MELINDA WALDROP PROFILE

A planned mixed-used development at the former Veterans Administration building at the corner of Laurel and Assembly streets received unanimous approval for a requested parking variance on Thursday. The city of Columbia Board of Zonin... Read More

Mysterious packets of unsolicited seeds that began showing up in U.S. mailboxes, including some in South Carolina, late last week have now reached Australia, the European Union, and Canada, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials sa... Read More

Sam Moses didn’t know exactly what to expect when he stepped into the shed. Moses, a Columbia economic development attorney, had been invited to a friend of a friend’s backyard to discuss a business venture over beers. ... Read More

A new partnership between Richland Library and Columbia Housing is providing wireless connectivity for Richland County residents without access to online services. The Home-Spot program will circulate 65 Wi-Fi hotspots to 26 resident ... Read More

Some S.C. residents are receiving unsolicited packages of seeds that may contain invasive species, and the S.C. Department of Agriculture and Clemson University’s Regulatory Services division are working together to investigat... Read More

Question: How, exactly, do you show a house for sale during a pandemic? Answer: Carefully, but often. The COVID-19 outbreak that has decimated hotel, restaurant and retail businesses has not slowed residential real estate sales, ac... Read More

With a federal moratorium on evictions expiring this month, tenants grappling with the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may soon face a sizable rent bill. A 120-day moratorium on evictions from federally financed properties ... Read More

Years ago, there was no doubt in Leslie Clark’s mind. Clark, vice president of operations and director of government relations for construction trade association Carolinas AGC, would have said with confidence that her sons were ... Read More

Workers laboring to turn a former jail into the kitchen that will supply food for a new West Columbia brewery unearthed an interesting — and prescient — discovery.   A decades-old newspaper article liberated... Read More

Two Columbia colleges have different timelines for reopening their campuses amid ongoing COVID-19 health concerns, but they share the same goal: getting students back on track toward earning their degrees and beginning their careers as q... Read More

Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. is donating more than 100,000 bottles of company-manufactured hand sanitizer to the University of South Carolina as part of the West Columbia-based company's ongoing efforts to help fight COVID-19. Th... Read More

Mason Crowson spent Saturday evening passing out water bottles to protesters and police officers alike. Crowson owns The Aristocrat, a cocktail bar and music venue located at 1001 Washington St., close to Columbia Police Department he... Read More

Open again after COVID-19 concerns led it to close its doors for a month, Hotel Trundle is sharing its happiness with the community — in the form of toilet paper. The downtown boutique hotel at the corner of Sumter and Taylor st... Read More

Steve Spinks has heard the questions from business owners much like himself. As S.C. businesses begin to reopen under new guidelines put in place to deal with COVID-19 health concerns, uncertainty remains. “The business owner... Read More

JoAnn Turnquist admitted to being a little worried. As annual Midlands Gives charitable challenge approached last week, Turnquist, president and CEO of host nonprofit Central Carolina Community Foundation, didn’t know how the gl... Read More

It’s business as usual these days at Phoenix Specialty Manufacturing in Bamberg — for the most part. There is a greater urgency in the making of small, precision components necessary to build complex machines for industrie... Read More

Beginning today, S.C. restaurants will be allowed to reopen for limited dine-in services. Establishments will have to follow several guidelines (.pdf), including only allowing 50% of posted occupancy and spacing tables six to eight fe... Read More

Shirley Bannister received the call at 6 a.m. Bannister, nursing department chair at Midlands Technical College, answered the phone to find a former student on the line and in a panic. “Her plight was, ‘I have no mask,&... Read More

A tongue-in-cheek coping mechanism that got some movie characters through a zombie apocalypse is not an option for craft beer fans dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. In the horror/comedy Shaun of the Dead, the titular character, play... Read More

Editor's note: A previous version of this story has been updated to include FDA approval of an additional Nephron production line. West-Columbia headquartered-Nephron Pharmaceutical Corp.’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemi... Read More

Hunter Mottell, director of manufacturing operations at mattress manufacturer Sleep Number’s Irmo plant, was, like a lot of people, feeling a little helpless in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, a four-organization partne... Read More

Beer and baseball. Is there a more perfect combination? Midlands-area fans of both will get a chance to test that tasty theory when Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant opens at the BullStreet District next summer. In early March, th... Read More

The shuttering of nonessential businesses in response to the new coronavirus threat has had an obvious effect on restaurants, bars and other establishments that rely on enticing people through their doors. Perhaps less evident but equ... Read More

While construction companies soldier ahead in the COVID-19 crisis, a new industry study is sounding alarm bells about potentially rougher roads ahead. An Associated General Contractors of America study conducted from March 23-25 and r... Read More

In the year and a half his restaurant has been a part of the Blythewood business community, Trippy Phillips has done his part to contribute. McNulty’s Taproom has been serving up cold beer and hearty fare since November 2018 whi... Read More

Coping with COVID SC Biz News is speaking with small businesses and community leaders about the impact of the new coronavirus on business and industry, and how this is changing how they operate. Contact Melinda Waldrop, mwaldrop... Read More

Coping with COVID SC Biz News is speaking with small businesses and community leaders about the impact of the new coronavirus on business and industry, and how this is changing how they operate. Contact Melinda Waldrop, mwaldrop@scbi... Read More

Coping with COVID SC Biz News is speaking with small businesses and community leaders about the impact of the new coronavirus on business and industry, and how this is changing how they operate. Contact Melinda Waldrop, mwaldrop@scbi... Read More

If there’s a silver lining to present worries for Doug Aylard, it’s that some folks find wine to be an effective stress reliever. “Being sequestered for going on 14 days now … it’s a true test of a relat... Read More

In two short weeks, the new coronavirus has changed the way Americans and people around the world live, work and communicate.  We're self-quarantining and social distancing, staying in our homes as much as we can as all aroun... Read More

This past weekend, Hossein Haj-Hariri, dean of the University of South Carolina’s College of Engineering and Computing, got a phone call. On the line was Majorie Jenkins, M.D., chief academic officer for Prisma Health-Upstate an... Read More

FoodShare South Carolina’s mission has become even more critical. The Columbia-based nonprofit has been delivering healthy fruits and vegetables to Midlands residents since 2015. But COVID-19 concerns that have shuttered area re... Read More

Coping with COVID SC Biz News is speaking with small businesses and community leaders about the impact of the new coronavirus on business and industry, and how this is changing how they operate. Contact Melinda Waldrop, mwaldrop... Read More

Coping with COVID SC Biz News is speaking with small businesses and community leaders about the impact of the new coronavirus on business and industry, and how this is changing how they operate. Contact Melinda Waldrop, mwaldrop@scbi... Read More

Coping with COVID SC Biz News is speaking with small businesses and community leaders about the impact of the new coronavirus on business and industry, and how this is changing how they operate. Contact Melinda Waldrop, mwa... Read More

Coping with COVID SC Biz News is speaking with small businesses and community leaders about the impact of the new coronavirus on business and industry, and how this is changing how they operate. Contact Melinda Waldrop, mwa... Read More

Coping with COVID: SC Biz News is speaking with small businesses and community leaders about the impact of the new coronavirus on business and industry, and how this is changing how they operate. Contact Melinda Waldrop, mw... Read More

In response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, West Columbia-based Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. has asked the Food and Drug Administration for permission to add up to six filling lines to ramp up its production of sterile respiratory me... Read More

Beer, cheesecake and a good cause. Midlands residents who enjoy quaffing a cold beverage, sampling a sweet treat and contributing to their community have an opportunity to combine all three activities later this month. On March 25 ... Read More

A new quarterly program will deliver an up-close look at Columbia's charms while helping the city recruit and retain professional talent, organizers hope. Crash Course Columbia, a joint initiative of nonprofit organization Co... Read More

Dominik Mjartan is a man on a mission, a banker with a belief. Mjartan become president and CEO of what would become Optus Bank, an organization with a historic but rocky past, in September 2017. The bank, founded in 1921 as Victory S... Read More