UNION, S.C. (AP) -- A welding company is bringing 100 new jobs to an area with some of the highest unemployment in South Carolina.
Gov. Nikki Haley announced Wednesday that ESAB Welding & Cutting Products is building a $19 million manufacturing facility in Union County that should open by the end of the year.
The company says it plans to make welding wire in the new 250,000-square-foot building.
Union County had the fourth-highest unemployment rate in South Carolina in February at 16.7 percent.
ESAB's business offices are in Columbia, and it has another facility in Florence. Together those operations currently employ a total of 550 people.