Business View Civil and Municipal | May 2021

82 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MAY 2021 Member FDIC firstcitizens.com There’s one essential rule about banking: Money needs to be protected, nurtured and grown. Because looking after your money is looking after your future. At First Citizens Bank, we believe in creating smart, steady and stable growth. For our company. And for the customers who count on us to stay by their side through the years – and generations – to come. First Citizens Bank. Forever First . Choose a bank you can count on to help you look after your money. And your future. Forever strong. Forever First. ® hospitality industry has shown promising growth recently. About 20 percent of the county’s new projects in 2020 were in the food and beverage sector. Overall, last year was one for the Chester County record books, and 2021 is on pace to be just as fruitful. “We’ve already logged more projects for 2021 in three months than this same time last year,” says Long. “By comparison we had 63 projects in 2020, which was good because, traditionally, we’ve only had around 45 projects in an entire year. We have already logged in 46 projects to date, and we’re barely into the start of April, so activity is very strong. I think some of this is pent-up demand. There were a lot of projects when COVID hit that got put on the shelf and now a lot of projects are being pulled off the shelves simultaneously and everybody seems to be quite busy.” One thing that never rests too long on One source of that demand might be employees who want to cut down the time of their commute. Over the last few years, a number of outstanding companies have opened operations in Chester County, such as Roseburg Forest Products, Boise Cascade, Carolina Poly, and Giti Tire Manufacturing (USA) Ltd. “We are proud to welcome Giti Tire, a global tire manufacturer in the world, to Chester County. Giti Tire built and established its state-of-the-art passenger and light truck tire manufacturing plant and relocated its North America R&D center to Richburg, South Carolina,” Long shares. “Their presence has created jobs for Chester County residents and neighboring counties and promotes new business opportunities in the area.” He adds, “Our community is on the cusp of something great and we are excited to see what tomorrow holds in store.” Manufacturing makes up a large percentage of Chester County’s workforce. However, the local