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ASHLIE PIPKIN SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Honoring a fellow player’s memory
$2M would be used to improve infrastructure to attract new industry BY JOE KEPLER joe@theitem.com EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series of stories examining $75 million worth of new construction needs in Sumter County, as identified in the proposal for a renewed penny sales tax. Sumter County voters will be asked to approve the tax in November, and funds raised by the tax, should it pass, will go toward a series of building, infrastructure and other projects throughout the county. “Industries want to invest in communities that invest in themselves.” That idea, expressed by Sumter County Administrator Gary Mixon, has been a rallying idea shared by all who support the Penny for Progress renewal. The county is hoping a small part of that investment in itself can pay large dividends down the road, investing $2 million in industrial infrastructure in a proposed penny tax project. After the success of drawing Continental Tire the Americas to Sumter in 2011, county officials are hoping new roads, water supplies and sewers will help bolster current industrial parks that will be used to entice even more industry to come to the area. The original penny tax in 2008 is largely credited with making the Continental Tire project a reality through a similar proposal. Greg Thompson, chairman of the Sumter Development Board, said at the plant’s opening in 2013 that the groundwork done before Continental announced it would open here allowed for expedited construction of the 1-million-square-foot building. The speedy construction, in turn, allowed the plant to hit the ground running with production by November 2013 rather than the initial estimate of early January. “Had we not already put infrastructure in place from day one, Continental loses a year to a year and a half of its process of relocating,” Mixon said. “Most industries wouldn’t have even given us a look, and I’m sure even Continental wouldn’t have given us a look. We don’t want to find ourselves in that position of being eliminated from any prospects of industrial recruitment.” The county did not rest on its laurels with the arrival of Continental; instead it prepared for not just developing a new area for business, but also allowing the flexibility of choice
MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Laiani McCollough throws a pitch during the Ashlie Pipkin Softball Tournament at Dillon Park on Saturday. Eleven-year-old Ashlie Pipkin died in late September 2009 from complications stemming from swine flu, and the tournament was organized to honor her memory. Pipkin was a skilled softball player from Sumter and was a fifth-grader at Laurence Manning Academy.
Groups’ help means food for the needy Sumter residents of various backgrounds representing multiple organizations did their part by volunteering Saturday for the National Day of Service. Members of AmeriCorps, Youth Build, United Way, Princess in Me and other local organizations got their hands dirty at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church while helping the church members work on their community garden. Calvin Hastie, a member of the church and Sunday school teacher, said they have been growing the garden each year for about six years. On Saturday, volunteers young and old gave the church a hand in its efforts to grow and maintain the community garden from which it provides vegetables
SEE PROJECT, PAGE A9
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AmeriCorps marks 20 years with about 20 new members
BY RAYTEVIA EVANS ray@theitem.com
SEE GARDEN, PAGE A9
BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com
RAYTEVIA EVANS / THE SUMTER ITEM
AmeriCorps volunteers help plant a community garden at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday morning in Sumter. It will help feed needy residents.
DEATHS, A9 and A11 Helen I. McFadden John T. Rogers Garnet S. Thompson Eileen O. Weaver David Toney Carolyn D. Cooper
Lila M. Washington Robert L. Demary Emma B. Nelson Sammie Tindal Carolyn J. Mauer Brown
About 20 people took the AmeriCorps pledge Friday during a ceremony that also marked the service organization’s 20th anniversary. Since it was started by thenPresident Bill Clinton, about 900,000 people have donned the gray shirts associated with the program. “Till my last day on Earth, I will be grateful for the chance to start AmeriCorps,” Clinton said in a streamed video address. “The
SEE 20 YEARS, PAGE A9
WEATHER, A12
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A couple of storms today and tonight; cooler this evening HIGH 76, LOW 67
Business D1 Classifieds D4 Comics E1
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