Yeah Sumter itself is a major pile of people, Florence companies and what have you do not try and attract or even care about Sumter, VIA advertising and News yet Florence is viewed a major city to shop, conduct medical or other major types bussiness for Sumter residences. The Sumter Metro has cities like Manning in Clarendon and Bishopville in Lee in its MSA. People around the state and forumers on these types of forum fail to realize Sumter is its own MSA and the governments in these counties have already started creating regional bodys to build porjects for example the Sumter Clarendon Industral Site which is suppose to be one of largest on the east coast, and the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center. Sumter has many of its high end shoppers from the Shaw AFB and more on the way from Atlanta due to the BRAC closings, they tend to travel to Florence since it is much closer than stores in Columbia (sumter natives hate traffic they have enough to deal with they clogged roadways that make up Sumters infustructure to deal with the "horrible Columbia traffic"), but ask most shoppers in Sumter where they are going they tell you either Columbia or Florence. Ask a Columbian they tell you Atlanta, ask a Florentine they says MB, Columbia or Concord, NC. Also shocking to know Sumter has had a chilis for close to a year now ahead of Florence, a Home Depot will be built in another 4 years after a shady deal with City Council and Lowe's, a second wal mart is u/c in South Sumter, a Target is planned and talk is for newer mall to replace the older Sumter Mall (former Jasmine Mall) by Whit Whitaker.