A Calhoun County quail business received its official blessing from the county to proceed with plans to invest $3.4 million and add 43 new jobs to its operations in the county.
Manchester Farms will be expanding its business in the county on Adams Road in Fort Motte.
The investment includes $2.6 million in building renovations and $750,000 in machinery and equipment, according to Calhoun County Administrator and Economic Development Director John McLauchlin.
“We are happy to have this announcement of Manchester in Calhoun County and certainly we will be seeing some opportunities of employment,” McLauchlin said during the June 10 County Council meeting.
The industry is considered agricultural and would not add to the county’s tax base. The county did not provide any incentives for the company.
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Manchester Farms in November 2023 announced it had received a $1 million grant from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help house its entire growing operation in the county.
The company grows quail primarily for quail egg production. The farm produces 80,000 pharaoh quail per week, according to its website.
The expansion will include filling up four quail houses.
The company’s main customers are Costco, Harris Teeter, Publix, Safeway, Kroger, Walmart and Aldi.
The company also has a processing and sales facility in Richland County.
Founded in 1974, the company touts itself as the oldest quail producer in the United States.
Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551. Check out Zaleski on Twitter at @ZaleskiTD.
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