As a massive automaker moves in next door, Blythewood residents ask about traffic, roads and jobs

Roughly 250 people filed into Blythewood’s Doko Manor on Monday night to learn more about the massive automaker moving in next door.

Scout Motors, a Volkswagen-backed automaker reviving a famed but defunct SUV brand of the 1960s and ‘70s, is opening its first electric truck and SUV manufacturing plant at a Richland County industrial park in the small town of Blythewood, population roughly 5,000.

The company hopes to turn out 200,000 vehicles each year at the eventual plant, which is expected to be operational by 2026.

The $2 billion investment and 4,000 new jobs promised by the company are in exchange for local tax breaks and other state incentives worth more than $1.2 billion.

For an hour Monday night, residents got to ask some of the deal’s power brokers questions about what the new plant will mean for their community.

Blythewood Mayor Bryan Franklin, Richland County Councilman Derrek Pugh, Richland County Economic Development Director Jeff Ruble and South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey met with the residents, a number of whom asked about logistics: road work, water usage, power lines.

Blythewood Road, which runs along a portion of the Scout site, will get a $3.5 million makeover, Ruble said. Other road projects connected to the new site include a state-funded new interchange on Interstate 77, as well as several other local road projects.

As for water concerns, the plant will be supplied by Columbia Water, but the plant isn’t expected to be a heavy water user, Ruble said.

Residents also asked about more forward-looking concerns: Will Scout establish training programs with local high schools? How many Blythewood residents will be employed by the plant?

More than 1,100 people have registered in an online portal for prospective employees at the plant, and 90% of those people reside in South Carolina, Lightsey said.

The company has already said it will establish a training program with Midlands Technical College, and Lightsey said he thinks the company will also partner with local high schools for training.

Right now, Scout has just 40 employees. The company likely won’t begin aggressively hiring until 2024 or 2025, and the plant won’t be online until 2026.

Officials added that Scout is already connected with local nonprofits and hopes to be involved in the local community.

Many attendees Monday were there not to voice concerns but to learn about what kind of opportunity the new plant might mean for them.

Jeff and Susan Riley, a husband-wife real estate team with Keller Williams Realty, attended the meeting because they expect the Scout plant to drive a lot of housing developments, not only in Blythewood but across the Midlands. They have investors eager to buy land, betting on housing needs growing exponentially in years to come.

Nikia Clayton and Geverix Murphy, too, wondered what the new plant could mean for development in the area, as well as how it might benefit small businesses. The pair run a local trucking company and are hopeful they may be able to work with Scout or the suppliers that are likely to follow.

Richland County Council will take public comment on the plant deal during a meeting March 21, where they are expected to give a local incentive deal final approval. The county is also planning smaller “education sessions” on the new plant for interested residents, Pugh said.

Officials stressed that there will be more opportunities for residents to ask questions.

Plans for the plant must also still go through the planning and zoning process, which is expected to last at least through mid-May, according to a timeline Ruble shared Monday.