BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. — Four thousand jobs are headed to Richland County.
That's according to Scout Motors, a subsidiary of Volkswagen.
The company chose the Blythewood Industrial Park for its plant that will make electric trucks in South Carolina.
It's got a $2 billion price tag for a brand-new automobile manufacturing center. It’s also the latest company to announce they’re bringing electric vehicle jobs to the state.
“The Scout Motors Vehicle Corporation, subsidiary of Volkswagen, has chosen to bring a plant into Blythewood, our industrial park about 1350 acres,” mayor of Blythewood Bryan Franklin said.
The deal’s been in the works for a while but state officials didn’t find out until Friday.
The governor's office shared a video to commemorate the moment the decision was made.
The large facility brings 4000 jobs that will be filled by Midlands workers. With more jobs comes more people and residents are excited about the boost in the economy.
“To have a company come in here and bring jobs and bring money to the area help people with more everything that’s gonna be good for us,” Margaret Henderson, a resident said.
While there’s excitement there’s a concern for infrastructure.
“Well I think that’s great we’re gonna be getting more jobs in and everything but it seems to be very busy in this area, so I would think we would need to fix our infrastructure," Rusty Garrett another resident said.
Mayor Franklin said infrastructure is a concern of his as well.
“They’re gonna move pretty rapidly they’re gonna help build the infrastructure which Blythewood sorely needs. Our number one concern, my concern with the citizens of Blythewood is the traffic," he said.
He added that as the corporation moves in, the infrastructure will shift with it. The company is looking to roll its first car out by 2026, in about three years.
More details about the project will come out this Monday with Governor McMaster.