs created by suppliers and other vendors provide even more opportunity for our citizens,” said Singletary.
Added industrial development helps keep rates low for MPD Electric members, who have the lowest electric rates in the state of South Carolina.
“Marlboro Development Team continues to grow its strategic plan to construct developments in targeted growing markets, and Florence County certainly qualifies,” said Fleming.
Other Commerce Parks built by the cooperative and Marlboro Development Team include the I-95 3,000-acre mega-site in Dillon, Marion County’s 270-acre Industrial Park, and the newly created163-acre Darlington County Industrial Park.
The best is yet to come.
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