GSP, otherwise known as Greenville-Spartanburg Airport will begin an $18 million road improvement project in front of the main terminal building to try to help deal with the increase in traffic. We’ve been reading for a numbrer of years now about the growing shipping and passenger traffic coming in and out of GSP. Well that’s finally catching up and there is a need to make some improvements.
The project is expected to last for about the next two years. GSP is one of those really pleasant surprises so many people have when they come down here. It’s a lovely small airport that packs a pretty big punch. Yes, we do often have to make connections, but more and more there are direct flights in and out of here. Often the short hops are just to Charlotte or Atlanta which take no more than about 20 minutes in the air. You can get to just about anywhere in the country from either of those airports if you can’t reach your destination directly form GSP.
Opportunity Zones are designatured by the federal government as areas where they would like to see new investment to revitalize communities. The benefit is that if you make the investment and improve the property that meet their guidelines and hold the property for at least 10 years, then you won’t have to pay capital gains on the property when you go to sell it.
There are a number of areas here in the Upstate of South Carolina. You can zoom in on the HUD Opportunity Zone map and take a look.
One of the things I’ve noticed here in the Upstate is just how many different organizations there are when it comes to economic development and growth. Of course with economic growth comes more businesses locating here with the additional housing to accommodate the growth in employees. It’s a terrific place for business – particularly those in manufacturing, distribution and logistics. It seems a bit light when it comes to IT tech and med tech but there are movements afoot to try to bring more of those companies and or divisions to the Upstate. The Upstate Business Journal has an excellent summary of Upstate Economic Development organizations.