MARCH 27, 2015 | VOL. 4 ISSUE 13
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upstatebusinessjournal.com
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 3
All about the Jeffersons What can a $2 bill buy you in the Upstate? A cup of coffee—and a role in a mentorship movement RYAN JOHNSTON | PUBLISHER
rjohnston@communityjournals.com Most Clemson fans know the common tradition—which started back in 1977—of bringing a wallet full of $2 bills stamped with tiger paws when traveling to watch the Tigers play a bowl game. This is a fun way of showing the economic impact Tiger Pride can have on a local community. A cash register or a community bank full of Clemson-branded bills leaves no doubt as to who spent their dollars in your town. Years later, those $2 bills are still circulating in the cities where Tiger fans first spent them. (Read about the phenomenon at bit.ly/Clemson-NYT.) I am sure you are asking yourself as you read this: What does that have to do with our annual Who’s Who issue? At this year’s Who’s Who event, the title sponsor, Palmetto Bank, distributed over 500 $2 bills with the Who’s Who stamp. Like the Tigers, we feel that a visible message should be circulated in the Upstate. Attendees were encouraged to spend these $2 bills on a cup of coffee—specifically, a cup of coffee to go along with a conversation where they
were either giving or getting mentorship. This idea harmonizes strategically with our recent Mentor Monday initiative. As the Upstate grows, we continue to attract new talent that is passionate about rolling up their sleeves and contributing to our growing business community. We need to make sure these newcomers are connecting and getting the mentorship they need today to become the effective local leaders of tomorrow. As I watched the videos from this year’s Who’s Who celebration (available online at upstate businessjournal.com), an inescapable underlying theme became very apparent to me: This year’s honorees all spoke of the important roles that other people—mentors—had in helping them get where they are today. So we want to start a movement. That is the idea behind Mentor Monday: Get and give mentorship on Mondays. Who owns it? You do. We do. It is an
Upstate brand. It is not a UBJ brand; it is an idea or spark we want to help start in the Upstate. The $2 bills are a tangible sign of this movement. Like the Clemson bowl game $2 bill tradition, we believe those conversations over a $2 cup of coffee can have a visible impact years later. How cool would it be if we raised a red flag at the U.S. Mint because they were sending our local banks so many $2 bills? So I encourage you all to head to the bank and request a stack of $2 bills, put them in your wallet and see how fast you can run out. Get out and engage in these conversations that will help move the ball forward in our community.
We need to make sure that newcomers to the Upstate are getting the mentorship they need today to become the effective local leaders of tomorrow.
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UBJ
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03.27.2015
Every experience counts SAMUEL L. ERWIN |
CEO & President, The Palmetto Bank Every experience counts! Those moments we encounter each and every day—they happen at work, at home, at church and in the grocery store or bank. Our daily experiences—both good and bad—shape our worldviews and make us into who we are and what we believe in. In 1906, The Palmetto Bank’s forefathers, J.J. Pluss and J.W. Ferguson, embarked on a journey that originated in Laurens, S.C. They set out to deliver an experience that was not readily available in that era: to provide trusted, reliable and valuable banking services to the local community. Fast forward to 109 years later; our dedicated team at The Palmetto Bank continues to deliver experiences that make a difference in the lives of our clients, team and the communities we serve. Delivering a positive personal experience is something we’re extremely proud of, and we believe we are making a difference in the world. The Palmetto Bank’s long history and rich legacy are proof that every experience counts when serving as a community leader. As leaders, our ability to deliver positive experiences helps us make a difference in our community. The 2015 class of Who’s Who recipients have certainly demonstrated their ability to perform as great leaders in the Upstate, and their individual journeys have shaped their leadership styles. Their success has been fueled by more than just a desire to make money or have successful business careers—they forged their leadership with passion, hard work, determination and plans to accomplish their goals. Each of these leaders has made a tremendous difference in our community, and each of them will continue making every experience count as they help to shape the Upstate into the future. This year’s Who’s Who Legend is clearly a leader who has made a difference in our Upstate community, but also more broadly in our state. Hayne Hipp is no stranger to honors and awards, as he earned many during his distinguished career as the CEO
of The Liberty Corporation. However, his distinguished legacy will likely be defined as much by what he achieved since retiring from The Liberty Corporation. Hayne, along with his wife, Anna Kate, are making a transformational difference in South Carolina through a program that fosters the next generation of leaders in our state. They collaborated with Wofford College and the Aspen Institute to develop the Liberty Fellowship, an “incubator for exemplary leadership in South Carolina.” The Liberty Fellowship’s goal is to move South Carolina forward through its greatest asset—its leaders. Hayne and Anna Kate have generously provided financial support and vision for this program that has brought together a diverse group of 220 leaders across the state over the past 11 years. Because of their efforts, the Liberty Fellowship yields not just leaders, but leaders who have a deep love of South Carolina, a steadfast faith in the development of current and future leaders, and a conviction that positive change is possible. I am fortunate to have firsthand experience with Hayne and the Liberty Fellowship as a Fellow in the Class of 2011. I learned from Hayne that leaders must make every experience count, both in their own lives and in the experiences they deliver to others. These experiences help us move from “success to significance” and to collaborate together for the common good of our state. At The Palmetto Bank, we agree. We are pleased to once again recognize the noisemakers, game changers and spark starters that make up the 2015 class of Who’s Who. Hayne Hipp, along with the other Who’s Who recipients, exemplify what is great about the Upstate. They are making a difference where we live, work and play—each in their own unique way. They are making every experience count.
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UBJ
THE SELECTION PROCESS
03.27.2015
Selecting Who’s Who When UBJ launched Who’s Who last year, the goal was to recognize people who made an economic impact on the Upstate and went above and beyond their professional roles. The first class of winners fulfilled that goal and set a high standard for the years to follow. Finding this year’s class demanded a thorough selection process, involving nominations from the public, exhaustive work from researchers, the wisdom and expertise of a panel of judges—and, for the first time, direct engagement through social media.
1. Selecting the panel
INNOVATION AT WORK
An independent panel of five community leaders was chosen to review nominations, with the help of a group of researchers, and select the 2015 Who’s Who class. Meet this year’s panel on pages 8 and 9.
2. Defining the categories
clemson.edu/mba ∙ mbaprogram@clemson.edu
In order to ensure a diverse range of professional backgrounds and ages, we created six defined categories this year: The Young Gun, The Closer, The Boss, The Innovator, The Entrepreneur and The Legend. A seventh category, the Wild Card, would be a way for the public to engage directly with the process.
3. Gathering the nominations Nominations were open to the public from Dec. 12, 2014, to Jan. 30, 2015, through downloadable forms and online submissions to the UBJ website. In total, 147 names were nominated.
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4. Making the selection
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– An individua impact on the l with a long business climate lasting in the Upstate. Name__________ ________________ ________________ Title/Company___ _____ ________________ ________________ Email___________ _____ ________________ ________________ Phone__________ ____ ________________ ________________ ____
THE YOUNG GUN – An up
and comer. Name__________ ________________ ________________ Title/Company___ _____ ________________ ________________ Email___________ _____ ________________ ________________ Phone__________ ____ ________________ ________________ ____
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THE FINE PRINT:
The 2015 winners will be honored highlighted at an awards in special edition celebration on March 26, of same night. The best candida the Upstate Business 2015 and Journal that (financial results, tes will quantita will publish tively demons career growth) that profile/reputation trate busines , community s success involvement, ), and influenc leadership ability and/or Nomina e (impact on the Upstate tors may be (public region specifica contacted to be voted on provide further lly). Nomine by a neutral, es information. 3rd party panel nomination(s) All submissions of Community by 11:59 pm will Leaders. on Friday, January of the Upstate , South Carolina 30, 2015. Nomine Please submit your . Past winners es must be resident are not eligible s to win again.
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THE NEWBI E
– A fresh face that is new to Name__________ the street. ________________ ________________ Title/Company___ _____ ________________ ________________ Email___________ _____ ________________ ________________ Phone__________ ____ ________________ ________________ ____
Researchers vetted up to 11 names per category and submitted them to the panel for their deliberation. Extensive research and interviews were conducted on each candidate in order to provide the panel with plenty of information to evaluate. THE ENTRE PRENE
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– An idea maker. Name__________ ________________ ________________ Title/Company___ _____ ________________ ________________ Email___________ _____ ________________ ________________ Phone__________ ____ ________________ ________________ ____
CLOSER – A dealmaker. Name__________ ________________ ________________ Title/Company___ _____ ________________ ________________ Email___________ _____ ________________ ________________ Phone__________ ____ ________________ ________________ ____
THE INNOV ATOR
– A mover, shaker, shaping our and disrupter future. Name__________ ________________ ________________ Title/Company___ _____ ________________ ________________ Email___________ _____ ________________ ________________ Phone__________ ____ ________________ ________________ ____
THE WILD CARD
– Based on identified by a pool of candidat our Panel and voted on by audience from es our social media February 16-22, 2015. Name__________ ________________ ________________ Title/Company___ _____ ________________ ________________ Email___________ _____ ________________ ________________ Phone__________ ____ ________________ ________________ ____ Please provide any other informati pages about nominee on s etc…) you’d (links to articles or web like for us to reference here:
MAIL THIS FORM TO: COMMUNIT Y JOURNALS , LLC, ATTN: OR COMPLETE KATE BANN NOMINATIO ER, 581 PERR N FORM ONLIN Y AVENUE, E AT: UPST GREENVILL ATEBUSINES E, SC 2961 SJOURNAL 1 .COM/WHO S-WHO
The panel scored each nominee 1-5 in these areas: • 2014 accomplishments • Overall resume • Above and beyond
Because you give blood
I HAVE A CHANCE to become a future Who’s Who. Give blood today and save a life tomorrow.
The panel then held a deliberation meeting, in which they discussed the top three scorers from each category and made their selections for the Who’s Who honors in the first six categories.
5. Dealing the Wild Cards At the deliberation meeting, the panel also selected five names from the pool of vetted nominees to populate a new category: the Wild Card. Candidates were: • Jeremy Boeh, director of entrepreneurship, Wofford College
upstatebusinessjournal.com
THE SELECTION PROCESS
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 7
• Jon Good, CEO, NAI Earle Furman • Ryan Heafy, executive director, iMAGINE Upstate • Jim Hendrix, owner, The Graphic Cow • Nika White, vice president of diversity and inclusion, Greenville Chamber After UBJ posted these names online, 17,642 people engaged in the Facebook Wild Card campaign and digital voting site, and with 1,644 likes, comments and shares and 2,987 website votes, the Wild Card was selected. The Who’s Who class of 2015 was now complete.
6. Celebrating the winners On Thursday, March 26, winners were acknowledged at a private event in front of a Who’s Who audience of the Upstate’s business leaders. The special edition of UBJ you’re reading now was also created to call attention to the activities and accomplishments of this year’s Who’s Who honorees.
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8 | WHO’S WHO 2015 |
UBJ
MEET THE PANEL
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03.27.2015
The Who’s Who panel If it’s true that it takes one to know one, then this diverse group of talented people who take their support of the Upstate far beyond their job descriptions is perfect for identifying others shaping this community’s future. Over the past months, the five volunteer members of this year’s Who’s Who panel looked hard for unsung heroes, for solid accomplishments, and for characteristics that hinted that there’s more to come. They reviewed dozens of submissions and, with the help of researchers, had lively discussions about what it takes to move a community forward.
Matt Dunbar
Joe Erwin
Matt Dunbar is managing director of the Upstate Carolina Angel Network (UCAN) and cofounder of the South Carolina Angel Network and Palmetto Angel Fund. UCAN is a Greenville-based group of accredited investors who support high-growth startup ventures in the Southeast with capital and expertise.
Joe Erwin’s expertise is in marketing and advertising. He is the founder and president of Erwin Penland, a national advertising company. Erwin is a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, and cofounded the thought leadership conference Food for Thought in 2008.
Why did you agree to serve on the Who’s Who panel? We’re blessed to live in a wonderful place, but it didn’t become so desirable by accident. Many tremendous leaders and contributors have made the Upstate what it has become, and they should be recognized, celebrated and thanked. It’s an honor to have a chance to help shine a well-deserved spotlight on a few of them.
Why did you agree to serve on the Who’s Who panel? I think it’s neat. I was also intrigued by the other panel members. These are people that I love to be around and have great respect for. I thought we’d have a good time working together on this.
How do you know Who’s Who when you see them? In my mind, the Who’s Who leverage their talents and influence to create outsized value—economically, socially or culturally. They under-promise and over-deliver, and they do it because they are passionate about making an impact, not for their own recognition.
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upstatebusinessjournal.com
MEET THE PANEL
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 9
Bob Hughes Bob Hughes, president of Hughes Development Corporation, has been active in real estate development for more than 35 years. Notable projects include Poinsett Plaza, RiverPlace, the NEXT Innovation Center and ONE. Hughes was a Who’s Who winner in 2014. Why did you agree to serve on the Who’s Who panel? The chance to work on a great team, recognize people who contribute and uncover new people. What talents and attitudes push the Upstate forward? Helpfulness. Willingness to share. The collaborative economy has a whole city where people help others and collaborate to achieve success. An investment in one person or company here receives the input of the whole community.
Jo Hackl Jo Hackl is a corporate attorney with law firm Wyche P.A. She has served on the boards of the Greenville Area Development Corporation and the Community Foundation of Greenville, and is co-chair of the Liberty Fellowship Economic Forum. She also has been recognized for her work with philanthropy and nonprofits. Why did you agree to serve on the Who’s Who panel? The Upstate is a hub for innovative leadership. Who’s Who is a chance to recognize that spirit of ingenuity, and I’m delighted to be a part of that. How do you know Who’s Who when you see them? The leaders who never settle, who are always pushing to make the Upstate a better place to live and work, are hard to miss. What talents and attitudes push the Upstate forward? Creativity, inclusiveness, imagination, generosity and persistence.
Nancy Whitworth Nancy Whitworth joined the City of Greenville more than 30 years ago and serves as the city’s deputy city manager and director of economic and community development. She has played a key role in the city’s growth story, including work on landmarks downtown, strategic city and neighborhood planning and business recruitment. Why did you agree to serve on the Who’s Who panel? Because I was asked. I think often what I’m interested in is seeing what some of the not-so-predictable names are. What parts of the Upstate should we be looking at to see what’s next? The really big thing that we’re going to have to wrestle with is: How do we ensure that our workforce is the very best that it can be and how we can elevate the education system to impact our ability to retain and attract the talent that we need?
Who’s Who in SALES? We want to know. WE’RE HIRING A FULL TIME SALES EXECUTIVE. Email AHARLEY@COMMUNITYJOURNALS.COM with cover letter and resumé.
We look forward to meeting you. COMMUNITY JOURNALS IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.
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The
THE YOUNG GUN: DAN WEIDENBENNER
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 11
Young Gun
Dan Weidenbenner
At 26, Dan Weidenbenner has already established strong roots in the Greenville business community. A native of Florida, he came to Greenville to study psychology at Furman. Along the way, through fellowships and internships, he had the opportunity to work in a number of cross-cultural environments—both here and in the Lowcountry—and discovered his true passion lay in community development. Weidenbenner’s exposure to gardening and farming through Furman’s Shi Center for Sustainability led him to the idea that community gardens could be used for much more than just growing food. And it was this idea that planted the seed for Mill Village Farms, the nonprofit he launched in 2012. Mill Village started with one farm in the Greater Sullivan neighborhood of West Greenville. Weidenbenner worked with Long Branch Baptist Church to garner community support for building a garden and then to identify teens willing to work there. The teens are paid a small stipend, but they come away with a lot more than money. Several MVF alumni are now employed by Tupelo Honey—an early supporter—and other downtown Greenville restaurants they once grew produce for. A second community garden serves the Mills Mill area, and MVF partners with local hobby farms to expand its growing capacity. A rooftop farm will be launched in downtown Greenville this spring, and Dan is currently fielding requests from communities seeking a garden of their own.
What inspired you to start Mill Village Farms? I moved into the Greater Sullivan community in 2012 after graduating from Furman. I joined the neighborhood association and got to know the local pastors and started asking questions about things we could do together. What always came up was that there were few opportunities for teenagers. They had great programs for younger kids, but teens were falling off the map; if they weren’t involved in extracurriculars or athletics, then they weren’t involved in anything, and oftentimes it led to them getting in trouble. They needed jobs, they wanted to work, so we raised funding and created kind of a social business to employ teens while training them. We do some job training, teach them about farming and gardening, and then do an entrepreneurship program in the summer. A big thing we work on is soft skills—verbal and nonverbal communication, how to shake someone’s hand, look them in the eye, how to have small conversation, how to do an interview, how to
write an application. Then we give them leadership opportunities. I just fell in love with being part of the community, getting to know people and finding what they’re good at, and hopefully helping to further the good things already going on in these neighborhoods. Any success stories? One young man who started with us during our second year and went through our entrepreneurship program is a great success story. He grew up in the Sullivan community, and while working with us he wrote a business plan to start a youth program here in the neighborhood. He actually launched it in January at Long Branch Baptist Church. He’s also working full-time at Tupelo Honey, which has been a great partner to us, and at 18 is making more money than probably anyone in his family. Seeing him reinvest in the neighborhood and reinvest in the kids is humbling. YOUNG GUN continued on PAGE 12
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UBJ
THE YOUNG GUN: DAN WEIDENBENNER
“Starting somewhere and doing something. I think that’s the biggest hurdle in entrepreneurship, having the courage to take that first step.” Age: 26 Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
03.27.2015
a team that’s able to take us to the next level.
ideas from his work and his book “Toxic Charity” and implement them here in Greenville.
Where do you see yourself in five years? I hope I’m still here investing in this community and reaching more teenagers with job opportunities and learning opportunities around entrepreneurship and agriculture. I’d also like to see an expanding Mill Village Farms growing food for the city at large.
Describe a time when you were sure you were about to fail. Moving into this community and being from a totally different background, I never thought I’d be welcomed in as well as I have.
Who do you rely on as a mentor? There are a few people Career: Launched Mill Village Farms in June 2012 and currently serves that have been incredible as executive director mentors for me. Jeff Community involvement: Mill Village Farms works to build up neighborRandolph, a local real hoods from within through community gardens estate developer, has Family: Single taught me a lot about working with local churches to build up YOUNG GUN continued from PAGE 11 communities. And learning from Pastor Sean Dogan has been a huge What are you working on right now that you are blessing. He is super passionate about not only the most excited about? church and faith community, but also Greenville as We’re working with [Greenville developer] Bob a whole. Hughes to put in a rooftop farm on one of his buildings How do you motivate? downtown. We started dabbling in it last fall, and One way we motivate our teenagers is just finding we’re fully launching it this spring with 50 aeroponic the things they love and are good at already and giving towers that will allow us to grow produce twice as them opportunities to do those things. fast in less space. Our teenagers will be able to come What has been downtown and learn about farming, learn job skills, your best business decision? and just be in the hustle and bustle of downtown Just starting somewhere and doing something. I Greenville. It will also allow us to expand growing think that’s the biggest hurdle in entrepreneurship, capacity for the restaurants we sell to. having the courage to take that first step. And it’s What is the biggest topic of concern in your been an amazing decision, because I never would organization right now? have dreamed this organization would have grown as One of the things our organization works towards much as it has already. is improving access to fresh, healthy, local foods in What’s your idea of work-life balance? communities that don’t have that access. The Good For any entrepreneur to Go Mobile Market we bring to community centers, it’s a struggle, and churches and businesses is one way we’re working finding a balance of work to solve that problem. and rest is a challenge What keeps you awake at night? most weeks. One thing I Worrying about the dirty details of the organization and like to do is travel and how we can keep things moving forward to reach and be able to take a step provide more opportunities for the teenagers that need us. away from the organizaWhat was a game-changing moment in tion for a long weekend your career? in the spring or winter. Working with Pastor Sean Dogan. Long Branch Who outside of your Baptist Church has been an integral part of this professional circle has neighborhood and this city, and working together with the most influence on them has played a huge role in expanding our orgayour work? nization to reach more teenagers and grow more food. Bob Lupton. He has What do you still have to learn about worked to build up your business? communities from within Being a new organization, we’re focusing in South Atlanta, and on building leadership capacity and putting together I’ve been able to take Education: B.S., psychology, Furman University
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What is the difference between the future you saw for yourself five years ago and the work you are doing today? I never was exposed to entrepreneurship, even in college, and I saw myself following a more traditional path, maybe getting my master’s and becoming a psychiatrist. Seeing some incredible entrepreneurs here in Greenville was really inspiring and really changed my direction, giving me the courage and confidence and understanding to start something. How do you get your local and national news? I’m a local news junkie, so I read them all. I love the Greenville Journal and UBJ. For national news I have blogs I follow more than anything. I’m really passionate about urban and city development. Do you have a routine or anything specific you make sure to do every day? Coffee. Never leave home without it, even if I have a coffee meeting later that day. What do you see as the Upstate’s most underutilized asset? Our youth. They are the ones that are going to be leading our communities in 10, 20, 30 years. Figuring out ways to empower them and solve some of the issues they face is one of the biggest challenges our community is facing.
“As a local business that understands the importance in giving back in our community, we are more than thankful for all that Dan has done to inspire community involvement in our young entrepreneurs.” Award sponsor Chad Domonoske, general sales manager, Century BMW
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POO
Leah Grabo
Sweet Home Alabama Lanneau Drive Now Home
Matt Crider
Experienced Appraiser Five Forks Family Guy
Joan Herlong
Owner, Broker in Charge The real Number One*
AugustaRoad.com • 864.297.3450 *She has sold more real estate than any single Realtor in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Source: Greenville MLS volume stat’s 2012 thru 2014. AugustaRoad.com Realty ranks #13 among all realty firms. Source: MLS sales stats 2014.
Joan Town Apr15.indd 2-3
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The
THE CLOSER: MAURIE LAWRENCE
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Greenville and the Upstate? There are a lot of questions, and it’s going to require a lot of smart people working together to solve.
Closer
Maurie Lawrence
What keeps you awake at night? An honest answer is, I know things can change in an instant. My daughter was diagnosed with cancer, and I have this perpetual knowledge that you never know what’s going to change, whether in your workplace, the community, or your family. So I spend a lot of time thinking about how to spend time wisely, and how to be effective, both as a leader and a person. But that takes a constant thinking about a lot of issues, and it can wake you up at night, just worrying or wondering what’s next, because ultimately we don’t know the answer to that. What was a game-changing moment in your career? Coming to Wyche. It’s a unique law firm; it has a unique proposition in that it brings people from all over the country together in a very small law firm with the notion that we could do sophisticated work—as friends—and still be actively involved in the community. I would say a lot of that really derives from the vision of Tommy Wyche, and it’s a game-changer to have known him and then to be able to work in his legacy. Where do you see yourself in five years? I really want to be a part of this community. I ultimately believe our actions make a difference. You, or me, or any one of us can impact today and tomorrow, both in the Upstate, and actually globally. One non-business but important project going on—that I hope in five years we’re all walking through—is the expansion of parks in the Upstate. There are these incredible plans for increased parks, and if you see how much Falls Park transformed how we experience downtown. … I think the Cancer Survivors Park, as well as many others, can have that same sort of transformative [effect].
Maurie Lawrence is a partner in a prominent law firm and mother to two elementary-age children, yet still finds time to be heavily involved in a number of causes about which she feels passionate. She is inspired by the legacy of her firm’s founder, Tommy Wyche, and the visionary leadership he brought to bear in Greenville. At Wyche, in addition to her law practice, Lawrence is responsible for internal development and training—a role she takes seriously and through which she has worked to make the mentoring and professional development process more accessible. Lawrence founded the first South Carolina chapter of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), with the goal of advancing the success of women in real estate, a traditionally male-dominated field. She also serves as chairwoman for the Children’s Garden of the Cancer Survivor’s Park, which combines her love for real estate and the built environment with her passion for helping children and families facing cancer.
What are you currently working on that you are the most excited about? I get most excited when I’m working on a diversity of projects. Working on the development of downtown Greenville, which is an ongoing project. I and our real estate team have a number of projects off and on Main Street. Also working with manufacturing companies, not just in South Carolina, but across the country—that’s exciting to me because you see job growth. I also need the diversity to have some conservation projects, so I’m working on some substantive projects to save large tracts of land, and that balances out the development with conservation. What is the biggest topic of concern or excitement in your industry right now? If I defined my industry as real estate in the Upstate of South Carolina, we’re concerned with how to develop responsibly. Because population growth is continuing, our needs are expanding, which is wonderful, but infrastructure is a huge issue. How do we match a growing and strong infrastructure with the needs of the population, and also how do we grow in a responsible way so you can maintain the charm of
What do you have yet to learn about your business? Everything, because no assumptions can be taken as certain. Real estate and business continues to
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THE CLOSER: MAURIE LAWRENCE
Age: 38 Hometown: Columbia Education: B.A., Smith College; diploma, urban policy, University of Glasgow; J.D., Georgetown University Law Center Career: 12 years as an attorney with Wyche P.A. Community involvement: Founder, CREW Upstate; chairwoman, Children’s Garden of the Cancer Survivor’s Park; Greenville Health System’s Children’s Hospital Advancement Council member Family: Husband Cliff, general counsel, OB Hospitalist Group; children Harry, 7, and Clara, 9.
change. I went to a conference recently and they talked about how the density will change everything, as well as technology. We’re becoming more and more condensed … we’re using space differently, we’re experiencing space differently. One small example: When [my generation was] in college, we may have had lots of books and music that you needed space to house, but current generations have all of it on their phone. There are no concrete assumptions, so I am constantly open to the ideas that knowledge is always changing and growing. How do you apply it in the legal market and for your clients? You need a flexibility, creativity and willingness to grow to be able to do that well. Who do you rely on as a mentor? I take mentorship and the idea of mentoring very seriously. I think it’s a crucial concept, both to realize that you’re constantly being mentored and that you have a need to be mentoring others. I don’t have one mentor, I have a board of mentors that help me in all different areas. What inspired you to enter the real estate field? I came into real estate because it’s collaborative, it affects the community. It’s tangible, you can see it. I like to be able to walk by something that I worked on and point it out. Most importantly, it resonated with me in terms of how it gets done, in that it’s not combative, it’s not “one person wins, one person loses,” and it makes a difference. It’s hard for me to work in legal work where I can’t always measure why we’re doing it or why it matters, but in real estate I know why the building matters, or why the creation of jobs matters, or why we’re spending time talking about LEED certification, or why the impact of the building’s sustainability and efficiency matters. That was a natural draw towards real estate. What’s your idea of work-life balance? There is no such thing. It’s hard. I think people aren’t telling the truth if it’s not hard. It’s rewarding, but it’s frustrating. My idea of work-life balance is to do the best I can and be willing to change. On some days I feel like I got the life part right: I ran, I saw my children, I had a good meeting with a friend. On other days I got the work part right: I worked long hours but we closed a big deal, our clients are happy, or something positive happened in the community. Some days I didn’t get either part right, but I pushed the ball forward in most
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“I ultimately believe our actions make a difference. You, or me, or any one of us can impact today and tomorrow, in the Upstate and globally.”
areas, and that was good for that day. You just have to be constantly doing your best, and it requires a tremendous amount of flexibility and not getting lost in one short-term effort. I’ve done a lot of good for the business community, and I’m doing a lot of good for my family. What are some common assumptions or misconceptions people make about you or your line of work? I think there is a wide-held notion that lawyers practice one type of law, or they’re one type of personality. I’m teaching right now in a graduate program, and sometimes even the students have said, “You’re nice, are you nice as a lawyer?” or “You seem collaborative, are you collaborative?” or “What’s it like in a courtroom?” The truth is I never go in the courtroom, and I think I am nice, generally, and collaborative. There is this classical view that a lawyer goes to a courtroom and doesn’t bend and always has a poker face, and I’d say in some ways those classical definitions still are things that we face. While less prevalent, there’s definitely still [people who say] “Will you get me some coffee… oh, you’re the lawyer.” Yes, your lawyer can be the female in the room. Those things still happen. There’s a need to talk about them. Not as much, but definitely there are stereotypes about who is the lawyer. What is difference between the future you saw for yourself five or 10 years ago and the life you are living and work you are doing today? I really saw myself working for the government— whether it was local, state, national, or a global organization. I have an urban policy degree. I am most surprised that I am in private practice. I still sort of pinch myself
that I am a private-practice attorney and like it. Also, I would not be telling the truth if I didn’t say having children is unpredictable. What I pictured in terms of being a mother cannot be described in terms of what it’s actually like. That has to be one of the biggest differences. What is the Upstate’s most underutilized asset? Our people. It actually doesn’t matter where you are, I think you can better utilize people. But the Upstate has tremendous diversity in every area. We have a tremendous opportunity to engage, from a classical workforce development standpoint, so we can attract better jobs. But there’s also the concept of a think tank—if we’re able to tap into a more diverse view of ideas, we’re going to better solve problems in a unique way. But the way to do that is to bring more people into the tent so that they’re helping us come up with solutions. We need to be appreciative of the people that are here and utilize them, because we live in a competitive environment. Other communities that are better able to utilize their people will have a competitive advantage over the Upstate. Our people are our greatest underutilized asset, but they are also our greatest opportunity.
“Our company is redefining full service in real estate with a laser focus on client service. We’re not just realtors, we’re problem-solvers and advocates. So it’s very appropriate and an honor to sponsor The Closer award, given to the very deserving Maurie Lawrence.” Award sponsor Joan Herlong, owner and broker-in-charge, AugustaRoad.com Realty LLC
Congratulations
Richard Hagins
2015
SPONSOR OF THE 2015 THE BOSS WHO’S WHO
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THE BOSS: RICHARD HAGINS
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Richard Hagins spent 23 years as a U.S. naval officer, retiring in 2000 with the rank of commander. He founded his company in 2003, growing from two unpaid employees to more than 250 employees today, thanks to large contracts with the federal government and contractors. US&S provides facility maintenance and support services, specializing in operations and maintenance, repairs, renovation, janitorial and grounds. Hagins retired from the Navy to give his family more stability and founded his company as a legacy for his children. He’s an active mentor who applies the same passion and focus to assisting others as he does to building his own company. He’s also a proponent of diversity, always seeking to offer a positive example. “One of the mottoes of 100 Black Men of America is ‘What they see is what they be.’ If a kid sees someone who looks like them who is successful and doing positive things, they want to be that,” he said. “I want to be an example that if you work hard, do the right thing and have integrity, good things can happen.”
The
Boss
Richard Hagins
What keeps you up at night? The promise of the next day. What can I do different, better? Growing this business, creating a legacy for my daughter, that keeps me up because I’m excited. What do you consider your most underutilized asset? I think I’m pretty good at connecting with people. When I first started, I was the face of the company. ... As you continue to grow the company, you can get less and less involved with actually getting out and meeting with folks. What current project are you most excited about? We just won the biggest contract in company history. It’s a facility support services contract that’s a little over $100 million. We’re very excited to have that contract, and we want to do well. What is your biggest concern for your company and industry? We started out as a federal contractor. Right now, the big push is to work locally. We have very little business in Greenville, but we love Greenville and know this is a prime area, so we are looking hard at growing our business locally. What do you think will hold the Upstate back? I work with the Chamber, and we’re looking real
hard at the minority contractors and how they are faring in the Upstate. That’s one area of inclusion that we’re working on. I think it’s going to take a lot of work, and companies like ours to continue to break through and demonstrate that we can do the work. Maybe we can get the wealth spread around a little bit more. What can be done to accomplish that? We participate in the Minority Business Accelerator program under the Chamber. Nika White runs that. That program has really taken off. Just last week I was working with a Greenville Health System executive who is helping us learn how to do business with the hospital. So I think those things are going to make a difference—actually getting to decision-makers. Looking back on your career, is there a game-changing moment? I was born in Savannah, Ga., and raised by my grandfather, Rev. Hagins. He started a business called
Universal Church Supplies. He’s an entrepreneur and also a Baptist preacher. He instilled in me that you have to keep giving until it hurts. The more you give, the getting always comes back. That stuck with me. Where do you expect to be in five or 10 years? We have a growth projection that we want to grow to around $36 million in five years. The business we’re trying to grow is a legacy business. My daughter Euleta is developing her skills and hopes to become the next leadership here, so there is a succession plan in place. What do you still have to learn about your business? Every day is a learning experience. Operations and maintenance change so rapidly. It used to be just plan maintenance, corrective maintenance. Now it’s technicians with equipment and measuring devices to ensure energy conservation is maintained. BOSS continued on PAGE 18
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THE BOSS: RICHARD HAGINS
“As they say in the Navy, if you want a straight answer, go down to the deck plates. A manager will give you one answer, but the people doing the work will give you the real answer.”
Occupation: CEO and president, US&S Education: B.S., electrical engineering, Savannah State University; M.A., business management, Webster University. Community involvement: Greenville Chamber board of directors; Minority Business Accelerator Initiative board; Blood Connection board chairman; 100 Black Men of America; chairman of Red Cross Armed Forces Committee, mentoring Family: Wife Priscilla, daughters Euleta, 31, Ashley, 27, and Richelle, 19 BOSS continued from PAGE 17
The janitorial world was basic, but now it’s more technical. It’s always a learning experience, and that keeps us sharp. Who do you rely on as a mentor? When we got to about $5 million, we had to go to the next phase, and I was very fortunate to have a gentleman by the name of Cleveland Christophe come down from Connecticut. He had grown TSG Capital Group to more than $900 million and retired. He came in and helped me as a true partner. He helped me put the infrastructure and systems in place. He is since retired again, but the good news is two things: One, he’s my cousin, and two, he lives across the street. How do you motivate people? Our core values, what the company really stands for, is a motivator. Our No. 1 core value is family focus. That keeps people committed, builds trust, and they know that we are going to give back, as they are giving. Training also ties back to family focus, because we invest in them.
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I’m in a place where I just feel like what’s important is to give back. Who do you mentor? We’re mentoring three companies: JCC, a local construction company headed by James Jordon; Chanticleer Solutions, which is a facility support services company similar to ours; and Visionary Services, a woman-owned business out of Atlanta. It’s amazing how many small businesses talk to me about mentoring them. You can’t mentor everybody, but you can share advice. So if anybody calls and wants to talk, I’m always willing to share. Who outside of your professional circle has the most influence on your work? I talked about my cousin Cleve Christophe. We play golf together at Thornblade Country Club. There is also Sheldon Early, with Tempus Jets, and Victor Austin with PHC. Golf takes four hours at a time, and it’s a good time to talk. Those three are real important to me, and I can call them a friend.
Age: 58 Hometown: Savannah, Ga.
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What do you consider your best business decision? In 2005 we were working down in Kings Bay, Ga., at the naval submarine base. I was going back and forth, but when I wasn’t there, nobody was watching the store. If things went wrong, we couldn’t justify what was going on, so we had to make the decision to hire a manager. By doing that, business increased, and we have an office down there with 18 employees. That really propelled our business to where we are today. So you gambled on growth? I believe we are in a growth stage right now, which means you’ve got to get good people, you’ve got to spend money, and cash flow is going to be tight. But it’s a calculated risk to increase the business and ensure the longevity of US&S. What inspired you to enter this field and start this company? When I retired from the Navy in 2000 I owned Universal Church Supplies, working with churches. But it wasn’t enough to maintain a family. So I wondered, what can I do? Well, I knew the military because I spent 23 years in the Navy. So I started a company that was focused on the military. What’s your idea of work-life balance? You can’t work 24 hours a day. You have to have some time for family, for relaxation. I want to be an active player in my business, but I want to continue to give back. So my enjoyment is mentoring. I also work with 100 Black Men of America, mentoring young minority children, and with my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. It’s fulfilling. I’m in the fourth quarter, and
Describe a time when you were sure you would fail. We all remember 2009, when the economy was headed down the tubes. We were affected as well. We had two choices: We could have laid people off to right-size the business, or we could weather the loss. We didn’t lay anybody off. My mentoring group said, “Cut the people,” but I didn’t do it. Their families relied on their income, and they were already trained. People are the most important thing we have. That was a scary moment. I did go into a lot of debt. But we’re still standing, and those same people are still working for me. What’s the difference between the future you saw for yourself 10, 20 or 30 years ago and your life today? Fifteen years ago, we were sending people to Iraq, fighting a desert war, and I thought I would continue to serve my country in the Navy. Things changed when it was time to transfer again. My daughters were in high school and middle school, and they didn’t want to lose their friends. So I had to make the difficult decision to retire for my family. Then I thought I would be in the church supply business and continue the work of my grandfather. But each step I think was meant to be, because I am very much at peace on who I am and what I’m doing. Your award is The Boss. What does it mean to be a good boss? It’s important for people to realize you care about them and that you’re going to support them. My leadership style is to manage by walking around. I like to ask questions—not just what you’re doing, but how you’re doing. As they say in the Navy, if you want a straight answer, go down to the deck plates. A manager will give you one answer, but the people doing the work will give you the real answer.
“Our company is built on a culture of teamwork, professional excellence and high ethical standards. We pride ourselves on maintaining strong, local roots. We’re proud to sponsor The Boss award and present this much-deserved recognition to Richard Hagins.” Award sponsor Larry Smith, area president, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
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THE WILD CARD: NIKA WHITE
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so far, and I’m really excited about the MBEs that are a part of the program. What is the biggest topic of concern in your industry right now? Trying to find innovative ways to make sure we’re creating economic vitality, to make sure we are leveraging all of the great resources we have in our community to make Greenville a destination that people want to seek out to live and grow and thrive, and that companies want to seek out for their headquarters. Is there anything that keeps you awake at night? To be honest, what keeps me awake at night are things I’m passionate about. I wake up excited for the next day because I really enjoy what I’m doing. I enjoy the fact that I am part of, in a small way, helping to shape Greenville into the great city that it is becoming and that it already is. What has been a game-changing moment in your career? Undoubtedly transitioning from my background in marketing and communications to working full-time in the space of diversity and inclusion. I have a 15-plus-year history of working in that field and I absolutely love the field of marketing and communications. I loved the culture of the agency I was working for, I loved the environment, I loved the clients; it was really exciting for me to go to work every day. I thought I was going to be in that career path long-term. The latter part of my tenure I started to also work in the space of diversity and inclusion, and that is what led me to this particular opportunity.
Nika White The
Wild Card
Nika White is nearing the end of her third year as vice president of diversity and inclusion for the Greenville Chamber of Commerce. She describes accepting the newly created position as a huge leap of faith, but one she will be forever glad she took. Her list of accomplishments since joining the Chamber is long, but highlights include conceiving and managing the Minority Business Accelerator, one of five of its kind in the country, and establishing a Hispanic Business Committee.
What are you currently working on that you are most excited about? I am the most excited right now about the Minority Business Accelerator the Greenville Chamber is doing. We’re one of five in the country that’s offering such a program. It’s where we take high-potential minority-owned firms and we put them through an ecosystem where they’re receiving targeted training, technical assistance, coaching and executive leadership opportunities, and it’s all for those organizations to be able to grow and thrive and contribute successfully to the marketplace. We’ve seen some great results
Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years? I am currently in my last year as a doctoral student, pursuing a doctorate in management and organizational leadership. I am finding through my studies that I feel in my element when I am able to contribute to organizations in a significant leadership role. I find that for the work of inclusion to really be effective and sustainable, you have to also consider all other elements of business operations. I would love to consult, I would love to be on the speaking circuit. I love being able to challenge individuals and to empower and equip individuals for growth and opportunities. I see myself doing something that encompasses all of that—whatever that may be. What do you have yet to learn about your business? It’s so plentiful, and honestly hard to narrow it down to one particular thing, and the reason I say that is because I work in a discipline where there is not a right or wrong, necessarily. How diversity and inclusion is executed is very contingent upon the culture of the organization. So I learn every day; I am constantly learning. I really do hope I never get to the point where I stop learning or stop being exposed to new information and knowledge that can make me better and more effective for the impact I want to have on the community. Who do you rely on as a mentor? I am really big on mentorships. In fact, I believe people should have multiple mentors. I don’t have just one mentor in my life. I have a mentor for my doctorate degree I’m pursuing, I have a mentor for
upstatebusinessjournal.com the discipline of diversity and inclusion—several of them, in fact. I have a spiritual mentor. I believe mentorships are incredibly important and I rely on all of them, probably equally. How do you motivate others? I like to motivate others by inspiring them, allowing them to see the full potential within and helping to equip that. Sometimes being someone’s biggest cheerleader can be great, but where you really are able to see a difference being made is when you’re willing to walk with them, to help to show them the way and to keep them encouraged. What has been your best career decision? My best career decision by far has been transitioning to the role I’m in now, and I say that because it took a lot of risk. On paper my role was for three years, and I left a very stable career and a job that I absolutely loved. But I was led through the potential to have greater community impact. Taking that risk was difficult, but it certainly allowed me the ability to find my space. I truly feel in my element; I feel that the role I serve in is allowing me to be a part of something greater. I love Greenville, I love the community, and I really feel at home in this role.
THE WILD CARD: NIKA WHITE
Who is the person outside your professional circle who most greatly influences you? Undoubtedly, my husband. I always tell people that when you’re on the journey to create success for yourself and others around you, you have to be cognizant about your partner in life. I was fortunate to marry well, in the sense that my husband is extremely supportive. We really are equally yoked in the sense that we share a lot of the same interests, we have a lot of the same drive and ambition. He stimulates me mentally, which helps me to propel myself to the next level and go after challenges that I may feel are unattainable. He is a trusted advisor in my inner circle.
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“At HTI, we’re always striving to be more creative, more innovative and more sophisticated in the way we operate. Nika is a trailblazer in her industry, and we’re delighted to sponsor and honor her with The Wild Card award.” Award sponsor Herb Dew, president, Human Technologies Inc.
Do you have a routine or anything specific you make sure you do every day? I’m a woman of great faith. I believe that’s what keeps me grounded. So certainly spending time to reflect on the grace and the mercy of God and how that helps to strengthen my faith. Being really deeply rooted in spiritual faith is the most important asset that I have in my life.
people that is not the case at all. There are so many different layers of diversity—diversity of thought, experience, geographic backgrounds. It goes a lot deeper than race. I want people to start thinking more sophisticatedly about diversity and inclusion, and also see it as more of an action type of initiative instead of something that is just the right thing to do. That it’s politically correct. There is a great notion that the business case behind diversity and inclusion is what really makes the difference, and that should always lead.
If you weren’t in the career path you’re in now, what would you be doing? I think I would want to be a college professor. I enjoy public speaking; I enjoy impacting others. I enjoy equipping people with knowledge and taking some type of nebulous concept and seeing the light bulb come on and seeing people apply that type of knowledge. It’s probably why I enjoy facilitating workshops, corporate training and public speaking.
What is the difference between the future you saw for yourself five or 10 years ago and the life you’re living and work you’re doing now? I’m always reminded that people need to hear things are possible for them, and not just for a select group of individuals. Even for myself, that gives me great liberty to be encouraged to go after any and everything. There are certain things in my future that I wish to attain that I know I probably wouldn’t have considered if I weren’t so fixated on encouraging others to go after their dreams. I think the sky’s the limit for all of us—for women, for minority individuals—and we just have to be very intentional to govern ourselves accordingly to be sure we are charting the pathway for ourselves toward success.
What are some common misconceptions people have about your field? I think one big misconception about the discipline of diversity and inclusion is that it’s always fueled by race, and I always try to educate
What do you see as the Upstate’s most underutilized asset? Definitely the human capital that exists within our community. Every day I encounter someone who is incredibly talented, that has a great wealth of experience and expertise that really can help us to elevate Greenville to the next level. I think we’re on the verge of that; we just have to keep fostering and cultivating the people who are raising their hands and are willing to make Greenville the best it can be. We deserve that as a community, and I think we’ll get there.
“I wake up excited for the next day because I really enjoy what I’m doing. I enjoy the fact that I am part of, in a small way, helping to shape Greenville into the great city that it is becoming and that it already is.”
Age: 38 Hometown: Anderson Education: B.A., journalism and mass communications, advertising and public relations, University of South Carolina; Master of Education, Doctor of Management, University of Phoenix Career: 10 years with Erwin Penland; joined Greenville Chamber of Commerce in 2012 in newly created role of vice president of diversity and inclusion Community involvement: Cofounder of MLK Dream Weekend, YWCA board member, United Way board member, Imagine Upstate advisory board member Family: Husband Carlo White, president and CEO, Nationwide Insurance/ The Carlo White Agency; children Hannah, 14, and CJ, 13.
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THE INNOVATOR: DEB RICHARDSON-MOORE
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Age: 60 Hometown: Greenville Education: B.A., political science, Wake Forest University; master of divinity, Erskine Theological Seminary Career: 27 years as a reporter for The Greenville News; pastor/director at Triune Mercy Center for almost 10 years Community involvement: Working with other homeless service providers to determine what the community should focus on for its most vulnerable citizens Family: Husband Vince Moore; children Dustin, a massage therapist in Greenville; Taylor, a teacher and rock musician in Vietnam; and Madison, an English teacher in Korea
Deb Richardson-Moore loved being a journalist and never dreamed of becoming anything else—especially not a pastor. But after attending seminary to learn more about her new religion beat, she knew she had found her second career. Now, almost a decade after becoming pastor and director at Triune Mercy Center, Richardson-Moore can’t imagine her life any other way. Though the job was daunting at first, and she considered quitting daily—an experience she recounts in her book, “The Gift of Mercy”—she stuck around, and has led Triune as it grew from a small church for the homeless to a growing center of worship and support for people of all socioeconomic levels. “I had a homeless man tell me one time that the worst thing about being homeless wasn’t being cold or wet or hungry. The worst thing about being homeless is being looked right through,” she said. “So in everything we do here, that’s what we’re doing. We’re trying to look.”
“As a firm, we are committed to making a positive impact on our people, our clients and our communities. We believe one of the best ways to do this is by looking for new and better solutions by being innovative. That’s why we’re very proud to sponsor The Innovator award, and we applaud Deb for continually seeking to make the Upstate better.” Award sponsor Rick Davis, managing shareholder, Elliott Davis Decosimo
Deb Richardson-Moore The
Innovator
What is your most underutilized asset? I don’t know—if I had one, I would be using it. I guess I don’t have enough time to write as much as I would like to write. What keeps you up at night? This winter, when it’s been so cold, a lot of times I wake up in the middle of the night and just wonder where our folks are—the ones I know are sleeping outside. What, if anything, is holding the Upstate back? I would really like to see expanded transportation services, because not just Greenville, but a lot of midsize cities are spread out, so you almost have to have a car to have any sort of job success. Our folks who don’t have that are very limited. And wages. Even when we can help folks get a job, on minimum wage, they can’t even survive. And then affordable housing, and I’m talking about ... affordable, decent, safe housing for $250-$300.
What can be done or is being done to make these changes? The community has to have a will to change things. The homeless service providers in Greenville have been meeting together, and we have written a white paper on our suggestions for what the community as a whole needs, being very specific about certain types of affordable housing for certain populations. It’s a good first step, but it’s going to take a community that stands up and says, “No more. We aren’t going to have our citizens so marginalized anymore.” What was a game-changing moment in your career? Coming here [to Triune Mercy Center]. I’d been a news reporter for 27 years and loved it. They asked me to start writing about religion. A lot of times when I changed beats, I would go study ... and so I ended up in the seminary. I went down there just to study about what I was going to be writing about, and it was just like, oh my gosh. That was just a turnaround. INNOVATOR continued on PAGE 24
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THE INNOVATOR: DEB RICHARDSON-MOORE
“I think what you do is hire good people and let them do their jobs. We’re willing to try anything here. If somebody comes in with an idea, our default decision is, why not?” INNOVATOR continued from PAGE 23
How quickly did you know you wanted to change the course of your career? It was that very first class. I didn’t know this stuff, I didn’t know I wanted to know it, or how to go about finding it out. Already, my brain was churning. It took three years of classes, because I was still working for the paper and going part-time. So it took three years to say, “I’m leaving journalism, I’m going into ministry.” Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years? I would like to be here. This has become a place I absolutely love. I still want to be writing as well. What do you still have to learn? You never stop learning here. I could study the Bible from now until the day I die and I wouldn’t have adequate understanding. I want to learn more about people who are experiencing homelessness. I’m always being surprised by the different dynamics, the different stories. Everybody gets here for different reasons, and the dealing with it and trying to turn it around is so complicated and so messy. There is a lot of learning to be done there—how we can help empower and not just enable addictions or bad behavior. Do you have a mentor? The one I have gone to for advice most often is Reid Lehman, who is head of Miracle Hill. He has been very generous with his advice. Beth Templeton [of Our Eyes Were Opened] I’ve asked for advice a lot, and I’m good friends with Tony McDade of GAIHN [Greenville Area Interfaith Hospitality Network]. A lot of us share experiences and just exchange counsel a lot. How do you motivate people? We try a lot of different things. We hang artwork on every surface, trying to show people what they can do. We use a piece by the pulpit every Sunday. We are saying, “We understand you may live in a tent in the woods, but you’re an artist.” Same with our music program. It’s a mix of housed and homeless. You may be living outside, but what a voice you have to share. We invite anybody, homeless or not homeless, to volunteer, greeting, taking up the offering, serving lunch afterward, pruning the flowers. Whatever it takes to make them feel part of the community. That’s our goal. You may be marginalized by society, but you are welcome here, and we would be the poorer from your absence. Is Triune a true socioeconomic mix, and are you trying to create a certain mix? When we started out, it was all homeless. Then other people started coming. We had more than 300 in worship today, and a quarter were literally street
dwellers. Maybe another quarter were working poor, and about half were middle class and wealthy. People ask, “What if the middle class people overtake your congregation?” But you can’t say who’s going to come to church. We just take whoever God brings here. What is your idea of work-life balance? I’m real careful here, not only for myself but for my whole staff. I try to give everybody two complete, full days off, and I just think it’s critical. Another thing I do to create balance, and everybody makes fun of me for this, but I write my sermon 12 days before it will be delivered. I was a deadline reporter for 27 years, so I know what working under deadline is like, and I don’t want to do that again for a sermon. Is there a person outside your circle who has the most influence on you? I would say my writer’s group. I have a circle of four women friends—we were all journalists. They are people whose writing I always really admired. Now that I’m writing some fiction, I really appreciate their opinion. Describe a time when you were sure you would fail. My first year here, absolutely. I’d go into the restroom and there would be crack pipes, liquor bottles were all over the property, the fighting, the cursing, the ripping phones out of the wall. It was sort of Wild West. I was sure I was not going to be able to make it here. And I felt very strongly that if I could not succeed in this pastorate, if I couldn’t love the people here, I did not deserve to go to another church. I just felt very much a failure every day coming in here. Clearly, you did not fail. How did things change? I hired a 6-foot-2-inch former paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne, and a British engineer from Fluor, and the three of us just began a nebulous, fuzzy plan to offer all of those people eating in our soup kitchen a way to get off drugs and alcohol. I felt like if we did not offer them a way out of addiction and homelessness and mental challenges when possible, then we weren’t living up to what we should be doing. Hot food and coats weren’t going to change anybody’s life. Was it a lengthy process, turning things around? Boy, was it slow and it was painstaking and messy, and in some cases it was putting people out. We started raising the bar on behavior. It was a long, slow tedious process, but it started changing. Then, people started taking ownership: “This is our church, and we don’t act like that here.”
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Have you ever been afraid in this job? Fear was never part of it. I was angry, I was mad, I was sad, but I was never afraid. My father always told us not to be afraid of people. Are there people out there who want to hurt you? Yes. But if you live your whole life as if they are coming around the corner, they’ve already won. Also, the robe carries you a long way. What’s a common assumption people make about you? A lot of people read the book and they say, “I thought you were going to be 300 pounds.” I have no idea why, but I get that all the time. The other thing, I think people are expecting me to be more pious and churchly, and I’m just not. How does your work affect the Upstate business community? I’ve heard people say, though I don’t know if it’s true, that if we [area homeless service providers] didn’t do the work we do, Greenville would experience a crime wave like it never knew. But welcoming people, feeding people—we’re just trying to respond to human needs, and I think that translates to the kind of community that people want to live in; one where we care for all of our citizens, not just the ones that are able to make it in high-paying jobs. How can the business community engage in what you’re doing here? Just come on over. We have three lawyers who come in every Wednesday and give free advice. If you’ve reached a point where it’s not about the money anymore and you’re wanting to give back and help your fellow man, this is a place for you. We have Support Circles, and that’s a good place. If people are capable and ready to change their life, we will encircle them with four trained community volunteers who agree to walk with them for a whole year. The business community can take part in that, and they’ll go out and talk among their friends about what they’ve learned about being homeless, what the issues are. That will ripple out through our community. What do you think of being labeled an innovator? The label humbles me. I think what you do is hire good people and let them do their jobs. We’re willing to try anything here. If somebody comes in with an idea, our default decision is, why not? I don’t think I’m an innovator, but I think I’m open to innovation and trying things and letting people use their gifts.
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THE ENTREPRENEUR: CRAIG KINLEY
Craig Kinley made a name for himself in the telecommunications industry and then tried his hand at early retirement. It didn’t take him long to realize he wasn’t cut out for sitting still, so he returned to Anderson and put his talents to work for his hometown. These days he is beating the Upstate bushes for entrepreneurial types who have a solid idea and are in need of support through the various stages of getting a new business off the ground. That’s the idea behind e-Merge @ the Garage, a business startup environment housed in a downtown Anderson parking facility. As a prelude to e-Merge, Kinley opened Growler Haus, a purveyor of craft beers with locations in Anderson and Spartanburg. In addition to tapping kegs of sought-after brews, Growler Haus plays host to Grain Ideas, an informal think-tank session where local folks can pitch their business ideas and get feedback on next steps.
The
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Entrepreneur
Craig Kinley
What are you currently working on that you are the most excited about? We’re working to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem in downtown Anderson through programs we’ll be rolling out in 2015 and 2016. Cyber Saturday is a collaboration with IT-oLogy that exposes students to technology and technology careers. Through the LemonADE stand we’re working with Clemson’s bioengineering staff to take high school students through the process of designing a product or service and launching a startup. And the Startup Business Boot Camp at e-Merge @ the Garage is a 12-week program that will match entrepreneurs with scalable business concepts with local and regional entrepreneurial mentors. Why did you choose to launch your businesses in Anderson? For four or five years, I had to spend a lot of time driving down the interstate to Greenville to play with the cool kids. I looked at Anderson and saw it needed a freshness, a coolness. Growler Haus was created out of that as a proxy to teach myself as well as the community that you can do some neat things that are boutique, but they can be very much embraced if you hit the right market. One of my mentors told me, “You can make an impact to the Upstate and the state, but you can make a greater
impact in your hometown and then grow from there.” Because I’m from Anderson, I wanted to give back to the community and to the younger generation here. We want to embrace and keep those younger generations here so they don’t move to Silicon Valley or New York or Chicago. Why is it important for Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg to work together? We absolutely need to work together. We want a specific identity of the Upstate. The more cohesiveness we get between Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg and work together as a whole, the more we can embrace our synergies and move things forward to really become a metropolitan area. Anderson has a lot of great small manufacturing facilities and a great learning environment with Tri-County Tech and what they’re doing with their industrial technologies program. Spartanburg has some pretty big catalysts in the professional world that have
made it big, and they’re putting their money back into Spartanburg. It’s very a much a sleeping giant—it will look like Greenville in another five to 10 years. Greenville has been on track for about 15-20 years, since they built the Peace Center. Hayne Hipp has invested in Greenville with the Liberty Fellowship and the Liberty Bridge that has really revitalized the West End, and Greenville has become a world-class community that people come to visit, to live and to play. I think when you put all those elements of Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg together, with the corridor of I-85 being the transportation catalyst and Clemson University in our backyard, we’ve got a lot of great things we need to embrace together and see how we carry forward as a collective community. What is the biggest topic of concern or excitement in your industry now? The biggest challenge we have is building the talent
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THE ENTREPRENEUR: CRAIG KINLEY
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“I’m not chasing money at the end of the day now, I’m chasing relationships. Relationships are a lot more important to me as a leader.” Age: 46 Hometown: Anderson Education: B.A., telecommunications planning and development, Depaul University; M.J., business law, Loyola School of Law Career: 20 years in wireless telecommunications; founded WiProwess; Growler Haus owner and founder; chairman, e-Merge @ the Garage
What do you still have to learn about your business? Community involvement: SCETV board member; Liberty Fellow That’s a daily task. I’m Family: Wife Lori; children Chase, 8, and Cole, 11. constantly wanting to absorb from other folks in the industry of entrepreneurship or econompool we need in the ecosystem to advance what we’re ic development. Staying around smarter people, trying to accomplish in the Upstate with the right skill learning from their mistakes, and building a great sets and right culture to move South Carolina forward. entrepreneurial ecosystem in South Carolina. What keeps you up at night? Who do you rely on as a mentor? There’s not a whole lot that keeps me up at night, That’s a hard question because I’ve got a slew of although people ask me if I ever sleep, and, yes, I sleep good mentors I’ve been working with in South Carolina. approximately six hours a night. What keeps me up at When I came back to South Carolina I really focused night is thinking about how we can build something on working with Chris Przirembel, the gentleman who our children and future leaders can take care of. started CU-ICAR. I’ve been mentoring with him a couple What was a game-changing moment years. Jerry Barber is my Liberty Fellowship mentor. in your career? Toby Stansell is a great accelerator guy in Greenville About 10 years ago I had a set of mentors in Chicago and the Upstate. Those are probably the three I go to and across the Midwest in wireless telecommunicaon a regular basis, outside of some of my peers like tions, and when sitting down with them I always Zach Eikenberry and Jason Premo. asked, “If you had it to do over again, what would What has been your best business decision? you do?” The answer was always that they would My best business decision was to jump out of the spend more time with their family. I asked one genwireless telecommunication corporate world—where I tleman that question and he broke down and started spent 20 years—and jump into small business by crying and told me that his children were in prison starting the Growler Haus in downtown Anderson. and rehab. I was 37 at that time, and the clock Growler Haus was a proxy for e-Merge @ the Garage, stopped. I said I was going to do something I enjoyed which is my Liberty Fellowship project. Transitioning and raise a family and enjoy my family down South. from corporate to small business—to get outside my Where do you see yourself in five or comfort zone and really embrace the local communi10 years? ty—has been my biggest challenge in the last five years. In five years I’d like to be an advocate for younger What inspired you to make that change? leadership in the community. In 10 years I hope we’ve The Liberty Fellowship. When you are engaged in built a foundation of entrepreneurial activity in the this class you go through 18 months of leadership Anderson area that collaborates with people in the boot camp and philosophy, how to be a great leader, Upstate and across the state of South Carolina.
“As a creative company that was built from the spirit of entrepreneurship and that encourages our associates to be freethinkers and self-starters, we are proud to sponsor The Entrepreneur award. We are extremely thankful for all that Craig’s doing to inspire individuals to pursue their passions.” Award sponsor Ryan Johnston, publisher, Upstate Business Journal
how not to be a bad leader. And when you graduate, that’s when the hard work really begins. Getting outside of that comfort zone and working with the mosaic Hayne Hipp and Jennie Johnson have built at Liberty Fellowship is really probably the biggest change in my life. You’re involved in so much. How do you prioritize? Family first, but everything outside of that I look at from a business perspective. If I spend my time and effort doing this, what am I going to yield for myself and the community? Return on investment, return on time. I’m not chasing money at the end of the day now, I’m chasing relationships. Relationships are a lot more important to me as a leader. Who outside of your professional circle has the most influence on your work? Francis “Bubba” Marchant. He’s my grandfather; he’s 95 years old this year. He ran Coca-Cola Bottling Company for 25 years in Anderson. He owned RC Cola in Greenville, sold it and moved to Anderson. He really helped me in early life, and I mentored with him at an early age. He introduced me to a guy named J.J. Mahoney, an early entrepreneur in Charleston. I see [my grandfather] a couple times a week; that’s the reason I moved back to Anderson, to spend time with my grandparents. Describe a time when you were sure you were about to fail. Did it happen? Failure is always a challenge for anyone. I think you have to learn to embrace failure and understand it’s okay to fail. The point in my career where I jumped off the corporate ladder and walked away from having a really cushy salary and job, jumping out to create my own brand, my own business, was really scary; it still is every single day. But as you embrace the community and the people that support you, it becomes something very magical. What do you see as the Upstate’s most underutilized asset? Our natural surroundings. We don’t really appreciate it as well as we should, but then when people come from other areas of the United States, they kind of enlighten us when they say, “You guys have a great place to live, work and play.”
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The
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Hayne Hipp
THE LEGEND: HAYNE HIPP
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THE LEGEND: HAYNE HIPP
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Hayne Hipp began his career with the Liberty Corporation in 1969 and became chief executive in 1979. Liberty Corp. owned insurance companies and television stations and invested in media, real estate and technology ventures. After the publicly traded company was sold to Raycom Media in 2006, Hipp became a private investor. While he had a successful and fulfilling “first career,” he found another outlet for his boundless energy when he cofounded the Liberty Fellowship in 2003. The idea for the Liberty Fellowship, a partnership with the Aspen Institute and Wofford College, was to bring together young leaders who are moving South Carolina forward. An incubator for leadership, the program has had 230 participants since its first class in 2004, with 20 highly motivated new graduates each year. Liberty Fellows are now touching every life in the state, Hipp said, with graduates including legislators, doctors, lawyers, nonprofit directors, teachers and other leaders, all bound by a desire for progress and a willingness to work together to make it happen. “That’s what is so exciting about the Liberty Fellowship,” Hipp said. “They don’t know they can’t do it. That’s why they’re going to do it.” What keeps you up at night? I wouldn’t begin to share that. What is your most underutilized asset? The brain. There is such capacity there, and I don’t think we take full advantage of it, especially in today’s world, where you don’t intellectually strain to get superficial satisfaction. What project are you most excited about? The Liberty Fellowship, and in particular how we just reorganized the whole program. The reorganization centered around input from a multi-class reunion we had. We had 160 Liberty Fellows say, “This is where we want to go; this is what we want to do.” Now we are transitioning the Liberty Fellowship over to the Liberty Fellows, because they are saying, “It’s time for us to run it,” and I think that’s right. What changes do they want to make? They are close with people in their classes, but they
aren’t seeing them. And they don’t know the people in other classes. We want to build up what they call collective strategic impact, or a collaborative network, so they can see and talk with each other in casual settings or Socratic closed sessions. What’s the biggest topic of concern for your organization? My biggest concern is the overall direction of society. How we’re beginning to segmentize ourselves, how we’re operating in silos. We go to church, to dinner with people who are exactly like us, philosophically as well as physically. Once you begin to narrow your world, your mind begins to narrow. What was a game-changing moment in your career? I was lucky enough to have a long career, so I have a dozen different game-changers. They weren’t centered on a new product, or a new technology, or a great marketing idea; they were centered on people. Every success at Liberty Corp. was centered around when people would come in and they would say, “Why don’t we try this?” I remember when we came out with universal life, when we started Liberty Insurance Services—they came out of people’s ideas.
“When you reach my age, you’re thinking about the moment, and you concentrate much more on living in the moment, making sure the contribution you give is given right now.”
Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years? I hope I am able to see myself breathe; I’d be delighted with that. I’ll be working on the Liberty Fellowship if they’ll have me. Anna Kate and I are hanging out with people who are an average age of 31, with very diverse backgrounds, from across the state. To be a part of that is very fortunate. What do you still have to learn? There is always a lot to learn. I guess I am more into living in the moment than I was in the past, and I’m learning from people as opposed to learning from books, though I still think that’s valuable. How do you motivate people? Sometimes I wonder if I’m motivating or not. Sometimes I think I’m just pontificating, and they’re being very nice to listen. What inspired you to start the Liberty Fellowship? Being around my parents, who were always givers. I’m lucky to have a lot of friends who are givers. I had some exposure to the Aspen Institute and the Socra-
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THE LEGEND: HAYNE HIPP
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Age: 74 Hometown: Greenville Education: B.A., English, Washington & Lee University; MBA, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania Career: CEO, Liberty Corp. 1979-2006; cofounder, The Liberty Fellowship Community involvement: Past chairman, Peace Center for the Performing Arts, S.C. Chamber of Commerce, Greenville Chamber, GHS Board, Urban League of the Upstate, YMCA and Alliance for Quality Education; former director, SCANA Corp., Dan River Inc., Wachovia; Hollings Cancer Center, Palmetto Business Forum
“My challenge was not to blow, mess up, destroy or be ignorant of the very unusual advantages that I’ve had.”
Family: Wife Anna Kate; children Mary, Reid and Tres; six grandchildren tic roundtable discussions and seminars. Anna Kate and I and Jennie Johnson, our executive director, said, “Why don’t we see if we can do that in South Carolina?” Once again, nobody said, “You can’t do that.” Was it immediately successful? Thirty days before nominations closed, we had 20 nominations for 20 slots. I thought we were going to have to take some weak players. Thirty days later, on March 31, 2004, we had 215 nominations. We had no idea there were that many smart, bright people around the state, from very different backgrounds. All they were looking for was a platform to get together and have a discussion, and all the Liberty Fellowship did was create that platform, give it structure, and then get out of the way. What is your idea of work-life balance? I always loved being at work. People who know me well … know I have spent a lot of time on the life side. I’ve had a very full life work-wise, and a very full life life-wise. Is there a time when you were sure you would fail? I would say three or four times on the business side I spent a night or a week or a month thinking, “Are we going to be able to pull this off, or have we stepped in a hole?” And luckily, because of the people I happened to be associated with, we might have stepped in the hole, but we did pull it off and we did come out fine, and our shareholders came out very fine, and I think we are all proud of that. Is there a common assumption people make about you? I am a right-time, right-place person, and I was very lucky. I was born in the South when the South was getting ready to take off. I came from a very stable home. We had an ownership position in a publicly traded company, so I was able to get a job. So I look back and my challenge was not to take advantage or get through, but to make something happen. My challenge was not to blow, mess up, destroy or be ignorant of the very unusual advantages that I’ve had. How is your life today compared to where you thought it would be 10, 20 or 30 years ago? When you are younger, you’re thinking out 30, 40 years. You’re thinking about where your kids will go to school, how am I going to get my mortgage paid off? Am I going to be able to work up the ladder from clerk to senior vice president or head of the depart-
ment? When you reach my age, you aren’t thinking about [those things]. You’re thinking about the moment, and you concentrate much more on living in the moment, making sure the contribution you give is given right now. How has battling cancer affected your outlook? [Hipp was diagnosed last year with cancer and is now in remission.] I was one of the lucky few. I found it by a fluke. I did chemo every two weeks for two hours, and you see people in there for eight hours. They’ve lost their hair, or they’re in a ball, and you think, “I’m feeling sorry for myself about my cancer, but what are they going through? I can’t waste my time feeling sorry for myself.” How did hiking the 2,184-mile Appalachian Trail affect your life? I loved the planning part, the equipment, the packing, the maps. I must have hiked with 40 different people, including friends and Liberty Fellows. There were a lot of memorable moments. What will help the Liberty Fellowship last? The Liberty Fellows, and their commitment to South Carolina, and their relationship with each other. They’re going to do it. Now they range in age from 31 to 57. We’ve got two congressmen, a senator, people in the White House. You’ve got businesspeople, nonprofits, a lot from the medical field. I was
astonished coming out of that meeting, how they stood up and said, “We’re ready to take over.” The first reaction is, “Wait a minute!” Your second reaction is, “Wow, that’s really cool. That’s great.” Have you seen specific changes taking place because of people’s participation in the Liberty Fellowship? I’ve got hundreds of stories like that. We have letter after letter saying, “If I hadn’t participated, I would not be doing what I’m doing.” We had an outside consultant do a review, and she interviewed all of the Liberty Fellows. She got quotes like, “I realize I can’t stand on the sidelines anymore.” “I now know what I thought I couldn’t do, I can do.” Those things just make you tear up and say, “Wow, this is cool.”
“It’s particularly relevant for The Palmetto Bank to sponsor this award, given our own history of 108 years of serving the Upstate. Hayne has had a lasting impact not only in the past but also in the years to come. It’s our distinct honor and pleasure to extend this year’s award to Hayne.” Award sponsor Lee Dixon, chief operating officer and chief risk officer, The Palmetto Bank
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BEST ADVICE GIVEN & RECEIVED
Wisdom to live by Honest—and sometimes surprising— words of advice have guided the success of the Who’s Who winners. Scott and Company CPAs proudly welcomes Terry Knause, former Deloitte partner, as a partner in the firm.
Scott and Company CPAs salute the Upstate’s 2015 Who’s Value. Who honorees for their commitment Better. and contribution to their profession.
CONGRATULATIONS!
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What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Be yourself. “A pastor told me, ‘God gave you your personality before he called you to this work.’ And that was so freeing. I can just be who I’ve always been. I can do something different, but I don’t have to be somebody different.” Deb Richardson-Moore
Don’t try to save the whole world. “[Real estate developer and mentor] Jeff Randolph told me that. I graduated with a lot of passion and interests, and just finding one little place where you can meet a need was some of the best advice.”
Work hard. “My grandmother always says something like, ‘Work hard, and remember I love you.’” Maurie Lawrence
Focus. “For small businesses, we become a jack of all trades. We’ll do any job you ask us to do, because we’re trying to keep the lights on. So the best advice I got from a dear friend was to focus. Focus on what you do best, and eliminate all the noise and all the distractions. You have to actually listen to your business. Let your business tell you who it is, and invest in that. You’ve got to know what you are good at.”
Dan Weidenbenner
Richard Hagins
Make mistakes.
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“I think it goes back to not being afraid of taking risks and trying different things and making mistakes, and to embrace that process. Sometimes we’re so busy waiting for the next big thing that we miss the opportunity right in front of us, and that includes some of the mistakes.” Nika White
Go home to your family. “Your work is not going to love you at the end of the day. Also, leaders come and go in the community. Someone once told me, ‘You’re a great leader, Craig, but you’re a father first.’” Craig Kinley
Make it happen. “The best advice is, ‘Yes, let’s figure out a way to make that happen.’ That’s what so exciting about the young people. Old people don’t lead revolutions.” Hayne Hipp
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BEST ADVICE GIVEN & RECEIVED
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What advice do you find yourself giving often? Grab some coffee.
Get a mentor.
“I’m still very connected with Furman students and others who intern with us, and what I tell them is that Greenville is a really great, close-knit community. Just go and grab coffee with people and learn from them. So many people are so giving of their time; all it takes is a phone call or an email and most people are willing to share some wisdom or a tidbit. So just be open to meeting people.”
“Be aware of who you are and what your gifts are, and use them. Don’t try to be what you think fits the mold. I think the people who end up changing the world are listening to a different drummer.”
“I always tell people to seek mentors. I am a beneficiary of the work and sacrifice of mentors who have really helped me to navigate my career, navigate even some areas of my personal life. I tell people to seek to be a mentee to someone, but also seek to be a mentor. It’s one of the most unselfish things that I believe a person can do that can greatly benefit someone else.”
Deb Richardson-Moore
Nika White
Dan Weidenbenner
Use your unique gifts.
Take one day at a time.
Don’t give advice.
“A lot of people—clients, colleagues, people in my family— come to me when they’re overwhelmed. The best thing we can do is what we have to do right now, today. If you take things that seem insurmountable and break them into pieces, you can surmount them.”
“You don’t tell people what to do. I tell them how I would do something, but it’s up to them to decide how to do it. If you keep telling your kids what to do, when they fail, they’ll blame you. But if you talk to them and let them make the decision, they will own that.”
Maurie Lawrence
Richard Hagins
You’ve got big plans for your business. Greenville | Spartanburg | Anderson
Commercial Real Estate Services, Worldwide.
w w w. n a i e a r l e f u r m a n . c o m
Find your passion. “When people ask me what they need to do to be an entrepreneur, I say ‘Go find something you’re passionate about, something that is going to allow you to build a passionate team, and has a market you can capture.’ With passion, the right team, the right product and the right market, the sky’s the limit.” Craig Kinley
We’ll help you find a space to fit them.
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POWER PLACES
Power places
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If you see a Who’s Who at one of these Upstate locales, they could be planning to change the world—or just grabbing a cup of coffee.
Dan Weidenbenner Maurie Lawrence “I often ask people to go for a walk. I’ll say, ‘Let’s walk while we talk about that— and by the way, we have some beautiful places to walk.’”
“I love Methodical. Will Shurtz is a youth entrepreneur in my opinion, and he’s been incredible with coming and sharing his story with our teenagers and giving them confidence and awareness of what youth entrepreneurship is, so it’s been really cool to see him progress and open his own shop downtown.”
Work efficiently, close
deals and conduct meetings in the sophisticated, iPad-ready e-lounge and private offices
Connect in the upscale bar with great city
and mountain views; network with Greenville’s top business professionals
Craig Kinley “Growler Haus in Anderson and Spartanburg (maybe a little self-serving). Outside of that I’m a huge fan of Soby’s in Greenville. Been a fan since it opened 17 years ago. I’m real fond of what Carl [Sobocinski] is doing with his entrepreneurial activity in the culinary arts area.”
Host productive
meetings in our dynamic boardroom with hightech business amenities and signature service
upstatebusinessjournal.com
POWER PLACES
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 35
Richard Hagins “I love the golf course. Thornblade, the Cliffs, a municipal course. I love those kinds of settings. I don’t like stuffy meetings and I prefer not to wear a tie. Sometimes I’ll have meetings at the Commerce Club, Nantucket, High Cotton or Blues Boulevard, a nice jazz place downtown.”
Hayne Hipp “I like to have a business meeting in a
conference room as opposed to going down and having a cup of coffee. So in my office, or in a conference room. Plus, I don’t have to have very many business meetings anymore, so that’s a real advantage.”
Nika White Deb Richardson-Moore “We meet here [at Triune Mercy Center] a lot. I also like Atlanta Bread Co. at Cherrydale, meeting people for coffee there.”
Play
as hard as you work with Club events, parties, and mixers designed to help you kick back and relax
“My husband and I really complement each other in terms of strategic thinking, so most of our business meetings—even though we don’t label them as business meetings—literally occur in front of the fireplace or sitting up in bed at night as we’re winding down for the evening.”
Celebrate exciting accomplishments with family, friends or co-workers in your choice of private dining rooms
55 Beattie Place | commerce-club.com | 864.232.5600 For more information contact Dylan Petrick, Commerce Club General Manager, at dylan.petrick@clubcorp.com
THE CLASS OF 2015 INDUCTION CEREMONY April 16, 2015 | 6:30 pm | Hyatt Regency in Downtown Greenville, SC
scfootballhof.com/upcoming
GO
LF & GUN
CELEBRITY GOLF & GUN GOLF – April 17, 2015 | 8:30 am | Pebble Creek Country Club, Taylors, SC GUN – April 17, 2015 | 10:30 am | River Bend Sportsman Resort, Inman, SC AFTER PARTY – 3 - 6 pm | Pebble Creek Featuring The Marcus King Band with “Special Guests” scfootballhof.com/upcoming
upstatebusinessjournal.com
BOOKSHELF
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 37
The Who’s Who Bookshelf When they need inspiration, motivation or stimulation, the Who’s Who winners turn to these pages.
Richard Hagins “‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins is my all-time favorite.”
Nika White “‘Good To Great,’ by Jim Collins. Everybody really appreciates that book. And I find that I enjoy books rooted in spiritual philosophies. I tend to gravitate toward books that certainly have the learning and knowledge around business concepts but done within a spiritual context.”
Photos by Greg Beckner
Deb Richardson-Moore “The only one I’ve read and loved was ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins. That whole piece about you’ve got to have the right people on the bus. I’m such a believer in that because the staff [at Triune Mercy Center] is everything. That’s who’s going to change people’s lives.”
BOOKSHELF continued on PAGE 38
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38 | WHO’S WHO 2015 |
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BOOKSHELF
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BOOKSHELF continued from PAGE 37
Richard Hagins Hayne Hipp “Classics for business—Aristotle, Plato. I just got through reading Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince.’ Also, ‘Letter From a Birmingham Jail’ by Martin Luther King Jr. It’s incredible.”
“Right now I’m reading ‘Traction’ by Gino Wickman, and I’m loving it.”
FIRST FRIDAY
LEADERSHIP SERIES PRESENTS
ALAN WILSON Chairman and Chief Executive Officer McCormick
APRIL 3 5:15 PM
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upstatebusinessjournal.com
Dan Weidenbenner “‘The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership’ by Steven Sample. Being able to ask critical questions and problem-solve on the fly I think has helped push me further and reevaluate how a nonprofit is run.”
BOOKSHELF
Craig Kinley “‘The Art of the Start’ by Guy Kawasaki. I’ve read it several times. It covers the fundamentals of how to start a business from a really organic level.”
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 39
Maurie Lawrence “The one I have read most recently and have given the most to other people is ‘Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.’ I read it with the book group in the firm and I’ve given it to a number of clients when we talk about surviving in a world where we favor extroverts. It’s a very significant book.”
Strong local knowledge and talent National perspective and resources The Greenville office of Jackson Lewis is highly regarded for its employment litigation practice on behalf of businesses and its practical advice to prevent employment litigation. The Greenville Office Managing Shareholder, Stephanie Lewis, focuses her practice on representing employers in litigation and providing advice on employment law matters. Stephanie has been named to the list of “Legal Elite” by Greenville Business Magazine in the field of employment law, designated a Leader in Her Field by Chambers USA, selected for inclusion in South Carolina Super Lawyers, recognized in Best Lawyers in America®, and is an honoree of South Carolina Lawyer’s Weekly’s 2015 Leadership in Law awards. Stephanie is also active in the Greenville community, serving as the President-Nominee of the Rotary Club of Greenville, the President-Elect of the Federal Bar Association’s SC Chapter, the President- Elect of the South Carolina Employment and Labor Law Section, is a participant of the 2015 class of the Women’s Leadership Institute of Furman University, and is a graduate of Leadership Greenville. To learn more about the services Jackson Lewis offers in Greenville, please contact Stephanie at (864) 232-7000 or lewiss@jacksonlewis.com. With 800 attorneys practicing in major locations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Jackson Lewis provides creative and strategic solutions to employers in every aspect of workplace law. To learn more about our services, visit www.jacksonlewis.com.
Greenville Office of Jackson Lewis P.C. 15 South Main Street • Suite 700 Greenville, South Carolina 29601 • (864) 232-7000
40 | WHO’S WHO 2015 |
OPPORTUNITY
CONFIDENCE
UBJ
The next steps
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The Who’s Who winners weigh in on the current state of the Upstate, and look ahead to how best to take on future challenges and opportunities.
opportunity (noun) 1. A favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances. 2. A chance for progress or advancement, as in a career. 97% CLIENT SATISFACTION* Our trusted team and proven processes mean that our clients count on us to do what we say we will do, and more. Our team is dedicated to exceeding expectations and enhancing the client experience. Contact us today to learn how our passion for excellence can make a difference to your financial future.
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Richard Hagins Greenville is a great place to live and work. I think the disparity between minorities and non-minorities—the gap is widening. A great opportunity is to encourage all of the wealth generation happening in the Upstate to cross all lines, all cultures. The Greenville Chamber is looking hard at these things; the 100 Black Men Upstate chapter is looking at those things. Everyone is looking at the disparities, and that’s a good thing. Now we have to get past the thinking about it and get to the doing. And I think Greenville is ready and the Upstate is ready to do it. I intend to stay here and be a relevant participant in the change.
Hayne Hipp I saw Greenville when it was a great town, I saw it disappear, and then I watched it come all the way back from nothing. There’s nothing more fun than to see some of the big dogs come in from New York or Chicago, and they
come to Greenville, and when they leave they say, “This is absolutely extraordinary.” It’s fun to see... I was going to say the pinnacle of our success, but I don’t think we’re at the pinnacle at this point. You never get to your pinnacle if you keep expanding. I don’t think the Upstate is being held back. So it’s, what can we do to accelerate the quality of our life as opposed to making more money? And I think that centers on an openness and willingness to new ideas, a commitment to sharing. As long as we keep that openness, I think we’re going to be astonishingly successful.
Craig Kinley The biggest opportunity going forward is to embrace the local culture of Anderson-Greenville-Spartanburg and the surrounding 10-county area. Really focus on the new culture of entrepreneurship and the old-school culture coming together to move South Carolina forward.
upstatebusinessjournal.com
OPPORTUNITY
Maurie Lawrence I think this is a gem of a place. On top of the people we have these natural assets. It’s beautiful—we have the mountains, we have access to water. So moving forward, how to manage growth? It’s exciting, but we’re going to have population booms, so how are we going to accommodate that and grow? What are our jobs going to look like? What’s our tax base going to look like? What’s the infrastructure going to look like? Tremendous opportunity, but lots of people need to be involved to lead us through this transformation.
Deb Richardson-Moore We do better than a lot of communities, but I think [a challenge is] providing decent, affordable housing and transportation and job opportunities for people who have been left out. And raising minimum wage. It’s $7.35. I’d love to see it up to $15, but for people who don’t even want it to get to $7.75, that’s going to be a hard argument.
Dan Weidenbenner [The biggest opportunity is] tapping into assets of our youth. Investing in
them and teaching them real-life skills I think is huge. Many teenagers are missing out on that in their formal education, so giving those experiences is a huge opportunity the Upstate has to take advantage of.
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WE HAVE MOVED TO SERVE YOU BETTER Please note our NEW office address is 408 EAST NORTH STREET, GREENVILLE, SC 29601
Nika White We have to find a better way of leveraging all of the great resources the community has—and that includes the human capital as well as all of the great agencies and organizations—in a very collaborative way. The Upstate has such tremendous opportunity, but sometimes we slow that progress toward reaching our full potential by not being willing to step across the borders to collaborate in a very effective way, and to identify people that may not be at the table but should be. Greenville has so much to offer, but I always say one of the underdeveloped pillars is the work that we do around diversity and inclusion; people want to be part of a community that’s seen as inclusive and progressive and open-minded. That’s one reason I’m so happy to receive this award, and to see the work of diversity and inclusion being honored outside my industry.
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YOUNG AMBITIONS
UBJ
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Young ambitions What did the Who’s Who winners want to be when they grew up? See if you can match the winners to their childhood career aspirations. Answers below.
engineer
cowgirl
lawyer
I haven’t grown up yet
teacher
architect pro football player
Engineer: Craig Kinley; Cowgirl: Deb Richardson-Moore; Lawyer: Nika White; I haven’t grown up yet: Hayne Hipp; Teacher: Maurie Lawrence; Architect: Dan Weidenbenner; Pro football player: Richard Hagins
42 | WHO’S WHO 2015 |
upstatebusinessjournal.com
In a word
We asked the Who’s Who winners: What is the one word that best describes you?
IN A WORD
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 43
DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO RETIRE? WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO TELL YOU.
Dan Weidenbenner
Optimist. “I can see the potential in any given situation.”
Richard Hagins
Hard-charger. “That’s what people said in the Navy all the time. People who have been with me for a while would say they often see the commander come out. I try to be more of a listener, with a laid-back leadership style, but then the commander can come out.”
Craig Kinley
Passionate. “A lot of people say I have a lot of tenacity. But passionate would probably be the biggest word. Sometimes I get very passionate about something and I’ll use my hands to gesture and people will think that I’m getting angry, but it’s really just that passion coming out of me, saying ‘Let’s get this done, what do we need to do, where do we need to go?’ I’m very passionate about what I do in my personal and business environments.”
Nika White
Intentionality. “I think it was Randy Carlson who said that you don’t have to do too much to fail; sometimes failure just happens. But to be successful requires great intentionality. When you’re intentional about it, the passion is going to be there, the planning is going to be there, and then you have the right perspective to be able to emotionally deal with whatever the circumstances are.”
Maurie Lawrence
Kind. “Really hard-working. Unusual. Team player. Unable to be described—what’s a word for that?”
Deb Richardson-Moore
Energetic. “I’ve been blessed with good health and energy, and that’s been good in this job.”
Hayne Hipp
Beach Foster, AIF® Managing Director, Investments
Pat Fitzsimmons, AIF® First Vice President, Investments
Matthew Foster, AAMS® Financial Advisor
Karen Alexander Sales Associate
Visit us at www.fosterfitzsimmons.com to learn more. Or call 864.289.2166. 112 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29607
… “That’s for someone else to say.”
©2014 Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC Raymond James is a registered trademark of Raymond James Financial, Inc.
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ONES TO WATCH
Ones to Watch The judges’ panel was able to choose only a handful of winners from the more than 130 nominees (see the full list on pages 48-49). Here are a dozen more who have made considerable contributions to the Upstate— and whose work in the future will be well worth keeping an eye on. QUALITY
Julie Godshall Brown
President and owner, Godshall Professional Recruiting and Staffing Brown’s specialties include direct hire recruiting and contract staffing in several markets. “It’s a 45-year-old business. I want it to be here for another 45 years or longer,” she says. Brown has worked with the Greenville Chamber and other community groups on causes such as economic empowerment, education, health, science and technology. Brown is now serving as chairwoman of the board of directors for the Chamber, helping to launch the Accelerate!2.0 program.
Mike Johnson
Partner, Nelson Mullins As the only former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorney practicing law in South Carolina, Johnson offers a singular brand of legal counsel for any state business. He represents
VALUE
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY A TOP-20 NATIONAL PUBLIC UNIVERSITY
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businesses on any corporate finance issue for those seeking to raise capital, comply with sensitive and complex federal and state securities issues or any of the array of issues facing companies that are listed on the National Securities Exchange. “I love what I do for a living, which I think gives me an edge,” he says.
Michael Kerski
Planning manager, City of Greenville Kerski has been working with various neighborhoods, developers and designers—“we are all trying to make Greenville the best place in the United States,” he says. His planning staff processed a record number of applications last year, while also developing new guidelines for commercial, multifamily, convenience stores and cottage subdivisions. His team also worked on several major developments, and worked to pass the city’s first Residential Infill Ordinance. MARIE MAJARAIS SMITH Director of Family Bridges Program, Pendleton Place Smith made the move in January from program manager and bilingual victim advocate at the
ROI
G R E AT C A M P U S L I F E
SOUTH CAROLINA’S TOP-RANKED NATIONAL PUBLIC UNIVERSITY offers a rare combination of academic quality, value and return on investment, and an unmatched student experience in a setting of incredible natural beauty. In South Carolina, Clemson ranks: #1 ALUMNI NETWORK Princeton Review, 2015 #1 CAREER SERVICES Princeton Review, 2015 #1 IN BEST VALUE IN PUBLIC COLLEGES Kiplinger, 2014 #1 IN RETURN ON INVESTMENT PayScale, 2014 #1 IN STUDENT LIFE “Happiest Students” and “Town-Gown Relations,” Princeton Review, 2015 AND IT’S THE #1 CHOICE OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S BEST STUDENTS. A top-20 national public university — right here at home
clemson.edu/bestinsc
upstatebusinessjournal.com South Carolina Immigrant Victim Network (a program of SCVAN) to Pendleton Place. Smith says this move allows her to continue work she is passionate about: working with victims of crimes such as human trafficking, civil rights violations, domestic violence and child abuse, focusing on trying to repair families. “I found real purpose in this work,” she says. “Now I can’t imagine going elsewhere.”
Toby Stansell
President and COO, Acumen IT Stansell continues to serve in an executive management role for high-impact, fast-growth companies, primarily in the arenas of supply chain planning and execution, information technology and enterprise software. During his threeyear tenure, Acumen has experienced top-line revenue growth of 35 percent and achieved a new level of profitability. “My legacy of leadership is not about what I do, it’s about what others do as a result of
ONES TO WATCH
my relationship with them,” he says. “Am I making people’s lives better?”
Christy Thompson
Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, ScanSource Thompson always finds time to help out at GHS Children’s Hospital despite a high-profile job at a large company, using her experience as parent of a patient at Children’s Hospital to speak with pediatric residents about the parents’ perspective. In addition to her work goals leading global branding initiatives and marketing strategies, she is committed to establishing programs that support the health of the community, especially youth.
John Warner
Founder and CEO, InnoVenture Described as the “senior statesman” of the entrepreneurial community that has developed in Greenville over the last 25 years, Warner’s fingerprints are on many of the
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 45
institutions that exist in Greenville today, and he is still seeing things grow out of relationships he has fostered and conversations he has created. “A lot of people come here and think [this thriving ecosystem] has always been here,” Warner says. “It was really not that long ago that none of it was here.”
Walt Wilkins
13th Circuit Court Solicitor, Greenville County Wilkins believes his role as Solicitor is to instill in both individuals and business leaders a sense of confidence in Greenville County’s criminal justice system. “In our community, we’ve got to have security and safety for businesses to function and for kids to go to school and people to go to work,” he says. “We also need the perception that justice and fairness are being doled out equally—that victims have access to retribution and defendants are being treated fairly.” ONES TO WATCH continued on PAGE 46
AQUARACER CALIBRE 5
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ONES TO WATCH ONES TO WATCH continued from PAGE 45
The Greenville Chamber Congratulates March 2015 Small Business of the Month
The Wild Cards This year, UBJ invited the Upstate community to directly select a Who’s Who winner through social media. Although Nika White (see page 20) was the final winner, the other four nominees made a strong showing.
Jeremy Boeh
Director of Entrepreneurship, Wofford College
Award Presentation: Chamber President/CEO Ben Haskew, Board Chair Julie Godshall Brown, Award Sponsor Cheryl Taylor/Cowart Awards, Complete Public Relations’ Sarah Moore, Selection Committee Members David Hudson and Rush Wilson, and Small Business Vice-Chair Steve Bailey.
Founded in 2012, Complete Public Relations strives to provide its clients with amazing media relations, governmental relations and social media services, strategies and campaigns. With clients ranging from global powers to non-profits to entrepreneurs, Complete Public Relations believes in dedicated and motivated client relations. Their motto is “We Get Results” and the firm’s successes show that. “Small businesses are the backbone of the Greenville Chamber. To receive the Small Business of the Month Award is truly a great honor.” -John Boyanoski, President/Complete Public Relations Learn more at www.completepr.net. Impressed by a local small business? Nominate them for the Greenville Chamber’s Small Business of the Month Award at www.GreenvilleChamber.org.
Boeh has faced down numerous obstacles, turning his experience as an Iraq War veteran and post-traumatic stress disorder survivor into a story of success he uses to inspire young entrepreneurs. He co-created and runs the entrepreneurship program at Wofford College, which has grown from three participating businesses to 29 this year. He takes students from ideas to execution with the goal of bringing and keeping young entrepreneurs in the Upstate.
John Good
CEO, NAI Earle Furman Good was named president of NAI Earle Furman at age 36. At that time, real estate was struggling under the
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recession and the older partners saw Good’s generation as the key to keeping Earle Furman on the cutting edge of the industry. He became broker-incharge in February 2014. He also led the relocation of the Anderson office and doubled the size of its staff. In 2012, Jon led the merger of NAI Earle Furman and Orion Properties, forming the firm’s first official Spartanburg location.
Ryan Heafy
Executive Director, iMAGINE Upstate An expert in workforce development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Heafy began pursuing several entrepreneurial ventures including iMAGINE Upstate, launching his own manufacturing consulting company, and acting as a channel partner for STEMPremier.com in 2014. Heafy is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Greenville Class 40, United Way YP20’s, several Advisory Boards and the Upstate SC STEM Collaborative.
Jim Hendrix Owner, Graphic Cow
After taking a leap of faith leaving Rockwell Automation in hopes of being a successful business owner, Hendrix immediately took Graphic Cow to the next level — in one year, the Chamber of Commerce recognized this achievement by honoring the company as the 2009 Small Business of the Year. Throughout this process, Hendrix stayed active in the community, serving on Clemson’s Board of Visitors, the Upstate Carolina Angel Network, and as chairman of the board of the Ronald McDonald House.
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48 | WHO’S WHO 2015 |
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THE NOMINEES
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03.27.2015
Who’s Who 2015 Nominees More than 130 names were put forward for consideration by the Who’s Who panel, a worthy representation of the talent at work in the Upstate. Thanks to the nominees and those who nominated them—keep up the good work.
Kimberly Gregory
Tim Justice
Richard Hagins
Michael Kerski
Shannon Hansen
Craig Kinley
James Akers
Craig Brown
Chris Edwards
Henry Harrison
Matt Klein
Jane Allen
Julie Godshall Brown
Zach Eikenberry
Ben Haskew
Jill Kozak
Joy Bailey
Benjamin Brown
Pamela Evette
David Haskins
Maurie Lawrence
Bruce Banister
Georgia Burnett
Steve Farrar
Virginia Hayes
Susan Lindsey Nicole Little
Ryan Beasley
Jim Burns
Kyle Felker
Ryan Heafy
Griffin Bell
Lorenzo Barberis Canonico
Jason Fletcher
Jim Hendrix
Kim Loper
Lauren Biediger
Nick Carlson
Paul Foster
Ted Hendry
Matt Madden
Bill Bishop
Adrian Carpenter
Monroe Free
Joan Herlong
Allie Maietta
Jeremy Boeh
Beth Chandler
Heather Frenchette
Kay Hill
Chris Manley
Jennifer Boggs
Jordan Clayton
Earle Furman
Hayne Hipp
Seabrook Marchant
Michael Bolick
Mark Cooter
Mills Gallivan
Bob Howard
Tom Marchant
Gina Boulware
Jean Crowther
Marty Garrison
Gregg Hughes
Will McCameron Jay McDonald
Rich Bradshaw
Ryan DeMattia
Larry Gluck
Dean Hybl
Steve Brandt
Herb Dew
Jon Good
Jon Jensen
Charles Mention
Laura Bridges
Lee Dixon
Trevor Gordon
Hal Johnson
Tara Metcalf
Brook Bristow
Jay Dye
Trey Gowdy
Mike Johnson
Max Metcalf
Patrick Britt
Stephen Edgerton
Neil Grayson
Tammy Johnson
Matt Miller
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THE NOMINEES
Valerie Miller
Haro Setian
Robert Morgan
Minor Shaw
Allyn Moseley
Allen Smith
Mark Nantz
Marie Majarais Smith
Moses Nickerson
Toby Stansell
Arne Niemann
Kevin Stiens
Kerry Owen
Chris Stone
Mark Owens
Kristina Teague
Mike Pennington
Betsy Teter
Dylan Petrick
Christy Thompson
Jason Premo
Robert Thompson
Sue Priester
Scott Thompson
Victoria Pruitt
Gary Tompkins
H.P. Rama
Ross Turner
Amanda Reed
Todd Usher
Elizabeth Rhine
Jim Wanner
Deb Richardson-Moore
John Warner
Ben Riddle
Dan Weidenbenner
Caroll “Pete” Roe
Marc White
Gus Rubio
Nika White
Blake Sanders
Walt Wilkins
David Sawyer
Courtland Williams
Steven Sawyer
Russell Young
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 49
Your achievement deserves our recognition. Congratulations to the 2015 Who’s Who Award Winners. Stop in, call 800.SUNTRUST or visit suntrust.com
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50 | WHO’S WHO 2015 |
UBJ
FROM THE EDITOR
|
03.27.2015
Who’s Next SUSAN CLARY SIMMONS EXECUTIVE EDITOR
ssimmons@communityjournals.com If you’ve spent the time we hope
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you have with this week’s special issue of UBJ, you will have learned something new about the seven winners of our 2015 Who’s Who awards—and been reminded again of their influence on the Greenville community. Be it a journalistturned-pastor who works with the homeless to a retired CEO now pouring his energies into young leaders destined to take our state to new heights, this year’s seven winners wear the title because they take service far beyond their professional roles. The Who’s Who judges you met on pages 8 and 9 were
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upstatebusinessjournal.com
FROM THE EDITOR
| WHO’S WHO 2015 | 51
ADD BRICK AND MORTAR TO YOUR STOCKS AND BONDS given a specific set of criteria when they prepared to select this year’s class. We wanted to recognize unsung heroes who have made an economic impact on the Upstate, and who have gone far beyond their job descriptions to make a tangible difference in our community. Who’s Who winners would never be off the clock. When they’re not in the office, we look for them to be out in the community, making connections and doing whatever they can to make the Upstate a better place to live, work and play. Greenville is an entrepreneurial city, with an unparalleled gift for pairing government and private enterprise in progressive ways that have won the city national acclaim and turned downtown into a showcase. This year’s winners have helped spread this
spirit across the Upstate. These seven are not afraid to walk outside the well-worn trails others have worn down before them. To make positive change, they know we have to get a conversation going between people who aren’t ordinarily in the same room. How do we get the Poinsett Club crowd brainstorming with the millennial professionals in PULSE, for example? How do we create the synergy required to make Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson the kind of catalyst we know works much better together than alone? That’s where we learn. That’s where we grow. So who will be in the Who’s Who class of 2016? That’s up to you. Keep your eyes and ears open for those who are always out there, putting their resources and time behind making their town greater—walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Better yet, get out and do it yourself. We’ll see you here next year.
Annie Langston, Lindsay Oehman, Maddy Varin, Emily Yepes
DIRECTOR OF EVENTS & ACCOUNT STRATEGY Kate Madden
PRESIDENT/CEO
Mark B. Johnston mjohnston@communityjournals.com
UBJ PUBLISHER
Ryan L. Johnston rjohnston@communityjournals.com
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Susan Clary Simmons ssimmons@communityjournals.com
MANAGING EDITOR
Jerry Salley jsalley@communityjournals.com
STAFF WRITERS
ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR Whitney Fincannon OPERATIONS Holly Hardin ADVERTISING DESIGN Kristy Adair, Michael Allen
CLIENT SERVICES
Anita Harley, Jane Rogers
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Kristi Fortner
EVENTS:
PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Beckner WHO’S WHO CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Patrick Cox, Paul Mehaffey
MARKETING & ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES Kristi Jennings, Donna Johnston,
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IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE OF UBJ? WANT A COPY FOR YOUR LOBBY?
UBJ milestone jackson Marketing Group’s 25 Years 1988 Jackson Dawson opens in Greenville at Downtown Airport
1988
ideas@upstatebusinessjournal.com
1997 Jackson Dawson launches motorsports Division 1993
1990 Jackson Dawson acquires therapon marketing Group and moves to Piedmont office Center on Villa.
>>
with a majority of them utilizing the general aviation airport as a “corporate gateway to the city.” In 1997, Jackson and his son, Darrell, launched Jackson Motorsports Group. The new division was designed to sell race tires and go to racetracks to sell and mount the tires. Darrell Jackson now serves as president of the motorsports group and Larry Jackson has two other children and a son-in-law who work there. Jackson said all his children started at the bottom and “earned their way up.” Jackson kept the Jackson-Dawson branches in Detroit and others in Los Angeles and New York until he sold his portion of that partnership in 2009 as part of his estate planning. The company now operates a small office in Charlotte, but its main headquarters are in Greenville in a large office space off Woodruff Road, complete with a vision gallery that displays local artwork and an auditorium Jackson makes available for non-profit use. The Motorsports Group is housed in an additional 26,000 square feet building just down the street, and the agency is currently looking for another 20,000 square feet. Jackson said JMG has expanded into other verticals such as financial, healthcare, manufacturing and pro-bono work, but still has a strong focus on the auto industry and transportation. It’s
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
APRIL 24: QUARTERLY CRE ISSUE The state of commercial real estate in the Upstate.
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
UP NEXT APRIL 10: GREEN BUSINESSES How are Upstate companies going green while making green?
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
Chairman larry Jackson, Jackson marketing Group. Photos by Greg Beckner / Staff
WHO’S WHO CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & RESEARCHERS Amanda Cordisco, Natalie Walters
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MAY 15: THE DESIGN ISSUE Drawing up the Upstate’s future
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