Relocating Your Business

It’s Good to do Business in Bennettsville, SC!

The City of Bennettsville has grant funds up to $10,000 available for new and expanding businesses in the historic downtown.

The City of Bennettsville, through the Hospitality Tax Fund, is providing the match for the Opportunity Grant by funding the Business Recruitment Grant. Each successful applicant may be eligible to receive up to 25 percent of the total project cost for a grant up to $10,000 (maximum amount of the grant).

To qualify for a grant, candidates must:

• provide a written business plan
• have financing in place

Priority businesses include: restaurants (night time), sports bars, shoe stores, sporting goods/bicycle shop, antiques, women's and children's clothing, men's and boys' clothing, shoe repair, book/stationary/card stores, hobby stores. Qualifying businesses must be located in downtown Bennettsville.

For 41 years Jean Quick has operated The Regal Touch salon behind the courthouse in downtown Bennettsville. “Since day one I have been busy. My clients come from Marlboro County and from as far away as Charleston and Charlotte,” she says. As a member of Bennettsville City Council, Quick knows how important it is to help businesses get started. “We are always looking for ways to improve our town and help businesses start and stay in business,” she says.

One of the oldest businesses in Bennettsville is the Breeden Grocery, a hometown butcher shop. For 82 years it has been the place to purchase groceries in the downtown area. Cam and Cindy Stone are the current owners of the Breeden Grocery. “We realize we can’t compete with the larger stores,” Cindy Stone acknowledges. “But we have the advantage of being in a small town and knowing our customers. People like doing business with people they know. We offer customer service,” she says. “Starting a business here is easy with the resources of the Bennettsville Downtown Development Association and the City of Bennettsville's grant money,” she says.

Downtown Bennettsville boasts renovated facades, a restored Victorian home as the Visitor Center and apartments over stores for downtown living. Recreational opportunities are abundant and the location is prime for tourism and business development.

Partnering with the city's Planning and Zoning Office are the Community Development Corporation of Marlboro County, which assists with business plans and offers start-up
business classes, as well as the Bennettsville Downtown Development Association and South Carolina State University. All these offices can provide free assistance to potential applicants.

About Bennettsville

• Location: Northeast South Carolina on the North Carolina border in Marlboro County
• Population: Marlboro County 28,818
• Bennettsville was named the first G.R.E.A.T. (Governor’s Rural Economic Achievement Trophy) Town.
• Courthouse Square is the largest in the state and has been beautifully restored.
• Founded in 1819, Bennettsville was occupied by Union troops in March 1865.
• Sherman spared the courthouse, making it one of South Carolina’s few county seats with records accessible for genealogical research dating back to 1785.
• Bennettsville had the first master plan in South Carolina done by the internationally known firm of Duanz, Plater-Zyberk.

For more information, call the Bennettsville Planning and Zoning Office at 843-454-1907 or the Bennettsville Downtown Development Association at 843-479-3869.

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