When shoppers across the country purchase groceries, clothing or paper, there’s a good chance those items were produced by North Eastern South Carolina's thriving agribusiness sector.

Companies with household names like grocery products producer H.J. Heinz and paper products manufacturers International Paper and Domtar are major employers in the region. McCall Farms, a sixth-generation family farm, provides fruits and vegetables for well-known brands like Margaret Holmes, Peanut Patch, Greer, Osage and Lord Chesterfield. Canada-based Naturally Advanced Technologies has development and purchasing agreements in place with national brands such as Hanes and Levi Strauss to provide flax grown in Williamsburg County for use in their clothing products.

With more than 12,600 agribusiness workers and annual sales of more than $4 billion, the region accounts for 21 percent of South Carolina's agricultural revenue and a quarter of its farmland. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently designated the nine-county NESA Region as one of the country’s “Great Regions” for the industry and awarded it with a $50,000 USDA Rural Business Opportunity Grant, which will be used to help fund a strategic plan and feasibility study aimed at boosting agribusiness.

“The recognition is a strong testimonial to our core strengths: a top quality workforce, low taxes and a community that is laser-focused on bringing and retaining good companies in our region," says Sen. J. Yancey McGill, chairman of NESA’s executive committee.

NESA's agribusiness industry keeps growing. McCall Farms, which contracts with farms throughout the Southeast, has undergone major expansions recently. And Naturally Advanced Technologies is investing $15 million in a flax production facility that will operate in three shifts 24-hours a day. Ken Barker, CEO of Naturally Advanced Technologies, says the company and the region are a natural fit.

“With the USDA and Hanes, we have fully verified the region as an ideal environment for growing our flax," Barker says. "Our relationships with the South Carolina Department of Commerce and the Williamsburg County business development team have been fantastic. Both have been extremely helpful in getting us set up in Kingstree."