“It’s a good way to start the New Year,” Blackwell says

An official announcement today that an Oconee County manufacturer is expanding. U-S Engine Valve announces a $29.5 million expansion of its operations on SC 11 near 123 . . . and it will mean at least 125 new jobs. The company is an automotive supplier of high-engineered valves. Those valves are designed to increase fuel economy, as well as improve a vehicle’s overall efficiency and performance. Richard Blackwell, director of the Oconee Economic Alliance, says his office has been working for about one year selling the idea that Oconee is the best place for U-S Engine Valve to expand. The project had proceeded under a code-name of “GDA.” The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits for the project.