BEST ADVICE Bobby Cummings, founder, president Cummings Wealth Management
PAGE 4 VOLUME 27 NUMBER 3 ■ CHARLESTONBUSINESS.COM
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FEBRUARY 8 -21, 2021 ■ $2.25
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Bringing representation into STEM sector By Teri Errico Griffis
More consolidation Cummins to bring Memphis operations to North Charleston facility. Page 5
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tgriffis@scbiznews.com
rowing up, Wysheka Austin loved drawing, and excelled in math and science. But she had no idea how to translate those skills into a career. She considered architecture. With few resources at home to guide her, Austin turned to her career center where her
principal, Pernice Adams, offered a life-changing intervention. Adams encouraged the teen to apply her skill set toward pre-engineering classes and connected her with a teacher that could provide hands-on experience. Austin admits she’d never heard of engineering before then. “You don’t necessarily have to see where you’re going in order to go, though,” she said of taking that first class. Trident Technical College plans to use space at the college’s Berkeley campus to provide a course for commercial driver training. (Photo/File)
By design
Charleston’s new architect immersing herself in design of historic city. Page 8
New era
Chernoff Newman restructures, sees shifts in executive leadership team. Page 11
INSIDE
Upfront................................. 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 Best Advice........................... 4 In Focus: Architecture, Engineering and Construction ................ 13 List: Engineering Firms.......24 At Work...............................29 Viewpoint............................ 31
See ENGINEERING, Page 6
Home office tax deductions require more than COVID By Teri Errico Griffis
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Metal merger
Summerville metal company purchased by New Yorkbased company. Page 7
She described the moment she fell in love with engineering as a literal light bulb moment — connecting wires and batteries in class to make her first bulb illuminate. Today, Austin has carried that passion into a senior operations manager at General Electric and is one of two Clemson alumni being honored at the BEYA STEM Global Compet-
MOVING STUFF
Trident Technical College receives $1 million foundation grant for the Truist Transportation and Logistics Center, the first part of a multiphase plan to renovate the 38-year-old Berkeley campus into a training facility for high-demand jobs. Page 10
tgriffis@scbiznews.com
he IRS may have pushed the start of tax season to Feb. 12, but it’s never too early to start preparing — especially if you’re thinking about writing off your home office as a tax deduction. Millions of Americans have been forced to work from home for most of 2020 because of the pandemic shutdowns, but that doesn’t mean W2 workers can suddenly claim their home office — especially when it’s a makeshift set up on your dining room table, local tax professionals said. With the Targeted Jobs and Tax Cut Act of 2018, W2 employees can no longer write off their home office, said Clint Hulsey, tax director at Atlantic Coast Tax & Accounting Inc. in West Ashley. “It used to be that if you worked for an employer and had a W2 from them, and worked from home some of the time and out of that office, you were able to deduct some of those expenses, even working on behalf of your employer,” Hulsey said. “Things changed with the new tax laws in 2018.” While some may be disappointed they can’t See HOME, Page 9
CHARLESTON UNDER CONSTRUCTION Who is building what in the Charleston area? Projects, companies, prices, projected timelines, photos and stories. Page 13