Possible House of Raeford plant could be headed to Aiken County

Shawn Cabbagestalk
·2 min read

AIKEN, S.C. (WJBF) — A potential poultry processing plant in Aiken County sparks interest. The House of Raeford plant could be located along Frontage Road in Aiken County. It could benefit from incentives from the city.

The North Carolina poultry processing company plans to invest $185 million in building a plant in Aiken County. 900 jobs with pay starting at $18 per hour, plus benefits will be available. “$10 million in state grants invested in our community, $3 million of revenue and the first three years goes to county and schools,” Kurt Hanna said while reading from an email for a representative.

City leaders are proposing offering the company a 30 percent discount for water usage up to 15 million gallons and a 45 percent discount for usage exceeding that amount. Residential rates will not be affected. “The amount of water that they’re asking is well within the generating capacity of the city,” Aiken City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh added. “This is not a case where there will not be enough water and then water rates will have to go up because of someone using this amount of water’s coming.”

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Supporters of the project highlight its potential economic benefits, job creation, and positive community impact. “What sounds to be a very awesome, potential, employer here that will, hopefully, employ and give people second chances ’cause we all deserve second chances,” Jensen James said.

However, concerns were raised during a recent council meeting, including potential strain on the city’s water resources. “My question is, before we give water and sewer incentives to a corporation, shouldn’t we be looking at the brown water problem that our citizens are facing in the downtown area,” resident Jacob Ellis asked. We’re told the city is enhancing water quality through a unidirectional flushing program that systematically flushes water mains in one direction to remove sediment and impurities. Residents are encouraged to report any water discoloration to Public Works.

Meanwhile, the city will continue discussing those incentives at their next meeting on Monday, March 23.

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