Marlboro County hears NETC $10 million campus expansion and economic-development pipeline of 45 projects

County economic development staff and officials from the Northeastern Technical College (NETC) updated Marlboro County Council May 13 on ongoing business attraction efforts and campus expansion plans.

Tonny McNeil, Marlboro County’s Economic Development Director, said the county currently has 45 projects in its prospect pipeline, with roughly six to seven described as very active. McNeil listed several coded project names under active development — Project Blue Berry Hill, Project Squeeze (Delta Site), Project Paper (manufacturing), Project Cocoa (manufacturing), Project Elaine (manufacturing), and Project Wolf (manufacturing) — and said partnership board training and a website update are in progress.

Andy Ingram of NETC presented a written report and described a $10 million investment at the Marlboro County site, the addition of about 18,000 square feet of instructional space and acquisition of 12 additional acres for the campus. Ingram said NETC plans to expand program offerings with training in welding, a fabrication shop, commercial-driver-license instruction, and emergency-medical-services training; he noted potential future programs such as dental hygiene and aeronautics maintenance and said the college has discussed dormitory options and Section 8 housing inquiries to support student housing.

Ingram also said NETC will pursue outreach to recruit students following the closure of St. Andrews College in Laurinburg. The planned program and facility expansions aim to strengthen workforce pipelines for regional manufacturers and to broaden access to technical training for Marlboro County residents and neighboring counties.

Council did not take formal action on the reports; the updates were presented for information and planning.