GAINSWave® Treatment In Rock Hill, SC

Thousands of new jobs are expected to come to the Rock Hill region in the next few years, according to state workforce department projections, at a growth rate higher than anywhere else in South Carolina.

New South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce figures forecast a 21,012-job increase between 2022 and 2032 for York, Lancaster and Chester counties. The 179,471 jobs in 2032 would be up 13.3% in a decade. The Charleston area is next highest among a dozen workforce regions, at 12.7%.

If those counts materialize, the Rock Hill region would remain the sixth-largest workforce area in the state.

Job growth coincides with population growth, where York County recently became the seventh county statewide to top 300,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Lancaster County passed 100,000 residents and has the third highest population growth rate in South Carolina, and highest in the two-state Charlotte metro area, since 2020.

A Flourish chart

The state workforce department tracks and projects numerous factors related to employment, from layoffs to secondary education training programs needed to support industries. The 2032 estimates “convey an optimistic vision” of ongoing employment patterns, analytics writer Lainey Stalnaker said in the first of a multi-part workforce department blog series posted on March 24.

“This data allows the state to plan for expected employment growth, including the types of jobs and employers that are growing,” Stalnaker wrote.

In the Rock Hill region, more than half a dozen industries or occupations will have grown by 50% or more between 2022 and 2032, according to the new data.

Warehousing and storage jobs would increase 70%. Securities, commodities and other financial trading jobs would go up nearly 53%. Other industries on the rise, according to the projections, are transportation and warehousing (48%), company management (39%), insurance (35%) and social assistance (31%).

Of 87 listed industries, only five are projected to lose jobs by 2033. Textile mills (-12%), crop production (-9%), forestry and logging (-6%), rail transportation (-3%) and miscellaneous manufacturing (-2%) make up that list.

Trade, transportation and utilities would grow by nearly 5,400 jobs. Professional and business services are next at nearly 4,900 jobs. Education and health services would increase by more than 4,200 jobs.

A Flourish table

By growth rate, the biggest movers among occupations across the Rock Hill region are interpreters or translators (71%), nurses (65%), data scientists (53%), occupational therapy assistants (52%), personal financial advisors (52%) and broadcast technicians (50%).

Occupations projected to lose jobs by 2032 include legal secretaries and administrative assistants (-21%), metal fabricators (-13%) and machine operators (-13%).

The most total new jobs would come in transportation (3,078), business and financial operations (2,189), sales (1,962) and management (1,929). The biggest declines come for fast food cooks (-100), secretaries and administrative assistants (-55), executive secretaries (-39) and legal secretaries (-30).

A Flourish table

While projections rely on the best available data on job creation, the loss or addition of any one project can drastically sway the region’s employment outlook. And county economic development teams are constantly looking for opportunities.

At the end of February, the Rock Hill region had at least five projects worth $160 million in discussion for tax incentive deals with York, Lancaster or Chester county councils. Lancaster County officials noted a recent trend in retail interest there, after Costco and Target announced they’d open in Indian Land.

The most prime example of how quickly employment outlooks can change may be the property off Exit 81 at Interstate 77 in Rock Hill.

A $2 billion project to bring the Carolina Panthers headquarters and training facility touted thousands of new jobs across a variety of industries, before the project collapsed due to funding disagreements between the team and city.

This week Rock Hill will start the rezoning process for 220 acres it owns there, to prime the property for new life. The city envisions a large life sciences or advanced manufacturing campus. It’s part of a city-wide focus on those industries that also includes other large areas near the interstate, particularly on the south side.

It’s not just the job count but the types of jobs — high pay, community fit, emerging industries — that matter, Mayor John Gettys told The Herald last week in discussion on the former Panthers site.

“We want jobs that don’t exist in Rock Hill,” he said.

This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 8:21 AM.

YORK COUNTY — She suffered a life-altering condition in 2019. At roughly the same time, a solution was in development.

Pauline McCollough of Rock Hill was diagnosed with epilepsy that year, the same time the city started its free bus service, MyRide.

"Once I was about to park, and I had a seizure," McCollough said. "My mind knew what was happening, but everything else froze. I knew it was time to get serious. I needed to get off the road."

McCollough, 40, made the transition to life as a non-driver, and the bus service helped facilitate that.

But she's about to take her last ride. Rock Hill announced one of its four bus routes, which takes McCollough from her home in the northern part of the city to downtown, will hit the brakes after the Easter weekend.

It's a decision prompted by the lack of reliability in its electric bus fleet, transportation officials said.

In 2023, the Greenville-based electric bus and charger maker Proterra declared bankruptcy. Rock Hill went from having the manufacturer nearby whenever parts or expertise were needed for repairs to not having access to either.

That story has played out across the state, plus other parts of the country. Proterra buses had been purchased by many municipalities. In Seneca, city leaders chose to cancel their free bus service — a partnership with the city of Clemson — last summer, for example, due to the lack of parts available to repair the buses.

In Everett, Wash., the city is trying to sell its Proterra fleet.

Proterra's assets were purchased by Phoenix Motorcars, a California-based electric vehicle company. Rock Hill officials said Phoenix hasn't been responsive to orders for replacement parts, which aren't available in the general market.

Phoenix officials could not be reached for comment.

Rock Hill officials spent a month gathering public feedback about the routes, including two public comment sessions in March.

"Limited access to necessary bus parts has impacted our ability to keep all full-sized buses in operation, requiring us to regularly use paratransit vehicles, limiting service reliability," city officials said in a statement. "Because these vehicles have reduced seating capacity and do not permit standing passengers, some riders have been unable to board. "

While there's a downside to reducing the routes, transit administrator Cliff Goolsby said providing a reliable service with the strained fleet is the goal.

Some residents asked if the city could switch to a fare system to save the route, but city officials said they aren't pursuing that option since the bus repair problem can't be solved with more income.

"The cost of implementing a fare system would outweigh any income generated due to the infrastructure costs associated with the new technology, equipment and accounting staff," according to the city statement.

McCollough, who is on long-term disability, said she's exploring other transportation options, such as York County Access, which, rather than a fixed-route system, provides a "ride-to-work" service and essential transportation for people who need to make it to doctor's appointments or the pharmacy.

Besides those types of needs, McCollough said she had been using MyRide to visit the York County Library and the YMCA. Her bus stop is a seven-minute walk from her home, with the ride taking her three miles.

"We have a writing group on Tuesdays at the library," she said. "That's helped me a lot."

She expects she'll take one more ride on April 19 to downtown Rock Hill for Easter weekend festivities.

More than two dozen homes across the Rock Hill region sold for $1 million or more in March, along with banks, commercial sites, warehouses and land primed for new development.

There were 25 homes in York, Lancaster or Chester counties that hit the seven-figure mark, according to county land records. Fort Mill had 10 of them. Lake Wylie had four, while Rock Hill, Indian Land and Tega Cay had three each. York and Clover each added one.

A River Hills home in Lake Wylie and a Walker Road home in Rock Hill were the most expensive sales, each at $1.6 million. Those homes were built in 1973 and 1996, respectively. They’re part of a growing number of homes across the region that have added home value over time.

At least the past two years have set records across the region for million-dollar home sales. The 25 sales in March were almost as many as in January and February combined (29). Last year, March and April combined for 25 million-dollar sales.

Use the map below for details on the March million-dollar home sales. Blue icons are March sales, and black ones are sales from earlier in the year.

Sales weren’t limited to homes. Here’s a look at the other high-dollar deals, according to land records:

▪ Dallas, Texas-based Leon Capital Group bought the 120,000-square-foot distribution warehouse at 2690 Commerce Dr. in Rock Hill. The March 5 sale for $11.5 million includes nearly 8 acres between Commerce and Waterford Park drives. The site is about halfway between Interstate 77 and the Catawba River.

▪ A Chicago company with properties across York County bought three South State Bank sites. One at 1127 Ebenezer Road in Rock Hill sold on March 13 for $4 million. It’s more than 9,100 square feet. Another at 817 Dave Gibson Blvd. in Fort Mill sold on March 13 for $3 million. It’s a nearly 9,300-square-foot building on 2 acres. The sale at 801 E. Liberty St. in York happened on March 12, for $1.5 million. It involves three properties and the 4,000-square-foot bank building just off South Pacific Avenue.

▪ Waxhaw, North Carolina-based company Teleo bought 280 acres in Lancaster County on March 13 for $2.4 million. It’s two properties, and the smaller 7-acre one has a home on it that was built in 1962. The home is on Bethea Road, but the larger property stretches west off Hwy. 903 on the southeast side of Lancaster. The new owner has the same listed address as homebuilder Kinterra Custom Homes.

▪ The Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurant site on Cherry Road in Rock Hill sold on March 26 for $2.2 million. The 2,200-square-foot fast food site at 2476 Cherry Road was part of the Aldi grocery store site right beside it, near where Cherry and Anderson Road meet.

▪ A York company bought nearly 2 acres of commercial property at 221 Hands Mill Hwy. in Rock Hill on March 18 for $1.9 million. The sale includes two warehouses at a combined 12,000 square feet of space. It’s the White Tiger furniture location, beside the Sportsman pistol range.

▪ Homebuilder Taylor Morrison bought another 23 lots in the Ridge at Sugar Creek subdivision on March 4 for $1.9 million. Townhomes are selling there starting in the mid-$400,000 range. The new Indian Land neighborhood is just west of Harrisburg Road, and south of the Estates at Sugar Creek area where Taylor Morrison is also building homes. The lots are located on Beacon, Beacon Heights and Miles Gap roads.

▪ A 3,200-square-foot office building in Rock Hill’s Riverwalk area sold March 5 for $1.5 million. Financial advising company BNA bought the suite that was built in 2015. It’s at Herrons Ferry and Rapid Run roads, beside Riverwalk’s Piedmont Medical Center Trail and the Catawba River.

▪ Homebuilder D.R. Horton bought 14 home lots in the Ferguson Crossing subdivision in York on March 28 for $1.3 million. The properties are on Saloon Drive and Court House Avenue.

▪ Pennsylvania-based COP Lancaster bought more than 1 acre of undeveloped commercial property off U.S. 521, or Charlotte Highway, in Indian Land for $1.3 million. It’s a wooded area beside a strip mall, between the highway and the Bridgemill neighborhood. The parcel was previously part of the property that became Bridgemill, a community of more than 800 homes and townhomes.

▪ Catawba Holdings bought 205 acres in Chester County from Charlotte-based Pinetops South. The March 21 sale for $1.2 million involves a large parcel with frontage along Boyd and Old Columbia roads, south of Chester.

▪ Homebuilder LGI Homes bought 18 lots in Chester County on March 7 for $1.1 million. The Tristen Road properties are part of a new subdivision east of the Lancaster Highway interchange on Interstate 77.

The Herald

803-329-4076

John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie. Support my work with a digital subscription

A large sushi distributor in Charlotte will bring its headquarters and a training facility to Rock Hill. Hissho Sushi announced the move and planned $5 million investment, set to create 146 jobs.

The move allows Hissho Sushi to expand its operations while maintaining high quality standards, company president Matt Wilken said in an announcement this week. “York County offers us the space, resources and talent we need to fuel our next chapter,” Wilken said.

Hissho Sushi is in Charlotte’s Steel Creek area, the jutting part of North Carolina between Lake Wylie and Tega Cay in South Carolina. The company has products in more than 2,500 supermarket deli sections, college campuses, freestanding stores and other locations.

Hissho provide sushi for Mein Bowl at Winthrop University in Rock Hill. The privately-held company also is in numerous Sprouts, Fresh Market and Food Lion stores.

Primary distribution will soon take place from a new site at 3621 Lazy Hawk Road in Rock Hill. The Herald reported on county plans the past two years to put a large cold storage warehouse on the site.

Last month, a Connecticut company bought the property right beside Hissho Sushi for $3.3 million.

The more than 40-acre Hissho Sushi property fronts Interstate 77 at the Mount Holly Road interchange. A Florida company bought it three years ago for $2.3 million, according to county land records. A more than 290,000-square-foot cold storage warehouse opened last year.

Hissho Sushi expects to be operational in the facility by August. It’ll be a headquarters and a hub for nationwide distribution as well as a franchisee training center.

Hissho Sushi was founded in 1998.