VOLUME 25 NUMBER 13 ■ GSABUSINESS.COM
Part of the
Fujifilm to remain in Upstate with recent investment
Keep that guard up FBI expert warns that companies targeted more . Page 6
By Molly Hulsey
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Healthy workforce S.C. Healthy Business Challenge expands to Upstate. Page 7
Fiber optic honor
Researcher earns career award for advancing field. Page 8
Space Force ally
University joins partnership program for military branch. Page 9
Pearls in the rough patch SC oyster farm finds new revenue stream during pandemic
By Molly Hulsey
INSIDE
Leading Off .......................... 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 C-Suite ................................ 4 In Focus: Banking and Finance ..............................11 LIST: Accounting Firms....... 14 BONUS LIST: Credit Unions . 16 At Work .............................. 19 Viewpoint ...........................23
JULY 25-AUGUST 07, 2022 ■ $2.25
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mhulsey@scbiznews.com
ny month in the year — not just those ending in “er” — visitors walking into almost any Charleston seafood restaurant can slurp back oysters raised in the Ace Basin. But what happened to South Carolina’s six oyster farms when visitors couldn’t walk into those restaurants anymore, starting March 2020?
For Trey McMillan, founder of the Lowcountry Oyster Co. and vice president of the South Carolina Shellfish Growers Association, it marked the end of an era for some customers and a fresh beginning for another line of business. Restaurants’ wholesale accounts made up close to 90% of the farm’s customer base prior to March 2020. Spartanburg’s The Kennedy and several See PEARLS, Page 8
Reversal of Fortune Crypto investors weather sharp declines in value. Page 11
mhulsey@scbiznews.com
fter Greenwood’s Fujifilm plant prepared to shutter operations later this year, a Milwaukee-based commercial real estate firm swooped in to purchase the site. Terms of the deal were not disclosed in an announcement July 15, but 300 employees at the site will retain their jobs after Phoenix Investors leased 1.1 million square feet back to the Japanese manufacturer. Fujifilm’s five facilities in the area will continue to be used for administrative, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution operations, according to a news release. “We were pleased to reach a definitive agreement with Fujifilm to acquire its Greenwood campus,” Frank Crivello, founder and chairman of Phoenix Investors, said in the release. “Fujifilm is a world-class company; these buildings were built to its high standards and impeccably maintained over its lifetime in the same manner.” Phoenix Investors’ affiliate companies hold interest in close to 55 million square feet of industrial, retail, office and single tenant netleased properties across 28 states, according to the release. Revitalizing former manufacturing facilities across the United States is the company’s mainstay. Last year, Fujifilm planned to streamline production by outsourcing its manufacturing capacity to sites in Europe and Asia. The recent transaction will allow the company to continue manufacturing for its Personalized Photo Products Group, as well as warehousing and distribution and administrative support functions, the news release said. “Fujifilm arrived in Greenwood over 30 years ago, and we look forward to continuing as a major employer and a good neighbor in the community,” Jun Higuchi, president of Fujifilm Holdings America Corp. and CEO of Fujifilm North America Corp., said in the news release. “We look forward to working with Phoenix Investors to create a productive See FUJIFILM, Page 6