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Pickens County is welcoming a new firearms manufacturer — the same one that Richland County recently declined to give tax incentives to in light of nationwide gun violence.

FN America, a longstanding firearms maker headquartered in Virginia, will build a $33 million plant in the Upstate’s Pickens County as it expands its line of available weapons. The news comes a week after Richland County balked at offering incentives to expand the company’s existing Richland County facility.

The issue came down to gun control and using public funds to incentivize the sale of firearms, several Richland County Council members said after the vote.

FN America broke ground on its Richland County manufacturing plant in 1979 and has grown significantly in the decades since. The facility has been FN America’s primary manufacturer and has produced more than 1 million small arms under contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, according to a news release from the company.

The company had planned to expand its Richland County site and was on track to receive tax incentives from the County Council to do so. Earlier this month, the county voted 7-3 to approve an incentive equaling a 60% tax break for 12 years in exchange for a $16.5 million investment and the creation of 100 new jobs.

But at the final vote on April 18, several council members changed their votes, killing the deal in a 5-5 vote, with one member abstaining.

“I have no problems if that company wants to sell guns, then it’s fine, but do not use taxpayer dollars,” Councilmember Yvonne McBride said during the meeting. “This is not about gun control. This is about using taxpayer dollars to incentivize the sale of guns.”

Another Councilmember, Allison Terracio, shared similar concerns.

“It is very clear that there is a direct line from these manufacturers to the epidemic of gun violence that we have today,” Terracio previously told The State.

Richland County Council members Derrek Pugh (District 2), Yvonne McBride (District 3), Allison Terracio (District 5), Cheryl English (District 10) and Chakisse Newton (District 11) voted “no” to the tax break for FN America.

Council members Jason Branham (District 1), Paul Livingston (District 4), Don Weaver (District 6), Gretchen Barron (District 7) and Overture Walker (District 8) voted in favor of the tax break.

Jesica Mackey (District 9), who represents the area where FN America’s facility is located, recused herself from the vote due to a conflict of interest with the business.

The new Pickens County facility appears to be larger than the proposed expansion planned in Richland County and has also been in the works for some time.

Pickens County Council had already tentatively approved incentives for the project, dubbed “Sierra Foxtrot,” on second reading April 3. The County Council gave final approval Wednesday in a 5-1 vote, with Councilmember Claiborne Linvill as the sole “no” vote.

“Giving tax breaks to the gun industry was going to be a controversial issue for many of my constituents, so I proposed that the county ask the company to offer safety or training programs as part of their deal,” Linvill told The State in an emailed statement. “My request went unanswered until the week of the third reading, when I learned no such programs would be negotiated. Therefore, I voted no, having felt like the county missed an opportunity to make this deal better for all our community.”

Pickens County is notably more conservative than Richland County. In the 2020 presidential election, 68% of Richland County voters cast a ballot for President Joe Biden, while nearly 75% of Pickens County voters opted for former President Donald Trump.

While the Richland County deal promised a $16.5 million investment and the creation of 100 jobs to expand an existing facility, the Pickens County deal is for a $33 million investment and the creation of 176 jobs at an entirely new, as-yet unconstructed facility in Liberty.

Pickens County’s incentives for the project include giving the company land for the factory, a $1.5 million grant to go toward preparing the site for construction, and a 20-year tax break, according to an ordinance passed Wednesday.

The Liberty factory will be 100,000-square feet “or more,” according to an announcement of the deal by Gov. Henry McMaster’s office. The company plans to break ground in 2024 and finish construction in 2025.

The State has contacted FN America for more information on the company’s plans for both the Richland and Pickens county sites. The company has yet to respond to those requests.

McMaster is touting the FN America deal as another success for South Carolina’s growing manufacturing economy.

“FN America is one of South Carolina’s finest employers, and we are proud to see them establish new operations in Pickens County. We are grateful for their commitment to South Carolina and look forward to watching them continue to succeed in the years to come,” he said in a statement Wednesday.

At its roots, the company was founded as a military arms dealer, first providing small arms for the Belgian military in the last 1800s, according to reporting from firearms trade publications. FN America is a subsidiary of the international FN Herstal brand. The American branch was founded in 1979. The company still provides weapons for the military and law enforcement, as well as civilians.

The governor’s office made the announcement Wednesday. The State has not been able to reach any representatives from FN America, but the company’s president and CEO Mark Cherpes made a statement as part of the governor’s announcement:

“FN America has experienced significant growth over the last several years and demand for our products continues to increase in all market segments that we serve. Our new facility in Liberty, South Carolina will allow us to expand our manufacturing capabilities and grow our highly skilled workforce to meet that new demand,” Cherpes said.

After the Pickens Co. School Board voted to ban "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You" by Jason Reynolds back in October, the Pickens Co. Public Library System held a meet and greet for Reynolds to promote his new book "Miles Morales: Suspended."

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EASLEY, S.C. —

The battle against banned books continues in Pickens County Friday.

After the Pickens Co. School Board voted to ban "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You" by Jason Reynolds back in October, the Pickens Co. Public Library System held a meet and greet for Reynolds to promote his new book "Miles Morales: Suspended."

There were lines outside the door waiting to meet Reynolds. Easley was a stop on a three-city book tour for the author. The visit comes eight months after Reynolds' book "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You" was banned by the Pickens Co. School District.

"I didn’t see the representation here in the community, within the boardroom. That frustrated me because, like, it happened overnight and the public didn’t get a chance to respond or react the way they should," Sesundus Seaton said.

Reynolds talked about his journey as a writer, the importance of telling all types of stories, and where he stands on having his books banned.

"To ban a book like Stamped is, to me, what it feels like to make the claim that I would ever make something to intentionally harm a child. And I would never. That’s not my intention and that’s not what that book does, but it’s being painted in a way that says that’s what it’s doing and that feels violent," Reynolds said.

He also commended the Pickens Co. Public Library System for fighting to keep books on the shelf.

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"If anything, what may happen is you may read something and become more fortified. To read stories like this, to read information like this, makes us giants. It doesn’t make us small. I think the librarians in this building and all over this area understand that. We are in the business of building giants," Reynolds said.

Susan Childers, chairwoman of the Pickens Co. Public Library system, believes authors like Reynolds will inspire the next generation.

"How many young people need to hear what he has to say about literacy and getting them on board with literacy? I think he was a perfect example for that, for them," Childers said.

Book lovers, young and old, appreciated the public library for stepping up.

"I think it’s brave for the public library to bring in an author who is diversely represented and so easily speaks about issues that are pressing all of us right now, so I’m excited," Allison Brown said.

"Just to hear all his responses about the issue of banning books and how important it is we do not censor our books. That we allow books that are mirrors and windows for students in our public schools and how much we need every book on self and stop this censoring nonsense," school librarian Tracy Brady said.

"Where are the people banning these books tonight? Did they come to this event to find out from the author himself? Where are these kinds of things happening except through people like the library system? It’s the power of books. It brings all these people together and proves that literature is not scary. It’s what people do in their minds that is the scary part," Meg Black said.

The ACLU of South Carolina has filed a lawsuit against the Pickens Co. School District in hopes of bringing Stamped back to the shelves.

A spokesperson for the Pickens Co. School District did confirm the district has received the lawsuit but would not comment at this time.

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – As storms rolled through the Upstate Sunday night into Monday morning, several homes were damaged due to that severe weather, including a home on Edens Ridge Drive in Six Mile.

Pickens County Emergency Management said it was around 1:30 a.m. when the home was believed to have been struck by lightning.

Billy Gibson, Pickens County EMS director, said they battled the flames for about 4 hours as when lightning struck, fire spread quickly throughout the home.

“It actually was called in by a neighbor who saw the fire from the next street over and then called the fire department,” Gibson said. “They were there in about three minutes. When the lightning strike hit it looked like it was near the roof line, so the top of the house was heavily involved.”

Chip Lawson, vice president of the Edens Ridge Homeowner’s Association, said many neighbors have shown an outpour of love and support for the family.

“This is a great neighborhood,” Lawson said. “Everyone is there for each other and that is exactly what is going on right now. We are trying to work up something to see if they need anything as far as gift cards to help them go to restaurants and things like that. Many people in the neighborhood have offered them places to stay, take a bath, get clothes and stuff like that.”

Gibson said there were three confirmed lightning strikes throughout the county and five homes were damaged.

He said the damage at the home on Edens Ridge Drive was most significant.

“It has been a long time since I have seen a weather system like that come through Pickens County with that intensity of lightning,” Gibson said. “We are prone to get severe weather from time to time with high winds, heavy rain but that amount of lightning is something we rarely see.”

While preparing for a lightning strike is almost impossible, there are a few ways you may be able to prepare your home for the unexpected.

“About the only thing you can do is make sure your house is grounded properly,” Lawson said. “A lot of people don’t ground their houses or the old houses; they never grounded them. The new ones you put your ground rods in, make sure your phone, power panel box, and everything is attached to that and properly tied down.”

Gibson said despite several houses being damaged in the area, luckily no one was injured.

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About Pickens

PICKENS, S.C. (WSPA) – Pickens is filled with history and sits on land that once belonged to the Cherokee Nation many years ago.

“The Cherokee sided with the British during the Revolutionary War,” the director of Pickens County Museum of Art and History Tabitha Johnson said. “Once they lost the war they had to surrender most of their land to the United States of America.”

The Pickens area was part of the Washington District in 1791 and over time the land was divided up until 1868 when Pickens branched off on its own.

Johnson said, “Most of what was old Pickens was actually picked up and physically moved brick and board.”

Everything from the courthouse to the jail was moved, Johnson explained and named after a Revolutionary War hero.

“The district, the county, the city is all named after and in honor of Revolutionary war hero Brigadier General Andrew Pickens.”

When the land was seized after the Revolutionary War, it was given to General Pickens from the government as payment and it didn’t take long for the town to become a bustling mill town after the railroad was built.

“About 1898 the railway comes through Pickens and that was instrumental for the development of the city and the county overall,” Johnson added. “Later textile mills become a massive part of the development.”

The locals may know the unique lore behind their trains and railroad which is still talked about today.

“When it was first established there was no way for the train to turn around so when it would go from Pickens to Easley it would have to backtrack and come back along the tracks to Pickens,” Johnson said.

It eventually got its own nickname.

“Almost immediately the locals started calling it the doodle because it was kind of like the doodlebug.”

The doodle train’s history is preserved at doodle par and most of the town’s history is preserved at the Museum of Art and History, which is a piece of the past itself.

Johnson said, “The building we’re standing in is an artifact itself because this was the county jail.”

According to Johnson, it wasn’t the original that was moved from the original county seat “but it was built in 1902 and opened in 1903 as the county jail and is one of the few early jails still remaining in the Piedmont.”

Early sheriffs and their families would live in the jail and take care of the prisoners Johnson said.

“So, it was really a wide range of folks who are kind of stumbling around as a public menace and folks who had really committed serious crimes all were housed here in the building.”

Glimpses of the past can be found across Pickens at shops, museums and parks.

It’s a town with more history than you may think.

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(WSPA) – Pickens County leaders estimate 50,000 people lined the streets of Pickens for former president Donald Trump’s rally less than one month ago.

The county said they paid about $30,000 to first responders working the July 1 event. The city of Pickens also spent an additional $10,000 in setup costs.

However, while many said they wonder why Trump’s campaign didn’t pay those costs, the county said it would have been foolish to send the campaign a bill.

Under law, a campaign expense is an expense that influences the outcome of an election.

“The numbers getting tossed around, that they left the city of Pickens owing money is absolutely not true,” said Barry Crawford, who helped assist Trump’s visit. “We had a very successful event that day outside of the heat. No one went to jail, it was a peaceful event and we were glad to have Mr. Trump in Pickens.”

Vice Chairman of Pickens County Council Roy Costner said whether you support Trump or not, having a former president visit the area is a historic event.

He said the safety of those attending that event was their top priority.

“We are always going to do what we can to keep the public safe, make sure there are no problems. And if we as a county council can find a way to fund that portion of it without it costing the taxpayers any extra dollars, I think that is a win all the way around,” Costner said.

County Council members said the county will pay the expenses of the event at no cost to taxpayers using their accommodations tax (ATAX) money. The ATAX is the extra sales tax motels and hotels pay for short term overnight guests. The county government collects about $250,000 in ATAX money a year.

This year they said they had $75,000 left over.

“That is what the accommodations tax is for,” Costner said. “When you have a big event, it really should be that money used for bringing all these people into the area. There were a lot of people from all over. Those weren’t all people from Pickens.”

The county added the crowd that traveled to Pickens was about 16 times bigger than the city’s population.

“This is huge,” Crawford said. “We have never had anything this big in Pickens. It was a huge successful event and I don’t know that we will have anything that matches it anytime soon.”

County leaders said the event was beneficial to both the city and county and they believe it was a success from start to finish.