Despite health concerns, Juul Labs is building a new $125 million Lexington County plant.
National health officials say they are concerned by mounting e-cigarette use.
Juul is the San-Francisco-based leader in the e-cigarette market.
It has announced plans to hire up to 520 employees here.
Lexington County officials agreed to a 6% fee in lieu of property taxes on 62 acres near Columbia Metro Airport.
The county said the deal signed in June locks in a fee for 30 years at an assessed ratio of 6% and a millage rate of 527.203.
Industry is normally assessed at 10.5%.
San Francisco recently banned the vapor-producing devices that contain nicotine as a substitute for tobacco products. Earlier this year the City of Columbia banned their use in bars and restaurants.
Juul has pulled flavored “vaping” cartridges from brick-and-mortar outlets to discourage youth from trying the devices and said it has an age-verification system online.
How this new campaign to limit or ban the devices will affect Juul and their plant in Lexington County and elsewhere isn’t clear yet. Reports indicate 2019 to be the multi-billion dollar market’s biggest to date.
Juul recently rolled out an age verification program and will require retailers to put the electronic system in use by 2021.
The company says it hopes to curb a rise in teen vaping.