---
title: "Laurens County Council to Take First Vote on Joanna Industry Deal"
url: https://www.hereclinton.com/2026/11/07/project-orange-joanna-industrial-site-council-vote/
date: 2026-11-07T05:39:52-05:00
modified: 2026-11-07T05:39:52-05:00
author: "Mauricio J. Han"
categories: ["Politics"]
site: "HERE Clinton"
attribution: "HERE Clinton"
---

# Laurens County Council to Take First Vote on Joanna Industry Deal

> LAURENS, S.C. — Laurens County Council is set to take its first public step Monday toward a proposed industrial development in Joanna, the mill village community that sits on SC-221 between Clinton and Laurens. The project, known inside county government as Project Orange, comes in two phases. Council members plan to meet behind closed doors

*Source: [HERE Clinton](https://www.hereclinton.com/2026/11/07/project-orange-joanna-industrial-site-council-vote/) — November 7, 2026 by Mauricio J. Han*

LAURENS, S.C. — Laurens County Council is set to take its first public step Monday toward a proposed industrial development in Joanna, the mill village community that sits on SC-221 between Clinton and Laurens.

The project, known inside county government as Project Orange, comes in two phases. Council members plan to meet behind closed doors first to discuss the location of the industrial site, then return to open session for first reading of three ordinances: a development agreement and separate fee-in-lieu-of-taxes deals for Project Orange and Project Orange II.

The ordinances are listed by title only, so the agenda packet carries no details on the company, the investment or jobs. Each will need two more readings, and the final one comes with a required public hearing. The county must disclose the company name at some point in that process.

This is not the first time the project has surfaced. Council discussed Project Orange in executive session at its Oct. 12 meeting, where state law barred any action.

Joanna is the largest unincorporated community in the county, with roughly 1,600 residents, and grew up around a cotton mill founded in the 1890s.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. Monday at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Laurens. Council will also recognize a county dispatcher who guided the first successful baby delivery over a 911 call in Laurens County.