Newberry County, South Carolina, is experiencing the so-called “Samsung effect,” which is a phenomenon that happens when the Korean tech giant opens new factories, which in turn creates new opportunities and attracts more businesses to the area.
Samsung Electronics Home Appliances America (SEHA) founded the first appliance manufacturing facility in the USA in 2017. The location picked by Samsung was Newberry County, South Carolina.
According to Samsung, the Newberry facility “has become an essential part of the local economy” since its inauguration in 2017.
Not only has the SEHA facility generated over 1,500 jobs for local residents in Newberry County, but Samsung's presence had a ripple effect on the local economy and created even more business opportunities.
Story continues after the video
Another Korean company opens up shop in South Carolina
Since 2017, SEHA's facility attracted new businesses and helped support local ones. Hotels and restaurants started showing up around Newberry County, and the community grew as new housing developments emerged. According to Samsung, the Newberry facility generated nearly $500 million in capital investment for the region.
But Samsung hasn't remained the only Korean company to create new job opportunities. Because the tech giant founded its SEHA factory in Newberry County, it also made it possible for one of its partners, KRA Operations, to set up shop in the USA. KRA Operations provides sampling and injection molding parts for SEHA, and the company expanded operations and brought some of its workforce to the USA.
KRA Operations coming to South Carolina created even more jobs and further helped Samsung's home appliance business. With the supplier in close proximity, Samsung can manage quality and supply logistics more easily. “Previously, everything was coming in from across the ocean, so if we had any part shortages, any delays, any material defects, we would have to wait forever,” said Bobby Stevens, SEHA Production Manager.
Now, Samsung's home appliance factory in Newberry County has a steady supply of local materials and can get parts “in just a few hours or even 10 minutes.” This partnership between SEHA and KRA Operations works so well that “KRA is now considered an extended arm of Samsung.”
Meanwhile, small local businesses, like Figaro the Dining Room, are booming thanks to this symbiotic economic relationship between different business types and the local jobs created. “For a town to get better, you have to have people, so with these bigger corporations like Samsung coming in, they're bringing in good-paying jobs, which makes the economy and town better,” said Figaro Executive Chef John Worthington.
Image credit: Samsung
