entrepreneurship

Spartanburg County leaders are laying out their priorities and goals for this year while hoping to continue the momentum the county has seen over the past few years.Council member David Britt said 2025 will be a busy year not only because of the ongoing construction and development but the projects they want to complete before the end of the year.Britt said roads and bridges are on the top of council members’ minds.”The penny sales tax that the voters approved is now being accumulated, the money, and we’ve got a plan in action,” he said. Britt said more than 570 roads are targeted for improvement across the county over the six remaining years of the one percent sales tax, which was continued by voters in 2023.He also said he is looking forward to a successful opening of Fifth Third Park the home baseball stadium of the Minor League Hub City Spartanburgers in April.”That project, along with the parking deck that’s associated there, and the commercial and retail development is going to happen around it is going to set Spartanburg apart from any other locale, I think, in the not only in the Southeast, but I think in the country,” Britt said.He also said public safety remains another top priority for himself and council. “We want to make sure our sheriff’s deputies and also the folks that work at the jail, the detention officers, are well compensated and they’re taken care of because safety is also number one,” Britt said.Last year, OneSpartanburg said it helped recruit around $745 million in economic investment into the county, creating about 1,200 new jobs. Britt said he wants to continue having smart growth while being fiscally responsible.”We want to make sure that our residents are getting every benefit they can from the tax dollars that they invest in this county. We don’t take that lightly,” he said. Britt also said he is looking forward to the county’s pet resource center opening by the end of this year. He also expects construction to begin on the new joint city-county complex in downtown by the end of the year. He also said the county will be focusing its efforts on the new Saluda Grade Trail, which connects northern Spartanburg County and western North Carolina.