operations” with five or six more scheduled to arrive. “We have worked with business recruitment firms, retail strategies specifically, and they have been incredibly successful,” he notes.“However, you’ve got to have a vibrant local economy to support people wanting to build a house here, wanting to live here and shop in these retail or food establishments.” INFRASTRUCTURE EXCELLENCE AND SMART GROWTH Newberry controls its own utilities, a rare advantage among small cities. The municipality owns electric, water, and wastewater systems while partnering in natural gas and fiber optic services.“Our infrastructure is actually in pretty good shape,” Taylor reports.“We have sufficient capacities both in wastewater and in water. It’s just collection and distribution, which is always a maintenance issue that we’re working on.” The city is investing $13-14 million to replace a main trunk line serving industrial customers, including Kraft. “We also own electricity here, and that’s in good shape. In fact, our prices soon should go down because of an arrangement we have for how we buy our power,” says Taylor.“We also are involved to some extent in natural gas operations and the high-speed fiber too here. All of those I think are in really good shape as far as capacities and service territories are concerned.” Downtown Newberry during the annual Oktoberfest event 7 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 07 NEWBERRY, SC
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