1 week Ago
Rural, diverse and hardworking, the people of Orangeburg County represent the best our nation has to offer — but it can be difficult to ignore the tough hand they’ve been dealt. Our region along Interstate 95 has some of the lowest property values, investment income and per capita income in the state, all of which translate into unemployment, underfunded schools and a host of other challenges. Orangeburg County has been scarred for many years for being known as one of several counties in the “Corridor of Shame.
” The term was coined 20 years ago in a television documentary. The “shame” was not directed at the people who live here, but the decision-makers in Columbia and elsewhere who neglected to do anything about it for generations. Two decades later, we have a chance to turn the Corridor of Shame into the Corridor of Opportunity, not on the backs of the taxpayers through government handouts, but through old-fashioned private enterprise with a world-class casino resort.
Editorial: SC deserves better than an economy built on exploiting human weaknesses It would be a game-changer for an entire region of our state. For this reason, the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce is working to support the project as a part of our Chamber 2025 vision. Our resident senator, Brad Hutto, says this project can be as important for us as BMW has been to the Upstate.
The I-95 Economic and Education Stimulus Act, which has been introduced in the S.C. House, would allow one casino resort complex to be built in a Tier IV county that contains a section of I-95, including Orangeburg.
The bill would establish the S.C. Gaming Commission to oversee the casino operations and enforce strict regulations governing gambling.
The commission would have to approve any potential change of ownership of the casino resort. While the bill sets up a bidding process for ownership of the casino resort, Santee Development Corp. has announced detailed plans for what it would do should it get the contract.
The company would put a billion-dollar destination resort and casino on the crumbling Santee Outlet Mall property just off I-95. It would establish a world-class tourist attraction, creating thousands of jobs and potentially pumping tens of millions of dollars into our schools, infrastructures and local economies. In what may be a first in South Carolina’s economic development history, the developer promises not to ask for one penny of tax money from our counties or state government.
Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a co-sponsor of the bill, says she likes the idea of the venture “being 100 percent private funding and zero state or local dollars being invested.” “The potential economic impact would be tremendous for the area,” she says.
Still, there are critics, including The Post and Courier editorial staff, which expressed concern about the social impacts of gambling. After listing supposed vices, the editorial concluded that “Santee and all of South Carolina deserve better.” We have one question: If we deserve better, what’s better? What’s your actionable plan to improve the quality of life for this neglected region? The critics offer no viable alternative, only more of the same abstractions that have failed us for generations.
Legislature after legislature, governor after governor, has waxed eloquently about the moral necessity of bringing economic opportunity, good jobs and high-quality education to a forgotten region of the state. Unfortunately, a solution has never been implemented. It’s our time to prosper along with the rest of South Carolina.
“It’s not government’s place to restrict the liberties and freedoms of people just because some folks don’t like something,” Rep. Justin Bamberg said. “That’s the very definition of big government.
” Exactly. This is our best chance to turn shame into opportunity. James McQuilla is the president of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce.
William Mitchell is the board chairman of the chamber and CEO of the marketing agency Timothy+Sinclair..
