Tag: Horry County Council

Researching Lofton

In the wake of county council’s reconsideration of incentives and reduced rent to AvCraft at Tuesday night’s regular meeting of council, Brad Lofton, chief executive of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation, told the Myrtle Beach Sun News other companies would be watching the treatment of AvCraft.

According to the Sun News story, Lofton said businesses that consider setting up shop in Horry County will undoubtedly research the area and see how it treats existing industry. In addition, Lofton said other prospects that MBREDC is talking to are monitoring the AvCraft situation and awaiting the outcome.

In the spirit of full disclosure, it seemed appropriate to research Lofton’s past in other locations to determine how he performed.

Photo Credit: The Myrtle Beach Digitel/Creative Commons

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Council to AvCraft “Sell Us”

Mike Hill, Chief Operating Officer of AvCraft Technical Services, Inc., will have the opportunity next week to demonstrate to Horry County Council members why the county should provide economic development funds and reduced rent to his company.

Hill complained to the media last week that he ‘failed to understand why some area politicians continue to criticize his business (AvCraft) which has no financial or ownership relation to the one that failed to live up to job promises years ago.’ Now Hill has the opportunity to sell council on the idea that the present AvCraft is indeed a new company, but he will have to provide supporting documents and other information to justify that position.

Council voted 9-3 Tuesday night to hold up those funds and a new, reduced rent lease agreement until AvCraft and the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation (MBREDC) make a presentation to council’s Committee of the Whole (COW) on the benefits to the county of moving forward with the deal.

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AvCraft Incentive Funds on Hold

By a 9-3 vote, Horry County Council reconsidered its decision to give $100,000 of incentive development funds to AvCraft Technical Services at its regular meeting tonight. Included in the motion was a requirement for the company and the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation (MBREDC) to come before council’s committee of the whole next week to justify why AvCraft should receive the funds.

AvCraft was specifically requested to provide a presentation to the committee of the whole that includes its new business plan as well as justification why its current promise to provide new jobs will have a different result than its three similar promises in the past which have resulted in no new jobs. Rather than just saying it will create new jobs, AvCraft will have to prove to council members it has a solid plan to justify that position.

In addition, council voted 12-0 to delay third reading on a new lease for AvCraft. That decision will also be made after next week’s committee of the whole meeting.

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Reconsidering the AvCraft Bailout

Horry County Council could vote to reconsider the $100,000 economic development incentive package it approved at its December 13, 2011 regular meeting, according to an article published yesterday in the Myrtle Beach Sun News by reporter David Wren.

Council members voted to approve the incentive package for a code named business and did not realize the recipient was AvCraft Technical Services until publicly announced two weeks after the vote. After AvCraft was announced as the recipient in a press conference, some council members became incensed.

Since the controversy erupted, Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation chief executive Brad Lofton and Mike Hill, Chief Operating Officer of AvCraft, have joined council chairman Tom Rice in trying to spin that the current version of AvCraft is a new company, not the same old one that has consistently failed to add new jobs to the area.

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County, Railroad Left Out of Grant Awards

Horry County learned today that it would not be receiving any Tiger III program grant money from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the local railroad.

The county had applied for a $21 million grant from the program to help Carolina Southern Railroad upgrade its infrastructure.

According to information from the USDOT, $511 million was approved for grants today with $150 million for critical projects in rural areas. Ten percent of the total was approved for freight rail projects including the Muldraugh Bridge Replacement project in Kentucky.

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Horry County to Control Admin Search

By a vote of 11-1, Horry County Council members said they would be the sole body to choose the new county administrator.

Council members were presented with a plan for the search process that would have included input into the process by outside groups such as stakeholders and county staff. The process, supported by Chairman Tom Rice, would have had the finalists chosen and ranked by county council. The finalists would next meet with county stakeholders and county staff, who would provide independent input and cause a possible adjustment to the rankings first set by council.

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Horry County and Dubai

Remember when, then, Horry County Council Chairman Liz
Gilland used a portion of her county expense allowance to travel to Dubai, in March 2009?

According to Gilland, at the time, she spent $2,000
of public funds to join a S.C. Department of Commerce economic development trip to make sure Horry County got consideration in future investment by that small Arab state. Her justification was “If I don’t play, we strike out.” Gilland played but Horry County, to this date, has not even gotten up to bat.

The following is a blog post provided to Grand
Strand Daily from a U.S. citizen recently traveling in Dubai, who requested to remain anonymous. It appears Horry County was fortunate to never get into the game.

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