South Carolina Department of Commerce outlines 2025 budget requests, seeks $150 million for site development and funding to repay port loan

Secretary Harry M. Lightsey, the South Carolina secretary of commerce, told the Senate Finance Subcommittee that the Department of Commerce is seeking recurring and nonrecurring appropriations in its 2025 budget to repay an interagency loan, expand site-development capacity and fund several programs used to recruit and support business.

Lightsey said the agency attracted about $8.1 billion in announced investment to the state in 2024 and that those projects are expected to create roughly 5,500 new jobs. “About 60% of that $8 billion was from existing businesses in South Carolina,” Lightsey said. He also noted international projects made up about a third of announced investment and pointed to a major announcement by Birla Carbon in Orangeburg County.

The budget request centers on several large items. Lightsey asked the panel for recurring and one-time funding to repay an interagency loan tied to an intermodal facility developed for the Port of Charleston. The Commerce Department said it has expended roughly $51 million on engineering and permitting for the facility and now has an outstanding balance of about $43.5 million.…