MELINDA WALDROP PROFILE

Photos from Family Connection’s LOOK! 2021 exhibit will be on display at Columbiana Centre Mall beginning Saturday. Family Connection serves S.C. families who have children with a disability or chronic health condition. A r... Read More

South Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.3% in April from 3.4% in March, with the financial activities and leisure and hospitality industries seeing the largest employment gains. The S.C. Department of Employment and Work... Read More

Fourteen years ago, the biofuel world looked a bit different. When Beth and Joe Renwick founded what was then called Midlands Biofuels in 2008, restaurants paid to dispose of used cooking oil, which often went to landfills. Now, t... Read More

The city of Columbia and Richland County will participate in a national study aimed at understanding and reducing heat-related health risks. The urban head island mapping initiative will provide localized detail which can be used to i... Read More

Lou Kennedy admitted to a few flashbacks as she stood in the bright sunlight filling an interior courtyard at Seven Oaks Elementary School on Thursday morning. “This is where I stayed in trouble, in that corner,” Kennedy, ... Read More

Benedict College has become the first in the nation to agree to participate in the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ Veteran Health Administration Health Care Talent Academy. Benedict undergraduates interested in health care c... Read More

Metal fabrication and machine shop LaserForm & Machine Inc. is investing $5 million to expand its Richland County operations in a move expected to create 51 jobs. LaserForm & Machine is adding 20,000 square feet to its manufac... Read More

David Lockwood, COO and executive vice president of Colliers | South Carolina, has been elected to serve a one-year term as president of the global board of directors of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. Lockwood’s ... Read More

A 7,600-square-foot luxury Camden estate is under contract for $1.4 million after a May 2 online auction. More than 70 prospective buyers and brokers previewed Cedar Knoll Estate, which also features a two-bedroom guest house. Six reg... Read More

After a whirlwind production schedule that brought a $400 million, 1.3 million-square-foot state-of-the-art production facility online in a year, the stakeholders in Mark Anthony Brewing’s Shop Road operations took a moment to ... Read More

The Standard, a 17-story, 441,980-square-foot housing tower in downtown Columbia, has taken a major step toward completion. Chicago-based real estate development and construction engineering firm Clayco recently celebrated the top... Read More

A Greenwood-based startup specializing in automatic fire suppression systems has been accepted as a South Carolina Research Authority member company, while two Midlands businesses joined another Upstate member company in receiving new gr... Read More

Midlands Technical College has become first in South Carolina to introduce a new SCBIO Life Sciences Pharmaceutical Manufacturing certificate program. The inaugural class completed the 48-hour curriculum, developed in conjunction ... Read More

Five Points consignment shop Revente Luxury Resale is celebrating its 30th anniversary this weekend. The shop, located at 737 Saluda Ave., plans an anniversary gathering this afternoon featuring Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann, r... Read More

An Orangeburg native has been named the first Black male S.C. Teacher of the Year. Deion Jamison, an English teacher at Legacy Early College in Greenville, is also the first public school charter teacher to earn the annual award. S... Read More

Isabella Casillas Guzman learned firsthand what makes a successful small business growing up in California, where her father owned a chain of veterinary practices. “What I admired most about my father was his relationship in the... Read More

A Columbia tax preparer has been arrested and charged with 19 counts of willfully making or assisting in false or fraudulent returns. S.C. Department of Revenue agents arrested Shervonne Simmons, 49, of Columbia today. From 2017 to 20... Read More

The first apartments on the 1800 block of Main Street are expected to be ready for move-in this fall. Twenty-eight market rate apartments being developed by Cason Development Group and Cohn Corp. at 1813 Main St. in downtown Colum... Read More

Editor's note: County Council gave initial approval Tuesday to an ordinance restarting the mapping process. Richland County Council will consider a vote to restart the mapping process for its rewritten Land Development Code at its... Read More

A new garden designed to demonstrate the benefits of healthy food is underway at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. DHEC broke ground on its Community Demonstration Garden project on Friday. The garden aims t... Read More

Columbia’s first riverfront brewery is expected to open in the fourth quarter of this year. Bierkeller Brewing Co., which has brewed traditional German beer out of Swamp Cabbage Brewery since 2015 and has regularly... Read More

Collett Industrial, a Charlotte-headquartered commercial real estate firm, has broken ground on a speculative building it is developing in the Carolina Pines Industrial Park in Blythewood. The 210,600-square-foot, Class A building... Read More

Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. has renewed its partnership with the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics with a $10,000 donation to fund research internships. Every student at the Hartsville school parti... Read More

The Nickelodeon has named a new executive director, and she’s no stranger to the theater community. Sumner Bender has been Spring Hill High School’s theater teacher for six years and is responsible for theater educators&rs... Read More

A Camden estate featuring a 7,600-square-foot main house, a large formal garden and a two-bedroom guest house will be auctioned online May 2. Tours of the four-acre Cedar Knoll Estate at 602 Greene St. are available by appointment... Read More

The Arnold Companies’ newest addition to the downtown Columbia skyline celebrated its grand opening in style last month. The Palms, an 83-unit luxury apartment building at the corner of Lady and Assembly streets, opened its ... Read More

The small concrete slab that will serve as a basketball court may not seem like much, but Craig Currey has been coveting it for a decade. The recently poured concrete is part of the improvements made to Transitions Homeless Center by ... Read More

Colliers Capital Markets has arranged the $66.9 million acquisition and repositioning financing for a six-property, 933-unit multifamily property across Columbia and Memphis, Tenn. Colliers secured the loan from Ready Capital Corp. on... Read More

PurePower Technologies, which supplies diesel fuel injection systems for Ford Motor Co. and other diesel engine manufacturers, is expanding its Richland County operations. The company will invest $5.4 million in machinery and other eq... Read More

Richland Library will play host to a virtual lunch-and-learn session aimed at helping entrepreneurs prioritize self-care on Thursday. The session, to be held online from noon until 1:30 p.m., will be led by Beth Ruffin, Richland Libra... Read More

An Indianapolis-based, privately owned real estate development and investment company has purchased 80 acres on Two Notch Road in Lexington for $4.48 million. Scannell Properties plans to build a 350,000-square-foot FedEx Ground f... Read More

Applications are now being accepted for the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce’s 2022-2023 Cybersecurity Internship Program. The paid, 12-month program provides on-the-job cybersecurity training while participants work ... Read More

Another Broken Egg Cafe will become the first tenant at 4West, a mixed-use development that is part of the final phase of the four-building Brookland Project in West Columbia. The cafe will join the chain’s Devine Street loc... Read More

Rural area in the Midlands may soon see more mobile urgent care options. Prisma Health received a one-year $200,000 grant from the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare to activate its Midlands mobile clinic and exten... Read More

ECPI University will award more than $55,000 in scholarships across its 14 campuses with nursing programs in celebration of National Nurses Week, which begins May 6. Each scholarship is worth $2,000, and each campus in South Carolina,... Read More

Five S.C. high school students have been selected as winners of the second annual Strong Men & Women in South Carolina History student writing contest, presented by the S.C. Department of Education and Dominion Energy. The contest... Read More

Artista Vista will kick off its 30th celebration on Friday with the dedication of a new sculpture honoring mothers. Award-winning artist Nora Valdez, a Boston resident originally from Argentina, will attend the dedication of her sculp... Read More

The S.C. Chamber of Commerce will highlight the contributions of women to the state’s business community during the inaugural Women’s Leadership Symposium. The summit, to take place May 18 at the Columbia Metropolitan Cent... Read More

The S.C. Department of Education is partnering with the S.C. Afterschool Alliance to provide up to $14.5 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding to expand summer and afterschool programs to address pandemic-re... Read More

Passengers are no longer required to wear masks at Columbia Metropolitan Airport, though those who prefer to are encouraged to do so. CAE issued a response today to the Transportation Security Administration’s decision to no lon... Read More

Five Points’ newest business will soon celebrate its grand opening. Botánica de Santee, a Latinx and Afro-Caribbean-inspired, unisex clothing and accessory boutique, is now open at 724 Santee Ave. Owner Wayne Pankey, a Na... Read More

S.C.’s unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in March from 3.5% in February, though the month also saw a decrease of around 7,400 nonfarm jobs. The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce’s monthly survey estimated the number... Read More

Passenger traffic at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport is on the rise, with an 81.5% increase in January and an 85.95% increase in February from the previous year. CAE saw 69,231 passengers in February 2022, compared to 37,244 in Febr... Read More

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina has named Donna L. Waites its new president. Waites, currently vice president of programs for the foundation, takes over for Tom Keith, retiring after 26 years with the organization.... Read More

The Columbia Fireflies minor league baseball team is partnering with The Blood Connection to encourage blood donations at Segra Park. The Fireflies have joined the Lifesaver League, a group of minor league teams playing host to blood ... Read More

Connecticut-based Lexington Partners LLC has acquired multifamily four properties in Columbia as part of its purchase of 933 workforce housing apartment units in South Carolina and Memphis, Tenn. An affiliate of Lexington Partners pur... Read More

Miwon Specialty Chemical USA Inc. celebrated the grand opening of its newest manufacturing facility in Richland County on Tuesday. The 65,000-square-foot, $25 million plant is the South Korea-based company’s first U.S. loca... Read More

With individual income taxes due a week from today, the S.C. Department of Revenue is reminding taxpayers of available resources for those unable to pay a tax bill. Taxes are due April 18, though the SCDOR and the Internal Revenue Ser... Read More

Dominion Energy will open its public parks on the Irmo and Lexington sides of the Lake Murray dam for the 2022 recreation season beginning Wednesday. The beach and recreation area on the Lexington side will remain open through Sept. 5... Read More

A national affordable housing developer has closed on a land sale to construct a new affordable senior housing community in Columbia. Haven at Congaree Point, located at 2401 Atlas Road, will have 198 homes for seniors ages 55 and ove... Read More

The ninth annual Midlands Gives Day will return on May 3. The 18-hour online giving challenge is coming off a record-breaking 2021, when $3.34 million was raised for hundreds of area nonprofits. Since its inception in 2014, Midlands G... Read More

The first of three pop-up art shows at Richland Library branches will be held on April 16. The Sandhills branch, located at 763 Fashion Drive, will play host to the show from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Local artists Bradley Williams and Ash... Read More

The Nickelodeon Theatre will reopen next week, showing two movies April 15-17.  The downtown theater suspended screening March 1 in “an effort to fulfill its long-term mission more effectively,” according to a Feb. 28... Read More

Metals supplier Sage International has expanded its operations at 103 Lachicotte Road in Lugoff in a building that is port of Weston’s Southeast Industrial Properties portfolio. After originally signing a lease for 45,197 square... Read More

SolarGen of South Carolina is investing $150 million to establish a solar energy operation in Clarendon County. The clean energy development company, a wholly owned subsidiary of CMDAJ Holdings LLC, is constructing a 125-megawatt sola... Read More

ECPI University’s Columbia campus cybersecurity team won first place in the U.S. Cyber Range competition, besting more than 1,000 teams from across the country. The contest, hosted by Wicked6 Cyber Games, mimics real cyber threa... Read More

Columbia-headquartered held real estate development and investment company Red Rock Developments is bringing Sandy Run Industrial Park’s first speculative distribution facility to market. Site work has begun for a 497,952-square... Read More

A 113-unit apartment property in downtown Columbia has sold for $17.45 million. Land Bank Lofts, located at 1401 Hampton St., was purchased by Xsite Capital Investment LLC. Drew Babcock, an investment specialist in commercial real est... Read More

A Columbia-based software provider and a Chapin-based medical equipment management system have been accepted as new South Carolina Research Authority member companies. Avolanta Inc. helps insurance companies increase revenue by connec... Read More

Prisma Health Midlands will pay a record $1 million to resolve allegations that it committed recordkeeping and dispensing violations of the Controlled Substances Act. The civil settlement, the largest involving CSA violations in South... Read More

Three Blythewood High School students have been selected for a new STEM internship program in a public-private partnership with South Carolina Water Utilities. In the paid internship, students will rotate through SCWU facilities to le... Read More

The University of South Carolina’s international business program retained its No. 1 ranking by U.S. News & World Report for the ninth consecutive year. The International MBA program in the Darla Moore School of Business has... Read More

One of Columbia’s most anticipated social gatherings is returning in person for the first time since 2019. Arts & Draughts will be held at the Columbia Museum of Art from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. on April 22. The event, whic... Read More

Sorinex Exercise Equipment has purchased a 97,000-square-foot industrial facility in Lexington for $2.7 million. The facility, situated on 8.32 acres at 120 Glassmaster Road, is located on the same exit off Interstate 20 as Sorinex&rs... Read More

A California-based supplier of naturally sourced ingredients is establishing operations in Lexington County with a $5 million investment expected to create 20 jobs. Founded in 2016, Concentrated Active Ingredients & Flavors Inc. s... Read More

With the annual NCAA March Madness basketball tournament wrapping up this weekend, Manufacturing Madness crowned a state champion on Wednesday. Steel beat out three other contenders to be named “The Coolest Thing Made in SC,... Read More

Richland County has earned top ratings from two of the nation’s premier credit rating bureaus. Moody’s Investors Services assigned its top Aaa rating to the county’s $40 million general obligation bonds related to th... Read More

Former S.C. Gov. David Beasley descended the steps of his old office building on Tuesday to appeal to the private sector for donations to stave off a humanitarian crisis he warned could rapidly spiral beyond Ukraine. Citing 40 mil... Read More

Columbia International University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program has been approved by the South Carolina Board of Nursing, greenlighting the program to open in August for the 2022-2023 academic year. The nursing progra... Read More

Unemployment remained unchanged in South Carolina at 3.5% in February, according to data from the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce. DEW’s seasonally adjusted, monthly survey of households estimated the number of South... Read More

A program aimed at helping agribusiness innovators procure funding and mentoring services is accepting applications through the end of next month. The Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship, an initiative of the S.C. De... Read More

Eighteen months after a fire threatened its existence, the renovated Babcock Building will welcome its first residents next month. A 14-unit portion of the planned $55 million, 208-unit luxury apartment complex at the 254,000-square-f... Read More

The South Carolina Air National Guard is temporarily relocating operation of F-16 Falcon fighter jets from McEntire Joint National Guard Base to the Columbia Metropolitan Airport to make way for runway resurfacing. The F-16s are e... Read More

State Credit Union is holding a groundbreaking ceremony for its new location in downtown Columbia today. A trio of Columbia-headquartered firms are involved in the 50,000-square-foot, three-story project at 800 Huger St. Hood Cons... Read More

A global producer of nonwoven fabric is investing $17.6 million in new Orangeburg County operations expected to create 34 jobs. Greenville-based Pratrivero USA is a division of Pratrivero Nonwovens, headquartered in Italy. The company... Read More

The South Carolina Small Business Development Centers has opened a satellite office in Chapin. The organization provides consulting services to existing and prospective small business owners and entrepreneurs. The Chapin office, in pa... Read More

S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis will seek re-election to the post he has held since 2010. In his third term, Loftis manages, invests and retains custody of $60 billion in public funds and works to ensure that South Carolina maintains its... Read More

Richland Library is seeking submissions for an outdoor art exhibition this spring. The pop-up art shows in April, May and June aim to connect the community with local working artists and to provide creative and educational opportuniti... Read More

Jim and JoAnn Ryan have visited 113 countries, been on four world cruises and traveled to all seven continents, including Antarctica.  When the couple found themselves considering a permanent change in location, however, they... Read More

Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. owner and CEO Lou Kennedy took to social media on Wednesday to ask for help in providing food for families in Ukraine. On the same day Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.S. Congress, ... Read More

A 7,200-square-foot office building at 601 Devine St. has sold for $1.5 million. The property was on the market for three weeks before going under contract, according to the Columbia office of commercial real estate firm Trinity Partn... Read More

Dominion Energy presented South Carolina State University with a $1 million check at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament this past weekend in Norfolk, Va. The grant is part of the company’s $25 ... Read More

Unemployment dropped to 3.5% in South Carolina in January, down from the revised rate of 3.6% in December 2021. The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce’s seasonally adjusted, monthly survey of households estimated the nu... Read More

SC Biz News publications took home eight awards, including three first-place honors, in the South Carolina Press Association’s 2021 News Contest. The Columbia Regional Business Report won first place in the associate and ind... Read More

In honor of the South Carolina Small Business Development Centers’ 43-year history of helping small businesses across the state grow and thrive, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has proclaimed March 16, 2022 as Small Business Development C... Read More

Lexington County attracted $364 million in economic investment in the past year, resulting in the creation of 472 jobs. Projects with county involvement include ongoing expansion as part of Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp.’s $215.8... Read More

Pilot Co. is upgrading more than 400 travel centers nationwide, including Midlands locations, through a three-year, $1 billion initiative. The project, called New Horizons, is the company’s largest investment in store modernizat... Read More

A new community policing app, developed through a partnership between Serve & Connect and Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp., will help assess how interactions between law enforcement and communities affect public safety and impact pu... Read More

The Soiree on State, the city of Cayce’s annual spring festival, is returning on April 23. The city has partnered with the Avenues Neighborhood Association to combine this year’s event with the Cayce Festival of the Arts. ... Read More