2017 SCBIZ - Spring

Spring 2017

Small and mighty S.C.’s small manufacturers creating careers RS OF YEA SC

AGAZIN E ZM BI

LEBRATIN CE G

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2007 - 2017

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From the

Editor - Licia Jackson ljackson@scbiznews.com • 803.726.7546 Associate Editor - Jenny Peterson jpeterson@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3145 Creative Director - Ryan Wilcox rwilcox@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3117 Senior Graphic Designer - Jane Mattingly jmattingly@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3118 LOWCOUNTRY NEWSROOM Managing Editor - Andy Owens aowens@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3142 Senior Copy Editor - Beverly Barfield bbarfield@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3115 Staff Writer - Liz Segrist lsegrist@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3119 Staff Writer - Ashley Heffernan aheffernan@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3144 Editorial Assistant - Steve McDaniel smcdaniel@scbiznews.com • 843.843.3123 Research Specialist - Melissa Verzaal mverzaal@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3104 Graphic Designer - Andrew Sprague asprague@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3128 Assistant Graphic Designer - Emily Matesi ematesi@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3124 Assistant Graphic Designer - Jessica Stout jstout@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3113 MIDLANDS NEWSROOM Editor - Chuck Crumbo ccrumbo@scbiznews.com • 803.726.7542 Staff Writer - Travis Boland tboland@scbiznews.com • 803.726.7542 Research Specialist - Patrice Mack pmack@scbiznews.com • 803.726.7544 UPSTATE NEWSROOM Editor - Matthew Clark mclark@scbiznews.com • 864.235.5677, ext. 107 Staff Writer - Teresa Cutlip tcutlip@scbiznews.com • 864.235.5677, ext. 103 ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Director of Business Development - Mark Wright mwright@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3143 Senior Account Executive - Sue Gordon sgordon@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3111 Senior Account Executive - Alan James ajames@scbiznews.com • 803.726.7540 Senior Account Executive - Robert Reilly rreilly@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3107 Account Executive - Bennett Parks bparks@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3126 Account Executive - Lucia Smith lsmith@scbiznews.com • 803.726.7548

Dear Reader,

EDITOR

Change is the subject of many wise sayings that appear on calendars and posters, and more likely, on websites and in the signature of emails. A saying I like is attributed to Winston Churchill: To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

I’d like to think South Carolina must be headed toward perfection with all the change afoot in 2017. With the new administration in the White House, we’ve sent our governor and a congressman to the United Nations and the executive branch, respectively. That brings in a new governor, Henry McMaster, and a new lieutenant governor, Kevin Bryant, with all the hopes that new leadership brings.

Across the state, leaders in businesses, universities and nonprofits are stepping down for various reasons, making this a historic time of opportunity for a new generation of leadership. I have worked with a number of these leaders on various projects Licia Jackson over the years, and I’ve expressed to them how grateful I am and Editor, how much I hate to see them go.

SCBIZ Magazine The way is clear — and wide open — for those who will come next. I expect they will be up to the challenge, and they will address the state’s needs in ways we haven’t even thought of yet.

Inside this issue you’ll find our magazine honoring the 2017 laureates of the S.C. Business Hall of Fame. This recognition program of Junior Achievement of Greater South Carolina began in 1985 and has honored many distinguished business leaders over the years.

You’ll enjoy reading the life stories of this year’s honorees, Emmett Davis, Patrick W. McKinney and the late James M. Smith Sr. Also inside this issue is Cities Mean Business, the magazine of the Municipal Association of South Carolina. This fact-filled issue looks at how cities are dealing with the need to provide affordable housing for all ages as well as the importance of general aviation airports to economic development.

We have a new department in SCBIZ called ResearchSC, which will tell you about some of the cool research projects in our state. The first article is about Aravis Biotech, which is developing a means to more closely monitor the healing of bone fractures. Soon, a patient may be able to resume regular activities more quickly with confidence that recovery is complete.

As the year accelerates, I invite you to think about the ways change can mean good things for South Carolina.

Enjoy!

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER: Jeff Blake President and Group Publisher - Grady Johnson gjohnson@scbiznews.com • 843.849.3103

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Table of

CONTENTS TRENDING: MADE IN S.C. 14 Made in S.C. Small manufacturers share in the sector’s employment growth.

20 The People Local manufacturers offer meaningful jobs for a community’s residents.

Cover: Garrett Jennings cuts material for shirts at Vapor Apparel’s plant in Union.

Left: Teresa Moore sews bandanas at the same plant.

(Photos/Jeff Blake)

Hall of Fame 2017 SOUTH CARO

LINA BUSINESS

Inspiring the future

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME Inspiring the future

CITIES MEAN BUSINESS Homes for workforce become economic driver

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Sponsored by

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DEPARTMENTS 3 Viewpoint

8 Research SC

4 Upfront

10 County Spotlight: Cherokee

22 S.C. Delivers

VIEWPOINT

I’m not a socialist. I’m a motorist.

I

f you have raised kids, you have likely spent some of your rite of passage at birthday parties in a certain mouse (rat?!) themed pizza place watching them jump, squirm and squeal through an afternoon of childhood bliss. One of the ubiquitous games present was Whack- A-Mole. I’m sure you know the game. It was amusing to watch my kids play then, but it is frustrating to watch our regional leaders play now.

It seems every time we make progress in one area, we create more problems. Take jobs, for instance. Our state’s economic developers have done an outstanding job in recruiting new industry and incenting expansions of the companies already here.

So now we have jobs. Too many to fill from local resources in certain skill sets, so people are moving here in droves to take advantage of the opportunity.

But unintentionally, more jobs have accelerated the decline of our infrastructure, created housing affordability issues, accelerated suburban sprawl, isolated pockets of underprivileged even further and tied the whole bundle up in rush hour traffic. I’m not some anti-growth troglodyte. Quite the contrary — if not for our continuing economic prosperity, we would all be toast. I’m just saying it’s time to quit feeding quarters into the WhackA-Mole machine and move on to a new game that we might have a chance to win.

So here’s a crazy what-if. What if we got out of the economic incentives game we are now in and created a whole new game,

one that we could win every time? And what if that new economic incentives game leveraged the things that companies need to expand or locate here with what each region needs to improve quality of life?

In all of my discussions with business leaders around the state, the greatest problem to solve always comes back to workforce. What if we created a new incentives game that gave a company a better chance to attract and retain the best employees by giving some of the financial incentives directly to the employees?

And did so in a way that encouraged them to live within a defined proximity of their employer? It seems to me that would give the company a nice recruiting and retention tool, help solve housing affordability issues and cut down on sprawl and traffic. If it was a big enough labor pool, a technical college annex and mass transit to the workplace would fit nicely if a majority of workers lived within a certain radius. Oh, and guess what would help lift a pocket of underprivileged people within that radius out of poverty? Education and reliable public transportation.

Just so you don’t think I’m completely nuts, here are some numbers from a recent economic development deal.

Company X got an initial incentive package of around $216 million that includes: • $123 million in economic development bonds approved by the state legislature that will mostly go toward site prep and infrastructure • $30 million from the county

• • • •

$31.5 million from Santee Cooper $6 million from electric co-ops $10 million from the SCPA $16 million from the state Coordinating Council of Economic Development Grant Program The company is expected to create 4,000 jobs within the next decade, so that’s $54,000 in incentives per job. Then we threw in $10 million from general obligation bonds and $25 million in state grants. Plus all jobs paying more than $15 an hour will be eligible for $5,000 in job development credits per year. Up to 200 of those could go as high as $10,000 a year based on classification as corporate HQ positions.

So that’s a lot of dough on the table. Sure, a big chunk has to be used to get the ground ready, but surely there is enough left from that to incent top-shelf employees to stay with their employer, live close to the job site and take public transportation to work. And who would be in a better position to help think this through and help our economic development officials devise a winning strategy on this than the good people at the company I’m using for this example? They’re already here merrily digging away at the ground, so it’s not like we would be jeopardizing the deal. If you want to improve your product, just go talk to your customers. That usually works better than playing Whack-A-Mole.

Grady Johnson President and Group Publisher, SC Biz News

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UPFRONT regional news | data

Looking back at The Way We Worked

W

ork is the common denominator for Americans, whether in a factory, an office, a hospital, a school, a farm or a construction site. The Way We Worked, a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian paying homage to the diverse array of jobs that power our society, will visit six communities in South Carolina over the next year.

A part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program, The Way We Worked documents the tremendous change in the workplace spanning the years 1857-1987. Included are 86 photographs and five photo murals depicting the change from the mid 19th century, when 60% of Americans made their living as farmers, to the late 20th century’s transformation from industrial to a knowledge-based economy.

The Way We Worked is on display at the Dorchester County Archives and His-

McClellanville worker tends a cast net. (Photo/Vennie Deas Moore) At right, switchboard operators at work, 1943.

(Photo/National Archives)

tory Center in St. George through March 12.

It next will visit the Blythewood Historical Society, followed by stops in Pickens, Chester, McClellanville and Hartsville.

The exhibit is made possible in South Carolina by SC Humanities, and more

information is available at schumanities.org. Museum on Main Street is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide, with support provided by the U.S. Congress.

FAST FACTS | Manufacturing employment by region The manufacturing sector has roots across South Carolina. Here is a look at manufacturing employment in each of the state’s metropolitan statistical areas in November.

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GreenvilleMSA Anderson-Mauldin Employment 56,000 Change year over year +2.2%

Columbia 33,400 +2.5%

Charleston 27,100 +5%

Augusta-Aiken* 20,300 -1.5%

Section begins on

Page 14

CharlotteRock Hill** 104,000 +0.1%

* Includes Aiken and Edgefield counties in South Carolina. ** Includes York, Chester and Lancaster counties in South Carolina.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Economic Summaries

UPFRONT

SC Logistics is new name of industry cluster

S

C Logistics is the new name of the state’s effort to build the logistics industry in South Carolina. Formerly known as the TDL Council (transportation, distribution and logistics), the effort is partially funded by a federal grant to the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.

The initiative is also funded by the S.C. Department of Commerce.

As part of the rebranding, SC Logistics has a new website, sclogisticsindustry.com, as well as a new logo.

According to the S.C. Department of Transportation’s Multimodal Plan, over 375 million tons of freight, valued at nearly $600 billion, moved across the state’s freight network in 2011. That tonnage is expected to grow by 81 percent from 2011 to 2040.

“Our first step will be to understand what companies and assets we have in South Carolina’s logistics industry,” said Suzanne Dickerson, director of logistics initiatives for the S.C. Council on Competitiveness. “Once we have that information, we can analyze their current impact on the state’s economy and identify opportunities for growth.”

Dickerson, the former director of international business development for Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research, was recently hired to lead the council’s effort to develop the logistics industry.

The effort is a public-private partnership of business leaders and state agencies such as the Departments of Commerce and Transportation and the SC Ports Authority.

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UPFRONT www.scbizmag.com

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Recycling means dollars, study says

R

ecycling papers and plastics feels like the right thing to do for the environment, but have you ever thought about its economic impact? A new study finds that even small increases in household recycling can mean big bucks for the state as a whole.

The study was done for the S.C. Department of Commerce’s Recycling Market Development Division in conjunction with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Solid Waste and Recycling. Researchers from USC’s Darla Moore School of Business found that if just 1% of all S.C. households recycled an additional eight newspapers per month, the extra effort could generate an annual gain of up to $3.8 million in economic activity, 16 new jobs and approximately $794,000 in labor income.

If that same increase happened at the household level, an additional $92,000 in state tax revenue could be generated, the study said.

Here are some other key findings: The recycling industry in South Carolina supports an employment multiplier of 2.4.

That means that for every 10 jobs generated in the industry, an additional 14 jobs are created elsewhere in the state’s economy.

Thus, the study said, the recycling industry has the ability to scale up employment at a higher rate that the average S.C. industry.

Depending on market conditions, the cost of recycling can be either more or less than the cost of placing items in the landfill.

The relative cost largely depends on the price that recycling firms can receive for processed recycled materials on the open market. The price peaked at $146 per ton in 2011 and dropped to $52 per ton in 2016. As a result, recycling was $28 per ton cheaper

– Recycling in S.C. Now – If recycling increased to “Green Economy Scenario”

Rate of recycling in S.C. 26.5% 75%

Economic impact $12.9 billion $36.8 billion

Number of jobs 54,121 153,179 Source: ‘The Benefits of Increased Household Recycling Rates in South Carolina,’ USC Moore School of Business, 2016

than landfilling in 2011 but was $9 per ton more expensive in 2016.

The cost of private sector landfilling is often 20% to 30% less than the cost of public sector landfilling, primarily due to economies of scale.

New Economic Development Here are announcements made in South Carolina since mid-December 2016 Company Sundaram-Clayton Ltd. The Carlstar Group Emerson Kion North America Tradewind Energy PIDC Lear Corp.

Oxco Inc. Response Packaging Movement Mortgage Ascend Performance Materials US Fibers TCube Solutions NARENCO Ebtron Bintelli LLC Labon Techtronic Industries ProBrass Inc. MM Technics R+L Carriers PL Developments

County Investment Jobs Dorchester $50M 130 Aiken $6.9M 43 Aiken $8M 86 Dorchester $5.7M 50 Orangeburg $85M N/A Spartanburg $13M 53 Spartanburg $7.7M N/A York $13M 130 Greenville $5M 100 Lancaster $18M 700 Greenwood $38M 20 Edgefield N/A 20 Richland $1.7M 100 Orangeburg $89.1M N/A Horry $2.5M 100 Charleston N/A 23 Orangeburg $3.1M 23 Anderson $75M 250 Clarendon $40M 70 Newberry $12.6M 65 Hampton $7M 25 Greenville $45M 450

UPFRONT

Recycling study – by the numbers

Source: S.C. Department of Commerce

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Research SC

Aravis Biotech LLC

Technology aims at accurate measure of bone’s healing

By Licia Jackson, Editor

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W

8

hen a person breaks a bone, it’s hurry up and wait.

Most patients want to shed the cast and get back to their normal routine as soon as possible, but if they move too quickly, they risk reinjury.

A new South Carolina company called Aravis Biotech LLC is developing technology that will provide a clear and simple way to see whether the bone has healed.

It involves attaching a sensor to the plates and screws which surgeons use to hold a severely fractured bone together. The sensors are read using the same X-ray equipment health care providers use now. The partners in the project are two associate professors at Clemson University, Jeff Anker in chemistry and John DesJardins in bioengineering, and Caleb Behrend, an orthopedic surgeon at Virginia Tech.

Right now, doctors recommend a standard number of weeks in a cast for patients with fractures, Behrend said. “For the lower leg, it’s up to 12 weeks out of work and heavy lifting.”

The treating physician will prescribe an X-ray periodically, but it doesn’t give a complete picture of how the fracture is healing.

DesJardins said using the historical standard means that doctors prolong treatment by an average of three weeks.

“We’re trying to make a quantifiable and reliable way to measure healing so there will be more confidence on the part of the doctor,” DesJardins said.

To accomplish this, a device is incorporated into the plate or the screws that are used to mend a fracture, Anker explained.

On the X-ray, the amount of stiffness in the device can be measured.

“You can see how much it is bending,”

Load Screw bending indicator mechanism Indicating dial moves within screw to measure bending load

Diagram/Aravis Biotech

Anker said. “It will bend less if the bone takes the load. The goal is to say yes or no, the bone is healing properly.”

If the bone has healed sufficiently, the patient can begin walking on it. If not, the patient should stay off it and perhaps receive other therapy.

Aravis, which is named for a mountain range in the French Alps where Anker’s family has a chalet, has received some funding for its research from several sources. A grant from SCRA will help take the project from academia to commercialization.

One of the funded projects focuses on the dynamic hip screw, used to repair hip fractures. A simple pin added inside the hollow screw can be seen on an X-ray, with the range that it bends providing a good measure of healing.

These screws are used to fix thousands of hip fractures, Anker said. In elderly patients, careful monitoring of healing is essential to avoid additional surgery and adverse impact on mortality.

Another aspect of Aravis’s research fo-

X-ray of dynamic hip screw in fractured femur cuses on measuring infection in the area of a fracture. A device attached to an implant, plate or screw could react to changes in acidity, which can indicate infection. A gel in the device would swell with a change in acidity, causing a dial to react. The measurement on the dial could be read on an X-ray.

The infecting agent can form a biofilm on the device that is highly resistant to antibiotics and the patient’s immune system, Anker said. If it is caught early, it can be treated; but if not, the device usually has to be removed to treat the infection and replaced once the infection is eradicated.

That scenario would be costly to the patient in discomfort, time and money.

For now, the Aravis researchers have been focusing on work with cadavers, boneequivalent models and computer simulations, Anker said. Later they will try to do a clinical study.

“In a year we should have something more like a product,” Anker said. “We are trying to start raising more funds and growing as a company.”

RESEARCH SC

‘South Carolina is full of innovative leaders’ Bob Quinn is the new executive director of SCRA, the S.C. Research Authority that fosters and enriches the state’s innovation economy. Here he answers some questions about his work.

What has been your first task in taking the reins at SCRA? I took on the role of executive director in August and immediately began traveling across the state to meet with leaders from our major client communities (industry, academia and entrepreneurs). My goal was to understand their vision for their respective organizations and their thoughts on where SCRA could have the greatest impact on South Carolina’s Innovation Economy. We used this feedback, together with input from our staff, as the foundation for a series of activities designed to improve SCRA’s efficiency, effectiveness and transparency.

What is your biggest challenge as executive director?

What are some new kinds of companies or researchers looking to SCRA for assistance?

South Carolina is full of innovative leaders and every day our team is meeting new entrepreneurs, learning about new startup companies and working with researchers to pursue new opportunities. The potential impact that each of these can have on our state is substantial, so it is difficult to classify them and name just a few. In general, we are supporting companies and researchers focusing on the three industries cited above with particular emphasis placed on those working at the intersection of two or more of those industries.

Are you planning to add any new physical facilities? If so, what are they?

We currently own and operate three innovation centers throughout the state (one affiliated with each of the three research universities) and the Applied Technology Center in Summerville. Although we have no plans to add any facilities, we are taking actions to increase the impact of our current facilities. For example, as a founding partner of Clemson’s Watt Family Innovation Center,

we have created a collaborative work space (CWS) at our innovation center in Columbia that will enable collaborative research involving those located at each facility. The CWS is scheduled to go live in March.

What are some new approaches to accomplishing your mission?

Our mission is to foster the Innovation Economy of South Carolina by supporting entrepreneurs, enabling academic research and its commercialization, and connecting industry to innovators. In an effort to create a singular focus on this mission, we began in July the separation of the people, projects and processes associated with our government contracting affiliate, Advanced Technology International. This culminated in the sale of ATI in January. In addition, we have initiated a number of new improvements, and I am excited to see the fruits of these efforts. One such initiative is the introduction of a new grant program, Acceleration Grants. These are $50,000 grants, which could grow in size in the future, targeted at helping further de-risk companies from both a technical and business perspective, and preparing them for a potential investment by our affiliate, SC Launch Inc.

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I have heard concerns expressed that SCRA resources directed to one client community could equate to lesser opportunities for the others. To address this concern, we are facilitating the alignment of interests and synergistic relationships between and among our client communities. For example, in December, I executed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with the presidents of USC, MUSC and Clemson. Subsequently, a task force was formed comprised of representatives from each signatory university and SCRA as well as from the state’s comprehensive teaching universities, technical college system and industry. The task force will focus on developing strategies and action plans related to three industry verticals: life sciences, advanced manufacturing/materials and information technology. Participation from stakeholders such as industry, trade associations, regional economic development entities and state agencies will also be solicited throughout the process to create alignment.

“Our mission is to foster the Innovation Economy of South Carolina by supporting entrepreneurs, enabling academic research and its commercialization, and connecting industry to innovators.”

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county spotlight

CHEROKEE

Peach trees bloom in Cherokee County.

(Photo/Tony Lavender, City of Gaffney)

JUST PEACHY

Modern manufacturing with a personal touch

By Jenny Peterson, Associate Editor | Photos provided by Cherokee County Development Board

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here’s a lot more to Cherokee County than just peaches.

While known for its peaches — and home of the “Peachoid,” the most famous peach-shaped landmark in South Carolina — Cherokee County is also a prime location for history buffs and nature enthusiasts.

Situated between Charlotte and Greenville in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Cherokee County was established in 1897.

Named after Cherokee Indians, it’s rich in history with sites that predate the Revolutionary War.

Special Advertising Section

Cherokee Coun by the numbers ty

Population 56,832

Median home value $78,300 Median household income $33,680 Source: ESRI Busin ess Analyst, Sperling’s Best Pl aces.

Economic development phone numbers COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: CHEROKEE

Cherokee County Development Board................864-206-2804 Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce............864-489-5721 Gaffney City Hall.....................864-487-8507

Today, manufacturing dominates the industrial base employing more than 6,425 residents. Over a dozen manufacturers call Cherokee County home — making woven fabrics, automobile bearings, prepared frozen foods and much more.

“We are centrally located near Charlotte, Greenville and Spartanburg, with two airports; we’re near the inland port in Greer and the Norfolk Southern Railroad intermodal facility,” said Jim Cook, executive director at Cherokee County Development Board. The county is also just three hours away from the Port of Charleston, and served by Interstate 85, a major north-south trade route in the eastern U.S. “I-85 is the lifeblood of our community,” Cook said.

This summer, the widening of I-85 to six lanes will begin, encompassing the entire length of Cherokee County. Many of the county’s available industrial buildings and sites are located on or near I-85.

Although rurally located, a population of over 1 million resides within a 60-mile radius of the county.

“We have a large draw on workforce,” Cook said.

Business gets personal

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Like many South Carolina textile areas, Cherokee County has modernized its manufacturing industry. The county takes pride in its business retention efforts.

“We realize the value these businesses bring and the loyalty they’ve had over the decades, and we want to help them out as much as we can,” Cook said.

One shining example is Hamrick Mills, a textile facility that has been operating in the county for 116 years.

Timken, a bearing supplier for the automotive industry, has operated in the county Special Advertising Section

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COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: CHEROKEE Above: Dollar Tree distribution center at the Upstate Corporate Park in Cherokee County.

Right: The Boysen USA LLC plant opened in Gaffney in 2004, the first American plant for the German company. It specializes in exhaust systems technology for the automotive sector.

since 1970. Nestle frozen and prepared foods division has been operating since 1974 and employs 1,300 workers. Newcomers include the Dollar Tree distribution center and Freightliner Custom Chassis.

Holland Belue, county administrator for Cherokee County, said the county reaches out to every business directly to ascertain their needs and to see how the county can better provide services.

“We talk about what they need and what can we provide, what their future goals and challenges are,” Belue said.

“We have a strong business climate, low taxes and our cost of living is low; those are the three biggest things that have allowed companies to do so well,” Cook said.

Incentives for development include no county business fees, low permitting fees, five-year abatement and fee-in-lieu-of-

property taxes.

“Our quick construction permitting process can get you to market usually faster than any of our neighbors,” Belue said. “To businesses, we say, ‘We want you here.’ We are able to show it, and we sincerely want these job opportunities for our people.

Generally, a low cost to industry leads to higher wages.”

To capture even more modern industry, the KNOW(2) foundation in Cherokee County has partnered to open a nonprofit business incubator in downtown Gaffney.

Workforce initiatives

Cherokee County has several workforce initiatives to make sure employees are trained with up-to-date skills.

The county’s high school students can work toward a certificate, diploma or degree

Top industrial sites

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UPSTATE CORPORATE PARK Former peach orchard features a 60,000-square-foot county speculative building.

Opportunities for up to a 300,000-square-foot site with all existing utilities.

SUNNY SLOPE INDUSTRIAL PARK Former peach orchard location can accommodate a 2 million-square-foot site fronting I-85 with all existing utilities. Interstate frontage.

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Special Advertising Section

CRESCENT SUPER SITE Palmetto certified site can accommodate over 1-million-square-foot facility. Interstate frontage.

at the Cherokee Technology Center and finish their courses at Spartanburg Community College’s campus in Gaffney.

“From the employer’s standpoint, our mechatronics (program) is the hottest,” said Daryl Smith, executive director of the Spartanburg Community College Cherokee County campus. “It’s a combination of industrial electricity, electronics and repair.

We can’t graduate students fast enough to fill the demand of waiting employers.”

He adds, “Eventually, we hope that students will be able to finish high school with both a high school diploma and an associate degree at the same time.”

In 2015, the county and college jointly opened a $9 million Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies (CAMIT) at the Gaffney campus.

“The technology center will produce a feeder system to ensure that our workforce continues to be strong,” Cook said.

It also offers custom-tailored training opportunities for county businesses, Belue said.

“If you are a manufacturer and have a certain robot you use, we will set up a lab with that robot and train employees on that technology. The entire building is set up as a laboratory.”

Limestone College, founded in 1845, is also located in Cherokee County and continues to turn out knowledgeable graduates with traditional four-year degrees.

Quality of life Cherokee County offers a rich quality of life, which includes three national parks and historical sites as well as countless recreational opportunities.

The Peachoid

The Cherokee County Family YMCA includes a water park with water slides and indoor and outdoor pools.

Cowpens National Park A major location for battles during the American Revolution, the park features a live-action theater film, museum and a bookstore with materials on the battle and the Revolutionary War. More than 840 acres of land welcome visitors for daytime hiking with a picnic area.

The park has three special events: an anniversary celebration in January, Celebration of Freedom in July and Revolutionary War Weekend in October.

Kings Mountain State Park and National Battlefield Kings Mountain State Park features a Living History Farm, representative of a typical early 19th-century Piedmont farm. It includes a barn, cotton gin, blacksmith and carpenter shop. The park also surrounds 65-acre Lake York and smaller Lake Crawford. The park is adjacent to Kings Mountain National Military Park, with a 1.5-mile battlefield walking trail that includes the second-oldest battlefield monument in the U.S.

Michael Gaffney’s Cabin The Gaffney Cabin is the reconstructed and relocated home of Michael Gaffney, who came to the U.S. from Ireland and who is credited with establishing commerce in the area. The city is named for him, and the cabin is a gathering place for community celebrations. It is open on weekdays, with free admission. The cabin is furnished with household items typical of the early 1800s. Nearby Gaffney Visitors Center and Art Gallery is housed within a 100-year-old building that has a busy schedule of activities and live music.

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Blacksburg and Gaffney have quaint downtowns with restaurants and shops and the Gaffney Little Theatre.

The Gaffney Cabin is the reconstructed and relocated home of Michael Gaffney, who established commerce in the area. The cabin is a gathering place for community celebrations and is furnished with household items typical of the early 1800s.

Average home prices are $78,300, according to Sperling’s Best Places and annual household income in Cherokee County is $33,680, lower than nearby counties.

Cherokee County has a 125-bed hospital, Mary Black Healthcare SystemGaffney, offering a host of medical services.

The Gibbs Cancer Center, a multidisciplinary cancer center located in Spartanburg, has a location in Gaffney.

A major shopping center, Gaffney Premium Outlets, attracts almost three million visitors per year and contains over 80 retail outlets.

Organizations include Civic Club, Rotary Club, Lions Club and Chamber of Commerce in Cherokee, where people can meet other industry leaders and neighbors.

“We have a good geographic region with high-end opportunities all within a 45 minute drive,” Belue said. “Gaffney has a small-town feel; you go into restaurants and stores and see familiar faces, and it’s a hometown feel without the hustle and bustle of a big city.”

The Peachoid is the iconic water tower constructed in the shape of a peach that can be viewed from I-85 and from S.C. Highway 11 (the Cherokee Foothills National Scenic Byway) in Gaffney. The tower is 135 feet high and holds one million gallons of water. An annual Peach Festival, which has been held every July since 1977 in Gaffney, highlights the county’s major agricultural product. Thousands of visitors attend the three-day festival each year.

COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: CHEROKEE

MAIN ATTRACTIONS

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Inspector Porcher Beaty checks T-shirts at Vapor Apparel’s plant in Union. (Photo/Jeff Blake)

TRENDING: MADE IN S.C.

MADE IN

SC

By Matthew Clark,

Editor of GSA Business Report

Growth in South Carolina’s manufacturing sector is strong, with the value of its shipments and services topping $112 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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While it seems intuitive to attribute that growth — up from $73.5 billion in value in 2009 — to major companies like BMW, Boeing or Honda, Chuck Spangler says that would be an incorrect assessment.

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TRENDING: MADE IN S.C. www.scbizmag.com

Taiwanna Rice sews sleeves of a T-shirt at Vapor Apparel’s plant in Union. The company, based in North Charleston, expanded to Union County in 2015 and plans to create up to 114 jobs there. (Photo/Jeff Blake)

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Spangler, president and CEO of the S.C. Manufacturing Extension Partnership, said South Carolina has 4,900 manufacturers employing 100 or fewer and, of that number, nearly 3,900 have 20 or fewer employees. All this makes smaller manufacturers a much bigger than expected player in the state’s economy.

“People look at that data and just think ‘wow,’” Spangler said.

The largest concentration of small manufacturers is in the Upstate, Midlands and Lowcountry. According to SCMEP data, Greenville County has 376 manufacturing companies with 20 or fewer employees. Spartanburg County has 237, while Charleston County has 220. Richland and Lexington counties have 136 and 135, respectively.

Small roots in apparel One such manufacturer is Vapor Apparel. The North Charleston-based apparel company employs between 40 and 50 at its Lowcountry headquarters and its new

production facility in Union County in the Upstate. During the summer, co-founder Chris Bernat said that number jumps to about 95.

In 2015, Vapor announced a $1.3 million investment to create up to 114 new jobs in Union County, a county once rooted in textiles. Bernat said the need for “Made in the USA” coupled with location was an immediate draw to Union.

“Made in the USA became important and Union was a sweet spot because it’s not too far from Charleston and we can pull from the Spartanburg market,” Bernat said. “Also, it is within about 100 miles of all our supply chain partners.”

Over the last five years, Vapor has experienced 25% growth in its year-over-year gross revenue. Bernat said that growth was 26.8% in 2016.

Vapor’s growth is expanding overseas.

Bernat said the company has started Vapor Apparel Europe, headquartered in the Netherlands, with the expectation of replicating success found in South Carolina to create an

international brand. The company’s growth plan includes investing more in e-commerce technology to broaden the reach of Vapor Apparel’s brand.

“We are constantly innovating,” Bernat said. “We have market places and we have market segments. Then we have product segments and all of those are places we need to innovate.”

On the high seas Steve Potts, president and CEO of Summerville-based recreational boat manufacturer Scout Boats, is in a situation similar to Bernat’s. He is a smaller manufacturer with about 340 employees and has experienced steady growth over the last several years.

In fact, he said, from 2015 to 2016, his year-over-year total sales jumped over $13 million, leading the company to add a plant at its Summerville campus to build a new recreational boat.

“We are growing and hiring about two employees every week,” Potts said. “This year we will add about 80 employees.”

Competing with the ‘big boys’ While larger manufacturers like BMW and Boeing grab headlines, neither Bernat nor Potts believes they are in any kind of competition with larger manufacturers in the state for employees, business or

TRENDING: MADE IN S.C.

The growth of Scout Boats has not been limited to domestic sales. Potts said the company exported to 22 countries in 2015 and has received awards for its export excellence.

All of that has translated into growth that prompted the company to be aggressive in its five-year plan. Potts said the growth plan is to have 690 employees by 2020. which would take Scout Boats from a small manufacturer to one of the 67 companies currently manufacturing in South Carolina with over 500 employees.

“The demand we have currently on what we are producing along with what we are planning to do to get into new markets – meaning developing new models for markets we aren’t in – is a big reason for that growth,” Potts said.

Scout Boats, a smaller manufacturer of recreational boats based in Summerville, has been adding employees at the rate of about two per week. (Photo/Provided)

incentives.

“I’ve actually had conversations with economic development people. I guess it is pretty typical that the noise is all over the BMWs and the Volvos,” Potts said. “I do think there is more credibility for the home-

grown business. We were started in the state, our employees are all from the state and we spend all of our money in the state.”

And neither of them feels left out of the state’s overall economic picture. In fact, both said their growth is what keeps the state’s

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TRENDING: MADE IN S.C. Above: Leonel Velozquez, a representative of the Brother printing company, trains Kyle Manley, digital production supervisor at Vapor Apparel, on how to use a new water-based ink custom T-shirt printer.

Right: Denise Means works on stitching a T-shirt collar. (Photos/Jeff Blake)

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economic engine purring.

“Here is the thing about small manufacturing … it is where the real job growth is,” Bernat said. “When I interview people for positions, I like to point out there are a lot of folks that want to be part of something larger than themselves, but not in a setting with thousands of other people.”

No matter the size of the manufacturer, the impact across other sectors remains the same, according to Spangler of SCMEP. He said for every one manufacturing job created, up to three service jobs are created depending on the sector.

“They are the backbone of the community,” Spangler said. “It goes back to the numbers, and most people think it’s the big guys, but it is those small- to medium-sized guys.”

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Diversification key to small manufacturers One distinction Bernat and Potts have from most other small manufacturers in the state is the audience they cater to. Vapor Apparel and Scout Boats are not dependent

on larger OEMs for business, which puts them in a minority, Spangler said.

Having a diversified manufacturing portfolio is a goal SCMEP sets for any small manufacturer in the state. Spangler said more diversification means less dependence on one particular sector, so that if that sector were to experience a decline, the blow would not be as big to the smaller manufacturer because they have more to offer on the market.

“We really try to help them get the right certification to be in the right supply chain so they can bid on more work,” Spangler said. “We have a marketing program to help these guys diversify and pick up more clients and more sales so they aren’t so dependent on just one client. There is help with strategy to work with their market portfolio, and they truly need to understand their costs.”

Getting other manufacturers to the same place as companies such as Vapor Apparel and Scout Boats is the end game for SCMEP programs.

“We love those because they can really build their own brand,” Spangler said.

“There are a lot of those in South Carolina and they aren’t limited by OEMs. They are only limited by their ability to market, but those companies have great potential.”

He added the climate for bringing in new manufacturers — small and large — remains such that he believes the sector in South Carolina will only get better … and larger.

“It’s blowing my mind how we are still growing,” Spangler said. “We average about 19 to 20 international companies coming in that have never done business in North America and that seems to stay up. And when you have that, I think the future is going to be great.”

By the Numbers

NUMBER OF MANUFACTURING COMPANIES WITH UNDER 20 EMPLOYEES, BY COUNTY 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

Greenville: 376 Spartanburg: 237 Charleston: 220 Richland: 136 Lexington: 135 York: 133 Anderson: 119 Horry: 115 Pickens: 68 Beaufort: 63 Florence: 58 Oconee: 54 Dorchester: 53 Berkeley: 51 Aiken: 45 Laurens: 40 Sumter: 39 Greenwood: 38 Orangeburg: 36 Georgetown: 32 Kershaw: 29 Lancaster:28 Chesterfield: 27

54

19

376 237

68

133

16

119

21

40

21 2

6 9

28

12

22

38

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

29 136

135

27

7

25 58

39

9

45

6

6

12

15

36 13

6

2 9

115 32

51

53 15

11

220

22 63

0-50

51-100

101-200

201-300

TRENDING: MADE IN S.C.

S.C. MANUFACTURING Darlington: 25 Jasper: 22 Newberry: 22 Abbeville: 21 Chester: 21 Cherokee: 19 Union: 16 Colleton: 15 Willamsburg: 15 Barnwell: 13 Clarendon: 12 Fairfield: 12 Marion: 11 Calhoun: 9 Edgefield: 9 Hampton: 9 Dillon: 7 Bamberg: 6 Lee: 6 Marlboro: 6 Saluda: 6 Allendale: 2 McCormick: 2

301-400

YEAR-OVER-YEAR

The number of manufacturing jobs in South Carolina dipped during the Great Recession, but is on a growth trend again. This is a look at the number of employment jobs in the month of July since 2006.

260,000 240,000 220,000 200,000 2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics State and Area Employment, Hours and Earnings.

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2006

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TRENDING: MADE IN S.C.

THE PEOPLE Compiled by Jenny Peterson, Associate Editor

Local manufacturers are not only an economic driver for communities, but these companies also offer meaningful employment for residents, with plenty of opportunities for advancement. Employees on the production side are often trained on-site, which prepares them for a long-term career in the state’s manufacturing sector.

Kena Greene

Jimmy Dendy

“I’ve been working here for a little over a year and got promoted to production lead. I was working back there for about a year when I got promoted to lead in August and then got promoted to sales team in December. For me to get promoted twice in a year, that’s awesome.

There’s definitely growth here. I’ve learned a whole lot and now, since I’m in sales, I’m learning the front end. I already know the back end.

If somebody calls and asks about how we make the shirts, I can tell them, because I’ve been back there. It’s very rewarding.”

“I’ve been here four years. Definitely here, if you come in and do a good job, and want to do a good job, you are definitely rewarded. I wasn’t looking to be a screen print supervisor, I just did my job and started making suggestions on how to run things differently, and management took it to heart and they like to hear suggestions on how to make things better.

They are great employers, I can’t thank them enough for having me work here; I was able to buy a house last year.”

customer service representative, Vapor Apparel

prints schedule manager, Vapor Apparel

Myriam Alberio

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line leader, U.S. Waffle

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“I’ve been working here for a year and six months. When I first started, I was a general helper on the line and worked my way up.

Now, I’m a line leader; I have my own line and I do the best I can.

I organize everything how they want it to be organized and it’s a new challenge. Before this job, I’d never worked as a line person before and I learn new things every day. Everything was learned here.”

Arravian Wilson

production helper, U.S. Waffle

“This is my first time working in a plant, ever. I love it, I actually love it. I like the way everybody works together, I love that.

Everyone is treated fairly and there is a lot of diversity. It’s a great place and great learning experience and there’s a chance for growth.

I look forward to getting moved up to a new position. I’m from Greenville and moved back home and this job is so close. I could walk to work if I wanted to.”

TRENDING: MADE IN S.C.

Sherri Hart

finishing supervisor, Scout Boats

“My family owned an auto body shop and my mom would show me how to do finishing work, painting and touch ups.

Work here is right up my alley.

I’ve gotten three raises in 13 months. It’s definitely really cool; my neighbor, sister and brother-in-law all work here. The owners care a lot for my family and have so much respect for everyone who works here.

This is where I see myself retiring. It’s nice to have that comfort.”

Patrick Goodwin team lead, small parts division, Scout Boats

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“I was driving by one day and saw a jobs hiring on a sign on the side of the road. I’ve been here a year and four months.

I’m now the team lead of the small parts division that I started in — if management sees that you’re doing hard work and putting forth initiatives, your name gets thrown in a pot and opportunities will come.”

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S.C. DELIVERS

Ports, Logistics & Distribution

Construction

By Chuck Crumbo, Editor, Columbia Regional Business Report

China Jushi expects to pick general contractor soon

C

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hina Jushi expects to name a general contractor soon for the company’s $300 million fiberglass plant in Richland County.

Once a general contractor is picked, the company can begin the work of hiring subcontractors and lining up vendors to provide a range of equipment and products needed for the plant’s operation.

If all goes according to plan, Drew Walker, president of Jushi’s first U.S. manufacturing operation, said the company will start installing processing equipment for the 80,000-ton production line by summer 2018.

While the production line will be Chinese-designed, it will be “Americanized” with American parts and components, Walker said.

“This is a state of the art plant for Jushi,” Walker said. “They’re going to put in the most advanced equipment.”

Jushi plans to hire about 400 workers to fill positions that run the full gamut from

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production to human resources to sales, Walker said at a January meeting of the Central SC Alliance, an organization that promotes economic development in nine counties and the city of Columbia.

“These are quality jobs,” Walker said.

“The production workers we’re going to have don’t have to have pulled ‘glass before.

We will be training you the Jushi way.”

Once the first production line is completed, Jushi plans to build a second, “mirror” facility next to it and will hire another 400 workers, Walker said. Altogether, Jushi plans to invest $500 million and create 800 jobs. The second plant also will have a production capacity of 80,000 tons, Walker said.

Jushi, which has three plants in China and another in Egypt, is a supplier of fiberglass reinforcements and fabrics to the reinforced plastics industry worldwide and has more than 20 years of experience in the U.S. market. The company’s U.S. unit, Jushi USA, operates a distribution facility at 3130

Bluff Road.

The Jushi plant will be located at the 900-acre Pineview Industrial Park, situated just off Shop Road with access to Interstate 77 and Norfolk Southern rail.

Acquiring an existing fiberglass manufacturing facility was one of the options Jushi explored in planning for a U.S. plant, but technology in those facilities was about 50 years old, Walker said. The company also mulled the possibility of building a plant in Georgia.

Jushi settled on the Richland County site because it offers a good transportation network, close access to the Port of Charleston, and good workforce to recruit future Jushi employees, Walker said. Another factor in the company’s decision to locate here was the relationships Jushi executives had with state and local staffers, some of whom spoke Chinese, Walker said.

“There was a comfort factor there that made them decide on South Carolina,” he said.

Ground was broken for the China Jushi plant in December. (Photo/Jeff Blake)

S.C. DELIVERS

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S.C. DELIVERS

Infrastructure

24

Staff Report

New governor asks Trump for $5.2 billion to fix roads, deepen harbor

G

ov. Henry McMaster has written to President Donald Trump asking for nearly $5.2 billion to repair South Carolina’s crumbling roads and bridges as well as deepen Charleston Harbor.

“History shows that South Carolina has given much to the nation, and we intend to give more,” McMaster wrote. “But it is too much at this time to ask our people to bear this burden alone, heightening fears of increased gas taxes, delay, missed opportunities and decline.”

McMaster, who endorsed Trump prior to the March 2016 Republican presidential primary, made the request as the White House began the process of shaping a $1 trillion national infrastructure spending package.

In his letter, McMaster emphasized South Carolina’s unique position as an economic driver in the Southeast as one of

the reasons Trump should allot $180 million to fulfill the federal share for deepening the Charleston port to 52 feet.

“Deepening the harbor to 52 feet will make Charleston the deepest harbor on the East Coast, providing unlimited access for the larger post-Panamax ships that were previously too large to utilize the Panama Canal,” McMaster wrote.

McMaster noted that companies like BMW, Michelin, Volvo, Daimler and Honda are in South Carolina “in large part due to our world-class port which serves more than 20,000 companies nationwide.”

The total tab for the deepening project has been pegged at $521 million and the state already has set aside $341 million as its share of the cost, McMaster said. Construction is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year and if the federal government comes through, the project could be completed in three years, the governor wrote.

Turning to transportation needs, McMaster’s request included: • $500 million for improving safety on 2,000 miles of South Carolina’s deadliest roads by adding basic safety features such as shoulders, pavement markings, signage, rumble strips and providing clear zones.

• $2 billion for paving and repairing the interstate and primary road systems.

McMaster noted that 35% of the interstate system in South Carolina is rated in “poor” condition and only 10% of the primary road system, which carries more than half of the state’s traffic, is rated “good.” About 50% of the primary system needs to be rebuilt.

• $2 billion to address congestion and bottlenecks along South Carolina’s freight network used by commercial trucking, commuters and visitors.

• $500 million for repairing and replacing structurally deficient bridges.

of Hall Fame 2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS

Inspiring the future

Sponsored by

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

Dear Reader, Once again it is our honor to present the 2017 South Carolina Business Hall of Fame magazine within SCBIZ. The Hall of Fame is paying tribute to its 33rd class of laureates. The S.C. Business Hall of Fame, presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and Junior Achievement of Greater South Carolina, began honoring business leaders in 1985.

The laureates this year are Emmett Davis, Patrick W. McKinney and James M. Smith Sr., who is being honored posthumously. Please read about these outstanding South Carolinians in the following pages.

Also, please take a few moments to read about the ways Junior Achievement is inspiring the business leaders of the future. JA focuses on teaching our children life skills that every student needs: financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. In our ever-changing global economy, these basic skills are critical to success. As a side benefit, business people who volunteer in the classroom give students a glimpse of a future that could be theirs.

Every year, new laureates are added to the S.C. Business Hall of Fame. Their lives are celebrated at a gala banquet in Columbia. The list of those who have been honored, both living and dead, goes back to a time before the U.S. was a country; among the laureates is Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722-1793), who took charge of her father’s three indigo plantations at age 16. Other familiar names among the laureates include Milliken, Peace, Seibels, Swearingen, Close, Kahn, Peace, Baruch, Averyt, Detyens and Koger. You have probably seen these names on buildings and other places in South Carolina.

We hope you will enjoy learning about Junior Achievement and this year’s Hall of Fame laureates.

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Licia Jackson, Editor

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Junior Achievement of Greater South Carolina 2711 Middleburg Drive, Suite 105 Columbia, SC 29204 | 803 252-1974 Casey Pash, President Bette Bronson, Program Manager Elizabeth Blake, Program Manager Jeni Becker, Coastal Area Director Rebecca Borovsky, Intern Published by:

Corporate & Commercial www.scbiznews.com Publishing Division

Patrick W. McKinney

James M. Smith Sr.

Page 34

Page 38

Page 44

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

Emmett Davis

About the S.C. Business Hall of Fame Each year, the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame honors business leaders chosen for their unique contributions to South Carolina’s business landscape, for being agents of positive change, for their leadership, and for being a source of inspiration to the leaders of tomorrow. The Business Hall of Fame is presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and Junior Achievement of Greater South Carolina. The laureates for 2017 are Emmett Davis, Patrick W. McKinney and James M. Smith Sr.

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

INSPIRATION Junior Achievement prepares young people to succeed in the global economy How do we inspire the future to succeed in the ever-changing global economy?

That is a question that the staff at Junior Achievement is asked often by businesses in South Carolina.

The future of our business community is dependent on the students sitting in kindergarten through

Photography by Jeff Blake

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12th-grade classes throughout the state, and Junior Achievement inspires them to succeed.

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

Junior Achieve ment classes b ring volunteers from the busin to share inform ess world into ation. Above, vo the classroom lunteer Jacob Barnhill talks to 8th-graders at a group of 6th-, Southeast Mid dle School in C 7th- and olumbia about At left, Kayelym en trepreneurship Branon gives h . er ideas for a n ew business w hile Tywan Sim mons listens.

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

At top Tywan Simmons shares

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a business idea. Thomas

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Nicholson, above, and Cole Yates of Blytheweod ROTC teach a class.

In 1919, Junior Achievement was founded by a group of businessmen who went into a school to teach young men how to run their companies. Those young men were not getting an MBA from the Darla Moore School of Business nor were they studying business concepts in their classrooms. The goal of these businessmen was to INSPIRE by sharing their experiences with the future generation.

Today in the state of South Carolina, Junior Achievement is still inspiring the future by teaching life skills that every student needs: financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. These skills are critical for all students, whether they will build the next car at the BMW plant or become CEO of BlueCross BlueShield. The way in which Junior Achievement accomplishes this mission is by sending business men and women throughout the state into classrooms to teach these concepts.

The volunteers come from different businesses and industries. Each one of them has a unique story about how they were inspired and why they believe they are beholden to give back by volunteering to teach students how to achieve business success. One volunteer had Junior Achievement class while she was in high school. She tells the story of how her JA volunteer came into the classroom weekly for six weeks, in a business suit. After the JA program, she was inspired: inspired to go into the financial industry just like her JA volunteer. Today that JA alumnus and volunteer works in the financial industry, and she gives that credit to the volunteer who inspired her.

Junior Achievement is making a difference. A recent survey that JAUSA conducted found that 20% of Junior Achievement alumni ended up going into the industry that their Junior Achievement volunteer worked in.

Next time you hear someone ask how we are inspiring the future, look no further than that classroom volunteer who is sharing their experiences with our future.

For more information on how you can get involved with Junior Achievement in South Carolina, call 803-252-1974 or visit the website http://centralsc.ja.org

Junior Achievement Classes Elementary School

Middle School

High School

• JA Ourselves (personal economics) • JA Our Families • JA Our Community • JA Our City • JA Our Region • JA Our Nation • JA AfterSchool: JA More than Money (saving, spending, sharing) • JA Capstone Experience – JA BizTown (students operate banks, manage restaurants, use debit cards, vote for mayor)

• JA Economics for Success • JA Global Marketplace – Kit-based • JA Global Marketplace – Blended Model • JA It’s My Future • JA AfterSchool: JA It’s My Business!

• JA Capstone Experience: JA Finance Park (students make personal financial decisions)

• JA Be Entrepreneurial • JA Career Success • JA Company Program – Blended Model • JA Economics • JA Exploring Economics • JA Job Shadow • JA Personal Finance – Kit-Based • JA Personal Finance – Blended Model • JA Titan (operating a virtual company) • JA Capstone Experience: JA Finance Park (students make personal financial decisions)

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

Here is a list of the classes that teach students business skills:

Do you want to inspire future business leaders?

Volunteer for Junior Achievement. Contact the JA office at http://centralsc.ja.org or 803-252-1974.

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

Emmett Davis

H

Building a top-ranked engineering firm from the ground up

ard work and attention to clients’ needs go a long way in the business world, Emmett Davis says. In fact, they have made Davis & Floyd Inc., the firm he cofounded, a preeminent engineering and environmental firm in the Southeast.

“We didn’t mind hard work,” Davis said of himself and his partner, Phil Floyd.

“When you’re out on your own, you just do what has to be done regardless of how long it takes . . . You just get the job done.”

After graduating from The Citadel in 1950, Davis worked at Greenwood Mills at the start of his career. He had great admiration for the mills’ founder, James C. Self, and volunteered to walk through the mills with him.

“He would walk through the weave room or spinning room in the mill and he would know dozens of people,” said Davis,

who learned then and there the importance of knowing his employees as individuals.

Because his degree was in civil and structural engineering rather than textile engineering, Davis realized that his hori-

zons were limited at Greenwood Mills. He and Phil Floyd made the decision to strike out on their own in 1954.

“We’ve never regretted it, never looked back,” Davis said.

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“I liked the idea of seeing something on paper, then going

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out in the world and see something going up. I thoroughly enjoy going out in the world to look at a job.”

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME www.scbizmag.com

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Both partners’ wives were teachers, who supported them until they got their feet on the ground. Davis and Floyd found an office in Greenwood — two rooms on the back of a liquor store. Their wives helped with typing and bookkeeping.

After a couple of years, the partners recognized that to expand they would have go beyond Greenwood. In 1956, they opened an office in Atlanta.

Daniel Construction of Greenville (now Fluor) started partnering with Davis & Floyd on projects in 1957.

“We built mills all over the Southeast,” Davis said in describing the turning point this partnership meant for the young engineering firm. They also worked on parking lots, railroad sites and foundations.

In 1979, Davis & Floyd bought a large Boston firm, Universal Engineering. They owned the firm for 21 years, building many bridges and the Fitzgerald Expressway. At that point, Davis said, the firm decided the real growth was between Charlotte and

Dallas, so they sold the Boston office to its employees.

The firm has opened offices across South Carolina and into North Carolina. It has been involved in building projects for the military and higher education. Its work has included building wastewater treatment plants, sewer lines, drainage projects and roadways.

Today, Davis & Floyd has divisions that work on projects involving water, transportation, local government, private development, industrial and federal government. From the Clemson University Restoration Institute Wind Turbine Drivetrain Test Facility in North Charleston to the First Base Building at Columbia’s Commons at BullStreet to the Greenwood Research Park, Davis & Floyd’s contributions are everywhere.

For Davis, it all goes back to childhood days of building dams in the creeks and treehouses in the trees. “I wanted to build things,” he said.

When he was a boy, his father had a piece of land with 50 pecan trees. Davis would gather the nuts and sell them to Young’s pecans in Florence to make pocket money. That experience taught him “there must be a better way to make a living.”

His father died when Davis was young, and his mother raised him and his brother, Robert. When it came time for college, his brother was accepted to West Point. After graduating from Greenwood High School, Davis applied to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis but was turned down because of his eyesight. He went to The Citadel instead, earning his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Working summer jobs helped Davis learn business principles while also learning to manage his money. He sees value in Junior Achievement’s education of young people along these same lines.

With Junior Achievement, “you get an insight into business and what’s going on in the real world,” Davis said. “The sooner

“We encourage independent 2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

thinking and independent action. It builds confidence in that person and it’s good for the firm.”

munity organizations. He has served as an elder in his church, a member and former chairman of the board at Erskine College and a former director and president of The Citadel Development Foundation, among many other organizations.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, he gave a short answer: “As some-

body who would give you a straight answer to a simple question.”

But then he added, “I think I would like to be remembered as somebody that enjoyed what he was doing and enjoyed the people he was working with. I appreciated their efforts and looked forward to the next day.”

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you get the kids involved, the more likely they are to stay involved and succeed.”

His engineering firm works with interns who come on board after their junior year of college. They shadow an engineer and learn what the job entails. The main skill they need to develop in school is the ability to learn, Davis said, as there is so much more to study in a rapidly changing world.

“We encourage independent thinking and independent action,” he said. “It builds confidence in that person and it’s good for the firm.”

Right now, the supply of young engineers is not meeting the demand. Davis said that the engineering schools will tell you that students come in with good math grades from high school but then fail the first college math class. They get discouraged and drop out.

“High schools need to challenge more, to provide better preparation,” he suggested.

Though most of his 80s are behind him, Davis is still involved with the firm as chairman emeritus. “I liked the idea of seeing something on paper, then going out in the world and see something going up,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoy going out in the world to look at a job.”

Davis’s two sons have taken on roles at Davis & Floyd. Stephen Davis is president and CEO and Emmett Davis III is senior manager of special projects and director of research in the Greenville office.

It’s a competitive business and maintaining clients’ confidence in the firm’s work is crucial, Davis said. If there’s problem, be candid about it and fix it, he advised.

Davis is a leader in professional engineering societies as well as civic and com-

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

Patrick W. McKinney

Y

Turning a barrier island into a world-class destination

ou might think that the hardest job Pat McKinney ever tackled was developing Kiawah, a sparsely settled barrier island near Charleston. But that would be wrong: McKinney says his hardest job was one of his first, selling Bibles door-to-door in summers off from college.

“We started on Monday morning at 8:30 and would work 13 hours,” he said. “We knocked on the last door at 9 o’clock. It was six days a week . . . That was very good training. Nothing else was that hard.”

Born into a middle-class family in Atlanta, McKinney learned the value of hard work as he was growing up. When he wanted a new baseball glove, his parents told him they would pay for half of it if he made honor roll. The other half? He would have to earn it. The same rule applied when he started a lawn-mowing business and

needed a new mower. “My dad said, you pay for half of it, and oh, by the way, you cut our yard for free.”

After jobs working at an electrical company and making burgers at the Krystal (at

one time going through 1,000 hamburgers in a single afternoon), McKinney knew that he wanted to go to college. He started out at Emory University and then transferred to Georgia State University, earning a degree

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“Any time that somebody with a kind heart that is an

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adult can take a child under their wing and help guide them along, it’s a wonderful thing.”

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in marketing in 1971.

Some of the friends he met selling Bibles had gone to Hilton Head to work for Sea Pines, on the southern tip of the island.

McKinney began his career there in the early 1970s.

Having enjoyed golf in college, he liked the idea of living in a golf course community.

“I loved the opportunity to sell something people really wanted,” McKinney said. And sell he did; by age 23 he was made vice president of sales and managed 16 sales people.

When the Kuwait Investment Co. purchased Kiawah Island in 1974, it hired the Sea Pines Co. to be the managing development company. McKinney was asked to interview for the job of sales manager.

There was little in the way of development at the time, a single road and perhaps 20 beach cottages. McKinney saw the island’s potential, but his vision for making

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golf a big player clashed with that of management, which envisioned an executivestyle course that could be played in three hours.

McKinney enjoyed golf immensely, but that was not his only motivation in pushing for better golf courses. He understood the psychology of the sales process. “You don’t buy island or vacation property on logic,” he said. “You buy on emotion. You buy based on your family, where you want to gather lifetime memories and create long-standing traditions. You don’t sell it by the square foot but instead by perception.”

The owners ended up developing two

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golf courses and a hotel. McKinney moved on to Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms and became a partner at age 30. He helped facilitate development of the Links and Harbor Courses, and then sold that investment in 1985.

In the late 1980s, when McKinney learned that the Kuwaitis were ready to sell their island, he put together a group to purchase Kiawah. He and Frank Brumley joined forces with the Darby, Way and Long families of Charleston to buy the property for $105 million in 1988, at the time the largest single real estate transaction in South Carolina.

An early adopter of technology, McKinney had taught himself to use Lotus 123

and could write the financial model to buy Kiawah on what was then considered a portable PC. “I embarked on a journey,” McKinney said. Since that purchase, Kiawah has had more than $2.5 billion in sales. Golf was at the heart of the island, and Kiawah’s Ocean Course was chosen to host the Ryder Cup in 1991. Seven championship courses – five resort and two private – were developed on or adjacent to the island.

Wonderful business partners – Frank Brumley, Charlie Way – have been a blessing, McKinney said. The legendary Hootie Johnson helped make the loan that financed their plans.

McKinney was a partner in Kiawah Partners until its sale in 2013 and serves as a consultant to Kiawah Island Real Estate, from which he retired as president in 2006.

“I treat (sales people) with respect,” he said.

“I always try to be a good coach. Their success made me successful.”

Golf indirectly led to the most significant decision of McKinney’s life: to marry Pam, his wife of 33 years. A golf partner introduced them.

“I called her. She turned me down the first time,” McKinney said. “Being in sales, you never take no the first time. I said, how about tomorrow night?”

They married on Valentine’s Day in 1984 and are the parents of three married daughters and grandparents of four.

McKinney is keenly aware of the positive effect a nurturing adult can have on a young life. He found a role model in a high school math teacher and debate coach who taught him the power of communication and of learning both sides of an issue.

Junior Achievement helps students in a similar way, with mentoring adults giving them the opportunity to discover how they can be successful and enjoy the rewards of their success, McKinney said.

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

“Any time that somebody with a kind heart that is an adult can take a child under their wing and help guide them along, it’s a wonderful thing,” he said.

McKinney serves as 2016/2017 board chair for the State Ports Authority. Other civic involvements include serving on the boards of directors for Life Resources, The Horizon Project and Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah of San Diego, Calif. In the past he has also served on the boards of Water Missions International, Kiawah Island Natural Habitat Conservancy, S.C.’s State Board of Education, First Tee of Greater Charleston and Furman University.

And his interest in golf has led him to serve on the Executive Committee of the U.S. Golf Association, as president and board member of the S.C. Golf Association and as advisory general chairman of the 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah.

His advice to the young people he has worked with: “Find your passion. We are all good at something, but not good at everything. Find what your passion is, then figure out how to organize your life so that you can spend as much time on that as you can.”

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

James M. Smith

J

Honoring commitment to customers, employees and community

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ames Matthew Smith, founder of the J M Smith Corp., was well ahead of his time in marketing research.

According to his grandson, Charles Moss, when Smith visited one of the many towns where he owned a drugstore, he would walk down the street with his small daughter.

“He would go to where people gathered and would ask, ‘do you know where there is a drugstore nearby?’” If they mentioned Smith’s, he would ask, “Do you like this drugstore?”

“He would get great feedback on the store,” said Moss, now a member of the company’s board of directors.

The JM Smith Corp. has grown to be the 3rd largest privately held company in South Carolina.

Smith’s early life was not a blueprint for success in the business world. He was born

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in 1898 in Waycross, Ga., to James David Smith, a country doctor, and his wife, Marian Carswell Smith. Two younger siblings died before age 2, and his mother died when young James was 9. His father remarried a year later, and a week after the wedding he died while cleaning a well.

At 10, James had lost both parents and two younger siblings and was left to live with a new stepmother with whom he did not get along. By the time he was 15, he had decided to run away. Fudging his age, he joined the U.S. Army and was assigned to Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing’s 8th Army Brigade, helping hunt down the legendary revolutionary leader, Pancho Villa.

Leaving the Army as a junior officer, Smith had no high school diploma and his job prospects were slim. But at least one of his jobs proved fruitful, said his grandson, Roger Smith, also a member of the com-

‘He devoted his life to the notion that through honest, industrious, entrepreneurial activity, you could provide a really valuable service to your customers, to the community while also taking care of your family and making it possible to have a rich and enjoyable and meaningful life . . . That is quite a legacy.’

– Roger Smith, grandson

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

pany’s board. “He learned to play the player piano for the silent movies. Crowds came to hear him play. He developed his touch for communicating with the public and winning their attention.”

After working a variety of jobs, Smith realized he needed more education. He enrolled in a program at Valparaiso University in Indiana that allowed him to complete his high school credits and then move on

to college work. He earned a degree in pharmacy.

While in college, Smith met his future wife, Ethel Henrietta Rickbeil. But before they could marry, Smith needed to find a

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME www.scbizmag.com

way to earn money. After getting his degree, he worked at a pharmacy in Chicago. Then he heard about a drug store owner in Asheville, N.C., who offered to sell his store to a young pharmacist who would work for a year and meet sales goals.

The deal was actually a scam, to get cheap labor while making the goals impossibly high. “My grandfather exceeded the goals and became owner of the store (in 1925),” Moss said. “He and my grandmother

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married on Christmas Day 1925, because that was the only day he would close the store.”

The young couple soon had three children: Jim Jr., Henry Dale and Beverly.

The stock market crashed in 1929, issuing in the Great Depression, but Smith’s Drug Store prospered. Smith expanded to three locations in Asheville and began opening stores in other North Carolina towns and across the state line in Spartanburg. He

would partner with a local pharmacist in each town and soon had 15 locations in the Carolinas and Georgia.

With an innate sense for meeting the customers’ needs, Smith offered deep discounts on prices and sold cosmetics and other merchandise as well as drugs and medicines. Some of the stores had soda fountains. The original Spartanburg store operated at 142 E. Main St. in partnership with Dr. Clarence Crow.

As the years went by, travel started to wear on Smith. As World War II brought the draft and gas rationing, it became a challenge to drive the countryside as well as to find young pharmacists as partners.

Smith decided to focus on the wholesale drug business and gradually sold most of the stores to his partners, with the agreement that they would purchase their drugs from Smith Drug Co. Incorporated on Dec. 30, 1943, the wholesale business was first housed in the attic of the original Smith’s Drug Store in Spartanburg. “We were one of the first companies to have health care for employees after World War II,” said William Cobb,

and died instantly. The date was Sept. 11, 1951, and Smith was only 53.

Since that time, JM Smith Corp. has added data processing services, automation software and equipment for pharmacies, IT system management and a data storage center. The JM Smith Foundation receives a portion of corporate earnings to support commitments to education and other community needs and to match charitable contributions from employees.

Smith’s legacy includes a commitment to five basic building blocks: customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and the community.

“We have an obligation to return to others some of the blessings that have been bestowed on us,” Moss said. “We are stewards of the resources granted to us.”

Smith’s intense independence, exceptional integrity and extraordinary hard work make him a good choice for the S.C. Business Hall of Fame, Moss said.

About their grandfather, Roger Smith said, “He devoted his life to the notion that through honest, industrious, entrepreneurial activity, you could provide a really

2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

CEO of JM Smith Corp. Soon the company offered a retirement plan and profit-sharing.

Smith’s business principles showed that “you can have success doing the right things.

We are all quite proud of that,” Cobb said.

The company prospered and continued to grow. In 1949, Smith resigned offices in the retail stores and disposed of most of his holdings in them. His sons, Jim Jr. and H.D., joined the business.

The family had moved to Spartanburg in 1937, and Smith became an elder in First Presbyterian Church as well as being active in Kiwanis Club, the YMCA, Masons and Community Chest.

In 1951 while visiting relatives in Springfield, Ill., he learned that there was no drug wholesaler in town. He began to discuss branching out to Springfield and his daughter, Beverly, 20, went there to start work on the project.

But Smith’s heart disease and years of hard work caught up with him. On his way to Springfield, he detoured to attend a meeting in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. On his way to his room at the Greenbrier Resort, he suffered a massive heart attack

valuable service to your customers, to the community while also taking care of your family and making it possible to have a rich and enjoyable and meaningful life . . . That is quite a legacy.”

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2017 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME