Personal Injury Attorneyin Newberry, SC.

The town currently has several restaurants, a hotel, and two housing developments in the works.

NEWBERRY, S.C. — According to 2022 U.S. Census numbers, the City of Newberry has a population of nearly 10,500 people. Local leaders are expecting more people with some new businesses, including a hotel and several restaurants.

Residents can expect to see a new hotel, Home2 Suites, and a Cookout restaurant, according to Mayor Foster Senn’s Twitter.

Wayne Redfern, Newberry’s director of planning and development said there’s much more in the works.

“A local restaurant, Many Moons, their specialty is pizza, salad charcuterie boards, opened, it’s been a big hit so far," Redfern said. "Two other small restaurants are under construction right now. One should finish in August and the other in the fall. We have two others that are actually in design to start later in the year."

Aside from restaurants, Redfern said there are some community developments on the way, like athletic and nursing facilities for Newberry College and a new amphitheater that was funded by the penny sales tax.

“The more the college grows, the more the population grows with it," Redfern said. "They hit their all time high last year and we expect a high this year.”

Redfern said he also expects the new businesses to attract more people to Newberry.

“We’re looking at what we hope will be a 5, maybe 10 percent population growth that tends to lag a little bit," Redfern said. "We have one developer that hopes to start sometime late summer, early fall with about 95 homes and another developer with about 200 homes that’ll start a little bit later. That would add about 300 to the population, which is just over 10."

Brandon Robertson is one of Newberry's 10,000 residents. He said he expects good things to come with the new projects.

“I’m liking all the new developments and everything," Robertson said. "We have a Cookout coming. The Cookout may not be located in the area for a drive-through, however, it’s gonna attract a lot of business. Cookout is a good restaurant," Robertson said.

With growth comes some growing pains. Faye Morris also lives in Newberry and she's looking for a different type of business to come to Newberry.

“There’s plenty of new developments but it pretty much seems to be all restaurants, fast foods and we need another grocery store in here," Morris said. "The only ones we’ve got are Food Lion and Walmart, just not enough competition."

Redfern said the new hotel is expected to open on July 1st, the Cookout in September, and the new amphitheater will start the design process later this year.

Businesses have until Sept. 30 to find a new servicer.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The city of Newberry will no longer pick up trash from commercial businesses.

The news is bringing mixed reactions from business owners as they work to ensure they are not left with piles to deal with on their own. A change in the City of Newberry's trash collection is forcing some businesses, like Whitaker Floor Coverings, to find new services.

"We had three different salesmen in here offering anywhere from a one-year contract to a ten-year contract, to do it matching the price or even better price, so that seems pretty seamless," said Kevin Whitesides, vice president of sales for the business.

After reviewing the offers, Whitesides decided on a 10-year contract that starts August first.

"We felt pretty great to lock in a price for multiple years with everything rising and an increase in the costs of everyday things," Whitesides said.

Director of Public Works Kip Gunter said rising labor, equipment, and drop-off costs forced the city to get out of the commercial sanitation business.

"A truck is about $400,000 and those costs keep rising," Gunter said. "We feel like our customers could be served better by free market."

According to Gunter, the city notified commercial customers by letter last week. Customers have until Sept. 30 to hire a new service. Any company that has not switched by then may have to pay a penalty.

"There will be no customer left behind, so to speak. We will make sure that everything is seamless," Gunter said.

Gunter added that customers have four service providers to choose from.

But business owner Mij Bolyard, who shares a trash bin with eight other businesses, is worried about the changes.

"I think it's a great convenience to the business owners. I think it's really disturbing to think they'll take it out and that we would all be responsible for our own," Bolyard said. "I certainly think there are other viable solutions."

The city will continue providing other services, including residential collection, limb and leaf removal, and special pickups. The city council also recently approved utility rate increases. They include a 5% increase in water and sewer rates and a 4% increase in electricity.

Students can look forward to new dining options, a new nursing facility, and a new dorm on campus.

NEWBERRY, S.C. — Newberry College is gearing up for the start of classes on Monday, and this year the institution is welcoming its largest-ever freshman class. The campus is bustling with new students and their families as they prepare for the academic year ahead.

Nile Holdman, a freshman moving into his new dorm, described his experience, stating, "It's been calm. I’ve met a few nice people."

Nile is among the 589 first-year students who make up the largest freshman class in the history of Newberry College.

"We’re very excited because it's another year of record growth for us at Newberry. We’re growing in all directions at this point,” said Michael Smith, the Associate Dean for First-Year Experience at Newberry College.

RELATED: Newberry Opera House to get $1M makeover

The college has several new developments in the works, said Smith. These include a new dining contract, a nursing building, a field house, and a residence hall, all of which will be introduced in the coming months.

Returning students, like Victoria Noel and Archkela Lane, are also excited about the college's growth. "I’m from here, so it's different to see how the campus is getting bigger, and Newberry is actually getting known for being a really good school," said Lane.

The increase in the student population is having a positive impact on local businesses. Eddie Long, the owner of Genesis Coffee Shop in downtown Newberry, noted an uptick in visitors, saying, "In the last year or two, we’ve definitely seen a big increase of people just coming and hanging out, using the wifi, and getting some coffee to power them through their exams and stuff."

To provide a warm welcome to the new students, the city of Newberry is organizing a welcome weekend downtown, featuring free food and music.

Eddie Long, owner of Genesis Coffee Shop, believes this initiative will greatly benefit local businesses by creating a welcoming environment for newcomers.

"I think that’s going to help a lot of those businesses, that kids aren’t sure where they fit, where they’re welcome, I think that’ll help with that," said Long.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new nursing building is scheduled for August 25th.

COUMBIA — Blair, an unincorporated community of about 1,500 people in Fairfield County, will benefit from improved power grid resilience and reliability through a grant central electric power cooperative has obtained from the U.S. Department of energy.

The grant, funded by the 2021 infrastructure investment and jobs act, will help central electric and its partners purchase and install five vanadium flow batteries capable of discharging 700kw to 3.6mw of electricity for up to 20 hours.

These batteries will help fulfill the Blair community’s power needs, especially during extended power outages. Central electric and the local cooperative that serves Blair and Newberry electric will be able to rely on the batteries to keep the power on in Blair while line crews assess and address those outages.

This capability is especially important in rural communities that rely on electricity to power critical infrastructure, including water pumps, medical facilities and communication systems.

“We are excited to help bring cutting-edge, long-duration energy storage technology to rural South Carolina,” Central Electric CEO, Rob Hochstetler said. “Electricity is essential in todays day and age. This project will help reduce outage times and keep the power on for our members.”

“Newberry electric cooperative is proud to have been chosen for the battery storage program partnering with our power supplier,” Central Electric, Newberry Electric CEO Keith Avery said. “This project exemplifies Newberry electrics commitment to resiliency and reliability for its members.”

Central Electric worked with the national renewables cooperatives organization to obtain the grant. Blair is one of five rural communities from the Midwest to the East Coast to receive grants through the NRCO.

The exact grant amount will be negotiated with the department of energy in the coming months. It will come from a $350 million pot of money available from the Federal Agency’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.

“These battery projects put rural America which is often last to benefit from new technologies at the forefront of new opportunities in the energy transition,” Said Mike Keyser, CEO of NRCO. “This is about co-ops bringing innovation to rural America that provides new economic opportunities while also enhancing grid resilience and charting a path to a cleaner energy future.”

Central Electric and NRCO will work with the Blair community to ensure local residents have a voice in the project.

The department of energy will monitor the Blair project as it studies the effectiveness of similar battery programs. The batteries will be supplied by Invinity Energy Systems, a global leader in the production of vanadium flow batteries with high efficiencies and long lifespans.

The plan is based on feedback from 400 residents and 200 survey responses.

NEWBERRY, S.C. — For the first time, Newberry County has released its first economic development strategic plan.

It aims to guide the county as it grows over the next five years, helping create more jobs and businesses.

A stroll down Main Street shows downtown Newberry is open for business.

"We've got an eclectic group of businesses from antique stores to hair studios and salons to retail and art. We've got a good mix for everyone downtown," said lifelong Newberry resident Kristina Long.

Long opened Berry Patch Boutique on Main Street in 2021. She said there's even more potential for growth.

"The opera house has gone a really long way and when people come and see a show, they want to eat and shop and have an entire experience while they're here," said Long. "Creating a wholesome conclusive package when they visit Newberry is important."

That growth is the focus of the county's economic development plan.

"We've been really successful with economic development. There's no reason why we can't be better at it," said Newberry County Economic Development Director Rick Farmer.

The plan outlines five goals:

1. Attracting, retaining, and growing businesses

2. Expanding the talent pipeline

3. Investing in the Community

4. Make Newberry County a Choice Location for Businesses, Citizens, and Visitors

5. Be a Leading Economic Development Organization in South Carolina

"We've been very successful at recruiting industries over the years now we need to find a way to improve the skills of our people so that can compete for those better jobs," said Farmer.

Farmer said the 100-page report is based on input from more than 400 residents and 200 survey responses taken over a year.

"The greatest thing about this plan: it's not my plan; it's not the county administrator's plan; it's the community's plan," said Farmer.

Farmer added that the county misses many opportunities because it has no vacant buildings. However, the report includes a plan to develop new speculative buildings so they will be "prepared when companies come knocking."

The plan also creates a "State of the County" event, which Farmer said will be great for accountability.

"You got to stand up there and say, 'Here's what we did last year and here's where we're going next year.' So it's going to force us to be a lot more communicative with the public," said Farmer.

At Figaro Dining Room, manager Chris Campos said he welcomes more competition.

"Another restaurant or two would be great, 'cause when the opera house comes, we fill up, and I have to tell people no, and I hate doing that," said Campos.

The county council is expected to approve this five-year plan next month.

Farmer said the county has already begun implementing some of the recommendations.