Jan. 23, 2015 UBJ by Community Journals

JANUARY 23, 2015 | VOL. 4 ISSUE 4

ON THE

VERGE Small startups have big plans to carve out their space in the Upstate and beyond See the 10 on pg. 16 (Aaron and Susan von Frank, cofounders of startup Grow Journey, and one of their ducks, Jackson.â&#x20AC;&#x2039;)

2015 NOMINATION FORM

2015 NOMINATION FORM W

AugustaRoad.com Realty LLC Joan Herlong, Owner/Broker in Charge

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

WHAT MAKES SOMEONE A WHO’S WHO? The UBJ Who’s Who recognizes 8 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.

THE FINE PRINT:

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

The 2015 winners will be honored at an awards celebration on March 26, 2015 and highlighted in special edition of the Upstate Business Journal that will publish that 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 the 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_______________________________________ Title/Company______________________________________________ Email___________________________________________________ Phone____________________________________________________

THE YOUNG GUN – An up and comer. Name____________________________________________ Title/Company_____________________________________ Email_____________________________________________________ Phone_______________________________________________________

THE ENTREPRENEUR – An idea maker and trailblazer. Name______________________________________________ Title/Company_____________________________________________ Email___________________________________________________ Phone____________________________________________________

Title/Company______________________________

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.

Email__________________________________________________

Name________________________________________________

Phone____________________________________________________

Title/Company_________________________________________

THE BOSS – A leader. Name_____________________________________

Email________________________________________________

THE CLOSER – A dealmaker.

Phone_________________________________________________

Name_____________________________________________ Title/Company____________________________________ Email_____________________________________________ Phone____________________________________________________

THE INNOVATOR – A mover, shaker, and disrupter

OTHER – Know a deserving candidate, but unsure which category best suits the nominee? No problem. Nominate them here and leave it to our expert panel of judges to determine the best fit. Name__________________________________________________ Title/Company_________________________________________

shaping our future.

Email__________________________________________________

Name____________________________________________

Phone__________________________________________________

Title/Company___________________________________ Email____________________________________________________

Please provide any other information (links to articles or web pages about nominees etc…) you’d like for us to reference here:

Phone____________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

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

upstatebusinessjournal.com

NEWS

CPAs Graydon and Thompson launch new accounting firm CPAs Phyllis P. Graydon and Greg J. Thompson announced this week the formation of Graydon Thompson LLC, an Upstate-based accounting firm with a team of eight professionals and “a significant client base” in place. The firm is designed to “provide high-level expertise and insight that savvy individuals and fast-growing organizations seek from their acc0ounting partner today, but delivered with the personal touch, accessibility and warmth that all of us want—and too rarely find—in our professional services providers,” said Graydon in a statement. Graydon Thompson will provide a comprehensive range of tax, assurance, small business and specialized consulting services to clients across the Carolinas, Thompson said. Graydon and Thompson were both formerly partners in the Greenville office of Scott and Company CPAs. Graydon, who will head the firm’s tax and advisory services group, has more than 25 years of tax experience serving individuals and both closely held and publicly traded organizations. Thompson, who will head the firm’s assurance and advisory services team, has more than two decades of experience in both industry and public accounting. More information is available at graydonthompson.com.

Brewers back legislation to eliminate federal tax Proposal would cut rate in half for smaller breweries APRIL A. MORRIS | STAFF

amorris@communityjournals.com

Legislation introduced in the U.S.

Greg Thompson

Phyllis Graydon

| FINANCE & BREWERIES | 3

House earlier this month aims to cut the federal tax paid by small beer brewers by half. The Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act (Small BREW Act) seeks to reduce the rate from $7 to $3.50 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels up to 2 million barrels produced by a brewer. (A barrel is equal to 31 gallons.) The rate is $18 per barrel after two million. All of the state’s breweries produced fewer than 60,000 barrels in 2013, said SC Brewers Guild executive director Brook Bristow, and the proposed reduction would cut those breweries’ and brew pubs’ taxes in half. The reduction would “allow our 20 breweries and 14 brewpubs much-needed tax relief to grow their businesses and create jobs,” said Bristow. Bob Pease, CEO of the Brewers Association that supports craft brewers, said, “While small brewers pay the same business and employment taxes as other business categories, they are also burdened with an industry-wide federal and state excise tax which impedes their growth. Now is the time to recalibrate the

excise tax to foster growth and employment where it is primed to happen—among our country’s small and independent brewers. We look forward to working with Congress to ensure the passage of this fair and meaningful bipartisan legislation.” Similar legislation was introduced for the third time in 2013, but died in the House Committee on Ways and Means, according to Brewbound craft beer news. The 2013 bill had 181 House cosponsors and 46 in the Senate—however, none from South Carolina, according to Bristow. The Beer Institute, which represents breweries of all sizes, is reportedly poised to introduce legislation that also addresses a reduction in the federal tax.

BY THE NUMBERS

46,900

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$328,300

paid in

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20 14

breweries in SC brewpubs in SC

Stay in the know. HISTORIC DOWNTOWN GREER 222 Trade Street, Greer, SC • 864.877.6525

Upstate Business Journal

@UpstateBiz

TheUpstateBusinessJournal

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1125 Woodruff Rd., Greenville, SC • 864.234.8880

4 | THE RUNDOWN |

TOP-OF-MIND AND IN THE MIX THIS WEEK

UBJ

01.23. 2015

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 Featured this issue: Gov. Haley weighs in on Uber Moe Joe makes play for downtown audience James Jordon finds his life’s work

8 12 14

TBA Look for a new development near North Greenville University that will feature organic gardens, greenhouses and an off-grid Farm Market/Invention Center. Word is the property will eventually host a hotel/conference center along with a zip line/climbing wall and tree house challenge. Elks Lodge on Pelham Road wants to set up an outdoor shooting range for use by its members (and to attract new ones). County Council must rezone the property first, and that vote is still pending. 25 Garlington, a planned 5,565-squarefoot retail center on Garlington and Woodruff roads, is coming soon. Space has already been pre-leased to Chicken Salad Chick.

MONEY SHOT: An artist’s rendering shows plans for NEXT High School. While not a business per se, the statewide charter school based in Greenville has done its best to reflect a startup mentality during two years of outreach efforts. Read more on page 16. Rendering provided by JSD Architecture.

VERBATIM

WORTH REPEATING “I was used to really good coffee ... I moved back here in 1999 and was like, ‘This is not it. I’ll just do it myself.’” Page 12 “When you keep in mind where you’re trying to finish, those things that come up daily become pretty small. If you love what you do, you figure it out.” Page 14 “Lots of entrepreneurs say they have a cash flow problem, but really what they have is a sales problem.” Page 18

On best plants “T&S Brass and Bronze Works embodies the values of IndustryWeek’s Best Plants contest winners—efficient manufacturing operations dedicated to continuous improvement producing high-quality products.” IndustryWeek magazine, naming the Travelers Rest manufacturer one of six “Best Plants” for 2015. Read more at industryweek.com/resources/best-plants.

upstatebusinessjournal.com

NEWS

| TRANSPORTATION | 5

SC Chamber CEO: State could raise vehicle sales tax cap ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

The state needs to diversify its transportation revenue, and one way it might do that is by raising the $300 cap on vehicle sales taxes, according to S.C. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ted Pitts. “I won’t say who told me this, but the House may be looking at going from $300 to $500,” said Pitts at a meeting in downtown Greenville last week. That change could generate an additional $75 million per year. Combined with other sources of revenue, it could be a way to generate a portion of the $1.9 billion per year needed by the Department of Transportation in additional road funding, he said. “If we could get $600 to $800 million a year in the system, that would be a good plan and would be considered addressing some of the need,” he said. “There’s a way to get to $600 million.” Pitts spoke to a crowd of around 40 people last Friday about the state Chamber’s two agenda priorities for the year, workforce development and infrastructure. “We’re falling further and further behind in maintaining our system and maintaining capacity,” he said. “We believe it’s at that boiling point. Something’s going to be done. Something has to be done.” The South Carolina Department of Transportation

is facing a $42 billion shortfall The increasing popularity in funding for state transporof hybrid vehicles and genertation needs. Deteriorated ally more fuel-efficient cars and infrequently maintained has been pushing gas tax roads cost Upstate drivers revenues down for years, however. The solution needs more than $1,200 more per year due to higher vehicle to be more comprehensive and operating costs, traffic crashes long-term, he said. “If you just and congestion-related raise the gas tax, we’ll be back delays, according to a recent here in five years.” Other options might be report from The Road Inforincreasing drivers license mation Program. revenues and tolls, but Pitts The state of infrastructure also significantly impacts said he didn’t think those business within the state, such were likely to be significant as forcing transport vehicles parts of the solution. Pitts said to reroute around unsafe the Chamber is hopeful S.C. Chamber of Commerce bridges and causing congesthat legislation will be introPresident and CEO Ted Pitts tion-related delays. duced and put through Pitts said transportation conference committee by the Photo Provided and infrastructure has been end of the year. high on the priorities list for several years now. S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to release an The problem isn’t awareness or support, he said. infrastructure and transportation plan by the end It’s funding. of the month. Her $6.9 billion executive budget – announced last week – lacked any major increas“If you look nationally, our revenue for roads is one of the least diverse revenue streams in the es in spending on infrastructure. Haley said the country,” he said. “It’s totally dependent on the gas executive budget would add $61.4 million a year to tax with a little bit of sales tax.” pay for road repairs.

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6 | INFRASTRUCTURE |

UBJ

NEWS

01.23. 2015

I-29 corridor could include 23-mile bike path ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

A 10-year vision for the future of the I-29 corridor could include a bike path, bus transit and park-and-rides connecting uniquely branded towns in the 23-mile stretch between Greenville and Spartanburg. Just like the Swamp Rabbit Trail re-energized Travelers Rest, a trail could bring interest and foster economic growth in the already-blossoming centers of Taylors, Greer, Duncan, Lyman and Wellford, according to a six-member panel from the research group the Urban Land Institute. “We’re thinking that if you really started to look at what each of these towns were known for, you could actually market that and brand it, and the corridor would just be so robust,” said the panel chairwoman Tracy Hegler, who is Richland County’s director of planning. “We imagine beautifully going along 29 and every time you hit a new town, there is signage that represented them.” The panel interviewed more than 300 stakeholders and citizens about the needs and possibilities for the corridor, which connects two counties, seven communities, several transit authorities and government entities. Growing population and economic development

along the corridor will increase transportation demands on the corridor, but growth can be targeted and guided if stakeholders work on a comprehensive, collaborative plan now, said Hegler. Recent developments in western Spartanburg County include the 75-acre mixed-use development anchored by Bass Pro Shop, a $1 billion carbon manufacturing plant by Japan-based Toray Industries Inc., and a $19 million, 60-acre sports complex by Upward Sports, among others. The corridor population—currently under 200,000—is expected to grow five to 10 percent during the next 10 years, and that’s if nothing else spurs even more population growth, said Hegler. “And that’s if nothing else changes. That’s most likely a natural growth rate,” she said. “It’s almost like they’re at the edge of the cliff and so much is

ready to happen, and they want to make sure that they’re putting all of the pieces in the right places and talking to all the right people.” Creating a trans- and growth-ready corridor could include more sidewalks, park-and-rides, signal synchronization, signage, landscaping and key public investments that could pay for themselves in the future, panelists said. Part of the corridor’s challenges also represent its opportunities, they said. “The genesis of the question we were asked was: If we were to get more traffic, if we were to grow, how can we be in charge of that destiny so it’s sustainable, so it’s managed, so it’s hardly noticed?” she said. “When you’re asked to look at a 23-mile corridor and you have so many different entities, you need to make sure everything that one does doesn’t negatively impact another, and so on.”

Roads cost Upstate drivers $1,248 each per year ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

COST PER MOTORIST OF DEFICIENT ROADS

Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson urban

Location

VOC*

Charleston

$294 $647 $227 $1,168

Columbia

$362 $663 $225 $1,250

area drivers pay an average of $1,248 per year due to driving on roads that are congested, deteriorated or lack desirable safety features, according to a state report by national research organization The Road Information Program (TRIP). Deficient roads cost South Carolina motorists $3 billion statewide annually due to higher vehicle operating costs, traffic crashes and congestion-related delays, according to the report. The South Carolina Department of Transportation is facing a $42 billion shortfall in funding for state transportation needs during the next five years. Part of the shortfall is due to greater transportation demand from increased population, employment and business operations in the state, according >> to the department. South Carolina tied with West Virginia as having the highest overall traffic fatality rate at 1.76 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, or 4,315 deaths between 2008 and 2012. The national average rate is 1.13. The report—which included state and Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson urban area data—found

Congestion Safety

Total

Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson $405 $590 $253 $1,248 Statewide total

$1.1B

$775M

$1.1B

$3B

* Vehicle operating cost Source:The Road Information Program: tripnet.org

48 percent of the major roads in the three counties were in poor or mediocre condition, costing motorists $405 each year in extra vehicle operating costs, such as accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs and increased fuel consumption and tire wear. Congestion costs users $590 per year in the area in wasted fuel and lost time.

“The state of infrastructure in South Carolina is deplorable,” said Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Allen C. Smith in a statement. “The economy is the vehicle that provides our citizens with jobs. Unfortunately, that vehicle, according to the TRIP report, is traveling on an infrastructure system speeding towards a title none of us want or can afford—‘the worst road and bridge

upstatebusinessjournal.com

NEWS

ANOTHER BROKEN EGG CAFÉ ON WOODRUFF ROAD AT MAGNOLIA PARK IS SET TO OPEN MONDAY, JAN. 26. The new restaurant will serve Southern-inspired breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch and will be open from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m., seven days a week.

Cyber Risks & Liabilities Understanding & Preventing Data Breaches

Those interested in a sneak preview can come dine to support two local nonprofits prior to the official grand opening. Friday, Jan. 23, 9 a.m.noon, diners can make donations to support St. Francis eastside hospital. Saturday, Jan. 24, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., diners can support the Greenville Humane Society. Seating is limited for the pre-opening events; call 864-627-7710 for reservations.

state’s bridges were “structurally deficient or functionally obsolete,” with 21 percent showing “significant” deterioration or not meeting modern design standards. In the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson area, eight percent of bridges were structurally deficient and 14 percent were functionally obsolete. Statewide, 11 percent of bridges were structurally deficient and 10 percent were functionally obsolete. “I call on our elected officials to act, to lead and to address this issue,” said Smith. “Present and future jobs depend on it.”

network in the United States.’” A total of $156 billion in goods are shipped annually from sites in South Carolina, 84 percent of which are carried by trucks, in addition to 10 percent carried by courier services or multiple mode deliveries. South Carolina’s rural roads had a fatality rate that was 61 percent higher than the national rural road average. Statewide, 46 percent of South Carolina’s state-maintained interstate, primary and secondary route major roads and highways were in poor condition, an increase from 32 percent in 2008. Additionally, one fifth of the

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| INFRASTRUCTURE | 7

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8 | TRANSPORTATION & INVESTING |

NEWS

UBJ

01.23. 2015

Uber battle rages on Ridesharing service ordered to cease and desist in SC; Haley pushes back ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

Uber hit the headlines again last week when state utility regulator the Public Service Commission issued a “cease and desist” order for the ridesharing company’s operations in the state, prompting a strongly worded letter from the governor in support of Uber. “Again, I want to express my intense disappointment in the actions of the PSC,” Gov. Nikki Haley said in a letter filed with the agency. “Restricting our citizens’ rights to options and economic opportunities is massively detrimental to South Carolina. It is wrong, and, simply put, it is not who we are.” The PSC ordered Uber to cease and desist operations within the state until and unless it received a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. Uber applied for a certificate last year, but it has not yet been granted. “Consumers benefit from, and deserve choices in, the marketplace. However, those choices must be consistent with state law intended to protect the

public,” according to the order. Uber representatives told UBJ the company will not cease operations across the state due to the order. The company has been offering to transport people and goods in South Carolina for compensation since June. “Despite working closely with the PSC for the past several months on a permanent solution for Uber in South Carolina, yesterday’s actions are unexpected and not reflective of the progress made thus far,” said Uber spokesman Taylor Bennett in a prepared statement. “We will challenge the order and remain committed to providing South Carolinians with greater opportunity and choice.” Uber has been offering its services since last summer inside and outside the city limits of Greenville, Charleston, Columbia and Myrtle Beach. After failing to negotiate the terms of legal operation before its launch, the company began offering rides in South Carolina in June and filed its application for an operating license. Several stakeholders—including Checker Yellow Cab Co. and consumer protection agency the Office of Regulatory Staff— have intervened in the application.

The City of Greenville has said it will wait on a state decision concerning Uber’s legality, but city spokesmen could not be reached for further comment about Uber’s continued operations within the city limits. Other South Carolina cities have actively responded to Uber with citations and attempts to regulate the service. Charleston International Airport, the City of Charleston and the City of North Charleston have banned the company from operating until permits, fees and other regulations are met. As of Monday, the Uber app showed the service was still available and operational in those areas. Those opposing Uber’s operations argue that the cars and drivers may be unsafe for consumers, while those in favor of Uber argue the service is cost-effective and an innovative solution to transportation. “I am calling on the members of the PSC and the General Assembly to resolve this issue before we send a message to the rest of the nation and the world that South Carolina is not the kind of place they want to do business,” stated Haley in the letter filed with the agency.

Swamp Rabbit Angels target investment ‘dead zone’ joladipo@communityjournals.com A new group of investors plans to bring life to a “dead zone” area for business capital in the state. Swamp Rabbit Angels (SRA) will make investments between $25,000 and $250,000, and provide mentoring and back-office support to give growing startups a boost, said SRA founder Jason Premo, former CEO of ADEX Machining Technologies. Premo said “kindling wood” is a good analogy to describe how the funds will help get companies up and running. He said average investments will be $100,000 but will go up to $250,000. The fund targets diverse industries such as high-tech software, consumer products and engineering, and even some services, Premo said. However, like other investor groups in the state, the emphasis is on technology companies with a high likelihood of making an exit within three to five years. The portfolio so far includes Aetho, a Charleston company that developed a stabilizer for GoPro handheld cameras popular with do-it-yourself filmmakers. That company closed its first round of funding last week. Premo described the endeavor as a “stealth”

angel fund doing seed investing in a private setting. He said SRA investors are not dues-paying club members. Some, however, will want to be discreet, as will some of the companies receiving funds. He said SRA should not be seen as a competitor with UCAN, the Upstate Carolina Angel Network. UCAN was formed in 2008 to invest in startup and early-stage, highgrowth businesses throughout the Southeast and is highly ranked among angel investment groups. Last year UCAN launched the statewide Palmetto Angel Fund for passive investors in South Carolina and Asheville. SRA’s plans to limit its geographic range to within a half-day drive of Greenvllle in order to facilitate hands-on engagement. “If anything, the output of seed investments we do can then [foster] a better and more refined startup with some traction as a better quality candidate for UCAN,” Premo said. The growing number of investor groups also includes the Columbiabased Capital Angels, which launched early last year. Premo also plans to launch Premo Ventures, another investment firm with a different focus, soon, but he said details were not yet ready to be announced.

Jason Premo

Photo by Greg Beckner

JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINEESS WRITER

upstatebusinessjournal.com

NEWS

| RETAIL & HOSPITALITY | 9

Three-in-one venue planned for downtown Greenville Kilpatrick’s, Pour and the Comedy Zone to open in one building on Main Street SHERRY JACKSON | STAFF

sjackson@communityjournals.com A new Irish pub, comedy club and wine bar are set to open at the end of January in the former Grille 33 space at 221 N. Main St. in downtown Greenville. The concept is a three-in-one entertainment experience. On the first floor will be Kilpatrick’s Public House, a restaurant that will serve both American and Irish fare. Pour Boutique Lounge, a wine and champagne bar, will occupy the second floor, and the Comedy Zone, a comedy nightclub, will be located on the third floor. The three entertainment venues are owned by Howard Dozier and his business partner Paul Talley, who together own several restaurants in Greensboro, N.C., and Myrtle Beach. Dozier said he had been keeping an eye on the Greenville area for years and believes the market is ready for the concept. “It’s something new for Greenville,” he said. Kilpatrick’s Public House will feature a mix of American cuisine and Irish pub food. Menu options will range from hamburgers and shrimp and grits to Guinness stew and shepherd’s pie. Jay McAbee, who owned the former Grille 33 locations on Main Street and the recently closed eatery on Haywood Road, will be running the restaurant. McAbee said

the food will be much more than “traditional bar food, as everything will be made fresh.” The restaurant will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and offer sidewalk table seating. Kilpatrick’s will also make food available for order at Pour and the Comedy Zone. Dozier describes Pour Boutique Lounge on the second floor as a place to hang out with friends on Friday and Saturday evenings. Pour will feature more than 24 different champagnes and 40 different wines along with liquor. Drinks will be served with a bottle-service concept, meaning patrons will purchase by the bottle instead of by the glass. The Comedy Zone will feature both local and national acts on Friday and Saturday nights with two shows both nights. The earlier shows (7 p.m. on Saturdays and 7:30 p.m. on Fridays) will be for ages

18 and up, while the later shows (9 p.m. on Saturdays and 9:30 p.m. on Fridays) will be for those over 21 years old. Dozier said he hopes to attract talent heading to shows in Atlanta and Charlotte as an “in between stop.” Acts already lined up include John Reep, fifth-season winner on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” Ralphie May and Pauly Shore. The intent in locating the three venues together is to allow customers to move from one to another without ever leaving the building. “You can come in and have dinner, go upstairs and see a comedy show and then hang out afterwards at Pour,” said manager Stephanie Flesher. But each venue also stands on its own, she adds. Flesher said she plans to rent out the second and third floor spaces and provide in-house catering during the week for groups and special events.

MAKE A MULTI-YEAR RESOLUTION Instead of hauling out those familiar New Year’s resolutions, how about focusing on tasks that can have a long-lasting impact on your well-being? We’re talking about financial to-dos like: Focus on capital preservation and income Protect estate with long-term care insurance u Consolidate leftover 401(k)s into an IRA u u

The new year is a great time to review or create a comprehensive financial plan with the help of a Raymond James advisor. See what one can do for you.

Come meet our advisors at rjupstate.com Downtown Greenville Branch 101 West Camperdown Way, Suite 600 // Greenville, SC 29601 T 864.370.2050

Haywood Road Branch 112 Haywood Road Greenville, SC 29607 T 864.289.2100

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Spartanburg Branch 349 East Main Street, Suite 201 Spartanburg, SC 29302 T 864.580.5222

GREENVILLE COMPLEX Investing involves risk including the possible loss of capital. ©2015 Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. Raymond James is a registered trademark of Raymond James Financial, Inc. 14-BR33L-0048 EK 1/15

UBJ

01.23. 2015

Give the people what they want? Not always UBooster is on a mission to save college sports By DAVID WYATT, partner, Gleaton Wyatt P.A. Businesspeople love clichés. Sometimes it seems that half of the business world revolves around regurgitating old business axioms or sharing the quote of a famous person. Basically, you can find any adage you need to fit a business story and then find two more that contradict it. For example, one of the oldest is “the customer is always right.” But then there is Henry Ford’s acknowledgement of “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” The mental battle between these

platform with the goal of trying to change the face of college athletics. That sounds lofty, but it is needed. College athletics faces a major funding problem. The average person thinks that programs are rolling in dough, when the reality is much different. Only 20 Football Bowl Subdivision athletic departments—those are the big boys in the sports world—finished in the black in 2013, according to an NCAA study released in April. That is 20 out of 123. If the coaches at those schools had those records, they would be fired. The report doesn’t state which schools were not losing money, but on average the losing 103 ran a deficit of Fans of State A&M pledge $12,000 to its Booster Club if Joe chooses State A&M

Joes Touchdown is the No. 1 quarterback Fans of State U. pledge $10,000 to the Booster recruit in the country. Club of State U. if Joe chooses State U.

All the pledges for State U. are collected and transmitted to the State U. Booster Club

Joe signs with State U.

Source: UBooster

If you know an up and comer in the Upstate, let us know.

S EE PAG E 2 FOR M ORE DETAI L S

OPINIONS AND PERSPECTIVES FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

A YOUNG GUN BLAZING

10 | GUEST COLUMN |

State U. Booster Club can then use these funds to help support the athletics programs at State U.

Somehow people feel that college athletes are compensated enough with free tuition. However, many others believe athletes need to be getting more of the pie, arguing that they do the lion’s share of the work and are who the fans want to see. two adages can keep even the most battle-tested of entrepreneurs up at night trying to decide what is the best course of action. Both have merit, and it comes down to what kind of business do you want and is it serving the need. In the Upstate, there are scores of entrepreneurs trying to make a change in the marketplace with technology being the biggest engine. One of the more interesting ones right now is UBooster, which is a Web

$14.9 million. The 20 that made money had a median average of $8.4 million. Meanwhile, the average major division football coach’s salary has doubled since 2006, according to a study done by USA Today. According to the NCAA, salaries make up 31 percent of athletic budgets, while grant-in-aids (a.k.a., the funding for the students) is 27 percent. Yet somehow people feel that college athletes are compensated enough with

free tuition. However, many others believe athletes need to be getting more of the pie, arguing that they do the lion’s share of the work and are who the fans want to see. Evolving requirements to compensate college athletes for use of their likenesses and image, guaranteed full four-year scholarships, and increased stipends to cover an athlete’s full cost of attendance are quickly creating new financial obligations for hundreds of colleges and universities. Cases such as O’Bannon v. NCAA and Jenkins v. NCAA could threaten the ability of collegiate athletic programs to survive in this new climate. The University of Alabama-Birmingham decided to cut its football program and two other sports because of these changes, while many others are evaluating their options in this increasingly expensive environment. While that was one college, it is not unreasonable to think that more schools may do the same. Which is where UBooster enters the equation. UBooster offers fans an entertaining and educational platform for helping their schools meet these additional financial challenges in a way that is unique and focused on compliance with existing NCAA regulations. UBooster allows people to pledge funds to honor the choices made by high school recruits. On National Letter of Intent Signing Day, once a high school recruit chooses a school, the pledges for that school are collected and transmitted to the school’s booster club by UBooster’s nonprofit partner. As a sports and entertainment attorney, I see what UBooster is trying to accomplish. They are straddling the line between Henry Ford and giving the customers what they want. The customers know that college sports are losing money, but if you were to ask them, they likely don’t have an answer. UBooster is a Greenville company trying to find that answer.

READ MORE For more on the controversy surrounding UBooster, see this week’s Greenville Journal.

managing director, Upstate Carolina Angel Network

With the new year well underway, our activities at the Upstate Carolina Angel Network are in full swing—including our continuing efforts to expand angel investing infrastructure across the state through the South Carolina Angel Network. With active angel groups now growing in Columbia and Spartanburg (and with partners in Asheville), we are making progress on forming more much-needed early-stage capital. Not surprisingly, one of the most frequent questions we encounter when meeting with entrepreneurs and investors across those markets is, “What kind of companies are you seeking for investment?” While there are no rigid mandates we must follow, there are several key parameters we consider when screening incoming opportunities—so we thought we’d help demystify the angel investing process by sharing a brief synopsis of the five key categories our angel groups initially evaluate for all incoming candidate companies (before we dive deeper into due diligence). GEOGRAPHY As with most angel investors, our groups prefer to invest relatively close to home for several practical reasons. We’d like to be able to visit with the company on its premises during our diligence process, and we’d like to be able to travel to board meetings within a reasonable day’s drive. For us, close to home is roughly a four-hour radius, so we focus primarily on the Carolinas and Georgia—and occasionally their border states. We do have a bias toward South Carolina companies, but we’re also seeking the best opportunities we can find while diversifying our portfolio and cultivating relationships with co-investors in other states who may consider investing in local opportunities we bring to them. Thus far, UCAN has invested in 22 companies in South Carolina, six in North Carolina and four in Georgia (and one each in four other states).

STAGE Our angel groups focus on the seed or startup stage of a business (although there’s no universal standard for what those terms mean precisely). We don’t invest at the earliest stages of concept development or basic R&D—we would look for entrepreneurs to be resourceful in relying on bootstrapping, partnerships, grants and friends and family to help remove technology risk at the concept stage. We prefer to invest when the company is beginning to generate revenue or has a near-term pathway to go to market. INDUSTRY When it comes to industries, we are less concerned about specific sectors and more interested in companies that can scale with relative capital efficiency (since we don’t typically have ready access to millions of dollars in follow-on venture capital)—and that have a defensible competitive advantage. Generally speaking, the capital efficiency we seek derives from a new technology, but sometimes it may be a business model approach rather than a new product. STRUCTURE In order to survive, angel investors must be disciplined in their approach to building an investment portfolio. Since long-term probabilities suggest that about half of the startups we back will ultimately fail (and since we’ve yet to discover the crystal ball that can tell us which ones those are in advance), we need for the winners to make up for the losers. In other words, we’ll strike out a good bit, so we need to swing at pitches we can potentially hit out of the park. In mathematical terms, that translates to seeking out opportunities that have the possibility of generating a 50 percent rate of return (about 10 times our cash in five years or four times in three years). If we are disciplined in our diligence and build a portfolio of high-growth-potential companies, we should end up with an adequate risk-adjusted return approaching 20 percent or more—which is just what we need in order to justify our risky

Since long-term probabilities suggest that about half of the startups we back will ultimately fail, we need for the winners to make up for the losers. In other words, we’ll strike out a good bit, so we need to swing at pitches we can potentially hit out of the park. bets. So we focus on companies that have home-run potential—and in deal structures that include fair valuations and reasonable investor protections. TEAM Last—but in many ways first—is the team. Most early-stage investors believe that “the jockey matters more than the horse” when it comes to making investments—suggesting that the most important criteria in selecting an investment is a talented, resourceful, savvy team that can steer the horse (company) around and over the inevitable obstacles every startup faces. Ultimately, successful startup investing hinges on backing the right entrepreneurs. If you know any entrepreneurs with a startup that might fit these criteria, please send them our way at upstateangels.com. We’d love to learn more about their business and have a chance to screen their company as a potential investment candidate.

NOMINATE THEM NOW.

By MATT DUNBAR,

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

A look at angel investment selection criteria

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

Startup screening

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MOVERS, SHAKERS AND DISRUP TORS SHAPING OUR FUTURE

UPSTATEBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM/WHOS-WHO

upstatebusinessjournal.com

12 | JUMPSTART |

COMPANIES BLAZING A TRAIL IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

UBJ

01.23.2015

New venue serves up coffee and music for downtown Greenville patrons JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com While looking around downtown Greenville for a place to set up shop, Alex Dial spotted a construction worker hauling some two-by-fours out of a building on Main Street. Curious, he followed the man, and discovered a narrow, unfinished space with dirt floors that he knew instantly was what he’d been seeking. Moe Joe Coffee and Music opened in that spot in September 2014, a second location in addition to a Moe Joe in Clemson. The company had started in Clemson nearly 15 years ago as a coffee shop that eventually added music and bar service. But in Greenville, the business is built around the music. “We noticed a lot of musicians and not many places for them to go,” said Justin Adams, general manager. “Greenville had the Handlebar, which closed down this past summer, which was unfortunate. So our biggest thing was pushing these local artists up to the next level, or just getting them heard.”

Gaffney-based band Ali and Anthology perform at Moe Joe Coffee and Music.

COFFEE SNOBS, MUSIC LOVERS Dial and Adams discuss their attitude toward their offerings with a dose of frank confidence. Dial said the shop was born out of a bit of coffee snobbery >>

upstatebusinessjournal.com

COMPANIES BLAZING A TRAIL IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

he’d developed while living for a time in Seattle. “I was used to really good coffee out there. I moved back here in 1999 and was like, ‘This is not it. I’ll just do it myself,’” Dial said. Dial said visitors from Starbucks’ corporate office in Seattle stopped at Moe Joe during a tour of coffee shops in the area, and showed him a checklist on which the new shop ranked high for various features, saying it was one of the best they’d seen anywhere. Dial maintains it was a proud moment. While Starbucks didn’t directly confirm the visit, company spokeswoman Megan Adams said, “We are proud to be a member of the downtown Greenville neighborhood. It has a thriving coffee community that allows all types of businesses to exist together and customers can choose the coffee experience that is best for them.” “We tried like the dickens to get that sheet of paper from them, but they would not do that,” Dial said. Clemson allowed room for what was initially supposed to be “just mood music on the weekends.” The music audience grew quickly, but didn’t stick

around for long after drinking a cup of coffee. So alcohol and food were added. Dial said the combination of the coffee shop and bar generates revenue that allows Moe Joe to “focus on the art part of it,” creating a listening room atmosphere. That has attracted musicians from Charleston, Nashville, Orlando and Texas. The food service caters to music, Adams said, from a professional sound system to sound board to lighting, unlike other food-first places where musicians might have to bring their own amplifiers and perform in a corner. “We really want to make them feel like they’re wanted here,” Adams said. “We provide them with dinner and drinks. We’ve even put people up at our own homes if they’re from out of town so they wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel.” They also undertake various promotional efforts. Traveling artists tend to take advantage of the two locations, performing at both. DOWNTOWN CHALLENGES

“We noticed a lot of musicians and not many places for them to go.” Justin Adams, general manager, Moe Joe Coffee and Music

| JUMPSTART | 13

Greenville has a completely different clientele, Dial said. For Clemson’s young college-age crowd, Moe Joe plays music earlier in the evening because it is usually a stop on the way to other traditional bars. In Greenville, on the other hand, patrons have a much greater age range, and people with children listen to music from the coffee shop area away from the stage. The music starts later, the business’ location better integrating it with the bar scene. Although it was easy for Dial to envision the setup when he first saw the rough space in the 112-year-old building, its narrowness makes it difficult for people walking down Main Street to recognize Moe Joe as a bar and music venue when live music isn’t playing, Adams said. The room is 25 feet wide, with a stage at the far end, more than 100 feet from the door. The biggest challenge so far has been that of any business: trying to gain a foothold in the market. Adams said people who come downtown have their habits, so breaking into their cycles is key. Dial added that weather adds a challenge that isn’t a problem in Clemson, where the crowds show up regardless of the forecast. “Here, when it’s rainy or cold, people do not walk around downtown,” he said. “We haven’t figured out how solve that one yet.” Photos by William Crooks

Justin Adams, general manager of Moe Joe Coffee and Music.

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THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE BUILDING THE UPSTATE

UBJ

01.23.2015

Building a career James Jordon, owner of The Jordon Companies, found his lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work in bringing out the beauty of homes and communities JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com James Jordon, owner of The Jordon Companies, said he graduated high school with a GPA that hovered somewhere near 1.2. He struggled through high school, and toward the end of his high school career, his parents sat him down and showed him how to build a plan and identify goals. He wrote his dreams with abandon and is surprised today at how closely his life mirrors the ideals his 17-year-old self had listed. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a subject he discusses lightly (although he is quick to laugh and find the humor in most any other topic). His path has led to his owning a company that has done projects throughout Greenville and South Carolina. He talked with UBJ about his approach to business and life, and the relationships that have led to his successes as an entrepreneur. How did you get from a 1.2 GPA to being a general contractor in Greenville? I started looking more at the end and where I wanted to get to and the daily actions that got there. It gave me a reason to really work. Another big part of the equation was, after I put the plan on paper, the help that started

upstatebusinessjournal.com showing up and the people who were interested in helping me get these things accomplished. Opportunities just started appearing. I had folks who believed in me that I didn’t want to let down, so I just became very persistent. That piece of paper keeps you accountable, too: the last thing I want to do is lie to me. How it ties to Greenville for me is—and this is on the personal and business side—that I’ve never been part of a community that rallies around and is willing to support folks the way that

THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE BUILDING THE UPSTATE

this Greenville community is. The Chamber, Small Business Association and Small Business Development Council, and South Carolina Department of Transportation have all been incredibly helpful. In addition, there have been larger businesses that have supported us as well, helping make inroads. People like Richard Hagins and US&S. Brassfield and Gorrie has provided an excellent mentor-mentee type of relationship. What challenges have you experienced?

JAMES JORDON Age: 35 Education: Waukesha County Technical College, Marquette University Family: Daughters, Mariah and Layla, and niece, Jayla Career: Entrepreneurship. Building a real estate and construction company. Current employees: 14 Now reading: “The Rise of the Creative Class” by Richard Florida Best advice for any issue: “Carpe diem. Seize the day.”

You know, I look at everything as an opportunity, so it’s hard for me to really even consider it a challenge. My team shares the same philosophy, so we rally around each other and whatever it is, we’re going to try to figure it out. Whenever I have run into a challenge, I’ve been able to reach back to some of those resources I mentioned before. Did you have a construction company in Milwaukee? My entire professional career has been in real estate development and construction. I grew up in and around the business. My dad was a general contractor. My granddaddy built houses. It’s a kind of “buildings are in our blood” type of deal. I started renovating residential properties on my own when I was 18 years old. What is it about the business that you like? The transformation. On the renovation side, it’s seeing something go from something people don’t necessarily see the potential in—something you might want to just tear down or throw away—to be able to bring that back and show the real beauty in it that everyone might not see is a charge. That almost sounds like something you’d say about a person. Yeah, that was me. In a business where there are often issues with deadlines, some problem under the floors, behind the walls or under the dirt— Yep, that’s my life! How do you deal with what many might see as constant frustrations? Yoga [laughs]. And construction is my passion. I really love it. Plus I believe when you really keep in mind where you’re trying to finish, those things that come up daily become pretty small. If you love what you do, you figure it out. The other thing that’s major is not letting people down. I’ve made a commitment to finish, and come hell or high water, that’s what we’ve got to do. If you weren’t in construction or development, what would be doing? Trying to find a job in construction. You try to take the fish out of water,

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that’s what happens. I wish I could show you that paper where I wrote my goals. It said back then part of the goals was to renovate and rebuild communities. I kid you not, it was on a plan that was written back in ’97. Where do you go for motivation? My biggest motivators are my two girls, an 11- and a 7-year-old. So I’ve got to keep going, you know? Daddy doesn’t have a choice. I love to have them around the office. I love the motivational greats like Zig Ziglar. Lately I’ve been on my Deepak Chopra kick, learning more about how to quiet the mind, turn the volume down for a minute, and then just attack things with a renewed energy. I started meditating daily around 2010 and it’s made a tremendous difference. So that fuels your business as well? That, plus I have a lot of natural curiosity. When I learn about something like yoga or whatever it is, I just want to keep digging to really find out about it. When I learned about government contracting we just started digging. Then I heard about special certifications and kept digging into that. Curiosity is something I encourage around here. We’ve also had seven interns since we started, which is very important to being part of this community. But there’s also a great talent pool of people with their own visions, dreams and goals, and if we can be a catalyst to help them get where they’re trying to go, that’s great. What does it take to see something beautiful instead of something that needs replacing? It’s really the desire to want to work with what’s there first. Let’s brainstorm every potential repurpose of something before we just say it’s got to be scrapped. Let’s get some architects and some folks who might be removed from this process and say, “How can this be redone?” Sometimes the math of it says it’s just not going to work, but when you walk into something with the mindset that there’s got to be a solution, it helps drive you to really find one.

“Seeing something go from something you might want to just tear down or throw away—to be able to bring that back and show the real beauty in it that everyone might not see is a charge.”

16 | COVER

UBJ

01.23.2015

10 startups to watch in the Upstate

UBJ looks at some of the young companies poised to make newsworthy moves in the coming year JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com There’s no way to know how many startup companies are operating at any moment, but an informal survey turned up dozens in just in Greenville and Spartanburg counties. About 100 are self-listed on Crunchbase.com, a well-known startup tracker. Several incubators and accelerators throughout the region are working to help companies beat the odds and stay in business, and countless entrepreneurs are also working on their own. From news reports, entrepreneurs and the organizations that support them, UBJ identified 10 young Upstate companies with the potential to make newsworthy moves in the coming year. They cover different industries and product types, but all are comprised of small teams with big plans to carve out their space in the Upstate and beyond.

1. Accessible Diagnostics Bioscience watchers are praising Accessible Diagnostics, which has developed a low-tech—and therefore low-cost—solution to glucose testing for

diabetics. The company’s product, GlucoSense glucose testing strips, can be printed using inkjet print components for a fraction of the cost of commercially produced strips. Just a few months old, the company has already begun targeting emerging markets in South Carolina and elsewhere. Doctoral student Kayla Gainey, who worked to develop the technology and serves as CTO, made the winning presentation at SCBIO’s life sciences conference in October, and SCRA Technology Ventures added the company to its SC Launch program in December. Observers say the product has fast-track potential for FDA approval. accessiblediagnostics.com

2. Applits/Designli Inc. Magazine named Applits one of the 16 “Coolest College Startups of 2014.” Keith Shields and Joshua Tucker launched the company in 2012 while still attending Ohio State University and Alfred University in New York, respectively, but decided to move to Greenville from Columbus late last year after visiting to consult with another startup about developing an app. The company has two components: an app idea competition wherein winners get their apps devel-

oped, and Designli, its iPhone and Android app development business. They expect to hire their first employees this year: designers, developers and project managers. applits.com, designli.co

3. CareIT CareIT, pronounced “carrot,” launches this month to add its venture to the fast-growing telemedicine industry. However, as an online marketplace for health services, the company says it is more comparable to eBay than other telemedicine healthcare providers. Specifically noting the nation’s uninsured population in its outreach, CareIT has 25 companies in its marketplace committed so far and is heavy into a fundraising round for $500,000 to $1 million. Founder and CEO Sean Elwell was previously a head of strategy with Aetna (CarePass), and said the company “very much” wants to grow in the Upstate. care.it

4. Credda People whose credit scores stand between them and a new piece of furniture might be able to look

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to Credda. The alternative financing business Credda is part of the GreenHouse Business Incubator at the USC Upstate George Dean Johnson Jr. College of Business and Economics. Rather than charging interest, Credda adds a markup to the initial purchase price of durable goods such as furniture. It owns the item until the borrower pays it off—or returns the item to Credda. Credda went to market 10 months ago and said it just passed $200,000 in leases at local furniture stores including Unclaimed Furniture and Furniture Marketplace. It aims to be a national-scale consumer finance company.

credda.com

5. eDocHome Started in Greenville in 2013, eDocHome now has affiliates providing virtual urgent care services in nearly every state. The company works with pediatricians, internists and other physicians under contract. Cofounder Chris Cole said users are guaranteed a callback within one hour of requesting help; the current callback time is between eight and 10 minutes. The company added dermatology and behavior counseling specialists two months ago. This year, it

will roll out a discount program with Walgreens and plans to target new audiences—in particular, college and university students. And eDocHome is working with national Hispanic leaders to develop and market services for Hispanic populations. edochome.com

6. Grow Journey Right in line with the current subscription box trend, married couple Susan and Aaron von Frank began selling monthly subscriptions of heirloom organic gardening seeds last summer and now have customers in more than 30 states and Canada. STARTUPS continued on PAGE 18

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STARTUPS continued from PAGE 17

tional educational methodologies are being reconsidered and challenged across the country.

Memberships also include garden plans and educational resources. Having recently become one of the few certified organic businesses in the state, Aaron von Frank said Grow Journey expects to have members in every one of the United States and possibly begin hiring employees in six months.

nexthighschool.org

growjourney.com

7. NEXT High School While not a business per se, the statewide charter school based in Greenville has done its best to reflect a startup mentality during two years of outreach efforts. It is indeed viewed as such by many in the business community. Official enrollment offers go out next week to the first class of ninth-graders for fall 2015. Using project-based learning and innovative classroom design, the school purports to do no less than “reinvent public education … to prepare young people for the yet unknown future.” Founder and chairman Zach Eikenberry has called the school “driven by business.” Education reformers nationwide are watching the school to see how well the model works, and tradi-

8. Phillip Technologies One-year-old Phillip Technologies designs and manufactures measurement devices used in the optical coating and semiconductor laboratories. It builds a sensor that monitors the coatings at the molecular level to ensure consistency. The company supplies components for the largest electronics makers in the world and some of the most prestigious research institutions, including the Jet Propulsion Lab at NASA and Samsung. It has 15 employees and maintains clientele in more than 20 different countries. This year, the company plans to pick up an additional product line. philliptech.com

9. Recovr Recovr develops hardware and software for gaming systems that support rehabilitation for stroke sufferers and others with physical impairments. The applications encourage progressive improvement, and also record analytic data that physical therapists can monitor through a Web portal.

Startup survival JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com It’s no secret that most companies do not last long. According the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures on entrepreneurship, nearly 80 percent of businesses make it to the second year, but just over half last five years. Regardless of the type of business, experts say certain practices are strong predictors of a young company’s success— and others usually guarantee failure. WHO’S IN BUSINESS? Scott Whelchel, area manager of the Clemson Small Business Development Center (SBDC), said all manner of people are starting up businesses in the area. In 2014 his office, one of three in the Upstate, met with 226 clients. In 2013, there were 306 client meetings. “That’s a good bit for two people, but that’s a small fraction of what’s going on in our market and our economy,” Whelchel said. He said his office is seeing women in increasing numbers, as well as veterans and some military people who are still enlisted. It’s more diverse than it’s ever been, he said. The past three years have shown resurgence in new retail businesses, which had dipped during

01.23.2015

Atop a stack of other recognitions and awards, Recovr won the Innovision Small Enterprise award in November. It has moved out of the Iron Yard space to its own location in Clemson, hiring an hourly fulltime engineer. It addition, the company has a new pilot location at an occupational therapy clinic in Lexington, developing case studies for patients with Parkinson’s disease and other problems, and plans to open another in Spartanburg in the coming months. This year, Recovr is going after FDA clearance for its technology and is expecting to have that by the end of the year. recovrllc.com

10. Triage Security This year, cybersecurity startup Triage Security plans to launch its initial software application, Appfense, which provides protection against hacking and insider attacks while also auditing normal operations. Rather than tracking from the outside, it is designed to run inside large corporate systems such as e-commerce, financial and HR systems. Cofounder Juwon Obadina said Triage will continue to operate out of the GreenHouse Business Incubator at USC Upstate. triagesecurity.com

Upstate experts explain the factors that can spell success or failure for entrepreneurs

the recession. New construction companies, on the other hand, are fewer and farther between as plenty of available work stifles the urge for people to strike out on their own, Whelchel said. He has also seen a general rise in tech companies, although they do not tend to seek out his office’s services. Tech and other potentially high-impact companies are more likely to be involved with organizations such as the NEXT Innovation Center. WHO’S SUCCEEDING? Whelchel said what most successful entrepreneurs have in common is an appreciation for planning, research and homing in on their customer base. Dean Kress, associate director at the Faber Entrepreneurship Center at USC’s Darla Moore School of Business, agreed. “The biggest mistake people make is not reaching out to their potential customers to see if there’s interest in what they’re selling,” Kress said. Changes based on feedback need to be made before taking a product to market. Whelchel said successful companies also have identified the two to three key metrics for success, and know where they stand from week to week. “Sometimes it’s prospecting or lead generation. Sometimes it’s a financial number—a ratio they need to stay between. Those are the folks who know how quickly they can afford to grow. They know when they need to hire more people,”

Whelchel said. Then there’s the simple matter of money. Both Whelchel and Kress said people often misunderstand how money works. They will call themselves “undercapitalized” or say they have a “cash flow problem” when in reality they’re simply not bringing in enough business. “Lots of entrepreneurs say they have a cash flow problem, but really what they have is a sales problem,” Kress said. Failed business ventures nearly always had too-low estimates of how much money they would really need. WHO’S A STARTUP, ANYWAY? Interestingly, for all the talk of startups, there’s no consensus about what, exactly, makes a company a startup. Whelchel said banks consider startups to be less than 2 or 3 years old, while SBDC says they are less than 1 year old. “Partly it’s a mindset. I hear people say, ‘No matter big we are, we’re always a startup at heart,’” Whelchel said. Kress agreed that the definition is relative, and he considers any pre-revenue company to be in the startup phase. “I have many friends in the academic world who probably wouldn’t consider somebody who opened up a single restaurant to be a true entrepreneur. They almost want people to be trying to operating on a global level, but I think that’s just poppycock.”

Five Ways To Update Your Wardrobe In 2015. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME MAJOR CHANGES IN THE LAST 18 MONTHS. PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS. By Cahaly’s Custom Clothing

2. SPORT COATS. Sport coats have seen a huge resurgence because of their versatility. Sport coats are seen more in the board room than they were 10 years ago. The right collection of sports coats can revive your look at work when paired with the right pair of slacks, and socially when paired with jeans.

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22 | SQUARE The FEET | REAL ESTATE DEALS AND DEVELOPMENTS ACROSS THE REGION Sponsored Content The

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UBJ

01.23. 2015

HARPER CORPORATION EXCITED ABOUT RETAIL PROJECTS COMING IN 2015. Explained by Harper Corporation

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REAL ESTATE DEALS & DEVELOPMENTS

Clemson Eye to build $4M facility

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and the interior design SHERRY JACKSON | STAFF was selected to capture,” sjackson@communityjournals.com she said. @SJackson_CJ The Regency style of the building was chosen Clemson Eye, a visual health for its “simple, clean and classic style and surgery clinic, is building a $4 with exterior details that don’t overmillion facility at 360 Pelham Road whelm the architecture” and complein Greenville. ment the traditional architecture style The 18,500-square-foot facility will of the neighborhood, she said. have 11 treatment rooms, a surgical Once completed, the current opersuite, a Lasik suite and a retail area ation on East North Street and its for eyeglasses and contacts. The new Spectrum Lasik Company currently building will also enable Clemson Eye located on Maple Tree Court will move to expand and add a Pediatric Ophto the new building. thalmology suite and a medical aesConstruction is expected to be thetics suite, said Mary Louise Parisi, completed by September 2015. CEO of Clemson Eye. Parisi said the company took its PROJECT PARTNERS time to select just the right parcel of ARCHITECT: RSCT architecture + land so when Lasik patients open their design with Michael Craig eyes and sight begins to return they Sherrill Designs. will see the beauty of the mountain range through expansive windows. “That’s a view that the high elevations

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BUSINESS BRIEFS YOU CAN’ T MISS

Infinity Marketing expands office Infinity Marketing has recently expanded its office space by more than 20 percent to support current and future opportunities and development. The additional 2,100 square feet includes 11 new offices, a multimedia studio and an enlarged employee break area. In 2013, the firm moved into a new facility to accommodate its increased operations. The expanded space is an add-on to its current office located at 874 S. Pleasantburg Drive in Greenville. The company employs 65 people.

Nominations now open for Liberty Fellowship’s 12th class Nominations are being accepted through Feb. 1 for the Liberty Fellowship Class of 2017. Though individuals cannot self-nominate, nominations my come from peers, friends, family members, or anyone who knows the individual well. Fellows selected for the Class of 2017 will be announced this summer. Eligible candidates must meet the following criteria: 1. South Carolina resident 2. Age 30-45 3. Leader with history of significant community engagement 4. Potential to have an impact at the state level 5. Successful in their chosen field 6. Willing to make a serious time commitment. For more information and to nominate someone, visit libertyfellowshipsc. org/nominate.

SCRA wins award for work on fighter jets SCRA Applied R&D’s F-35 Canopy Thermoforming Automation project won the 2014 Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award. The project, a joint effort between SCRA Applied R&D, the Office of Naval Research, Naval Air Systems Command and GKN Advanced Transparency Systems, will save the F-35 Lightning II Program as much as $125 million by automating the forming of advanced fighter canopies, according to a release.

01.23. 2015

Previously, forming canopies required highly skilled operators to frequently enter high-temperature ovens to adjust the forming process based on visual feedback. The new process eliminates the need for operators to enter high-temperature ovens, and uses a vision system to continuously and precisely adjust the forming process. The award is sponsored by the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP), and is given to teams comprised of both government and private sector members who are responsible for outstanding projects in manufacturing technology.

Mortgage lender investing $22M in Lancaster Movement Mortgage LLC is investing $22 million to establish its national headquarters in Lancaster County. The investment is expected to create more than 650 new jobs. The company was founded in 2008 and is currently headquartered in Virginia Beach, Va. “As Movement Mortgage works toward our goal of financing 10 percent of new home loans in the United States in the next 10 years, we need national headquarters that give us room to grow while maintaining the high levels of employee care, customer service and community investment that define us,” Casey Crawford, Movement cofounder and CEO, said in a release. “Lancaster County provides that room to grow, and we look forward to calling the region home.” The company employed four workers when it launched. Today, the firm’s total employment exceeds 1,600 and has licensed operations in 40 states. The headquarters construction is expected to be completed by March 2016. Hiring for most of the new positions is anticipated to take place immediately. Those interested in applying may contact Sean Wilkins at careers@movement.com.

MUSC hosts statewide life science workshop The Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston is hosting a student innovation workshop on Jan. 24, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Maryland teen and science innovator Jack Andraka will be the keynote speaker at the first-of-its-kind statewide workshop, which is open to students from across the state. Andraka will tell his story of how at age 14 he won the international

upstatebusinessjournal.com Intel Gordon Science award and others for his pancreatic cancer diagnostic test strip technology. “Jack Andraka is the front edge of a coming wave of young innovators,” said Wayne Roper, president of SCBIO, a statewide industry group representing the life science industry. “We have already seen many life science startups coming out of university students, so we are here to help them make a difference.” The day will include panel discussions, workshops and a student inno-vation contest. For registration information, visit SCBIO.org/events.

New private security company comes to the Upstate Bravo1 Protection has opened a private security company in Greenville that will focus on providing security services for bars, venues, festivals and businesses in the Upstate region. The company is led by Dean Elliott, a retired law enforcement officer with more than 28 years experience with SLED and the Greenville Police Department, and Tammy Johnson, owner of Liquid Catering and The Old Cigar Warehouse. “Over the last few months, Dean Elliott and I have been working on our creating a company whose sole mission is to provide exceptional security services for private businesses, primarily those related to the hospitality industry,” Johnson said in a release. One advantage that sets Bravo1 apart is that all security officers will be SLED-certified, Elliott said. “With our SLED licensing, we are able to act as local law enforcement would, with the ability to escort guests off your property or make arrests as needed,” he said.

Piedmont Natural Gas files to reduce rates Piedmont Natural Gas filed to further reduce its natural gas sales rates for customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. The company’s filings mark the second such request in two months. In December, the company requested and received approval to reduce its sales rates for customers in both states effective Jan. 1 as a result of declining wholesale natural gas costs, which Piedmont passes through to customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Filings before both the North Carolina Utilities Commission and the Public

BUSINESS BRIEFS YOU CAN’ T MISS

| THE FINE PRINT | 25

Service Commission of South Carolina reflect additional declines in the company’s wholesale natural gas costs. If approved by the respective commissions, the new rates would begin Feb. 1. Residential customers could see a reduction of about 3 percent from January rates and about 8 percent since the start of the winter period, according to a release. “The average residential customer in North Carolina and South Carolina would save $10 to $15 over the remaining winter months of February and March,” the company said.

Synalloy makes pitch for $142M revenue NJ firm Spartanburg-based Synalloy Corp. has its eye on a New Jersey firm that could boost the combined company’s revenues to $381 million annually from projected Synalloy revenues of $240 million in 2015, according to a letter from the company’s president and CEO, Craig Bram. Bram sent a non-binding preliminary letter expressing interest in acquiring New Jersey-based The Eastern Company, which reported net sales of $142 million for 2013, according to its annual report. Founded in 1858, the company manufactures industrial hardware, security products and metal castings from locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and China. “Although there is certainly much to discuss and due diligence to be conducted before we could move forward with a formal letter of intent, I want to propose a potential deal structure that I believe could create substantial value for both Synalloy’s and Eastern’s shareholders,” wrote Bram. “Based on Eastern’s SEC filings, I would place an initial valuation of the company at $119 million, or $19.12 per share.” The Eastern Company did not respond to requests for comment in time for publishing. In the past four years, Synalloy has made three acquisitions that totaled $70 million in combined transaction value, including a $31.5 million acquisition of Specialty Pipe & Tube Inc. in November. Bram detailed a potential deal structure, which would include a purchase plan of 30 to 40 percent cash and 60 to 70 percent Synalloy common stock. “The combined company would have annual revenue of $381 million and EBITDA of $48 million. Total debt would be $82 million. After making the change to control payments to Eastern executives, cash would total $18 million, resulting in net debt of $64 million,” wrote Bram. “Net income for the new company would total $22.0 million, or $1.65 per share.” Based in Spartanburg, Synalloy Corp. is a holding company for a diverse group of manufacturing businesses.

26 | ON THE MOVE |

UBJ

PLAY-BY-PLAY OF UPSTATE CAREERS

SELECTED

HIRED

PROMOTED

01.23. 2015

PROMOTED

Steve Sumner

Anna Catherine Thornley

Kristin Eppinger

Bob Shaw

Brian Clark

Named a “Best Attorney” Lifetime Charter Member to the Rue Ratings’ Best Attorneys of America list. Fewer than 1 percent of the lawyers in America have been invited for membership. Sumner is a DUI attorney who currently represents clients in over 25 courts in the Upstate.

Named account coordinator at Crawford Strategy. Thornley has experience in a variety of services including marketing, event planning and public relations. She was an intern at Crawford Strategy in fall 2013 and a special event intern with the City of Greenville, working primarily on the UCI Paracycling World Championship.

Named assistant director of Carolina International Preparatory School. Eppinger joined Carolina Prep in 2014 as a teacher. As assistant director, she will assist Carolina Prep’s mission that focuses on a Core Knowledge Sequence that emphasizes mathematics and language arts.

Named a vice president of Colliers International South Carolina. Shaw has been involved in 230 transactions valued at over $150 million. Shaw is a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, on the board of directors for Greenville Little League and serves on the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors Commercial Steering Committee.

Named executive director of Generations Group Homes. Clark has held various positions with Generations since 1994, including shift supervisor, therapist and clinical/ program manager. Most recently, he served as the facility director, overseeing all day-to-day operations of the organization.

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

Please join us for LiveWell Greenville’s

Healthy Workplace Roundtable: “Financial Health” Thursday, February 12 11:45 am-1:15 pm The YMCA Metro Office

greenville

(Behind the Caine Halter YMCA) 723 Cleveland Street, Greenville SC

Our February 2015 Healthy Workplace Roundtable discussion will focus on what we, as employers, can do to help our employees combat financial stressors and to improve their overall well-being, workplace productivity and satisfaction.

Discussion Panelists: Bonnie Brown, Manager of Employee Assistance Program at Greenville Health System Bob Sinclair, Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Clemson University

$10 per person (A healthy lunch is included) SPACE IS LIMITED. Please register at your earliest convenience. Visit us online to register for this event:

livewellatworkfebruaryroundtable.eventbrite.com For more information contact Lori Burney at lburney@livewellgreenville.org

DEVELOPMENT The Greenville Area Development Corporation added Rachel McAfee as an intern. During her internship, McAfee will focus primarily on GADC’s social media efforts. She is currently a sophomore majoring in communications at Clemson University. During 2014, McAfee served as

Public Relations Chair of Alpha Delta Pi and as a member of the Clemson University Guide Association.

LEGAL Smith Moore Leatherwood elected attorneys Henry M. Gallivan Jr. and Jason D. Maertens to the firm’s partnership. Gallivan advises >>

CHICKEN SALAD CHICK, A FAST-CASUAL RESTAURANT, WILL BE OPENING ITS SECOND GREENVILLE LOCATION THIS SPRING AT 3604 PELHAM ROAD, BUILDING D. The Auburn, Alabama-based restaurant features 15 original flavors of chicken salad to choose from, as well as gourmet soups, side salads and freshly-baked desserts. Michelle Singleton and Julie Beville of Sing Bev Hospitality LLC wanted to bring a second restaurant to Greenville following their successful franchise launch on Augusta Road in August 2013. SingBev Hospitality currently operates six Chicken Salad Chick restaurants in Greenville, Summerville, Lexington and Columbia, S.C., as well as two in Charlotte, N.C., and has purchased the rights to 18 other locations throughout the Carolinas and North Georgia.

upstatebusinessjournal.com

PLAY-BY-PLAY OF UPSTATE CAREERS

| ON THE MOVE | 27

VIP

Dylan Petrick: Promoted Named Southeast regional food and beverage director of ClubCorp’s business and sports club division. Petrick will oversee operations at 13 business clubs in the Southeast. He will maintain his current position as Commerce Club general manager. He has been with ClubCorp since 2010.

>> corporations, private equity firms, entrepreneurs, and family businesses in a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, including business acquisitions and sales, financing transactions and ownership and control issues. Maertens represents businesses and individuals in a number of areas, including business litigation, insurance coverage disputes, professional liability defense and construction. NONPROFIT The University of South Carolina Upstate Foundation recently elected Steve Harvey as president, Victor Austin as vice president and C. Dan Adams as a board member. Harvey is president of Roebuck Advertising Inc. Austin is founder and president of Palmetto Home Care Upstate LLC. Adams is president and CEO of The Capital Corporation.

EXPERIENCE DEDICATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS Finally, the reliable and affordable IT solution you need. IT is the lifeblood of every organization today. Whether your requirements involve data security, cost containment, customer service, mobile access or regulatory compliance, IT problems can cripple the strongest organization. Stop the endless cycles of frustration. Call EDTS. Our team of IT professionals delivers experienced, expert and responsive service, including best-practice ideas to help you thrive. We retain clients with competitive pricing, meticulous attention to detail and superior customer service. If your current IT consultant has fallen short of your needs or expectations, call EDTS. We’re the knowledge in technology… and your secret weapon for IT success.

TECHNOLOGY VidiStar LLC hired Andrzej Podyma as a software developer. Podyma specializes in developing the company’s application for mobile devices, Apple iOS, user interfaces and database management. He previously worked for IBM as a test engineer.

www.EDTSolutions.com

Services: • Managed IT Services • Managed Security Services • Cloud Services • Business Continuity/ Disaster Recovery • PCI & HIPAA Audits • Virtualization & Consolidation • IT Support • Voice & Data • Consulting TOLL FREE 855.411.EDTS Greenville, SC 864.250.9112

Augusta, GA 706.722.6604 Columbia, SC 803.250.4656

28 | SOCIAL SNAPSHOT |

INSIDE THE UPSTATE’S NETWORKING AND SOCIAL SCENE

UBJ

01.23. 2015

SPARTANBURG AFTER HOURS The Chapman Cultural Center hosted the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce’s December Business After Hours event, during Spartanburg’s monthly ArtWalk night. Photos provided

CONTRIBUTE: Got high-resolution photos of your networking or social events? Send photos and information for consideration to events@upstate businessjournal.com.

upstatebusinessjournal.com

THE FRESHEST FACES ON THE BUSINESS LANDSCAPE

Open for business

| NEW TO THE STREET | 29

Photo provided

1. Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers recently opened at 1102 Woodruff Road, Greenville. Hours are Sunday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m., and Friday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. For more information, visit freddysusa.com.

2. Carolina Indoor Golf recently opened at 1166 N. Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville. Customers can play and compete on over 40 different famous international courses. For more information, visit elitegolfgreenville.com or call 864-243-8601.

THE INBOX

Stay in the know with UBJ’s free weekly email.

Photo by Greg Beckner

CONTRIBUTE: Know of a business opening soon? Email information to bjeffers@communityjournals.com.

FIRST FRIDAY

LEADERSHIP SERIES PRESENTS

ANDY MONIN 2 Software Exits, 1 Incredible Journey FEBRUARY 6 5:15 PM

1 North Main Street 5th Floor Attending First Friday is free, but space is limited! register at www.FirstFridayFeb15.eventbrite.com

30 | PLANNER |

UBJ

EVENTS YOU SHOULD HAVE ON YOUR CALENDAR

FRIDAY JANUARY 23 FYI FRIDAY LUNCHEON Spartanburg Headquarters Library, 151 S. Church St., Spartanburg; 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. SPEAKER: Ted Pitts, president and CEO of SC Chamber of Commerce COST: Chamber members $15, nonmembers $20 REGISTER: bit.ly/ fyi-Friday

SATURDAY JANUARY 24 TOASTMASTERS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ITT Technical Institute, 6 Independence Pointe,

Greenville; 8:30 a.m.–2 p.m. Education and training for club officers to perform their duties effectively and with the right skill sets. COST: $15 REGISTER: bit.ly/ tli-january

JANUARY 28 ENTREPRENEURS FOR A CAUSE

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

MONDAY JANUARY 26

COST: $15 REGISTER: bit.ly/leglunch-jan2015

WEDNESDAY

FRIDAY JANUARY 30 ECONOMIC FORECAST BREAKFAST Campus Life Center at USC Upstate, Spartanburg; 8-9:30 a.m. SPEAKER: Tim Quinian, economist with Wells Fargo

SIMPSONVILLE CHAMBER LEGISLATIVE LUNCH

TOPIC: Education

Bailey’s Sports Grille, 2409 Laurens Road, Greenville; 6-9 p.m.

TICKETS: $35 advance, $45 at the door

Simpsonville City Hall, 118 NE Main St., Simpsonville; 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

COST: Free

SPARTANBURG ANGEL NETWORK INTEREST BREAKFAST Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce, 105 N. Pine St., Spartanburg; 7:30-9 a.m. Learn about plans for 2015

SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS SERIES Comfort Suites Simpsonville, 3971 Grandview Drive, Simpsonville; 8-9:30 a.m. TOPIC: Business Principles Guaranteed to Create Success SPEAKER: James Carter, Empire Ltd. COST: Chamber members $39/class or $199/series, nonmembers $49 or $230 RSVP: 864-862-2586

COST: Chamber members $25, nonmembers $35 REGISTER: bit.ly/ econ-forecast

OpenWorks, 2 N. Main St., Greenville; noon-1 p.m. TOPIC: Re-Humanizing Our Work: Putting People Back Into Customer Engagement COST: $10 REGISTER: bit.ly/ designthinkers-jan2015

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6 FIRST FRIDAY LEADERSHIP SERIES Clemson at ONE, 1 N. Main St., Greenville; 5-6 p.m.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4

COST: Free REGISTER: bit.ly/ first-friday-feb

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

Document Management Software Get your paper under control! Save Money.

Eliminate the need for costly file cabinets, hanging folders & manila folders. Document Management Solutions also create more efficient workflows that can eliminate overnight postage costs, and reduce the cost of distributing documents. How many copies of a single document exist in your files?

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01.23.2015

SPEAKER: Andy Monin, founder and former CEO of Vendormate

DESIGNTHINKERS DESIGN TALK

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3

www.TPM.com

upstatebusinessjournal.com

A QUICK LOOK INTO THE UPSTATE’S PAST

| SNAPSHOT | 31

Occupying the northeast corner of Main and Coffee streets, the Cauble Building was a block north of J.C. Penney. Built in 1905, this large building was built on the site where a wooden store had once stood. The corner spot, previously the location of a popular saloon, became the home of the Bank of Commerce. The Bank of Commerce was a casualty of the financial problems that followed the post-World War I boom. It closed its doors in 1926 with all depositors being paid in full.

Historic photo provided

By the middle of the 20th century, the exterior of the Cauble Building was covered by sheeting that completely obscured all architectural detail. In the 1980s, during restoration, the covering was removed. Today the building looks very much like it did when construction was completed in 1905.

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

MARKETING & EVENTS

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

PRESIDENT/CEO

ART & PRODUCTION

UBJ PUBLISHER

ART DIRECTOR Whitney Fincannon

Ryan L. Johnston rjohnston@communityjournals.com

OPERATIONS Holly Hardin

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Kristy Adair, Michael Allen

MANAGING EDITOR

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

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

jackson Marketing Group’s 25 Years

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 Hidden Treasure Christian School

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

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

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UBJ milestone

1988 Jackson Dawson opens in Greenville at Downtown Airport

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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

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