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Job Creation Highest of Norwood Priorities
Employment droughts have left the counties of Senate District 30 in desperate need of industrial development to stimulate the economy and provide new jobs. Unemployment rates in Marion, Marlboro and Dillon counties remain in double digits, with all three counties in the top ten of the state’s 46 counties. Florence County’s unemployment is above the state average, and more layoffs at Blue Cross and Blue Shield are coming this summer. South Carolina has lost more than 40,000 jobs in the last year alone. Tim Norwood believes the time has come for him lend his experience in job creation to the Pee Dee. “I don’t think for one moment that our current State Senator has a clue about what to do for the unemployed, underemployed and the rising generation of South Carolinians who will soon seek their place in the workforce,” Norwood said. “Maggie Glover is a nice person, and I mean nothing personal here, but if she has a plan for job creation, I am unaware of it,” he continued. “Neither does Kent Williams, who I also like personally. Both of them have been public employees most of their lives and have no experience in organizing, managing and financing a business,” Norwood said. “That limits their abilities to understand and affect what business and industry need to create jobs for people,” he continued.
“I’ll offer my help in recruiting their suppliers to locate offices in the Pee Dee to save costs and add jobs here,” Norwood said. “I have extensive experience in many areas of business, most notably in creating employment opportunities for citizens of the Pee Dee. I am ready to help spur the growth of our economy.” Improvements Ahead To propel local industry, Tim Norwood intends to establish an international airport to be constructed between Florence and Myrtle Beach, preferably in western Marion County, which would attract and support the travel, tourism and recreation industries.
“I have become very active in the I-73 coalition,” Norwood said, “and I am confident the benefits we in the Pee Dee will gain from this highway traveling through the heart of our region will be enormous.” “We have a huge number of state and local government officials and business leaders working together to push for funding from Washington,” Norwood continued. Norwood also intends to target the I-95 corridor from the North Carolina state line to Sumter as a top priority for the development development of water and sewer infrastructure essential to locating new businesses and industry in the Pee Dee. “Plain and simply, we are in desperate need of industry along I-95, and the only way we will draw new businesses to our area is to provide a source of water and sewer as available resources for them,” Norwood said. “This is a pure case of ‘build it and business will come; don’t build it and it sure as heck won’t come,’ because it can’t function without basic infrastructure other regions offer. It’s all about our ability to compete effectively,” Norwood continued.
“The Agricultural Heritage Center would showcase the region’s agricultural character and the value of farm life in our own heritage,” Norwood said. “It would be an interactive center where youngsters and visitors could learn firsthand how things grow, to experience life as it once was right here in the Pee Dee.” “The Francis Marion State Park would provide a recreational attraction to visitors and a facility to teach the history of the patriot Francis Marion, and the role of the Pee Dee in the American Revolution,” Norwood continued. Through these means of economic development, Tim Norwood is confident the Pee Dee can move forward in job creation, thus moving itself out of the high level of unemployment that has plagued the region for decades.
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