OC named Top Performing Micropolitan in SC

The Seneca micropolitan area, which encompasses all of Oconee County, was recently named the top performing micropolitan in South Carolina for the second consecutive year by Site Selection magazine. Along with the top ranking in the state, the magazine also ranked the Seneca micropolitan area as the 22 overall performing micropolitan area in the United States, which is the third top 30 ranking in three years for Oconee County. Oconee County earned the ranking by ushering in 426 new jobs and $53 million in new capital investments and had five of the six economic development related projects meet the criteria established by Site Selection magazine. A micropolitan area is defined by having an urban core of no less than 10,000 residents but no more than 50,000 in total population; there are 576 micropolitans in the United States. Site Selection magazine based their results on the area’s 2015 calendar year economic development project wins. “When it comes to landing economic development projects no other similar size community in South Carolina has out-performed Oconee County nor many across the United States,” stated Glenn Buddin, chairman of the Oconee Economic Alliance. “This designation should not be taken lightly and is shared with other state and local entities, community partners and businesses, as economic development in Oconee County is a team sport.” Site Selection Magazine is an award-winning economic development trade publication that delivers expansion planning information to thousands of corporate executives, facility planners and site selectors of rapidly growing firms across the nation. It is also the official publication of the Global FDI Association and the Industrial Asset Management Council. To read more and view the complete list, visit http://siteselection.com/issues/2016/mar/top-micropolitans.cfm.