Daniel Prince
Group is responsible for bringing T-Mobile and Starbucks to the county
At Tuesday’s meeting of Union County Council, Sue Farr, Kindra Horne, Harriet Belk, and Linda Mitchell all received service awards.
Jami Trammell with the Union County Development Board asked council to approve the money for the third and final year of the current contract with Retail Strategies. She said the contract had an escape clause for the third year if they were not happy with how things were working, so council would need to approve moving forward with the final year. She said several projects are in the works thanks to the company, and some of its successes are coming to fruition with the T-Mobile store that will be opening next month and the Starbucks that is under construction in the TBA shopping center parking lot. She said they are working with a national burger chain to try and get them to locate here, as well. She said retail breeds retail. She said that is how Tractor Supply finally decided to locate in Union, as they saw some of these other companies making a commitment to the community. She said she is working with them to recruit a mid-range restaurant, and long-term, if a new contract is drawn up, she said they want to help bring in another hotel to Union. Council unanimously approved paying for the third year of the contract. Both the county and the city pays $15,000 a year to Retail Strategies.