Top 10 Jobs in Sumter County, South Carolina

Sumter County joins Kershaw, Lee, Clarendon Counties in Northeast Central SC in order to form the labor market known as Santee-Lynches. About 40% of the 4-county population lives in Sumter County and about 20% live in Kershaw, leaving the remaining two counties sparsely populated. A USAF Base in Sumter County accounts for a substantial proportion of the local population.

Santee, South Carolina is actually in Orangeburg County in a separate, nearby region of the state. However, the Santee River has flowed through Sumter and forms a lake. The Lynches River, after which a Florence County park is named, is the other namesake river of this 4-county region.

Sumter County was inhabited by Native Americans until European settlers arrived in 1740. English-speaking people settled along the riverbanks of the Wateree River that runs through the county. The City of Sumter is the county seat, originally named Sumterville in 1845. It was named for General Thomas Sumter of the Revolutionary War, on whom Mel Gibson partially based his character for the film The Patriot.

The additional counties in this region were settled by the English within a decade either side of Sumter's founding. However, Lee County was carved out of surrounding land as a tribute to Civil War General Robert E. Lee in 1902.

The 20-acre lake in this city park is the only place in the United States were visitors can find 8 different breeds of swans in one location. These breeds include:

1. Trumpeter 
2. Black Necked Swans
3. Whooper
4. Royal White Mutes
5. Coscoroba
6. Black Australian
7. Whistler
8. Bewick - from Russia and Japan, winters elsewhere.

The Iris Festival is held yearly since 1940 at the park and includes much more than a flower show. Events include a golf tournament, concerts, food tasting, a beauty pageant, and several other activities. Bus tours visit this festival from all over the US, while the festival, held the third weekend in May, has been featured in Southern Living magazine.

The Santee nation lived in northern and north central South Carolina for milennia and the eariest recorded histroy of them begins in 1521 when Spanish explorers visited temporarily. The Native Americans had been living on the Santee River banks and near water that is now Lake Marion.

The English arrived in the 1700s and there was some assimilation of Santee into Colonial communities, but also some conflicts among the Santee, the British, and the Colonists. However, the Santee numbered only about 3000 in 1600 AD and their numbers remained small.

A large and ancient Santee Burial Mound in 1781 was the site of the British Fort Watson, which Francis Marion captured that year. Today, the Santee people comprise a State Recognized Tribe, considered a remnant band. Many had moved westward with other Siouxan speaking peoples.

Santee Indian Organization is a remnant band headquartered in Hollly Hill, SC. A new website is under construction for the Santee Nation of South Carolina at: http://santeebeadman.tripod.com/.

1. Retail Salespersons
2. Manual Laborers and Stock/Material Movers
3. Truck Drivers - Semis, Tractor-Trailers; and Light & Delivery Vehicles
4. Cashiers
5. Team Assemblers
6. Home Health Aides (HHAs)
7. Registered Nurses (RNs)
8. Maintenance and Repair Workers
9. General/Operations Managers
10. Janitors and Cleaners, except Housekeepers

In the Santee-Lynches region, both the forecasted list of growing jobs through 2014 and the actual recent job postings match in one catergory, which is Truck Drivers.

This region does not provide an overabundance of job openings regularly, but provides around 800 - 1000 job vacancies at any given time among the four counties.

1. Truck Drivers
2. Skilled Industrial Workers
3. Physical Therapy Assistants
4. Occupational Therapy Assistants
5. Chemical Cleaning Superintendents
6. Physical Therapists
7. Independent Beauty Consultants
8. Renal Dieticians
9. Database Managers
10. Chemical Operators and Health Education Program Managers (tie)

1. Gold Kist - Chicken products (agricultural manufacturing).
2. Shaw Air Force Base
3. Toumey Healthcare System
4. Becton Dickinson Vacutainer Systems - Mfg: disposable blood collection units.
5. Santee Print Works - Fabric printing.
6. Target Stores - Reatial sales, Kershaw County
7. Kershaw County Medical Center
8. Feneral Mogul Corp - Oil seals.

1. Voyage Healthcare
2. General Dynamics - IT
3. Medical Connections
4. USMilitary.Com
5. US Army National Guard
6. Critical Connection - Healthcare
7. Cybercoders - IT
8. Schneider National - Trucking
9. Pepsi Bottling Co.

• Central Carolina Technical College
• Morris College – Private, liberal arts.
• Saint Leo University
• Troy University
• University of South Carolina Sumter
• Webster University

The above colleges and universities offer classes on the grounds of Shaw Air Force Base and/or provide online distance learning to the US military personnel, famileis, and staffpersons on the base. Those connected with the base can earn certificates and diplomas through these various programs.