COLUMBIA, S.C. — Founded in 1878, The Okonite Company is one of the oldest insulators of electrical wire and cable in the U.S. On Tuesday, the cable and wire manufacturer announced a $400 million investment to expand its operations in South Carolina, creating 105 new jobs.
Okonite, which is based in Ramsey, New Jersey, will build a new, approximately 552,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on its existing property in Orangeburg to meet growing demand for high-voltage electric cable products.
The first phases of construction will start in Q4 2026. The project is expected to take two to three years to complete.
For nearly 150 years, Okonite has supported a variety of industries including electric utility, oil and gas, railroad and chemical. The company has 34 locations nationwide, including two production facilities in Orangeburg County.
The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits for the project, as well as a $1.5 million Rural Infrastructure Fund grant to Orangeburg County to help cover the costs of site preparation and building construction.
According to the company, some of its earliest customers included Samuel F.B. Morse for his telegraph network and Thomas A. Edison for the Pearl Street Generating Station, the nation’s first, built in New York City in 1882.
