Jan. 2, 2015 UBJ

JANUARY 2, 2015 | VOL. 4 ISSUE 1

CHARTING THE FUTURE OF HEALTH INFORMATION

In one year, Jon-Michial Carter’s ChartSpan has gone from the Iron Yard accelerator to the No. 1 health app on iTunes - page 14

UP FRONT | 3

upstatebusinessjournal.com

Here’s looking at another improbable year JERRY SALLEY

MANAGING EDITOR jsalley@communityjournals.com

It’s the start of a new year, which means that across the media spectrum, overworked editors—in search of content that can be produced while half their staff is on vacation—pull a familiar, well-used tool out of the chest: the List of Predictions for the New Year and Beyond.

No doubt, as a tuned-in 21st-century media consumer, you’ve already seen several of these lists, whether in print, over the air or online.

Maybe you’ve got a pile sitting next to you right now, or a few browser tabs open with prognostications for 2015.

Now: Close those browser tabs and erase your history. Take all those papers and throw them away. You’re not going to be needing them—not now that you have our list.

According to our own panel of seers and prophets, here’s what’s in store for the Upstate next year: A convention center will be brought downtown off Academy Street, with a welcome center located in the front corner of the building.

Office product will continue to grow off Falls Street between the Greenville News site redevelopment and the Elliott Davis building. The old post office behind the News building will be sold and a new condo development will be built in its place.

Two new large office users will come to downtown Greenville. One will be in the redeveloped

Greenville News site, and one in the current CertusBank space.

Plans will emerge for the redevelopment of Greenville County Square.

The Preserve at Verdae golf course will be revamped into a multi-use masterplanned development.

After the passage of the Stone Bill in 2014, South Carolina and the Upstate will see an influx of breweries.

The cities of Easley and Pickens will move forward at a rapid pace to develop the next economic engine greenway: the Doodle Rail Trail. In 2015, multiple businesses will spring up along the trail and spur talks of connecting Easley and Greenville with another greenway allowing two-wheeled travel all the way from Pickens to the Village of West Greenville.

Greenville Health System (GHS) will announce construction of a 12-story facility located on a 45-acre tract near I-185 and I-85 to house health- or biotech-centered startup companies.

The former Windstream/Nuvox building at the corner of Main and Washington streets will be razed, and in its place will appear a new highrise office building.

The Village of West Greenville will see more development, especially along Pendleton Street.

Gov. Nikki Haley actually will bring back jobs after her trip to India, and Tata Motors of Mumbai will announce in January that it plans to establish a manufacturing facility in the Upstate and employ 200 people.

A tunnel linking Verdae to the Millennium Campus, with a park placed on top of it, will be

announced—as will a monorail that will take riders from downtown Greenville to the Millennium Campus.

Some of these ideas you’ve heard before—there’s nothing new about talk of redevelopment of County Square; in fact, we talked about it in our list of predictions this time last year, along with the sale and redevelopment of the Greenville News site. We got that one mostly right: The site is under contract, but our prediction that it would become a new downtown convention center looks to have missed the mark.

We also predicted “roads will be big on the state and local levels,” which in retrospect was kind of a gimme. That will continue to be true in 2015 and every year until we manage to get our crumbling roads fixed.

Greenville’s North Main area also has yet to see the grocery store we promised in 2014—“perhaps a Trader Joe’s or a Fresh Market,” we said last January—but new developments in the area are now officially underway as residents wait to see what’s coming.

And we also predicted further growth in Spartanburg and throughout the Upstate—as we get ready for the new year, we’re looking forward to bringing you more of those stories.

Some of the above predictions are grounded in reality and history; others may seem impossibly pie-in-the-sky. But here’s one thing I’ve learned in just over two years with UBJ: Never count out the improbable.

Thanks for a (sometimes literally) unbelievable 2014, and let’s keep the conversation going on upstatebusinessjournal.com in 2015.

4 | THE RUNDOWN |

TOP-OF-MIND AND IN THE MIX THIS WEEK

UBJ

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01.02.2015

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 Featured this issue: Association unlocks millions for community development 6 Raven Magwood spreads motivation through fashion 16 Downtown Spartanburg street to become “festival” street 21

VERBATIM

On being No. 1 in bad drivers

“With big data and consumer technology seen as key elements to economic growth, will we see efforts to rein in technology and preserve privacy?

Or will privacy be redefined and potentially reserved for those with the resources to pay a premium for it?” Page 10 “Our priority will always be to protect the security and privacy of every patient and create opportunities to improve the way they manage their health.” Page 14

ET

Valet / concierge Office over retail - 3 levels office over 1 retail level

Plaza with drop off / valet area tied to hotel lobby

ET

Hotel over retail - 6 levels hotel above 1 level retail podium

Additional level of retail below at sidewalk grade +/- 7K space

drop off

water feature

Stair connecting down to Falls St.

Feature Stairs connecting plaza to Main Street sidewalk fireplace

R EE T

fireplace

Location of condominiums above office

Retail jewel box in plaza area

S ST

“I think when someone joins or interacts with us, it’s going to be a radically different experience next year.” page 3

STR E

OUT [Existing Building]

FAL L

WORTH REPEATING

Exiting Trees New Street Trees

IN S TR E

Car Insurance Comparison, in a new report naming South Carolina and Montana as the states with the “worst drivers” in the country. Read the report at bit.ly/worst-drivers-SC.

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Retail jewel box

MA

“If you’re living in one of these states, you might want to be extra careful when you’re out on the road.”

Residential over retail - 7 levels of units above 1 level retail podium +/- 225 units Glass atrium with vertical circulation connecting to parking levels below

Retail space on plaza level connecting between office and residential

Development Summary

MU RPH Office footprint +/- 22,000 s.f.

Y ST

Retail eater Fitness Office Hotel

R EE T

Residential 241 Units For Rent 225 Units (7 levels) For Sale 16 Units (4 levels)

Office over retail with condominiums above 6-story office tower with 4 levels of premium condominiums above - 16 units Restaurant on ground level of office tower overlooking river front park (6,000 s.f.)

44,100 s.f.

30,000 s.f. (+ 5,700 s.f. Bistro) 28,500 s.f.

132,000 s.f. +/- 140 rooms (5 levels)

Approximate limits of theater below plaza

Parking

+/- 900 spaces on 3/4 levels

Multiple entrances to paking below grade

CONCEPTUAL SITE PLAN MONEY SHOT: The redevelopment of the Greenville News sitePLAZA – including what other changes we’ll see in and around the property at the corner of Broad and Main streets in downtown Greenville – is at the center of many of our predictions for Broad & Main Development 2015. See our list of we expect to see in the new year on page 3.

Greenville, SC December 4, 2014

upstatebusinessjournal.com

NEWS

| ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | 5

Spartanburg Chamber president says change is overdue JENNIFER OLADIPO | SENIOR BUSINEESS WRITER

joladipo@communityjournals.com

Chambers of commerce need to serve the business community better and learn from the businesses they serve, said Allen Smith, president of the Spartanburg Chamber.

Smith said chambers have relied too heavily on sentimental notions he characterized as “mom, America and apple pie” to justify their existence, but today’s businesses want to see a measurable return on their investments.

His organization is no exception, he said—but change is coming. “I think when someone joins or interacts with us, it’s going to be a radically different experience next year.”

Smith’s call for change is based largely on reports from the members themselves. He said he heard many of the same issues during the 131 meetings he had in his first six months as president, a role he assumed in June. This year the chamber also conducted a survey of members to assess its performance, the results of which Smith called “damning.”

Members said they saw a greater need for the chamber to work with the City of Spartanburg, not just the county, and they wanted the chamber to pay better attention to existing businesses, and incite more investment from within the community. Smith said the finding that 48 percent of respondents could not name the chamber’s most valuable program was

“I think when someone joins or interacts with us, it’s going to be a radically different experience next year.”

Spartanburg Chamber President Allen Smith Photo by Greg Beckner

particularly alarming. He suggests chambers learn from the businesses they serve. “[Chambers] tend to see practices that are working in the private sector, and we take it and run in the completely opposite direction,” Smith said.

One business trend he believes the Spartanburg Chamber should adopt is a greater focus on the membership experience. He said the Spartanburg business community has great diversity of needs, but no matching diversity of product to meet them. Those needs come from membership ranging from companies

from BMW to small single-employee businesses.

Smith said the chamber would improve its services in several ways. For example, it will be helping businesses with marketing, measuring market impressions and featuring businesses across different platforms in 2015. A successful shop-local card program he had previously introduced as president of the Greer Chamber will also appear in Spartanburg.

Smith expects some new personnel to have a significant impact. The chamber recently hired its first vice president, Michael McNally. The next chair of the board will be Todd Horne, vice president of business development at Clayton Construction Company. What’s more, when the nonprofit College Town Consortium hired a part-time executive director they hoped could work out of the chamber’s office, Smith suggested matching the salary to create a full-time position that would connect the business community with the group’s aim to improve college students’ experiences outside of the classroom. That position will start next year.

Membership at the Spartanburg Chamber was about 1,200 people in 1996; today it’s fewer than 1,000. Smith said he sees no reason why that number cannot be 2,000 or more.

He took hope from a recent staff visit to Knoxville, Tenn. That city’s chamber has been held up as a national model, but they learned that five years ago it had nearly all of the same problems as Spartanburg does today.

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6 | DEVELOPMENT |

UBJ

NEWS

SCACED steps up South Carolina Association of Community Economic Development unlocks millions in funding for community development ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com Towards the end of the year, tax credits are a big deal, particularly when they can be leveraged as incentives to invest in local economic and community development. But for years, certain state entities had trouble not only marketing that incentive—a 33 percent tax credit—but they couldn’t guarantee that the investor would receive that credit at all.

“We’ve never been able to talk anybody into giving an investment at all because there’s no guarantee,” said Homes of Hope president and CEO Don Oglesby, whose organization is certified as a community development corporation, or CDC. “We have been able to give the tax credit for years, but … there was no monitoring agency that would do the math.”

For years, this lack of certainty deterred potential investors, who wanted to be sure that their investment would help with their tax burden. All in all, the

lack of a monitoring agency could have cost CDCs—as well as certified community development financial institutions—tens of millions in funding since legislation passed.

But this year is different. This year, the South Carolina Association of Don Oglesby Community Economic Development (SCACED) took a front seat with tracking secured investments, recording the amount of eligible credit left and actively marketing CDCs and CDFIs to potential investors and contributors.

So far, their work has paid off, said SCACED president and CEO Bernie Mazyck. Before this year, the highest level of claimed tax credit clocked in at $378,668 in 2011. In December, SCACED tracked that number at

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already given their credits away,” he said.

Oglesby said the extra funding would allow Homes of Hope to “double up” on their projects, going from 35 to 40 houses annually to 70 or 80. “We want it to go into Greenville and not other parts of the state. There’s a lot of good that could be done.”

“THIS TOOL IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL”

Bernie Mazyck Photos provided

$404,250, even with a month left to go in the year.

“There’s a level of confidence and a level of credibility that this effort has brought to this program,” said Mazyck, who played a key role in getting the legislation passed in 2000, as well as its two renewals since then. “There’s transparency, there’s accountability in the program, and that seems to have increased the confidence of the investors in this program.”

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Oglesby, whose organization provides affordable housing for low-income families and individuals in Greenville, said the association’s administrative efforts have already made a substantial difference in the ability to secure funding, adding he has had three lunches about potential investment already.

“Right now we don’t know what the results are, because all we’ve done is present the idea to investors, but the response has been great,” he said. “To me, it’s a great tool to say we don’t depend on the federal government as much as we used to. We can give them the bang for their buck, and get a return.”

Passed in 2000, the act allowed qualifying investments and contributions in CDCs and CDFIs to receive a 33 percent tax credit towards state tax liabilities, with a tax credit limit of $1 million annually. This means certified CDCs and CDFIs could attract as much as $3 million in tax credit-eligible funding per year, limited to $750,000 for each of the 25 state institutions.

But if all the CDCs and CFDIs in the state reached their limit for the year, there wouldn’t be enough tax credits to go around, falling short by $5 million in credits, Oglesby said. “You had no guarantee that other agencies had

Deborah McKetty, executive director for Community Works Carolina, said the credit played an important role in getting institutional investors on board, particularly a bank that she is working to secure. “What really cinched the decision for them was the ability to get the tax credit,” she said. “This tool is absolutely critical.”

CDCs and CDFIs wouldn’t have the time or resources to track credit utilization on their own, said McKetty, and SCACED’s role also helps connect them with investors they otherwise might not have come across.

“We had an investor from Charleston, for example,” she said. “They ended up having a tax liability for their company, so they were seeking tax credits.”

Another reason the credit may have been underutilized in recent years is that the industry and investment community weren’t prepared for it, she added. “The tax credit was there before we were ready to use it as an industry, and we’ve finally caught up with Bernie’s vision,” she said. “We’ve evolved in the community to not only take the grant resources we have and turn around to reinvest it, but actually being able to reinvest it for people who really want their dollars to work more locally.”

The act has been renewed twice already, and SCACED, CDCs, CDFIs and other economic development partners are gearing up to get it renewed once more. The legislation sunsets June 30, 2015, said Mazyck, who noted that the bill has already garnered support from both sides of the aisle.

“We have a slightly different General Assembly now than we did five years ago,” Mazyck said. “It’s just going to be a matter of educating everyone to the value of this tool that attracts private capital into communities that traditionally don’t get that capital.”

McKetty said Community Works Carolina will likely secure $175,000 of its $250,000 annual tax credit limit, but predicts maxing out next year if the legislation is renewed. Some CDCs and CDFIs have already maxed out this year, according to McKetty.

“If you look at the numbers, it looks like it’s been underutilized, but we just didn’t know how to use the tool,” she said.

“The numbers don’t tell the whole story.”

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NEWS

S EE PAG E 25 FOR M ORE DETAI L S

If you know an individual with a long lasting impact on the business climate in the Upstate, let us know.

A LEGEND THAT HAS IT

8 | EMPLOYMENT AND M&A |

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01.02.2015

November unemployment rate stays the same in SC BENJAMIN JEFFERS | STAFF

bjeffers@communityjournals.com

The unemployment rate in South Carolina stayed the same in November, according to a report released by the Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW).

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7 percent last month. The national unemployment rate was 5.8 percent.

DEW reports that the number of South Carolinians working reached a record high of 2,051,511. The labor force also increased by 5,563 people to 2,197,756. The labor force is determined by total number of employed and unemployed individuals in the state.

The number of unemployed people in the state decreased by 345 people to 146,245. South Carolina’s unemployment rate has decreased by 0.1 percentage points over 2014.

According to seasonally adjusted numbers, the top non-farm industries to increase hiring in November were professional and business services (4,500); leisure and hospitality (3,200); government (2,100); trade, transportation and utilities (2,000); manufacturing (1,100); and financial activities (1,000).

Seasonally adjusted, non-farm jobs were up 48,900 since last year.

NONFARM EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY, SEASONALLY ADJUSTED - STATEWIDE, NOVEMBER 2014

Industry November 2014 October 2014 November 2013 Total Nonfarm Employment 1,985,400 1,951,200 1,916,500 Construction 83,000 83,200 82,400 Manufacturing 235,900 234,800 227,700 Trade, Transportation, Utilities 371,200 369,200 365,300 Information 26,600 25,900 26,300 Financial Activities 95,800 94,800 95,800 Professional Business Services 257,200 252,700 240,000 Education and Health Services 226,000 226,700 221,700 Leisure and Hospitality 238,600 235,400 228,300 Other Services 70,800 70,300 72,100 Government 356,600 354,500 352,700

October 2014 to November 2014 # % Change Change 14,200 0.72% -200 -0.24% 1,100 0.47% 2,000 0.54% 700 2.63% 1,000 1.04% 4,500 1.75% -700 -0.31% 3,200 1.34% 500 0.71% 2,100 0.59%

November 2013 to November 2014 # % Change Change 48,900 2.49% 600 0.72% 8,200 3.48% 5,900 1.59% 300 1.13% 0 0.00% 16,800 6.53% 4,300 1.90% 10,300 4.32% -1,300 -1.84% 3,900 1.09%

Source: SC Department of Employment and Workforce

Nelson Mullins secures M&A broker relief JENNIFER OLADIPO

SENIOR BUSINEESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com

The S.C. Attorney General’s office recently took a quiet action that in effect loosened restrictions on mergers and acquisitions brokers and may help smaller companies looking to make deals.

The Securities Division of the S.C. Attorney General’s office issued a “no action” letter last month saying it would not take enforcement actions against M&A brokers who engaged in activities that are distinct from those of a broker-dealer. Under the law, M&A brokers who want to collect a fee to facilitate a business transaction must register just like broker-dealers who deal with securities and other financial materials.

The change mirrors a move by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this year. The federal policy change was a welcome change for M&A brokers, but still left open the question of whether they would see punitive actions at the state level,

said Mike Johnson of Nelson Mullins Riley Scarborough. Now, brokers are free to accept a fee for connecting buyers and sellers, without worry about punitive action, said Johnson, who handled the firm’s request that South Carolina follow the SEC’s lead and issue its own noaction policy.

“The process to register as a broker-dealer is time-consuming and expensive,” so the no-action policy lowers the cost of doing business for investment banks and other M&A brokers, said George Moseley, principal with The Capital Corporation. Moseley said SEC, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and the American Bar Association, among others, have long recognized that M&A brokers should not be subject to the full registration regime applicable to a typical broker-dealer.

“This action directly brings additional value to buyers and sellers of businesses through maximization of shareholder returns and greater exposure to potential acquisitions and dispositions,” Moseley said.

Johnson said the no-action policy is unlikely to result in a rush of new M&A brokers, but rather smaller businesses will gain opportunities to benefit from having sophisticated M&A professionals involved in their transactions. Before the policy change, most registered brokers were unlikely to get involved in transactions worth less than about $10 million, Johnson said.

Now, as long as M&A brokers “take reasonable steps” to ensure that acquiring entities receive the appropriate financial statements and that no “bad actors” are involved, they will be treated as though they are acting lawfully, the Attorney General’s letter said. The agency said in its letter that although it is not currently inclined to issue a full exemption for M&A brokers, it could consider changing the rule if pending federal legislation passes and the NASAA creates a draft rule or order on the issue.

South Carolina had a similar no-action exception in 1995, but in 2005 most states adopted uniform securities rules that invalidated that exception.

Another ridesharing service, BeMyDD, has quietly grown to more than 76 cities in the United States, including Greenville.

Rather than using a taxi service model, however, BeMyDD operates like a chauffeur service—one in which drivers use the customers’ personal vehicles.

“It’s a totally different type spin on traditional ride-sharing services,” said the company’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Michael Donner.

The company has branded itself as a way to take the pain out of choosing a designated driver when planning a fun night out on the town. People can request drivers though a smartphone app, online or by calling the company.

Cofounder and CEO Arthur Simanovsky said he and fellow cofounder Alexa Milkovich came up with the idea as a “better way to get out and enjoy our city.” They wanted to have a fun time going out with friends but didn’t want to have to worry about how much they had to drink or choosing someone to be the designated driver.

So in 2010 they started BeMyDD in Cleveland, Ohio.

The company offers three types of services. The most popular one costs about $18 an hour for a driver to pick up customers at their homes and drive them anywhere they want to go.

Simanovsky and Milkovich said the service keeps people from getting a DUI or worse, injuring or killing someone because of drunk driving.

One person died every 51 minutes in 2012 because of drunk driving crashes, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data reported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). NHTSA 2014

multiple times, he said.

In addition to picking up customers at their houses, the company also offers a service where a team of drivers will pick up a customer at a bar. One driver will take the customer and his car home and the other will follow in a chase car.

“People drive drunk because they don’t want to leave their car in the location they are at,” Donner said.

BeMyDD saves people “the hassle of going back to pick up their car the next day.”

Businesspeople throwing a company party can choose the “Peace of Mind” plan to hire teams of drivers to make sure all partygoers get home safely, thereby decreasing the liability of the party host person should someone drive home drunk, Simanovsky said.

The plan functions like a shuttle service, providing “a safety net,” Milkovich said.

“Here you have a designated driver who’ll chauffeur you around in the luxury of your own car. You can’t beat it,” Donner said.

Photo provided

UPSTATEBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM/WHOS-WHO

Watch out, Uber and Lyft.

data reports that drunk driving costs the United States $199 billion a year.

Simanovsky said many times studies will focus on the problems of drunk driving but won’t speak to possible solutions. “BeMyDD is that solution,” he said.

Donner said the company wants “customers to have a worry-free experience with us.” Company drivers go through phone and in-person interviews, as well as a thorough background check.

BeMyDD also seeks to hire chauffeurs who have experience driving limousines, Simanovsky said.

The company has a $2 million insurance policy on every ride. “[Customers] love their drivers, and they love the fact that they can go to multiple places throughout the night,” Milkovich said.

Before arriving at a home, drivers call the customer on the phone to make sure all the details are correct and establish a familiarity, Simanovsky said. Female customers may request a female driver to help them feel more comfortable. People will often request the same driver

NOMINATE THEM NOW.

bjeffers@communityjournals.com

MA NUFA CTURI NG • POLI TIC S/ GOV ERN MENT • REAL ES TATE • TEC H/ IT

BENJAMIN JEFFERS | STAFF

| TRANSPORTATION | 9

ACCOUNTI N G • E CON OMIC D E VE LOP MEN T • FINAN C E • HEALTHC ARE • HOS PITALITY • LE G AL

BeMyDD offers designated drivers for hire

NEWS

S EE PAG E 25 FOR M ORE DETAI L S

upstatebusinessjournal.com

10 | DIGITAL MAVEN |

THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF BUSINESS

UBJ

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01.02.2015

The battle to be left alone Beacons and big data are major attractors for capital—but is the technology leading us to a world where privacy will become a paid upgrade?

By LAURA HAIGHT, president, portfoliosc.com

Two interesting stories caught my eye recently: The first (goo.gl/PMOKUz) analyzed the technology businesses that would attract a lot of venture capital investment in 2015; the second (goo.gl/5cIB9R) outlined the results of a Pew Research Center study of privacy.

What’s the connection? Many of the top trends are technology applications that will further erode privacy, not behind our backs but with our tacit consent. And although the Pew respondents (experts were invited to respond in depth) were divided about whether there would be significant and/or successful efforts to regain privacy rights and protections, many of the analysts who read and wrote about the survey saw a different outcome.

My favorite and best bet for what really could happen: Privacy becomes a paid upgrade.

If that seems far-fetched, consider the things we already do—every OK button we click, every license agreement we accept without reading—that dilute our privacy rights. Lured by incredible new options, cool new toys and functionality, we readily accept that less privacy is the price of tech cool.

That’s good for tech companies developing applications for beacons and big data—two of the major attractors for capital investment this year, according to analysts.

Beacons enable location-based services. An example most of us can relate to is that your mobile Starbucks card pops up on your smartphone when you are near a Starbucks store. Enhanced implementations might enable stores to remember you when you get near the entrance in the mall and deliver a special coupon on something similar to your last purchase. OMG! That is soooo cool, right?

Well, sure. And it’s data that makes that possible. Data that is being collected about you with every move you make. I bought a pair of readers online; now every website I go to shows me ads for reading glasses. Your shopping preferences are captured based on sites you visit in your browser. Your interests are cataloged by spending patterns tracked and stored by credit card companies: golf, books, computer software. With GPS enabled on your phone and the permissions we grant to various applications to track us, a pretty

complete picture of where we go, what we do and what we like emerges.

“Lack of concern about privacy stems from complacency because most people’s life experiences teach them that revealing their private information allows commercial (and public) organizations to make their lives easier (by targeting their needs), whereas the detrimental cases tend to be very serious but relatively rare,” wrote Bob Briscoe, a researcher in

Consider the things we already do— every OK button we click, every license agreement we accept without reading— that dilute our privacy rights. Lured by incredible new options, cool new toys and functionality, we readily accept that less privacy is the price of tech cool.

networking and infrastructure for British Telecom, in response to the Pew survey.

Another respondent sees a developing cultural divide with the privacy advocates on one side and the consumer convenience crowd on the other. With big data and consumer technology seen as key elements to economic growth, will we see efforts to rein in technology and preserve privacy? Or will privacy be redefined and potentially reserved for those with the resources to pay a premium for it?

While the consumer applications of big data and beacons sound benign, even useful, the view through the other side of the looking glass is less clear. Who will have access to that data about me, about the movies I stream and the books I read? How will the information on the websites I read or the comments I post on political discussions be used? What if they’re subpoenaed? What if they’re hacked?

Is your personal information totally out of your control already?

Not totally. You can turn on a preference called “Do Not Track” in your browser to prevent your browsing history from being collected (it’s “Incognito” if you use Chrome). You can check your application security settings on your smartphone regularly to make sure you’re not sharing more than you intended. And you can take a breath and think before just clicking OK every time an application wants some additional control or access.

Mostly, it is about paying attention, being present and taking part in the conversation. The loss of a right to privacy—to feel that most of the things you do are free from prying eyes—can’t happen without our consent, actual or implied.

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12 | INNOVATE |

MOVERS, SHAKERS AND DISRUP TORS SHAPING OUR FUTURE

UBJ

|

01.02.2015

Rewarding organizational excellence The Baldrige Criteria can help organizations boost financial results and improve products and services report better financial results; satisfied, loyal customers; improved products and services; and vice president for institutional an engaged workforce. Data are available in each effectiveness, Greenville Tech of the sectors to support improvements in financial returns, customer and workforce satisfaction In an effort to stimulate competitiveness, and graduation rates, among many other measures improve quality, and increase productivity compiled from publicly available sources. between U.S. organizations, Congress established Greenville Technical College was recently the Baldrige Program in 1987. The program recognized as a Bronze achiever by the South recognizes performance excellence, establishes Carolina Governor’s Quality Program. While the criteria for evaluating improvement efforts, and award is gratifying, the quest for excellence is promotes sharing of best practices. much more important. While Congress determined a no one can predict what the The bottom line is improved performance. Following the criteria forces an competitive U.S. economy future will bring, focusing on would require the same level organization to fully delve into its operational systems, identify opportunities for excellence, quality of service, of performance excellence in improvement, and develop a continuous improvement model. Organizations that improving results, and using education, health care, and adhere to the criteria move from the mindset of compliance to excellence. systematic processes, we can nonprofit organizations. navigate the obstacles with Accordingly, Education and creative solutions. Our core Health Care Award categocompetencies—the ability to ries were established in 1998 serve a diverse body of students and the Nonprofit Award with a variety of learning styles category was established in and our partnerships with 2006. business, industry and employMany of the current perers—differentiate us from any formance measurement other institution of higher edusystems used in education cation in our region. rely too heavily on a narrowWe hope to one day earn the ly defined pool of student nation’s highest honor (and only achievement data, failing to U.S. Presidential award) for recognize that schools are, organizational excellence, by in fact, complex systems. The demonstrating outstanding Baldrige Criteria for Perforprocesses and results in support mance Excellence provide a of those core competencies. Our framework that any organigoal is to become a role-model zation can use to improve organization that ensures conoverall performance using a tinuous improvement, demontrue systems perspective. strates efficient and effective The criteria are organized operations, and provides a way into seven categories: Leadof engaging and responding to ership; Strategic Planning; students and other stakeholders Customer Focus; Measurethat is recognized as world-class. ment, Analysis, and Knowlreceive a feedback report including strengths and The best place to begin is to train to become an edge Management; Workforce Focus; Operations areas for improvement, and this is a very valuable examiner for either the South Carolina Quality Focus; and Results. The criteria help educationpart of the process as it allows those who win and Forum or the NIST Baldrige Performance Excelal organizations achieve and sustain the highest those who don’t the opportunity to learn how they lence Program. The training is an intense learning levels of student learning outcomes; customer can improve. experience, which prepares you to volunteer your satisfaction and engagement; product and service Why does Baldrige matter for any organization? service to your state or country. You will learn to outcomes, and process efficiency; workforce The bottom line is improved performance. Folreview applications and may be asked to be a site satisfaction and engagement; budgetary, financial, lowing the criteria forces an organization to fully examiner. and market results; and social responsibility. delve into its operational systems, identify opporIf you are interested in learning more about the In our state, the South Carolina Governor’s tunities for improvement, and develop a continSouth Carolina Quality Forum, visit scquality.

Quality Program is based on the U.S. Department uous improvement model. Organizations that com/aboutgovernors.html; to learn more about of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards adhere to the criteria move from the mindset of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, and Technology’s Baldrige Performance Excelcompliance to excellence. visit nist.gov/baldrige or contact me at Laurenlence Program. The award process is consistent Simer@gvltec.edu.

Organizations applying the Baldrige Criteria with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality

By LAUREN SIMER,

Award process, depending upon a trained, volunteer board of examiners and judges who evaluate candidate organizations and recommend award recipients.

Organizations submit a written application that includes a business overview and a description of the organization’s quality management system.

The application is first reviewed by individual examiners. As a team, these examiners reach a consensus evaluation of the application and may recommend a site visit. All award applicants

upstatebusinessjournal.com

GOOD HEALTH IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

| WORKING WELL | 13

Clearing the air Studies confirm that there’s a strong business case for a smoke-free workplace

By TERRY TAYLOR,

Upstate regional coordinator, South Carolina Tobacco Free Collaborative

With the release of 2006 Surgeon General’s Report on Exposure to Secondhand Smoke, businesses began to take a closer look at the burden of tobacco use in the workplace.

Prior to that time, very few employers had a “no smoking” policy. If they did, it was primarily for safety reasons—i.e., they handled flammable materials. Smoking cessation assistance for employees who smoked was also nonexistent.

The report concluded that secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure caused heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and lung cancer, had immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system, and caused sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear infections and asthma attacks in children.

The report also concluded there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure and advised that regulating smoking through smoke-free policies was the most effective way to protect individuals from exposure.

The most cost-effective way to reduce these costs is to reduce the number of smokers in the workplace.

There was also a strong business case for a smoke-free workplace. According to a study at Ohio State University, an employee who used tobacco would cost his employer an additional $5,800 annually. The additional costs were attributed to increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, increased health and life insurance premiums and claims, increased cleaning and maintenance expenses, more property damage and related expenses, higher fire insurance premiums and costs of fires caused by smoking, and greater potential legal liability.

The most cost-effective way to reduce these costs is to reduce the number of smokers in the

workplace. The most effective type of workplace smoking policy is one that does not allow smoking in any indoor areas of a workplace and is paired with employer-provided cessation services for workers who want to quit their use of tobacco.

Cessation programs are relatively low-cost, and studies show that they yield financial returns for employers over the short and long term that far outweigh their costs.

When a workplace policy is implemented, smokers are more likely to consider quitting, to quit at increased rates and to

BY THE NUMBERS: consume fewer cigarettes per day than smokers employed in a workplace with a less restrictive policy or no policy in place. direct medical costs per year resulting the health and Smoke-free workplace from tobacco use well-being of all policies impact employers, employees and be designed workers and workplaces in to treat all workers fairly, many ways. They eliminate lost productivity per year due to sickness and without attacking smokers workers’ exposure to secpremature death or promoting anti-smoker ondhand smoke while at Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention messages. To achieve the work; help lower smoking best policy implementation rates among workers; results, tobacco users ENGAGE improve the health, attenshould be provided with dance and productivity of LiveWell Greenville access to comprehensive the workforce; and reduce FEB At Work round-table cessation services. many additional costs assosession As the public becomes ciated with tobacco use, “Employee Financial Health” more knowledgeable about including health care costs.

11:45 a.m. tobacco’s harmful health The goal of a smoke-free and economic impact on workplace policy is to Information: livewellgreenville.org/ workers, coworkers, their promote a healthy and category/at-work families and friends, productive work environsmoke-free workplaces are ment for all workers, becoming the norm, much like the attitudinal smokers and nonsmokers alike. A policy should shift towards smoke-free air travel. clearly communicate an employer’s concern for

$96 billion

$96.8 billion

12

Stay in the know.

Upstate Business Journal

@UpstateBiz

TheUpstateBusinessJournal

14 | JUMPSTART |

UBJ

COMPANIES BLAZING A TRAIL IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

|

01.02.2015

CHARTSPAN MAKES WAVES BEYOND THE UPSTATE Health records management app has become No. 1 health app on iTunes

JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com

“When you’re trying to raise money, you’ll take meetings with anybody,” said ChartSpan Medical Technologies CEO Jon-Michial Carter. He spends a lot of time on the road these days fundraising for the one-year-old software startup he cofounded with Kevin Lawless. ChartSpan, the company’s health records management app, was the No. 1 health download on iTunes as of press time.

ChartSpan is an iPhone and iPad app that lets customers request, manage and send electronic healthcare records.

Patients can use ChartSpan to organize their entire family’s healthcare records from their smartphones or tablets.

After a beta launch to 500 users this summer, the app was made available to the public in October. Targeted >>

upstatebusinessjournal.com

>> at mothers and people with chronic illnesses, it quickly gained popularity—and notoriety for the company—nationwide, becoming one of the top 20 iPhone medical apps in the U.S. within the first month of its release, and a top-10 iPad app.

ChartSpan plans to fund its free app through advertising dollars. The company aggregates anonymous data from users and shares it with “select health care partners who are working to improve health outcomes.” Users can opt in if they want to receive the messages, which could include things like discount insulin and supplies for people with diabetes, or opportunities to participate in clinical trials, Carter said.

“It will be a while before ChartSpan begins to focus on this model, but when we do, our priority will always be to protect the security and privacy of every patient and create opportunities to improve the way they manage their health,” Carter said.

ChartSpan has operated out of the NEXT Innovation Center since Lawless and Carter finished taking their startup through the Iron Yard’s health technology accelerator in Spartanburg last year.

It now has 13 employees, 10 of whom are local and half of whom are full time. About half of the staff are developers, and the rest work in marketing, sales and administration. The company expects to add four full-time employees and two contractors during the next round of funding.

Ongoing development is crucial to the company.

Carter said the iPhone is but one piece of a platform that includes particular requirements for laptops, desktops and Web-based users. “So the platform becomes this device-agnostic, browser-agnostic, multiple-method-of-ingestions piece of technology—and that can get complicated,” Carter said.

“One of the biggest challenges for us has been

COMPANIES BLAZING A TRAIL IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

“It’s been frustrating trying to raise capital in South Carolina. … We’re committed to the company being here. We want to bring jobs here, so that’s why it’s especially frustrating.”

Jon-Michial Carter

encryption,” Carter said. “Medical records are highly sensitive. We have to encrypt data on the phone, the server and in transmission, but still want the data to move quickly.”

Another challenge has been the unexpected need to educate users about how to request records from their health practitioners. Carter said the majority of health providers pose no problems.

However, some users have contacted ChartSpan about denials of requests to receive records by email or being charged exorbitant fees, both of

| JUMPSTART | 15

which are violations of federal law. In that case, ChartSpan has had to direct users to where they can file complaints.

As the company meets its challenges, fundraising continues for customer acquisition and engagement. ChartSpan raised its first million shortly after leaving the Iron Yard, money that Carter said was used to build up a platform and the technology. “We spent most of this year just building the technology you see now,” he said. “So that took a lot of engineering hours and brain power to complete product.”

They’re keeping a sense of humor, though. A look at the terms of service lets the reader know, among other things, “We loved the television show ‘ER.’ But we understood George Clooney wasn’t a real doctor. Neither is ChartSpan.” It assures potential users that they also love London and Kathmandu, but the app still is not intended for use abroad. A personal tone on a staff page is nothing new, but a video of the staff in retro wigs and clothing unmistakably gets the point across.

The company relocated from Houston and is committed to growing in South Carolina and has found a supportive and attractive business community in the Upstate. However, ChartSpan’s experience finding capital in the area and throughout the state has been less positive.

“It’s been frustrating trying to raise capital in South Carolina. There are not a lot of sources, so we’ve had to spend a lot of time in Silicon Valley and, interestingly, in Texas,” Carter said. “We’re committed to the company being here. We want to bring jobs here, so that’s why it’s especially frustrating.”

Carter remains optimistic. He said the next round of funding has been subscribed and awaits paperwork, and the Android version of the app is slated to launch in January or February.

Photos provided

16 | ENTREPRENEUR |

UBJ

THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT THE BUSINESSES

|

01.02.2015

At age 21, Raven Magwood is adding to an already-long list of entrepreneurial accomplishments with a new fashion line JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com

Launching a clothing line is just one in a long list of accomplishments for Raven Magwood, who is just barely old enough to drink legally. She graduated from high school at age 16, by which time she was a national Junior Olympic-level gymnast and had written three books. She briefly hosted her own local television show, and one of her three books has been optioned for a film.

Comfortable in the spotlight, these days Magwood is building a career as a motivational speaker and writer, and has founded a fashion line, I AM A TEN, which seeks to build the self-esteem of women and girls around the world. She took a few moments to catch up with UBJ on what she’s up to now.

RAVEN MAGWOOD Age: 21 Family: Mother Chandra, father Frank, brother Jarvis Education: Calhoun Honors College at Clemson University Career: Always self-employed. Past two years coaching afternoons at Kozeev’s World of Gymnastics in Spartanburg What I’m reading now: “Cashflow Quadrant” and “Unfair Advantage,” both by Robert Kiyosaki (author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”) How I unwind: “I love to laugh, so sometimes I’ll just watch a funny movie. Other times, I’ll go out and do something with my family and friends. The best thing about my life is that I truly love what I do, so ‘work’ hardly feels like it.”

What can more experienced people learn from you or others like you?

Don’t be afraid to try! Amateurs built Noah’s Ark; professionals built the Titanic. Yes, I may be young, but I’m not afraid to go after what I want. It doesn’t matter how young you are, how old you are, or what your background is, if you have a dream in your heart, go after it! Of course, as an entrepreneur, you have to plan and be smart about your decisions, but don’t let fear keep you from where you want to be.

What is a major experience that has shaped who you are?

In my life, I have had two breast tumors that required me to have two lumpectomies. The experience was very scary, and I spent many nights crying myself to sleep. I couldn’t understand why this was happening to me. But as time went on, I learned to appreciate the experience.

I am now tumor-free, and every day I wake up, I give thanks for all that I have. I also utilize my time to the best of my ability so that I can leave a lasting legacy when I am gone. I tell people all of the time, “The fact that you are still on this earth means that you still have more to do. Don’t take your time for granted.”

Why did you feel that a fashion line was the way to share a motivational message?

I think it’s safe to say that girls love clothes and jewelry. While everyone may not have the same style, most girls use clothes and/or jewelry to express their individuality. I AM A TEN is about girls and women waking up every morning and feeling like “tens.” When women wear I AM A TEN, >>

upstatebusinessjournal.com

THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT THE BUSINESSES

Who are your mentors?

I look up to my mom. She is such a strong and beautiful woman on the inside and out. She is an algebra teacher, but she has her own business as well. She also manages me and supports my younger brother in his endeavors.

She is truly amazing. In the entertainment world, I look up to Oprah Winfrey. She has overcome a great deal of adversity to get to where she is, and everything she does serves as an inspirational source for others.

standards. However, I had to learn that I couldn’t do everything by myself. In order to get to where I want to be, I know that I have to surround myself with smart, creative people who can help me accomplish my goals. After all, teamwork makes the dream work.

What do you still have yet to learn?

There is still a lot for me to learn, and that’s what makes life so much fun. I consider life to be a classroom. As long as you are open-minded, there are lessons everywhere.

Is an entrepreneurial attitude common among your peers?

Above: A model wears an I AM A TEN bracelet; Below: A model wears an I AM A TEN necklace; Top right: Necklace from Raven Magwood’s I AM A TEN collection

Photos Provided

An entrepreneurial attitude comes from a mindset that is not always common amongst my peers.

Some of my friends are happy with finding a safe and secure job that will allow them to pay their bills, have some extra spending money, and receive health care benefits. On the other hand, I have many friends who cringe at the thought of working for other people. They spend all of their free time working on new ideas that will allow them to be their own boss.

What is your biggest professional challenge?

>> they will feel good about themselves and be reminded that they have the choice to be happy every day.

How involved are you with the designing?

I am extremely involved with the designing. I handpick all of the fabrics and materials, personally designing the finished products. Throughout this process, however, I always get my mom’s advice. She absolutely loves jewelry, and she is a great judge of what other people may like to see in the fashion line.

My biggest professional challenge involves trying to get everything done. I am involved in many different projects, so I often have a lot to do.

How do you address that challenge?

I had to learn how to outsource. As an entrepreneur, it is easy to want to do everything yourself to ensure that it gets done to your

| ENTREPRENEUR | 17

Mentoring local youth is a priority for Raven Magwood (right)

18 | THE FINE PRINT |

UBJ

BUSINESS BRIEFS YOU CAN’ T MISS

|

01.02.2015

Clemson economic development center helps startups

Scio Diamond successfully completes funding

Clemson University’s Regional Economic Development Center startup company incubators in Rock Hill and Hartsville brought more than a dozen new companies under the Clemson Technology Villages umbrella in 2014.

Startups included a developer of software platforms to optimize industries like machine manufacturing and public health administration, one that digitizes historic architecture in South Carolina and another that is developing a biofuel out of unique, regional algae.

Expansion of the program also allowed REDC to increase capacity by adding new paid positions for Clemson students to serve the startups’ needs.

“As an international student working on my MBA, I was searching for a good way to gain a deeper understanding of American business and business culture,” said Ryan Zhou, a Clemson MBA candidate, in a release. “I found that the assistantship at REDC was the perfect vehicle to achieve those goals.”

The REDC and the Technology Villages program now serve more than two dozen startups and small businesses across the state.

Scio Diamond Technology Corporation has closed $2.5 million in growth funding from Heritage Gemstone Investors (HGI) to double production of its lab-grown diamonds and refinance debt.

In addition, the two companies agreed on terms for a second phase of funding from HGI that will take place in 2015 to further increase the company’s production capacity by up to 10 times.

The funding from HGI will be used to refinance a $1.5 million loan from Platinum Capital Partners at more favorable terms, reducing Scio Diamond’s borrowing costs by more than 10 percent. The doubling of capacity will come from the purchase of additional production platforms in a larger size.

“Scio Diamond has been a pioneer in developing the technology behind the success in lab-grown diamonds,” Vivian Wong from HGI said in a release.

“We believe the company is well positioned to be a major factor in expanding the market for lab-grown diamonds.”

According to the release, the diamond jewelry market has been estimated by the World Diamond Council at more than $72 billion.

In 2014, Scio named a new board of directors, hired a new executive team and developed a new business plan. The company added “fancy” colored diamonds to its product lineup, along with colorless stones for jewelers and cutting devices and electronics for manufacturers.

AT&T rebrands Alltel in SC

Machine Solutions acquires Steeger USA

In early 2015, more than 70,000 former Alltel wireless customers in South Carolina will begin using new devices that work on AT&T’s network.

The company has upgraded the former Alltel retail locations in the state and opened them under the AT&T brand. AT&T has also upgraded the former Alltel network in Georgia to merge customers into the company’s 4G LTE network.

The company will notify customers when to activate their new devices.

Customers with general questions about the transition from Alltel to AT&T can visit att.com/alltel. For details about their new devices, they can visit att.com/mynewphone.

Flagstaff, Ariz.-based medical device manufacturer Machine Solutions Inc. announced last week that it has acquired Steeger USA, headquartered in Spartanburg. Steeger, a manufacturer of braiding equipment for the medical device industry, will become a Machine Solutions company, “significantly expanding the newly combined company’s range of products and services across its three brands: MSI, Vante and Steeger USA,” according to a press release.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Steeger was exclusively represented by Greenville-based investment bank The Capital Corporation, according to the release.

Steeger also designs, develops and manufactures braiding equipment for

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upstatebusinessjournal.com

BUSINESS BRIEFS YOU CAN’ T MISS

the electronics, aerospace and composites markets. With more than 11,000 machine installations worldwide and more than 150 associates worldwide, “Machine Solutions’ partnership with Steeger USA better equips the combined company to service its diverse customer base,” said the release.

“Adding Steeger USA further broadens the products and services we provide our medical device customers and allows Machine Solutions to enter other high-precision industries through Steeger USA’s diverse braiding applications and customer base,” said Ryan Gable, chairman and CEO of Machine Solutions.

Laurens packaging company expands with $30M investment Global packaging firm CCL Industries Inc. announced plans to invest $30 million to add 36,000 square feet to its Laurens County manufacturing operations in Clinton, S.C., creating 98 jobs in the next five years. Major construction is slated for completion by the end of 2015.

CCL Label, the subsidiary of CCL Industries that operates in Laurens County, produces film materials for global customers in the consumer packaging, health care, automotive and consumer durables markets, and provides extruded and laminated plastic tubes, folded instructional leaflets, and precision-printed and die-cut metal components with LED displays.

The Laurens County facility manufactures highly engineered component products and printing for the electronics, automotive, consumer battery and beverage markets, according to a news release. The facility joined CCL Industries via the acquisition of two businesses of Avery Dennison—Avery Office & Consumer Products and Designed & Engineered Solutions—for $500 million in early 2013. Avery has been operating in Laurens for several years, according to S.C. Department of Commerce spokesman Allison Skipper.

CCL Industries employs 10,400 people and operates 99 production facilities in 28 countries on five continents, with corporate offices in Toronto and Framingham, Mass.

| THE FINE PRINT | 19

completing its $10 million building on its property in the White Horse community, where the company has operated for nearly 40 years.

The three-story building is 37,000 square feet with a 160-employee capacity. The new building will accommodate AMECO’s growing employee population and space needs, said Tracey Cook, AMECO vice president of global operations, to a crowd of employees.

The 18-month project was designed and engineered by Fluor Corp.—which owns AMECO—and includes collaboration spaces, conference rooms, a 30-person training center and an equipment monitoring center. AMECO’s campus is in Greenville’s lower west side in an area of old mill villages, where it has been for nearly 40 years.

“It’s also about economic development,” said Fluor Chairman and CEO David Seaton. “I hope this is the cornerstone for development in this part of Greenville.”

AMECO will still use the old 80,000-square-foot building, which is located on the same campus, but will shift the majority of the employees to the new space. Between 17 and 20 employees will remain in the old building, which includes warehouse space and service bays.

AMECO is the tool and equipment unit of Irving, Texas-based Fluor Corp., a global company that employs several thousand in the Upstate. AMECO has offices in the Americas and South Africa, as well as project locations around the globe, but has operated from its Greenville locations for nearly 40 years.

“This is one of our historic homes, and will always be one of our historic homes,” said Seaton.

Fluor subsidiary completes $10M building Greenville-based tool and equipment company AMECO announced

Clems n Every Game

20 | SQUARE FEET |

REAL ESTATE DEALS AND DEVELOPMENTS ACROSS THE REGION

UBJ

|

01.02.2015

Join the Network that works!

Learn about the dynamic benefits of being a member or sponsor of CREW Upstate Thursday, January 15, 2015 from 5:30-7:30 PM The Palmetto Bank Headquarters 300 East North Street • Greenville, SC 29601 Local brews, wine, and hors d’oeuvres will be served RSVP to crewupstate@gmail.com

Plans set for Primrose School of Simpsonville

MARBLE

GRANITE GOLD

The couple moved to the Greenville area from sjackson@communityjournals.com North Carolina to be @SJackson_CJ closer to family in Georgia.

They had hoped to open Construction is set to begin the Primrose Five Forks location soon on the new Primrose School of sooner, but their daughter needed Simpsonville at Five Forks. The several surgeries for a heart condinew school will be 12,000 square tion that took them to Charleston feet on almost three acres at 2255 for several months.

Woodruff Road.

Buck Bradberry said the location Primrose Schools were founded in Simpsonville really fits “the in Marietta, Ga., by Paul and Marcy Primrose niche” well with a suburErwin, who decided to make educaban location home to many dution the key component of their al-working parents. model for childcare. The team now The new school will have classhas more than 250 Primrose School rooms and teach children values and franchises in 17 states. good citizenship.

Sign language and Owners Meggie and Buck BradSpanish will be part of the normal berry are a little different from other curriculum for every age level.

Primrose School franchise owners— Multiple playgrounds and sports Meggie is the Erwins’ daughter. courts for basketball, baseball and Meggie Bradberry attended Primhopscotch are all planned, as well as rose School as a child and has helped an on-site garden area to teach kids her parents open Primrose locations about growing their own plants and all across the U.S., including Primvegetables. rose School of Greenville, which The school will be open from 6:30 opened earlier this year. a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Monday through “It really fueled my passion to start Friday.

Attendees will range from a school of my own,” said Meggie six-week-old infants to age five for Bradberry. “To touch children’s lives kindergarten and up to age 12 paris special and now that I have a ticipating in after-school programs.

15-month-old, it seemed like the The school is planned to be open right time.” early summer 2015.

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REAL ESTATE DEALS AND DEVELOPMENTS ACROSS THE REGION

| SQUARE FEET | 21

Rendering provided

Wall Street in Spartanburg to become ‘festival’ street $2.3M streetscaping plan to make downtown more pedestrian-, bicycle-friendly Wall Street in Spartanburg may not have the same mystique as the one in New York City, but it’s about to become an integral part of Spartanburg’s downtown.

Spartanburg city leaders recently voted to close the small section of Wall Street between West Main and Broad streets and make it a “festival” street that will be closed to vehicular traffic.

The Wall Street Festival is part of a $2.3 million downtown streetscaping plan that city leaders hope will make downtown more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly, said Will Rothschild, community manager with the City of Spartanburg.

Improvements on Wall Street will include lining the street with brick, underground infrastructure improvements and new lighting. Bollards (short, vertical posts) will be placed at the ends of the street, allowing them to be

temporarily removed, if needed.

A new mixed-use development at the corner of Broad and Wall streets, which will have nine apartments and retail/commercial spaces on the ground floor, is almost completed.

“Now is a great time to do the streetscaping,” said Rothschild.

Also located along Wall Street will be the Health in Hand Juice and Smoothie Bar, one of the winners of this year’s Main Street Challenge,

and Hub Diggity Dog, which had closed in the spring to look for new space and now is opening up shop on Wall Street.

Rothschild said the Wall Street improvements will make the buildings on either side a lot more attractive for redevelopment, and since it will be a pedestrian-only street, a restaurant with sidewalk seating would be a great fit.

Rendering by Russell G. Oliver

22 | ON THE MOVE |

UBJ

PLAY-BY-PLAY OF UPSTATE CAREERS

AWARDED

HIRED

HIRED

HIRED

|

01.02.2015

ELECTED

Donnie Brown

James Boccardo

Michael Noland

Kara Jo Dodgens

John Boyanoski

Presented the Founders Award by the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers. Only two other people have received the award since 2007. Brown is vice president of human resources at Tindall Corporation. He has been an HR professional for more than 41 years.

Named senior vice president and senior portfolio manager in the Greenville branch of NewBridge Bank. Boccardo has more than 11 years of banking experience primarily related to C&I and capital markets. In his new role he will execute loan relationships and portfolio management.

Named Southeast sales manager for VidiStar LLC. Noland previously worked as technical director of non-invasive cardiology at St. Francis Health System. He has 12 years of cardiology clinical experience and served on the Lantheus medical imaging speakers bureau.

Named an optometrist focusing on pediatric eye care at Clemson Eye. Dodgens has been in private practice in Anderson and Greenwood since 2007 and has made several medical mission trips to provide eye care in Nicaragua, Mexico and Honduras.

She will provide services at clinics in Clemson, Easley and Anderson.

Named to the board of directors for ReWiGo Ministries. Boyanoski is president of Complete Public Relations. He has spent the two previous years on ReWiGo’s board of advisors. He is also is the chairman of the Friends of the Greenville Zoo, was the 2013 Chair of PULSE and was named Greenville Chamber’s 2014 Young Professional of the Year.

DEVELOPMENT Melloul-Blamey Construction promoted Matthew Bello to estimator and hired Jack Lostetter as vice president.

Bello joined Melloul-Blamey in 2012. He has worked closely with subcontractors, architects and owners. Lostetter has been

in construction since 2001. He will have a hybrid role, which will include estimating, project management and business development. As a key member of the executive management team, he will spearhead business development initiatives.

DESIGN Purple Tuna Tees Inc. hired John K. Cox as sales manager. Cox has more than 18 years of sales, marketing, operations, instructional training and consulting experience as an entrepreneur, PGA professional, sales manager and

logistics analyst in the screen printing, golf services, interior design and transportation industries.

FINANCE Scott and Company LLC promoted David Knobeloch to manager and

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upstatebusinessjournal.com

PLAY-BY-PLAY OF UPSTATE CAREERS

professional services and health care. Hetherington joined Scott and Company in 2010. He serves clients in a variety of industries including real estate, manufacturing, health care, automotive and retail. LaBrooy joined the company in 2012 and has more than five years of experience dealing with corporate and partnership taxation issues of auto dealerships, law firms, insurance agencies and nonprofit entities, as well as serving individual clients.

VIP

MARKETING/PR

Trana Pittam Named head of media and community relations at Bon Secours St. Francis.

Pittam most recently served as senior manager of publicity for Universal Studios Hollywood. She previously served as manager of corporate communications for Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas.

Stephen Hetherington and Ryan LaBrooy to senior accountants. Knobeloch has experience in tax research, planning and compliance for high-networth individuals and on behalf of regional and national companies, and his industry experience includes service to clients in manufacturing, real estate,

Infinity Marketing promoted Caroline Hallman to media coordinator and hired Rebecca Kennelly as a marketing coordinator and Rebecca Sessions as a marketing assistant. Hallman began as a media assistant in June. As a media coordinator, she works with Infinity’s restaurant team, planning and monitoring campaigns. She previously worked at the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, where she created and implemented a marketing plan for the Chamber’s first LeadSC Young Professionals Summit. Kennelly works as a project manager for various Infinity teams and as a liaison between clients and designers.

She previously worked as a marketing and sales staff coordinator for the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership, where she coordinated media buying with various South Caro-

lina markets. Sessions joins as a marketing assistant for the creative and production department. She supports the telecommunications and grocery teams with project management and client deliverables. She previously worked as a marketing consultant for iHeartMedia, creating integrated marketing campaigns with on-air commercials, on-site events and digital platforms.

The South Carolina Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (SCPRSA) announced its 2015 board of directors and assembly delegates. The board oversees the chapter’s professional development activities and awards programs, and assembly delegates represent the chapter at the annual PRSA National Assembly. SCPRA named Karen Potter, public relations coordinator for Greenville Health System, as president; Jennifer Clark, communication coordinator for Clemson University, as vice president of communications; Caitlin Greeley, owner of C. Greely Consulting, as vice president of finance; Bobby Rettew, chief storyteller for Gray Digital Group, as vice president of pro-

| ON THE MOVE | 23

fessional development; Nisha Patel, PR account manager for Crawford Strategy, as Upstate regional director; and Dusty Acosta, retired, as a delegate.

NONPROFIT The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) appointed Lisa Thomson as its president and CEO. Thomson’s previous experience includes 28 years at The Nature Conservancy, serving in leadership capacities in conservation land management and fundraising. Most recently, she served as associate vice president for development at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where she was recruited in 2010 to help lead their recently launched capital campaign.

SPORTS Furman University promoted T.J. Hall to director of football operations.

Hall served as football video coordinator and assistant director of operations this past season. He spent a year as an assistant video coordinator at Florida State prior to joining Furman in March.

CONTRIBUTE: New hires, promotions & award winners may be featured in On the Move. Send information and photos to onthemove@upstatebusinessjournal.com.

Transaction Focused PRACTICE AREAS Pete Roe and the real estate team at Roe Cassidy Coates & Price focus on representing purchasers and sellers of residential and commercial real estate, including acquisition, development, financing and leasing. The firm also serves as counsel to a number of Upstate lending institutions for conventional and SBA loans.

Pete has closed transactions aggregating in excess of $35 million in the last year alone.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Bankruptcy and Banking Business/Corporate Matters Competition and Trade Secrets Elder Law Employment

Carroll H. (“Pete”) Roe, Jr.

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24 | NEW TO THE STREET |

THE FRESHEST FACES ON THE BUSINESS LANDSCAPE

UBJ

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01.02.2015

Open for business iMAGINE Upstate recently opened its office at 2 N. Main St., Greenville. The organization is a nonprofit program acting as the agent of the Upstate SC STEM Collaborative. For more information, visit imagineupstate.org.

Photos provided

We are the COMMERCE CLUB, where Greenville’s dynamic leaders come to CONNECT, HOST, WORK and PLAY.

Start networking today with a Commerce Club Membership.

Contact Stephanie Page at stephanie.page@clubcorp.com or 864-232-5600. Not a Member? You can still book a private event at the Commerce Club. Contact Crystal Moorhouse at crystal.moorhouse@clubcorp.com or call 864-232-5600 ext. 202.

17th Floor One Liberty Square, 55 Beattie Place Overlooking Downtown Greenville 864-232-5600 • commerce-club.com

2015 NOMINATION FORM

2015 NOMINATION FORM

W

B

M

3 MINUTES CAN CHANGE SOMEONE’S CAREER. Nominate them now.

WHAT MAKES SOMEONE A WHO’S WHO? The UBJ Who’s Who recognizes 7 people in our business community who are committed to advancing their fields. Whether new to the scene or veterans in the trenches, they’re the professionals to look out for and look up to. Their names are on the tips of colleague’s tongues for making strides and pushing their organizations, their professions, and our community to the next level.

They’re asking the hard questions and finding solid solutions. Many have gone uncelebrated. Until now.

Areas of professional contribution include (but not limited to): Accounting, Finance, Healthcare, Economic Development, Hospitality, Legal, Manufacturing, Politics/Government, Real Estate, and Tech/IT.

NOMINATOR CONTACT INFORMATION Name___________________________________________________________ Title/Company___________________________________________________ Relationship to Nominee__________________________________________ Email___________________________________________________________ Phone__________________________________________________________

THE FINE PRINT: The 2015 winners will be honored at an awards celebration on March 26, 2015 and highlighted in a special edition of the Upstate Business Journal that will publish the same night. The best candidates will quantitatively demonstrate business success (financial results, career growth), community involvement, leadership ability (public profile/reputation), and influence (impact on the Upstate region specifically). Nominees and/or Nominators may be contacted to provide further information. All submissions will be voted on by a neutral, 3rd party panel of community leaders. Please submit your nomination(s) by 11:59 pm on Friday, January 30, 2015. Nominees must be residents of Upstate South Carolina. Past winners are not eligible to win again.

NAMES DO NOT HAVE TO BE SUBMITTED FOR EVERY CATEGORY IN ORDER TO BE ENTERED. THE LEGEND – An individual with a long lasting impact on the business climate in the Upstate.

Name________________________________________________

THE BOSS – A leader.

Name________________________________________________

Title/Company_________________________________________

Title/Company_________________________________________

Email________________________________________________

Email________________________________________________

Phone_________________________________________________

Phone_________________________________________________

THE CLOSER – A dealmaker.

THE YOUNG GUN – An up and comer.

Name________________________________________________

Name________________________________________________

Title/Company_________________________________________

Title/Company_________________________________________

Email________________________________________________

Email________________________________________________

Phone_________________________________________________

Phone_________________________________________________

THE INNOVATOR – A mover, shaker, and disrupter

THE WILD CARD – Based on a pool of candidates

identified by our Panel and voted on by our social media audience from February 16-22, 2015.

Name________________________________________________ Title/Company_________________________________________ Email________________________________________________ Phone_________________________________________________ Please provide any other information (links to articles or web pages about nominees etc…) you’d like for us to reference here: _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

THE ENTREPRENEUR – An idea maker and trailblazer.

shaping our future.

_______________________________________________________

Name________________________________________________

Name________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Title/Company_________________________________________

Title/Company_________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Email________________________________________________

Email________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Phone_________________________________________________

Phone_________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

MAIL THIS FORM TO: COMMUNITY JOURNALS, LLC, ATTN: KATE MADDEN, 581 PERRY AVENUE, GREENVILLE, SC 29611 OR COMPLETE NOMINATION FORM ONLINE AT: UPSTATEBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM/WHOS-WHO

26 | SNAPSHOT |

UBJ

A QUICK LOOK INTO THE UPSTATE’S PAST

|

01.02.2015

Today East Court Street is used for parking. East Court Street ends at Spring Street with the Church Street overpass seen in the background above the parking lot where East Court Street used to continue.

The John Wesley Memorial Methodist Church continues to be used and the Balentine Packing Company has been replaced by shops and retail businesses.

Photo by Greg Beckner

Historic photo provided

This photograph of East Court Street was taken from directly behind the second courthouse/records building in 1922. The multi-story building on the left is the cigar factory. On the south side of Court Street is the Balentine Packing Company and, above it, The John Wesley Memorial Methodist Church. In the center of the street farmers sell fresh produce from their new motorcars. Before the automobile, farmers sold produce on the streets of Greenville from horse-drawn wagons. By the 1920s the center of East Court Street was designated as a curb market. Eventually covered stalls were built down the center of the street . The City Curb Market moved to Elford Street in 1950.

Historic photograph available from the Greenville Historical Society.​ From “Remembering Greenville: Photographs from the Coxe Collection” by Jeffrey R. Willis

entor onday

A Movement is coming.

upstatebusinessjournal.com

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7 DESIGN THINKERS DESIGN TALK OpenWorks, 2 N. Main St., Suite 400, Greenville; noon-1 p.m.

TOPIC: Make to Know: Solving “Wicked” Problems with Rapid Prototyping COST: $10, includes lunch

EVENTS YOU SHOULD HAVE ON YOUR CALENDAR

STATEMENTS NEXT Innovation Center, 411 University Ridge, Greenville; 6-8:30 p.m.

Practical training by analyzing financial statements by Piedmont SCORE COST: $29 REGISTER: piedmontscore.org/ workshops/register/139

FRIDAY JANUARY 16 BUSINESS ANALYTICS WORKSHOP Greenville ONE, 1 N. Main St., Greenville; 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

UNDERSTANDING FINANCIAL

TUESDAY JANUARY 20 SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS SERIES Comfort Suites Simpsonville, 3971 Grandview Drive, Simpsonville; 8-9:30 a.m.

TOPIC: Dress & Success: Do they have anything in common?

SPEAKER: James Carter, Empire Ltd.

REGISTER: bit.ly/ designthinkers-jan

TUESDAY JANUARY 13

REGISTER: bit.ly/ analytics-workshop

COST: Chamber members $39/ class or $199/series, nonmembers $49 or $230

SATURDAY JANUARY 24

GREER CHAMBER ANNUAL MEETING Embassy Suites Greenville Golf Resort & Conference Center, 670 Verdae Blvd., Greenville; 5:30 p.m. cocktail reception, 7 p.m. dinner

TOASTMASTERS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ITT Technical Institute, 6 Independence Pointe, Greenville Education and training for club officers to perform their duties effectively and with the right skill sets.

KEYNOTE: Jim Newsome, president and CEO of SC Ports Authority COST: Chamber members $65, nonmembers $75

COST: Free

DIGITAL STRATEGIST ART & PRODUCTION

UBJ PUBLISHER

ART DIRECTOR Whitney Fincannon

Ryan L. Johnston rjohnston@communityjournals.com

OPERATIONS Holly Hardin

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Kristy Adair, Michael Allen

TICKETS: $35 advance, $45 at the door

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IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE OF UBJ? WANT A COPY FOR YOUR LOBBY?

CLIENT SERVICES Anita Harley, Jane Rogers

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE

SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER

STORY IDEAS:

Jennifer Oladipo

ideas@upstatebusinessjournal.com

STAFF WRITERS

EVENTS:

Ashley Boncimino, Sherry Jackson, Benjamin Jeffers, Cindy Landrum, April A. Morris

events@upstatebusinessjournal.com

PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Beckner

onthemove@upstatebusinessjournal.com

Sarah Anders, Kristi Jennings, Donna Johnston, Annie Langston, Lindsay Oehman, Pam Putman, Maddy Varin, Emily Yepes

UBJ milestone jackson Marketing Group’s 25 Years 1988 Jackson Dawson opens in Greenville at Downtown Airport

1988

1997 Jackson Dawson launches motorsports Division 1993

1990 Jackson Dawson acquires therapon marketing Group and moves to Piedmont office Center on Villa.

>>

with a majority of them utilizing the general aviation airport as a “corporate gateway to the city.”

In 1997, Jackson and his son, Darrell, launched Jackson Motorsports Group. The new division was designed to sell race tires and go to racetracks to sell and mount the tires. Darrell Jackson now serves as president of the motorsports group and Larry Jackson has two other children and a son-in-law who work there. Jackson said all his children started at the bottom and “earned their way up.”

Jackson kept the Jackson-Dawson branches in Detroit and others in Los Angeles and New York until he sold his portion of that partnership in 2009 as part of his estate planning.

The company now operates a small office in Charlotte, but its main headquarters are in Greenville in a large office space off Woodruff Road, complete with a vision gallery that displays local artwork and an auditorium Jackson makes available for non-profit use. The Motorsports Group is housed in an additional 26,000 square feet building just down the street, and the agency is currently looking for another 20,000 square feet.

Jackson said JMG has expanded into other verticals such as financial, healthcare, manufacturing and pro-bono work, but still has a strong focus on the auto industry and transportation. It’s

Chairman larry Jackson, Jackson marketing Group. Photos by Greg Beckner / Staff

Jackson Marketing Group celebrates 25 years By sherry Jackson | staff | sjackson@communityjournals.com

Solve. Serve. Grow. Those three words summarize Jackson Marketing Group’s guiding principles, and according to owner Larry Jackson, form the motivation that has kept the firm thriving for the past 25 years.

Jackson graduated from Bob Jones University with a degree in video and film production and started his 41-year career in the communications industry with the U.S. Army’s Public Information Office. He served during

Vietnam, where he said he was “luckily” stationed in the middle of Texas at Fort Hood.

He left the service and went to work in public affairs and motorsports at Ford Motor Company in Detroit.

After a stint at Bell and Howell, where he was responsible for managing Ford’s dealer marketing and training, the entrepreneurial bug hit and he co-founded Jackson-Dawson Marketing Communications, a company specializing in dealer training and product launches for the auto industry in 1980.

In 1987, Jackson wanted to move back south and thought Greenville would be a good fit. An avid pilot, he

learned of an opportunity to purchase Cornerstone Aviation, a fixed base operation (FBO) that served as a service station for the Greenville Downtown Airport, providing fuel, maintenance and storage.

In fact, when he started the Greenville office of what is now Jackson Marketing Group (JMG) in 1988, the offices were housed on the second floor in an airport hangar.

“Clients would get distracted by the airplanes in the hangars and we’d have to corral them to get back upstairs to the meeting,” Jackson said.

Jackson sold the FBO in 1993, but says it was a great way to get to know Greenville’s fathers and leaders

>>

2003 motorsports Division acquires an additional 26,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space

1998 1998 Jackson Dawson moves to task industrial Court

also one of the few marketing companies in South Carolina to handle all aspects of a project in-house, with four suites handling video production, copywriting, media and research and web design.

Clients include heavyweights such as BMW, Bob Jones University, the Peace Center, Michelin and Sage Automotive. Recent projects have included an interactive mobile application for Milliken’s arboretum and 600-acre Spartanburg campus and a marketing campaign for the 2013 Big League World Series.

“In my opinion, our greatest single achievement is the longevity of our client relationships,” said Darrell Jackson. “Our first client from back in 1988 is still a client today. I can count on one hand the number of clients who have gone elsewhere in the past decade.”

Larry Jackson says his Christian faith and belief in service to others, coupled with business values rooted in solving clients’ problems, have kept

2009 Jackson Dawson changes name to Jackson marketing Group when larry sells his partnership in Detroit and lA 2003

2009-2012 Jackson marketing Group named a top BtoB agency by BtoB magazine 4 years running

him going and growing his business over the years. He is passionate about giving back and outreach to non-profits. The company was recently awarded the Community Foundation Spirit Award.

The company reaffirmed its commitment to serving the community last week by celebrating its 25th anniversary with a birthday party and a 25-hour Serve-A-Thon partnership with Hands on Greenville and Habitat for Humanity. JMG’s 103 full-time employees worked in shifts around the clock on October 22 and 23 to help construct a house for a deserving family.

As Jackson inches towards retirement, he says he hasn’t quite figured out his succession plan yet, but sees the companies staying under the same umbrella. He wants to continue to strategically grow the business.

“From the beginning, my father has taught me that this business is all about our people – both our clients and our associates,” said his son, Darrell. “We have created a focus and a culture that strives to solve problems, serve people and grow careers.”

Darrell Jackson said he wants to “continue helping lead a culture where we solve, serve and grow. If we are successful, we will continue to grow towards our ultimate goal of becoming the leading integrated marketing communications brand in the Southeast.”

2011 Jackson marketing Group/Jackson motorsports Group employee base reaches 100 people

2008 2012 Jackson marketing Group recognized by Community Foundation with Creative spirit Award

pro-bono/non-proFit Clients American Red Cross of Western Carolinas Metropolitan Arts Council Artisphere Big League World Series The Wilds Advance SC South Carolina Charities, Inc. Aloft

JANUARY 30: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE QUARTERLY The biggest deals and latest developments in CRE

Hidden Treasure Christian School

CoMMUnitY inVolVeMent & boarD positions lArry JACkson (ChAirmAn): Bob Jones University Board chairman, The Wilds Christian Camp and Conference Center board member, Gospel Fellowship Association board member, Past Greenville Area Development Corporation board member, Past Chamber of Commerce Headquarters Recruiting Committee member, Past Greenville Tech Foundation board member David Jones (Vice President Client services, Chief marketing officer): Hands on Greenville board chairman mike Zeller (Vice President, Brand marketing): Artisphere Board, Metropolitan Arts Council Board, American Red Cross Board, Greenville Tech Foundation Board, South Carolina Chamber Board eric Jackson (Jackson motorsports Group sales specialist): Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club Advisory Board

November 1, 2013 Upstate bUsiness joUrnal 21

20 Upstate bUsiness joUrnal November 1, 2013

AS SEEN IN

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Order a reprint today, PDFs available for $25. For more information, contact Anita Harley 864.679.1205 or aharley@communityjournals.com

DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

FEBRUARY: FOCUS ON HEALTH CARE The big business behind getting better

TWITTER: Follow us @UpstateBiz FACEBOOK: TheUpstateBusinessJournal LINKEDIN: Upstate Business Journal

NEW HIRES, PROMOTIONS, AND AWARDS: UBJ welcomes expert commentary from business leaders on timely news topics related to their specialties.

Guest columns run 700-800 words.

Contact Executive Editor Susan Clary Simmons at ssimmons@communityjournals.com to submit an article for consideration.

u UP NEXT JANUARY 16: THE FUTURE What trends and tech will shape the Upstate in 2030?

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

UBJ milestone

ADVERTISING DESIGN

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SALES REPRESENTATIVES

Brides Against Breast Cancer is raising funds for programs for families impacted by cancer.

CONTRIBUTE: Got a hot date? Submit event information for consideration to events@ upstatebusinessjournal.com.

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MARKETING & ADVERTISING

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COST: $15

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MANAGING EDITOR

ENTREPRENEURS FOR A CAUSE

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THURSDAY JANUARY 22

MARKETING & EVENTS

Susan Clary Simmons ssimmons@communityjournals.com

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28

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Industry professionals give input on analytics skills needed by organizations

PRESIDENT/CEO

| PLANNER | 27

publishers of

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Copyright @2014 BY COMMUNITY JOURNALS LLC. All rights reserved. Upstate Business Journal is published weekly by Community Journals LLC. P.O. Box 2266, Greenville, South Carolina, 29602.

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