BEST ADVICE Ben Knight, Viking Mergers & Acquisitions.
PAGE 4 VOLUME 27 NUMBER 6 ■ CHARLESTONBUSINESS.COM
Part of the
Game of
Hotel opening
Ryder Hotel general manager says time is right to open in downtown Charleston. Page 7
Content
Summerville site
Baker Motor Co. opens dealership dedicated to selling Sprinter Vans, mostly to businesses. Page 15
Woman of the year COO looks forward to the day when awards aren’t needed to note women in certain sectors. Page 7
Serving the servers Volunteers form nonprofit to help struggling food and beverage workers. Page 8
INSIDE
Upfront................................. 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 Best Advice........................... 4 In Focus: Automotive.......... 15 List: Law Firms................... 19 Bonus List: Companies Headquartered in Charleston Region...............23 At Work...............................27 Viewpoint............................ 31
MARCH 22 - APRIL 4, 2021 ■ $2.25
network
South Carolina’s film industry can’t capitalize on post-pandemic push for more content without more money for incentives and infrastructure. SPECIAL REPORT: Pages 10, 11, 12
Film and television writer, actor and producer Danny McBride portrays Jesse Gemstone during taping inside the North Charleston Coliseum. (Photo/Fred Norris, HBO)
Engineering tech
College of Charleston engineering program to focus on autonomous vehicles. Page 17
Coalition hopes to build EV infrastructure By Andy Owens
S
aowens@scbiznews.com
ix large-scale utility companies, including two operating in South Carolina, said they are banding together to address the electric vehicle infrastructure problem. When you buy a car that burns gas or compresses diesel, finding a filling station is usually just a matter of tapping on your phone to find the nearest convenience store. But electric vehicles are different. Part of the reluctance to adopt EVs includes a fear of running out of juice on the side of the highway. That infrastructure, where it exists, is somewhat fragmented in the U.S. Tesla built a nationwide charging network to help address some of those concerns. The electric car manufacturer owns more than 20,000 charging stations, including eight Superchargers in South Carolina. But there are so few places to recharge an electric car that it generally makes news when one pops up, especially in less populated areas. The Electric Highway Coalition plans to put a system of electric charging stations across the Atlantic Coast, Midwest, South, Gulf and Central Plains region, the partners said in a joint news release. The coalition includes American Electric Power, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Entergy Corp., Southern Co., and the Tennessee Valley Authority. The news release also included a map that shows where this electric highway would run, including through Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, along with Florence, Rock Hill, Augusta and Savannah. Sorry, Myrtle Beach, Horry County isn’t on the list … yet … but you have a Tesla Supercharger already. See EV, Page 6