Business Upstate
JANUARY 25, 2013
J O U R N A L
Shalom, Y’ALL
SC-Israel collaboration seeks Middle East partnerships PAGE 14
ENTREPRENEURIAL HELP FOR WOMEN page 9
Homecoming for Krispy Kreme CEO page 10
KEEPING THE ART OF PRINT ALIVE page 12
UBJ 4
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Upstate housing sales continue to rise
17 Upstate CEOs to swing hammers for Habitat
Many boats rise on X4 tide
Statehouse Report
By Jennifer Oladipo contributor
By Andy Brack contributor
By Dick Hughes senior business writer
By Jenny Munro contributor
Hey, tailgaters – back off!
Krispy Kreme opens doughnut “factory” prototype in Greenville. See complete story on page 10 Photo by Greg Beckner
Krispy Kreme doughnuts get a coating of glazed sugar as they head down the conveyor at the new store on Woodruff Road.
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The Takeaway
Create. Innovate. Celebrate.
Digital Maven
A look back, a look ahead By Jennifer Cobb, contributor
Project Green takes root at SCTAC and CU-ICAR
16 Professional Clothes that work By Leigh Savage contributor
2 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
By John Warner contributor
Computers fail. Have a backup strategy that doesn’t By Laura Haight contributor
UBJ worth repeating & tba “We make an effort to sell South Carolina to the Israelis. We show them on the map where it is because most people don’t know.” Jonathan Zucker, chairman of the South Carolina-Israel Collaboration and president of Charleston-based Intertech Group.
Tailored
by the Purveyors of Classic American Style
What is in a name?
Discovering the history of a product or business can be fascinating.
“When you’re on a roof or something, you learn real quick how to protect one another.” Dick Wilkerson, chairman of Habitat for Humanity Greenville County’s CEO Build.
“You are going to see the first-time buyers come back.” Dan Hamilton, managing partner of Keller Williams Realty, on the future of the housing market.
“Our air filters were whatever color T-shirts we were printing that week.” Matt Moreau, on running his printing company, Dapper Ink, out of his home, before moving into a storefront space.
TBA Passenger traffic is not the only thing increasing at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. Because of increased cargo, UPS may be getting a new building near FedEx… A new site plan for Magnolia Park revealed after Cabela’s announced its 2014 Greenville opening also showed a Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill. Alas, a Greenville location is not listed on the restaurant’s website. Stay tuned…
For example, take the Dopp Kit, a toiletry bag owned by most men. The kit was designed by Jerome Harris for his uncle, Charles Doppelt, a German immigrant to Chicago in the early 1900s. The toiletry bags thus came to be known as Dopp Kits, and became a common household name when each GI was issued one during WWII. Most people know a cummerbund is worn with a tuxedo and usually with a matching bowtie as a form of expression. It was inspired by a scarf worn around the waist of a man’s dress in India. The word itself comes from the Persian words band (close) and kamar (waist), so it means to enclose the waist. The cummerbund has forward facing pleats with several overlapped areas of fabric which makes it easy to hold small items, therefore making it both functional and formal. At Rush Wilson Limited, we too love to tell the rich history of our familyrun upscale menswear clothing store in downtown Greenville. Our history began in 1950 in Davidson, NC where Rush Wilson opened the first store. He expanded to Greenville in 1959 and in 1978 moved the store to its present location at 23 West North Street. Today, as always, we specialize in classic American style. Our focus is to offer our customers clothing and products that fit their lifestyle. Although the physical location has changed a few times, the goal of Rush Wilson Limited has remained the same for 63 years, to offer our customers exceptional service and an unparalleled experience in shopping for their clothing. So what’s in a name? For Rush Wilson Limited, it is quality, service, honor, history, community, values, experience and above all a desire to enrich the lives of all of our customers.
After a long delay, work on the American Roadside Burger restaurant planned for the site of the old Esso Station in downtown Greenville is moving again… 23 West North Street, Greenville, SC 29601 864.232.2761 | www.rushwilson.com Open Mon.-Sat. 9:30am - 5:30pm Wed. 9:30am - 1:00pm
J13
Word is Rare Steakhouse will open behind the Verizon store on Greenville’s Main Street near the end of February…
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 3
UBJ
Upstate housing sales continue to rise Real Estate Median Price 2006 through 2012
First-time buyers predicted to return to market
$150,000 $145,000
Greenville
$140,000
By Dick Hughes | senior business writer
It hasn’t been easy, smooth or fast, but the housing market is on its way to recovery with rising sales and listings and better balance between sellers and buyers. And, said South Carolina Realtors, it comes “just in time to alleviate beleaguered homeowners and relieve a dwindling tax base.” SCR, which represents Realtors across the state, said 2012 was a transition year after five years, from 2007 through 2011, in which the market was “overburdened with distressed properties, excessive supply and weak consumer demand.” As 2013 began, SCR said, prices had turned the corner, traditional buyers are returning, banks had fewer distressed properties dragging down prices, sales are up “without government incentives,” and inventory is in better supplydemand balance, though housing shortages show in some places. The SCR cautions, however, that “sustaining a healthy, equitable and bubble-free housing market … will require both public and private cooperation, something that was
Source: South Carolina Realtors, Multiple Listing Service
$135,000 $130,000 $125,000 $120,000 $115,000 $110,000
Spartanburg 2006 2007
2008
difficult to achieve last year.” The Realtors association was not explicit in its wording, but clearly was referring to partisan Washington gridlock and its drag on the economy. In the Upstate, the market generally improved in 2012, but the numbers most favored job-rich Greenville. Median housing prices rose 6.2 percent to $148,700 in Greater Greenville, which includes Laurens and a portion of Pickens. Greenville’s price appreciation led the state. Spartanburg’s median price jump of 4.3 percent to $120,000 was the state’s fifth best. Total sales were up over 2011 by a healthy 14.6 percent in Greenville to 7,587 units and an even better
2006
Total Sales 2006-2012
2007
Greenville
2008
Spartanburg
2009 2010 2011 2012 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000
4 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
2009
2010
16.9 percent to 2,883 units in Spartanburg. While both markets showed gains, neither came close to prerecession sales of 9,370 in Greenville in 2007 and 3,549 in Spartanburg. The median price in Greenville did, however, slightly exceed – inflation not considered – the median of $148,240 in 2007, the height of the boom years, along with 2008. Spartanburg still lags behind its 2007 median of $125,900. Dan Hamilton, managing partner of Keller Williams Realty for Greenville and the Upstate, said another positive sign for the market has been the closing of the gap between what buyers have been willing to pay and what sellers expect. “If you look overall, we had an 18-month supply of inventory this time two years ago,” Hamilton said, referring to the Greenville County market. “That was almost 7,700 houses on the market, and now we are down to less than 5,000.” That means, he said, “We basically are in the definition of a balanced market right now. When you have between four and six months of inventory, you don’t have a buyer’s market, you don’t have a seller’s market. You have a balanced market, and that’s what you want for a truly healthy turnover.” Hamilton said the inventory of available homes in the under $200,000 range is in short supply in Greenville “but then in other parts
2011
2012
of the area and in price points, there still is too much inventory.” Hamilton said there remains a “perception among buyers that they can get a really, really good deal, but now is not two years ago, so some education is needed. We are seeing multiple offers and people getting outbid. We certainly did not see that very often a couple of years ago.” Once prospective buyers get outbid, reality sets in and “then they are a little more competitive the next time they make an offer,” he said. Also boding well, he said, is the return to the market of people whose houses went into foreclosure or bank short sale in the worst days of the housing and credit collapse and the emergence of a new crop of first-time buyers. The 2010 federal stimulus giving tax credits to first-time buyers boosted sales in that year but “basically borrowed buyers from the future,” creating a sales vacuum in 2011 and 2012, Hamilton said. “You are going to see the first-time buyers come back.” Homeowners who lost homes in foreclosures or short sales four or five years ago and have been renting but want to own “are going to start coming back heavily into the market in 2013,” Hamilton believes. Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@communityjournals.com.
UBJ Larry Gluth of Habitat for Humanity International
Framing the future
Photos by Greg Beckner
17 Upstate CEOs to swing hammers for Habitat
Habitat for Humanity Greenville County CEO Build participants: Chairman Dick Wilkerson, former chairman and president, Michelin North America George Acker, Duke Energy Annette Allen, Fluor Corp. Bo Aughtry, Windsor Aughtry Co. Tim Brett, Complete Public Relations Rick Davis, Elliott Davis Don Erickson, Lockheed Martin Ben Haskew, Greenville Chamber Larry Jackson, Jackson Marketing Group Martin Livingston, Greenville County Redevelopment Auth. Keith Miller, Greenville Technical College Bob Morris, Community Foundation of Greenville Mark Nantz, Bon Secours St. Francis Health System Michael Riordan, Greenville Hospital System Russell Stall, Greenville Forward Angela Webb, CertusBank Steve Wetmore, Wal-Mart Distribution Center
Seventeen leaders of Greeville-based corporations and organizations kicked off plans this week to roll up their sleeves and build a Habitat for Humanity house, beginning in By Jenny Munro | contributor February. “It’s a way to give back,” said Tim Brett, CEO of Complete Public Relations, adding a group of his employees will be helping with the build. Dick Wilkerson, chair of the CEO Build who worked with Habitat while leading Michelin North America, agreed. “Seeing the expression on the family’s faces when they take possession is a huge deal,” he said. “When you see how their present and future has changed, it’s worth it.” Each of the CEOs or their representatives at the kick-off breakfast added a piece to a house puzzle and then received a hammer and committed to the build. The wall-raising ceremony for the county’s first four-bedroom Habitat House will be held Feb. 22 at 8 a.m. at 120 Abba Way, Taylors. Plans are to complete construction in May and dedicate the house on June 1. Larry Gluth, senior vice president for Habitat for Humanity International – U.S. and Canada, told the group that Habitat, the sixth-largest homebuilder in the nation, “could not do the work that we do without the help of the community, the corporations.” And when top management in a company supports Habitat or other community ventures, that support echoes through the entire company. CEO Builds “tend to be these huge shots in the arm” for Habitat and the community, he said. And it’s an opportunity for an entire family to become a productive part of a community. It also provides a boost to a company. Clarence Keglar, chair of the Habitat of Greenville County board, said a Michelin team having problems worked on a Habitat house together. Following that exercise, team productivity increased by 6
percent. That one team was a reason Michelin became involved with Habitat. Wilkerson said the team building is natural: “When you’re on a roof or something, you learn real quick how to protect one another.” Gluth, who began his association with Habitat as a volunteer while working with Starbucks in Seattle, said that “volunteers are the lifeblood of the organization,” adding that many volunteer positions are available. Not everyone builds houses. Some serve in the office. Others are board members and chair various committees. “We are partners with the family throughout the life of the loan,” he said, adding the houses are not free but homeowners pay interest-free mortgages as well as hours of sweat equity. Houses are built to be energy-efficient and some even meet LEED standards. “If you bring down the cost of utilities, those extra dollars can be vitally important” to the home owning family, he said. The Greenville Habitat organization has built homes for 300 families during the years it has been in existence. Even during the tough economic times when foreclosures skyrocketed, Habitat foreclosure rates were low – less than 3 percent nationwide and 0.4 percent in Greenville, he said. Also, 90 percent of Greenville mortgages are up to date. “That’s tremendous,” Gluth said. Contact Jenny Munro at jmunro@communityjournals.com.
Many owners put everything back into the business and fail to diversify into other more liquid investments that will create freedom over the long-term.
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JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 5
UBJ focus: made here making plumbing products as a sideline from Theisen’s garage on Long Island, N.Y. “They literally would make it in the morning and sell it in the Bowery in New York in the afternoon,” Fox said. Making things for plumbing soon replaced doing plumbing. The breakthrough came when they created the first high-lift faucet with a wand to spray the dishes down and started selling to commercial kitchens. “T&S took off from there,” said Fox.
New York to Travelers Rest
Photos by Randy Hadaway
The plating area of T&S Brass. (Opposite page, from left) T&S Brass employees: Sundrasian Terrell prepares items in the packaging area; fittings made at the TR facility; Tim Rogers polishes brass; and David Black on the assembly line.
T&S keeps the water – and the revenue – flowing ▲
Brass and bronze works has had facilities in Travelers Rest for over 30 years By Dick Hughes | senior business writer
6 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
You’re not using plumbing made by T&S Brass & Bronze Works in Travelers Rest to scrub your dishes at home, but chances are high that the messy dishes whisked away from your restaurant table are. In fact, look for it wherever commercial and industrialgrade plumbing is needed to control flow of water to and from the faucet – hospitals, labs, schools, cafeterias, office buildings, manufacturing plants, sports and entertainment arenas.
Many large restaurant chains have T&S products in their kitchens and cleanup rooms. McDonald’s is one. “Where you are going to find a commercial application for a faucet, you probably are going to find one of our products,” explained Eva-Marie Theisen Fox, vice president of marketing and daughter of George Theisen, one of the founders. T&S got its start in 1947 when Theisen and Carl Spatt, both plumbers, started
By the mid-1970s, T&S had a strong hold on the commercial restaurant business and had expanded into making products for a variety of other markets, Fox said. The company had a workforce of 200 and had outgrown its New York facilities. Theisen and Spatt had planned to stay somewhere in the Northeast, but “after a time looking, South Carolina became the place of choice. In 1976, we purchased property here and began building the plant, an 80,00-square-foot building. By 1978, we were up and running.” Management is now in the hands of Claude Theisen, president and CEO, and Eva-Maria Theisen Fox, vice president of marketing. A third generation of leadership is in training at the plant. “We see it going forward as a family business,” said Theisen. “We are not interested in selling.” When corporate suitors come knocking – which happens “all the time” – they are told, “We’re not interested, but it is nice to be asked.” Today, T&S employs “just shy of 300” worldwide, Fox said. The majority, about 250, is in manufacturing, sales and administration in a three-building campus in Travelers Rest. The company also has a smaller plant and sales office in Shanghai, China. It has a warehouse in California and sales representatives there and elsewhere around the country. Over the last 20 years, T&S has increased exports, selling in Europe, Australia, the Middle
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UBJ focus: made here
T&S led the way in getting the lead out By Dick Hughes | senior business writer
When California enacted stricter limits on the amount of lead in plumbing that can leach into drinking water in 2006, T&S Brass & Bronze Works didn’t wait for a federal directive to meet that state’s standard. “If California was going to make the change, it probably was going to become a national change,” explained Eva-Marie Theisen Fox, vice president of the family business in Travelers Rest. Although its products were “perfectly fine” under federal standards
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East, Canada, Japan, South America and Southeast Asia.
Holding a healthy share
In a business dominated by privately held companies, T&S holds a “healthy share of the commercial restaurant business and we have a fair share of the commercial plumbing business,” Fox said. It sells through distributors and restaurant supply stores. Grant Thornton ranks T&S as South Carolina’s 44th-largest privately held company, with annual sales between $50 million and $100 million. Fox said the company “fared very well” through the recession. “We are a very conservative business. That philosophy helps sustain
and California rules applied only to that state, T&S “just went ahead and changed everything, and did it probably quicker than most of our peers in the industry,” she said. Using new materials and new production processes added to the company’s cost, but T&S learned “how to absorb that and keep moving on,” she said. Lead is classed as a toxin and can cause nervous system disorders and can impede brain development, particularly in children, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Among the company’s interests,
Fox said, was to make sure its vast network of dealers and restaurant supply houses would not have outof-compliance products on their shelves when federal standards caught up with California. “We work very hard to stay ahead so those who use our products don’t have to worry about it, whether it is an engineer or a consultant specifying our product,” she said. T&S also became active within a consortium of plumbing, heating and cooling contractors and manufacturers to lobby for stronger federal restrictions. Congress
us for the rougher times.” Fox said T&S stays healthy through growth by staying closely attuned to evolving needs of endusers, by finding new markets and by seizing initiatives presented by societal, business and regulatory trends.
savings, another might need one providing a “tremendous amount of water very quickly.” T&S has systems that earn points in water-use efficiency for environmentally friendly LEED designations and spray valves that “are leagues ahead” of federal standards for water usage and those of competitors, the company says. T&S electronic faucets save as much as one gallon per hand-wash. Its latest versions conserve energy, as well, by harnessing “the flow of water to generate enough electricity to power its next use.” The company’s products contain 98 percent to 99 percent recycled metals, and every brass shaving and all buffing and polishing dust is saved for recycling. No
High focus on green
“Right now, water conservation and energy savings are big deals. We have a lot of focus on that, and we have expanded our product offerings in that arena.” With products made to last the lifetime of a building, Fox said, T&S’s product line always has been made for sustainability. It uses no plastics. While a user might want a faucet that provides maximum water
responded with bipartisan support to pass The Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act on Dec. 17, 2010, and President Obama signed it early in January 2011. The law phases in a requirement for “lead-free” plumbing content phased in over 36 months. The limits are similar to the California standard. That T&S was years ahead on lead content is not unusual, said Fox. “Those are the type of things we try to bring to our customers all of the time.” Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@communityjournals.com.
ozone-producing chemicals are used. High-efficiency lighting is throughout. T&S has also become an industry leader in removing lead from plumbing fixtures, being well ahead of phased-in federal mandates. (See related story.) Many workers have been there for decades, some as long as the plant has been in Travelers Rest. The average employee tenure is 13 years, Fox said. “We take our responsibilities as an employer very seriously,” she said. “We have very low turnover. An enormous reason we’ve been successful is we have a wonderful workforce.” Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@communityjournals.com.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 7
UBJ
Many boats rise on X4 tide By Jennifer Oladipo | contributor
One year ago, BMW announced a $900 million investment to expand production volume up to 350,000 units by the end of 2014. This year, the constellation of companies with related operations can expect a boost from the planned production of the X4, a compact crossover SUV whose production date is yet to be announced. So far, the expansion is progressing on schedule, said Sky Foster, corporate communications department manager at BMW Manufacturing. A 170,000-squarefoot body shop expansion and a new 300,000-square-foot body shop have been completed. Ground preparation for a 670,000-squarefoot expansion to the paint shop is also underway. Foster did not yet have information about when, exactly, X4 production would start. The X3, X5 and X6 models remain in production. Projecting a specific number for the local economic impact of the new model is impossible, but any additional investment at BMW provides for growth throughout BMW’s supply networks, said Carter Smith, executive
vice president of the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce. “Anytime we see either model changes or platform changes or major design changes within the models, that typically generates capital investments that trickle down through the supply chain network,” Smith said. Those include physical expansions at the plant and supplier levels, and machinery and tooling investment at all levels. And as volumes increase, so do jobs, albeit temporarily in some cases. BMW’s most significant impact on Spartanburg County has been higher-skilled jobs with higher pay, though the alternatives for some of the front-line employees were much less attractive, said Woodrow Hughes Jr., associate professor of economics at Converse College. The average person will only likely see benefits when a new model is added, creating another production line that would add jobs, Hughes said. He said the company has drawn investment in the county from BMW and other firms from within and outside of the auto industry. Studies over the past 10 years have shown that about twice as many
Photos courtesy of BMW USA.
8 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
“Anytime we see either model changes or platform changes or major design changes within the models, that typically generates capital investments that trickle down through the supply chain network.” Carter Smith, executive vice president of the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce
jobs come from suppliers than from BMW. Among dozens of major suppliers are Lear Seating, Fehrer, Dräxlmaier and Röchling Automotive. BMW will also be an anchor business for a new inland port that will haul cargo from Greer to the coast once it is built this year. Dräxlmaier, like others, followed BMW to the Upstate, and its fortunes remain closely tied to it. A supplier for high-end automobile interiors and electronics, some 60 percent of their business comes from BMW, and most of the rest from Cadillac. Its major expansions in 2003, 2005 and 2011 directly corresponded to releases of new BMW models. The company has grown to 700 employees; about 500 are manufacturing operators and the rest work in development, sales, purchasing and other office positions. CFO Stefan Bude said about 70 percent of the w o r kforce
was recruited locally and that people with local ties are preferred because they are more likely to stay with the company. There will continue to be public costs associated with BMW’s booming business, perhaps most significantly in the form of tax breaks for BMW, including infrastructure improvement, job training allowances, tax credits and an essentially free land lease. “One major downside is that the state may be seen as giving away the store in order to attract industry…I suspect that the benefits to the area and the state have more than offset whatever tax break BMW was or is given,” Hughes said. He had previously worked to try to determine an exact figure but was unable to acquire all of the necessary information. “One of the costs of big industry, and perhaps one that may have surprised some, is the increase in congestion along I-85 between Spartanburg and Greenville. Obviously, not all of the congestion is directly related to BMW, but I’m sure there was some contribution.” Business in the Spartanburg area will receive a boost from BMW’s expansion, and construction will continue along the I-85 corridor and at the inland port to accommodate the movement of people and goods. All signs point to a year ahead filled with similar themes when the X4 begins rolling off the line. Contact Jennifer Oladipo at joladipo@communityjournals.com.
UBJ
New resource for women entrepreneurs By Jennifer Oladipo | contributor The recently opened South Carolina Women’s Business Center will offer an entrepreneurial readiness workshop Tuesday to help women learn about the traits of successful entrepreneurs and evaluate their own skills. The center opened in Charleston in 2011 and expanded to Greenville last October, joining a handful of new women- and business-focused organizations. The center chose to expand to the Upstate in order to reach the opposite end of South Carolina, and because of the robust entrepreneurial activity here, said Janet Christy, the center’s business counselor. About 300 people have sought counseling or attended events so far. Christy said the variety of women-owned business is more than people would assume, but she wants to encourage women to broaden their outlook. Event planning, marketing, public relations and retail are popular. The retail businesses are often personal experiences, such a craft that began as a hobby. However, Christy encourages women to consider the numerous opportunities in manufacturing, construction and other products. These fields provide opportunities to take advantage of federal laws that require five percent of the spending for all government-funded projects to go to women-owned businesses. Many state and local governments and corporations also have similar requirements, which send many large projects in search of women subcontractors to share the work.
Janet Christy
“You get into those multimillion dollar projects and five percent is a lot of money,” Christy said. There might also be opportunities to tweak an existing business in order to access the funds. For example, a printing company could expand to blueprints and construction drawings, or PR firms might organize public-input events usually required for large construction projects. In addition to serving those at the beginning stages of entrepreneurship, the center offers free one-onone counseling for women who are already in business and might be moving to the next level. That may mean moving from a home-based business to a retail or office space, or maybe expanding to a new geographic area or market. Not a membership organization like other women’s business groups, the center offers a monthly networking roundtable event at different locations throughout the
THE business news for the Upstate’s most powerful, influential, sophisticated & educated –
Upstate and larger events twice a year. Last month the center held a pajama party (attendees brought sleepwear to donate to domestic violence survivors) co-sponsored by CU-ICAR and BMW. It provided an opportunity for women to network with BMW, their suppliers and others in manufacturing. Funded largely through the federal Small Business Administration, the South Carolina Women’s Business Center is a sister organization to the Small Business Development Center, which operates out of Clemson University, and SCORE, which provides one-on-one mentors. Christy said the organizations coordinate their efforts to avoid redundancy. “We kind of fill in the gaps,” Christy said. “We work with women who may be more comfortable working with a woman, and also help them sort of feasibility
Entrepreneurial readiness Presented by the South Carolina Women’s Business Center WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. WHERE: Greenville Chamber of Commerce, 24 Cleveland St., Greenville COST: $20 Registration: www.scwbc.net/events/upstate
test their idea and things like that before they go on to SBDC. SCORE does things like tax workshops, and we don’t do that.” Contact Jennifer Oladipo at joladipo@communityjournals.com.
FIRST FRIDAY
LEADERSHIP SERIES PRESENTS
JOE LANCIA Prior President & CEO of SCIO Diamond Technology Corp. and CEO of Strategic Capital & Associates, LTD.
FEBRUARY 1 at 5:00 p.m. Clemson at the Falls
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Attending First Friday is free, but space is limited! Register at FirstFridayLancia.eventbrite.com.
ANYTIME… ANYWHERE… E V E RY W H E R E . JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 9
UBJ
Opening of prototype Upstate store was a homecoming for Jim Morgan By Dick Hughes senior business writer
The grand opening of a Krispy Kreme was more than just another ribbon-cutting on Woodruff Road, a retail strip perpetually rich in store openings. For Jim Morgan, the chairman, president and CEO of the 75-year-old company, it was a homecoming to Greenville. This is where he grew up, on Augusta Street, where his mother lives, and what, despite a long corporate career that took him elsewhere, “always is where my home is. It is always in my heart.” The opening was an unveiling
of Krispy Kreme’s prototype of a new doughnut “factory” that Morgan sees as “the model of the future” to restore the luster of the iconic chain. “This is the model that will spring our domestic growth,” he said. Not five days earlier, Krispy Kreme announced an ambitious plan for increasing the number of domestic stores from 240 to more than 400 and international stores from 510 to 900 by the fiscal year 2017. Just a day earlier, Krispy Kreme opened its first store in India, in Bangalore, where customers lined up to pay 50 rupees (93 cents) for an “Original
Krispy Kreme CEO Jim Morgan, center, makes a few remarks before cutting the ribbon of the new store on Woodruff Road.
10 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
Photos by Greg Beckner
Hot doughnuts, warm memories for Krispy Kreme CEO The Woodruff Road store is Krispy Kreme’s prototype for what they call their new doughnut “factory.”
Glazed,” said the Wall Street Journal. Morgan, who tries to “get to as many as I can,” was unable to attend that one. Morgan, who had been chairman of the board, was named president and CEO in 2008 with the task of turning around the company, which had gone through hard times with aging stores, lagging sales, dwindling profits and a falling stock price. But with a strong financial performance, Krispy Kreme has been “absolutely on fire,” declared Jim Cramer of “Mad Money.” Says Cramer: “Buy.” That’s not the way it was when Morgan came out of retirement to run the Jim Morgan company. “For the first five years, we worked day and night to get the company on solid ground again,” he said. The new store model itself was seven years in the making. Today, Morgan says Krispy Kreme “no longer is in turnaround, but in strong growth.” Morgan was interviewed as he sat on a high stool at a round table near a windowed wall, a design element Bobby Speir, the company’s director of real estate, said creates more openness for “more of a restaurant feel, a more dynamic seating area.” The company’s older stores will be remodeled to more closely match the new one. Last year, Speir said, the store on Pleasantburg Drive in Greenville got a total inside makeover. Morgan said Krispy Kreme had “gone for years without updating our
stores.” That neglect, he said, not only hurt business but also demoralized employees. New and updated stores create a far “better living environment” for customer and worker alike, he said. Morgan views the mission simply: It is all about experience. As the company vision sees it, “to be the worldwide leader in sharing delicious tastes and creating memories.” From his own experience, as a youth in Greenville, he fondly remembers his mother giving him 11 cents – 6 cents for a bus ride to the YMCA every Tuesday and Thursday, and 5 cents for a doughnut at Krispy Kreme along the way. The Greenville store’s higher corporate purpose likely was not on the mind of 17-year-old David Toterow, who had camped out in a tent in the parking lot at 115 Woodruff Road since 4 p.m. Sunday to be the first in line when the sparkling new doughnut factory opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday. What he was looking for – and what he got – was a prize of a dozen Krispy Kremes per week for a year. What the 99 faithful behind him won was a dozen a month for a year. And like Morgan, they’ll have a memory of a warm doughnut on Krispy Kreme’s grand opening of its new model store on Woodruff Road, as will the hundreds of other early-bird customers who took away more than 10,000 Krispy Kremes within the first four hours of its opening. Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@communityjournals.com.
UBJ statehouse report
Hey, tailgaters – back off! Attention, highway tailgaters. This commentary is for you. 1. Back off. You’re not going to get where you’re going any quicker at 70 mph by being one car length or less behind somebody else. 2. Stop being jerks. You are increasing the danger on our highways by being too close to the car ahead of you. If you don’t watch out, state or local law enforcement authorities might pull you over and write you a well-deserved four-point ticket for following too closely. Tailgating – not the kind with fried chicken, barbecue and beer before a football game – seems to be on the increase. Just the other day at 6:30 a.m., I watched several cars hurtling down an interstate above the speed limit, all of them with just one car length between them. Folks, this is crazy driving. If any one of those cars had to stop suddenly, all of them would have been in a huge pile-up causing injuries and potentially death. In 2012, some 833 people died on South Carolina’s highways, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol. That’s up six deaths from the previous year, but down more than 200 from the 1,052 people who died on state roadways in 2007. Over the last 10 years, more than 9,700 people have died on South Carolina highways. That’s more than the number of people who live in Georgetown, S.C. Also in 2012, a report by CarInsuranceComparison.com ranked South Carolina’s highways as the most dangerous in the country based on six factors, including traffic fatalities and the percentage of drivers not wearing seatbelts. The amount of damage caused by people who tailgate is enormous. In 2009, state data shows some 2,979 people were injured and two killed in wrecks when the primary contributing factor was
the numbers
South Carolina car crash statistics
1.3 hours One traffic collision every 4.9 minutes One child under 6 seriously injured or killed every 5.8 days One property damage collision every 7 minutes One person killed every 9.8 hours One injury collision every 16.9 minutes in tailgating accidents 2,979 people injured in S.C. in 2009 in 2009 5,929 tailgating accidents involving property damage economic cost of motor vehicle $3.3 billion annual accidents in S.C. One teen driver involved in a fatal or injury collision every
Source: S.C. Department of Public Safety
following too closely. There was property damage in another 5,929 cases. The annual economic cost due to motor vehicle crashes every year in South Carolina is more than $3.3 billion – yes, billion with a “B,” according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “Our law firm gets calls from thousands of persons who were injured in car accident every year,” said North Charleston attorney Ken Harrell of the Joye Law Firm.
“While I don’t have the exact percentages, the largest percentage of these cases involves someone who was rear-ended by another car. “When someone drives aggressively behind another car, it’s not a matter of whether they’re going to cause an accident, but when.” S.C. Highway Patrol Sgt. Bob Beres knows exactly how tailgaters can hurt people. Not only has he seen it when on patrol, but he was away from work for two months
By Andy Brack
“When someone drives aggressively behind another car, it’s not a matter of whether they’re going to cause an accident, but when.” Attorney Ken Harrell of the Joye Law Firm
after a tailgater smashed into the rear of his semi-marked patrol car near the intersection of Interstates 26 and 526 in North Charleston. (Yes, a tailgater actually ran into a trooper.) “People are impatient,” he said. “They don’t want to wait in traffic. They want you out of the way. It’s aggressive driving.” Beres said there seemed to be two kinds of tailgaters. The first is simply impatient. The second is late and seems to think that if he or she tailgates, they’ll not be late. “Both of them are dangerous.” Why? Because the closer that a tailgater is to a car ahead of it, the less time he has to stop his car safely. A rule of thumb is that there needs to be at least two seconds between your car and the car in front. If someone is tailgating your vehicle on the interstate, Beres cautioned against slowing down or tapping on the brakes. Instead, you should pull into another lane and let them by. The other thing you can do is to dial *HP on your cell phone and report the driver. Beres said you should try to describe the vehicle and its location and, if you can, provide the license tag number. A dispatcher will notify the nearest trooper or law enforcement agency. We encourage law enforcement officers to write more tickets to tailgaters. Having a driver’s license is a privilege. Don’t lose it for being a tailgating jerk. Andy Brack is the publisher of Statehouse Report. He can be reached at brack@statehousereport.com.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 11
Making their UBJ
MARK Couple is keeping the art of print alive at Dapper Ink
12 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
Photos by Greg Beckner
jen and matt moreau, owners of dapper ink in greenville
UBJ entrepreneur
JUMP START Entrepreneurship is everywhere By April A. Morris | staff On the wall of Dapper Ink’s space on Wade Hampton Boulevard in Greenville hangs a piece of art declaring “Long Live Print.” Just across the room is a nearly two-ton Chandler and Price press, more than 120 years old, where Matt and Jen Moreau create a newer addition to the business: letterpress projects. The couple founded their business – which specializes in T-shirt printing, banners and the aforementioned letterpress – several years ago, and have been in the storefront space just over two years. Matt, an art major and aspiring illustrator, had been designing and printing T-shirts for side money while in college. He was soon making them for fraternities and clubs. His plan was to work part-time doing graphics and illustration and
continue screen-printing. When the illustration angle didn’t work out, “I started treating screen-printing as a career, and that’s when it really started taking off,” he said. Jen studied history and planned to go into teaching, but while she was looking for an education job, she began to help run the business out of their home, which they quickly outgrew. “There was ink on our decorative pillows,” said Matt. “And occasionally on our sheets,” added Jen. “The bedroom was our office and the bathroom was our darkroom. We had a loft, so when the T-shirts were done, we would throw them down below to be folded.” “Our air filters were whatever color T-shirts we were printing that week,” said Matt. Just over two years ago, they moved
into a storefront in Greenville. Dapper Ink is one of the few print shops that has a store-like space, Matt said. There are stacks of pre-printed T-shirts displayed on tables, and letterpress projects hang on the walls. “Our business has picked up quite a bit,” he said. “It’s nice that people can come in here and immediately see our work and know that we’re going to do a good job for them.” Customers looking for something different can pick out one of the Tshirt designs, order a small quantity or even a single shirt. The business also offers design service for clients who need it, he said. With an eye on design, Matt frequently changes the featured stock so that customers don’t see the same thing every time they darken the door. A second-generation printer, he was raised in Chicago and comes from a family that still runs a printing business there. He considers Dapper Ink a specialty printer that focuses on quality and customer service rather than the absolute lowest price point or mass production. At this point, the business doesn’t do any digital printing and performs all screen-printing by hand, Matt said. The screen-printing process typically takes two people, but four can work on the process from printing to drying to folding. Much of the company’s business comes from summer camps that provide T-shirts for their campers each year. Matt has created multiple designs for camps to choose from and add their names. The couple rents a truck and takes drives as far as Brevard, N.C., to deliver several thousand shirts in about 150 boxes at a time. “Sometimes we make walls and office dividers out of T-shirt boxes,” he said. They also make shirts for schools and other organizations. Focusing on the quality and customer service has paid off, Matt said. “All of the advertising we’ve ever done is word-of-mouth. We have reasonable and comparable pricing and have many return customers.” New this year is one staff member on the payroll and the addition of a press and a larger dryer. The company has grown steadily over the years, Matt Moreau of Dapper Ink cleans the letterpress in the shop. The press is more than 100 years old.
• Matt and Jen Moreau • The couple met at Bob Jones University and opted to stay in Greenville because they loved the city, not to mention the supportive small business climate and existing clients. • Jen is a “professional” do-ityourselfer and is involved in the Indie Craft Parade. • Matt spends his free time outdoors cycling, backpacking and hiking. He also likes cabinetry. • The couple often can be found spending their lunch hour cycling the nearby GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail. • www.dapperink.com
and one of the challenges they face is how quickly to grow, Matt said. Jen said she has discovered that local customers are willing to pay a bit more for specialty products, including custom letterpress business cards or invitations. The shop also offers hand-mixed inks for some clients, she said. Dapper Ink has found that Greenville supports small business owners, and one of their favorite things is working with other small businesses, Matt said. The company serves other small business owners, often bartering. “We’ll trade T-shirts for groceries or coffee and scones,” he said. “We love doing business that way.” Matt sums up the business: “We are basically a creative team here and want to create a good endproduct that our customer can wear and feel good about – not just paint the house in it.” Contact April A. Morris at amorris@communityjournals.com.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 13
Photos providedr
UBJ cover story
Israelis and South Carolinians forged business and personal connections during the South Carolina-Israel Collaboration’s trip to Tel Aviv.
SC group eyes Middle East partnerships By Jennifer Oladipo | contributor
Last month, while most people were likely thinking of Israel in terms of the sudden escalation of firepower traded with the Gaza Strip, a handful of South Carolinians were considering the business ties they planned to forge while meeting Israelis face to face. For the second year in a row, a delegation from the South CarolinaIsrael Collaboration spent a week in Israel promoting South Carolina as a gateway to the United States and scoping opportunities to expand their own business and research. About 20 people from USC, the Medical University of South Carolina and the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA), as well as the fields of accounting, biotech and other sectors, participated in some 100 meetings during their one-week stay.
Partners in unexpected places
Why Israeli companies would choose South Carolina over a state with a more obvious international presence makes sense when several important factors are considered. First, there is the state’s coastal location. Equally appealing are the six “clusters of strength” the collaborative has identified: biomedical, advanced materials, sustainable systems, transportation, defense/ security, and insurance/health IT. To a country of just 7.5 million always seeking international markets for growth, South Carolina makes sense as a market and a gateway to the rest of the United States. At least that is the crux of the argument the delegation made. “We make an effort to sell South Carolina to the Israelis,” said Jonathan Zucker, collaboration chair-
14 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
man and president of Charlestonbased Intertech Group. “We show them on the map where it is because most people don’t know.” By the same token, Israel might
“It’s not a country of angry people throwing rocks; it’s a country for amazing innovation, medical innovation that can dramatically improve people’s lives.” Jonathan Zucker, collaboration chairman and president of Charleston-based Intertech Group
not seem an obvious first choice for courting international business. Yet Zucker and others say there is much to learn about entrepreneurship and innovation from the small country that claims its “number one export is ideas.” Israeli research and development are behind some of the world’s most profitable technologies for companies like Microsoft, Google and IBM. Local companies could use or license Israeli technologies, and the hope is that some of those companies move here. A $500,000 deal with Israeli company NeuroQuest was the collaborative’s first major success. NeuroQuest will receive financing from Intertech Group and the Maryland/ Israel Trendlines fund. SCRA might also provide grant support for NeuroQuest to open a development center in Charleston. NeuroQuest
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UBJ >>
is working to develop biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Another possible connection with local medical device companies is Israeli research that’s yielding unexpected uses for nanoparticles in lubricants, said Thomas Vogt, associate vice president for research at USC and director of its NanoCenter. This was his second trip with the group. “Where people don’t necessarily think of lubrication right away is in medical devices that are inserted into the body for examination or delivery,” he said. Part of Vogt’s role was to check the feasibility and technicality of these types of technologies, information he said investors back home would need. Jim Bourey, director of corporate development at Elliot Davis, said he met with one company with whom he could work to find a strategic marketing partner in the United States. With Elliot Davis’ expertise in international, state and local taxes and incentives, he saw a number of opportunities for his firm.
Business as usual in a war zone
Given the political climate, especially at the time of the trip, there
were some safety concerns. A few people pulled out for that reason. But the uptick in violence had calmed down by the time the South Carolinians arrived, and Zucker wants to challenge preconceived notions about Israel through firsthand experiences. “It’s not a country of angry people throwing rocks; it’s a country for amazing innovation, medical innovation that can dramatically improve people’s lives,” he said. Indeed, everyone contacted for this story echoed the sentiment that Israel’s political (and therefore economic) isolation among its neighbors is what drives ingenuity. Zucker has a personal investment in shaping positive perceptions of Israel. His father, Jerry Zucker, was born in Tel Aviv, and he describes his grandparents as “pioneers” who survived the Holocaust by going to Israel before moving to Charleston in the mid-1950s to “take a stab at the American dream.”
Following up
Bobby Pearce, attorney with Smith Moore Leatherwood in Charleston, said he was surprised at how quickly the people they met moved to act on the connections they had made. He expects to see collaborations for the next several
The SC-Israeli Delegation under the Marc Chagall windows at Hadassah Hospital.
Jonathan Zucker, chairman of the South Carolina-Israel Collaboration, speaks during the group’s December 2012 mission.
months to two years. “We would finish one 12-, 14-, 16-hour day, and practically before we could get to the next day I was receiving emails from business people in Israel who wanted to continue the discussion,” Pearce said. “Two weeks later, I’m still trying to
respond to all of those people.” The Americans are also moving quickly. Within two weeks of returning, Zucker had given a presentation on the trip to a handful of groups throughout the state and planned to bring a well-known business writer from the Jerusalem Post to South Carolina to give a talk last month. Vogt said continual relationship building is the most valuable result of these trips. “People have to understand that innovation is something that relies on trust and knowing people. You don’t just walk into a room and scream, ‘We’re gonna do this now,’ and leave with nine or 10 deals,” he said. That counts back home, too. Pearce said the long hours spent together provided a chance to learn about what was happening in South Carolina. “When you break bread with people for five days, you really get to know whether you like them or not, and whether you can work together,” he said. The collaborative will continue to explore how a few more years breaking pita with Israelis might yield similar results. Contact Jennifer Oladipo at joladipo@communityjournals.com.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 15
UBJ professional By Leigh Savage | contributor
While some trumpet the demise of casual Fridays and others report that casual has taken over the entire week, Rush Wilson III maintains a more pragmatic approach: Casual and business casual have their place in many workplaces, but nothing looks more successful than a well-cut suit. “All I can say is when times are bad, you have to look your best,” said Wilson, owner of Rush Wilson Ltd., which has been outfitting the Upstate since 1959. “You have to be competitive to have an edge over your competition. My dad used to say, ‘When the economy is bad, it’s time to buy a new suit.’ Therefore, you will always look successful.” Rush Wilson III grew up in the men’s clothing field after his father opened Rush Wilson Ltd. in Davidson, N.C., in 1950. The elder Wilson expanded to Greenville in 1959, and in 1978, moved to the current location on W. North Street. The younger Wilson swept the floors and helped with sales throughout his high school and college years, and after four years in the Army, joined the business full time. The key to a professional look, no matter the field, is proper fit, Wilson said. “If your clothes don’t fit or they are wrinkled or soiled, you look like a frump. Would you take that person seriously?” While the technology boom created a rise in casual wear at work – with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook famously wearing hoodies to business meetings – the Upstate never went to the extreme T-shirt and flip-flops look that became prevalent in some larger cities. “The T-shirt-and-jeans concept was all of the e-guys,” said Bob Torres,
>>
“You have to be competitive to have an edge over your competition.”
Clothes
Rush Wilson III, owner of Rush Wilson Ltd.
16 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
No more lawn-mowing clothes: Suits and sport coats lend a successful look
that work Photos by Paul Mehaffey
UBJ professional >>
who has worked with Wilson for 10 years. “These guys sat behind computers instead of seeing clients or selling merchandise. But as things got more competitive, there can be the fear that if they don’t make the right impression, they’ll strike out.” The Wall Street Journal recently reported a trend in the other direction, with technology businesses in San Francisco and even a group of Facebook employees going for Formal Friday, with suits and, in some cases, bow ties. “There is a generation coming along that has never been into suits, and they are coming in wanting this new runway look, the skinny suit,” Torres said. “They like it because it’s new and different.” Wilson agrees that the slimmer suit has been big with younger clients, and they want to wear it not just at work but also in social
settings on weekends. The challenge is to help clients achieve the slimmer look “without looking ridiculous,” Torres said, and without the creases that occur when the suit is too small. The traditional customer still wants a fuller look with pleated pants, but Torres predicts that in a few years, the flat-front pants will take over. Since fit is key, the two suggest their in-office or in-home fitting service, so that they can customize each piece. The shop offers custom tailoring and can create suits, sport coats, trousers and shirts to suit each body type, career field and taste. Though they specialize in men’s clothing, Rush Wilson Ltd. also makes custom suits for women. In the wake of the more-casual 2000s, Torres has noticed that the knit shirt and khaki pants are on
Photo provided
the way out, as more professionals find themselves meeting with clients on Friday. “So they need dressier shirts and dressier pants, and then I’m seeing the navy blazer hanging behind the door,” he said. The remaining holdout from that casual period is that ties have remained optional. “In general, the tie is being worn less,” Torres said. Several of his clients tell him the open-collar sport coat is the way to see clients, and they wouldn’t be caught dead in a shirt and tie. “But then, no attorney will go into court with a sport coat,” he said. “We’re more diverse than we used to be, with different attitudes within different industries and professions. It’s not a cut-and-dry
situation and never has been.” The early days of “casual Friday” sent many men into a panic, Torres said, because they were used to suits and ties and didn’t know what was appropriate. Some ended up wearing “lawn mowing clothes” to work. But in his visits to offices around the Upstate, he’s noticed that men have been seeing the light, and they now know what looks good on them, what looks professional, and what is appropriate for their agenda that day. “A lot of guys have formulated a more solid opinion about what they should be wearing,” Torres said. “But slob has gone by the wayside.” Contact Leigh Savage at lsavage@communityjournals.com.
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JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 17 2/23/2012 2:18:27 PM
UBJ
Photos by Greg Beckner
PROJECT ONE TOUR – GREENVILLE
Greenville City Council members and staff recently toured the towers of the ONE project. (Above) The Daniel Building and Liberty Square as seen from the ninth floor of the ONE project. (Right) Council members and staff look east down Coffee Street in downtown Greenville.
Greenville City Council members Gaye Sprague, left, and Amy Ryberg Doyle pick out buildings they know from the ninth floor of the ONE project during a recent tour. The ninth floor will be home to Hughes Development Corporation when completed.
Congratulations to our
2012 Top Performers & Award Winners Largest Transaction Tony Bonitati John Gray, CCIM
Platinum Level Peter Couchell, CCIM John Gray, CCIM
Largest Industrial Transaction Ford Borders, SIOR Grice Hunt
Gold Level Ford Borders, SIOR Grice Hunt Tony Bonitati Earle Furman, SIOR Jon Good, SIOR
Largest Office Transaction Dan Dunn Peter Couchell, CCIM
Largest Retail Transaction Jake Van Gieson Bill Sims Peter Couchell, CCIM Employee of the Year Candy Bagwell Keystone Award Kelly Nix
Silver Level Hunter Garrett, CCIM, SIOR
In 2012, NAI Earle Furman completed over 600 transactions. 864 232 9040 NAIEarleFurman.com 18 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
UBJ the takeaway
A look back, a look ahead Chamber of Commerce 75th Annual Celebration, sponsored by Greer Memorial Hospital
WHO WAS THERE: More than 450 area business leaders
SPEAKER: Craig Dietz, ESPN-
featured athlete, attorney and motivational speaker
TOPIC: “Defining Your Potential” Finding oneself flat on your back may not pose a problem for most people, but for Craig Dietz, it was a poignant moment at the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce 75th Annual Celebration, sponsored by Greer Memorial Hospital. To stress the necessity of overcoming obstacles with a positive attitude, Dietz demonstrated this very task to the sold-out crowd of over 450 area business and community leaders. You see, Dietz was born without limbs and emphasized to the crowd that he had two choices when he finds himself flat on his back – he could allow his circumstances to control him or he could control his circumstances. An avid hunter, skier and fisherman, it is Dietz’s passion for swimming that has recently captivated his pursuits. Since 2008, he has competed in the Pittsburgh Triathlon each year; in 2012, he finished the swim in 29:16, with his team finishing fourth out of 18 teams. He became the first quadruple amputee to swim across the Chesapeake Bay in June 2012 where he finished the 4.4-mile rough-water swim in less than three hours. His story of inspiration and courage can be found at www.craigdietzspeaks.com.
In a keynote address that was filled with humor, insight and plenty of motivation, Craig Dietz challenged the crowd to redefine their definition of “potential” by listing several must-haves that he has experienced in his life.
1. You must have the right tools. As a child and
adolescent, Dietz was outfitted with a variety of prosthetics – all of which he found to be cumbersome. Instead, he utilizes a dressing stick as his only prosthetic. “I have one of these in every room of the house,” laughed Dietz as he demonstrated to the crowd a pretty cool flip-trick with the stick.
keynote speaker craig dietz, espn-featured athlete, attorney, & motivational speaker
hunting rifle as an adult – but throughout his life, his father and family have steadfastly supported Dietz in every dream and endeavor.
4. You must have perspective. Dietz spoke about
2. You must have a good never defining his challenges as the sense of humor. Throughout greatest or worst. While admitting the night, Dietz peppered his keynote address with his incredible sense of humor and ability to make light of an otherwise difficult set of circumstances. Not one to take himself too seriously, Dietz recalled a particular Halloween Haunted House event that he says was “to this day one of the most fun nights of my life.”
3. You must have a support system. From the
time Dietz was a small child, his parents were determined that he would have the same opportunities as any other child. It was Dietz’s father who helped Dietz cling to the belief that anything was possible. Not only did his father help build a unique tricycle that Dietz could ride as a child – and later a unique
that his challenges are more obvious per se, he doesn’t believe that they are any more challenging and difficult than the next person’s.
5. You must avoid comparisons to other people. Dietz relayed that one
of his best life lessons was actually taken from a fortune cookie: “Never compare yourself to the best others can do, but to do the best you can do.” After every swim competition, Dietz says he is proud if he can do two of the following three things: learn something new; improve from his last competition; and know at the end of the day that he gave it his all.
6. You must have appreciation for life’s challenges. If there’s one
thing that Dietz has experienced,
Photo by Amy Clifton Keely
EVENT: The Greater Greer
it’s the difficulty of overcoming obstacles from a life lived without limbs. At the close of the evening Dietz parlayed a genie-in-a-bottle comparison into the night’s most awe-inspiring moment. If granted one wish and Dietz could have full restoration of his body – but with that wish came the reality of having to live his life over and lose the memories and life lessons he’s learned – he would absolutely refuse the wish. “Life’s challenges and these obstacles have made me the person I am today.” …And that, Mr. Dietz, is one incredible human being. Jennifer Cobb is marketing and special projects coordinator for the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce. The Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce is a voluntary, nonprofit organization that represents approximately 660 businesses in the Greer area. The mission of the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce is “to champion economic prosperity for our members and the Greater Greer community.” For more information on the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce, call 864-8773131 or visit www.greerchamber.com.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 19
UBJ the fine print S.C. tops Texas this time
South Carolina is the top destination for foreign investment, according to IBM-Plant Location International. South Carolina ranked ahead of Texas and North Carolina, which were second and third in the 2012 IBM-PLI report on global location trends. “Foreign firms have played and continue to play a key role in our state’s economy,” said Gov. Nikki Haley. “We have worked hard to show companies from around the globe that South Carolina is the place to put down roots and do business, and this ranking is another indication of our success.” The lion’s share of the foreign investment in South Carolina is in the Upstate. The Spartanburg-Greenville corridor is believed to have the highest concentration of foreign investment per capita in the United States.
Selling future production
Plum Creek Lumber Co. of Seattle has acquired the future production of construction aggregates from four South Carolina quarries owned by Vulcan Materials Co. Vulcan said it received $75 million “in exchange for an estimated 10.5 percent royalty interest in the sale of approximately 144 million tons of production over 25 years.” Vulcan said it maintains “full ownership as well as operational and marketing control” over the four quarries. Vulcan has several quarries in South Carolina, including ones in Anderson, Blacksburg, Greenwood, Piedmont, Liberty and Lyman. Vulcan also sold some land in California and one small quarry in Virginia. All told, the company said it expected gross proceeds of $149 million. The company has said it wants to reduce its debt.
Rick Holley, president and chief executive officer of Plum Creek, said the acquisition of the future production “is an attractive, cashaccretive investment in a familiar natural resource asset for Plum Creek.” Vulcan is based in Birmingham, Ala.
Hotelier triples down
Pinnacle Hospitality plans to build a 100room branded hotel at Spartanburg’s Westgate Towncenter, where it already has a 120-room Hampton Inn & Suites and an 88-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites. The Spartanburg hospitality management firm said the hotel will be in walking distance of the Westgate Mall, the Regal Spartan movie theater and numerous restaurants. Pinnacle also manages the 37,000-square-foot Summit Pointe Conference & Events Center at Westgate, as well as the 91-room Holiday Inn North in Spartanburg. In 2011, Pinnacle enlarged 155 rooms and renovated the Holiday Inn Express & Suites on Woodruff Road in Greenville. The motel opened in 2001 with 87 rooms. Pinnacle opened a new Microtel Inn & Suites, a Wyndham brand, on Woodruff Road in October.
Cracking the hold of good ol’ boys
Sherlock and Gaines Consulting Co. of Greenville has been recognized as one of the nation’s top 500 Campaign and Elections Influencers. The recognition is based on 100 interviews with consultants, journalists and political insiders nationwide, the company said. S&G is one of only five Republican firms, the only female-owned and the only one in the Upstate to be
named in South Carolina. “It’s time that women are recognized for their political expertise and outreach skills, and we are thrilled by this honor,” said Leslie Gaines, a partner with Ruth Sherlock in the firm. S&G took a crack at the male domination of politics in the headline on its press release: “Another win for Sherlock & Gaines in the Good Ol’ Boy State.” S&G managed Newt Gingrich’s winning campaign in South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary last year.
O’Neal adds service
O’Neal Inc. has created a new division for equipment relocation and installation to be added to its engineering, design and construction divisions. The Greenville company said Dan Mollohan, who was president of CPR Global in Anderson and has 36 years of experience as a business owner and general contractor, will head the division. Kevin Bean, president and CEO, said the division will offer clients a single source for relocating, reconfiguring and consolidating their equipment in a move.
Honor flows to caterer
Liquid Catering of Greenville has received a “choice” award for catering weddings by the WeddingWire Bride Network. It was one of four South Carolina caterers selected based on reviews of brides using the service. “This is a great honor,” said Tammy Johnson, founder and president of Liquid Catering. “I thank my great staff for consistent commitment to excellence that made this award possible.”
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AugustaRoad.com 20 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
Source: Based sales Source: Basedononannual annual sales volume, MLSMLS of ofGreenville, volume, Greenville, SC, SC, JanJan1-Dec 1–Dec31, 31,2012. 2012.
UBJ create. innovate. celebrate.
Project Green takes root at SCTAC and CU-ICAR In 1941, those building the Greenville Army Air Base to train pilots for World War II could not have imagined that one of its runways would become a state-of-the art mobility test bed led by a German engineer. The Greenville Army Air Base opened in 1942 as a training base for replacement B-25 aircrews. After World War II, the base went on to play an instrumental role in the Berlin Airlift. One of the busiest Air Force bases performing global missions, in 1951 it was renamed Donaldson Air Force Base in honor of Captain John O. Donaldson, a Greenville native and World War I flying ace. Huge hangars, long runways and expansive ramps were constructed to support the large aircraft operating there. In 1964, the property entered another era when the deed to the deactivated base was acquired by the city and county of Greenville for $450,000. Within a few months, enough property had been sold to recoup the $450,000 acquisition cost. The facility was renamed Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park. Shortly after Jody Bryson became president and CEO in 2007, he led the park’s rebranding as the South Carolina Aviation and Technology Center (SCTAC). Strategically located at the center of the I-85 corridor from Atlanta to Charlotte, the 2,600-acre park has two runways: a primary 8,000-foot runway capable of servicing large aircraft, and a secondary one of 5,500 feet available for alternative uses. The airport supports an average of 136 flights per day. More than 80 businesses, including 3M, Lockheed Martin and Michelin, are in the park, which is supported almost entirely by lease payments. A little over a decade ago, Jim Barker issued the challenge, “If Clemson were in Greenville, what would we do different?” A year of conversation led to the creation of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Re-
search (CU-ICAR) in 2003. Today, just down the road from SCTAC, CU-ICAR is the largest dedicated research campus focused on automotive engineering research in the southeastern United States. Jody began questioning what could be done to develop his inactive runway with more than 200 acres around it. In 2009, Jody met with Dr. Joachim Taiber, a professor of automotive engineering at Clemson who came to Greenville from Germany with the BMW Information Technology Research Center at CU-ICAR. Joachim thought he could use the idle runway for automotive research. Their conversations led to Project Green, a partnership between SCTAC and CU-ICAR to develop the inactive runway as a unified test bed designed to replicate sustainable mobility and networked vehicle ecosystems. The test bed is designed so that a huge variety of different product concepts, component technologies, infrastructure technologies and usage profiles can be simulated and tested. The facility is open to industrial and academic users and encourages joint research and development. Building on the strength of CU-ICAR and SCTAC, Greenville County Councilman Fred Payne is leading an inspired initiative he calls GreenVillages to make Greenville a leader in connected, sustainable communities. He envisions GreenVillages projects spanning from research to prototype development to commercial scalability in Greenville and around the world. Greenville County is a series of GreenVillages, from Fountain Inn, Simpsonville, Mauldin, and Greer, to Greenville, West Greenville and Travelers Rest. GreenVillages projects can help each develop into a connected, sustainable community that is a wonderful place to live, work and play. Greenville
By John Warner
County GreenVillages can also be connected together with innovative information technology and rapidtransit solutions. Fred’s goal is for GreenVillages solutions developed and proven in Greenville to be sold to other communities across the country and around the world through existing corporations and new entrepreneurial firms. Fred regularly holds community meetings to develop the GreenVillages concept focused on two questions. Can a sprawling community like Greenville County reduce traffic congestion and demonstrate new mobility opportunities for America and the world? Can rapid-transit mobility systems, like bus rapid transit and personal rapid transit, create opportunities for companies to start or expand businesses and create jobs here? InnoVenture created InnoMobility.com to help big ideas related to the global transformation of mobility attract the resources they need to become realities. Fred and Joachim both have presentations online, along with presentations from Michelin, Sage, KEMET,
To view the presentations by Joachim Taber and Fred Payne, along with all the other InnoMobility presentations, visit www.innoventure.com/ network/innomobility. Ford, BMW, Cisco, Intel and several dozen other academic centers and entrepreneurial companies. It is amazing how profoundly the world changed in 60 years. Then Greenville was mobilized for the war against Germany. Today, descendants from those who fought on both sides of that war are working closely together to make Greenville a global leader in mobility. John Warner is CEO of InnoVenture, whose global Web platform helps people with big ideas attract needed customers, capital, talent and technology. InnoVenture.com partners include major corporations, universities and entrepreneurial companies regionally and around the world.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 21
UBJ on the move
elected
hired
hired
intiated
promoted
Daniel T. Sulton
Luke Burke
Dan Sterling
Dr. Cedrek McFadden
Teresa Cox
Elected as shareholder of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management. Sulton has a background in human resources, serving as a manager of employee benefit plans and payroll and as in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 company. He is a frequent speaker on employee benefits topics and has been quoted in several national publications.
Joined Bannister & Wyatt law firm’s team of associate attorneys. Prior to joining Bannister & Wyatt, Burke served as a litigation attorney for Moon Law. He also has past experience with the University of South Carolina Intellectual Property Office, where he drafted contracts, licenses and compliance reports, and assisted in obtaining patents for USC inventions.
Appointed president of Green Cloud Technologies, a cloud technology solutions provider headquartered in Greenville. Sterling was formerly vice president of channel sales and channel chief at Windstream where he served for more than 14 years. A career veteran of the communications channel, he was named 2009 Channel Partners Magazine Channel Executive of the Year as well as Channel Executive of the Year Finalist in 2010 and 2011.
Recently initiated into fellowship in the American College of Surgeons. To be initiated into fellowship, McFadden, a colorectal surgeon with Greenville Hospital System, had to meet strict requirements and receive approval from at least three-fourths of the College’s board of regents. Only surgeons whose professional activity is devoted to surgical practice and agree without compromise to practice the professional and ethical standards of the College are admitted into fellowship.
Selected to lead the new business development and career advancement division at Prudential C. Dan Joyner Co., Realtors. Cox has been in the real estate industry for 20 years, having proven success in her own sales business for many of those years. She currently serves on the Better Business Bureau of Upstate South Carolina and the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors board of directors, and as 2013 Multiple Listing Service Chair.
CONSTRUCTION/ENGINEERING
• O’Neal Inc., a Greenville-based integrated design and construction firm, recently welcomed Brad Duncan as a senior electrical drafter,
William Vickery as electrical project specialist, and Larry Conant as senior process engineer. Duncan comes to O’Neal from DeVita & Associates in Greenville, where he concentrated
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on structural and electrical design. Vickery comes to O’Neal from Sealed Air in Duncan, where he served as senior electrical engineer. Prior to contracting for O’Neal, Conant
served as senior project engineer at TerraTherm, Inc.
FINANCE •
Benchmark
Mortgage
>>
UBJ on the move >>
recently announced the hiring of Niki Young as a production partner for loan officer Caleb LeGrand. Prior to joining the Benchmark team, Young worked locally as a personal and small business banker for 17 years.
INSURANCE
• Herlong Bates Burnett Insurance Inc. recently welcomed Beverly Duvall as a Personal Lines account manager.
LEADERSHIP
• Ten at the Top (TATT) recently announced the addition of Alissa Ritzo Duncan as the new program manager and Meredyth Boaz as the communications director. Beginning in August 2008, Duncan worked with the Spartanburg Area Transportation Study (SPATS) as well as the Spartanburg County Planning and Development Department. While working with SPATS and Spartanburg County Planning and Development, she assisted in the development of a Transit Master Plan and a Government Operations Emissions Inventory. Boaz has previously worked as the event manager with the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and as the coordinator for the Carolina Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (CACCE). She was instrumental in planning and implementing the Chamber’s Annual Auction, as well as the Chamber’s monthly meetings, including Business After Hours and Business Round Tables.
LEGAL
• Collins & Lacy, P.C., recently announced that Mike Pitts has been appointed as a voting shareholder. Pitts’ practice focuses on employment law, an area in which he has spent most of his 15-year career helping businesses with labor and employment matters and complex commercial cases. He also practices in commercial litigation, professional liability and municipal law and currently serves as the Anderson County Attorney.
MARKETING/PUBLIC RELATIONS
• FLOURISH Integrated Communications, a dedicated practice group with honed expertise in integrated marketing, recently announced that Katie Jordan joined as director of events. Having had the unique opportunity to work for the affluent residential developments of The Cliffs Communities from 2002 to 2007 as sales and marketing events director, Jordan learned from some of event marketing’s top performers how to concept, plan and execute events ranging from elegant large-scale launch galas and concerts to casual, intimate dinner parties and power lunches. • Infinity Marketing Solutions recently hired Courtney Amos, Shelley Willner and Renee Cole as media assistants; Ryan Levy as graphic designer; Emily Clever as a marketing assistant; and Jennifer Finn as a media buyer. Amos comes to Infinity from Spark Strategic Ideas in Charlotte where, as an intern, she provided support for big-name clients such as Moe’s. Willner previously worked at Verizon Wireless in their apprenticeship program and as a marketing assistant for the Eaton Chemical Corporation. Cole comes to Infinity after working at the Anderson Independent Mail for 1.5 years. Levy worked at luxury home furnishing company Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams as a graphic designer in Hickory, N.C., before coming to Infinity. Finn is not a new face at Infinity – she was a production intern in 2009 before moving to New York City and working at NBC Sports and Carat Media Agency. At Carat, she worked for nearly two years as a network and national broadcast buyer. Clever previously worked at Dealer Online Marketing in Greenville as a copywriter.
MUSIC
• Musical Innovations and its custom flute division, Carolina Flutes, recently welcomed Dr. Rebecca Ashe as the new director of sales and
marketing for the company, and the general manager of Carolina Flutes. Ashe relocated from Iowa in January to join the Musical Innovations team. Most recently, she had served as the North American Distribution Manager for Trevor James Flutes in Iowa City, Iowa. Before that, she taught flute privately while also holding positions as print music specialist at the Toon Shop in Prarie Village, Kan., and as special programs coordinator at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Academy of Music and Dance.
REAL ESTATE
• The Marchant Company recently recognized the following agents for excellent performance: Tom Marchant as volume listing agent of the month; Kathy Slayter as unit listing agent of the month, as well as sales volume and unit agent of the month; and Nancy McCrory and Karen Turpin as sales team of the month. • Prudential C. Dan Joyner Co., Realtors, recently announced that Jeremy Wood has been promoted to broker-in-charge at the Pleasantburg office and Jennifer Hocker has joined the company as a sales associate at the Pelham Road office. Wood has been in real estate for 15 years, with seven of those serving as broker-in-charge for Carolina One in Charleston. Following college, Hocker gained seven years of experience working in the Upstate in new homes sales. • Flagship Properties recently announced the addition of Josh Tew as an associate in commercial sales and leasing. Tew previously worked as a project manager with a commercial construction company in Atlanta.
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JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 23
PLANNER
25 UBJ social
Friday January
Workforce and Skill Development Kroc Center, 424 Westfield St., Greenville; Breakfast & networking 7:30-8 a.m. Program 8-9:30 a.m. Free. Will unveil the 2013-2014 Public Policy Agenda and local elected officials will be in attendance. Contact: Heather Love at hlove@unitedwaygc.org or 864-467-3540.
26
Saturday January
Comprehensive Small Business Start-Up Greenville County Library, Hughes Main Branch, 25 Heritage Green Place, Greenville; 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Cost: $59, includes lunch & materials. Register online at piedmontscore.org. Call 864-271-3638 for more information. The Kickstarter Economy Seminar The Phoenix Inn, 246 N. Pleasantburg Dr., Greenville; 9 a.m. Speaker: Richard Bliss, host of the popular crowdfunding podcast “Funding the Dream.” Panel: Fredrick Pfeiffer of Marshall Fredrick & Company, Business Advisors and Brokers; Joshua Githens of HASBRO, part owner of Boardwalk and a veteran game developer; and Ralph Gleaton of Gleaton Wyatt Hewitt business attorneys. Cost: $25, includes breakfast & admission to the Boardwalk Game Day. Tickets may be purchased at Boardwalk Game Store or by calling 864-297-6924.
28
Monday January
GCS Roundtable: The Collective Genius Theory The Office Center at the Point, 33 Market Point Dr., Greenville; 8:30-9:30 a.m. Speaker: Miles Golden. Call Golden Career Strategies at 864-527-0425 to request an invitation.
Chamber Presents! Luncheon Stella’s Southern Bistro, 684 Fairview Rd., Simpsonville; noon-1:15 p.m. Cost: $13 All Chamber members are invited. Contact: Allison McGarity at amcgarity@simpsonvillechamber.com.
29
Tuesday January
“Entrepreneurial Readiness” Greenville Chamber of Commerce, 24 Cleveland St., Greenville; 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Cost: $20 per person. Attendees are invited to bring their lunch; dessert & drinks will be provided. Register online at www.scwbc.net.
30
Wednesday January
PULSE Leadership Event: A New School of Thought: USC School of Medicine – Greenville’s Impact on the Upstate Greenville Memorial Hospital, 701 Grove Rd, Greenville; 7:30-9 a.m. Speaker: Dr. Jerry Youkey, dean of the USC School of Medicine. This event is for PULSE & GHS Young Professionals Only. Contact: 864-239-3743.
Mauldin Chamber Leads Group Mauldin Chamber of Commerce, 101 East Butler Road, Mauldin; noon-1 p.m. Free to attend. Contact: Don Johnson at dfjj1141@yahoo.com. Dynamic Presentations Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce, 105 North Pine St., Spartanburg; 2:30-5 p.m. Dale Carnegie Training’s Business Social Media workshop. Open to the public. Free to Chamber members & $45 to nonmembers. Contact: Meric Gambel at 864-594-5030 or mgambel@spartanburgchamber.com.
31
Thursday January
Workforce and Skill Development BMW Zentrum, 1400 Highway 101 South, Greer; 3-5 p.m. Ten at the Top Forum Series. Ten at the Top Forum Series.
* MORE EVENTS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE *
Submit your event: events@upstatebusinessjournal.com
Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce 75th Annual Celebration Turnout was strong for the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce 75th Annual Celebration at Embassy Suites Hotel and Golf Resort.
(Bottom Left) Allene Smith, left, president and CEO of the Greer Chamber of Commerce, with the winner of the 2012 Chairman’s Award For Excellence, Anna Locke. The award was presented by Danny Joyner, right, of Prudential C. Dan Joyner Co., the sponsor of the award. (Bottom Right) John Mansure, left, 2012 chairman of the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce, passes the gavel to Bill Roughton, 2013 incoming chairman, at the 75th Annual Celebration held at Embassy Suites Hotel and Golf Resort.
UBJ digital maven
Computers fail. Have a backup strategy that doesn’t
sheet that lists all the software on each machine, the version number and the license number. And make sure you have the physical software for each license. Many services that are critical to your business are cloud-based, so make sure you have a copy of all your internet bookmarks, as well as logins and passwords for each service. Please don’t write these down in an unencrypted file called “Passwords.”
Third of a 3 - part series
Anyone who has ever touched a computing device has at one time or another deleted something they didn’t mean to, copied bad data over good, or had a hard drive crash and take all their stuff with it. No matter how diligent you are about monitoring and maintaining your computers, some level of data loss can – and most likely will – happen at some point. Here are some tips on how to be prepared to get it back.
Confirm
I learned this lesson the hard way. Test your backups to be certain they can be restored. And after each backup, check any relevant log files for errors.
Backup
This seems so obvious, it almost seems silly to write it down. But, raise your hand if you are not backing up all your computers. Or worse, if you aren’t sure. Many businesses that maintain their own servers are backing those up, but they often do NOT back up individual computers. That is a good strategy and makes sense for IT. But employees who are saving copies of documents on their own computers are putting your business at risk, as those files are often not recoverable. Get everyone saving on your server where your backups are made. If you don’t have a server, you have options for backups, from external hard drives and shrinkwrapped software to online services. If you are backing up locally, make sure your external drive is at least 50 percent larger than the size of the drive you are backing up – some recommendations say 1.5 to 2.5 times the size of your drive. Drives can become corrupt if the data on them exceeds 80 percent (and that’s the outside of the envelope). So if you have 500 GB of data, you need to back up to at least a 1 TB drive. Whatever software you choose, make sure
By Laura Haight
Frequency
it is capable of backing up the data that is important to your business. Not all shrink-wrapped software will back up your email, for example. If they do back up email, most services or software can only restore your entire mailbox at once – not a single email or email folder. So if you accidentally delete a single critical email from a month ago, you may not be able to restore it without losing hundreds of other emails. Export your email folders separately and then back up the exported mbox files. If you are backing up online, research the company. Is your data secure? Does the online service have redundancy to protect your information and make sure it is readily available? Remember, the $49 that you hear advertised is for personal use – a business with more than three computers falls into a business category and the
costs increase based on the amount of data you need to back up. If your business has mobile devices, make sure the data synchronizes with your office computers or servers so it can be backed up. Consider your restoration options and make sure whatever service or software you choose allows you to restore individual files. If you lose one document, you do not want to have to restore an entire folder to get it back. That could cause you to overwrite other good data to get back one lost file.
Software and applications Generally backups are for data, not system files and applications themselves. Make sure that you have legal copies of all your software and the appropriate license keys. This includes your operating system. It is a best practice to have a database or tracking spread-
How often you need to back up really depends on how critical you think your data is. For a business, the best practice would be a full backup once a week with incremental backups (changed files) performed nightly. You should also have your backups stored offsite, which requires an array of removable media. A well-planned and tested backup strategy can give you and your staff the comfort level you need to keep your goal of a less-paper office moving forward.
What makes a good vendor?
How do you decide to use one vendor over another? Is price the only driver or is there more to the vendor relationship? I’d like to know from our readers what you think makes a good vendor. Tweet with #goodvendor or post on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ thedigitalmaven). Watch for your comments in a future column. Laura Haight is the president of Portfolio Communications (www.portfoliosc.com). She is a former IT executive, journalist and newspaper editor.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 25
UBJ snapshot
MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO Employees stand in the doorway of the Carolina Supply Company warehouse (tleft) at 818 Pendleton Street in this photo from 1901. The building, constructed in the late 1800s, has been home to various businesses over the years. By 1907, Carolina Supply Company had moved and the Crescent Grocery Company
(below) located their offices and warehouse to the location. Seen in this photo from 1910, few changes had been made to the exterior other than new signage and advertising painted on the structure. By 1915, the Crescent Grocery Company had moved to South Main Street near the bridge over the Reedy River.
Photo provided
MORE THAN A CENTURY LATER Clark Patterson Lee is a design firm at 912 S. Main St. The firm has been there since May 2005 and offers the following services: architecture, interior design, civil and municipal engineering, transportation engineering, structural engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, community planning, and support services. The Fortner Academy of Dance is located in the basement at 912 S. Main St.
Photo provided
Photos by Greg Beckner
Got an old photo you’d like featured here? Send an image file to snapshot@upstatebusinessjournal.com with a description of the photo and do your darnedest to identify any people in it. Upstate
Business J O U R N A L
HOW TO REACH US 148 River Street., Suite 120 Greenville, SC 29601, 864.679.1200 Copyright @2013 BY COMMUNITY JOURNALS LLC. All rights reserved. Upstate Business Journal (Vol. 2, No. 3) is published weekly by Community Journals LLC. 148 River Street, Suite 120, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601. Upstate Business Journal is a free publication. Annual subscriptions (52 issues) can be purchased for $65. Visit www.UpstateBusinessJournal.com. Postmaster: Send address changes to Upstate Business, 148 River St., Ste 120, Greenville, SC 29601. Printed in the USA.
26 Upstate business | JANUARY 25, 2013
PRESIDENT/Publisher Mark B. Johnston mjohnston@communityjournals.com Senior Vice President Alan P. Martin amartin@communityjournals.com UBJ Associate Publisher Ryan L. Johnston rjohnston@communityjournals.com eXECUTIVE Editor Susan Clary Simmons ssimmons@communityjournals.com MANAGING editor Jerry Salley jsalley@communityjournals.com
Marketing Representatives Lori Burney | Mary Beth Culbertson Kristi Jennings | Donna Johnston Pam Putman staff writers Cindy Landrum | April A. Morris Charles Sowell SENIOR BUSINESS writer Dick Hughes contributing writerS Jenny Munro | Jennifer Oladipo Jeanne Putnam | Leigh Savage
photographer Greg Beckner CONTRIBUTING photo EDITOR Gerry Pate MarketinG Katherine Elrod Marketing & EVENTS Kate Banner Billing Shannon Rochester PrODUCTION Holly Hardin Client Services ManagerS Anita Harley | Jane Rogers
Design LEAD Kristy M. Adair
ADVERTISING DESIGN Michael Allen | Whitney Fincannon Caroline Reinhardt
EDITORIAL INTERNS Shelby Livingston | Casey Dargan
IDEAS, FEEDBACK, OPINIONS opinions@upstatebusinessjournal.com
UBJ new to the street & dealmakers
OFFBEAT BOUTIQUE
recently opened for business at 14 S. Main St. in Greenville. The store carries women’s shirts, blouses, jackets, handbags and jewelry that can be used as statement pieces.
ROOST recently opened at 220 N. Main St. in Greenville,
inside the Hyatt. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner with all menu items priced as $20 or less.
CAROLINA OLIVE OIL
recently opened their first brickand-mortar store at 116 N. Main St. in Fountain Inn. They carry 30 varieties of custom olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which allows for 1,000 different flavor combinations.
THE FRESH MARKET recently
relocated to a new East Main Street location in Spartanburg to offer a variety of new products in a spacious 21,500-square-foot store.
dealmakers Langston-Black Real Estate, Inc. announced: • Bobby Hines and Zach Hines recently represented Rogers Properties LLC in the sale of their 13,500-square-foot building (situated on 2.6 acres) located at 911 West Georgia Rd, Simpsonville. This building is the current home of Classy Kids Daycare. The property sold for $1,450,000. Convergent Property Group LLC announced: • James McKissick recently represented Fairway Investments in the purchase of 1.29 acres on Commercial Drive, Greenville. The land is adjacent to their current location at 1 Commercial Drive, near the Greenville Downtown
Airport. The tract was purchased for $125,000 and plans for development or use have not been disclosed. NAI Earle Furman announced: • Stuart Wyeth represented the landlord of 150 W. Phillips Road, Greer, in leasing a 3,571-squarefoot office space to General Services Administration.
landlord of 494 Garlington Road, Greenville, in renewing a lease with USA Fibre Solutions LLC. for a 3,000-square-foot office space. • John Baldwin and Mike Greer represented Sunbelt Warehouse Corp. in leasing a 194,594-square-foot industrial space at 560-572 Gilliam Road, Greer.
• Stuart Wyeth represented Black & Veatch Corporation in leasing a 6,065-square-foot office space at 201 Brookfield Pkwy., Greenville.
• Stuart Wyeth represented the landlord of 101 N. Main St., Greenville, in leasing a 1,603-square-foot office space (Suite 808) to Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.
• Ted Lyerly and Jimmy Wright represented the landlord of 1417 Laurens Road, Greenville, in leasing a 2,880-square-foot retail space to Earshot.
• Rusty Hamrick represented the seller of 17 Big Jake Pass, Travelers Rest, in selling a 5-acre land property to Condor Environmental Inc.
• Stuart Wyeth represented the
• John Staunton and Hunter
Garrett represented the landlord of 14 Pelham Ridge Drive, Greenville, in a lease expansion. The lessee added 3,000 square feet of adjacent flex space to an existing 3,000-square-foot lease. • Glenn Batson represented the seller of 411 Pendleton Road, Greenville, in selling 1.7 acres and two flex buildings. • Keith Jones and Scott Jones represented Mauldin Medical Associates in selling a 1.21 acre land property at 3369 Pelham Road, Greenville. Tyson Smoak and David Feild represented the purchaser, KGH LLC. • Mike Greer and John Baldwin represented the seller of a 1.29acre land property on Commercial Drive, Greenville. The buyer was Fairway Investments LLC.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | Upstate business 27
UBJ
OLD SCHOOL MEETS NEW SCHOOL OLD SCHOOL MEETS NEW SCHOOL
Checkususout, out,we’ve we’vegone gonedigital. digital. Check www.GreenvilleJournal.com www.GreenvilleJournal.com