Feb. 13, 2015 UBJ

FEBRUARY 13, 2015 | VOL. 4 ISSUE 7

Diagnosis: REVOLUTION New methods of providing and paying for health care may ease the pain for doctors and patients.

What’s in the Upstate’s prescription for change? pg. 18 Today

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upstatebusinessjournal.com

NEWS

| ENERGY | 3

Debate continues over true cost of EPA proposals JENNIFER OLADIPO

SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com

The Palmetto Promise Institute (PPI) says proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules could spike South Carolina’s energy costs.

But the Conservation Voters of South Carolina (CVSC) says costs tend to be lower than even EPA projections once final rules of major policy changes are published.

The Palmetto Promise Institute (formerly the Palmetto Policy Forum) recently released a study showing recently proposed EPA rules on mercury and carbon dioxide emissions would increase electricity prices by 22 percent by 2030. Conducted by the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University, the study said the EPA overestimates the cost savings that will be generated by reduced asthma-related illnesses and early mortality related to pollution.

Alan Hancock, CVSC campaigns director, said it is too early for most projections to be reliable. “That final rule is going to have some changes to the proposal, I’m sure.” He said that in estimating for its recent CARBON rule, the EPA proposed an 8 percent decrease in rates by 2030 based on the assumption that industry would adopt leastcost options for compliance, such as improving efficiency rather than building new infrastructure.

By the time a final rule is issued, the EPA could change the way nuclear energy is treated in terms of carbon dioxide reduction, which has been a major point of contention in South Carolina’s response to the proposed rule.

“There are also different ways EPA could account for the potential of solar or wind energy if they assume it could be cheaper than what they thought last summer,” Hancock said. “[Estimating] out 15 years is tricky.” Fluctuations in the price of natural gas could also have

unforeseen effects on costs, he said.

While the PPI study cited “failure to estimate likely macroeconomic impacts of its proposed regulations” as a flaw in EPA calculations, Hancock said future market variables could have unpredictable effects on energy costs.

“It’s just better to look at the final rule,” he said. That will be published in June.

Utilities and high energy users expressed their concerns to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), which sent its response to the EPA’s proposed carbon reduction rules in December.

Several recently have taken steps in advance of coming EPA rules, shutting down coal-fired plants and investing in the development of forthcoming nuclear plants.

Meanwhile, Duke Energy this week proposed several solar power programs to the state Public Service Commission. Those include utility-scale solar and community solar.

Duke Energy said it expects to issue a request for proposals this year for more than 50 megawatts of large-scale solar, which it said is among the most efficient ways to generate solar power due to economies of scale.

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4 | THE RUNDOWN |

TOP-OF-MIND AND IN THE MIX THIS WEEK

UBJ

|

02.13.2015

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 Featured this issue: Rising standards may worsen state’s nursing pinch Upstate leads innovation in health tech EmergencyMD aims for quick-care niche

MONEY SHOT: An operating room in the addition to Greenville City Hospital, completed in 1921, which fronted Memminger Street. The hospital remained in that area until Greenville Memorial Hospital opened on Grove Road in 1972. For more, turn to page 39. Historic photograph available from the Greenville Historical Society.​From “Remembering Greenville: Photographs from the Coxe Collection” by Jeffrey R. Willis.

WORTH REPEATING

TBA

“We get one payment [from Medicare] regardless how long that patient is there and regardless the resources we consume to deliver that care.” Page 18

Apparently the boutique hotel planned for the Rivers Edge mixed-use development on River Street is a no-go, at least for the foreseeable future. Still expected are 140 apartments and an Irish-pub restaurant, to be assembled by genuine, Guinness-certified builders from Dublin.

“We haven’t really closed the door, we’ve just scrunched it a little bit.”

Page 22

“I got a real glimpse of the care I was giving at the hospital. At one point I waited eight hours for a Tylenol. I learned that the system is not working well.” Page 28

Speaking of Rivers Edge, look for a cool lighting feature on the front of the building.

The lights are being programmed now, so keep an eye on the project after dark.

Look for Carolina Bauernhaus, a farmhouse brewery with hand-crafted ales, to open May 2015 in downtown Anderson.

VERBATIM

On the Upstate’s homegrown bioscience innovation “Kiyatec’s success, along with CreatiVasc and Izumi International, all relies on the talent and innovation that has been building up in this region for the past few years. All of these companies expect this trend to continue.”

IndustryWeek, in a Feb. 9 article on the booming local life science industry.

Read it at bit.ly/industryweek-SC.

22 24 28

upstatebusinessjournal.com

UP FRONT | 5

OPINION

Where should a downtown convention center go?

I am a Greenville native who moved to Char-

By RYAN JOHNSTON, Publisher

WHY I AM SUCH A FAN OF THIS SPOT: Accommodations: A large conference center hotel could be built on top of the conference center, delivering the on-site large block availability many conferences and conventions require—not to mention several other hotels a rifle shot away.

Parking: Because of the large rectangular site and current grade, I would assume an efficient subterranean parking deck could be built. This deck could also be a couple of stories tall with the convention center built on top, giving fantastic views of our parks, downtown skyline and the mountains.

Parks: This site has the new 160-acre City Park (a.k.a. Mayberry Park) planned on one side and RiverPlace and Falls Park on the other.

Halfway location: It would sit halfway between Main Street and the West End.

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Let’s continue the conversation at upstatebusinessjournal.com.

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stage performances. This will lead to more options for us as citizens. It will also lead to more tax dollars to support smart growth.

I believe it would also be beneficial to local business executives. Currently almost every large business gathering is held at the TD convention center.

Thousands of local business executives attend the facility every year. It is a very nice facility, but I feel the location is not ideal. I would like the opportunity, both before and after an event, to do more business—to be within walking distance of a draft beer or a nice business dinner.

So now we must look at the business case for bringing a convention center downtown. The conversation continues, and UBJ supports these efforts.

The RFP specified four potential sites for a convention center. Personally, I believe the site location is a no brainer. It needs to go right here.

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Egress: It would have nice egress off River and Academy streets.

lotte straight after graduating from Clemson. When people would tell me they recently visited Greenville for a convention or conference, I would ask them what they thought of our downtown.

Nine times out of 10, they would answer that they never made it downtown. They saw Pleasantburg Drive and maybe some of Haywood Road before heading back to the airport or hitting the highway.

I am a salesman by trade, and we call this a missed opportunity. When you have a great product, let it sell itself. Let people experience it themselves.

You hear stories of executives stopping through Greenville and falling in love with the city. Of them getting on the phone and telling their real estate broker to add Greenville to the list of cities the company might be considering for a new office. We need more executives visiting Greenville—specifically, downtown Greenville. A signature downtown facility with the backdrop of a beautiful, walkable, energetic downtown would give conference organizers around the country a reason to hold next year’s conference in the city everyone’s talking about.

I am excited to hear the city of Greenville is taking a hard look at this opportunity, putting out a request for proposals for a feasibility study for a possible downtown convention center. I can’t wait to see what comes of this study. I am a big fan of Chris Stone and his team at VisitGreenvilleSC, and I think if they had a jewel like this located in our walkable downtown, Un as a result. you would see a large economic impact ive SC Governor’s School rs These visitors would be spending their ity money St downtown at restaurants, hotels, movie theaters and

6 | RETAIL & HOSPITALITY |

RETAIL AND HOSPITALITY UPDATES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

UBJ

|

02.13.2015

The Latest Cianciola’s, a New York-style grocer and deli, is now open for business in the former Natural Baby space at 11 College Street, just around the corner from North Main Street in downtown Greenville.

The Comedy Zone, a comedy nightclub located on the third floor, will be opening February 20.

The Local Taco, a TexMex-meets-Southern-foodmeets-locally-sourced restaurant off Augusta Road, announced it will open its second Upstate location on Pelham Road and I-85 in the Earth Fare Plaza in late spring or early summer.

In national news, Radio Shack announced it has filed for bankruptcy and will be closing 1,784 stores by March 31. In the Upstate that means these locations will be closing: • 1505 Woodruff Road, Greenville • 3621 Pelham Road, Greenville • 700 Haywood Road, Haywood Mall, Greenville • 6135 White Horse Road, Greenville • 3700 Liberty Highway, Anderson • 1915 E. Main Street, Spartanburg • 205 W. Blackstock Road, Westgate Mall, Spartanburg

A three-in-one entertainment experience in the former Grille 33 space at 221 N. Main St. is now two-thirds open. On the first floor is Kilpatrick’s Public House, a restaurant serving up both American and Irish fare. Pour Boutique Lounge, a wine and champagne bar, occupies the second floor. Both venues are now open.

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upstatebusinessjournal.com

Span-America Medical Systems [NASDAQ:SPAN] For first quarter 2015 ended

Jan. 3, 2015 THE NEWS: Net income for the quarter was up 46 percent compared with the same time last year.

The year started off tight, but picked up in October, when several medium-sized corporate orders drove performance during the quarter. On the down side, Span-America’s custom products business dropped because large retail customers were not beginning to ship until the end of November, the company reported.

STOCK QUOTE: “One of the big questions that’s on everybody’s minds – we get it from everybody from our board to our shareholders – [is] ‘With oil pricing being down dramatically, what’s happening with the price of foam?’

Relatively, we had to say that we have had very little movement in the price over foam. We’ve had a small click downward, but not to the extent that we would have expected,” Jim Ferguson, president and CEO of Span-America Medical Systems, said during an investor call.

THE NUMBERS: Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2015 rose 46 percent to $970,000, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared with $666,000, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2015 were up 6 percent to $15.7 million compared with $14.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Earnings for the first quarter increased by 46 percent to $970,000, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared with $666,000, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the first quarter last year. The earnings growth was due to the significant increase in medical sales volume compared with the first quarter of last year.

NEWS

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8 | WORKFORCE |

NEWS

UBJ

|

02.13.2015

Parents a key factor in fighting ‘dirty jobs’ stigma State’s textile history creates misperceptions about modern manufacturing careers, experts say ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

Despite spending millions on sparkling job development centers, industry festivals, STEM education initiatives and workforce development programs, South Carolina’s history as a textile hub still haunts efforts at building its skilled jobs pipeline.

While companies and schools are making headway with the students themselves, reaching parents—significant influencers when it comes to their children’s careers—hasn’t been as easy.

“There’s a big misconception when it comes to what manufacturing is today versus what textiles used to be in the past,” said Spartanburg Community College Director of Recruiting Luke Black. Students can be on board with a technical career, only to go home and have their parents shut it

down, he said. “Parents just want what’s best for their children, but they’ve been burnt in the past when it comes to textiles.”

Proof of South Carolina’s deep manufacturing history is everywhere, from the dozens of shuttered textile mills and abandoned rail lines to residual mill communities still alive in the Upstate. Work in those mills used to be hard, with long hours, often unsafe working conditions and little job security, but today, that perception is far from reality, said Spartanburg Community College President Henry Giles.

“It’s not a dirty job,” said Giles, who oversees the school’s 100 programs of study across the school’s five campuses. “The perception of a lot of people in the industry is wrong and that keeps people from saying, ‘I want to work in industry. I can make a good living there.’”

OVERLOOKED OPPORTUNITIES The manufacturing industry has made steady gains in the past several years with increased productivity and hiring activity, according to a 2014 Accenture and The Manufacturing Institute report. More than 50 percent of surveyed companies plan to increase

children, said Greenville Technical College Business and Technology Dean Joel Welch.

“What parents hammer on is career advancement, so they’re looking for opportunities for their children to advance and they don’t see that career path as clearly in a manufacturing

“A big piece of that is awareness, and that is really reaching out primarily to parents and grandparents to talk about the opportunity.”

Joel Welch, Greenville Technical College business and technology dean U.S.-based production by at least 5 percent during the next five years, but more than 75 percent report moderate to severe shortages of skilled resources, according to the report.

Part of the problem is a lack of knowledge about potential with technical colleges and manufacturing, where parents don’t tend to see as many opportunities for their

field,” he said. “A big piece of that is awareness, and that is really reaching out primarily to parents and grandparents to talk about the opportunity and ability to advance and just the incredible jobs that are available with a two-year degree.”

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NEWS

many of which are likely to be technical, said Giles.

“It’s scary,” he said. “Not all of those jobs will be technical jobs, but there will be a good bit of automation. ... Even the floor worker will have to work with computers, which will require technical ability.”

>> 2015, while Gov. Nikki Haley introduced yet another workforce development program during her State of the State address in January.

A strong, skilled workforce pipeline is key to attracting and taking care of

businesses within the state, industry leaders say. In January alone, the S.C. Department of Commerce made three announcements for new operations in Spartanburg County, which would create a combined 746 jobs,

PERCEPTION IS KEY The state—as well as companies and educational institutions—has been working on building Photo provided a skilled workforce for decades. Established 50 years ago, the S.C. Technical College System includes 16 colleges statewide, and works through programs such as readySC and Apprenticeship Carolina to train workers for specific employers and industries.

More recently, the state established the Regional Education Centers program in 2005 to build awareness with students, parents and educators about education and workforce development resources, trends and needs.

The goal of the 12 RECs is to train educators on how to develop students’ skills, said Upstate REC Director Cherie Pressley. She works with stakeholders in Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union with workshops and classes. In her time with the program, she said, perceptions of manufacturing jobs are making progress.

“There was a time that when I talked about manufacturing, I would even get snubbed by the educators, and that’s not true anymore,” she said. “It’s a trickle-down thing. You’ve got to get

| WORKFORCE | 9

“It makes a difference to parents and their perceptions about what opportunities are available to their child going to a community college versus a technical college. Indeed, the technical college, for a lot of people, brought up dirty, short-term career focus,” he said, noting the name change did not lead to changes in curriculum or programs. “I didn’t think it would matter … but it matters to the parents, it matters to the teachers and counselors who are trying to work with students… they see it as a better opportunity for their student, that it opens more horizons.”

SEEKING ENGAGEMENT Part of the solution is parent, counselor, educator and student awareness events and campaigns, industry leaders say. This month, for example, 300 area middle school girls will hear from industry leaders about opportunities for women in STEAM careers in South Carolina’s automotive industry.

The event—a collaboration between the Southern Automotive Women’s Forum, the S.C. Automotive Council and CU-ICAR—was specifically designed to include the students’ parents, teachers and counselors, who will report back to their schools and local parent groups about the event, said S.C. Automotive Council Executive Director Catherine Hayes.

“If you don’t get the parents, counselors and teachers engaged, you’re not going to make a difference,” Hayes said, noting she’s seen firsthand the effect of counselors on students’ future careers in the industry. “What we’ve heard is the first step is to get the teacher and counselor on board, so they even suggest it. Then, if the parent doesn’t see that as an avenue, even if teachers and counselors suggest it, they’re going to nix it.”

In the end, it’s taken a long time to make a dent in the view of manufac-

“Parents just want what’s best for their children, but they’ve been burnt in the past when it comes to textiles.”

Luke Black, director of recruiting, Spartanburg Community College

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your parents and educators’ perceptions changed.”

In 2006, the Spartanburg school went as far as to change its name from Spartanburg Technical College to Spartanburg Community College, which has had a surprising effect, said Giles.

turing as a short-term, often unsafe occupation, Black said—and even more time and effort will be required.

“We have to change that perception, but it’s been there so long that it takes time,” he said. “It takes time, but you still have to push it.”

10 | RETAIL |

NEWS

UBJ

|

02.13.2015

J. Britt Boutique aims at downtown niche SHERRY JACKSON | STAFF

sjackson@communityjournals.com

An upscale women’s clothing boutique is coming to the former Crepes on Main space at 203 N. Main St. in downtown Greenville.

J. Britt Boutique, derived from owner Brittany Petrilla’s name, will feature “contemporary brands” with styles from “boho to girly-girl.” It will be a little of everything with a variety of styles, Petrilla said.

Petrilla said she has been going to fashion markets in Atlanta and New York, looking for the best brands to carry. The boutique won’t just be for 20-somethings, either; she said she plans on offering styles that women in their 40s and 50s will enjoy. Sizes will range from 0 to size 10 and extra-small to large.

The store will also carry accessories and jewelry.

Brands will include designers Johnny Was, boutique. She graduated from North Carolina State Nanette Lepore, Laundry, Henry and Belle and many University with a degree in fashion and textile others. Petrilla said items will management, and spent the be in the hundred-dollar past 10 years in retail and range, T-shirts around $60, fashion, including an internWHAT YOU’LL FIND AT J. BRITT: and “special pieces” in the ship at the Donna Karan Company in New York. $300 and up range. She is Petrilla moved to Greenalso planning on holding ville about two years ago and trunk shows and special events throughout the year. said despite other women’s The 2,300-square-foot boutiques already downtown, she believes she is filling a store will offer a lounge area in the back with a niche with the brands TV and refreshments for the she will be carrying, the selection and range of styles guys who don’t like to shop. and the store itself. With no “I want to make it a comfortable and relaxing environbig-box stores downtown, ment,” she said. she said it’s a great place for Petrilla said she was drawn boutiques to thrive, “matchto the exposed brick and large ing the uniqueness of downfront window the space town Greenville.” offers. Mitchell Contracting Petrilla said she’s here for is handling the renovations, the long haul and is looking which include flooring, forward to “being able to lighting and painting. grow as Greenville grows.”

Petrilla says her goal has She expects to open J. Britt always been to open her own in late April or early May.

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upstatebusinessjournal.com

THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF BUSINESS

Be my valentine, GPS?

By LAURA HAIGHT, president, portfoliosc.com How will technology help you make an impression this Valentine’s Day? You find the coolest new restaurant by following your Instagram friends and get Siri (or Cortana) to make reservations for you. You’re a romantic so you send a digital rose via text to your SO, but text the restaurant to have the real thing on the table. You order an Uber from your smartphone app to chauffeur you. And maybe try out your new Nest lighting scheme when you get home...

All because of mobile apps, and most particularly the workhorse of them all: GPS. Without much fanfare, GPS shares its birthday with Valentine’s Day. This year marks the 26th anniversary of the start of the GPS era that began with the launch of the first commercial GPS satellite. Today, more than 12,000 miles overhead, armed with atomic clocks and GPS technology that traces its origins to Sputnik, 24 satellites triangulate signals to feed the massive GPS system that has changed the way we live and work.

The integration of GPS with mobile communications is generally referred to as telematics, and there are quite a few applications that you may or may not have considered. Large businesses with huge vehicle fleets almost certainly are already utilizing telematics. But what about a local florist, or pizza joint?

A significant application of GPS is employee tracking, logging and geo-fencing. You may be familiar with geo-fencing from apps on your mobile phone. Your loyalty card pops up on your phone when you get near the store? That’s geo-fencing. Apps to help monitor your kids’ driving set geo-fencing limits and send a text message to parents when the car gets outside the virtual boundary.

The other side of the benefit for small businesses is the employee

privacy element. Obviously each of the ideas that follow has the potential to be viewed negatively by employees. You should assess the risks and benefits. But that said, here are three GPS applications that can help you manage your business and staff.

1. VEHICLE AND ASSET TRACKING. The ability to use GPS to track vehicles is old school, but the availability for small businesses to utilize the same tools that the big boys do has become more feasible in recent years as the technology matured and—naturally— prices came down. Of course, there are companies that sell complete turnkey solutions, like Verizon’s Networkfleet. But more engaging are build-your-own solutions that integrate out-of-the-box apps for a customized solution.

You’ve already got the GPS—in your mobile devices, in your vehicles—now just figure out what you want to do with it. Tracking delivery or service routes can provide data to optimize routes, save on gas and streamline logistic costs.

Knowing the exact location of your sales or service team at any given time can help redirect resources and improve customer service.

2. EMPLOYEE MONITORING. Ever wonder what your outside staff are doing outside? OK, this is a sticky

wicket, a slippery slope and any number of other alliterative cliches.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t used— legally—in thousands of businesses.

In fact, according to a 2012 report by the Aberdeen Group, 37 percent of companies monitor employees’ real-time locations via vehicle or cellphone tracking.

Smart employee cards and RFID chips are useful tracking tools so long as the employee is in the building, but what about sales, service and remote employees? Businesses say GPS tracking isn’t a tool to catch people doing something wrong—although that may be a by-product—but a means to improve productivity and increase efficiency. Legally, employers enjoy fairly broad rights in this area— so long as the employee is using company equipment. (The Society for Human Relationship Management: http://goo.gl/B5l9px) 3. GEO-FENCING. This has both an employee and a sales component. At its most basic, geo-fencing is a virtual barrier and while it can’t keep people contained, it can notify you when they stray. Trucks that vary from their delivery routes, sales staff who stray outside their territories and office staff whose lunch meetings take place on golf courses can all be identified with geo-fencing. But that’s the pejorative side.

There’s also a mobile marketing opportunity that triggers an action when people wander in, not stray out.

A mobile app could be programmed to deliver a coupon or sales flyer when a customer wanders inside the geofence. Mobile application development is widely accessible with a growing— and cost-beneficial—development community. GPS can provide robust customer targeting.

The space program is responsible for many of the innovations that dramatically changed day-to-day life—from Velcro to microwave ovens. For GPS, it all began with one radio beep from Sputnik cruising through space.

| DIGITAL MAVEN | 11

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12 | INNOVATE |

UBJ

MOVERS, SHAKERS AND DISRUP TORS SHAPING OUR FUTURE

|

02.13.2015

The time is now for intrapreneurship

By GAIL DEPRIEST,

director of corporate relations & leadership development, Clemson MBA

Do you have ideas for your business that you are not yet sharing at work? Do you see ways you could improve the status quo but are not sure how to gain buy-in and implement your ideas?

You might be destined to be an intrapreneur.

Named as a Top 10 workplace trend for 2013 by Forbes, intrapreneurship is not a new concept.

However, it may just be the right time for this disruptive idea to take off.

Intrapreneurs are people who work within organizations who are constantly looking for ways to make improvements, introduce new initiatives or change how the company works. They give companies a distinct advantage because they create efficiencies that impact the bottom line, initiate new business ideas and keep the company competitive in their markets with new product and service ideas.

Intrapreneurship is a powerful response to the changes that are taking place in the business world.

As a teacher of MBA students and an intrapreneur myself, I have challenged my working professional MBA students since 2008 to create more value in their current roles. I want them to build a great

resume of going above and beyond their basic responsibilities by increasing revenue, decreasing cost, improving morale, improving a process, implementing a green initiative or any combination thereof. I want them to realize they have the front line view to see areas for improvement that no one else might see.

Some of my favorite projects this year are from: BRETT MILLER, a sales engineer for Draexlmaier, had put on the back burner a particular idea when the “Innovation at Work” challenge reignited his thinking about it, prompting him to do some research, pull in some data and revisit an existing supply chain strategy. His company has facilities in South Carolina and Mexico that support the interior production of the BMW X3/X4. By resourcing sub-supplier components closer to the area of production, as well as eliminating non-value-added material handling downstream, his company could realize potential savings of $640,000 throughout the remainder of the program.

Brett’s project has been pitched, and he has received the support to kick off the evaluation and investigate in further detail.

long-term growth. While there are already a number of outlets for crumb rubber from road building to decking planks, Justin’s goal was to review long-term profitability and new uses of crumb rubber, leveraging South Carolina’s lower manufacturing costs and engineering resources to develop a new business.

This will ultimately involve developing the required machinery and a manufacturing process to optimize the recycling process. Once this is complete his team will license and sell the product and process to their large dealers in each marketplace.

So far, Justin has received support for moving forward on this project, which could create a new business unit within Michelin and an additional source of revenue.

12 JUSTIN MACLANDERS, a key account manager for Michelin, began his project revisiting the different uses of crumb rubber based on profitability and

LIBBY BOERGER works for Greenville Health System, and had come to realize her department needed to improve training. She was concerned about employee retention and overall employee effectiveness. She is currently re-imagining her department’s training program, focusing on a 12month structured calendar with updated files so that employees can see accurate, efficient and independent training slated over the course of the year.

Her process improvement project could result in greater employee satisfaction, less employee turnover and dollars for her organization.

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upstatebusinessjournal.com How do companies benefit by empowering intrapreneurs?

PERFORMANCE: The economic landscape has been changing drastically and at a high speed. We all know that profound shifts are happening and we are faced with a new normal. Companies that are

MOVERS, SHAKERS AND DISRUP TORS SHAPING OUR FUTURE

embracing intrapreneurship are able to leverage the creativity and passion of their people while staying agile and competitive. Research indicates that intrapreneurial companies outperform non-intrapreneurial companies in several business-critical areas: sales growth, profitability and market share.

DEFINED Intrapreneur: An inside entrepreneur, or an entrepreneur within a large firm, who uses entrepreneurial skills without incurring the risks associated with those activities.

Usually employees within a company who are assigned a special idea or project, instructed to develop the project like an entrepreneur would.

Usually have the resources and capabilities of the firm at their disposal.

Main job is to turn that special idea or project into a profitable venture for the company.

Source: Investopedia

3

| INNOVATE | 13

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: In the top-down hierarchies of yesterday, people simply did what the manager told them to do. But in the current complex world of business, more is needed. Most employees are sitting on ideas that they think will be beneficial to the business, but may not be sure how to implement them. Employees who are empowered to actively pursue ideas with the potential of adding value to the bottom line feel ownership and are more fulfilled.

CONSUMER DEMANDS: There is big profit to be made from new services, new business models, new delivery methods and new target markets. Pioneering in these fields is exactly what intrapreneurs love to do.

Intrapreneurship is a fundamental shift in thinking about how to run a business with the potential for great rewards. I leave you with a quote from the Boston Consulting Group 2014 Global Innovators Survey: “The cultures of most large organizations tend to thwart innovation rather than promote it. Bureaucracy, cost consciousness and caution come to define the way many companies operate. Talented people don’t want to work in bureaucracies. They want to work in companies where they can get things done.

Size can give you scale, but for innovation, speed is more critical. The best companies are slowly but surely involving a growing number of employees in their innovation efforts. Innovation is not just the goal of the R&D department anymore.”

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14 | WORKING WELL |

UBJ

GOOD HEALTH IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

|

02.13.2015

Workplace wellness programs offer true profit sharing LiveWell, Greenville At Work group

What if talk of utilizing all of an employee’s sick days turned to discussion of extra paid time off earned by staff who participated in three races the preceding year?

Or, perhaps, a walking group recently formed at your company after a health screening raised funds to plant an organic garden in the area where courtyard snack machines once stood?

Consider a group of smokers who joined together after completing a smoking cessation program at work to provide mutual support and hold one another accountable, thereby cutting your tobacco user insurance premiums in half.

Carving out time and using resources to allow employees to improve their personal health not only aids in the wellness and quality of life of each individual in an organization, but also lifts the morale and environment of the workplace. Nothing says “we care about you” more than providing incentive and opportunity for an individual to improve his health and that of his family (well, that and the almighty dollar).

Opportunity for mutually beneficial health and wellness programming can take many forms.

Ranging from health fairs and health screenings to wellness education classes and tobacco cessation programs, each is beneficial to the employee and the organization.

A workplace wellness programs (WWP) study completed by RAND Health and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services derived that “em-

PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYERS REPORTING BENEFITS FROM THEIR WELLNESS PROGRAM

BENEFIT AREA

By MARGARET BAREST,

Medical Cost

61%

Absenteeism

78%

Productivity

80%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Source: RAND Employer Survey, 2012.

Note: The graph represents information from the subset of employers with at least 50 employees that offer a wellness program (51 percent)

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upstatebusinessjournal.com ployers view the impact of their wellness programs overwhelmingly as positive. More than 60 percent stated that their program reduced health care cost, and approximately four-fifths reported that it decreased absenteeism and increased productivity.”

Nothing says “we care about you” more than providing incentive and opportunity for an individual to improve his health and that of his family.

Additionally, one prevalent employer in the study found that 50 percent of participants reduced their BMI upon completion of its healthy eating and lifestyle management program, which offered nutrition education, telephonic health coaching, and online tracking. Additionally, 92 percent achieved a blood pressure reduction, 83 percent improved blood sugar levels and cholesterol improvements were realized by 100 percent of participants.

An additional benefit of providing even one wellness event is the offshoot of groups of employees who have found a mutual desire to get in shape, quit smoking or lose that extra 15 pounds. The power of many reigns among wellness initiatives and is shown in the WWP study where among employers studied, smoking rates decreased over time even among those smokers who did not participate in the tobacco cessation program, as well as reduction in smoking participants of a program.

Fortunately, organizations interested in either initiating or enhancing a health and wellness event or program have many options according to the size and scope of their workplace as

GOOD HEALTH IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

well as the needs of the employees. If a company is taking serious interest in initiating an effective program for employees, a good place to begin could be with a health fair. This exhibits numerous options for an individual to explore anything from improving eating habits with a nutrition program to managing stress with yoga and meditation. This is an opportunity to track where employees stop, speak with vendors and walk away with health and wellness literature.

A subsequent health screening provides detailed information about the scope of health of a company and can allow administrators to home in on what programming is most critical for their staff, be it diabetes or hypertension management, tobacco cessation, weight or stress management or any number of wellness objectives.

Ideas for company-wide programming will naturally stem from there, allowing members of an organization the opportunity to work on their own personal health at work as well as at home. Return on investment on company health and wellness is remunerative as the strength of a company depends on the strength of each individual within.

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| WORKING WELL | 15

by the Purveyors of Classic American Style

Mr. Valentine For Valentine’s Day, you might think of giving flowers, special candies and a sweet card expressing the love and admiration for your special someone… and that is a great start! Maybe you’ve made reservations at that new restaurant or purchased tickets to the main event downtown.

You have planned for the day—but did you ask yourself, what am I going to wear?

Don’t just think about the logistics of the day—follow through and dress for the occasion. I bet the woman in your life will feel special that you did.

How you dress is an important form of expression. Your special someone will notice that you’ve thought about the date from buying the gift, booking the reservations to paying special attention in choosing how to dress --especially for her.

You might have planned a casual, more intimate evening to spend with your Valentine. The thoughtfulness of a low-key evening doesn’t mean to neglect your attire. So dress the part. A handsome sweater over a button down shirt matched with a comfortable, yet sporty pair of pants could just be the look that you desire. If you know that you will be attending social event, take that into consideration and chose a suit or fun sport coat and trousers coupled with an unforgettable dress shirt and tie. Dress with the intent to impress your special someone…she will notice! “How do you compliment the one you love…dress well.”

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16 | PROFESSIONAL |

UBJ

STRATEGIES FOR HONING YOUR PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

|

02.13.2015

5 ways you’re leaving yourself open to employee complaints

By BRIAN MURPHY, attorney, Stephenson & Murphy, LLC

Too many small, and sometimes large, employers have learned the hard way that common assumptions about employment law lead to costly mistakes. Take, for instance, the story of JoAnn—an entrepreneur who, while likely never condoning any unlawful conduct, is potentially facing an expensive battle because of the way her management responded to an issue.

JoAnn walked into the office of Michael, the site manager at one of her companies. She presented a “charge of discrimination” form she received from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“Who is this guy, and what’s this about? It says he worked here, was called racist names, and then fired when he complained.”

Michael read and thought for a minute. “I remember him. He was a temp and only here a few days. A real lazy whiner. He did say something about his lead man making comments. Someone told the temp firm not to send him out again or he quit before I could look into it.” Michael read further.

“Hey, no problem. It says here this Title VII law only covers employers with 15 or more employees, and

we only have 12 on that payroll. Plus, he was not even our employee.”

“Well, all right,” JoAnn replied, “it doesn’t look like anything to worry about. Just send this EEOC a letter and that should be the end of it.”

Contrary to JoAnn’s belief, the former temporary employee will be able to sue JoAnn and her compan(ies). Her management’s response has left her and the business exposed. Her company has committed five of the most common mistakes employers make in responding to complaints of harassment and discrimination.

1. Wrongly assuming the law does not cover you Although JoAnn believes she has nothing to worry about because of Title VII’s employee threshold, she is mistaken, for numerous reasons. First, while Title VII is limited to employers with 15 employees, the claims here are race-based. There is another federal law that prohibits racial discrimination and retaliation that is more powerful than Title VII. Another statute, known as “Section 1981,” prohibits discrimination and retaliation by employers, regardless of size. Under Section 1981, individuals can be sued and there are no caps on punitive or other damages as there are under Title VII. Finally, depending on the claim, the employee can sue up to four years after the fact without ever having gone through the EEOC.

There are several other ways that JoAnn’s company may be covered. First, under many circumstances, temporary employees may be counted along with the employees paid directly by the company for purposes of determining that the law applies. Second, the number of employees at all of JoAnn’s companies may be aggregated under a “single employer” analysis depending on how they are managed and run.

Although this is a problem for small employers when it comes to Title VII, similar rules apply for other employment statutes like the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which have higher thresholds and are even more costly to administer.

An employee complaint may lack merit, but when it appears that the employer was more interested in disputing it than investigating and resolving it, the chances of going to trial increase significantly.

2. “Not my employee, not my problem” Many employers mistakenly rely on temporary service contracts, which state that employees are employed by the temporary service. The law often takes a different view. The EEOC and the courts employ a “joint employer” analysis, which recogniz-

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upstatebusinessjournal.com es that more than one entity may exercise control over the individual’s employment to qualify as an employer. If JoAnn’s company was controlling the individual’s work and providing the supervision, chances are good that it will be considered an employer of the temporary employee.

3. Treating the complaint as the problem A common mistake, even in the largest corporations, is to treat the complaint as the problem to be solved.

Companies that react with a “bunker mentality” focus on the complaining individual and start to defend themselves, rather than address the core issue. An employee complaint may lack merit, but when it appears that the employer was more interested in disputing it than investigating and resolving it, the chances of going to trial increase significantly.

4. Thinking there’s nothing more to do once the employee is gone Most employers are aware that they have a duty to investigate harassment claims. Should an employer, however, investigate once the problem is “over” because the employee is gone?

It’s a trick question. The employee’s

STRATEGIES FOR HONING YOUR PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

| PROFESSIONAL | 17

departure may signal that the company’s problems are just beginning.

An employer should sincerely investigate and reach out to even former employees. If the individual will not cooperate, the employer can at least show a good-faith attempt to investigate. There may be other potential witnesses to interview or evidence (e.g. security video, emails) that should be reviewed and preserved. A lawsuit may not be filed for years, and trying to get the evidence at that late date will be difficult, at best.

5. Not having an objective review of the situation The only persons who appear to have made any decisions here are the individual accused of harassment and possibly Michael, who summarily dismissed the concerns and did no investigation. Nobody ensured that both sides were heard, that statements and evidence were preserved, or that any legitimate concerns were addressed. The company’s opportunity to present a defensible narrative has been compromised.

A few simple measures on management’s part would have better protected JoAnn and her company from what may now become an expensive case to defend.

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18 | COVER |

HEALTHCARE INC.

UBJ

|

02.13.2015

Quality, not quantity Fee-for-service is on life support, Upstate experts say—while a new model for health care revenue is soon to be delivered

Hospitals are not getting paid for readmissions ty providers “willing to do the things they need to for certain conditions when in the past they would do to make sure that all of their outcomes are supebe reimbursed, Sinopoli said. Clinicians know they rior,” Sinopoli said. can deliver good care, but “we PAID BY “EPISODE just have to figure out interDEFINED OF CARE” nally how we can control our CMS officials believe costs to make up for that Accountable Care Organization Medicare’s fee-for-service (ACO): Groups of doctors, hospitals decrease in revenue,” he said. model, which paid health and other health care providers who Johnna Reed, vice presicare providers for individual come together voluntarily to give dent of population health at illnesses or courses of treatcoordinated high-quality care to their APRIL A. MORRIS | STAFF Bon Secours St. Francis, ment, fragments care and Medicare patients. Federal ACOs are amorris@communityjournals.com agreed, noting St. Francis is rated on 33 quality measures ranging creates a disconnect among implementing lean processes from patient/caregiver experience providers. The agency is (Six Sigma) to streamline and patient safety to preventive testing a new method that With federal payments to health care prohealth and monitoring at-risk patients the delivery system and provides one payment for an viders, particularly hospitals, becoming more dewith conditions like diabetes and eliminate cost and waste. “We “episode of care”: a set of hypertension.

Bon Secours St. pendent on quality instead of volume, Upstate are doing everything we can services or care continuum to Francis joined an ACO in 2010 and providers are devising ways to deliver quality care to engineer waste out of our Greenville Health System joined one perform a procedure or treat that is carefully monitored in the face of potentially system,” she said. on Jan. 1, 2015. an illness. decreasing revenue.

Expansion is another apProponents say bundling a The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid proach to reducing cost, Episode of care: All of the services payment for all the services Services (CMS) launched a movement in the wake Sinopoli said—but not needed for a patient with a specific required to treat an illness or of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to incentivize through construction. Stateillness or condition. For example, an perform a procedure aligns providers to shift away from a fee-for-service model episode of care for knee replacement wide, the number of hospital the providers and reduces that rewards volume to a comprehensive model that would include: orthopedist beds may not increase as duplication, therefore reducevaluation, X-rays, surgery, inpatient rewards quality instead. New programs penalize consistently as it has in ing costs. The challenge for rehabilitation and outpatient physical hospitals for readmissions and hospital-acquired years past. “The trend now is therapy.

Medicare is testing one providers is to understand all infections by reducing payments, and new payment to really think hard about payment for an episode of care for of the costs that go into an models reward providers for meeting quality metrics that [expansion through certain conditions. episode of care for a particufor such chronic conditions as diabetes and asthma. building] because of the lar procedure or condition, expense,” he said.

DOING MORE WITH LESS Bundled payment: One payment for Sinopoli says.

Expansion will more likely all the services needed for an episode Providers now “have to give care in a lower-cost Many health care systems of care. take the form of adding more setting,” said Dr. Angelo Sinopoli, chief medical are experimenting with epiproviders to a system’s officer and VP of clinical integration for Greenville sodes of care. GHS has network. “The larger a geoHealth System (GHS). not done any bundled payments to date, but will graphic footprint, the better able we are to manage Hospitals and other providers know they will get look at the model in the future, Sinopoli said. patients who come from those regions and to better less revenue relative to inflation and must devise Bon Secours St. Francis is pursuing bundled manage employees of workplaces scattered around strategies to remain viable, he said. “The trick is payments with several payers and employers, Reed the Upstate,” he said. doing all that and providing care that is just as much said. St. Francis is investigating how to remove waste Those who join the network must be high-qualior better quality.” in the transitions between pre-hospital, hospital stay and post-hospital, she said. “We are looking for ways to improve the quality, improve the patient experi“We get one payment [from Medicaid] regardless how long that patient is there [in the hospital] ence and how to take cost out.” and regardless of the resources we consume to deliver that care.”

Big data plays a part in this analysis. Bon Secours Bon Secours St. Francis VP of population health Johnna Reed Medical Group, with more than 200 physicians, is on giving quality care and reducing waste. studying beneficiaries who use the group as a >>

upstatebusinessjournal.com

HEALTHCARE INC.

tiple days waiting in the >> primary medical home,

BY THE NUMBERS: Reed said. They discovered hospital can increase a pathat 30 percent of patients tient’s risk for developing enrolled in a health care plan pneumonia, Reed said. A speedier response leads to a that Bon Secours contracted with included at-risk compofaster recovery and fewer Medicare fee-for-service payments in 2014, nents, meaning payment incomplications, she said. according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) centives for providers were “We get one payment tied to quality outcome or care [from Medicaid] regardless coordination metrics, she of how long that patient is said. there and regardless of the Ensuring those quality resources we consume to National health expenditure in 2013, 17.4 outcomes are met will create deliver that care,” Reed said. percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) “Engineering processes into costs for health care systems, which must dedicate resourcthe way we take care of paes to monitor, document and tients every day—that’s benchmark performance, where it starts to result in some pretty big savings.”

Reed said. Health systems Predicted average annual growth of health Experts also predict also must provide staff to care spending 2015-2023 due to Affordable Care Act coverage expansion, economic savings will happen down monitor patients after disgrowth and aging of the population charge in this model, another the road when health care cost generator, Sinopoli said. providers choose the correct GHS helped launch My and most cost-effective postHealth First Network, which links health care netcare setting for patients. A readmission can potenworks like GHS, Self Regional Healthcare and tially double the cost of an episode of care, they said.

Baptist Easley and independent providers willing to HUMAN ELEMENT commit to meeting specific quality standards for Working against the push for lean processes is the delivering care. Network members receive a report consumerist attitude of some patients when card that grades them on 72 metrics of care. Providmaking health care choices, Reed said. “There’s a ers can also join accountable care organizations tremendous amount of consumerism pressure on (ACO), which coordinate care for Medicare patients. providers,” she said.

$362 billion $2.9 trillion 6%

TARGETING THE HIGHEST RISK

For example, if a patient decides he needs an X-ray—whether recommended or not—he may shop around for a doctor who is willing to authorize the procedure, she said.

In addition, making sure a patient with a chronic condition follows a daily regimen can also be tricky. Hospital officials it is accelerating the move to a quality-based payment model and anticipate spending money set a goal of tying 30 percent formerly fee-for-service Medicare on community outreach staff to help keep those payments to quality or value through alternative payment models patients healthy and out of by the end of 2016. By the end of 2018, the goal is 50 percent of the hospital.

Focusing on high-risk populations is a way to reduce hospital admissions and readmissions, which are drivers of high cost, said Reed. As people live

On Jan. 26, CMS announced payments tied to the new models.

longer, multiple chronic conditions that come along with long lives also contribute to rising costs.

A large number of Medicare recipients have multiple chronic conditions, Reed said, and St. Francis has used claims data to determine at-risk populations and conditions and create teams that focus on those. If a patient is at risk for osteoporosis, “the treatment for a fall and broken hip would be treated like [the equivalent of] a heart attack. The team reduces the time to a CAT scan and surgery to within a day,” she said.

This approach reduces the time a patient must wait for surgery, which has been sometimes up to three days, and the amount of narcotic pain medication given, which can cause complications. Mul-

NEW CONVERSATIONS Connecting providers, whether they are part of a system’s health care network or independent, has been a new necessity and benefit, Reed said. “The providers [outside the hospital] are becoming increasingly involved.”

| COVER | 19

Episodes of care The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is studying ways to make payments to providers for a group of services related to one condition rather than a series of individual services, called bundled payments for episodes of care.

Knee replacement episode of care: Orthopedist evaluation, X-rays, surgery, inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient physical therapy.

What conditions may qualify for bundled payments?

• Acute myocardial infarction • Amputation • Back and neck except spinal fusion • Cardiac defibrillator • Cellulitis • Cervical spinal fusion • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease • Congestive heart failure • Diabetes • Esophagitis, gastroenteritis and other digestive disorders • Double joint replacement of the lower extremity • Fractures femur and hip/pelvis • Gastrointestinal obstruction • Nutritional and metabolic disorders • Pacemaker • Renal failure • Sepsis • Simple pneumonia and respiratory infections • Spinal fusion (non-cervical) • Stroke • Urinary tract infection

St. Francis is creating new collaborations and partnerships with providers like community health centers, nursing facilities, home health, rehabilitation and hospice. “Those were conversations we weren’t having before because we were only concentrating on that one organization that was part of one particular episode of care,” she said.

Connection and collaboration are beneficial for patients and the community at large, Reed said. “The healthier our community, we’re going to each realize individual benefits from that.”

22 | COVER |

UBJ

HEALTHCARE INC.

Rising standards may worsen SC’s nursing pinch Four-year degree requirements could create stress in nursing pipeline ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

Several Upstate hospitals are requiring some nurses to have a four-year degree or to promise they’ll go back to school—often during their free hours—in a costly and market-squeezing move that would put pressure on the state’s already tight nursing workforce.

“It’s a definite hit upside the head when people first hear it,” said S.C. Nurses Association CEO Judith Curfman Thompson. While the call for baccalaureate-educated nurses isn’t new, recent research is causing hospitals to shift focus to the future, she said. For people who don’t have four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees, “it’s causing a great anxiety and upsetness.”

South Carolina already has a problem with its nurse workforce pipeline. The Palmetto State has been a net importer of nurses for a number of years, with over half of its newly licensed nurses coming from out of state. Part of the reason is the state doesn’t have the capacity to educate the number of nurses it needs, said Thompson.

NARROWING OPPORTUNITIES The decision narrows the field of opportunity for two-year degree nurses, according to Catherine Garner, Greenville Health System’s executive director for nursing practice and academics. Nurses with two-year degrees make up 55 percent of the Upstate’s and 53 percent of the state’s registered nurse workforce, according to data from the state’s Office for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning (OHWAP).

“We still interview and hire two-year nurses in this facility, and we still pay for their education to go back to school, but we ask them to be committed to doing that,” said Susan Duggar, chief nursing officer and president of nursing at Spartanburg

Regional Medical Center. “If they come in and say they have no desire to go back to school, we most likely will not hire them.”

In October 2012, the medical center began requiring newly hired nurses to either have a BSN or agree to pursue one within a certain amount of time for them to work in the critical care or emergency center. The result has been better patient outcomes in those areas, she said, and the goal is for 80 percent of bedside staff to be baccalaureate-educated by 2020, she said.

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02.13.2015

REGISTERED NURSES BY HIGHEST EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, EXCLUDING ADVANCED PRACTICe NURSES

STATEWIDE: RN Diploma: 5.9% 1,425 frequency Associates degree in nursing: 52.6% 12,644 frequency

BSN or higher: 41.3% A BUSINESS DECISION 9.938 frequency Part of the push is because the center is a certified magnet hosUnknown: .2% 39 frequency pital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Spartanburg Medical is one of three South Carolina hospitals with the distinction, one of two in the Upstate and the only one to have been designated twice, according to Duggar.

Magnet hospitals are recognized for UPSTATE: valuing and emphasizing nursing care, which translates to a more attractive RN Diploma: 4.5% working environment for new nurses 332 frequency and less employee turnover for hospitals. Both affect a hospital’s quality of Associates degree in care and bottom line, said Thompson. nursing: 54.6% 4,031 frequency “This is a business decision,” she said.

“This would not get made if it was just BSN or higher: 40.7% a nice thought.”

3,001 frequency Research indicates higher percentages of four-year nurses result in imUnknown: .2% proved patient outcomes, including 13 frequency morbidity, mortality, lengths of stay, infections, medication errors and falls, said GHS’s Garner.

Source: S.C. Office for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning Nurse turnover rates are also added benefits, she said. “Nurses who feel between six and eight weeks each, said Duggar. Some competent in their jobs and feel prenurses with families and other significant non-work pared are more likely to stay,” she said. “That addiresponsibilities choose to take four to five years for tional investment will help our nurses adapt quicker.” the program, she said.

“A CONTENTIOUS TOPIC” Online programs are increasingly popular, and GHS began requiring BSNs for certain positions GHS nurses have been enrolling in groups so they in June 2014, when it required 300 nurses to sign can help each other out, she said. memorandums of understanding that they would While Anderson-based AnMed Health—the other achieve a BSN degree within four years.

Upstate magnet hospital—does hire associate-degree The system increased its percentage of baccalaunurses, they are expected to earn a BSN within three reate-educated nurses from 53 percent at that time years, according to Dianne Spoon, the center’s asto 58 percent today, and around 400 of the system’s sociate vice president of nursing. AnMed helps with 3,700 nurses are working through bachelors protuition through scholarship programs, and works to grams. GHS offset some of those tuition costs by support scholarships through Clemson University contributing $1 million in tuition reimbursement. and Tri-County Technical College.

“We’re at 58 percent now, and the majority of those “This is a contentious topic in education circles are new hires. We’re giving preferential hiring to the because it implies somehow that an associate degree BSNs,” she said. “We’ve hired several associate degrees is not as good,” said Linda Lacey, SC OHWAP dithat have been our employees. … We haven’t really rector. “It’s not about dissing two-year degree proclosed the door, we’ve just scrunched it a little bit.” grams, because they’re great entry-level programs.

If they work full-time, nurses can achieve a BSN It’s really about helping nurses advance their careers.” in two years with online and night classes that last

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Community health centers face funding cliff

M ardi G | COVER | 23

HEALTHCARE INC.

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“As Congress begins to examine fiscal Commerce Club, Greenville’s home and floor play. at the Bourbon Street-style fun. Discover lifefor onwork the 17th operational grants. and policy priorities for the year ahead, * 864.232.5600 Commerce Club, Greenville’s home South Carolina has 19 CHCs—inwe look forward to working with * for work and play. stephanie.page@clubcorp.com | commerce-club.com cluding four in the Upstate—that leaders in both parties not only to During the Open House only, you can join for free!* *Offer is valid only and expires on February 19, 2015. One-year loyalty agreement required and early resignation fees may apply. Other restrictions served 325,000 patients in 2013. * address this looming threat to primary Don’t miss the fun ClubCorp at the Commerce Club’s exciting open ho and exclusions maythe apply. SeeOpen Club for details. ©House USA, Inc. All rights reserved. © ClubCorp USA, Inc. join All rights reserved.

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Only 35 percent of the state’s popula“There’s really bipartisan support tion is below 200 percent of the for health centers… it still has to poverty level, but a full 95 percent of be resolved.”

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24 | COVER |

Health innovations abound in the Upstate JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER joladipo@communityjournals.com

It’s an active time for technological innovations in health care, driven by advances in research alongside public policies that affect the business side. Changes in Medicare reimbursement are spurring providers to reduce patient visits and expensive interventions, and encouraging hospitals to adopt practices and technologies that reduce those very activities.

Within that need for rapid cost and visit reductions exist huge opportunities for technologies that can help deliver those results. Health care is changing across the board, but when it comes to innovation, genomic medicine—especially in cancer care—is the topic du jour.

Sequencing of the human genome a decade ago created the potential for identifying health problems and for an unprecedented level of individualization in treatment. Researchers say they are moving toward treating not just a type of cancer, but your cancer.

Now, even as the Obama administration upends health care delivery models, the president also recently announced a “Precision Medicine Initiative” that is sure to add plenty of fuel (read: money) to the fire.

Technologies that respond to both trends are being developed and brought to market in the Upstate through an active network of private companies, large health systems and university researchers. New software applications are continually being developed, but the hands-on technologies that make their way into our bodies are also developing, albeit on longer timelines.

This week, UBJ highlights some of the people and organizations making the biggest impact on health technology in the Upstate, adopting innovations and, in some cases, leading the way.

ENGAGE FEB

18

UBJ

HEALTHCARE INC.

Biomedical Manufacturing Roundtable

Learn more about homegrown health innovations Upstate Alliance Headquarters, 124 Verdae Blvd., Suite 202, Greenville scbio.org/event-1847189

|

02.13.2015

a. PRECISION SUPPORT TOOL FOR COLON CANCER PROBLEM: Too much guessing about colon cancer treatments PRESCRIPTION: A precision support tool for colon cancer PLAYERS: GHS/ITOR, Selah Genomics, and an unnamed multibillion-dollar company Greenville Health System (GHS) will soon announce details about moving forward with a precision support tool for colon cancer, said Sam Konduros, executive director of the GHS Research Development Corporation. The technology would help physicians decide, for instance, whether a patient should begin chemotherapy, and which method in particular appears to be most likely to work. The tool has been developed and tested via a collaboration among the GHS Institute of Translational Oncology Research (ITOR) and three companies, including local biotech rock star Selah Genomics. Using Selah Genomics’ PrecisionPath technology and tumor samples generated at GHS, the collaborative can process genetic and clinical data from studies to look at factors in colon cancer progression.

Other collaborators are DecisionQ, an Arlington, Va.-based creator of unique algorithms and predictive models, and

Laboratory scientist Shawna Fulcher loads a sample onto a Selah Genomics PrecisionPath chip used in the genomic sequencer at the Greenville Health System’s ITOR lab.

a multibillion-dollar “interest” that will have the first opportunity to license the technology but whose name could not be disclosed, said Larry Gluck, medical director of GHS’s cancer center.

Photos by Greg Beckner

“We now understand the biology of how cancer cells evade detection by paralyzing our immune system, and we have new medications that target how they evade detection. This is revolutionizing an entire branch of cancer research.”

Larry Gluck, medical director, GHS cancer center.

b. IN-BODY DIALYSIS DEVICE PROBLEM: Complications with dialysis delivery for patients dealing with kidney failure PRESCRIPTION: A device that affects the body only when needed PLAYERS: CreatiVasc Medical CreatiVasc Medical’s Hemoaccess Valve is one of just three technologies in the nation to be fast-tracked by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), giving it a speedier review and approval process.

Steve Johnson, president, said that is because the device is relatively low-risk, yet can potentially have a major impact.

The company is developing an in-body device, through which patients are connected to dialysis machines, diverting

blood for a few hours rather than 24 hours a day, as devices currently on the market do. That reduces the risk of blood clotting at the site and other issues that lead to medical interventions.

CreatiVasc is currently conducting its first round of human clinical trials, and is about to finish work on an upgrade that allows the device to be activated using magnetic force rather than a needle under a person’s skin.

Sales are probably another year away.

“The key to distinguishing yourself in health care now is improved outcomes that reduce cost.”

Steve Johnson, president, CreatiVasc Medical

upstatebusinessjournal.com

HEALTHCARE INC.

c. 99% ACCURATE OVULATION TRACKER PROBLEM: Various women’s health needs related to fertility PRESCRIPTION: Pharmaceutical therapies and medical devices PLAYER: Norgenix Norgenix, a subsidiary of the J M Smith Corporation, has developed a niche in developing, marketing and distributing medical devices and pharmaceutical

therapies to address problems with women’s health.

The company has brought over a number of products that were available in Europe and helped fund them through the FDA process, as well as supporting development of near-market technologies at smaller domestic companies. Clients mostly are physicians’ offices and hospitals.

Products include devices such as its OvuSense fertility monitor, which the company says can track ovulation with 99 percent accuracy, and eventually will allow users to monitor their fertility using a smartphone or other mobile device. A surgical instrument, the Fertiloscope, enables early diagnosis and immediate treatment of physical causes of female infertility for use in an office setting.

In fact, emphasis on devices that can be used inoffice by a single payer is deliberate, said COO and Senior Vice President Michael Rackley.

“A big arena is population health management, bringing tools and technologies that will help expedite the changing face of health care in the future.”

A

D. MORE TARGETED RADIATION

Both Bon Secours St. Francis and Gibbs Cancer Center and Research Institute in Greer are using robotic radiation tools like TrueBeam and CyberKnife, new technologies that can reduce the negative impacts of radiation therapy. They allow practitioners to deliver higher doses of radiation to kill a tumor, while reducing radiation to healthy tissue.

Adopting the technology from agile robotic arms used in automotive

manufacturing, tools like CyberKnife target a precise spot and stick with it as a patient’s body moves due to breathing.

In the past, when there was a potential for radiation in the whole tissue, physicians had to move more slowly. The new technology integrates treatment with imaging, and allows for higher doses of radiation to be delivered for shorter periods of time.​

B C

Sam Konduros, executive director, GHS Research Development Corporation

PROBLEM: Tumor radiation treatments damaging healthy cells PRESCRIPTION: More precise and agile radiation delivery equipment PLAYERS: Gibbs Cancer Center and Research Institute, Bon Secours St. Francis

D

CyberKnife technology is used at Gibbs Cancer Center and Research Institute

“We have to now think long and hard about which labs we’re having done, and are they being done too frequently, and make our best judgment on that, because if we don’t, the insurance companies will.”

Robert Siegel, medical director, St. Francis Health System oncology program

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UBJ

HEALTHCARE INC.

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02.13.2015

Health·care /’helTHker/

defined

The health care conversation is changing as providers and patients explore non-traditional methods. What are the terms you need to know?

TRADITIONAL WESTERN HEALTH CARE Doctors practicing traditional medicine focus on studying and categorizing the symptoms of an ailment and prescribe a treatment based on case studies of the most common symptoms and effective cures. Compared to a holistic approach, traditional medicine places more emphasis on the treatment protocol and less on how a patient’s lifestyle contributes to the condition.

HOLISTIC HEALTH CARE Doctors practicing holistic medicine treat the whole person rather than focus strictly on the physical symptoms of the disease. Doctors emphasize the body’s ability to heal itself, focus on a patient-centered model of care, and look at the balance of body, mind and spirit in healing and wellness.

HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS Herbal supplements are not considered food or drugs, so they do not undergo the same testing as prescription and over-the-counter drugs and don’t require approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before going to market.

Herbal supplements can produce drug-like effects (positive and negative) and can interact negatively with prescribed medications.

Manufacturers must meet FDA quality standards for good manufacturing practices, and the FDA can pull a product from the market that is found to be unsafe.

Sources: Natalie Brown, assistant director for communications and marketing, VCOM-Carolinas; Livestrong.com; “Interface: Holistic Health and Traditional Medicine”; MedlinePlus; Mayo Clinic; National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

1

Choosing The Right Career May Be Easier Than You Think…

MAKE IT YOUR CHOICE, NOT SOMEONE ELSE’S!

5

The

By Smart Work | Network, Inc.

2. IF YOU’RE A HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE STUDENT (OR THE PARENT OF ONE): The lack of career counseling in secondary schools and colleges today is troubling, considering the high cost of education. If you’re graduating and you have no idea what you want to do next, now is the time to figure that out before someone else determines that for you, or you choose by default. And spend a lot of money. (Keep reading.)

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(Hope is in sight—see #5!)

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more than 60 career families. This allows you to hone in on high-value targets and eliminate those that are just distractions. You’ll reconnect with the natural, hard-wired strengths that you developed from birth to about 17 years old. You’ll objectively validate who you really are, and align your true strengths to a wide variety of business careers. CareerChoiceGPS™ never pigeon-holes you – and it’s always predictive.

Smart Work | Network, Inc. is a certified Woman-owned business and the Master US Distributor for Smart Work | Assessments. The CareerChoiceGPS™ is our highly predictive career assessment that is helping students, veterans, and frustrated professionals hone in on their real passion and seek out those careers that are a great natural fit for them.

Don’t wait. Go to CareerChoiceGPS.com or call us at 864-233-2007. The CareerChoiceGPS™ is also a great way to attract veterans and other high performers that you want to hire to your business. Call us today and find out how you can attract talent that is naturally hard-wired for success in your key job roles.

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28 | COVER |

UBJ

HEALTHCARE INC.

|

02.13.2015

Clockwise from top left: Dr. Jason Blasenak, left, and Dr. David Brancati of Emergency MD; The lobby of EmergencyMD features a 42-foot ceiling and a living wall of house plants used to filter the air; Nurses at work in EmergencyMD’s fully equipped laboratory. The facility will soon have its own compounding pharmacy and dental office.

Photos by Greg Beckner

EmergencyMD aims to fill a quick-care niche

FLEET PHYSICIANS

upstatebusinessjournal.com

HEALTHCARE INC.

| COVER | 29

APRIL A. MORRIS | STAFF amorris@communityjournals.com Emergency rooms are notorious for potentially long waits. Doctors David Brancati and Jason Blasenak are former emergency room physicians seeking to provide another option with EmergencyMD, a freestanding emergency physician practice.

A visit to the ER three years ago—as a patient— inspired Brancati to search out a different way to deliver urgent care. The consequence was EmergencyMD, Brancati’s and Blasenak’s newly launched effort to fill the gap between traditional urgent care and emergency room services.

Brancati sat down with UBJ recently to talk about the new venture.

What inspired you to open EmergencyMD? Several years ago I had severe abdominal pain and thought I had appendicitis. It was much worse: a perforated intestine. I had surgery and survived, but ended up in the ICU with a bad infection. I spent six months in and out of the hospital and had 12 surgeries. I was vice chair of an emergency department and I got a real glimpse of the care I was giving at the hospital. At one point I waited eight hours for a Tylenol. I learned that the system is not working well.

How did you go about changing the system?

I told my wife that I hated the care I rendered to ER patients. They’re angry when they get to us [doctors] because they have to wait, and we’re angry because they had to wait. Waiting in an emergency room is dangerous; you don’t know what’s wrong.

So Jason and I set out to follow an urgent care model, but with comprehensive services. I drew in what I would do differently.

EmergencyMD is an independent facility. How did you initially address cost?

We designed the facility to be institutional-grade with 10 treatment rooms that are just like trauma bays in an ER and two procedure rooms, but paid attention to the pennies. We found overstock or refurbished equipment, like a CAT scanner that

Dr. David Brancati of EmergencyMD talks about how cost saving— for example, buying a refurbished CAT scanner rather than a brand-new one—helps them keep costs down for patients. with specialists like orthopedists, neurologists or radiologists. We will soon have a compounding pharmacy and dentist on site. Here you’re not somebody else’s problem, you’re our challenge. As far as I’m aware, we are the area’s first private practice of emergency physicians.

Are there specifics that make your facility unique?

Our building has 42-foot ceilings to increase the fresh air turnover for the HVAC system and a “live wall” with plants as a natural filter that pulls air through. The nurse’s station is open so we can see patients and I can see a patient in the waiting area.

We also created group seating rather than rows and offer a snack area.

“I got a real glimpse of the care I was giving at the hospital. At one point I waited eight hours for a Tylenol. I learned that the system is not working well.”

David Brancati, EmergencyMD would fit our clinical diagnostic needs, but not cost as much as an $8 million, research-grade scanner that a hospital would own.

What comprehensive services do you offer?

We can treat anything short of a life-threatening emergency—like a heart attack or threatened limb— you would normally go to the emergency room for.

We have a CAT scanner, X-ray, a full lab, ultrasound and trauma, emergency and ICU-trained staff. We are trying to create a better experience. Our lab can give us results in five to 10 minutes and CAT scan results in 10 minutes. Through a picture archiving and communication system (PAC), we can consult

What cases have you encountered thus far?

We have had patients coming in daily and have treated severe pneumonia and respiratory infections along with sports physicals, fractures, viruses and reattaching a crushed finger. We are preparing that we may see up to 60,000 people a year.

Your model is to charge private practice rates rather than urgent care or hospital rates.

How does that work?

We bill as a doctor’s office, so we’re a more cost-effective option than the ER. As far as insurance, everything matches. If we take your insurance, our pharmacy takes your insurance. Under the urgent

“Here you’re not somebody else’s problem, you’re our challenge.”

David Brancati, EmergencyMD care model, they bill at a higher copay for a global charge, whether you’re there for nothing or something serious.

How can you see patients so quickly?

In emergency medicine, Jason and I have focused on processes. If volume increases, we would put a provider in triage to begin to get orders written, charts started and treatments running right away. You’ve got to do a lot of things in parallel.

We use a team approach, and in triage, sometimes the doctor, nurse and registration see a patient all at the same time. Those are common practices used in emergency medicine that I’ve never seen used outside a hospital.

Describe your focus on quality care.

Some people are being seen within two minutes of walking in the door. We are an independent practice; therefore, we refer to the best doctor for you, period. Large health systems refer within themselves. If the best doctor’s in Charlotte, I’m referring you there. We are also members of Regional HealthPlus, so we are held to the same quality standards as a huge health system.

We’re going against the grain; while everyone is being bought up, we’re the entrepreneurs going on our own. We say that everybody who walks through here needs to be treated like your mother.

30 | NEW TO THE STREET |

THE FRESHEST FACES ON THE BUSINESS LANDSCAPE

UBJ

|

02.13.2015

Open for business Elevating Customer Service Through Communication

1

As the President of a company, I am tasked with many jobs. Unfortunately, one of those jobs is to handle any elevated customer complaints.

Thankfully, I don’t receive many calls from unhappy clients, but when I do, this means that the client is frustrated to the point of the “last straw”.

Over the years, I have realized that most of these calls can be avoided altogether if communication with clients is improved. Mistakes can always happen, but many mistakes can be avoided with proper communication.

Here are some simple ways to improve client communication in any office environment: • Review all open emails at the end of the day and respond. Even if you have to tell a client that you can’t get to their request at the time, you need to set an appropriate time for completion and honor it.

LEE YARBOROUGH

1. Logan Chris Salon recently opened at 400-D S. Main St., Mauldin. For more information, visit bit.ly/logan-chris-salon or call 864-399-9439.

• Return all voice mails within 3 hours. If you are gone for a whole day, change your voice mail to reflect that.

• Pick up the phone. All too often, we hide behind emails. Remember, email is for CONFIRMATION, NOT COMMUNICATION. After you talk to the client, send an email to confirm the discussion points.

Photo provided

2

• Raise your hand. If you are too busy to handle a client request, ask a teammate or manager.

• LISTEN. Make sure you listen to the entire problem before you offer solutions. Sometimes people just want to vent and feel heard. By actively listening, you validate their concerns.

• Share progress updates. If you are working on a big project, communicate updates regularly.

• Own your mistakes. We all make mistakes. It is much easier when you admit it, learn from it and then work towards a resolution. This approach also makes it easier for management to stand behind you and help with the resolution. Defensiveness and negative energy do not help work towards a solution.

Communication is the basis of any good relationship and this is especially true of your relationships at work. In today’s busy world, we are all guilty of not taking the time to communicate properly with each other. By working daily to improve communications, the end result will be an elevated level of customer service. And that means fewer calls to the President!

Photos provided

2. Health in Hand Juice & Smoothie Bar recently opened at 201-A Wall St., Spartanburg.

Hours are Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. For more information, call 864707-5337 or visit healthinhandsc.com.

M43A

669 N. Academy Street, Greenville, SC 864.679.6055 | 800.446.6567 | www.propelhr.com

CONTRIBUTE: Know of a business opening soon?

Email information to bjeffers@communityjournals.com.

upstatebusinessjournal.com

REAL ESTATE DEALS AND DEVELOPMENTS ACROSS THE REGION

| SQUARE FEET | 31

298-unit Residences at Brushy Creek planned for Greer

PROJECT PARTNERS DEVELOPER: Weston Development, Cleveland, Ohio DESIGN BUILDER: Carocon, Charlotte, N.C. ARCHITECTS: Narmour Wright Architects, Charlotte, N.C.; Atwell Engineering, Cleveland, Ohio

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A new upscale apartment complex is slated for 19 acres on Brushy Creek Road near Century Park in Greer.

Developed by Cleveland, Ohio-based Weston Development and called The Residences at Brushy Creek, the new community will feature 298 apartments and will include one-, two- and three-bedroom homes ranging from 629 to 1,347 square feet.

Amenities will include a clubhouse equipped with a business center, fitness center and designer kitchen.

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GREER, SC available for barbecues DECEMBER 22, 2014 and Rd ek other outdoor gatherings.

Cre y sh The community will also Bru feature garages, storage units and a dog wash.

The apartments will include private balconies or patios and high-energy-efficient windows to help keep energy costs to a minimum. Units will be pre-wired for high-speed Internet access and satellite television with USB ports in the kitchens and bedrooms.

“The Residences at Brushy Creek will provide easy access to the Greenville-Spartanburg Interna-

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sjackson@communityjournals.com @SJackson_CJ

saltwater swimming pool THEAand RESIDENCES at BRUSHY CREEK a summerhouse will be

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SHERRY JACKSON | STAFF

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Rendering Provided.

tional Airport and major employers in the area,” said Edward Asher, Weston’s executive vice president. “Weston has identified the Upstate area as an exciting growth market that we want to continue to grow with.”

Construction is expected to begin spring 2015 with leasing to start in the fall.

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Cofounder David Black leaves Langston Black “David and I are friends and have been partners for sjackson@communityjournals.com almost 25 years,” said co@SJackson_CJ founder Chuck Langston.

“It’s been a great ride and our friendship is still as great as it ever was.”

Langston said Black will be joining Greenville developer Marty Navarro at Navarro Real Estate to work on more development-type projects.

“Our friendship is paramount, and we will continue to work on projects together,” said Langston.

Commercial real estate firm Langston said the company name Langston Black announced last week will not change and the firm will that cofounder David Black has left continue to concentrate on commerthe company. cial real estate in the Upstate.

SHERRY JACKSON | STAFF

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34 | THE FINE PRINT |

UBJ

BUSINESS BRIEFS YOU CAN’ T MISS

Greer dealership donates $20k to March of Dimes campaign Toyota of Greer donated $20,000 to the March of Dimes’ 2015 March for Babies campaign.

“This is about more than a donation,” Toyota of Greer General Manager Mark Escude said in a release. “This is about an amazing organization that we support.”

He said this year marked the third year in a row that the dealership has donated $20,000 or more to the March for Babies campaign. The Toyota of Greer team also will be taking part in the Greenville March for Babies walk on April 25 at Greenville Technical College.

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02.13.2015

capital, staffing and software development on proprietary predictive analysis technology.

5W will specialize in brand journalism and “is in early-stage development of software aimed at perfecting the PR audit process,” according to the release.

“The modern consumer does not identify with traditional marketing and advertising,” cofounder Kristen Henry said in the release. “The modern consumer is interested in sharing relative human experiences.”

5W Media Solutions was founded in late 2014 by Henry, a community relations professional, and Joe Toppe, a former journalist.

“Both founders of 5W Media Solutions have bootstrapped very well and worked to refine their business model and financial plans,” Premo said in the release.

“They have already achieved traction to validate their ideas, and rather than investing in a pure idea on a whiteboard, we are investing in scaling and creating jobs.”

Habitat receives nonprofit award Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County received the 2015 Nonprofit Excellence Award, given annually by the SC Association of Nonprofit Organizations (SCANPO).

The award recognizes Habitat Greenville for exemplary governance and management and excellence in implementation of SCANPO’s Guiding Principles and Best Practices. Recipients of the Nonprofit Excellence Award are considered models for nonprofits throughout South Carolina and are asked to serve in peer leadership roles.

“Everything we do at Habitat is centered on our homeowner families,” Monroe Free, president and CEO of Habitat Greenville, said in a release. “Our board, staff and volunteers continuously work to the highest standards for their benefit, and we are honored to be recognized for that effort.”

Swamp Rabbit Angels announces second group investment Greenville-based investment group Swamp Rabbit Angels (SRA) is investing in a local public relations and technology startup, 5W Media Solutions. The amount of the investment is undisclosed, but, according to a release, could reach six figures.

SRA founder Jason Premo said the investment would cover working

KEMET expanding capacitor line KEMET Corporation is expanding its commercial and automotive lines of surface-mount multilayer ceramic capacitors in C0G dielectric.

The material used in the new capacitors is said by the company to eliminate piezoelectric noise and offer high thermal stability and no capacitance decay with time.

The capacitors are used in applications including critical timing, tuning, decoupling, bypass, filtering, blocking, circuits requiring low loss, circuits with pulse, high current, transient voltage suppression and energy storage.

Grant winners use funds to purchase Proterra EV buses Six of the 10 recent Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 5312 grant winners will use their funds to purchase Proterra EV buses and charging stations, Proterra announced.

Proterra plans to sell 28 battery-electric buses and seven charging stations as a result of the grants.

Three new customers include Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which will receive seven buses and two chargers; Duluth Transit Authority, which will receive six

105.9 FM 1330 AM

upstatebusinessjournal.com

BUSINESS BRIEFS YOU CAN’ T MISS

buses and one charger; and Transit Authority of Lexington, which will receive five buses and one charger.

Current Proterra customers using the grants to expand their fleets include San Joaquin Regional Transit District, which will receive five buses and one charger; Transit Authority of River City, which will receive five buses and one charger; and Worcester Regional Transit Authority, which will receive one charger.

| THE FINE PRINT | 35

Greenville in preparation for the spring season.

The company encourages college students, retirees and veterans to apply.

Home Depot plans to hire 80,000 people nationwide for the spring. Available opportunities include both permanent part-time and seasonal positions.

Those interesting in applying can visit careers.homedepot.com/jobs-in-bloom.

Duke proposes 110MW of solar options

Delivery of the new buses is expected to begin in early 2016.

“We are extremely pleased with the growing number of U.S. cities that have selected Proterra as their partner in eliminating fossil fuels from their transit operations. This announcement further strengthens Proterra’s EV market leadership,” Matt Horton, Proterra’s vice president of sales, said in a release.

“We also applaud the strong leadership of the Federal Transit Administration in continuing to support American innovation.”

Home Depot hiring in Greenville

Duke Energy has proposed solar energy programs based on last year’s solar net metering agreement that could add 110 megawatts of solar energy in South Carolina by 2021. Less than 2 megawatts of solar capacity is currently connected to Duke Energy in the state, according to a news release.

Duke submitted proposals for several programs to the S.C. Public Service Commission, which must give its approval before the company can move forward.

Based on the Distributed Energy Resource Program Act passed last year, the programs include rebates for rooftop solar installations, community-based solar and utility-scale solar, according to documents filed with the commission.

Duke plans to increase the number of customer-generators from fewer than 10 at the beginning of 2015 to several thousand by 2021, which will “help reduce the capital requirements to access distributed generation and allow for greater participation in this nascent marketplace,” according to commission documents.

Duke proposed three customer initiatives to make this happen, primarily offering credits to eligible net metering customer generators, offering solar rebates designed to encourage customers to invest in or lease solar panels, and offering retail customers the option to subscribe and share in the economic benefits of one renewable energy facility.

Duke also plans to build 50 megawatts of large-scale solar in the state, the company said.

The company estimates that the distributed energy resource program would have an annual impact of $12 per residential account, $120 per commercial account and $1,200 per industrial account by 2020.

“The passage of the Distributed Energy Resource Program Act in 2014 opened the door for Duke Energy to offer a suite of solar programs that will expand renewable energy use in South Carolina,” said Duke Energy South Carolina President Clark Gillespy in a statement. “These diverse options will allow customers the ability to participate in a sustainable solar energy marketplace.”

Home Depot is hiring 270 associates in six stores in

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The Huddle with Greg McKinney 1-4 P

Straight Up with Sturg 4-7 P

36 | ON THE MOVE |

UBJ

PLAY-BY-PLAY OF UPSTATE CAREERS

CERTIFIED

APPOINTED

HIRED

PROMOTED

|

02.13.2015

APPOINTED

Beverly Deal

Jamie Stover

Kevin Crittendon

Rob Johnson

Scott Mason

Earned the Professional in Human Resources certification.

Deal is the Spartanburg branch manager at Phillips Staffing.

The credential recognizes her as an expert in the HR field. Deal has two decades of experience in staff development and training, workforce development and talent recruitment and management.

Named director of program services of Make-A-Wish South Carolina. Stover has served as the Certified Child Life Specialist and Camp Courage Director for BI-LO Charities Children’s Cancer Center.

Previously, she worked for Greenville Children’s Hospital, where she was responsible for the psychosocial well-being of patients and their families.

Named as director of continuous improvement at GreenWood Inc. Crittendon has more than 20 years of experience in industrial manufacturing and maintenance. He also spent more than seven years with GreenWood serving as a site manager with similar responsibilities for the Honeywell site locations.

Promoted to manager of training and development at Human Technologies Inc. Johnson has more than 15 years of experience in human resources. He previously served as a training specialist. He will oversee the training and development function at HTI and collaborate with HTI Organizational Solutions.

Appointed to a three-year term as senior vice president of continuing education for the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Mason is the Fluor Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Optimization and Logistics and a professor of industrial engineering at Clemson University.

DEVELOPMENT

LEGAL

O’Neal Inc. hired Austin Crooks as process engineer and David Shuey as senior civil engineer. Crooks has about 10 years of process consulting experience, having worked with the firms of Fluor, Ford, Bacon & Davis and MeadWestVaco. Shuey has more than 20 years of civil design experience, having worked with the firms of SC Steel, Caliber and Jacobs Engineering.

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C. elected John Merrell as a shareholder. Merrell represents management in all aspects of labor and employment law, including preventive employment and labor law advice related to matters under the National Labor Relations Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Labor Standards Act.

REAL ESTATE NAI Earle Furman named Tony Bonitati, Tom Daniel, Kay Hill and Jake Van Gieson as company shareholders. Bonitati previously worked for Maytag as a franchisee and Equifax/TALX Corporation as a regional sales manager. He joined NAI Earle Furman in 2010. Daniel began his career at Trammell Crow Company.

He later served as the managing director and president of TC Atlanta Inc. and president and CEO of Triad Properties Corporation. He founded Daniel Investments LLC in 2010. Hill previously worked for the City of Charlotte, Cardinal Real Estate Partners LLC and Duke Energy in their real estate services division. She also worked at Jones Lang LaSalle as the research analyst for the Carolina markets. She began working in the Multifamily & Investment Division at NAI Earle Furman in 2012. Jake Van Gieson joined NAI Earle Furman after graduating from Clemson University in 2007. He has been involved with restaurant and national tenant assignments throughout the Southeast. He currently serves as a board member for Pendleton Place and Greenville Family Partnership.

ENTERTAINMENT Brandy Bocchino was selected to join the 2015 Disney Parks Moms Panel. Bocchino is one of 22 new panelists selected for a spot on the interactive platform which allows guests to pose questions to an online panel of real-world parents and grandparents on a variety of topics related to Disney properties.

STAFFING Alex Cochran, Amy Fischer, James Aiken, Josh Wilbanks, Karen Skjerning, Scott Seation, Sarah Best, Lua Groff and Erin Langford of Human Technologies Inc. earned the Certification for Staffing Professionals. Participants completed a five-week training session to further expand their knowledge and expertise in the staffing industry.

MARKETING/PR Blair Burke, Cole Vance and Amelia Marlowe joined Crawford Strategy as interns. Burke, a senior at Furman University, will serve as a marketing intern. She previously interned with L’Oreal in New York City.

Vance, a senior at Furman, will assist the public relations team. He has previous internship experience in financial services and digital marketing.

Marlowe, a senior at Clemson University, will focus on event planning. She previously interned with Clemson.

Jackson Marketing-MotorsportsEvents hired Annie Lake as administrative assistant, Alyssa Guerrero as associate art director and Carrie Ann Culbertson as traffic intern. Lake has held multiple management roles and joins the team as the administrative assistant to Darrell Jackson, CEO of Jackson. Guerrero joined the team as associate art director after working with the creative department as a contract graphic designer. Culbertson will assist the traffic department with assigning, coordinating and closing client projects.

During college, she spent a summer writing grants for Greenville County.

Complete Public Relations hired Kaitlyn Hudson as a public relations representative. Hudson previously worked as a business development representative at SYNNEX. She interned at Complete Public Relations in 2012 during her time at Newberry College.

Infinity Marketing hired Shannon Kohn as social media strategist. Kohn has more than 20 years of professional experience and has worked with clients in a variety of industries, including grocery, healthcare and telecommunications. She previously worked as a senior online community and social media strategist at Brains on Fire. She

VIP

Jil Littlejohn: Graduated Graduated from the Municipal Association of South Carolina’s Municipal Elected Officials Institute. Littlejohn is a District 3 Greenville City Council member. The Elected Officials Institute is designed to give municipal elected officials a knowledge base for establishing good public policy for their hometowns.

also served as a community management team trainer and mentor.

EDUCATION University of South Carolina Upstate’s alumni relations director Charlianne Wyatt Nestlen was appointed as secretary of the South Carolina Association of Alumni Directors.

Nestlen is a 2003 graduate of USC Upstate, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in communications.

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

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WHO’S

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2ND ANNUAL

Who's Who Celebratory Reveal HONORING SEVEN OF THE UPSTATE'S NOISEMAKERS, GAMECHANGERS, AND SPARK STARTERS THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 AT 5:30 PM THE PALMETTO BANK HEADQUARTERS Presented by:

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

Host Committee: SAM ERWIN, THE PALMETTO BANK RICK DAVIS, ELLIOTT DAVIS DECOSIMO HERB DEW, HUMAN TECHNOLOGIES, INC. JOAN HERLONG, AUGUSTAROAD.COM REALTY

RYAN JOHNSTON, UPSTATE BUSINESS JOURNAL THOMAS KURANOFF, CENTURY BMW LARRY SMITH, ARTHUR J. GALLAGHER & CO.

38 | PLANNER | TUESDAY FEBRUARY 17 SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS SERIES

Comfort Suites Simpsonville, 3971 Grandview Drive, Simpsonville; 8-9:30 a.m.

221 N. Main St., Greenville; 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Network with tech professionals COST: Free REGISTER: bit.ly/taffeb2015

TOPIC: Marketing Your Small Business SPEAKER: Marty Flynn, Greenville Technical College COST: Chamber members $39/ class or $199/series, nonmembers $49 or $230 RSVP: 864-862-2586

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19 DIGITAL MARKETING LUNCH AND LEARN Clemson at Greenville ONE, 1 N. Main St., Greenville; noon-1 p.m.

COST: Free

TECH AFTER FIVE Pour Lounge,

FINANCIAL SERVICES BIZ BOWL Star Lanes, 740 S. Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville; 6-8 p.m.

Team bowling competition to raise money for Junior Achievement programs COST: $500 per team

Pack your lunch and learn about digital marketing tactics

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18

UBJ

EVENTS YOU SHOULD HAVE ON YOUR CALENDAR

REGISTER: bit.ly/lunchand-learn-feb2015

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20

REGISTER: susan. spencer@ja.org or 864312-6419

MONDAY FEBRUARY 23

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 26 SPARTANBURG CHAMBER ANNUAL CELEBRATION Spartanburg Marriott, 229 N. Church St., Spartanburg; 5-8:30 p.m.

COST: Chamber members $75, nonmembers $100

COST: Free REGISTER: bit.ly/ score-feb2015

RSVP: 864-862-2586

TUESDAY MARCH 17 SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS SERIES

DESIGNTHINKERS DESIGN TALK

TUESDAY MARCH 3

Comfort Suites Simpsonville, 3971 Grandview Drive, Simpsonville; 8-9:30 a.m.

REGISTER: bit.ly/ dt-feb2015

COST: Chamber members $39, nonmembers $49

WEDNESDAY MARCH 4

SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS SERIES

02.13.2015

SPEAKER: Meredith Noon, BNI

RESGISTER: bit. ly/spartanburgcelebration2015

PIEDMONT SCORE SMALL BUSINESS START-UP WORKSHOP NEXT Innovation Center, 411 University Ridge, Greevnille; 6-8 p.m.

TOPIC: Networking: How It Can Increase Your Sales

|

OpenWorks, 2 N. Main St., Greenville; noon-1 p.m.

Comfort Suites Simpsonville, 3971 Grandview Drive, Simpsonville; 8-9:30 a.m.

TOPIC: Technology: A Business’s Friend SPEAKER: Randy Oneal, CCT Business School

TOPIC: The Best Story Wins: Storytelling as a Solution Design Tool

COST: Chamber members $39, nonmembers $49

COST: $10

RSVP: 864-862-2586

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

take charge of your future AT THE iMAGINE UPSTATE FESTIVAL IL 4, 2015

BE THERE - APR

The iMAGINE Upstate Festival will take place in downtown Greenville on Saturday, April 4th, 2015. Festival hours run from 10AM-6PM. This event is free, family friendly and is your all access pass to drones, battling robots, racecars, 3d printing, hovercrafts and more! You decide your future – start at the iMAGINE Upstate Festival.

#Udecide

iMAGINEUpstate.org

upstatebusinessjournal.com

A QUICK LOOK INTO THE UPSTATE’S PAST

| SNAPSHOT | 39

If Greenville’s progression from town to city was to continue at the beginning of the 20th century, adequate hospital facilities became essential. Essential to this process was the Ladies Auxiliary of the Greenville Hospital Association, organized in 1896 and eventually reorganized as the Women’s Hospital Board of Greenville. After years of agitation and fundraising, the Women’s Board and the Hospital Association bought the Corbett Private Hospital on Arlington Avenue for $20,000. The result was Greenville’s first public hospital, which opened in January of 1912, with 84 beds. Five years later, in 1917, the city of Greenville bought the hospital. In 1921 the Greenville City Hospital completed a large addition, which fronted Memminger Street.

In this photograph from 1921 the new addition of the Greenville City Hospital on Memminger Street and Arlington Avenue can be seen.

The hospital remained in this area, with more additions, until the new Greenville Memorial Hospital opened on Grove Road in 1972.

Historic photos provided

The Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center on Grove Road.

The hospital moved to its current location in 1972.

An operating room in the Greenville City Hospital addition of 1921.

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

MARKETING & EVENTS

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

PRESIDENT/CEO

Mark B. Johnston mjohnston@communityjournals.com

UBJ PUBLISHER

Ryan L. Johnston rjohnston@communityjournals.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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

UBJ milestone

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

Emily Price

1988

>>

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

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

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

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

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

ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR Whitney Fincannon OPERATIONS Holly Hardin

1997 Jackson Dawson launches motorsports Division 1993

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>

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

1998 1998 Jackson Dawson moves to task industrial Court

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 1, 2013 Upstate bUsiness joUrnal 21

20 Upstate bUsiness joUrnal November 1, 2013

AS SEEN IN

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

ADVERTISING DESIGN Kristy Adair, Michael Allen

Susan Clary Simmons ssimmons@communityjournals.com

CLIENT SERVICES

MANAGING EDITOR

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Anita Harley, Jane Rogers

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

DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Jerry Salley jsalley@communityjournals.com

Kristi Fortner

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE

TWITTER: Follow us @UpstateBiz

SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER

STORY IDEAS:

FACEBOOK: TheUpstateBusinessJournal

Jennifer Oladipo

STAFF WRITERS

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

INTERNS

Amanda Cordisco, Natalie Walters

PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Beckner MARKETING & ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES Sarah Anders, Kristi Jennings, Donna Johnston, Annie Langston, Lindsay Oehman, Maddy Varin, Emily Yepes

ideas@upstatebusinessjournal.com

EVENTS:

u UP NEXT MARCH 20: INTERNATIONAL ISSUES How the Upstate does business with the rest of the world, and vice versa.

Kate Madden

DIGITAL STRATEGIST

Photo by Greg Beckner

LINKEDIN: Upstate Business Journal

MARCH 27: WHO’S WHO 2015 Meet the latest class of professionals to look out for and look up to.

APRIL: GREEN BUSINESSES How are Upstate companies going green while making green?

Got any thoughts? Care to contribute? Let us know at ideas@ upstatebusinessjournal.com.

events@upstatebusinessjournal.com

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

Guest columns run 700-800 words.

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

publishers of

Copyright ©2015 BY COMMUNITY JOURNALS LLC. All rights reserved. Upstate Business Journal is published weekly by Community Journals LLC. P.O. Box 2266, Greenville, South Carolina, 29602.

Upstate Business Journal is a free publication. Annual subscriptions (52 issues) can be purchased for $50. Postmaster: Send address changes to Upstate Business, P.O. Box 2266, Greenville, SC 29602.

Printed in the USA.

581 Perry Avenue, Greenville, SC 29611 | 864-679-1200 | communityjournals.com UBJ: For subscriptions, call 864-679-1240 | UpstateBusinessJournal.com

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