In the last year, Newberry County has gained approximately 1,200 new jobs in the industry sector alone. And while the county welcomes new growth, the employment boom's impact is being felt beyond the four walls of business.

New housing developers are constantly looking for a prime plot of land, and school officials can only guess what the economic growth will do to some schools' already overflowing classrooms.

The majority of the expected influx is due to the expansion of Louis Rich's food manufacturing plant, which is expected to be complete by the end of this year. Owner Kraft Foods estimates that 1,000 new jobs will have been added to its payroll from the first phase of expansion in early 2007 until completion this year. The expanded work force will allow for a second shift to support increased volume and new products.

Plant Manager Lyle Olson said in a November press release that the expansion “demonstrates the company's confidence in our team of employees and in the Newberry community as a place for our business to grow and thrive.”

And Kraft isn't the only business that thinks Newberry is a good place to thrive.

In the last year Nasmyth and Schweitzer-Maudit located in the county to the tune of about 150 jobs, and Pioneer Foods announced an expansion that would add 25 jobs.

A comprehensive plan for the City of Newberry was released last year, and in it information from the S.C. Department of Commerce revealed that in 2006 11 of the county's top 15 employers are manufacturers. The number one spot belongs to Louis Rich, which employs more than 8 percent of the county's total work force of about 16,200. The second largest manufacturing employer is Renfro in Whitmire with a significantly smaller work force of about 560 employers.

And with the considerable expansion, Louis Rich is at no risk of slipping down the list. Kraft is advertising at moderate income levels, the lowest being $9.50 an hour for production workers. This annual salary (just less than $20,000) isn't far below Newberry County's per capita income of $23,901, according to 2005 numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce. At this pay rate, buying a home, settling down and spending some of the earnings on local goods is more than possible for a household with two incomes.

Questions like, “Is there enough housing in the county?” and “How many more children will have to be educated?” are at the forefront of many minds these days. As industry grows, what does Newberry need to do to keep up?

These questions will be explored in depth in The Observer's next two Friday editions.