- OUR REGIONS:
- SC BIZ NEWS
- UPSTATE
- MIDLANDS
- LOWCOUNTRY
MELINDA WALDROP PROFILE

Melinda Waldrop
Editor
Connect with Melinda
- 803-726-7542
- mwaldrop@scbiznews.com
About Melinda
Columbia Regional Business Report editor Melinda Waldrop is a journalism veteran. She has worked for The Associated Press, The Hilton Head Island (S.C.) Packet, The Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun News, The Newport News (Va.) Daily Press and The South Florida Sun Sentinel. She has a B.A. in journalism from the University of South Carolina.
Nov 18, 2019
Cam Powell’s vision doesn’t yet have a home, but it does have quite a bit of buzz. Powell, an area entrepreneur and 2014 journalism graduate of the University of South Carolina, along with business partner and local videog... Read More
Nov 11, 2019
Seated on the green brocade couch in the eclectic lobby of the downtown hotel she co-owns with her husband, hair swept into a casual updo and an oversized sweater providing defense against the breath of autumn in the Columbia air, Rita P... Read More
Nov 07, 2019
Five Points business and neighborhood leaders are calling on the city of Columbia to implement a 10-point plan that they believe will revitalize the downtown enclave. The plan calls for streamlining the permitting process for new busi... Read More
Nov 06, 2019
Brenton Bullard has been in kitchens his whole life. Growing up, the Columbia native helped his grandmother make Sunday dinner. Now working at the vaunted Vista restaurant Motor Supply Co., Bullard wanted an official stamp to mark his... Read More
Nov 06, 2019
The NCAA men’s basketball regional held in Columbia in March brought a direct economic impact of $11.3 million to the capital city, a study by University of South Carolina sport and entertainment management professor Tom Regan foun... Read More
Oct 23, 2019
As buzz surrounding popular downtown taproom and bottle shop Craft and Draft’s second location builds, co-owner Andrew Johnson said the launch of the Irmo business is back on track after two delays. Johnson said the new location... Read More
Oct 22, 2019
This article first appeared in the Oct. 21 print edition of the Columbia Regional Business Report. If Caleb Green claims a prize in the 2019 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Innovation Challenge, being held Thursday and Fr... Read More
Sep 11, 2019
Tressa Kelly knows what it’s like to be underestimated. Kelly, the first lady of University of South Carolina Upstate, didn’t let the fever that took most of her hearing when she was 3 stop her from achieving her goals. Th... Read More
Aug 19, 2019
Suzette Brunson knows firsthand the difference the money, and the change it brings, can make. For the third year, Brunson, a science teacher at New Bridge Academy in West Columbia, received a Strong Schools grant from Colonial Life. S... Read More
Aug 12, 2019
The newest bankers in town are looking to put down roots — roots they intend to cultivate through managed, controlled growth. United Community Bank, headquartered in Blairsville, Ga., entered the S.C. market with its $240.5 mill... Read More
Jun 26, 2019
Julie and David Tuttle wanted to help their hometown first. The Tuttles, partners in Columbia-based developers Styx Co., are both area natives, with Julie hailing from Northeast Columbia and David from Irmo. Their close connection to ... Read More
Jun 24, 2019
Dirt is in Brinton Fox’s blood. Fox, 28, grew up on an organic herb farm in Chapin run by her mother, Bettye Boone. While she enjoyed piddling around the greenhouse and stirring the compost piles, Fox planned to be a lawyer unti... Read More
Jun 19, 2019
A new, upscale condominium development in the heart of the Devine Street district is taking residential contract deposits and targeting a December completion date. The Trolley at Devine District, located at the intersection of Maple a... Read More
Jun 04, 2019
A year-long charitable project culminated in five checks and countless smiles on Tuesday. The Flip & Give initiative, which transformed a 1920s-era, two-bedroom bungalow into a four-bedroom, three-bath showplace, donated net proce... Read More
May 28, 2019
Lou Kennedy’s mother taught elementary school, and teachers hold a special place in the president and CEO of Nephron Pharmaceuticals’ heart. They also occupy a spot in her company. Inspired by teachers like her mother a... Read More
Apr 18, 2019
Three weeks after the death of a University of South Carolina student who police think was killed by a man she mistook for an Uber driver, representatives from the ride-hailing service chose USC’s campus as the setting to anno... Read More
Apr 11, 2019
Columbia is home to a plethora of talented architects at both established and up-and-coming firms, and many of those companies share a common characteristic: They feature award-winning women in leadership positions. The Columbia Regional... Read More
Mar 27, 2019
Preston Thorne, recruited to the University of South Carolina nearly two decades ago, is now persuading a new generation to choose the Gamecocks. Thorne, a former USC defensive tackle who came to Columbia from Summerville in 200... Read More
Mar 27, 2019
Soda City Market will soon be getting a tasty new addition. Local craft beer tasting room and bottle shop Craft and Draft will offer curated libations showcasing Columbia-area breweries at the weekly Main Street artisan market on Apri... Read More
Mar 26, 2019
Cameron General Contractors, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based firm with projects under construction nationwide, has purchased 12.29 acres of land at the intersection of North Lake Drive and Lake Murray Boulevard for $4 million. A spokeswoman... Read More
Mar 26, 2019
Would-be educators seeking a non-traditional path to the classroom have an innovative option at Columbia College, and the school’s Alternative Pathways for Educator Certification Center has received a boost with a $24,000 grant fro... Read More
Mar 26, 2019
The BullStreet District’s latest addition is a big one. Washington-based outdoor outfitter REI Co-op plans to build a 20,000-square-foot store in the northwest corner of the district at the intersection of Bull Street and Freed ... Read More
Mar 25, 2019
Alison Schriro had her share of frustrating moments during her first year as a math teacher at Dreher High School. But she never thought of quitting. Chalk her experience up as a victory for the Carolina Teacher Induction Program, a... Read More
Mar 19, 2019
Longtime sport and entertainment management professor Tom Regan has studied countless sporting events during nearly 30 years at the University of South Carolina, but he’s never analyzed the economic impact of one quite like this. ... Read More
Mar 13, 2019
At the 1977 dedication of a building bearing his name in Washington, D.C., former vice president Hubert Humphrey said: “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; tho... Read More
Mar 11, 2019
A charter school which ran into community opposition of its plans to locate a campus on a five-acre site in Cottontown has leased temporary space on the other side of Elmwood Avenue in downtown Columbia. Clear Dot Charter School, whic... Read More
Mar 11, 2019
Brian Denny took his 13-year-old son, Cooper, hunting last year. Big deal? It was to Denny, paralyzed from the shoulders down after a work accident in 2010. But thanks to an adaptive wheelchair called a trackchair, Denny was able to g... Read More
Feb 26, 2019
Chris Rogers needs only to look out his office window to find inspiration. Rogers, an attorney with Columbia law firm Rogers Lewis, is also a member of a local limited liability company that scouts the Midlands and beyond for promisin... Read More
Feb 22, 2019
After a $19.1 million renovation of its sprawling headquarters off Interstate 126, Colonial Life realized the supplemental insurance company still needed one thing: a neighbor. Prisma Health, the new health care organization formed by... Read More
Feb 12, 2019
Columbia International University has completed the purchase of seven Monticello Road properties it hopes to develop as part of a revitalization of an area CIU president Mark Smith has heard called “the forgotten community.” ... Read More
Feb 11, 2019
A Five Points landmark will soon begin its third life. After more than three decades as a Columbia industrial pioneer during its incarnation as a bakery, followed by 30 more years as a hotel, Claussen’s is once again transformin... Read More