Home Care In Gaffney, SC

Cherokee County School District Superintendent Dr. Dana Fall has accepted an offer to lead Spartanburg’s School District 4.

Fall told The Ledger Sunday that he had informed school board chairman Mark Nix of his decision on Saturday.

“It’s a lot more money and 5,000 fewer students,” he said. “I’m doing what’s best for my family. It was a tough decision, but it is what it is.”Fall said he will officially start July 1, but will be going back and forth between the two districts in the meantime.“I hope to get the baseball/softball complex and updates underway before I leave,” he added

The school board will hold a special called meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. in the district office.Nix said the school board will meet with attorneys to receive legal advice and discuss the next steps forward for the Cherokee County superintendent position.

“We want the best for the students, faculty and staff in the Cherokee County School District,” Nix said.

Fall has been superintendent in Cherokee County since 2019 and spent the previous decade in Sumter School District. Prior to coming to Cherokee County, Fall was one of three finalists for superintendent in Spartanburg District 2 in 2018. Dr. Rallie Liston, who announced he will retire inJune of 2024 after a 43-year career in education.

Fall signed an amended contract on Jan. 9 for a one year contract extension and received an $8,425 pay raise from the Cherokee County School Board. He now earns $155,000 annually in a contract that runs through June 30, 2027.

The Cherokee County School Board would have to release Fall from his contract in order for him to take a job with another school district.

“I hate to see Dana Fall leave our school district. I have enjoyed working with him for the past five years,” said school trustee J.J. Sarratt, who was the school board chairman when Fall was hired. “He has done some tremendous things in his time in the school district. I wish him and his family the best in their future endeavors. While he made some decisions that people didn’t always agree with, I believe he has made every decision in the best interests of the children.”

(Scott Powell contributed to this story)

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Glenstar said it has secured $38.2 million in construction financing from Cross Harbor Capital Partners to begin the project.

Developed by Glenstar and its capital partner, Creek Lane Capital, the five-building, 290-acre Cherokee Commerce Center 85 is northeast of the intersection of Interstate 85 and S.C. Highway 105 and will be the largest industrial park in Cherokee County when built out, according to a news release from Glenstar.

Glenstar will begin sitework in preparation for the first building at CCC-85, slated to span 555,520 square feet but expandable to 1.3 million square feet, the news release said. The first building is an example of Glenstar’s Spec-to-Suit strategy, which allows the firm to meet customized tenant needs on an expedited timeline. This flexible building, known as 2A, will offer a cross-docked orientation, with up to 232 dock doors, four drive-in doors, 540 auto parking spots and 452 trailer spaces.

Completion is expected in fall 2024.

“We’re pleased to bring our collective experience to this project and partner with such a strong development team,” Matt Klein, director of CrossHarbor Capital Partners, said in the release. “Cherokee Commerce Center off I-85 is in one of the fastest-growing transportation and logistics corridors in the U.S.”

Subsequent phases will potentially include four additional warehouses measuring with collectively nearly 2.4 million square feet, the release said. The facilities will feature best-in-class specifications, such as 40-foot clear heights, 56-foot-by-50-foot column spacing and 60-foot speed bays.

“This ideally located park will meet suppliers’ and manufacturers’ ongoing need for Class A industrial space with easy access to the Inland Port Greer and the Port of Charleston,” Glenstar principal Brian Netzky said in the release. “We’re already receiving interest from companies that support production facilities in the Southeast such as electric vehicle, battery and semiconductor manufacturers.”

The industrial submarket of Cherokee County is home to a 1.4 million-square-foot distribution facility shared by DHL Supply Chain and Mann+Hummel, a German manufacturer of filtration systems, as well as a 1 million-square-foot Techtronic Industries facility and a 1.5 million-square-foot Dollar Tree distribution center.

“Cherokee County is a hotspot for industrial development as vacancy rates remained at less than 1% at the end of the second quarter,” Netzky said. “The county has a growing population and a vast pool of quality-trained assembly and fabrication laborers, which draws users from across the country."

According to Colliers, the Cherokee submarket has 11.6 million square feet of industrial space and recorded a 0.52% vacancy rate in the second quarter of this year, well below the national average. The report also cited several reasons for South Carolina’s growth, including significant investments in the interstate system, the Port of Charleston and the Inland Ports as well as a business-friendly regulatory environment, low unionization rate and labor supply.

“CCC-85 represents Glenstar’s bullish outlook on manufacturing and distribution hubs in the Upstate as well as throughout the Southeast,” Netzky said in the release.

The Conlan Company is serving as general contractor, while Ware Malcomb is the architect for the project and is the civil engineer. The project will be leased by John Montgomery, Garrett Scott, Brockton Hall and Dillon Swayngim of the Spartanburg office of Colliers.

CHEROKEE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Thanks to a federal grant given to Cherokee County on Monday, the county is set to design part of a trail that patriots centuries ago traversed en route to an important battle in the American Revolutionary War.

The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail is a 330-mile trail that touches parts of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

During the American Revolution in 1780, patriots fighting against the loyalists wanted to prevent the British from gaining control of the southern colonies. So, hundreds of militia took a path that started in Virginia and snaked their way south into what is now eastern Tennessee, before meeting up with more militia from modern-day North Carolina to finally reach Kings Mountain in South Carolina.

The Battle of Kings Mountain was won by the patriots on October 7, 1780.

About 35 miles of the path the patriots took lies in Cherokee County between Kings Mountain and the City of Chesnee. The 26-mile path that the county will design is from Kings Mountain to Lake Whelchel.

“The grant is basically for the design and planning coming from Kings Mountain to Blacksburg to across the Broad River to Lake Whelchel and into Gaffney,” said Paul LeFrancois, chair of the Overmountain Victory Trail Steering Committee for Cherokee County. “So that section of trail is roughly about 26 miles.”

The Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant was created to improve state and local transportation facilities that provide access to and through federal lands.

“The FLAP grant will take us one step closer to the day when people will be able to traverse across this land as was done in 1780, all the way to the Battle of Kings Mountain, to retrace the path and to experience it as one of the formative events of this nation,” said Jeff Ellison, Trail Administrator for the National Park Service.

“We really want to emphasize the sense of ownership for the trails should belong to the local communities,” said LeFrancois. He said the additions to the trail would depend on the specific environment that leg of the trail exists in.

For example, LeFrancois pointed out that at Lake Whelchel, a drinking water reservoir, the trail as it currently exists wraps around it in the form of several inch-wide dirt paths. To keep the water from getting contaminated by humans, he suggested future plans may include creating a trail around the gated lake, instead of directly over the existing dirt path that’s inside the fenced area.

The planning period is still going on, but a master plan was released in 2018 and can be viewed by clicking/tapping here.

For North Carolina home schooling mom Katie Cash, she said being able to have her children walk the trail that they learn about in class is amazing.

“To be able to walk the same trail that [the Patriots] walked, of course [my children are] going to remember it more because you’re able to live it alongside them,” said Cash.

Even her 12-year-old son, Macon Cash, agreed.

“You learn more and it’ll probably help you out if you do a book about it or something,” said Macon.

The exact amount of money that was awarded to Cherokee County has not been disclosed and LeFrancois said he hopes a contractor will be hired by the fall.

GAFFNEY, S.C. – More than 100 workers in Cherokee County can take a severance package or stay with their company as one distribution warehouse is closing up shop.

TTI Consumer Power Tools Incorporated has had a facility in Cherokee County since 2019.

“It’s a distribution warehouse, what they distribute there is the Hart brand, you’ll find in Walmart, the tools,” Ken Moon, the Executive Director for Cherokee County Development Board said.

The Moon said he was on the project that helped bring TTI to the county.

“We had a 500,000 square foot facility in the Meadow Creek industrial park in Gaffney and they took over that facility.”

After doubling the Meadow Creek facilities in size, Moon said TTI had run out of room.

“They were building a 1.8 million square foot facility down in Moore and they come to us and were looking for properties in Cherokee County and they couldn’t find one that suited them so they went to Moore to build that. This facility was getting more and more packed in and they needed to expand a little bit more.”

According to a SC Works WARN Report, the move will cost 114 jobs.

“When we receive a WARN notification it’s basically an advanced notice that the company lets us know that in the next 60 days at least, the company is going to have a significant layoff or closure. So, when we have that advanced notice we can reach out to the company and explain what services we can offer to their impacted workers,” Kimberly Burke, with the Department of Employment and Workforce said.

Local job recruiters say they can assist in situations like this one.

“With TTI closing there is probably going to be a lot more people on the search,” Kayla Davis with PROMAN Staffing Recruiter added. “I do formal interviews where I discuss what type of positions are open and we discuss interview tips.”

And when it comes to who is hiring in the county, Moon says there are more opportunities on the horizon.

“There is always a shining light, we have another industrial company that is getting ready to start hiring here that we announced last year and that’s Gaffney Bakery LLC. They make Motor City Pizzas and they are looking to hire 268 people and they pay fairly well.”

According to the WARN report the company is expected to close May first.

Moon told 7NEWS that TTI is offering its employees the option to either move to Moore or work at another facility in neighboring counties, if they opt out of either option workers are eligible for a severance package.

SC Works says they have a variety of resources to help workers find job opportunities.

Have you visited the awesome indoor entertainment complex, The Big E, in Gaffney, SC? We sent Local mom Rebecca Parrish for a fun day with her family! She shares what her family loves about The Big E in Gaffney, SC and all of the activities you will find there.

What You’ll Find at The Big E: Gaffney, SC

Our family took a quick 45 minute road trip north on I-85 to exit 90 to visit Gaffney, South Carolina. Nestled next to the Gaffney Outlet Marketplace (A Simon Center), locally known as the “yellow mall”, The Big E in Gaffney, SC is an entertainment center promising fun for every age. It is a great place to spend the day and enjoy new experiences with your child, or a spot for birthday party joy.

The Big E Gaffney features eight (8) movie theatres screening wide-release new blockbuster movies. They strictly enforce rating policies for ticketing. The theater is comfortable and has a high quality sound system, digital projection, and stadium style seating. You can purchase tickets ahead of time through The Big E online theatre portal, where you will find showtimes, movie ratings, and run times for each moving showing. Ticket prices run from $$8.25 – $10.25, which is slightly more affordable than some other movie theatre chains.

The Big E also has a large bowling alley with 16 lanes where they feature open bowling ($5 per person plus $3.00 per person for shoes) and cosmic bowling ($6 per person) on weekends. You can choose to rent a lane by game or by the hour. Big E has mixed and youth leagues, and they participate in the Kids Bowl Free program in the spring and summer.

The bowling area also has flat-screen TVs and an area for food and beverages. The concessions include a variety of snacks and fries, pizza, wings, and “plates” like chicken tenders and hot dogs/corn dogs.

Younger children will love the indoor playland which involves climbing up levels, over rope bridges, on swings, and down slides. They even have a Ballocity Blast Center, where hundreds of foam balls are propelled out of mini air cannons. The playland is padded, which is always a plus. Parents are welcome to hang out in the cafe area located nearby while their children play. The cost is $7 per child for an unlimited day pass. Be sure to bring socks, but they do have them for $3.00 in case you need to purchase a pair.

The playland shares space with the 60 game arcade area, which houses lots of arcade games (including old favorites like Skee Ball to high-tech games like a Star Wars simulator), and the bumper cars (my personal favorite). Don’t leave the Big E without taking a spin on these spinning, neon-round cars.

The best part about playing is the ease of it; the Big E Gaffney sells a “ Big E Fun Card” that parents can load with an amount of money. This card is used at each of the attractions and the arcade, so rather than keeping up with dollars and loose change, kids or adults just use the card. We found this so simple and a lesson for our child about making smart choices about what he wanted to try. They often run promotions for Fun Cards, which is a good way to get extra bang for your buck!

By far, our favorite part of our Big E adventure was Laser Tag. For $8 per person, you get an amazing, action-packed game lasting about 10-15 minutes. Individuals are suited up with high-tech vests that react with vibrations and sound, and laser guns (called phasers) that you reload as you play on the multi-level course with teammates. Black lights, glowing barriers, fog, and music add to the excitement; and spectators can watch the action on a screen outside the arena. At the end of the match, points are tallied and a winner is revealed. My son is still buzzing from his victory!

Outside, the complex includes an adventure mini golf course and a challenging zip line. The day we ventured out, it was too cold and windy to try these. However, the area looked fun for a future warm day when we have some funds for fun!

Host Your Birthday Party at The Big E: Gaffney, SC

Having a birthday party at The Big E would make a epic memory for you kids. You can have a Mini Golf Party, Playland Party, Movie Party, or a Bowling Party. You can even add on laser tag. Parties for up to 10 guests cost around $205. You’ll get access to one attraction, pizza, drinks, ice cream, and arcade cards. You’ll also get a party host to make everything go seamlessly.

Plan Your Trip to The Big E: Gaffney, South Carolina

The Big E Gaffney1100 Factory Shops Blvd.Gaffney, SC 29341864.489.1515Hours vary by day and by attraction.

Does a family outing to The Big E Gaffney sound perfect for your crew?

Rebecca Raulerson Parrish is a former English teacher turned non-profit administrator who currently works with Women Giving for Spartanburg and Five Twenty Consulting. She serves on the board of the Spartanburg Little Theatre and is proudly balancing books as Treasurer for the Jesse Boyd Elementary PTSO. A native of Lakeland, Florida, Rebecca loves living in Spartanburg, where she enjoys lots of adventures (and four seasons) with her husband, nine-year-old son, dog, bird and three pet chickens.