Myrtle Beach may welcome dozens of refugees. Many of them will be ready to work.

Thousands of refugees found asylum and economic stability across the state — placed into jobs by a charitable group whose leaders say Horry County is ready to be its next safe haven.

Over the next year, Lutheran Services Carolinas expects to resettle 75 refugees in the greater Myrtle Beach area as part its latest New Americas Program expansion. Many of them will be ready to work right away after being granted employment status by the federal government.

“When this group approached us we just thought, ‘why would we ever not want to do this,’” Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Karen Riordan said. “These are going to be stable, year-round jobs, we have a need to fill those jobs. But if you think about it from a humanitarian standpoint, I think it fits with Myrtle Beach.”

South Carolina resettled 99 refugees in 2021 and is approved to take more than 600 this year, according to state and federal data.

The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is one of nine agencies contracted with the U.S. Department of State for resettlement.

With branches in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, Lutheran Services’ expansion into Myrtle Beach comes after months of behind the scenes work.

The city’s hospitality-heavy market and increasing number of tech jobs makes it a natural fit for would-be employees that need work fast, officials said.

“We have done our homework and we identified Myrtle Beach as a great place for new arrivals. The hospitality industry is going to provide for people coming here and to make their living here,” Bedjira Jazic, Lutheran Services’ director of statewide settlement, said.

She and other organization leaders met Jan. 20 with area business leaders — many of whom wrote letters of support as it looked to enter the region.

Horry County’s unemployment rate stands at 3.3%, but demand for workers in the state’s leisure and hospitality sector grew by 10% between November 2021 and last year, according to S.C. Department of Workforce data.

Jazic said the refugees destined for Myrtle Beach are expected to arrive by early March.

“This is the right place, and people in the right places are welcoming this program,” Jazic said.