By: Jeremy Handel, Staff Writer
jeremy@tghewoodrufftimes.com
The Woodruff City Council approved the final vote on a $7 million budget for the 2023 – 2024 fiscal year, which includes a 3 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) for all employees. The Council also heard a presentation on a new program by OneSpartanburg to help small business owners to grow and succeed.
All City of Woodruff employees will see a pay increase, thanks to the 3 percent COLA increase approved in the new budget. The approved budget also includes funds for new equipment in the parks and police departments and some small capital projects in the city. City Manager Lee Bailey told the Council that staff was able to budget for the increases without raising taxes on Woodruff residents.
“It’s a sound budget, and it’s realistic,” Bailey said.
Allen Smith, the president, and CEO of OneSpartanburg, presented a new program focused on helping attract and help small and minority businesses succeed in the county. The program resulted from research conducted for the organization’s new five-year strategic plan. According to Smith, the study discovered that the county was doing very well in attracting large businesses but not as well in attracting and cultivating small and minority businesses. “We are the best in the state at recruiting big business, and we want to be the best at recruiting small and minority businesses as well,” he told the Council.
The new program, called PowerUp Spartanburg, aims to improve that recruiting. OneSpartanburg, the chamber of commerce for Spartanburg County, has established the PowerUp program to help businesses in several areas, including a $2 million fund to provide loans and grants to small and minority businesses for start-up costs at rates better than private sector loans. The program also includes programs that make subject matter experts in marketing, legal, and accounting to help business owners learn successful strategies better. It also assists in helping small businesses secure contracts with large companies in the county and access to business mentors and resources.
In other business, the Council approved the second reading of a request to annex and zone several parcels of land that will be the site of the new Woodruff High School, approved a new ordinance that establishes a minimum distance between existing and approved automotive businesses in the downtown area, and approved a resolution to extend the city’s contract with Waste Connections for trash service in the city.
The Woodruff City Council meets on the last Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at city hall. The meetings are open to the public, and the next meeting will be held on July 25.
Author: Tracy Sanders
