Just as Bluffton, its flourishing neighbor to the east on U.S. 278, has capitalized on Hilton Head Island visitors, Hardeeville, the Jasper municipality leading the county's charge, is riding Bluffton's economic coattails.

Both Hardeeville and Ridgeland, as well as the county itself, have seen -- and are capitalizing on -- old and new Lowcountry residents priced or spaced out of Beaufort County or looking to the next economic frontier.

Highlighting $29 million in commercial development in 2003, the Jasper County Development Board this week will present its annual report on economic development to county, Hardeeville and Ridgeland officials.

A host of commercial projects more than doubled the $12.3 million in commercial development in 2002, with the largest contributor being an initial investment of $14.8 million for construction of the $32.6 million Coastal Carolina Medical Center on U.S. 278.

The 41-bed hospital near I-95's Exit 8 is expected to open by the end of the year, along with a South Carolina Electric and Gas power plant and a Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority water-treatment plant, both near Purrysburg.

The $450 million natural-gas power plant was the star of the 2002 report, helping industrial development hit nearly $452 million. This year's industrial investments came in at a steady $3.1 million, but the development board could not hide its excitement over the hospital.

Less than 15 minutes from the county's major industrial and housing developments, Rose Dobson, deputy county administrator for economic development, said several new commercial projects have been waiting for the hospital to break ground.

"We've seen a pickup in the interest from planned developments other than fast-food restaurants and hotels in that area," she said.

The Cripple Crab steak and seafood restaurant in downtown Hardeeville is already seeing the benefits of the hospital, with construction workers coming in for lunch, said manager Becky Scott.

"It hasn't changed much since we opened nearly 11 years ago," she said. "But it's changing now."

Scott said the restaurant's business has been about 80 percent tourists, but she expects that percentage to drop as the city grows and residents become patrons.

Over the next few years, the county and its municipalities have more projects planned to foster that growth, including a law enforcement center set to open later this year and two new campuses opening in 2006 near Ridgeland and Hardeeville to replace all of the county's schools.

The county, along with the Federal Aviation Administration and the state, is also looking to relocate the Ridgeland Airport in the next five to 10 years to accommodate larger and more frequent flights.

Multiparty negotiations continue over how to bring a $400 million deep-water shipping port to 1,776 acres along the Savannah River that the county has been eyeing for years.

A port could lead to thousands of jobs, making Jasper a destination for industrial and residential developers ready to put jobs and homes on land ignored for decades.

Open land

With or without a port project, some say Jasper's development progress was written on the wall as Bluffton development inched closer to the county line.

"There's not a lot of property that's available in Beaufort County," Dobson said. "It's either not developable or the price is so high nobody's going to buy it."

The development board report points to the Riverwalk Business Park and the New River Center, both on the county line near Sun City Hilton Head, as major contributors to Jasper County's new business growth.

New River Center, which includes a Wal-Mart and the New River Center Auto Mall on U.S. 278, invested more than $2.7 million in new projects last year.

The development report also shows $2.8 million in construction at the Riverwalk site along S.C. 170 last year.

Larry Heichel, listing agent for the business park, said increased traffic has been the key to success.

"Highway 170 is heavily traveled, and all the growth is moving in that direction off Hilton Head and Bluffton through Okatie," he said.

A lack of red tape gets developers a quick audience with county officials, and an easier permitting process has helped Jasper find a home for developers, Dobson said.

"We're probably just as selective about the types of development," she said. "But due to our size, we're able to be more user-friendly."

Jasper County also relies on state tax incentives to lure in some of its biggest investors. County and Hardeeville officials are negotiating a tax agreement with the hospital, similar to one with the power plant, that would allow the hospital to pay property taxes based on a fixed rate.

Ridgeland and Hardeeville rely on the county to provide these economic benefits, but both can offer up discounted water and sewer rates, through the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority in Hardeeville and the town's system in Ridgeland.

"What caused the growth sooner rather than later was being able to offer these incentives," Hardeeville Mayor Rodney Cannon said.

Both Hardeeville and Ridgeland also use increased fire and police protection as a selling point as well.

"When somebody's coming to look at your community, they want to invest in one that's got low crime and low insurance rates," Taylor said.

Cannon said planned improvements in Hardeeville's fire protection could save commercial developers 50 percent to 75 percent in insurance costs compared with property outside of the city.

Job hunting

Growth can be measured through a number of indicators, but there's only one that hits the pockets of residents most: job growth.

Zenie Ingram, executive director of the county's development board, said the county has seen a "good, steady growth pattern" for jobs, with 350 jobs created last year through new business cited in the development board's report.

Job numbers for 2004 will include 250 new jobs at the hospital, and Ingram said jobs like those at the hospital are what the county needs.

"We're trying to focus on bringing in higher-paying jobs with benefits," she said, noting 43 percent of Jasper's work force has to go outside the county for work.

With the University of South Carolina Beaufort expected to open in August just over the county line on U.S. 278, Dobson said new education opportunities could keep some of Jasper's brightest in the county.

"You lose a lot of people when they go off to get an education and stay gone," she said.

Bright future

It would also seem Beaufort County's missteps when addressing its growth over the past few decades may be lessons learned by Jasper County.

Former Beaufort County Council Chairman Tom Taylor said his county failed to recognize the stress curb cuts would have on crowded highways with no plan for funding traffic lights and frontage roads.

"Those problems arose as the horse came out of the barn and we're still paying for that today," Taylor said.

Jasper's future planning includes road widening for areas expected to carry the heaviest load of the new development while planning officials continue to fine-tune the county's development guidelines.

Frontage roads are required to lessen curb cuts around major commercial and residential developments along main roads and the county also is considering impact fees to pass on the cost of other road and infrastructure improvements to developers, Dobson said.

"It's a necessary evil to keep up with the development we're getting," she said.

But it's forward thinking, not history lessons, that has netted Jasper its biggest successes in economic development, Dobson said -- specifically, the county's 1997 purchase of nearly 360 acres north of Ridgeland for the Cypress Ridge Business-Industrial Park.

The land initially was sought after for what ended up being a failed lease agreement with Armor Chassis, which worked in chassis manufacturing and repairs.

"Even though Armour Chassis failed," she said, "it was a catalyst for being able to get investments to run water and sewer out to there, to put roads out there and make it shovel-ready."

Dobson said having the infrastructure at the park helped pull in current tenants Haven Homes, Ohio Grating and TYCO/Terminal Services, all having moved in last year. Ohio Gratings and Haven Homes provided the entire $3.1 million in industrial investment cited in the development board report.

Dobson said the water and sewer work at the business park will aid the Ridgeland school construction across U.S. 278, as well as benefit a nearby site eyed for the new county airport.

The county's purchase in 1999 of the state's 441-acre Sgt. Jasper Park has the makings of a similar success story, Dobson said, but growth in the area just north of Hardeeville will need to be watched carefully.

"That's an area that could get overdeveloped," she said of the land off Red Dam Road that will be the home to Hardeeville's new school in 2006 and continued plans for the Butterfly Kingdom project, a $25 million glass structure to house 200 species of butterflies.

"We'll want to conserve some green space out there so we don't have to go back and buy it later," Dobson said.

Some of the excitement over hospital construction at Exit 8 may be due to the little progress made on other developments in the area. Promises of an ice rink and a water park have been left unfulfilled and the Butterfly Kingdom continues to be a contentious issue for county officials concerned it also may never appear.

Hardeeville may not control land at Sgt. Jasper Park, but the area surrounding it and along U.S. 278 is home to the city's major growth plans including property owned by two families who would expand the city from 4.3 square miles to 11.5 square miles.

The city is building a community center and recreational facilities on Main Street to prepare for what Cannon, the Hardeeville mayor, expects to be 7,000 new residents in the next five years.

"When the growth comes in on the residential side, we'll have parks and green space to service those residents," he said.

Cannon said one concern addressed in the city's planning ordinance is retail development.

"We need the right kind of growth on the commercial side to benefit residents so they don't have to go out of the city for what they want," he said.

With Hardeeville's eye on growth, Ridgeland is using redevelopment to attract new business.

The town has spent more than $1 million, mostly through private and state grants, to "dress-up" the short stretch from I-95's Exit 21 to downtown using new brick sidewalks and plantings to lead visitors up the road to the renewed downtown district.

"Before we did this, the downtown was essentially a ghost town," Ridgeland Mayor Ralph Tuten said, noting Ridgeland had been ignored by travelers until Exit 21 was built off the interstate in the mid-'80s.

Since the town began work on the revitalization, including burying power lines with the help of South Carolina Electric and Gas, the town has seen more than 60 new businesses come into the area.

"It created an environment where people wanted to come back in and live, work, do business and invest," Taylor said.

Though Exit 21 has spurred growth from the interstate deep into downtown, Ridgeland's next big development may be on the other side of the interstate.

The Weathersbee project, a $25 million private development with retail, commercial and residential opportunities, has been fostered with the help of Ridgeland water and sewer services provided through a state grant and paving projects funded by the county's transportation department.

"We're hoping that will be another spurt for Ridgeland when that takes off," Taylor said.

Spurts throughout the county are showing up as the dreams of "coming soon" signs and design plans are replaced by the reality of concrete and steel.

For Becky Scott at the Cripple Crab, this change is good.

"It just keeps on growing and growing and that's good for business."