Personal Injury Attorneyin Allendale, SC.

A foreign company announced plans last week that they say will bring more than 1,000 new jobs to one of the most economically distressed counties in South Carolina.

Tin Thanh Group Americas, a Vietnamese tire manufacturer, plans to establish its first operations in the United States in Allendale County, one of the poorest, rural counties in the state consistently ranked statewide in the bottom of educational levels, poverty levels, health, and other quality of life factors. According to a release from the S.C. governor's office, the company’s $68 million investment will create 1,031 new jobs.

“This announcement once again shows the world has taken notice of the many benefits of doing business in South Carolina," said Gov. Henry McMaster. "This major $68 million investment and 1,031 new jobs will be transformative for Allendale. We proudly welcome our first Vietnamese Company, Tin Thanh Group Americas, to the state and look forward to creating a long-standing partnership.”

Tin Thanh Group Americas’ South Carolina location will allow the company to manufacture and retread large commercial vehicle tires, as well as operate its commercial tire leasing program, the company said in the release.

“Tin Thanh Group Americas is excited to make South Carolina home for its first location outside Vietnam and is proud to be South Carolina’s first Vietnamese company," said Tin Thanh Group Americas Chief Executive Officer Tran Dinh Quyen. "With the assistance of the Department of Commerce, the SouthernCarolina Alliance and the officials at Allendale County, and the assistance of readySC, the decision was clear compared with the other locations that sought our project in the Southeast. Tin Thanh Group Americas looks forward to a long-lasting, fruitful and cooperative relationship with all of South Carolina.”

The company plans to build its new facility on Walker Road in Fairfax. Operations are expected to be online by September 2024.

“Allendale County welcomes Tin Thanh Group Americas to our community, and we thank them for their investment in our future and our people," said Tin Thanh Group Americas Chief Executive Officer Tran Dinh Quyen. "Each of the more than one thousand jobs will make a difference in the lives of a family in the region because good jobs and good economic development change lives. We look forward to working with this fine company, which is committed to sustainability and good values, bringing prosperity and progress to our area.”

“SouthernCarolina Alliance welcomes Mr. Tran and the Tin Thanh Group Americas to our region, where they plan to build their first facility in the U.S.," said SouthernCarolina Alliance President and Chief Executive Officer Danny Black. "The jobs they are creating, and their capital investment will be a tremendous catalyst to growth in this rural area. Industries like Tin Thanh are the backbone of the regional economy and touch every aspect of the local community.”

According to its website, Tin Thanh Group is a pioneer in using renewable energy and reducing global emissions, aiming for a multi-industry business, sustainable development for an increasingly better environment and reducing emissions for this earth.

Supplying energy from reusable sources, Tin Thanh Group Americas will provide operations in recycled energy, closed industry-agriculture, recycled waste and tire leasing while serving the environment, energy, high-tech agriculture and technology markets, stated the release. With a focus on sustainability, the company is committed to implementing sustainable practices to lower the carbon-emission level and provide a cleaner environment.

Individuals interested in joining the Tin Thanh Group Americas team should email resumes to the company.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits related to this project. The council also awarded a $1 million Rural Infrastructure Fund (RIF) grant to Allendale County to assist with the costs of site preparation and infrastructure improvements.

Total population

Ages 65 and up

An updated vaccine is recommended for adults and most children. Statewide, 7% of vaccinations did not specify a home county.

Nearby hospitals

Share of I.C.U. beds occupied

About this data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: The hospitals map shows the average I.C.U. occupancy at nearby hospitals in the most recent week with data reported. The data is self-reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by individual hospitals. It excludes counts from hospitals operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service. Numbers for hospitalized patients are based on inpatient beds and include I.C.U. beds. Hospitalized Covid-19 patients include both confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023.

How trends have changed in Allendale County

About this data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: Weekly county death data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. Hospitalization data is a weekly average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Allendale County. Hospitalization numbers early in the pandemic are undercounts due to incomplete reporting by hospitals to the federal government.

Historical trends in Allendale County

The data in these charts has been archived and they are no longer being updated.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data in these charts has been archived and they are no longer being updated. Weekly county case data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023. Test positivity data is based only on test results reported to the federal government and is a seven-day average.

FAIRFAX, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Tin Thanh Group Americas, a tire manufacturer, on Tuesday announced plans to establish its first U.S. operations in Allendale County with a $68 million investment that will create 1,031 jobs.

Meanwhile, Orangeburg County will be the site of a global solar panel manufacturer’s first U.S. manufacturing plant.

Located at Walker Road in Fairfax, Tin Thanh Group Americas will build a new facility in Allendale County.

Tin Thanh Group Americas’ South Carolina location will allow the company to manufacture and retread large commercial vehicle tires, as well as operate its commercial tire leasing program.

HOW TO APPLY:

People interested in joining the Tin Thanh Group Americas team should email resumes to the company.

“Allendale County welcomes Tin Thanh Group Americas to our community, and we thank them for their investment in our future and our people,” said Allendale County Council Chairman Matthew Connelly. “Each of the more than one thousand jobs will make a difference in the lives of a family in the region because good jobs and good economic development change lives. We look forward to working with this fine company, which is committed to sustainability and good values, bringing prosperity and progress to our area.”

MORE | S.C. wages hit all-time high as 2-state job market stays strong

Supplying energy from reusable sources, Tin Thanh Group Americas will provide operations in recycled energy, closed industry-agriculture, recycled waste and tire leasing while serving the environment, energy, high-tech agriculture and technology markets.

With a focus on sustainability, the company is committed to implementing sustainable practices to lower the carbon-emission level and provide a cleaner environment, according to the South Carolina Department of Commerce.

Operations are expected to be online by September 2024.

MORE | What is Savannah River National Lab planning in downtown Aiken?

The region already has a history in tire manufacturing, with two Bridgestone plants in Aiken County

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits related to this project. The council also awarded a $1 million Rural Infrastructure Fund grant to Allendale County to assist with the costs of site preparation and infrastructure improvements.

“This announcement once again shows the world has taken notice of the many benefits of doing business in South Carolina,” Gov. Henry McMaster said. “This major $68 million investment and 1,031 new jobs will be transformative for Allendale.”

Orangbuerg County will be the host of a global solar panel manufacturer’s first U.S. manufacturing plant.

Hounen Solar announced plans to invest $33 million in a new manufacturing operations facility that will create 200 new jobs.

The plant is located at 145 Millennium Drive, the company will be leasing a 200,720-square-foot plant. The plant will not only be the first United States plant for Hounen Solar but also the first South Carolina location for the company.

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McMaster said: “Hounen’s investment in Orangeburg County not only adds to the state’s growing renewable energy economy but also shows that South Carolina is a place where companies in every industry can thrive. We look forward to creating a strong partnership with Hounen for years to come and seeing the impact of these 200 new jobs.”

The Orangeburg County facility will allow announced plans to invest $33 million in a new manufacturing operations facility that will create 200 new jobs. to develop, manufacture and sell one gigawatt crystalline silicon PV panels in the U.S.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved the job development credits related to this project and also awarded Orangeburg county a $500,000 Rural Infrastructure Fund grant to help with the costs of building improvements.

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - At a recent community event, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions helped students ease into STEM-based education in Allendale.

Students from throughout the greater Allendale, South Carolina recently enjoyed activities and events at the inaugural All in Allendale event which offered fun, food, and music, as well as science, technology, engineering, and math activities.

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Kara Meador, Executive Director, of Original Six Foundation, says, “The fun, food, games, and special activities helped draw such a large crowd today. We’re greatly pleased that our primary goal was achieved. And that was: seeing students go from table to table throughout the room participating in a wide variety of interesting and hands-on STEM-based activities. We want to help open their eyes and minds to a world of STEM-related degrees and career paths.”

April Cone, Dean, University of South Carolina Salkehatchie, worked with Meador towards this special day.

“We both agreed that it was vital that All in Allendale be viewed as a benefit for the community as a whole. And that’s exactly what we did…inviting all the residents of Allendale County to visit, enjoy, bond, and learn, as a community for the community,” said Cone.

According to Cone, the event was developed primarily for kindergarten through 12th grade, with an emphasis on easing the intimidation students often feel when undertaking STEM subject matter.

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“STEM should be fun, and there’s certainly a high demand in the workplace for this knowledge, especially at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions,” Cone says.

Keneisha Porter, a fourth-grade teacher at Allendale-Fairfax Elementary, endorsed the event and the educational opportunities it provided for her students, including her daughter K’Jenae whose favorite event was creating geometric domes out of gumdrops and toothpicks.

“The real value of this day is how far can we take STEM curriculum into the 21st century, putting science, engineering, and technology into everything we do to ensure the kids are ready to pursue their careers and doing so holistically,” said Porter. “Apart from being in the classroom, they need these hands-on activities such as 3D printing and virtual reality exhibits. Anything we can do to benefit them in this area is important.”

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

ALLENDALE — The sheriff of Allendale County withdrew thousands in cash with no explanation. The clerk of court paid thousands in Christmas bonuses to staff, and to herself, without reporting them to the IRS. And the tiny, rural county has at least 45 bank accounts, some in individuals’ names, according to findings in a new forensic audit.

The audit, by Burkett Burkett & Burkett of West Columbia, examined several years of financial records and cited a range of severe accounting deficiencies that left the county at serious risk of fraud. County Council members heard details of the new report on June 29.

The county lacks checks and balances in its accounting practices, has issued payments without invoices and hasn’t kept a general ledger — one of the most basic of accounting tools — for the past 13 years, the auditors found.

Council members and the county administrator pledged to make improvements and cited changes already underway. They sought the audit after complaining that the county treasurer, who is elected, was not providing them basic information about revenue, among other concerns. The treasurer, Gerzell Chaney, resigned two weeks ago, just days after state lawmakers wrote to Gov. Henry McMaster urging him to take action.

William Goodson, who took over as county administrator in late 2019, has been working to address the escalating crisis since. “This is not a complicated county to run. This is a small business. We do not need 45 bank accounts,” he said.

Ronald Burkett, the auditing firm’s president, presented the audit to council. He said he couldn’t determine if employees had committed financial crimes but pointed to inept accounting that diminished hope of detecting it.

Among top concerns: Sheriff Tom Carter took out a “drug fund” account in his personal name and did not disclose it to the county administrator.

“I can’t imagine why you would have an account (for county funds) in an individual’s name,” Burkett said.

In 2020, more than $11,000 was deposited into sheriff’s “drug fund” account, including one deposit for $10,565 labeled simply “drug money.” Yet, the deposit wasn’t linked to any court proceedings, the audit says.

Carter also personally withdrew thousands of dollars from the account, the audit says. He took out nine cash withdrawals totaling $5,095 but provided no explanation of why he was withdrawing $3,695 of that money, the audit says.

“There was no approval process for these cash withdrawals, no dual control, and no reporting to the County Administrator,” the audit says. “This is a material weakness and creates the potential for fraud.”

Carter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The audit’s revelations come amid a decadelong parade of scandals involving South Carolina sheriffs. Roughly one in three South Carolina counties have seen their sheriffs run afoul of the law.

All told, 14 sheriffs have been accused of violating laws they were sworn to uphold. A fifteenth, this one in Orangeburg, funneled public funds into a bogus credit union to buy a $72,000 mobile home.

The audit is also another blow to a county that has long struggled with soaring poverty, failing schools and government mismanagement. In the past five years, the state took over the county’s low-performing school district for the second time while three of Allendale’s public officials went to jail on embezzlement charges.

All this occurred after the county lost its lone newspaper, the weekly Allendale Sun, in 2015 — depriving residents of a key agent to scrutinize the actions of government officials.

Time and again in South Carolina, a lack of scrutiny and financial controls has led to allegations of mismanagement or worse, The Post and Courier has detailed this year in its Uncovered series. The newspaper has partnered with 16 news outlets to expose misconduct and questionable government actions across the Palmetto State, and explore the roots of those problems.

Beyond the Sheriff’s Office, the Allendale County audit shows far-reaching risks given a lack of checks and balances and a serious lack of accounting across departments:

• Officials have kept no master list of capital assets.

• Payments for women’s jail renovations were made without invoices.

• The county clerk alone has nine bank accounts and is the sole person receiving and distributing money in them. She paid $13,195 in Christmas bonuses to her staff, including herself, out of a discretionary fund in 2020 but didn’t account for them in the county payroll system or report them to the IRS on W-2s. The clerk, Elaine Sabb, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“It’s been going on and going on,” Burkett said. “All of this leads to potential for fraud.”

Tony Bartelme and Glenn Smith contributed to this report from Charleston.