August 21, 2015 UBJ

AUGUST 21, 2015 | VOL. 4 ISSUE 34

40 years strong, O’Neal ranks No. 3 nationally in fastest growing engineering firms, with a $5 million expansion on the horizon - pg 16

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Greenville startup Arkiver wants to save your family, one memory at a time ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com If you’ve ever fried your hard drive, had a camera stolen or lost years of photos the elements, Logan Metcalfe understands your pain.

“You hear horror stories all the time, even with people losing their phones and they haven’t thought about doing a camera upload to DropBox or something,” said the Greenville resident from the third floor of the Bank of America building downtown. Even then, he says, the digital memories may as well be lost if they’re buried within thousands of other memories, all on different devices, with different people and in different places.

So he created his own solution: a go-between content curator called Arkiver aimed at pulling together important digital files in a kind of multi-purpose family scrapbook.

“The idea right now is you’ve got all this stuff. You share a small subset of it on Facebook, but there is this middle ground where you could be sharing a whole lot more with family and friends,” said Metcalfe. “There’s not a whole lot of great options for that right now, which is where Arkiver comes in.”

The web-based platform can import photos, audio, video, quotes, notes and PDFs from a variety of existing media platforms and devices, but lets users store all of that imported data on their personal Dropbox account, he said.

That way, users have control of their files, even if the proprietary service holding them – think Evernote or Flickr – shuts down.

The platform currently connects to Facebook, Instagram, Picasa, Flickr, Dropbox and Amazon Cloud, and can import photos from laptops and smartphones.

Metcalfe says the aim is to use Arkiver as more than just a file hub, however.

Family members can add notes, locations and context, which give each

memory more meaning in the long term. A photo of a sunset, for example, might just be a photo of a sunset if you don’t know what happened the day it was captured, he said.

“Even if you have place and date, you still miss a little bit of the flavor around the stories,” he said. The tool works both for younger generations – small children who don’t remember that trip to the beach, for example – as well as older generations passing along their history, he said.

For now, Arkiver accounts are free up to 200 files. After that, it’s a $24 annual subscription that will automatically push your files to your personal Dropbox for backup. Heavy users with Dropbox may need to buy additional storage, he said, but data storage prices have continued to fall in recent years and users can download data to hard drives for long-term storage.

“There’s just a lot of life stories that are being lost, even though we’re capturing more photos and all,” he said. “With any kind of digital storage, there’s risk…A lot of that history is more fragile than it was, even back in the old days.”

The next step, said Metcalfe, is launching a native mobile app in September, and the beginning of a funding round. He’s aiming for $750,000 to help build out tools, conduct user research and start building a user base, which sits at around 200 accounts with virtually zero marketing, he says.

“Part of what we’re trying to provide is just knowledge around a great process for being able to, let’s say, save and share your stuff and backup your digital life,” he said.

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4 | THE RUNDOWN |

TOP-OF-MIND AND IN THE MIX THIS WEEK

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VOLUME 4, ISSUE 34 Featured this issue: Southern Press Juicery going to Furman 7 United Community Bank consolidates offices downtown 8 A new grocery store may be coming to Five Forks 10

MONEY SHOT: Nine digital health and wellness tech startups lifted the curtain on their work last week as part of The Iron Yard’s Digital Health Accelerator. The presentations took place Aug. 13 at Indigo Hall in downtown Spartanburg. Read more on page 5. Photo provided

WORTH REPEATING “You’re never finished building and you’re never finished testing.”

Page 5

“Will we ever be McDonalds? No, but we don’t market and say, ‘Hey, do you want to come in and get a drug test just for fun?’” Page 8 “We’re building a town.

Not a town center, but the center of town.” Page 9

TBA Coffee to a Tea, a coffee house and bakery located in the West End, has been listed for sale on CraigsList. Owner is retiring and asking $195,000.

Look for Kava Konnection, a tearoom and coffee shop serving organic teas, on-tap Buchi Kombucha, and various other healthy herbal options, to open this month at 1540 Wade Hampton Blvd, near Bob Jones University.

VERBATIM

On priorities “Chase the vision, not the money.”

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

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Fast pitch 9 startups show their stuff at Iron Yard’s Southeast Demo Day in Spartanburg ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

Nine startups unveiled their progress Aug. 13 after 13 furious weeks of planning, research and development as a part of The Iron Yard’s Digital Health Accelerator in Spartanburg. From cybersecurity and ‘Siri for doctors’ to service stations and smart watches, the programs’ fifth cohort faced a range of business and product development challenges over the course of the term. In case you missed it, here they are, in their own words.

Data Minded Solutions THE PITCH: Integrated, data-driven approach to chronic care THE CURVEBALL: The most complicated portion of startup life thus far has been transitioning from technical leaders to business leaders. The complexity of launching, building and scaling a business has taken more effort than anyone of us had expected.

CURRENT INNING: We are currently in Private Beta release and continuing to develop and iterate on the lessons we are learning.

NEXT UP: Our next big milestones rely heavily on raising seed capital so we can increase our human horsepower and move to market FAST!

Hygeia Health THE PITCH: Improving access to telehealth and remote healthcare.

THE CURVEBALL: The intricate nature of the sales process. The interrelated components of delivering the product are different in nature; formulating a way to scale the product has been a challenge. By forming strategic partnerships we have been able to overcome these challenges by aligning the incentives of the different stakeholders in the supply chain.

CURRENT INNING: Customer acquisitions and beta.

NEXT UP: Raise capital, beta locations and employees.

InTuneTo THE PITCH: Smart CRM dashboard for fitness facilities. We’re increasing retention rates, communication and member engagement at fitness facilities.

THE CURVEBALL: Our biggest challenge during this program was narrowing down our original idea to what we wanted the final product to be, what features the gym found the most value in and getting partnerships and pilot programs. Other problems were more development roadblocks but we were able to iron them out.

CURRENT INNING: We’re almost complete with our development and we will have a working demo at Demo Day and hopefully have it deployed to one of our pilot sites.

| TECHNOLOGY | 5

THE CURVEBALL: For us, the biggest challenge was changing our focus about a month before Demo Day… What was especially tough was not so much that we were pairing down the frills to get to the product that already existed, but we were essentially building a new MVP. CURRENT INNING: It’s such an iterative process.

We’re building out our software, we’ve launched publicly… but you’re never finished building and you’re never finished testing.

NEXT UP: Our next milestone is to get seed funding that way it gives us 12 months of runway so we can go back heads down on developing new features.

NEXT UP: We’re preparing to raise funds…Now that we’re identified a bit more of the business model, it’s time to get some funds surrounding future development and some funds to try to keep the wonderful team that we have.

Play-It Health

Pro Alert

THE PITCH: Personalized software that successfully motivates health engagement

THE PITCH: Helps first responders save lives by saving time

THE CURVEBALL: I have been surprised by how difficult it has been for me to communicate the importance and urgency of the problems caused by the lack of health engagement. The most elegant and well-intentioned treatments are only effective if they are followed. Data demonstrate that almost half of the population do not follow prescribed medical regimens. I truly admire those who are able to motivate people by communicating ideas simply and succinctly in ways that everyone can understand. Without a clear communication of the problem, it is not possible to begin to discuss the solution.

CURRENT INNING: Customer acquisition NEXT UP: We are trying to complete a bridge raise to allow us to solidify our team, increase our sales, and add some superb features that will continue to solidify our position as the world’s most personalized health engagement system.

Triage Security THE PITCH: Defending enterprise information from internal and external cyber threats.

THE CURVEBALL: Cybersecurity is a huge and growing problem and as very experienced software engineers and development managers, it was natural to try to explain the complexity of our approach that better protects sensitive data of businesses and governments from hackers. What we found was are presentations were too detailed and using too many unfamiliar terms to explain our solution to a non-technical audience.

THE CURVEBALL: One of the most unexpected challenges would be my cofounder leaving and going back to Myrtle Beach and me having to pick up and march forward…I put on my big boy pants and kept going forward.”

CURRENT INNING: We’re raising funds, and we’re going to use those funds to build the team and finish development.

NEXT UP: We have two pilot sites lined up, and it’s just a matter of getting the product finished … and into the hands of first responders.

Glass Chart THE PITCH: Smart watches for caregivers to deliver smarter care.

THE CURVEBALL: There’s a bunch of credentialing we had to get as a company to work with Spartanburg Regional, to get in the hospital. Glass Chart as a company had to get credentialed, which means everyone in the company needed to get background checks, vaccinations, professional liability insurance, HIPAA and blood borne pathogen training… Every vendor has to do it, but it was something that we weren’t expecting.

CURRENT INNING: We’re primarily in a fundraising mode right now.

NEXT UP: We’re about to go live at Palmetto Proactive, which is the right care clinic in Greenville. Then the next after that is to go live as Spartanburg Regional in October.

Heads Up Health

CURRENT INNING: Our demonstration version is currently being tested with several organizations.

THE PITCH: Empowering individuals with health information.

NEXT UP: We’re looking for customers to experience how much easier our product makes security and audit compliance. We are also looking for investors to help us prepare for market launch.

THE CURVEBALL: Managing the demands of a startup you’re just pulled in so many different directions and trying to maintain focus and trying to build the business.

Prenovate THE PITCH: We’re WeightWatchers for diseases.

CURRENT INNING: We’re in beta right now. We’re in customer acquisition and we’re also fundraising.

NEXT UP: The next big milestone is our public GA launch, so going GA on the product and then closing our seed round.

6 | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT |

Clutter-Busting Tips for Your Home Spring may be a popular season for cleaning, but fall is a great time to get your home organized, especially now that the kids are back in school.

Clutter creates chaos. Here are a few clutter busters to keep the chaos under control.

Dan Hamilton

Start With the Hot Spots – Clear flat surfaces that tend to accumulate piles on a daily basis. If you find yourself tempted to leave items in those areas, replace the clutter with artful decorations to remind yourself that it’s no longer a dumping zone.

Designate a Space for Everything – Find a home for everything in each and every room of your house, including the garage. If it doesn’t fit, consider it a sign that you need to go through and purge the items you no longer use.

Arrange by Frequency of Use – Keep regularly used items near the front or at eye level in closets, drawers and pantry spaces. Store the stuff you rarely use high up or in the back.

Compartmentalize to Avoid Clutter – Use drawer dividers and storage containers to group like items together. Each compartment serves as a placeholder when items are in use, which prevents the space from being overtaken by random clutter.

Zip and Store Small Things – To keep clutter under control, group small items by category and store them in resealable plastic bags inside a larger storage container or drawer.

Swap Out the Extra Stuff – Rotate clothing, toys and accessories by season so you aren’t tripping over winter boots when you’re looking for flip-flops and vice versa. This strategy also works for taming the toy room.

Uncluttered homes sell much faster and for more money than cluttered ones. Get a head start on these tips if you are looking to sell soon.

864-527-7685 MyGreenvilleHome.com Each Keller Williams Realty Office is Independently Owned and Operated

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60 S.C. companies make Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing in nation ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

Sixty South Carolina companies – a third of which are located in the Upstate – made this year’s Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies, according to data collected and published by Inc. Magazine. The rank is South Carolina’s best-recorded showing since 2007, the earliest year data is available to the public.

This year’s list – which ranks applicants by three-year revenue growth

– represented 1.25 million employees across the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The average firm listed three-year revenue growth of 490 percent for aggregate 2014 revenues of $205 billion. South Carolina firms that made the list had combined 2014 revenues of $2.1 billion, and average 2014 revenues of $34.6 million per firm.

Topping this year’s list of S.C. firms was Spartanburg construction firm Facility Solutions, growing 4,786 percent over three years to reach $6

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million in 2014 revenue and ranking 56 in the overall list. Charleston firms Rewined Candles, PureCars, Michael Grant & Co. and JEAR Logistics made the rest of the top five in the state.

The second and third fastest-growing Upstate firms included Greenville-based fitness boxing chain 9Round Franchising and tech staffing firm Intellectual Capitol, both of which made their debut on the list this year.

Started in 1982, the list ranks U.S.based, privately held, for-profit and independent companies from a received pool of applicants. For the 2015 list, firms must have been founded and generating revenue by the end of March 2011, have minimum 2011 revenues of $100,000 and minimum 2014 revenues of $2 million.

S.C.'S INC. 5000 BY YEAR 120 100 80 # SC First Time 60

# Upstate #SC Firms

40 20 0

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008*

2007*

*SOME DATA MISSING SOME FIRM LOCATIONS

UPSTATE’S FASTEST-GROWING FIRMS, VIA INC. 5000 FIRMS RANK

FIRM

3YR GROWTH

’14 REVENUE

INDUSTRY

65 471 834 894 1150 1163 1228 1740 2191 2415

Facility Solutions 9Round Franchising Intellectual Capitol Dealer Online Marketing SPAN Enterprises Sandlapper Securities Pinaccle Environmental Services M33 Integrated Ob Hospital Group Palmetto Technology Group

4786% 988% 531% 502% 368% 364% 342% 231% 179% 156%

$6M $3.2M $2.5M $9.2M $2.4M $7.4M $4.6M $67.7M $97M $2.7M

Construction Health IT Services Advertising & Marketing Software Financial Services Environmental Services Logistics & Transportation Health IT Services

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| HOSPITALITY & ENTREPRENEURSHIP | 7

Southern Pressed Juicery opening second location on Furman campus SHERRY JACKSON | STAFF

sjackson@communityjournals.com Furman University students and faculty will soon have a new dining option as they start the new academic term. Southern Pressed Juicery will open its second location at the Trone Student Center on the university’s campus next week.

The cold-pressed raw juice bar in downtown Greenville at the ONE building has only been open three months, but Furman alumni and owner Olivia Esquivel said the opportunity was too good to pass up. Southern Pressed Juicery at Furman is currently transforming an existing kiosk space with plans to open in conjunction with Furman’s orientation week.

Since its inception, the juicery has had plans to expand the concept beyond downtown Greenville.

“We don’t want to grow too fast too soon,” Esquivel said, “but the partnership with Table 301 allows me to feel more comfortable embarking on this growth strategy.”

The product, which is fresh and not pasteurized,

has a five-day shelf life, making locations within driving distance to Greenville ideal, she said. Greenville will continue as the main juicing facility. Future locations could include other area college campuses and possibly Columbia and Asheville.

Esquivel said Furman officials were enthusiastic when she posed the idea, as the university is trying to make the Trone Student Center more of a destination spot for the public, not just students and faculty. Plus, many of the juicery’s current customers come from the Travelers Rest area and will appreciate the closer location, she said.

In addition to Furman students and faculty, Esquivel anticipates potential customers will include runners and cyclists coming in off the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail and others who come just to enjoy the university’s campus.

Esquivel said she plans to offer the same menu as the juicery downtown, which includes fresh juices, juice shots, smoothies and energy bowls. Chef Xavier Bonnafous, a vegan and vegetarian chef, will oversee

Wealth Management • Estate Planning Alternative Investments and More

Securities are offered through SANDLAPPER Securities, LLC (“SLS”), a registered brokerdealer with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Investing in securities whether public or private involve risks including but not limited to the potential loss of some or all of your investment dollars. You should review any planned financial transactions that may have tax or legal implications with your personal tax or legal advisor. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and investments are not FDIC insured.

For 20 years, she’s seen you invest in her life.

Today, she sees you invest in her dreams.

Startup Week all about connecting entrepreneurs with resources BENJAMIN JEFFERS | STAFF

bjeffers@communityjournals.com Startup Week heading to Greenville Sep. 14-18 will offer entrepreneurs across the Upstate the chance to learn from one another through an array of events.

Marty Bauer, one of the event organizers, said the event is open to anyone interested in startups or the people behind startups, with the goal of connecting entrepreneurs with resources potentially available to them in the Upstate.

The week will kick off with a keynote presentation

by Ester Dyson, founder of HICCup, the organization

the new location as well. Esquivel said his commitment to “buying the best of the best” in terms of local, organic foods is the key to the juicery’s success. Other Trone Student Center options include Chick-Fil-A, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Sushi with Gusto.

Southern Pressed Juicery at Furman will also offer free yoga classes and other community classes to “spread the word about health and wellness,” said Esquivel. “Everything we do is intentional. We like to push the edge and offer something different and unique but it all goes along with the concept of fresh, local, organic foods. We’re like a science lab, but natural.”

Hours for the new juicery will follow Furman’s school schedule.

behind Way to Wellville in Spartanburg.

The conference will include about 15-20 events ranging from meet-ups to presentations and brewery tours to startup space crawls on Main Street. The week will also include outdoor events and walking meetings on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

A full schedule of events will be available at Greenville.Startupweek.com in the near future.

“I believe it is important for people who have a startup or want to start something to see there are other people who think like them, work like them, take risks like them and act like them here,” Bauer said in an email.

Bauer said when he moved to Greenville, he was

fortunate to meet mentors and other entrepreneurs who were helpful to him, and he wants to pass it forward by focusing the community narrative on opportunities available in the Upstate and to help make connections for those who need them.

The idea to hold a weeklong festival to connect entrepreneurs germinated when Bauer and fellow entrepreneur Adam Gautsch attended a Startup Week in Boulder, Colo.

Based on what they saw there, they decided to partner with the organization behind the Boulder Startup Week and bring the event to Greenville.

“There are a growing number of incredible people building great products and companies in the Upstate, and at least twice a week I meet or am introduced to someone who isn’t aware of the great resources and people available in the area,” Bauer said.

8 | FINANCE & WORKPLACE |

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Franchise, diversify, expand – repeat opportunity for a national drug and alcohol screening franchise brand. He set up a When you think of franchising, franchise model in 2005, you probably don’t think of drug and starting with five owners, and alcohol testing. For Greenville-based has expanded to 78 owners ARCpoint Labs CEO Felix Mirando, that with nearly 100 locations was part of the beauty of it. across the country. Part of the “I started looking at the industry and rapid growth is due to fransaw that it was very fragmented. chising itself, while another There was no national brand, and cerpart stems from diversificatainly no franchise concept,” said tion, he said.

Mirando, who today oversees nearly 100 “I knew nothing about locations nationwide for his employment, drug testing. I’m not sure I background and wellness screening Felix Mirando, ARCpoint Labs CEO had ever been drug tested,” franchise company. said Mirando, who explored But today, Mirando has plans for much Photo by William Crooks other types of workplace and more, aiming not only to more than double the pre-employment testing before buying out his number of locations to 275 by 2020, but shift more competition and setting up a franchise concept in directly into the consumer market to address the 2005. “But I thought it was an interesting product.” changing healthcare industry with subscriptions to When pre-employment screenings took a dive in telehealth services, options to keep employer health2009, “It forced us to think about getting into areas care costs down and even DNA screenings that match that were not so affected by the downturn,” he said. patients with the most effective medications.

ARCpoint pushed into clinical wellness with glucose “The overall company is going to be more. We’re and cholesterol screenings, and even added a regunot just a drug and alcohol testing facility,” said latory division for other types of mandatory testing, Mirando. “Our market is going to be more based on he said. consumers, and basically letting the consumer take “There’s approximately 12 million employed people control of their health.” right now who are required to be drug tested,” he said – not including the trend among private companies to include FRANCHISING DRUG TESTING more and more testing.

Drug testing legislation passed in the 1980s propelled the industry to new heights in the 1990s, EASING DOCTOR SHORTAGES Mirando said, which prompted him to open his own Today, ARCpoint is breaking into other services, part-time testing business in 1998. particularly those on the employee healthcare side, Though he lacked a medical background himself, Mirando said. This year the company rolled out Mirando had spent 17 years as a franchisee for ARCpoint MD, a telehealth service aimed at providHeavenly Ham in Greenville, and recognized the ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com

ing families with 24/7 physician attention, diagnoses and even some prescriptions by phone, Skype or email, he said. Families can pay $18 per month for unlimited physician communication, as well as a 24-hour nurse hotline for basic questions.

“What it attempts to avoid is having to go to the urgent care or emergency room if you don’t have to,” Mirando said. Patients connect with a physician around 18 minutes on average after initial contact, he said, and while the service will only be used for more minor things such as infections, strep and the flu, he expects telehealth services in general to help ease problems resulting from the national shortage of available physicians, especially in rural areas.

Another service uses DNA testing to determine if a patient has a genetic predisposition to certain medications, Mirando said. The result can be fewer medication costs or more effective treatment, which means better care, he said. “Those are probably more importantly going to save money and a lot of heartache with prescriptions.”

Mirando, now 55, arrived in the area when he was seven and attended the University of South Carolina.

Atlanta or Charlotte might have provided more accessibility, he said, “but the more I thought about it, I wanted the company to grow in Greenville and stay in Greenville.”

ARCpoint holds trainings in Greenville throughout the year, bringing eight to 10 people to the city per month. The company is on a pace to add between 15 and 20 new owners and between 30 to 35 new territories per year, and aims to hit 275 locations by 2020, he said.

“Will we ever be McDonalds? No, but we don’t market and say, ‘Hey, do you want to come in and get a drug test just for fun?’” he said. “We just don’t build franchises just to build franchises. We want to build a national brand.”

UCB makes downtown move ASHLEY BONCIMINO | STAFF

aboncimino@communityjournals.com Blairsville, Ga.-based United Community Bank is making itself at home in Greenville, this time consolidating two of its back office functions, consumer credit and loans, to the fourth floor of RiverPlace downtown.

Previously home to Sempra U.S. Gas & Power’s Greenville office, the 18,000-square-foot space will serve 34 of United Community Bank’s employees immediately, as well as previous Palmetto Bank employees once the $241 million merger becomes official.

The United Community Bank employees are relocating from various locations, including several from the bank’s Georgia operations as well as in Greenville.

The move will also allow them to accommodate business expansions resulting from the pending acquisition, which could increase capacity by a third, said United Community Bank Senior Vice President

and Director of Loan Operations Dan Graham.

“Quite frankly, we had outgrown our other location… and we’re taking on additional lines of business, if you will, from Palmetto that we had not had before,” he said, including mortgage servicing and indirect lending. “At least from the portfolio side, it’ll increase by 30 percent.”

Both departments at the RiverPlace office expect to add employees in the future, but the numbers could vary, said the bank’s Vice President and Loan Operations Manager Tricia McAlister.

The Class A office space was previously home to The Bounce Agency, a Greenville-based public re-

Photo by Ashley Boncimino

lations firm that filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2013.

The office includes conference rooms and large windows overlooking the Reedy River. There will be no major renovations or changes, other than adding freestanding desks in some of the open spaces, McAlister said.

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REAL ESTATE DEALS AND DEVELOPMENTS ACROSS THE REGION

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Hughes’ Bull Street project signs first tenant, launches website SHERRY JACKSON | STAFF sjackson@communityjournals.com @SJackson_CJ

Greenville-based Hughes Corporations’ massive Bull Street project in Columbia is moving along with a brand-new website, video and its first tenant announced last week.

Ogletree Deakins, a large labor and employment law firm, announced it will be the first tenant to occupy office space in BullStreet Commons’ First Base Building overlooking Spirit Communications Park. The firm negotiated a 10-year lease and will occupy 12,275 square feet on the fourth floor of the First Base Building, which will be the first office building constructed as part of the Bull St. Commons development.

The firm’s new space will be a combination of attorney offices and paralegal and legal assistant workstations, with open collaborative spaces and views of the city and Spirit Communications Park.

“We believe this is an opportunity to remain in the

heart of the city and close to the courts, but also to take part in an exciting new chapter for Columbia,” said Kathy Helms, managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins’ Columbia office. “And most all of us love baseball.”

Ogletree Deakins is expected to move into its new office space in the First Base Building by early 2016.

The Bull Street project covers 181 acres at the intersection of I-26 and I-77 in downtown Columbia located on the former state mental hospital property. It will be South Carolina’s first urban gigabit community and will feature Spirit Communications Park, a multi-venue and minor-league baseball stadium for the Columbia Fireflies; BullStreet Commons, 400,000 square feet of retail and restaurants; and the First Base Building, 100,000 square feet of Class A office and retail space.

Future development includes residential components that will include thousands of single-family and multi-family homes and an additional 700,000 square feet of mixed-use.

“We’re building a town. Not a town center, but the center of town,” said Jackson Hughes of Greenville-based Hughes Commercial Properties, which

along with Miami-based Lennar Commercial are developing BullStreet Common.

“Right now, there are contracts out for development on over 50 acres of the 181-acre site, which represent over 1.5 million square feet of space and over $350 million of private investment. This doesn’t include any of the work being done on the ballpark, site infrastructure or Public Park,” said Robert Hughes with Hughes Corporation, the master developer on the project.

The 20-year project is expected to create more than 11,000 new jobs, with a total economic impact of $1.2 billion once completed that is expected to bring $20 million in property taxes alone.

“The first pitch for baseball is set for April 14, 2016 and we will open the First Base Building a few weeks before that,” said Robert Hughes. “We are thrilled to have Ogletree Deakins as our lead tenant in the building. Their decision to locate here is a testament to the great things to come.”

To view the video (created by Greenvillebased Skyline Post) and the new website, visit bullstreetsc.com

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272-unit West End Apartments to be located lhoun N Ca on the Pendleton Street Baptist Church property on S ACADEMY ST Main Street in downtown Greenville.

ADEMY ST The church,S AC a downtown Greenville fixture since e St Payn the 1890s, recently announced plans to sell three of rn Ave o D n St its 4.5 acres at 1100 South Main Street and 8 Perry Loga Avenue, retaining a small corner at Markley and Rhett Streets to build a new church. The church is hoping to salvage some of the existing materials ce St Gra including the steeple, organ and stained glass windows to use in the S. Main St new church building.

In May, the church Perry Avegranted a property was All ground floor zoning change, from C-3, units lining Rhett regional commercial t St Rhet and Main Street St district to C-4, central Main willS be walk ups, business district which allowing activaallows a more dense, tion at the street urban-type development. level, Schick said.

The new apartment The apartment complex by Chart S complex will have n i lotte-based Woodfield FLUOR S Ma twoFIELDentrances; Investments will be one off Main five-stories, with the Street and the units wrapping around second on Rhett an interior parking deck Street. Two courtyard park areas are planned, along that will not be visible from the street. A with a pedestrian walkway connecting the neighrooftop terrace with a fire pit and seating will borhood on Rhett to Main Street. provide sweeping views of downtown Greenville Local officials expressed concerns during an inand Paris Mountain, said Brian Schick with Woodformal discussion earlier this month with the Design field Investments.

Review Board about how shade from the new project The development will be a Class AA community, might affect homes along Rhett Street. Schick said featuring one, two and three bedroom units with that the apartment height will be similar to the upscale amenities to include a swimming pool, church’s roofline. courtyards and fitness and club areas, he said.

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The complex is slated to have 423 parking spaces, or one per bedroom. Schick said possibly up to 50 spaces could be available for public parking, depending on approvals by the DRB. The parking deck could Un be partially undergroundiverat sit six and a half stories. y A neighborhood meeting Sist planned for Aug. 25 and the project will formally go before the DRB at the Sept. 3 meeting. If approved, construction is expected to begin May 2016, with early tenancy available fall 2017 and construction completed by March 2018.

Woodfield develops apartment communities geared towards institutional investors. This will be the firm’s second project in the Upstate; the first is the recently opened Innovation Apartment Homes located on the Millennium Campus. Ninety of the 336 units are already leased at this location, Schick said. Construction is expected to be completed in October and fully leased by July 2016.

“We have to be grounded in reality,” Schick said.

“Absorption, growth and rental rates are still very good in Greenville and we think it’s still an under-served market, even with all of the new projects announced.”

Au

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New shopping center with grocery proposed for Five Forks area Greenville County Council held a public hearing earlier this week on a new proposed

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shopping center along Woodruff Road and Sunnydale Drive, near Five Forks. The new shopping center would span 18.9 acres and have a full-service grocery store with fuel pumps, 19,000 square feet of retail and nine out-parcels for freestanding medical/professional office buildings.

Residents expressed concern about increased traffic in the area, the location of a planned traffic signal and proximity of the development to residences. County Council heard first reading of the zoning change this week and the council’s Planning and Development Committee will review the plan at its next meeting.

UBJ writer April A. Morris contributed to this story.

FA PA

08.21.2015

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upstatebusinessjournal.com

REAL ESTATE DEALS AND DEVELOPMENTS ACROSS THE REGION

| SQUARE FEET | 11

New 240,000 square foot industrial spec building under construction in Greer Charlotte-based

Beacon

Partners,

a commercial real estate investment company, broke ground last week on a new 240,020-square-foot industrial spec building at 545 Brookshire Road, near Hwy. 101 in Greer in Spartanburg County.

The project is situated on 14.1 acres and will feature state-of-the-art design, features and functionality with an ESFR sprinkler system, 32-foot clear height, and a 185-foot truck court to accommodate on-site trailer parking.

“We’re very excited to grow Beacon’s industrial presence in the Upstate,” said

Rendering provided

Sean McDonnell of Beacon Partners. “This facility offers a great opportunity for us to better serve the increasing demand for Class A space in Greenville-Spartanburg and along the I-85 corridor.”

This project continues Beacon’s recent expansion activity in the Upstate, totaling over 1 million square feet of development and acquisition activity in the last 12 months. In addition to breaking ground at 545 Brookshire Road, Beacon is concurrently developing Carolina Place, a specu-

lative 50,400-square-foot facility in Fort Mill, and in April delivered Riverwalk Commerce Center, a 277,000-square-foot speculative facility in Rock Hill. Beacon’s recent acquisition activity in the Upstate consists of distribution facilities totaling 350,000 square feet in Spartanburg County and 255,000 square feet in Fort Mill.

Allen Cullum, developer of nearby Velocity Park will be developing the property and Tim Robertson, Director of Industrial Leasing at Beacon will lead the leasing efforts. No tenants have yet been announced.

Construction is expected to be complete in February 2016.

12 | PROFESSIONAL |

STRATEGIES FOR HONING YOUR PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

GIVE | GET | GROW

entor onday

Each month, UBJ presents an opportunity for the business community to step up, get engaged and start mentoring. We hope our readers will spend some time over the weekend thinking about how they can be ready to jump in next week with Mentor Monday.

OPPORTUNITY: Apply to join the free fall class of the Successful Entrepreneurship Series.

ORGANIZATION: Serrus Capital Partners

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COMMITMENT: Apply to participate in an 11-week series of inspirational talks featuring regional and national entrepreneurs.

Curtis Harper Transworld Business Advisors

IDEAL FOR: Entrepreneurs desiring to learn and grow from the stories of successful, seasoned entrepreneurs.

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WHAT IT’S LIKE: Attending the Successful Entrepreneurship events over the course of 11 weeks, listening to seasoned national and regional entrepreneurs tell their stories while giving advice on critical and pertinent business issues. The program has recently expanded into Asheville, N.C. SPEAKERS: Leighton Cubbage Serrus Capital Partners Dale Freudenberger FLS Energy Tom Finger SBFI Justin Belleme JB Media Group Oscar Wong Highland Brewing Phil Drake Drake Software Sutton Bacon Nantahala Outdoor Center Ken Hughes Dixon Hughes Charles Umberger Old Town Bank Scott Paly Masergy Communications

Sharon Day Sales Activation Group

Toby Stansell Acumen IT Bobby Rettew Gray Digital Group Jason Premo Premo Ventures; ADEX Machining Arch Thomason Sunland Logistics Solutions WHY YOU’RE NEEDED: Whether a budding entrepreneur with dreams of success or an established small business owner desiring tips from those that have had success in the business world, the Successful Entrepreneurship Series is the perfect opportunity to gain valuable real-life accounts and business insight from some of today’s leading entrepreneurs.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “It’s a simple concept that has been lost in a complicated world-that we tell our stories. America was built for free enterprise and entrepreneurship. It inspires me, and I’ve heard every talk. It is essentially a wisdom download.”- Leighton Cubbage, cofounder and chairman of the board, Serrus Capital Partners LEARN MORE: successfulentrepreneurship.com

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CONTACT: Leighton Cubbage, cofounder and chairman of the board, Serrus Capital Partners

Steve Mudge Serrus Capital Partners

leightoncubbage@gmail.com

UBJ

|

08.21. 2015

A tough year for Justin Bieber elements, the District Court concluded

By WALLACE K. LIGHTSEY that the “mood, tone and subject matter” of the songs differed “significantly.”

On appeal by Copeland, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit vacated the District Court’s findings and remanded the case for further proceedings. After listening to each of the songs, the Court of Appeals found that the District Court put too much emphasis on the differences in “mood” and “tone” and too little on the similarities between the most important element of the songs – their choruses.

Noting the importance of the “hook” in popular music, the appellate court explained that “courts routinely permit a finding of substantial similarity where the works share some especially significant sequence of notes or lyrics.”

Justin Bieber turned 21 this Because the hook is the part of the year. He also lost a significant copysong most often repeated and rememright case in the U.S. Court of Appeals. bered, the Fourth Circuit concluded Bieber and another mega-recording that the choruses in the songs at artist, Usher, were sued for copyright issue were similar enough that a infringement in connection with the reasonable jury could find the songs song “Somebody to Love,” which acintrinsically similar. cording to Billboard Magazine is “It is not simply that both choruses Bieber’s 9th-biggest hit. The plaintiffs, contain the lyric ‘somebody to love’; it songwriter Devan Copeland and his is that the lyric is delivered in what songwriting partner, alleged that seems to be an almost identical rhythm Usher was given a copy of an album and a strikingly similar melody,” the of songs Copeland was working on in court pointed out. Therefore, the issue 2009, including a recording of “Someof similarity was a question that should body to Love.” be decided by a jury.

According to Copeland, Usher exSorry, Justin, but hey – welcome pressed initial interest in having Coto adulthood! peland record an album but never followed up. Subsequently, Usher Wallace K. Lightsey is an released a YouTube demo of a song attorney at Wyche PA. He has an called “Somebody to Love.” That song active practice litigating was recorded and released by Justin disputes over intellectual Bieber in the spring of 2010, and a property – such as trademark, remixed version that included Usher copyright and trade secrets – and was released a few months later. in recent years has been lead The U.S. District Court dismissed counsel in copyright lawsuits the case, finding that the general involving close to a billion public would not “construe the aesthetic appeal of the songs as dollars at issue. being similar.” Despite some shared

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14 | INNOVATE |

MOVERS, SHAKERS AND DISRUP TORS SHAPING OUR FUTURE

UBJ

|

08.21.2015

To grow aerospace in SC, look to the beacons

By JASON PREMO

chairman, Premo Ventures

It’s no secret the aerospace in-

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dustry has arrived in South Carolina.

Boeing’s North Charleston site selection and the state’s strong military footprint have put the state on the map. A recent study from USC economist Joseph Von Nessen highlighted an industry impact of over $17 billion to the state’s GDP and an annual employment growth rate of 11.4 percent for the sector – more than six times higher than the state’s average annual growth rate.

Growing more of these jobs will impact South Carolina’s economic output and raise the prosperity levels of its citizens, such as per-capita-income – a key metric in how we rank amongst other states nationally. To put that in perspective, the average compensation for someone working in the aerospace cluster is almost 75 percent higher than someone in general manufacturing, or $71,000 per year versus $48,000 per year.

The 787 Dreamliner has over two million parts per airplane. In 2012, Boeing purchased over $28 billion in parts from outside suppliers, with approximately 75 percent of its supplier content from U.S. companies.

Now amplify this with Boeing’s increased production rate on the 787 Dreamliner and the opportunity to grow South Carolina’s manufacturing industry and employment look bright.

The BMW effect? Well, sort of.

While it might seem natural for more Boeing suppliers to relocate here as happened with BMW, distinct differences challenge that prediction.

Unlike automotive manufacturing, production volumes are much lower in aerospace and the need for a local supply chain and lower transport costs are less important. Boeing produces 10 jets each month, three in North Charleston and the remaining seven in Seattle. By comparison, BMW produces about 10 sports activity vehicles in Greer every 12 seconds.

While the cost of a 787 Dreamliner is higher than the MSRP of a new BMW X5 Sport Activity Vehicle, the lower production volumes of required parts and logistical costs play a smaller

role in a supplier’s total cost competitiveness. Boeing and other aerospace customers need suppliers who can deliver advanced components on time and with perfect quality, and will source them from any supplier worldwide.

As previous co-founder and CEO of Greenville-based ADEX Machining Technologies, I was honored to supply for Boeing. We proved South Carolina had the talented workforce and training support to transform a 21-year-old commodity machine shop into an advanced manufacturer with certified aerospace quality systems.

Today, when someone boards a new Boeing aircraft, it will have one or more advanced parts made in the Palmetto State.

“SOUTH CAROLINA IS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF.” While we’ve made a lot of progress, South Carolina still has few aerospace manufacturers capable of earning long term contracts to produce flight critical components beyond tooling, prototype or non-flight support products. If we want to capitalize on the aerospace market growth potential, we’ve got to increase support of existing manufacturers, in addition to recruitment and relocation of new companies.

Becoming an aerospace supplier is hard, really hard. Boeing uses a highly structured system of testing and oversight, ensuring process consistency, accountability and compliance at all levels of the supply chain. Boeing’s external supplier network is an extension of its factories, and they are expected to meet or exceed established performance measures for quality, capability and compliance.

Boeing suppliers must also certify their production systems, have them approved by Boeing, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and an independent third party. The FAA also has a dedicated management unit for the oversight and compliance of Boeing’s supplier management. Boeing performs rigorous audits of supplier operations and will sometimes embed their personnel at supplier factories to monitor quality, process improvements,

and ensure adherence to Boeing standards and schedules.

For help, look to the beacons. South Carolina has a secret weapon in its ability to assist and support its growing aerospace market, and it comes directly from its strong base of existing aerospace companies. These companies represent beacons of light with an enormous pool of talent, thought leadership, and best practices that illuminate the right path for existing companies wanting to penetrate the challenging world of aerospace.

Many do not realize when boarding their plane at GSP that an existing aerospace supplier, Stevens Aviation, has been on the same campus for 50 years. Stevens’ premier services include structural repair maintenance, avionics modifications, exterior and interior painting, turbine flight training and much more on a variety of mid-size aircraft like the Gulfstream, Cessna, Learjet, and others. The company’s leadership and expert service teams have won numerous FAA and customer awards, and are highly skilled in meeting rigorous FAA compliance standards, along with advanced certifications necessary for Supplemental Type Certificates (STC) and Parts Manufacturing Authority (PMA) project applications.

Recently, South Carolina companies like Stevens Aviation, Boeing, Lockheed, GKN, and Champion have joined forces to create an even brighter beacon: they are now working together as part of a formal advisory board initiative launched by the Department of Commerce and the SC Council on Competitiveness. Industry veteran and serial entrepreneur Steve Townes, CEO of Ranger Aerospace, is chairman. This kind of strategic direction and insight provided by OEM’s and top suppliers will ensure the Palmetto State continues its successful journey.

South Carolina is cleared for takeoff.

Jason Premo is chairman of Premo Ventures, a Greenvillebased venture capital firm focused on investing and accelerating small to mid-size advanced manufacturing companies with high-impact potential in the aerospace, defense, energy, and medical device industries.

08.21.2015

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upstatebusinessjournal.com

THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF BUSINESS

| DIGITAL MAVEN | 15

Finding the right IT pro for your business

By LAURA HAIGHT, president, portfoliosc.com There is so much going on in technology, it is hard for a small business to keep up. Bad enough there’s a new data breach or hacking story every day, but now employees want to be mobile, millennials resist rules, there’s a new Windows out, and everything needs to be in “the cloud,” right? Maybe it’s time to bring in an IT person?

Just as a great IT person can make a huge difference for your business, a bad one can put your business at risk.

Here are some considerations.

KNOW YOUR GOALS Do you want someone to make sure you’re doing the right things with technology or do you want an extra pair of hands to do work you will assign? Even if you consider yourself pretty smart technically – maybe even a bit of a gizmo yourself – the latter can be a risky approach. Most decent IT pros will know more than we do: The better ones will use their knowledge to help guide the right decisions; the lesser ones will do what you tell them (the theory being that no one ever got in trouble doing what they were told).

No matter how good they are, they can’t help you if you don’t understand them. If your new IT staffer is going to help you make the right decisions, you’ll have to have a common language and understanding of each other.

You’ll get a feel for that from your first conversation. If a candidate talks over your head, don’t assume that’s just because they are smarter than you.

The better IT professional will not ask, “What do you want me to do?” but “What are you trying to accomplish?” There is a vast array of IT tools they should know a lot more about than you do. Let them bring their expertise to the table to serve your business. But at the same time, they should understand that technology is a tool to help your business achieve its goals. Unless they are experienced in your industry, they probably have a lot to learn on the business side. If a candidate doesn’t seem to have that curiosity about your business, and an interest in learning from you, you should probably keep looking.

KNOW YOUR STAFF A lot of techs spend their time closeted up in backrooms and offices with doors closed. Whether you hire or contract, you need someone who is part of your team, who spends time walking around, seeing how your staff interacts with the technology you have, asking about problems. Yes, actually looking for things to do. A former staffer once asked if I lay awake nights thinking up “stuff for us to do.” I said, “No, I just walk around and it jumps right out at me.”

Often, employees get used to things not working properly and they quickly abandon systems or software, find workarounds, install something from home, or move back to a more manual process that they were comfortable with. Those are all bad and you might not even notice if you were not watching and asking.

KNOW YOUR LIMITS The four words I never want to hear

The better IT professional will not ask, ‘What do you want me to do?’

BUT

‘WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH?’ anyone say are: “It works for me.” If an employee has a problem, your IT person needs to be able to troubleshoot it. It may, in fact, be human error. But that doesn’t absolve the IT staffer from the responsibility to help the employee understand why it happened and how to use the system or software

effectively. That’s an attitude not all IT people exhibit. Find one with a strong customer service attitude.

The work is done when you say it is done. Testing of updates, new hardware, new software, or services is critical – and not testing by the IT staff, but testing by the employee who is actually going to be using it. That shows respect for the staff and is essential to being part of the team. Ask what their procedures are for this. If they don’t include an employee sign off after hands-on testing, keep looking.

Once you bring on an IT staffer, you may breathe that sigh of relief and assume that you can leave the tech issues in their hands. I always say inspect what you expect, but nonetheless you will put a lot of faith and trust in your IT pro. Ask some good questions to make sure that faith won’t be misplaced, potentially putting you at even greater risk than you were before.

Laura Haight is the president of Portfolio, a communications company that helps small business make the most of the fusion of emerging technology and communication.

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UBJ

|

08.21. 2014

This photo, left to right: Kevin Bean, CEO (20 years with O'Neal); Randy Chandler, Project Manager (30 years); Judy Castleberry, CFO (15 years); Don Albrecht, Structural Engineer (1 year). Photo by Jim Pitt Harris

O’Neal celebrates 40 years ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION COMPANY NARROWS FOCUS WHILE EMBRACING CHANGE LEIGH SAVAGE | CONTRIBUTOR

O’Neal, a Greenville-based engineering and

Photo

construction company, is celebrating 40 years in an ever-changing industry. Steady growth took the company from two employees in 1975 to 260 today, and the next step, according to CEO and President Kevin Bean, is to double in revenue in the next five years.

“We believe there are enough opportunities for us to do that,” he said. “Our competitors are moving into government-related or power-related opportunities, and when they move out, we’ll be able to offer our approach and pick up some work. We just have to get the right people on board to deliver it.”

That people-focused approach has always been a key to the company’s success. O’Neal began offering stock ownership to employees in 1987, and when Bean succeeded founder Paul O’Neal in 2004, the two worked together to formalize an employee stock ownership program.

“The ownership has been key,” Bean said. “It helps us get the right type of people who feel that personal responsibility to do a good job.”

ide d s prov an

by Bri Galla gher

GUIDING GROWTH O’Neal started as a structural engineering firm in 1975. Paul O’Neal was a practicing engineer who over the years teamed with architects and general contractors to work on the Peace Center, banks and other commercial operations. Now, the company has expanded its role to the business of project delivery. Complicated processes, intricate designs and

08.21.2015

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A TRIBUTE TO OUR LONG-LASTING ENTERPRISES

upstatebusinessjournal.com

challenging industrial capital construction projects are the company’s specialty.

When Bean succeeded O’Neal – still an active board member – in 2004, construction was a new offering.

“Over the past 20 years, we’ve really come into our role as an EPC, or engineering, procurement and construction provider,” Bean said. The leadership narrowed the focus to providing integrated design and construction services for complex capital projects in the industrial sector, including automotive, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and process chemical.

The ability to change with the times while focusing on the company’s strengths has paid off, Bean said. He points to the recession as an example.

“We wondered if we should get into government-related work,” Bean said. “We spent a lot of time investing in it, but we decided not to. We stayed true to our core industrial complex-type manufacturing work, and that paid a lot of dividends when we came out of the recession.”

O’Neal works with many Fortune 500 companies, and Michelin was among the first. The two companies have teamed up regularly for 28 years, beginning about two years after the tiremaker came to Greenville. Though O’Neal has much larger competitors in town, Bean has found that Fortune 500 companies want “firms that give them access to leadership, so they know their work is prioritized,” he said. “We capitalize on that with all of our clients. That’s part of our success.”

Milliken, BASF, Huntsman Corp., Coca-Cola and Mitsubishi are some of the large industrial clients that take advantage of O’Neal’s project delivery, including guaranteed cost and schedule. “We provide all the services they need for an expansion, and the work we give you, we will stand behind,” Bean said EMPOWERING PEOPLE For the fourth consecutive year, O’Neal was recently named one of the Best Places to Work in South Carolina, an honor bestowed by the S.C. Chamber of Commerce. An employee survey is part of the

process, and the results help the leadership learn what employees appreciate and where they would like to see improvement.

“We consistently hear from employees that they

$250 million $5 million 2014 revenue

expansion announced in April, adding 60 employees

No. 3

of 100 fastest growing architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting firms in the U.S. and Canada Source: 2015 Zweig Group Hot Firm List (for rest of list go to https://goo.gl/b10iuQ

like challenging work. Our folks enjoy the types of projects they work on,” said Brian Gallagher, director of marketing. “They also like the family atmosphere and family culture.”

Finding employees who have the technical knowledge and personal drive to push the company forward has been challenging at times, but the appeal of the Upstate has been beneficial. The company’s in-house recruiter has even found some employees who first select Greenville as the place they want to live and then try to find a job, instead of the other way around.

“The economic health of Greenville, S.C. and the Southeast is a rising tide that benefits us and everyone else,” Gallagher said.

| MILESTONE | 17

Among O’Neal staffers, Drive games, tailgates and other activities are common, as are volunteer projects for organizations such as Meals on Wheels and Hands on Greenville.

“Our philosophy is, the employees pick what they want to do, and we match what they do,” Bean said.

“We let them decide.”

Another area where the company is becoming increasingly involved is STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) in education. “Given our employees’ technical backgrounds, they naturally gravitate to this,” Bean said. In addition to financial support for events such as Imagine Upstate, employees have visited schools, given presentations and offered shadowing opportunities.

LOOKING FORWARD Revenues were in the $70-80 million range when Bean took the reins a decade ago, and the company reached $250 million last year. In 2015, O’Neal was recognized as the No. 3 Hot Firm by ZweigWhite, which recognizes the 100 fastest-growing architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting firms in the U.S. and Canada based on dollar and percentage revenue growth rate over a three-year period.

Growth continues at O’Neal, which in April announced a $5 million expansion in Greenville that will include 60 new employees plus training and technology upgrades. In May, the company announced an alliance with Beck Group in Mexico, which will provide services for clients opening facilities there.

To achieve the goal of doubling the business in five years, acquisitions are a key part of the plan. O’Neal is in the process of finding strategic targets in the Southeast and Midwest that offer similar services.

“With heavy use of technical software and 3D modeling, we have to find someone with those synergies so we can collaborate,” Bean said.

O'Neal’s 40 years

1975 Paul O’Neal founds O’Neal as a structural consulting firm with a two-person staff

1985 First Michelin job

1990 1994 2004 Adds piping, architecture and instrumentation and controls capabilities

Establishes pharmaceutical group; adds process capabilities

Paul O’Neal steps down as CEO and President; Kevin Bean is named his successor. ESOP is formed

2011 2014 Adds full-service procurement group

Reaches $250 million in revenue

1979 1987 1993 1998 2009 2012 2015 Adds electrical, civil and mechanical services

Offers stock ownership to employees

Establishes Atlanta office

Adds construction division

Aligns across three strategic units: process chemical, industrial manufacturing, biopharmaceutical

Adds two business units: advanced facilities, equipment relocation

Celebrates 40 years; expands and partners with Beck Group in Mexico

18 | ON THE MOVE |

UBJ

PLAY-BY-PLAY OF UPSTATE CAREERS

APPOINTED

HIRED

HIRED

HIRED

|

08.21.2015

APPOINTED

Robert D. Siegel

Cameron Tommey

Mike Starnes

Wade A. Reardon

Jason W. Osborne

Named to the board of directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Siegel is the oncology program director at Bon Secours St. Francis Health System. He is board certified in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology. He previously served as a community-based oncologist for 24 years.

Named director of legal and program compliance at the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. Tommey has served as a law clerk for the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality. He also gained litigation and environmental consulting experience at law firms in Fairfax and Roanoke, Virginia.

Named as a project manager at Mavin Construction, LLC. Starnes has 17 years of experience in retail, industrial, distribution centers, ecclesiastical and high-end office space. He has led the construction of over 4 million square feet throughout the United States.

Named as an ophthalmologist at Southern Eye Associates.

Reardon specializes in cataract and reconstructive surgery. He is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Gold Humanism Honor Society, Christian Ophthalmology Society and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.

Named associate provost and dean of graduate studies at Clemson University. Osborne has served as professor and chair of the department of counseling and human development in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville since 2013.

COMMUNITY Maestra Sarah Ioannides, music director and conductor of Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra, will conclude her tenure at the end of the 2016-2017

season. In 2014, Ioannides was appointed music director of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, and this fall she will be making her debuts with the Tonkunstler Orchestra in Vienna,

National Symphony of Dominican Republic and the Yale Philharmonia.

The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg added eight new members

to its Board of Trustees. Jeffrey Barker is vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, as well as professor of philosophy, at Converse College. >>

GODSHALL Professional Recruiting Staffing Consulting

08.21.2015

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PLAY-BY-PLAY OF UPSTATE CAREERS

upstatebusinessjournal.com

>> Ethan Burroughs serves as Spartanburg market president and business banking manager at Wells Fargo Bank.

Kenneth Cribb is president emeritus of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and former chief of domestic affairs for President Ronald Reagan. Sidney Fulmer is a retired M.D. in OB-GYN who graduated from Wofford College in Spartanburg. Alex Garcia-Rivera is director of training development for Denny’s Restaurants. Barbara Haaksma is vice president of corporate marketing and communications for Milliken & Company. Kelly Turner Harvey is an associate commercial banker at NBSC. Winston Wingo has achieved awards for artwork and teaching, having taught in both public school systems and universities.

EDUCATION The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) appointed Lauren Simer to the board of examiners for the 2015 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The award promotes innovation and excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of organizations and publicizes successful performance strategies. Simner is Greenville Technical College vice president of institutional effectiveness.

Roger W. Liska, professor and chair of Clemson University’s department of construction science and management, won the ABC Kirby Award, given by the Associated Builders and Contractors of the Carolinas. Liska teaches in Clemson’s doctoral program in planning, design and the built environment.

He also directs the university’s Center for Improvement of Construction Management and Processes.

Bob Jones University named several new appointments. Roger Bradley will serve as assistant professor of social science. Bradley previously served as an assistant professor of economics at Flagler College. Jeremy Patterson will serve as an assistant professor of modern language and as chair of the Division of Modern Languages. Patterson previously served as a graduate assistant and adjunct professor at BJU. Additionally, he served as an English and Japanese instructor at Inlingua Southeast. Brandon Ironside will serve as an assistant professor in the Division of Music in the School of Fine Arts and Communication. Ironside previously served as a teaching assistant at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and as an applied

`

| ON THE MOVE | 19

VIP

John Kimbrell Named by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives as a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE). The CCE is the only national certification for chamber professionals. Kimbrell, executive vice president of the Greenville Chamber, was one of six chamber executives in the nation who earned the CCE designation. music violin instructor at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. Lewis Carl will serve as an assistant professor of graphic design.

For the last 11 years, Carl served as a freelance artist and missionary with Biblical Ministries Worldwide in Venice, Italy.

Furman University named Michael Hendricks as vice president for enrollment and management. Hendricks most recently held a similar position at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He began his career in higher education admission and enrollment in 1992 as assistant director of admission and financial aid at Fairleigh-Dickinson University. He also served as dean of admission at Widener University.

“WE TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF OUR CHAMBER INVESTMENT WITH INCREASED EXPOSURE IN THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, PLUS EDUCATIONAL, SERVICE, AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES.” - ALAN BERRY CEO of Greenville Heritage Federal Credit Union

GREENVILLE HERITAGE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION IS THE GREENVILLE CHAMBER’S AUGUST 2015 SMALL BUSINESS OF THE MONTH! Learn more about them at: greenvilleheritage.com

RECRUITING Kester Search Group hired three new executive recruiters and account managers. Sarah Byrd has four years of previous experience with QuadPackaging. Annaliese Kester has four years of experience and previously served at Reliable Property Managers. Lacie Pottle has over five years of customer service and inside sales experience. She previously served with Sonic Automotive.

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

The Greenville Chamber salutes our Small Business of the Month. We honor and appreciate all the things that small businesses bring to our community and we are proud to be there for them as well.

If you’re in business, you have a partner in us. www.greenvillechamber.org

20 | THE FINE PRINT |

UBJ

BUSINESS BRIEFS YOU CAN’ T MISS

Milliken and Dickies collaborate on new shirt Milliken & Company is collaborating with performance workwear provider Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co. to produce an improved performance work shirt.

The new work shirt produced under the Dickies brand employs Milliken’s textile technology to deliver enhanced lightweight, moisture wicking and soil-release properties with the addition of stretch. The fabric technology delivers an 80 percent increase in breathability, according to a release.

The improvements were the result of a long-term project and partnership between Dickies and Milliken & Company, which have collaborated for more than 17 years.

“Our valued partnership with Dickies has produced customer-centric improvements in workwear fabrics for a variety of end use uniforms,” said Eric Mossbrook, Milliken market director for workwear fabrics. “We find the resulting products continue to exceed the quality, comfort and performance demands of our customers.”

Garner’s named Retailer of the Year Vitamin Retailer Magazine named Garner’s Natural Life the 2015 Retailer of the Year.

“We are honored to be named Vitamin Retailer’s National Retailer of the Year,” said Candace Garner, CEO and owner of Garner’s. “Garner’s was founded with the intent of bringing healthy lifestyle choices to the community and we are proud to have been recognized by Vitamin Retailer for our work. I’m Candace Garner, CEO and owner of Garner's extremely proud of the hard work of the Garner’s team, and this recognition just solidifies that our employees are some of the best and most knowledgeable in the industry.”

Stay in the know.

|

08.21.2015

To select the annual Retailer of the Year, the Vitamin Retailer editors send requests for nominations to the natural products industry — retailers, manufacturers, and other related industry members —and receive over 100 responses. The submissions are narrowed until the top retailer is chosen.

Garner’s Natural Life was featured as the cover story in Vitamin Retailer’s August issue.

Redhype creates 3-D imaging division

Redhype, a full-service advertising and marketing agency, launched ArcViD, a new brand division dedicated to meeting architectural needs of the Upstate.

In addition to the marketing and branding capabilities, ArcViD offers 3D architectural visualizations and 3D-video services. The creatives at ArcViD produce fully detailed, HD 1080p animations, rendered at any size, with multiple, customizable video options.

Through the use of drone imagery, video, and high-performance programs, ArcViD can meet architectural visualization needs including structural renderings, interior/exterior visuals, interior design features and landscape artistry.

Presbyterian College gets $775K grant for biomed research Presbyterian College received a five-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) $775,000 grant as a member of the South Carolina IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (SC INBRE).

“SC INBRE is a network of institutions that collaborate with one another to promote their research and training programs, and provide their students with excellent opportunities for hands-on research training,” said Dr. Lucia Pirisi-Creek, principal investigator of SC INBRE. “At Presbyterian College, SC INBRE will augment the biomedical research infrastructure, helping to improve the research facilities and providing support for researchers and their students.”

The grant will continue until June 30, 2020, and is the largest the college has >> received from the federal government.

Upstate Business Journal

@UpstateBiz

TheUpstateBusinessJournal

08.21.2015

|

BUSINESS BRIEFS YOU CAN'T MISS

upstatebusinessjournal.com

>> Dr. Scott Asbill, department chair and professor of pharmaceutical and administrative sciences at PC, said the grant is a “great opportunity to move research at [PC] forward and to help build the research infrastructure.”

SCRA wins 6-month Army medical research award SCRA Applied R&D received a 6-month award from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC) to organize a new Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC).

The consortium’s mission is to assist the USAMRMC and others by providing cutting-edge technologies to protect, treat and optimize the health and performance across the full spectrum of military operations.

SCRA will serve as prime contractor for MTEC and is joined by teaming partners RTI International, Tunnell Government Services, Changing Our World and Innovation Financing Roundtable.

Following the six-month period, the government will have the option to begin collaborative research operations with the consortium through a long-term agreement.

The technology domains where MTEC intends to operate include: military infectious diseases; combat casualty care; military operational medicine; clinical and rehabilitative medicine; medical chemical, biological and radiological defense; advanced medical technologies; and medical training and health information sciences.

All private sector for-profit, not-forprofit, small business organizations and academic research institutions having capabilities in any of the technology domains listed above are encouraged to signal their interest in learning more about joining MTEC by contacting Stacey Lindbergh at stacey.lindbergh@ scra.org, or by visiting scra.org.

$5.5 billion in loans for 2014.

Is your business ready for the future of lending?

| THE FINE PRINT | 21

We can help.

P2P LENDING How does it work?

P2P lending is the opposite of traditional loans. P2P platforms don’t lend their own money. They connect investors with borrowers. The borrowers sign loans and the investors receive principal and interest payments.

Why does it work?

Younger borrowers are turning to technology-driven, convenience-driven online and mobile platforms. They want to avoid inconveniences associated with traditional banks and want “instant decisions” through online lending.

Why does it matter?

P2P lending has grown an average of 84% per quarter since 2007. The market could be $150 billion per year within 10 years.

(PWC Report, Feb. 2015)

Do you want to be part of the trend or react to it?

84%

P2P Lending

-2%

-0.7%

Consumer Loans

Credit Cards

QUARTERLY LOAN GROWTH: 2007 TO 2014 (Fed. Res. Bank of Cleveland, Aug. 2014) Why pay extra for the inconvenience of out-of-state attorneys, when we have brought so much large market experience home to the Upstate?

NEIL GRAYSON (864) 250-2235 neil.grayson@ nelsonmullins.com

BRAD RUSTIN (864) 250-2320 brad.rustin@ nelsonmullins.com

MIKE JOHNSON (864) 250-2365 mike.johnson@ nelsonmullins.com

www.NelsonMullins.com

22 | NEW TO THE STREET |

UBJ

THE FRESHEST FACES ON THE BUSINESS LANDSCAPE

Open for business

|

08.21.2015

2

1

Photos provided

1. Shock Dance Center recently opened at 308 E. Butler Road, Mauldin. The center offers basic, intermediate, advanced and competitive levels of dance training. For more information visit lndlydncr.wix.com/shockdancecenter or call 864-420-0216.

2. Once Upon a Dream Parties recently opened at 1099 E. Butler Road, Greenville. The business specializes in princess character party entertainment.

For more information, visit onceuponadreamparties.com or call 864-421-2472.

CONTRIBUTE: Know of a business opening soon?

Email information to bjeffers@communityjournals.com.

Make your reservations today...

Foodie Fest is here!

American Grocery Bay One Bocca Breakwater Firebirds High Cotton KOI Asian Bistro Larkin’s Lazy Goat Liberty Tap Room Nose Dive Passerelle

Phoenix Inn Rare Restaurant 17 Rick Erwin’s Nantucket Seafood Rick Erwin’s Eastside Rick Erwin’s West End Grille Roost Ruth’s Chris Saskatoon Schwaben House Soby’s Stella’s Southern Bistro

Check out our Facebook page

7th ANNUAL

August 20–30, 2015

Brought to you by

– Upstate Foodie Fest 2015 – and enter to win a $50 gift card!

WHAT’S YOUR BACKUP PLAN? How much would eight hours of downtime cost your business?

Losing power for even a few hours can mean thousands of dollars lost in revenue.

Generac revolutionized the commercial generator market with the first standby generators powerful enough to back your entire business without the cost of expensive configured systems.

NO STANDBY POWER

ORDERLY SHUTDOWN

Lockup, go home and wait for the power to return.

Typically achieved with a generator that provides power to a limited number of circuits.

Using a generator that provides power to essential circuits so your business can stay open.

• Save data, shutdown computers safely • No revenue • Checkout remaining customers

• Business can stay open • Generate revenue • Profits are protected • Loses are reduced

• No revenue generation • Profitability at risk • Missed customer deadlines • Security Risk

LIMITED OPERATIONS

FULL OPERATION Business operations continue as if there was no outage.

• Maintain revenue stream • Profits are protected • Gain new customers • Become known as a reliable business in the community

www.CarolinaCommercialGenerators.com

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

POWER SOLUTIONS CASE STUDY of

CJ Machining

The Upstate of South Carolina is a beautiful area home to many businesses. It is also home to severe thunderstorms in the summer and ice storms in the winter. As the Hot weather lingers, and memories of past winter storms melt away, it’s tempting to forget the cold, hard dread that the lights Scott Kelly might go President Carolina Heating Service out. Most of the Upstate Serving Greenville have already since 1981 felt the effects of no power due to storms this summer. But the potential for storm related power outages is a year-round sleeping trigger. While you cannot prevent power outages, you can prepare for them. As a business owner I know just how important having power is to stay profitable and keep that competitive edge, so do the folks at CJ Machining here in the Upstate. CJ Machining is a global supplier of high precision, close tolerance products with exceptional quality. They specialize in the CNC machining of small to medium size precision parts. Power is needed 24/7 to produce parts when needed by their customers around the clock. In a competitive world, assuring their clients continued continuity of operations provides CJ Machining an advantage over many of their competitors who would be at the mercy of their local power grid. Virtually every function of their business is dependent in some way on a power source. From the communication with buyers, to the employee access to web tools, from the machines and power tools needed to tracking supplies, everything needs power. And power is needed to keep computer servers up and running. Any loss of power takes them out of communication with their clients and their employees. As peace of mind Carolina Generators installed a 150KW Generac Generator on location.

Power your peace of mind by installing an emergency generator. Contact Carolina Generators today.

STAY OPEN FOR BUSINESS. HAVE A BACKUP PLAN FOR POWER! Contact us today to schedule our Power Pro Professional for your FREE onsite assessment.

Greenville: 864-232-5684

Seneca: 864-638-6635

Anderson: 864-281-1977

www.CarolinaCommercialGenerators.com

24 | SOCIAL SNAPSHOT |

INSIDE THE UPSTATE’S NETWORKING AND SOCIAL SCENE

THE IRON YARD'S SOUTHEAST DEMO DAY IN SPARTANBURG

UBJ

|

08.21.2015

Photos provided

From ‘Siri for doctors’ to smart watches, presenters representing nine of the top digital health and wellness tech startups from around the country unveiled their ideas at Indigo Hall in downtown Spartanburg during Demo Day for Iron Yard Ventures’ Digital Health Accelerator.

CONTRIBUTE: Got high-resolution photos of your networking or social events?

Send photos and information for consideration to events@ upstatebusinessjournal.com.

SO YOU’RE TOLD…

Every IT company has a solution for your business.

THE REALITY

Sure, until things go wrong.

EDTS empowers you to know the difference.

There are common reasons IT providers fail. There are common reasons IT providers succeed. We can help you understand both. We pair each business with a team of experts that enable you to make informed decisions about your IT partner. EDTS, putting the knowledge in technology.

Contact us to discuss your IT state. We’re here to build a relationship, and make your business successful.

toll free 1-855-411–3387 AUGUSTA, GA | GREENVILLE, SC | COLUMBIA, SC

EDTSolutions.com

the knowledge in technology

26 | #TRENDING |

INFORMATION YOU WANT TO KNOW

UBJ

OVERHEARD @ THE WATERCOOLER

> @lmg_architects “Great to be a part of this project! Kitchen Sync Restaurant COMING SOON!” > “karad” upstatebusinessjournal.com “Finally, a nice restaurant coming to this area of Laurens Road! A reason for Gower Estates to celebrate!” > Bucky Tarleton “Excited to see Laurens Rd. getting some attention.” > Becky Pittman “Worth a visit!” > Heidi Huskey “Glad this is going to be close by for us.” > Holly Cameron “@Heidi Huskey we got us a new spot!”

RE: RECAP: A GLIMPSE INTO THE MONTHLY GREENVILLE DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MEETING > @swamprabbitinn ` “Loved your blow-by-blow recap of the DRB meeting @SJackson_CJ in this week’s @UpstateBiz which we always read cover to cover #brilliant”

RE: A FB DEBATE ON OUR WALL CONCERNING DOWNTOWN CONDOS

> Russel Stall “According to the Upstate Business Journal, almost 2,500 apartments/condominiums/ townhouses are under construction or planned in Downtown Greenville. With a current population of 65,000, can we support this kind of growth (from many out of town developers)?

Respond.” > Jim Simkins “The law of unintended consequences is alive and growing in downtown Greenville. Where is the leadership to keep from killing the goose that laid the golden egg?” > Todd Whitley “This smells of irrational exuberance. Plus the magic 8 ball has clearly stated ‘outlook not good’ “ > Bob Stephenson “I think the idea that we are somehow being asked to ‘support’ growth or that ‘out of town’ developers are spoiling our little town are just other ways of saying that we ‘old-timers’ have lost control or that we prefer things the way they were when we were growing up.” > Lucy Beam Hoffman “I simply don’t understand where the occupants are coming from. The population growth predictions are sobering. I do wonder if it’s a bubble.”

AUGUST 14, 2015

| VOL. 4 ISSUE 33

GREENVILLE’S GUARDIANS OF

Much to our delight, a healthy public debate concerning downtown development (more specifically, downtown residential development) recently played out on our Facebook wall. Check out the educational exchange of 52 comments on our page under “VISITOR POSTS.”

08.21.2015

BIZ BUZZ

Distilled commentary from UBJ readers

RE: KITCHEN SYNC EXPECTS TO BECOME GREENVILLE’S FIRST CERTIFIED ECOFRIENDLY RESTAURANT

|

WATCH & SEE

GROWTH BOARD, Inside the DESIGN REVIEWand ON PLANNING COMMISSI APPEALS—the BOARD OF ZONING what your 24 people who will decide PG. 16 year city will look like next

DIGITAL FLIPBOOK ARCHIVE >>

The layout of print meets the convenience of the Web: flip through the digital edition of any of our print issues at >> ustatebusinessjournal.com/past-issues

The top 5 stories from last week’s issue ranked by shareability score

>> 2,001

1. Kitchen Sync expects to become Greenville’s first certified ecofriendly restaurant

>> 158 2. Energy-efficient Trailside model complete

>> 131 3. Ogletree Deakins signs on as first tenant in Hughes’ Bull Street development

>> 112 4. ZF Transmissions to add capacity, jobs with $22.5M investment

>> 71 5. Selling the City: Greenville’s business development manager, Michael Panasko, explains his role filling the pipeline

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR EMAILS Follow up on the Upstate’s workweek in minutes.

Subscribe to our emails & receive The Inbox – our weekly rundown of the top 10 local biz stories you need to know – as well as breaking news alerts. It’s the best way to stay informed on the go. >> upstatebusinessjournal.com/email

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Got something to offer? We’re looking for expert guest bloggers from all industries to contribute to the UBJ Exchange. Send posts or blog ideas to eprice@communityjournals.com.

Style & substance are not mutually exclusive.

Check out the new Final Edit, a weekly blog post from our editors that reviews our week’s work in both UBJ and the Greenville Journal.

Our print issues look great in waiting rooms, lobbies and on coffee tables (where they age well, too). Order a year of UBJ in no time, and we’ll deliver every week. >> upstatebusinessjournal.com/ subscribe

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08.21.2015

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upstatebusinessjournal.com

DATE

WHERE DO I GO?

HOW DO I GO?

Upstate Chamber Legislative Summit

Embassy Suites 670 Verdae Blvd., Greenville 8:30 a.m.-noon

Cost: Free Register: bit.ly/leg-summit2015

Upstate Chamber Friday Forum Speaker: Mick Mulvaney

Embassy Suites 670 Verdae Blvd., Greenville noon-1 p.m.

Cost: Chamber members $30 nonmembers $40 Register: bit.ly/forum-aug2015

Greenville Chamber Golf Tournament

Chanticleer Golf Course and Greenville Country Club

More info: bit.ly/golf-aug2015

Mastermind Exchange Business owners swap advice and build connections

Commerce Club 55 Beattie Place, 17th Floor, Greenville, 6-8 p.m.

Cost: C4W members $20, nonmembers $30 Register: bit.ly/mastermind-aug2015

Human Resource Management Conference Topic: Keys to Success: Turning Compliance into Opportunities

TD Convention Center 1 Exposition Drive, Greenville 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

More info: greenvillehr.org/conference

GEEK 2015 Networking for entrepreneurs, inventors and small business owners

The Veranda 28 Global Drive, Greenville 5-8 p.m.

Cost: Free More info: innovisionawards.org

Netnight Quarterly networking event

Commerce Club 55 Beattie Place, 17th Floor, Greenville 6-8 p.m.

Cost: $10 Register: bit.ly/netnight2015

Monday

8/24 Tuesday

8/25 Thursday

8/27 Tuesday

9/1

| PLANNER | 27

EVENT INFO

Friday

8/21

INSIDE THE UPSTATE’S NETWORKING AND SOCIAL SCENE

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

ART & PRODUCTION

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

ART DIRECTOR Whitney Fincannon

PRESIDENT/CEO

Mark B. Johnston mjohnston@communityjournals.com

UBJ PUBLISHER

Michael Allen

CLIENT SERVICES

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

MANAGING EDITOR

Kristi Fortner

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE STORY IDEAS:

STAFF WRITERS

EVENTS:

ideas@upstatebusinessjournal.com events@upstatebusinessjournal.com

NEW HIRES, PROMOTIONS, AND AWARDS:

MARKETING & ADVERTISING

onthemove@upstatebusinessjournal.com

SALES REPRESENTATIVES

UBJ welcomes expert commentary from business leaders on timely news topics related to their specialties.

Guest columns run 700-800 words.

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

Nicole Greer, Kristi Jennings, Donna Johnston, Annie Langston, Lindsay Oehman, Emily Yepes

DIRECTOR OF EVENTS & ACCOUNT STRATEGY Kate Madden

1988

1997 Jackson Dawson launches motorsports Division 1993

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

>>

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>

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

1998 1998 Jackson Dawson moves to task industrial Court

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OCT. 16: THE MANUFACTURING ISSUE Women are thriving in this growing field.

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

November 1, 2013 Upstate bUsiness joUrnal 21

20 Upstate bUsiness joUrnal November 1, 2013

AS SEEN IN

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Anita Harley, Jane Rogers

Jerry Salley jsalley@communityjournals.com Ashley Boncimino, Sherry Jackson, Benjamin Jeffers, Cindy Landrum, April A. Morris

jackson Marketing Group’s 25 Years

Holly Hardin

Ryan L. Johnston rjohnston@communityjournals.com Susan Clary Simmons ssimmons@communityjournals.com

UBJ milestone

1988 Jackson Dawson opens in Greenville at Downtown Airport

OPERATIONS ADVERTISING DESIGN

SEPT. 18: THE SMALL BUSINESS ISSUE Dreaming big, starting small.

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

DIGITAL TEAM Emily Price, Danielle Car

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

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OCT. 30: QUARTERLY CRE ISSUE The state of commercial real estate in the Upstate.

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