GEORGETOWN -- Sitting by the window of his Fraser Street shop, Dan Memminger can watch workers returning to the ArcelorMittal steel mill.
He isn't counting on the returning workers to come get their hair cut in his barber shop, saying that a haircut is "a personal thing" and "a lot of people go where they've always gone to get their hair cut."
But he hopes that the extra money circulating in the area's economy will find its way to his customers and, eventually, his pockets.
"Money gets to all sorts of different places," he said. "Money circulating with people working over there."
The steel industry's outlook has dimmed some since word of the reopening was first released, but ArcelorMittal spokeswoman Katie Patterson said the restart of the Georgetown mill is planned for the first three months of 2011. Patterson said that timeline could shift with market conditions.
About 250 workers will be employed when the mill reopens, said James Sanderson, local United Steel Workers union president.
In the weeks since Sanderson announced that the mill would be gearing up for a January reopening, about 45 workers have returned to the plant and 30 more are expected to start work this week, he said.
Cephis Anderson has watched the workers come back from his seat at a table in the window of Georgetown Market Commons furniture store on Fraser Street for the past couple weeks.
Anderson, the sales manager of the store, said business has been slow since the mill shut down in July 2009.
With the workers returning "it's got to get better," he said.
But not everyone in Georgetown is looking forward to the restart of the mill.
Jurmie "Bucky" Watkins, owner of the Old Fish House/Big Tuna on Front Street, said he is concerned about the environmental impact the mill has on the area.
"The steel mill, it puts very dirty particles in the air," Watkins said. "And it's very loud at night."
Watkins said he thinks the mill would be better off farther away from downtown.
About a week ago, after Watkins made similar statements to a Charleston TV station, Sanderson and union members announced that they would boycott Watkins' restaurant and bar.
"I find it very strange that you would have a businessperson that would call out another business," Sanderson said. "We have a business that wants to inflict pain and ill will on the employees of our plant, so we don't see any purpose in patronizing their business."
Sanderson said the local union members as well as members of other unions who come to visit the area won't patronize the Front Street bar.
But Watkins said he isn't worried about a boycott.
"I have every right to voice my opinion about what goes on," Watkins said. "And I'll respect that people can make the choice to come in here or not."
Watkins said he isn't "bashing" the employees of the plant.
"I'm not bashing anything except the pollution that the mill creates: the noise pollution and the dust," he said. "For the amount of good things that come out of the steel mill, we also have a lot of negative things."
Historically, there has been tension between the business owners on Front Street and the mill.
In 2003, the union organized a boycott of some Front Street businesses after they said they weren't sure the mill and downtown tourism and development efforts were compatible.
"I know there are some people that do not want the steel mill there. They want condos to go there. They think that would help their business," Sanderson said. "But tourism alone cannot support Georgetown."
And Georgetown Economic Development Director Wayne Gregory agrees, saying the area needs both tourism and industry.
"Tourism is still important to us in our community. And Georgetown itself is a manufacturing community," Gregory said. "We need a definite balance within our community.
He said he is anticipating that the county's 10.9 percent unemployment rate will decline with the startup of the mill.
Gregory said the mill "serves as a hub" for the area.
"When you have a large employer it has a trickle-down effect," he said. "It creates jobs not just at the steel mill but other companies."
