WASHINGTON: Hoping to duplicate the success of its Upstate inland port, the State Ports Authority is breaking ground Friday on a second version aimed at providing a boost to the Pee Dee economy. The new railed-served cargo hub in Dillon will use trains and trucks to move goods between the Port of Charleston and the busy U.S. Interstate 95 corridor. The $40 million facility at the Tri-County Gateway Industrial Park is expected to open about a year from now and initially will handle about 45,000 cargo containers. Its three-year-old counterpart in Greer has exceeded expectations, handling 103,639 cargo moves in 2016 for customers such as discount retailer Dollar Tree, tire maker Michelin and German automaker BMW.
Eventually, the SPA hopes to boost capacity at the Dillon site to 220,000 cargo boxes annually as the area attracts new distribution centers and manufacturers. Mark Vitner, an economist with Wells Fargo bank in Charlotte, said he is optimistic about the Dillon facility’s potential. “The success of the inland port in Greer has been much greater and has occurred much faster than I thought it would, even though they did have the advantage of having BMW and Michelin and a core of good companies,” Vitner said. “I don’t know that Dillon can exactly replicate the success they’ve had in the Upstate, but I see no reason why it won’t be successful. I’m very encouraged by it.” The Dillon project aims to “expand opportunity and bring industrial diversity to the Pee Dee region and beyond,” Tom Rice, the Republican Congressman whose district includes Dillon, said in a statement.
