www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-06-10 14:22:00
A new report from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) ranks South Carolina 13th nationally for “pro-growth” labor reforms, fifth in the South Atlantic, and 10th in the South. The ALEC 2025 States That Work report evaluates labor policies based on factors such as employment growth, minimum wage, union presence, and political climate. South Carolina tied for first in minimum wage ($7.25), ranked sixth in private sector job growth, and scored well on Right-to-Work and other pro-business laws. Despite progress, the state aims to enhance labor freedom further. Over half a million people have moved to South Carolina in the past decade, reflecting strong momentum.
(The Center Square) – South Carolina is fifth in the South Atlantic, 10th in the South and 13th in the nation for “pro-growth” reforms, according to a new report from the American Legislative Exchange Council.
ALEC.org
ALEC 2025 States That Work: A Labor Policy Roadmap Across America, released Tuesday, considers labor policies – including a 10-point model checklist – and jobs overview in formulating the state rankings. Employment growth, state minimum wage, unions and political landscape are inside the factors.
For jobs, South Carolina tied for first with the state minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) equal to the federal; was sixth in average 10-year private sector employment growth ending in 2024; and 30th in government sector job prevalence (16%). The Right-to-Work Act, Open Contracting Act and Fair and Accountable Public Sector Authority Act also scored well.
“South Carolina has built a solid foundation with Right to Work and a light regulatory touch,” said Alan Jernigan, manager of the ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force. “But to break into the top tier of labor freedom they have to go further. The good news? More than half a million Americans have already moved to the Palmetto State in the past decade. The momentum is there.”
In the 16-state South, the Palmetto State trailed Georgia (third), Arkansas (fourth), Florida (fifth), Tennessee (sixth), North Carolina (seventh), Louisiana (ninth), Mississippi (10th), West Virginia (11th) and Texas (12th).
ALEC bills itself as “America’s largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism. Comprised of nearly one-quarter of the country’s state legislators and stakeholders from across the policy spectrum, ALEC members represent more than 60 million Americans and provide jobs to more than 30 million people in the United States.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This article presents information about South Carolina’s ranking in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) report on “pro-growth” labor reforms. The content largely reports facts about labor policies, state rankings, and quotes from ALEC officials without overt editorializing. However, the source—ALEC—is a well-known conservative-leaning organization advocating limited government, free markets, and labor policies often favored by right-leaning groups, such as Right-to-Work laws and low minimum wages. The language and framing are generally neutral but implicitly support pro-business, limited regulation perspectives consistent with center-right ideology. Overall, the piece reflects a center-right viewpoint primarily through its reliance on ALEC’s framework and values.
SUMMARY: Geoff Collins, a veteran college coach with 28 years of experience, has joined South Carolina’s football staff as a senior defensive assistant, announced head coach Shane Beamer. Collins recently served as defensive coordinator at North Carolina and was head coach at Georgia Tech (2019-22). He has six years as a head coach and 12 years as a defensive coordinator, including six in the SEC. Known for strong recruiting and defensive expertise, Collins led top-ranked defenses at Florida and Mississippi State and has coached over 30 future NFL players. He began coaching at Georgia Tech and Western Carolina and played linebacker there.
SUMMARY: The U.S. and the European Union have reached a major trade deal in Scotland just before President Trump’s August 1 deadline. The agreement lowers threatened tariffs from 30% to 15% on most goods, including automobiles. The EU will purchase \$750 billion in U.S. energy and invest \$600 billion more in America. All EU countries will trade with the U.S. at zero tariffs, and the EU will buy significant U.S. military equipment. The EU, the world’s second-largest economy, avoided retaliatory tariffs on American products. President Trump is also negotiating with other countries and will meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to finalize a previous trade deal.
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Shaun Adams was laid off from Stanley Furniture in 2014, marking the loss of Graham County’s largest employer and last major manufacturer. After the plant closed, unemployment in the county rose to the highest in North Carolina, and the facility remained nearly vacant for over a decade. Adams ran for mayor in 2021, determined to revive manufacturing jobs. Recently, Chinese company EcoKing announced an $80 million investment to reopen the plant, promising 515 jobs with an average wage nearly double the county’s median income. Renovations costing $21 million are underway, and hiring will occur in phases with local college partnerships for workforce development. This investment offers new economic hope for Graham County.
by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press July 28, 2025
When Shaun Adams was laid off by Stanley Furniture in 2014, he was beyond frustrated. Not only was he losing his job at the furniture manufacturing plant, but Graham County was losing its largest employer and last major manufacturer.
In the year after Stanley left, the unemployment rate in Graham County rose to the highest across North Carolina. Adams’ frustration grew as he saw the Robbinsville facility lay almost entirely vacant for more than a decade. Why weren’t town and county officials courting another company to use the factory space and create more jobs?
Adams ran for mayor, determined to bring manufacturing jobs back to Robbinsville. He won the office in 2021.
Last week, he got his wish: the Chinese biodegradable paperware company EcoKing announced an $80 million investment to reopen the same shuttered facility, promising 515 jobs in one of North Carolina’s most economically distressed counties.
“We have lost so much population over the years because of factories closing and our low median income,” Adams told Carolina Public Press. “This means a lot of people will get to come home.”
EcoKing manufactures for fast food restaurants like Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A, and Panda Express. When the Robbinsville facility comes online in 2026, it will be the biggest employer in Graham County, providing an average wage of $46,700, nearly double the median individual income in the county.
Picking Graham County
But first, the abandoned Stanley plant needs major renovations — to the tune of $21 million.
“If you walked through the plant with me, you would say they ought to do a series ofThe Walking Deadhere, because it just looked abandoned and neglected,” Robin Sargent, owner of Old Town Brokers, a firm that helped orchestrate the sale of the plant.
“At one time, it was a vibrant place, but holy cow, someone just let it go to hell. Taking the pictures was like getting it ready for a dating site. It takes a special person to be able to have a vision for a space like that.”
The facility needs major HVAC, plumbing and electrical work. But EcoKing wasn’t scared off by the state of the plant.
Partially they were wowed by Graham County’s natural beauty. Partially they were swayed because of the cheap, abundant power supply in the area.
The deciding factor, however, was incentives: between the town, the county and the state, EcoKing was offered $12 million over five years to pick Graham County instead of a site in the other Southern states they were eyeing.
EcoKing’s customers — those big name fast food restaurants — wanted paperware products made domestically. With the tariffs coming down from Washington, the company had to act quickly.
“The tariff is high,” John Lin, EcoKing’s representative for this project, told CPP. “And 80% of our customers are here in the United States. So is most of our raw material. That taught us to make a decision: we’re going to land right here, and be Made in the USA.”
Economic lifeline
The EcoKing investment is a lifeline for this Western corner of the state. Graham County once had more than 1,100 manufacturing jobs across four factories and a sawmill. Now all of that is gone.
After Stanley Furniture was the last to leave, a company called Oak Valley Hardwood occupied a small corner of the same building starting in 2016, but left when COVID hit. Other than that blip, hardly any economic investment has come to the area.
“For decades we struggled with the closing of textile plants and furniture plants and the tobacco industry being more or less sunset,” Sargent said.
“This area has just been hammered in a way that is not well understood — 500 jobs is a big deal here. This is a really great story of how we were able to capture the interest of an Asian company to launch a big investment in their industry here.”
There’s a certain economic irony to EcoKing’s investment. Many of the manufacturing jobs that left Graham County — and Western North Carolina more broadly — went to China as companies chased cheaper labor. Now, a Chinese company is bringing manufacturing back to the exact same building where American workers once made furniture.
EcoKing will use the same pulp supplier that served the Pactiv paper plant in Canton, whose 2023 closure resulted in the loss of 1,200 jobs and a lawsuit from former attorney general and current governor Josh Stein.
Bringing back Graham County workforce
The one downside of US manufacturing is the cost of labor, Lin said. In China, the company can get away with much lower wages. EcoKing plans to use some automated manufacturing to offset this inflated cost.
But still, the plant will need 515 workers. In one of the state’s smallest counties, that won’t happen overnight — it will require coordinated workforce development.
Hiring is projected to happen in two phases. The first phase will take place over the next three to five years, and create about 300 jobs. The second, on a longer timeline, will bring on 215 more. The company is partnering with Tri-County Community College and Western Carolina University for workforce development.
“We’re going to take a slow-burn approach,” Josh Carpenter, director of economic development group Mountain West Partnership, told CPP. “That’s what we did with Harrah’s Cherokee Casino: built a workforce of 900 to 1,200 over the years.”
Construction crews are already at work on the $21 million restoration. And for the first time in over a decade, Graham County has concrete reason for economic optimism.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This content presents a factual and balanced report on the economic revitalization efforts in a local community without clear ideological slant. It focuses on job creation, economic development incentives, and workforce challenges, avoiding partisan rhetoric or polarizing viewpoints. The article highlights cooperation between government, private companies, and educational institutions, a neutral topic that appeals to a broad audience across the political spectrum.
