Thank you!
We will contact you shortly.
Conditions for Success
Thanks to the business-friendly environment, the low cost of doing business, and a world-class workforce, companies in Darlington county are able to successfully compete with the best companies in the world. Darlington County is home to the international corporate headquarters of Sonoco, a world leader in packaging materials. Other companies include Nucor Steel, Duke Energy’s HB Robinson nuclear plant, Georgia-Pacific, Polyquest, and many more.
Robert Kilgo
Mr. Kilgo is a resident of Darlington and attended the local public schools. In 1970, he graduated from Emory University with a degree in Political Science. After teaching elementary school for several years, he entered the University of South Carolina School of Law and graduated in 1975.
Mr. Kilgo was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in the same year. He is also a member of the nation history honor society, Phi Alpha Theta. He practiced law in Darlington until he retired in 2018. He is active in the South Carolina Bar. He is a past member of the Board of Governors. He has served as a member and chair of the Senior Lawyers Division, Memory Hold the Door Committee, and Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee. Mr. Kilgo is a member of St. Matthew’s Church in Darlington. He has been a warden, vestryperson, Lay Eucharistic Minister, and Sunday School teacher. He also helps with the church’s building of wheelchair ramps for the needy. He was formally on the citywide board of The Lord Cares food ministry and volunteered at the Free Medical Clinic of Darlington County. He was volunteering at Bethea Retirement Center until the Covid pandemic began. Mr. Kilgo joined the Darlington Kiwanis Club in 1976. He is presently serving his third term as president. He formerly was a Lt. Governor for Carolinas District. Mr. Kilgo is a graduate of the South Carolina Department of Commerce Economic Development Institute. As a former member of the Darlington County Council in the 1980s and 2010s, he sought to enhance the present industries in the county as well seek new ones. In the past few years, Sonoco, Nucor, and Georgia Pacific have added to their local plants. Birdsong Peanuts and Fiber Industry have located in the county.
Lewis Brown
Born and raised in Hartsville, S.C., Lewis Brown served as Sonoco’s Sustainability Account Manager. Founded in 1899, Sonoco (NYSE: SON) is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services.
With annualized net sales of approximately $5.4 billion, the Company has 23,000 employees working in approximately 300 operations in 36 countries, serving some of the world’s best known brands in some 85 nations.A 1979 graduate of Francis Marion University, Brown began his career with Sonoco in 1990 after working for a decade in the banking industry. His responsibilities with Sonoco have included shift supervisor, production supervisor, overseeing safety and environmental matters, sales representative, and customer account representative, working directly with numerous Fortune 500 companies.
Brown formerly served as a member of Darlington County Council as well as Vice Chairman. He also served three years as a board member of the Darlington County Economic Development Partnership . Brown is certified by the Institute for Government for County Officials and in 2018, completed the Community and Economic Development Program through the South Carolina Economic Development Institute. He continues diligent research regarding factors influencing Darlington County’s economic impact and economic development since 1980.Brown is a past member of the Hartsville Chamber of Commerce and a past president of the Hartsville Rotary Club. He served on the Advisory Board of the South Carolina Junior Golf Association Foundation and for 18 years, served as the Tournament Director of the annual SCJGA Players Championship. He is a member of the South Carolina Bobwhite Funding Partnership Action Committee. Brown and his wife are active members of St. Luke Methodist Church in Hartville.
He enjoys many outdoor activities including golf and fishing, but his passion is quail hunting.
Brown and his wife, Kathy, have been married for 40 years and share three daughters, Lindsey, Taylor, and Claire.