This long-time Horry County window maker is getting decades’ worth of property tax breaks

A long-time window and shed manufacturer is staying in Horry County and getting 20 years’ worth of property tax breaks as part of a deal to keep it.

Shed Windows vice president Thomas Slack said his company is adding a 50,000-square-foot warehouse off Chestnut Road in Longs, allowing for the in-house production of double paned vinyl windows.

The company, which launched in 2001 and moved to Horry County in 2013, will relocate from its site along S.C. Highway 90 — bringing 15 jobs with plans to add 42 more on the strength of a $4.2 million investment.

The county council this spring is slated to approve a locked-in property tax rate of 6 percent for the next 20 years.

Officials first announced plans for the move in November.

“Honestly, the reason why we’re staying in Horry County is because the ever changing populous allows a bunch of new blood to cycle through,” Shed vice president Thomas Slack said. “We’re a great place for people to get started at, guys and women that want to do a Monday through Friday job.”

Slack said labor leaders in Georgetown County and Tabor City, N.C. tried to recruit Shed, but since many of its employees live in the Carolina Forest area, the company wanted to stay local.

“We’ve had a lot of really good support. The county has been a great asset and partner to work with,” Slack said.

Hospitality and retail continue to dominate the county’s employee base, accounting for 42 percent of the 136,430 jobs countywide in December, according to state Department of Employment and Workforce figures.

But demand in sectors including manufacturing, transportation and warehousing and construction are all expected to increase through 2028, state figures show.

“Horry County is a vast county. It’s got a lot of history. It’s got a lot of traffic that flows there. The problem is, Horry County has a stigma that’s attached to Myrtle Beach,” Slack said. “That screams, ‘hospitality,’ that screams ‘tourist.’ That doesn’t scream what we have in our backyard.”