CONTRIBUTING WRITER PROFILE

As a football coach who has led his teams to seven national championships, Nick Saban knows a little something about traveling the road to success. And in Saban’s eyes, success in football or in business isn’t achieved by foc... Read More

By Jenny Peterson Contributing Writer Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s a seller’s market for golf carts. After more than a year of staying in, Charleston residents desperate for stimulation have turned to thril... Read More

When it comes to residential real estate, the Upstate is in the right place at the right time. The vibrant, diverse market continues to attract millennials, retirees, and relocating and expanding companies and their employees. The region... Read More

By Danielle Besser, Public Relations Manager, Upstate SC Alliance Jigsaw puzzles saw a huge surge in sales in 2020, as many people hunkered at home. In an uncanny coincidence, puzzles were a theme at the Upstate SC Alliance’s... Read More

By Jennifer Floyd, President, HR Experts on Demand Ensuring your people are engaged in your business is a vital ingredient to your company’s success. Launched in 2016, HR Experts on Demand specializes in helping businesses su... Read More

Carlos Phillips, president and CEO, Greenville Chamber For more than 130 years, the Greenville Chamber set bold visions for Greenville’s future and rallied the community to meet these challenges. In 2009, business leaders formed... Read More

By Barry Waldman Contributing Writer At a key entry point to the city of Charleston comes an office building designed to harken to the nearby port and the bridge it sits beside, rising from the ground like a cargo container being lif... Read More

By Eric B. Michael, Senior Partner, KYEL Group Inc. In the early 1990s, I was treating many patients in the clinical setting suffering from similar mechanisms of injury.  Although they worked in diverse industrial settings, the r... Read More

By Marc Aleksinas, General Manager, Metal Chem Inc. For the past 35 years, Metal Chem has been actively involved in improving the chemistry used in the surface finishing industry. Focusing on research and development (R&D) and pro... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss Phones started ringing and messages started flying at many financial institutions around South Carolina when the second round of funding for the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program loans laun... Read More

By Chris Manley, CEO, Engenius Half a dozen years ago I read a study suggesting that, by 2025, Fortune 500 companies would be spending 80% of their marketing budget on digital marketing and only 20% on traditional marketing. Tradition... Read More

By Dusty Locke, VP of Operations, Swafford Transport and Warehouse In 1983, our CEO, Van Swafford, launched Swafford Transport and Warehouse. Starting as a freight brokerage service, the business has evolved into a multiple service Th... Read More

By Lauren Simer, Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Greenville Technical College Oftentimes, we are constrained by our own thought process.  My favorite quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson states, "This time, like... Read More

By William Jackson, Co-Owner, Instel Power Products Our world runs on electricity — that becomes obvious whenever there’s an outage. It’s a hassle to lose power at home, but imagine what it’s like for a company... Read More

Randall Bentley,  President, Lee & Associates Quietly, over a career that spans more than 40 years and shows no sign of sign of slowing down, Randall Bentley is part of a generation that has left an indelible mark on the Upst... Read More

By Bill Simmons,  Founder, Thrive Business Strategies Does this sound familiar? You’re working really hard at your business across all areas -- trying to improve systems and processes, paying attention to your brand and pos... Read More

This year has been dramatically different than what we all expected for our families, communities and businesses. But what I’ve learned as a small business owner in the Lowcountry is that with the support from our local community, ... Read More

By Jenny Peterson Historically, homeowners looking to purchase a flood insurance policy have had largely one option: the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program. South Carolina legislators have passed key legislation ... Read More

Lately there has been confusion regarding whether businesses have the ability to refuse cash payments, instead relying solely on credit card transactions or electronic funds transfers such as mobile payment apps. This switch to “ca... Read More

COVID-19 has significantly impacted many of our day-to-day activities. It has changed how we shop, socialize, work, travel, and the list goes on.  But this pandemic doesn’t have to change the trajectory of your educatio... Read More

By Lorne Chambers Contributing writer Hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world. It’s even stronger than some metal chains. Yet hemp’s supply chain still remains somewhat capricious in this country. A new S... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss Contributing writer Nearly every day of the week, the phone rings in Alisa Mosley’s Columbia office. On the other end is someone looking for help finding an affordable place to live. Mosley’s jo... Read More

By Holly Fisher Contributing writer Stephanie Summerson Hall’s strategy for a diversified business model was smart, but in the midst of a global pandemic, it was genius. Hall’s primary business, Ruth’s House Even... Read More

As we try to navigate through this COVID-19 pandemic, we probably don’t feel a lot of equilibrium right now. In a crisis, we experience sudden uncertainty, and we may feel a lack of control. By finding the balance between your i... Read More

By Barry Waldman Contributing Writer If you think there has never been a year like 2020, you might be right. But Charleston Southern University President Dondi Costin points out that our nation has seen elements of this year in the p... Read More

Over the past two months, there has been lots of discussion about which businesses and workers are essential. Health care workers, first responders, and countless others on the front lines are essential, and they are heroes. A linens man... Read More

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. — Viktor E. Frankl ... Read More

For employers, operating amid a worldwide pandemic is difficult. Managing the core business and doing so in compliance with the federal, state and local laws that govern the workplace is challenging enough. Now, employers also must close... Read More

When the economy is good, we all tend to be a little looser in how we spend our money. Small-business owners are no different with their business expenses. However, those times are now gone, possibly for a long time. Eliminating... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss South Carolina has a serious problem when it comes to keeping teachers in the classroom. In recent years, alarming numbers of public school teachers have left their jobs, causing shortages of instructors in ... Read More

Is it just us or does anyone else think Generation X should be renamed the Generation of Firsts? We were the first gamers, first bloggers, invented MySpace and Twitter. We practically gave birth to the internet. Well, that’... Read More

By Dudley Brown Contributing writer A new year and a new decade are underway, and economic development leaders across the Upstate expect the growth and progress from the 2010s to continue in 2020. Unemployment rates approached 12%... Read More

See the light in others, and treat them as if that is all you see. — Wayne Dyer I read a story about a farm boy who accidentally overturned his wagonload of corn in the road. The farmer who lived nearby came to investigate.&nbs... Read More

PGA of America, Nikki Haley, Kiawah Island Golf Resort Unveil 2021 PGA Championship Premium Hospitality Experiences for Charleston-Area Companies The PGA of America, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Kiawah Island G... Read More

Back when I started working for a community college in 1985, two-year institutions were often overshadowed by four-year colleges in the media and in the minds of many Americans. Since that time, two-year colleges have proved that they ar... Read More

By Barry Waldman First National Bank, a Pittsburgh-based bank with nearly $34 billion in assets, says it believes its business approach and an emergent market are a perfect marriage in a crowded Charleston banking market.  The... Read More

Imagine it’s Tuesday afternoon and there’s a big, beautiful sailboat streaming through Charleston Harbor. It’s in pristine condition and there’s a deep blue sail with the S.C. palmetto tree and crescent moon billo... Read More

“I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”  — Jerome K. Jerome According to Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace, only 33% of full-time employees in the U.S. are engaged... Read More

BOOK OF EXPERTS | MARKETING FIRM Great Marketing Starts Here By Matt Thompson • Senior Partner With a name like Splash Omnimedia, it should come as no surprise that this team of marketing professionals is making waves i... Read More

BOOK OF EXPERTS | CONSULTING Offering guidance on complex issues, including harassment claims, performance evaluations, compensation and much more By Sharon L. Sellers • President If you want to make SLS consultants laugh, ... Read More

BOOK OF EXPERTS | FINANCIAL PLANNING Educating people about serious life decisions and options is key to successful planning By Tim Goldman • Sales Director & Financial Advisor When it comes to planning your financi... Read More

BOOK OF EXPERTS | SENIOR LIVING 100 years of commitment to highest quality of physical, mental and spiritual well-being at five locations across South Carolina By Denise Dickinsen • Vice President For anyone considering... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss Blythewood is 2,416 miles from Hollywood, site of the Academy Awards, and 4,550 miles from Cannes, France, where the world’s premiere film festival is held annually. For two days in April, however, hig... Read More

By Matt Chaney mchaney@sclawyersweekly.com A prominent personal injury attorney in the Lowcountry is suing his son for trademark infringement for using his birth name in advertising his new, independent law firm. George Sink Sr. a... Read More

By Matthew Chaney S.C. Lawyers Weekly When Cody Mitchell took a job out of law school in 2011 working for Lucas, Warr, White & Mitchell, he never considered working for a big city firm. Instead, he said, he chose to work at the H... Read More

The topic of Opportunity Zones is hot, hot, hot — and for good reason. The program is shiny and new, aims to bring prosperity to areas in need and creates significant tax benefits for investors. Lawmakers are touting this oppor... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss Imagine being able to settle a dispute with an annoying neighbor, a shoddy contractor, or even a spouse or family member without having to experience the stress and financial strain of going to court. Mediat... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss Entrepreneurs in the Midlands have a chance to boost their small businesses thanks to a new strategic alliance between the Small Business Administration and Richland County, the city of Columbia and Benedict Co... Read More

Customers benefit from lower costs, import fees Since 1934, US Foreign Trade Zones have been a benefit to our national economy. By providing an incentive for  foreign  manufacturers  to  establish factories on US s... Read More