A new year is bringing a brighter outlook for local economic development.

Cherokee County Development Board Director Jim Cook has seen an uptick in Requests for Information from manufacturers looking to expand their operations.

“There has definitely been an increase in activity,” Cook said. “I’m actually surprised the amount of activity I’ve had. In election years, there’s normally a wait-and-see attitude. The activity is at a much higher level than in the last quarter of 2011.”

Last year, capital investment of new and existing industries here slumped to less than $70 million. Cook said he expects to easily top that figure this year.

However, space to put manufacturers is getting more scarce here and throughout the Upstate, Cook said.

The Upstate has a total of 135 available buildings that were previously used for a variety of industries, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce’s interactive website of building and site availability.

According to the website, Cherokee has no “spec” buildings and eight used buildings.

“The number of available buildings is getting extremely low,” Cook said.

The former Romeo Rim facility at the Cherokee Corporate Park and the former RJ Reynolds building in Blacksburg Atlas Industrial Park are two sites here that seem to meet most of the needs of potential industries.

Cook said if the economy continues to improve, he is hopeful that manufacturers will build new facilities. The last new manufacturing plant built in the county was Bericap in 2008.