Georgetown Has a Huge Advantage
Let’s take a look at what Georgetown has to offer.
Our community is known for its friendly atmosphere, where each neighborhood looks out for one another and fosters strong connections. The beautiful downtown area features an array of unique shops and restaurants that give it a distinct charm, with an absence of chain stores. The city sits on the Sampit River, where, along with four other rivers converge to form Winyah Bay. Residents want to stay and live here, fostering a deep sense of belonging. Furthermore, people are drawn to this wonderful place, looking to settle down and build their lives here. This desire encompasses not only retirees seeking a peaceful retirement but also young working families looking to escape the overcrowding in nearby Mount Pleasant and Myrtle Beach.
We have a significant opportunity to attract industries that provide good paying, safe, and secure jobs complete with valuable benefits for our community members. Hardeeville has successfully accomplished this, and while they have the advantage of being located near I-95 and the Port of Savannah, Georgetown also boasts several key benefits. We are located near the Port of Charleston, allowing us to ship products by barge or via Route 17. We also have Georgetown County Airport, which is currently undergoing expansion to enhance connectivity and accessibility.
Georgetown also benefits from the presence of both Horry Georgetown Technical College and Horry Georgetown Marine Technical College in our vicinity, which help to foster a skilled workforce. We have highly skilled workers, experienced tradesmen, and knowledgeable managers from International Paper actively seeking employment opportunities. In terms of resources, we have an abundance of land, particularly timber land. We also have water resources, which are crucial for many industries that rely on water for manufacturing and processing operations. Our local rivers, with their swift tides, hold the potential to generate clean, renewable energy.
Moreover, there is innovative technology flourishing all around us. What we truly need is the vision of a dynamic economic director who can harness these opportunities and bring some of this growth to Georgetown. To summarize, our community does not require more tourists, our tourist industry is fine and will grow on its own. But this can’t be our bread and butter. Instead, we need good-paying jobs for the residents who already live here and wish to remain in our town.
We can learn from our neighboring cities and benefit from their experiences.
Over the last 15+ years, our neighboring towns and cities have experienced exponential growth, which has significantly altered their landscapes. For example, Myrtle Beach has developed a tourism-driven economy but has become riddled with crime, which affects the quality of life for residents and visitors alike.
Meanwhile, Mount Pleasant has sadly lost its small neighborhood charm, morphing into a traffic nightmare; in fact, they implemented a moratorium on new construction seven years ago in an attempt to manage overwhelming congestion and stress on services.
Charleston is currently battling issues related to flooding and developing too quickly. They are also contending with the challenges posed by short-term rentals in the overlay district that was established in 2018. The more Air B & B’s, the fewer apartments for workers.
On the other hand, Conway has taken proactive steps to address flooding by building a canal to carry away flood waters, showcasing a different approach to urban planning and environmental management. The city of Georgetown is still using outdated technology.
The city and the county both seem to assume more development means more money. If the infrastructure was designed for and is prepared for growth, then yes, development can bring revenue. Based on my work on the 2040 Comprehensive Plan recently passed here in the city, I can assure you, we have not planned and prepared for growth. As a result, the expensive of updating infrastructure will be paid by the city’s existing residents. Some studies say for every new $1.00 in revenue you gain from development, it will cost the city a $1.50 in new services. In the end, the only winners are the developers, who, by the way, are not from around here.
People, you have to vote.
https://jaydoyleformayor.com/ideas-/-solutions-/-comments/why-not-georgetown - Hardeeville
https://businessviewmagazine.com/conway-south-carolina-horry-county/
https://jaydoyleformayor.com/ideas-/-solutions-/-comments/resiliency
https://www.live5news.com/2025/01/15/north-charleston-considers-cap-short-term-rentals/