Columbia Regional Business Report - July 18, 2022 by SC Biz News

VOLUME 15 NUMBER 10  COLUMBIABUSINESSREPORT.COM

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network

New partnership

University, medical center creating nursing center. Page 4

JULY 18-AUGUST 14, 2022  $2.25

Manufacturing organizations enter official partnership By Ross Norton

Landmark sale

Iconic Upstate property sold to investement group. Page 18

Making the grade SC Biz News names Best Places to Work for 2022. Page 6

Courts roundup

MOVING MILESTONE Pyramid Contracting celebrated the grand opening of its new Irmo headquarters June 22. (Photo/Melinda Waldrop)

Irmo contractor settles into new headquarters ahead of anniversary

Defendants sentenced in fraud, bribery cases. Page 8

By Melinda Waldrop

INSIDE

Upfront ................................ 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 4 In Focus: Commercial Real Estate ................................ 13 List: Commercial Real Estate Firms ................................ 19 Bonus List: Commercial Moving and Storage Companies........................ 20 At Work .............................. 21 Viewpoint ...........................23

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

year shy of its 20th anniversary, Pyramid Contracting is celebrating a new home for its business. Company executives joined state representatives and city officials to cut the ribbon on Pyramid’s new corporate headquarters at 951 Western Lane in Irmo on June 22. Pyramid crews completely renovated the former Sea Ray Boats facility just off Interstate 26 as the company relocated from its former Irmo office on Lykes Lane. “I’m most proud that our employees put their hands on and self-performed so much of the work in this building,” Bobby Alex-

ander, Pyramid president, told SC Biz News after cutting the bright blue ribbon to a round of applause. “We’re very proud of it.” Alexander founded the company in April 2003 with one location and nine employees. Now, Pyramid has six locations in three states and employs 50. The contractor, which specializes in commercial, federal and defense construction, was the 2018 South Carolina 8(a) Construction Firm of the Year. Alexander credits joining that Small Business Administration program, which provides training and technical assistance to firms owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged See PYRAMID, Page 7

Speculative frenzy

Demand for spec buildings fueling strong industrial real estate market. Page 13

rnorton@scbiznews.com

wo organizations dedicated to supporting and growing the manufacturing industry and assisting manufacturing companies in the state have entered a formal partnership. The S.C. Manufacturers Alliance and the S.C. Manufacturing Extension Partnership have formalized their relationship after many years on working together on projects. A goal of the partnership is to collaborate formally on efforts to elevate industry and manufacturing statewide, according to a news release. SCMA has worked to ensure manufacturers have the right legislative climate and network to encourage growth and prosperity for the facilities operating in the state. SCMEP has a long history of providing a wide range of consulting and training services that helps small- to medium-sized manufacturers increase their competitiveness, the news release said. A primary aim of the partnership will focus on increased promotion of the services the two organizations provide, ensuring more companies are able to access their support and, in the process, further strengthening the state’s overall manufacturing environment. “The S.C. Manufacturers Alliance and our colleagues at the S.C. Manufacturing Extension Partnership have always worked toward the same goal — creating the most supportive manufacturing environment possible,” SCMA President and CEO Sara Hazzard said in the release. “By creating and committing to a more formal partnership, we will be better equipped to learn from each other, build on each other’s work and provide a comprehenSee SCMA, Page 9

Upfront

BRIEFS | FACTS | STATEWIDE NEWS

SmartAsset study to identify the places across the United State receiving the most incoming investments also turned up some interesting information about GDP growth in South Carolina. Charleston County is ranked at the top of the state for GDP with $990 million in growth in 2021. The top five are spread throughout the state in a way that few will find surprising. Greenville County was No. 2 last year, Horry County was third and Richland and Lexington counties were fourth and fifth. That growth was adjusted for inflation. Charleston was 102nd nationally and Greenville 109th. The top-ranked county in Georgia was Atlanta’s Fulton County at No. 14, and North Carolina’s leading county was Mecklenburg, home of Charlotte, ranked No. 21 nationally. SmartAsset culled its data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2019, American Community Survey, U.S. Bureau Economic Analysis, U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey and USAspending.gov.

Rank Country, State

Business Growth

GDP Growth ($ in millions)

New Building Permits (per 1,000 homes)

GDP Growth Index

Charleston, SC

8.1%

$990

22.7

26.60

Greenville, SC

7.4%

$953

29.0

26.39

Horry, SC

8.6%

$644

26.3

24.66

Richland, SC

2.2%

$627

10.3

24.56

Lexington, SC

5.9%

$465

19.3

23.66

Spartanburg, SC

7.0%

$458

22.2

23.62

Beaufort, SC

6.6%

$378

23.1

23.17

York, SC

10.2%

$371

23.8

23.13

Anderson, SC

3.1%

$262

17.8

22.52

Berkeley, SC

14.3%

$234

35.3

22.37

South Carolina

2.4%

$166

12.6

Source: Apartment List

HEARD IN THE

REPORT

“Free-standing industrial buildings under 50,000 square feet are the most underserved product class in the Columbia market.” — Chuck Salley, managing director of industrial services, Colliers South Carolina

WEBSITE: www.ColumbiaBusinessReport.com

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SC Biz News Briefs Target your market in an upcoming issue of the Columbia Regional Business Report The Pier could be one of the U.S.’s largest off-campus housing complexes, developers say. (Photo/Provided)

ANDERSON

GSA Business Report

New plan to triple potential residents at The Pier

hicago-based Core Spaces is teaming up with Clemson developer Tom Winkopp Development on a venture to create what they say will be one of the country’s largest off-campus student housing development projects, according to a news release. The development on Lake Hartwell is on the site of an old J.P. Stevens textile plant, which had become WestPoint Stevens. The company announced closures and layoffs at multiple sites in 2005, including 1,345 job losses from the Clemson plant, which is actually across the lake in Oconee County. The plant closed and was demolished eventually, with the first phase of off-campus student housing known as The Pier going up several years ago. As it exists now, The Pier stretches deep into the 140-acre village site, which now includes 1,400 beds of student housing, recreation facilities, a small restaurant and bar and an enclave of tiny houses. The final development will bring the bed total to 4,000, the news release said. It will include walking trails and a lakefront beach. “At Core, our mission is to connect with our residents and create spaces where they can live how they want and do what they love,” Daniel Goldberg, president of Core Spaces, said in the release. “This project is among the most ambitious in our history, and we are pleased to partner with Tom Winkopp and his highly respected local development team to bring to Clemson University and its surrounding community a world-class college town environment. Clemson … has experienced significant population growth due to its high quality of living, affordability, picturesque downtown, and favorable year-round climate as well as Clemson University’s strong enrollment rates.” Future construction will be more than continuing the line of houses and townhouses that stretch along the streets, now, the release said. The plan will reimagine the entire student village. Core will work to create single-family neighborhoods and clusters of homes that have their own community feel. One of the key elements of the neighborhood will be the nine-bedroom homes that the company says will be among the most unique off-campus student housing units in the country. The student village is one piece of a larger master-planned, mixed-use project on the entire 325-acre site to be developed by Tom Winkopp Development and partners during the next three to five years, the release said. Winkopp and partners have owned the land since 2007. “This is one of the most spectacular pieces of property located near a college campus we’ve ever seen,” Joe Gatto, managing director of acquisitions at Core Spaces, said in the release. “We’re very excited to transform the space into a one-of-a-kind student village that residents will love. After we deliver 900 new beds in 2024, it will become one of the largest privately owned student housing projects in the country.” “Core Spaces is nationally recognized as the best-in-class design-centric developer of purpose-built student housing, and they showed why immediately,” Winkopp said in the release.

AUGUST 15

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION (AEC) List: Architecture Firms Special Section: Icons & Phenoms Advertising Deadline: August 1

SEPTEMBER 12

GROWTH REPORT: MADE IN SC (STATEWIDE) List: Largest Manufacturers Advertising Deadline: August 29

SEPTEMBER 26

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE List: Residential Real Estate Firms Bonus List: Independent Insurance Cos Advertising Deadline: September 12

OCTOBER 10

EDUCATION & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT List: Postgraduate Degree Programs Bonus List: Private Schools Advertising Deadline: September 26

CRBJ

PEOPLE

With publications in Charleston, Columbia and the Upstate, as well as a statewide magazine, SC Biz News covers the pulse of business across South Carolina. Above are excerpts from our other publications.

Principal receives national honor

PAGE 22 VOLUME 28 NUMBER 12 ■ CHARLESTONBUSINESS.COM

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Artist in residence Boutique hotel to display work of Augusta native. Page 4

Fresh injection

IV therpay center opens in Mount Pleasant. Page 9

NEW DEVELOPMENT Constructon on City House Charleston, a new mixed-use project, will begin this summer, (Rendering/Provided)

Construction on mixed-use project in downtown Charleston starting soon By Ross Norton

Workplace stars

SC Biz News names 2022 Best Places to Work. Page 6

Historic sale

Sullivan’s Island property sells for $2.8 million. Page 14

INSIDE

Upfront ................................ 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 In Focus: Commercial Real Estate ......11 List: Commercial Real Estate Firms ................................. 18 Bonus List: Commercial Moving and Storage Companies........................ 20 At Work .............................. 21 Viewpoint ...........................23

rnorton@scbiznews.com

onstruction on City House Charleston, a mixed-use multi-parcel complex in downtown Charleston, is set to begin this summer. It is a project of Landmark Partners, which is working with Bello Garris Architects, SGA-NW Architecture and Rethink Studio Interior Design. The project in the French Quarter neighborhood will include 21 luxury residences, each with an outdoor terrace. “We are thrilled to bring a new concept of a sophisticated, personalized residential experience that will blend seamlessly with Charleston’s gracious architecture and the celebrated charm of the surrounding French Quarter,” Jon Pannoni, partner, Landmark Partners, said in a news release. “At a time when the availability of luxury residential options in historic Charleston is limited, we look forward to providing future residents the opportunity to define their own personal living experience with highly amenitized and architecturally superior accommodations.” Landmark Partners’ $50 million investment will stretch from Church to State Streets and along the historic Cumberland

corridor. The two- and three-bedroom residences, ranging between 1,500 and 3,000 square feet, will include a common wellness center, activated shared workspaces, and 69 covered parking spaces, in addition to full-time staff and concierge services, according to the release. The development will also include a fourth-level, exclusive 3,000-square-foot Parker Lounge Clubhouse and pool deck. The clubhouse will be complemented with an outdoor kitchen and entertainment area. “City House Charleston is a project that infuses the historic location opportunity with luxurious amenities and services not found in other established projects nearby,” Charles Sullivan, partner in Carriage Properties, said in the release. “With the comfort of all-new construction, concierge services, spacious terraces, covered parking and a rooftop pool, this rare project will surely set a new standard for gracious and sophisticated living, enhanced further by superb amenities. The walkable French Quarter location is just icing on this cake.” Carriage Properties is managing inquiries and sale of residences. City House Charleston will be available for occupancy in early 2024, the release said. CRBJ

JULY 11-24, 2022 ■ $2.25

Manufacturing organizations enter official partnership

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Travel Trials

Travelers return to the skies but are the airlines ready? Page 6

SCBIZNEWS.COM JULY/AUGUST 2022

By Ross Norton

rnorton@scbiznews.com

Speculation frenzy

Demand for industrial space fueling statewide industrial spec market. Page 11

ColumbiaBusinessReport.com

GOING VERTICAL

Statistical star

Working the numbers pays off with elite recognition. Page 10

Best Places to Work in SC

SC Biz News reveals top 119 companies for the grind. Page 5

Building boom for industrial space Company expects to build or design nearly 30 million square feet of space. Page 15

An early rendering from February shows pedestrian-friendly areas, retail and entertainment opportunities surrounding the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and the proposed site. (Rendering/Provided)

Mayor urges county to consider FILOT status By Molly Hulsey

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

ast October, Greenville County Council’s finance committee gave a thumbs down to fee-in-lieu tax incentives for a proposed $42 million planned community in Greer because of the development’s residential nature. “FILOTs are used for manufacturing and industrial, not for housing,” Council Chair-

tives. Plusurbia, the Miami-based developers of the project, hope to earmark a percentage of the slated 300-unit multifamily apartments at the former Greenville Memorial Auditorium site as affordable housing. According to White, the affordable housing component of the plan relies on the county’s approval of residential FILOT incentives.

Hydroponics changing crop production

Farm taking hemp to next level

See GATEWAY, Page 8

GSP an early adopter of Clear

INSIDE

Leading Off .......................... 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 C-Suite ................................ 4 In Focus: Commercial Real Estate......................... 13 LIST: Commercial Real Estate Firms....................... 17 BONUS LIST: Commercial Moving & Storage Companies......................... 18 At Work .............................. 19 Viewpoint ...........................23

man Willis Meadows told GSA Business Report at the time. “So, we follow that rule. Now, I’m sorry to say we haven’t always done that.” The decision could prevent developers of the Greenville Gateway project from seeing their plans for affordable housing in the area become reality, but Greenville Mayor Knox White said he has been in “active discussion” with county councilors on lifting limitations on residential economic development incen-

GROWING TREND

By Molly Hulsey

Staffers test the Clear system on the day it was unveiled at GSP. (Photo/Molly Hulsey)

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

reenville-Spartanburg International Airport’s new amenity for streamlining Transportation Security Administration checks wasn’t a product of the “Travel Armageddon” of the past few weeks, according to airport CEO Dave Edwards. Still, as the summer’s spike in air travel demand continues to mount, the new technology arrived at an apt time on June 27.

“There’s no question that there are staffing shortages in the airline industry today and that’s creating a problem,” Edwards said. “What compounds that issue is, if you have a mechanical problem on an airplane … the ability to reaccommodate those people on another flight is very, very difficult. All the flights are full right now because there’s a limited number of flights. The same with weather.” See related story on how staffing challenges are

Minted to be different

A new kind of hotel experience takes up residence at Greenville property. Page 13

GSABusiness.com

Check out the 10 best upscale neighborhoods in Greenville

See GSP, Page 6

A supplement to Charleston Regional Business Journal, Columbia Regional Business Report and GSA Business Report

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The University of South Carolina and Lexington Medical Center are partnering to create a new 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art nursing simulation center and teahcing space. The project, funded by Lexington Medical Center, is expected to be completed by 2024 and cost $20 million. (Rendering/Provided) South Carolina’s Media Engine for Economic Growth

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University, medical center partner to create nursing center By Christina Lee Knauss

cknauss@scbiznews.com

he University of South Carolina’s growing public-private partnership between its College of Nursing and Lexington Medical Center is adding another element. A 50,000-square-foot state-of-the-art nursing simulation center and teaching space will be built on the hospital’s campus to provide clinical training for the university’s growing nursing student population. The project, funded by Lexington Medical Center, is slated to be completed by 2024 and is estimated to cost $20 million. The university’s board of trustees also announced that the partnership will include a new graduate medical education affiliation to address the local and statewide needs for primary care physicians, a goal that aligns with the university’s School of Medicine Columbia’s mission to increase the number of primary care physicians in the state. The hospital’s first GME program will be in

family medicine and will accept 13 residents per year beginning in summer 2023. “Today’s announcements mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the relationship between the University of South Carolina and the Lexington Medical Center,” Michael Amiridis, university president, said in a July 6 press release. “The state-of the-art facility for the use of our nursing program on the hospital’s campus and the creation of 13 new residencies in family practice make a strong statement of our shared commitment to building the future of health care in the Midlands and across South Carolina.” The facility is expected to open for the first cohort of nursing students in fall 2025 with a groundbreaking expected this fall. Lexington Medical Center will build the new nursing facility and provide clinical instructors while the university will fund equipment needed for the simulation center as well as equipment and furnishings for classroom spaces.

Tod Augsburger, Lexington’s Medical Center’s president and CEO, said the partnership will address the state’s mounting health care provider needs. “Lexington Medical Center is excited to expand our relationship with the University of South Carolina to creatively solve two challenges – the nursing shortage and the growing need for primary care physicians,” Augsburger said. “These endeavors mark the beginning of a strong partnership that will improve the health of our communities for generations.” With the new space, the university will be able to graduate 400 nurses per year annually in the Midlands, an 80% increase over the 220 nurses who graduated from the nursing program earlier this year, according to the release. The new building will be used primarily for clinical training of the university’s third- and fourth-year nursing bachelor’s students as well as master’s program students. The university’s interprofessional education program all will use classroom space.

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Aiken glass fiber maker names Ridilla CEO By Melinda Waldrop

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

n Aiken-headquartered manufacturer and supplier of high-performance glass fiber materials has named a new president and CEO. Al Ridilla will assume day-to-day leadership of AGY Holding Corp. and join the company’s board of directors. AGY makes glass fiber yarns, reinforcements and materials used in industries ranging from aerospace to electronics and employs more than 700 in manufacturing, research, product support and

sales. Ridilla, who most recently served as president and CEO at Parkway Products, has more than 30 years of leadership experience at advanced materials technology companies, according to a news release. “Al brings deep strategic and operational know-how to strengthen and expand AGY’s business in the United States and in our European and Asian markets,” said Ryan Carroll, managing director in the Private Credit Group at the TCW Group, which acquired a majority stake in AGY in September of 2020. “His well-rounded executive expe-

rience in strategic planning, revenue growth, innovation, acquisitions and financial and operational management will help propel our future growth.” Ridilla began his career at GE Aviation in product development and operations management. He held executive sales and marketing positions at both SABIC Innovative Materials and Victrex in North America and Europe. In addition, he was involved in three successful start-up companies manufacturing magnesium-molded components, composite snowboards and radio frequency-integrated circuits. Ridilla, who has a bachelor’s degree

from Notre Dame and a master’s from the University of Dayton, is a Six Sigma black belt and holds three U.S. patents. “We have a bright future at AGY with a product portfolio and world-class technology that delivers lightweight, high-strength, impact-resistant and specialized electrical performance solutions to facilitate the success of our customers across many end markets globally,” Ridilla said in the release. Ridilla succeeds Thomas Pearson, who served as acting president and CEO since the February retirement of Patrick Burns. Pearson will remain at AGY as an operational consultant.

Former Nexsen Pruet partner joins DEW as chief of staff By Melinda Waldrop

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

former partner at Nexsen Pruet is the new chief of staff at the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce. William H. Floyd III, a certified labor and employment law specialist, was a partner in Nexsen Pruet’s Labor and

Employment Practice group. The former chair of the South Carolina Labor and Employment Section of the South Carolina Bar has more than 35 years of experience in handling labor and employment matters. “I am excited to begin full-time public service with the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce, particularly in a time of great innovation and prog-

ress,” Floyd said in a news release. “DEW is an essential, resilient agency as ably demonstrated throughout the pandemic, and I am honored to join its team of professionals devoted to serving our state.” Floyd currently serves on the board of directors for the SC Technical College System and the Society for Human Resources Management, Columbia Chapter. He is also a colonel in the South

Carolina State Guard. “It is terrific news to have William on board knowing the caliber of his work and of his character,” Dan Ellzey, DEW executive director, said. “His professionalism is unmatched and his illustrious career in labor and employment will undeniably benefit the agency and assist us in continuously improving the programs and services that we offer South Carolinians.”

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July 18 - August 14, 2022

SC Biz News names Best Places to Work for 2022 By Melinda Waldrop

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

C Biz News has named 120 companies ranging from contractors to credit unions to its 2022 list of Best Places to Work in South Carolina. Participating companies are surveyed using an employer questionnaire and an employee survey by independent research company Best Companies Group. Rankings will be revealed during an Aug. 18 event at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Honorees are: Small employers (15-49 employees): • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Air Compressor Services Arnold Companies The Brand Leader Clayton Construction Co. Inc. CNT Foundations LLC Cognito Forms Crawford Strategy LLC Custom Recycling LLC DP3 Architects FUEL Green Energy Biofuel HudsonMann Inc. Landmark Builders of South Carolina LLC Marabu North America Marsh Bell Construction Co. Mavin Construction New Life Chemical & Equipment Palmetto Technology Group

• • • • • • • • • • •

Parrish & Partners LLC Quality Business Solutions Inc. SIOS Technology Corp. South Carolina Research Authority South Carolina Student Loan Corp. RingoFire Swampfox THS Constructors Inc. Total Beverage Solution Young Office Worthwhile

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

AMBAC Bauknight Pietras & Stormer P.A. The Brandon Agency Bunnell Lammons Engineering CarolinaPower Inc. Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union Central Electric Power Cooperative Inc. CF Evans Construction Colliers International South Carolina Inc. Connectivity Point Design & Installation CPM Federal Credit Union CUI ERS Inc. Find Great People First Reliance Bank Floyd Lee Locums Frampton Construction Greenville Federal Credit Union Hudson Management Group Infinity Marketing Greenville Federal Credit Union JEAR Logistics J.M. Cope Construction

Medium employers (50-249 employees):

• KeyMark • Kopis • Langston Construction Co. of Piedmont, LLC • Limric Plumbing Heating & Air • Mankiewicz Coatings • McCrory Construction • Mount Pleasant Waterworks • NCEES • New South Construction Supply LLC • Palmetto Electric Cooperative Inc. • Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative • PhishLabs by HelpSystems • Premier Nationwide Lending • Recruiting Soutions • Rhythmlink International LLC • Sargent Metal • Softdocs • Spero Financial • SpinSys • TPM Inc. • Trehel Corp. • York Electric Cooperative Inc. • Wasserman

Large employers (250-plus employees): • • • • • • • • • •

Advanced Technology International AMAROK Atlas Technologies Inc. Berkeley Electric Cooperative Brasfield & Gorrie Burns & McDonnell Cameron Ashley Building Products Charleston Water System Colonial Life DPR Construction

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Edward Jones Hall Booth Smith Henry J. Lee Distributors Hire Dynamics INDUS Technology Inc. Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering Ingevity Ingram Micro JE Dunn Construction Koops Inc. Lexington Medical Center Life Cycle Engineering Marsh McLennan Agency - Greenville McAngus Goudelock & Courie NaturChem Inc. dba Opterra Solutions NHE Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union Privilege Underwriters, Inc. Pulte Group Samet Corp. ScanSource Select Health of South Carolina Sentar Sonepar Management Group South Carolina Federal Credit Unio Southern Diversified Distributors SouthState The Spinx Co. TD Synnex Terminix Service Inc. Thomas & Hutton T-Mobile USA Inc

• Total Quality Logistics • Travel Nurse Across America • Weston & Sampson Engineers Inc.

Presented by: SC Biz News Sponsored by: Doctors Care

AUGUST 18, 2022 6 pm - 9 pm Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center

Join the Party!

Executives from more than 100 companies will gather to celebrate being named one of the Best Places to Work in South Carolina, and no event this year will provide better networking bit.ly/22bestplacessctix opportunities! Join all the fun at this celebratory event featuring cocktails, dinner and an introduction of this year’s winners. #BestPlacesSC For sponsorship information, contact Rick Jenkins at 864.720.1224 or rjenkins@scbiznews.com.

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Blythewood company among new SCRA members By Melinda Waldrop

SCRA has accepted two new state startups as member companies and funded two others. (Illustration/File)

and Mount Pleasant-based SiteMarker Inc. each received a $50,000 acceleration grant. Infinity Collar creates portable, customizable pet containment systems, while SiteMarker’s software platform collects and provides real-time land development data for landowners, lenders, design firms, developers, contractors, inspectors and municipalities. All SCRA member companies receive coaching, access to SCRA’s Resource Partner Network, eligibility to apply for grant funding and the potential to be considered for an investment from SCRA’s investment affiliate, SC Launch Inc. Grant funding is made possible, in part, by the Industry Partnership Fund. Contributors received a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit.

when it’s ‘Who do we want to talk to about our project?’ ” he said. “That cannot be done without talented people … We try to put together an A team on everybody’s building.” Irmo Mayor Barry Walker joined Rep. Nathan Ballentine, Rep. Chip Huggins and representatives from the Irmo and Columbia chambers of commerce in presenting Pyramid with commemorative certificates and plaques before the ribbon

foot Cedarcrest Shopping Center in Lexington; the 2017 renovation of 5,200 square feet at Columbia Craft Brewing Co.; and the restoration of the Fort Jackson Combat Museum in 2016. “This is our corporate office and our home office,” Alexander said, watching as people filed into his company’s new building. “I think that it speaks to the quality of construction that we can deliver.”

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

Blythewood-based investment company is one of two startups accepted as new South Carolina Research Authority member companies. Borealis Global Advisory LLC provides global equity products and services to individuals, advisors and organizations. CarbonCents Inc., an energy company based in Walhalla, is also a new member company, while two businesses have received grant funding. CarbonCents helps collect, measure and evaluate energy costs and emissions for customers in the manufacturing, health care and education industries, as well as municipalities. Infinity Collar LLC, based in Fort Mill, PYRAMID, from Page 1

individuals, in 2015 with helping spur his company’s growth. COO Dave Stewart, who joined Pyramid in 2016, said the company’s quality control processes, including monthly project audits, and “top of the top” staff also propel its success. “There’s other good construction companies, but we want to be thought of first

cutting. The six-month renovation of the building fitted the exterior with a modern wood finish and the opened interior with glass walls and hallways lined with photos of company projects. Pyramid’s portfolio includes the 10,000-square-foot City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Center, constructed in 2011; the 2008 turnkey development and construction of the 14,300-square

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July 18 - August 14, 2022

Former IRS employee pleads guilty to tax fraud

Staff Report

former Internal Revenue Service employee who lives in Columbia has pleaded guilty to multiple tax fraud charges, according to an announcement from United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. Wayne Garvin, 57, was sentenced to 13 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $74,662 restitution for filing false tax returns and providing fabricated records to the IRS in an attempt to obstruct an audit of those returns. Garvin pleaded guilty in March. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Garvin was a long-time IRS employee who most recently worked with the Taxpayer Advocate Service in Philadelphia. For the years 2012 through 2016, while working as an IRS employee, Garvin prepared and filed tax returns on which he claimed false deductions and expenses associated with rental properties, fictitious real estate taxes on his personal residence and fabricated charitable contributions. The U.S. Attorney said Garvin also deducted nearly $16,000 in false expenses associated with his employment with the U.S. Army Reserves on his 2013 tax return. Although Garvin was formerly in the Reserves, he did not perform any reservist duty in 2013 and was not entitled to deduct any expenses related to that employment. In total, the U.S. Attorney said Garvin caused a loss to the IRS of more than $74,000. Further, court documents also show that after the IRS began an audit of Garvin’s 2013 and 2014 tax returns, he attempted to obstruct the audit by submitting fictitious documents to the IRS. Sumter man pleads guilty to wire fraud A Sumter County man has pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving a Sumter nonprofit, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina. Rodney Ellis, 71, of Sumter County, pleaded guilty to defrauding Sumter Behavioral Health Services, a 501c3 nonprofit, the release said. Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that between 2013 and 2020, Ellis, while employed by SBHS as its financial officer, defrauded the nonprofit out of at least $800,000 by diverting funds from organization banking accounts to his own personal accounts. “Behavioral health organizations depend on every dollar allocated to treat those seeking help for their substance abuse challenges,” Susan Ferensic, FBI Columbia Special Agent in Charge, said in the release. “It is inexcusable for someone with a high-ranking position, like Ellis, to steal the organization’s funds for person-

on, followed by a year of court-ordered supervision. Seymour also granted a money judgment against Herndon in the amount of $15,000, equal to the amount of bribe money that Herndon received from Mincey from 2014 to 2020. There is no parole in the federal system.

4 plead guilty to PPP loan fraud

Illustration/File

al benefit. The FBI will continue to work jointly with the Sumter County Sheriff ’s Office and other law enforcement partners to uncover the misuse of funds and hold the perpetrators accountable.” Ellis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000, restitution and three years of supervision to follow the term of imprisonment. Senior U.S. District Judge Terry Wooten accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Ellis after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the United States Probation Office.

3 sentenced in bribery case

Charles “Chuck” Willys Mincey Jr., 65, of Flora, Miss., Karl Henry Zerbst Jr., 62, of Mount Pleasant, and Brian Daniel Herndon, 46, of Summerville, were sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty for their roles in kickback and bribery schemes involving federal housing grant programs in the Charleston area, according to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department. Evidence presented to the court showed that from December of 2014 until at least March of 2019, Mincey and Zerbst participated in a scheme to unlawfully profit from their work on Affordable Housing Program grants disbursed by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta to low-income households of U.S. military veterans and spouses of veterans for house rehabilitation, the news release said. In 2014, Mincey approached Zerbst to be an intermediary for grants for which Mincey and his company, Palmettos at Folly, was the designated contractor. As an intermediary, it was Zerbst’s role to locate prospective program participants, hire and manage the contractors conducting the rehabilitative work, and hire and manage third-party inspectors to inspect the work and assess it for cost reasonableness, the release said. As part of their arrangement, Mincey and Zerbst agreed to split the profits they made from the grants 50/50. That agree-

ment was in violation of the rules of the grant program, which prohibit an intermediary from receiving more than 12% of the grant funds, and also prohibited any conflict of interests or appearance of a conflict of interest with any other party to the grant application. During the relevant time period, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta sent the grant funds to community member banks, who then disbursed the funds to Zerbst’s company, KHZ. According to the Justice Department, Zerbst retained his intermediary fees and then wrote checks for construction costs to Mincey’s company, Palmetto’s at Folly. Mincey then funneled grant money back to Zerbst by writing checks from Palmetto’s at Folly to Charleston Strategic Consultants LLC, a company controlled by Zerbst. In total, Mincey funneled at least $246,689.99 in unlawful kickbacks to Zerbst, the release said. The Justice Department said evidence showed that Mincey also participated in a bribery scheme with city of Charleston employee Brian Herndon in order to win construction bids for housing projects funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a project manager for housing rehabilitation at the Charleston Department of Housing and Community Development, Herndon had access to non-public information regarding cost estimates generated for each project grant, which he shared with Mincey in exchange for cash payments between $200 and $500, the release said. In total, Herndon was accused of accepting at least $15,000 in bribe money. Senior U.S. District Court Judge Margaret B. Seymour sentenced all three individuals. Mincey was sentenced to eight months in federal prison, followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision, and ordered to pay $91,990 in restitution. Zerbst was sentenced to five years of probation, and paid $246,689.99 in restitution prior to his sentencing. Herndon was sentenced to six months in pris-

Four people pleaded guilty to obtaining nearly $5 million in fraudulent loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina. They are Lori Hammond, 53, of Summerville; Catherine “Cassie” Needham, 36, of Manning; Jontrell Wright, 35, of Holly Hill; and Christopher Conrad, 39, of Holly Hill. According to the release, the four fraudulently obtained $4,721,638.50 in PPP loan funds. The Payment Protection Program is one of the programs put in place in 2020 by the federal government to help businesses who were struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence showed that from in or around June 2020 through around January 2021, Hammond caused multiple materially fraudulent PPP loan applications to be submitted to federally insured financial institutions on behalf of herself and her co-conspirators. She used the identity of a deceased individual in the applications, misrepresented the number of employees and payroll expenses of the entities seeking the loans, attached fraudulent tax documents and made numerous other false and misleading statements, according to the news release. As part of the conspiracy, the release said Hammond assisted Needham, Conrad and Wright by filling out the loan application documents with materially false and fraudulent information and then submitting them to an individual in California, who would in turn submit the fraudulent loan applications to financial institutions in exchange for a fee. Based on the false information on the applications, the approved PPP lenders funded the loans. After the funds were deposited into the respective accounts, Hammond, Wright, Needham and Conrad used the funds for non-qualifying, non-business purposes, including the purchase of homes, property, cars and other personal purchases. The defendants all face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, plus fines of up to $250,000, restitution, and three years of supervision to follow the prison term. U.S. District Judge David C Norton accepted their guilty pleas and will sentence the defendants after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report from the United States Probation Office.

t 14, 2022 July 18 - August 14, 2022

www.columbiabusinessreport.com 9

Planning commission sets tentative work session schedule By Christina Lee Knauss

cknauss@scbiznews.com

ichland County’s Planning Commission has set a tentative schedule for additional work sessions to discuss rewriting the 2021 Land Development Code. The work sessions will be open to the public and offer opportunities for community review and input on the mapping process, according to a press release from Richland County. The process recently restarted after residents expressed concern about proposed zoning changes for their neighborhoods and other elements of the new LDC. The additional work sessions are tentatively set for Monday, Aug. 1, immediately following the commission’s regularly scheduled 3 p.m. meetSCMA, from Page 1

sive resource for manufacturing companies in our state.” SCMEP is headquartered in Greenville and SCMA is based in Columbia, though each delivers services across the state. “Our two organizations share a common vision, and our combined approach will help ensure manufacturers have

ing; Monday, Aug. 15, at 5:30 p.m.; and Thursday, Sept. 8, immediately following a 3 p.m. commission meeting. Work sessions that follow regular meetings can usually be expected to begin between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Dates and times are subject to change. All meetings will be held in County Council chambers at the Richland County Administration Building, 2020 Hampton St., Columbia. They can also be streamed live via the county’s YouTube page: www.youtube.com/user/ richlandonline. The LDC regulates land use, growth and development. It governs the types of uses, location and size of a development within various zones, establishes procedures for how development proposals are reviewed, governs the division and platting of land and controls

standards such as landscaping, parking and signage. The current LDC was adopted

the tools and environment they need to thrive,” SCMEP President and CEO Andy Carr said in the release. “This is an important development for our industry, and I’m excited to start working more closely with the passionate team at SCMA on behalf of manufacturers in South Carolina.” SCMA’s mission is to strengthen and advance S.C. manufacturing by advocat-

ing for members, fostering a world-class workforce and bringing together manufacturers to connect, share and solve industry challenges. The SCMA membership is comprised of more than 200 manufacturing companies that represent 100,000-plus associates in South Carolina. SCMEP is a private, nonprofit group that serves as a resource to manufactur-

IT’S TIME TO BINGE BUSINESS

Additional work sessions to discuss rewriting Richland County’s 2021 Land Development Code are tentatively set for Aug. 1, Aug. 15 and Sept. 8. The sessions will be open to the public.

in 2005. The code was rewritten to address the area’s evolving needs, and County Council adopted the text for a new code in Nov. 2021. It has not gone into effect because it requires approval of an amended zoning map which has not yet occurred. The Planning Commission initially began reviewing county staff ’s initial zoning map recommendations in March, but council realized there was still a great deal of concern among members of the community about what the proposed changes could mean. As a result, the county chose to restart the LDC and zone mapping process to allow the public more opportunity to review and respond to proposed changes. Reach Christina Knauss at 803-753-4327 or cknauss@scbiznews.com ing companies, providing them with a range of strategies and solutions. An affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, SCMEP operates under the U.S. Department of Commerce to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness. Reach Ross Norton at 864-720-1222 or rnorton@ scbiznews.com

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July 18 - August 14, 2022

Myrtle Beach zookeeper among 5 indicted on federal charges By Christina Lee Knauss

cknauss@scbiznews.com

federal grand jury in Florence has returned a 10-count indictment alleging charges related to wildlife trafficking and money laundering against five people, according to a press release from the office of U.S. District Attorney Corey F. Ellis. One is Bhagavan Mahamayavi “Doc” Antle, 62, of Myrtle Beach, a private zoo owner and operator who became nationally known in 2020 after appearances on the Netflix documentary series Tiger King. Antle owns and operates The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS), also known as the Myrtle Beach Safari, a 50-acre wildlife tropical preserve in Myrtle Beach.

Others indicted are Andrew Jon Sawyer aka Omar Sawyer, 52, of Myrtle Beach; Meredith Bybee, aka Moksha Bybee, 51, of Myrtle Beach; Charles Sammut, 61, of Salinas, Calif.; and Jason Clay, 42, of Franklin, Texas, according to the release. Sawyer and Bybee are Antle’s employees and business associates. Sammut owns and operates Vision Quest Ranch, a for-profit corporation that housed captive species and sold tours and safari experiences to guests. Clay owns and operates of Franklin Drive Thru Safari, a for-profit corporation that also housed captive exotic species and sold tours and safaris. The indictment alleges that at various times Antle, along with Bybee, Sammut and Clay, illegally trafficked wildlife in

violation of federal law, including the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act, and made false records regarding that wildlife. The animals included lemurs, cheetahs and a chimpanzee. The indictment and a previously filed federal complaint in the case also allege that over the last several months, Antle and Sawyer laundered more than $500,000 in cash they believed to be proceeds of an operation to smuggle undocumented immigrants across the Mexican border into the U.S. The filing allege Antle used bulk cash receipts to purchase animals for which he could not use checks, and that he planned to conceal the cash he received by inflating tourist numbers at the Myrtle Beach Safari. Antle and Sawyer face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for the

money-laundering charges, and up to five years in federal prison for the wildlife-trafficking charges. Bybee, Sammut and Clay each face up to five years in federal prison for wildlife trafficking. Antle and Sawyer were previously granted a bond by a federal magistrate judge as a result of the charges in the federal complaint. Bybee, Sammut and Clay are awaiting arraignment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated the case. Prosecutors on the case are Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek A. Shoemake and Amy Bower, with the District of South Carolina, and Department of Justice Senior Trial Attorney Patrick M. Duggan with DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section.

Clemson partners with medical cannabis company for research project Staff Report

gsanews@scbiznews.com

he Clemson University College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences is working with Curio Wellness to conduct a two-year research project to advance plant tissue science for the medical cannabis industry. Headquartered in Timonium, Md., Curio Wellness is a licensed medical cannabis company and innovator of health and wellness products derived from cannabis. “Clemson University is recognized as one of the top agricultural and horticultural schools in the world,” Matt Taylor said, applied science director for Curio Wellness, said in a news release. “Through our partnership, we are building the knowledge base for cannabis tissue culture, which in its current state is inadequately understood. The ultimate goal is genetic preservation, which will enable us to continue cultivating high quality, plant-based medicine for patients in Maryland and beyond.” Tissue culture is an important tool in horticulture and involves growing plants aseptically, or in an environment free of microorganisms and pathogens. The aim is to protect plants from viral pathogens while improving production efficiency, the news release said. Jeff Adelberg, an expert in plant tissue culture and a horticulture professor at Clemson, will lead a team involving both the university and Curio Wellness in the study. “This project is unique in that both organizations will conduct research using our individual plant collections,” Adelberg said in the release. “Research conducted at Clemson will be shared with Curio for use on their plants in Maryland. They have the med-

Clemson University is partnering with Curio Wellness on a two-year research project to advance plant tissue science for the medical cannabis industry. The research involves industrial hemp like that pictured above. Industrial hemp is a strain of the same plant as marijuana without intoxicating effects. (Photo/File)

ical expertise to create the best products from cannabis. This collaboration creates an opportunity for researchers from both institutions to use their knowledge to benefit people.” The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill established the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Hemp Production Program, legalizing industrial hemp production. The state program is administered by the S.C. Department of Agriculture. Clemson’s research involves using

industrial hemp, a strain of the same plant as marijuana but without intoxicating effects. Legal production began in South Carolina in 2019. Curio Wellness CEO Michael Bronfein said the research collaboration is an example of the company’s commitment to innovation that reimagines the way medical cannabis is cultivated and delivered to patients. “At Curio, everything we do is rooted in scientifically derived methods

and processes, which means our investment in research and development is fundamental to our operating strategy and the quality and consistency of our products,” Bronfein said in the release. “This research partnership with Clemson is a prime example of how Curio is investing in the future of medical cannabis for our patients and everyone in need of safe, effective and reliable health solutions.” The research begins in August.

t 14, 2022 July 18 - August 14, 2022

www.columbiabusinessreport.com 11

Chris McMahan has worked with more than 120 researchers from academic institutions, industry and government. He has published 81 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. (Photo/Clemson University)

Statistician earns one of profession’s highest honors Staff Report

gsanews@scbiznews.com

Clemson University professor has received one of the highest honors bestowed on statis-

ticians. Chris McMahan, a professor in the College of Science’s School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, has been named an American Statistical Association Fellow. The ASA elects fellows based on their established reputation and contributions to statistical science, according to a news release. The ASA limits the honor to one-third of 1% of the organization’s total membership each year. “Dr. McMahan is very deserving of this honor,” Kevin James, director of the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, said in the news release. “Through his collaboration with researchers across the globe, he has made significant contributions in the fields of genetics, engineering, agriculture and epidemiology. We look forward to seeing him make many more significant contributions to statistics and science.” The ASA selected McMahan for the honor for his “influential contributions in group testing and Bayesian methods; for his leadership in interdisciplinary collaboration; and for his extensive

service to Clemson University and the ASA,” according to the citation. “Becoming an ASA Fellow is much more than just publishing papers,” Joshua Tebbs, chair of the University of South Carolina Department of Statistics, said in the release. “It’s about significantly advancing the field of statistics and making a difference in scientific discovery. Chris has a proven record of doing this across many disciplines.” Tebbs was McMahan’s Ph.D. adviser and nominated his former student for the honor. “Chris has the gifted ability to collaborate with scientists and researchers in a multitude of areas,” Tebbs said. “It is sometimes hard to frame a researcher’s goals in terms of statistical models and methods, but Chris does this with absolute ease. It’s probably why everybody wants to work with him.” During his career, McMahan has modeled the spread of vector-borne disease and studied allergy desensitization therapies, automated structure detection in neuroimaging, genetics associated with personalized medicine, genetics of agriculture, efficient infectious disease screening and surveillance, cancer, sexually transmitted disease, coupled engineering systems, environmental monitoring, biomedical applications, and epidemiology and public health. In addition, he has helped create 10

software packages disseminated via standard open-source software repositories. He has given 38 invited talks and has authored or co-authored more than 100 conference presentations. McMahan has won four national and international awards for papers he has written. McMahan didn’t set out to be a statistician. He was double majoring in mathematics and physics at Austin Peay State University. A semester before graduation, he realized he didn’t like physics. “What I enjoyed was using mathematics to explain what goes on in the world,” he said in the release. He finished his major in math and pursued a master’s degree in mathematics at Western Kentucky University. It was there that McMahan took his first statistics course. The professor encouraged him to apply to the University of South Carolina statistics program. McMahan, who hadn’t decided whether to pursue a Ph.D. in statistics or mathematics, visited the school. “If you’ve ever done anything in life where it just feels right, that’s what happened when I visited the University of South Carolina. It just felt right,” McMahan said. “I loved explaining things with mathematics. Statistics is the nice interface between all of sciences and mathematics.” Some of McMahan’s current research involves pool testing to reduce the

cost of screening large populations for infectious diseases, which gained a lot of interest over the last couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past two years, he has concentrated on developing regression models that can still estimate the relationships between risk factors and actual infection status. That could allow scientists to design the screening process to minimize cost. McMahan said with machine learning and artificial intelligence growing, statisticians will be even more critical in the future. “All of this is statistics in my mind. Statistics is the art of taking data and using that to paint a picture about what is occurring,” he said in the release. “As such, our field continues to thrive and flourish and will be even more relevant in the future. As science pushes forward, statisticians must dig deeper and work harder to understand what that new data is telling us.” McMahan said his honor results partly from the efforts of students and colleagues he’s worked with over the years. “Many prominent researchers whom I look up to are ASA fellows. To be included in that group is very humbling,” McMahan said in the release. He will be recognized at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Washington, D.C., in August.

www.columbiabusinessreport.com

July 18 - August 14, 2022

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t 14, 2022

In Focus

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LISTS: Commercial Real Estate Firms, Page 19

NEXT ISSUE’S FOCUS:

Architecture, Engineering and Construction

Groundbreaking for the largest expandable speculative building ever constructed in central S.C. took place June 21 at the Sandy Run Industrial Park. (Photo/Christina Lee Knauss)

Demand for industrial space driving speculative growth By Christina Lee Knauss

cknauss@scbiznews.com

ne of the hottest real estate markets in South Carolina involves buildings that do not even have specific occupants yet. Known as speculative buildings, they are built to provide ready-to-occupy space for companies looking for a place to set up new operations or expand existing ones. In the Midlands and around South Carolina in general, the need for speculative space for manufacturing as well as warehousing and distribution is booming. There are multiple reasons behind the boom, most of them fueled by the pandemic. COVID-19 accelerated already increasing demand for next-day shipping and air, while supply chain disruptions increased time and costs for construction, leading more companies to seek out pre-constructed buildings. The region’s current appetite for industrial buildings, speculative ones in particular, is confronting developers, design firms and construction companies with unprecedented demand. One example is SeamonWhiteside, a full-ser-

vice land design firm headquartered in Mount Pleasant with offices in Summerville, Greenville, Spartanburg and Charlotte. “In previous years, SeamonWhiteside was developing 100,000 square feet per year in industrial projects, and now we are projecting almost 30 million square feet in 2022,” said William O’Neal, the company’s vice president. “This is not only a change for SeamonWhiteside but a change for South Carolina as a whole. We have never seen this volume of industrial projects in our state.” O’Neal noted the boom in speculative industrial demand in South Carolina is not only following national trends, but also can be attributed to the rapid expansion of the Charleston port, the large number of people moving to the area, and the increased number of suppliers moving to the state to serve large industries such as BMW in the Upstate, Boeing and Volvo in Charleston, and Mark Anthony Brewing in the Midlands. A recent report from Colliers South Carolina shows that demand for industrial space overall, speculative real estate included, continued to be unparalleled in the first quarter of 2022 despite an

increase in rental rates. According to the report, 21.5 million square feet of industrial buildings is under construction in the state, with another 25 million square feet in proposed developments. A total of 9.8 million square feet is slated to deliver in 2022, with most of that pre-leased.

Meeting the demand

To help meet the rising demand in the Midlands, several large speculative industrial projects are already under construction or have been announced recently. Groundbreaking for the largest expandable speculative building ever constructed in central South Carolina took place June 21 at the Sandy Run Industrial Park. The 497,952-squarefoot-building, located at the intersection of Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 21, is a project of Columbia-based Red Rock Developments, the exclusive developer of build-to-suit and speculative buildings within the industrial park. The structure, located in the Calhoun County section of the industrial park, is expandable to 663,836 square feet with a capability for cross-dock distribution and a clearance of 36 feet.

On June 29, local developers Saxe Gotha Spec LLC announced plans for a 43,750-square-foot speculative industrial building on Old Wire Road in Saxe Gotha Industrial Park in West Columbia, which is already home to Amazon, Nephron Pharmaceuticals and other tenants. The Class A building, scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2023, will feature 28-foot ceiling heights, 43 car parking spaces, five dock-high doors and one drive-in door, an ESFR (early suppression, fast response) fire suppression system and LED lighting throughout. Colliers South Carolina is handling the leasing for both buildings, and company officials say they couldn’t come at a better time because the Midlands has a need for speculative space of all sizes. “Free-standing industrial buildings under 50,000 square feet are the most underserved product class in the Columbia market,” said Chuck Salley, managing director of industrial services in Colliers’ Columbia office. Expanded availability of large and expandable speculative property like the See INDUSTRIAL , Page 17

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IN FOCUS: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

July 18 - August 14, 2022

Still-strong retail market has undergone changes throughout SC By Christina Lee Knauss

cknauss@scbiznews.com

ising inflation might be battering both the wallets and the attitudes of many consumers, but so far the upward surge in prices for food, gas and everything else has not put a damper on the retail real estate market in South Carolina, according to data from Colliers South Carolina. Colliers’ recent report on the state’s retail market during the first quarter of this year indicates retail space continues to be in high demand around the state, fueled largely by an ongoing population increase in many regions. To put it simply, more people moving in means a higher demand for goods and services, which is translating into a higher need for everything from grocery stores to restaurants. The Colliers report drew on data from the South Carolina Department of Revenue and South Carolina Department of Commerce to study retail trends. According to the report, new housing permits rose 27% from February to March across the state, indicating a continued influx of new residents. In addition, South Carolina’s retail sales increased by 29% in February compared to February of 2019, and 28% above February 2021. The overall retail vacancy rate, meanwhile, decreased from 5.64% to 3.25% year-over-year, and is expected to continue to decline as vacant space is absorbed to accommodate pent-up demand for retail properties. One of the hottest areas for new retail in Columbia is Forest Acres, where available retail space is at a premium. Other growing areas include Harbison, the Clemson Road and Killian Road corridors in northeast Richland, and the areas around U.S. Highway 378 and S.C. 6 in Lexington. “We’re seeing an overall strong demand for retail brick and mortar space across the board, whether it’s necessity retail like grocery stores or dollar-type stores that sell things people have to have, food and beverage, or specialty service retail,” said Rox Pollard, Colliers’ vice president of

The pandemic has helped create a large variety of online specialty service retailers. (Illustration/File)

retail services in South Carolina. Pollard said the sheer variety of specialty service retailers coming online around the state is “amazing” and likely fueled by a rising demand for new and different services as people continue to get back to more normal lives after two years of the pandemic. “Recently the services we’ve done include not only things like hair and nail salons, but specialized things like cryotherapy,” Pollard said. “We’re seeing a lot of specialty fitness services like Pilates and cycling.” Food and beverage services, especially those that specialize in one particular product, are among the hottest new tenants of retail space around the state, including in the Midlands. Vacancy for restaurant and food service retail in Columbia has steadily decreased during the past year from 5.66% to 3.17%. Pollard said specialty bakeries such as Nothing Bundt Cakes and Crumbl Cookies are examples of the kind of food businesses doing well with customers seeking more of a niche food experience. Nothing Bundt Cakes currently has two locations in Columbia, one in Forest Acres and another near the Village at Sandhills. Crumbl Cookies currently has

a site in Lexington and will soon be opening another in Forest Acres in the new Cardinal Crossing complex. Although restaurants have been struggling with staffing shortages and supply chain issues, that hasn’t put a damper on restaurant retail development either, reports show. When it comes to restaurants, small and fast are the words to live by right now, both statewide and in the Columbia area. According to Colliers, more efficient restaurants in smaller spaces are leading the pack when it comes to new restaurant retail development in the capital city, with quick service and fast casual concepts growing in popularity among consumers. New offerings in Columbia embrace a wide variety of cuisines and cooking styles, but all focus on speed and efficiency. The Colliers report indicates this trend is coming from a greater focus on drive-through service and lingering lower demand for indoor dining. During the first quarter, several restaurants under 5,000 square feet completed new deals in Columbia, including El Charro, Don Camaron, Griffin Chophouse, Jay’s Bar and Grill and Mai Poke. “Smaller footprints are driving new restaurants because a lot more people

are interested in using drive-throughs or click-and-collect services where you go in and take your order off a shelf,” Pollard said. “There’s a rapid shift where some restaurants are using double and even triple drive-throughs, so that enables the buildings to be smaller because not as many people are using the dining rooms.” Smaller also is a watchword with other types of retailers, with fewer national chain grocers, discount retailers and other stores going for the “Big Box” experience that was all the rage during the ‘90s and 2000s, Pollard said. He used the example of Best Buy, which has recently decreased the footprint of many of its stores from a Big Box to the 25,000-square-foot range. While retail stores and restaurants might be a little smaller in the future, what isn’t likely to change is an increase in people using them, Pollard said. Shopping and grabbing a bite to eat on the go is one way of battling the isolation so many people have experienced in recent years. “Many people had been predicting the end of retailing as we know it prior to and during the pandemic, but many of the overlooked the important socialization aspect that comes just through shopping or going to a restaurant to pick up a meal,” Pollard said.

Class A office space remains in high demand in Columbia Trio By Christina Lee Knauss

cknauss@scbiznews.com

igh-quality office space is in demand in the Columbia area by both employers and employees as more people return to office work after two years away because of the pandemic, according to a market report from Colliers’ Columbia office. The Class A office vacancy rate in

Columbia’s Central Business District dropped to 12.47% during the second quarter due to 55,062 square feet of absorption, according to the report. One Class A building under construction at 2300 Bull St., set to open before the end of the year, has preleased 25,000 square feet. In addition, Colliers said much of the quality sublease space downtown has leased. According to the report, owners with Class A office space and those

willing to invest in Class B office building can expect positive lease activity in Columbia through the end of the year. “Owners who are willing to invest in Class B facilities will likely see positive lease activity due to a lack of Class A availabilities,” Colliers said. “Owners should continue to expect tenants to carefully examine their space needs in an attempt to better define their office footprint.” This phenomenon, called

flight-to-quality, follows a national trend toward higher quality office space that has emerged since the return to the workplace started and is motivated by hiring and employee-retention, the report said. “Tenants want to lease space in quality buildings offering multiple amenities, even if they choose to downsize,” the report said. “The concert of lower-quality, dense office space is fleeting.”

t 14, 2022 July 18 - August 14, 2022

IN FOCUS: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

www.columbiabusinessreport.com 15

Increasing demand is driving exponential growth in industrial construction throughout South Carolina. The demand is exacerbated by onshoring efforts stemming from the pandemic. (Photo/File)

Industrial construction company races to meet demand By Ross Norton

rnorton@scbiznews.com

emand for next-day delivery, exacerbated by pandemic-related efforts to onshore, is driving a huge growth in the industrial construction business for on land design working throughout the Carolinas. SeamonWhiteside is relatively new to the industrial sector, the company said, so that accounts for some of the growth: there was simply room to grow. Still, the company expect to design or build, or both, close to 30 million square feet of industrial buildings this year alone. In recent years, the company would build about 100,000 square feet of industrial space.

“Five years ago, SeamonWhiteside began chasing opportunities to expand its industrial sector and anticipated the growing need for relocating warehousing and manufacturing back to the United States as the demand for next-day delivery became today’s standard,” SeamonWhiteside said in a news release. “This need grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic when people relied on next-day delivery as a means of life.” The rapid growth is not limited to the company, according to William O’Neal, professional engineer and vice president of SeamonWhiteside. “This is not only a change for SeamonWhiteside but a change for South Carolina as a whole,” O’Neal said in a

news release. “We have never seen this volume of industrial projects in our state. It is through the innovative nature of this company and our desire to expand and diversify business sectors that we were privy to this trend. This allowed us to anticipate and prepare for these industrial projects before they even came to fruition and be invested in this sector by the time the demand for it rose.” Industrial projects differ from other designs and require a different skill set, relying heavily on civil engineering and less on landscape architecture, O’Neal said in the release. They also need larger capital investments and staffing. Since most industrial projects are in rural areas, there is less government involvement and shorter

approval times, so the team begins the execution of plans almost immediately after conception. Headquartered in Mount Pleasant, SeamonWhiteside also has offices in Summerville, Greenville, Spartanburg and Charlotte. The firm’s services include master planning, civil engineering, landscape architecture, urban design, land development management services and permit coordination. To date, the majority of industrial projects come from their Mount Pleasant and Greenville offices, including Coastal Crossroads, Ladson Industrial Park, Port 95 Business Park, Camp Hall Campus 4 and Palmetto Logistics, the release said. CRBJ

ia Trio of industry veterans forms new real estate partnership By Ross Norton

rnorton@scbiznews.com

trio of real estate veterans has formed a new Charleston firm. Three Real Estate includes a partnership with Side, a real estate technology company that partners with agents, teams and independent brokerages to help make them into market-leading boutique brands.

Nate Gainey, Christopher Smith and Jason Wang founded Three Real Estate with 40 years of combined sales experience and hundreds of millions of dollars in total transaction volume according to a news release. “Combining forces is the best option to get us where we want to be in the shortest amount of time,” Smith said in the release. “We’re excited to level up together.” The Three Real Estate team views real

estate as an opportunity to amplify the quality of their clients’ lives while positioning them to grow their wealth, the release said. Three Real Estate will specialize in buyers, sellers, investors and commercial ventures. “Three Real Estate is the entire package,” Gainey said. “As partners, we’ll do incredible things to elevate our industry.”

Side works behind the scenes, supporting Three Real Estate with a unique brokerage platform that includes proprietary technology, transaction management, branding and marketing services, public relations, legal support, lead generation, vendor management and infrastructure solutions. Additionally, Three Real Estate will join a group of Side partners, tapping into a national network. CRBJ

www.columbiabusinessreport.com

IN FOCUS: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

July 18 - August 14, 2022

New Columbia retailer has business in his blood By Christina Lee Knauss

cknauss@scbiznews.com

li Brightbill honored his family’s four-generation tradition of entrepreneurship when he chose the name Lyons’ General Store for the business he started in North Carolina four years ago. Now the store, named after one his great-grandfather ran in rural West Virginia, has expanded to a second location at 633 S. Assembly St. in Columbia. The store is located at the intersection of Assembly and Rosewood Drive, near the State Fairgrounds, on a site that first housed a McDonald’s and then a used car dealership. Lyons’ General Store, which sells what Brightbill describes as “Southern lifestyle apparel,” opened July 7. It carries a wide selection of T-shirts, hats and shoes from popular brands such as Simply Southern, Old Row, Drake and Southern Couture, as well as other items including purses, jewelry, coasters, decorated tumblers and lawn flags. “We’re a retail clothing, gift and accessories store with a big focus on casual clothing – that’s really our niche,” he said. “Another thing we try to do is work with some regional and local companies wherever we go, so the store can have a local flair to it and offer a little something that you’re not going to see at a lot of the major retail chains.”

Lyons’ General Store is now open at Rosewood and Assembly streets. (Photo/Christina Lee Knauss)

Lyons’ carries shirts and other apparel by Local Boy Outfitters, which opened in Columbia in 2013. Brightbill said he’s also working to bring other Columbia and S.C.-based brands into the store in the future. Brightbill is a North Carolina native, born in Raleigh and raised in nearby Sanford. He opened the first Lyons’ General in Raleigh in 2018, where it’s currently located in the Crabtree Valley Mall. “My great-grandfather came from nothing and built his own business, and that example inspired a lot of people in my family to be self-employed,” he said.

“Deciding to start my own store came a little more natural for me than it does for people who don’t have that background. I always liked the concept of being self-employed.” Brightbill decided to expand his company about 18 months ago and looked around for a new market within about a three hour of Raleigh. Columbia wasn’t initially on his radar, but he heard about the vacant location at Assembly and Rosewood and realized its potential once he visited. The site has many advantages, he said, including a high visibility location and a

fairly large amount of free parking available. The store’s close proximity to both downtown Columbia and the University of South Carolina also allows for easy access to customers from both markets without having to worry about the parking issues that spring up downtown or near campus. College students are prime consumers for many of the brands Lyons’ General carries, from the T-shirts to men’s and women’s shoes and boots by Hey Dude. However, Brightbill said that while much of his merchandise appeals to a younger demographic, students aren’t his only target market. Outdoor enthusiasts like the store’s selection of Xtratruf boots, he said, while those who like the beach can shop the selection of Bogg Bag beach bags and other items. “We have several colleges and universities in Raleigh and while they’re an important part of our business, they don’t make or break us, and that’s what we anticipate here in Columbia,’ Brightbill said. “We obviously want to capitalize on the University of South Carolina’s presence as well as other colleges, but we also don’t want to be dependent on that market. There’s not really anybody else in Columbia doing the product mix we offer, and we have items that appeal to a wide audience.” Lyons’ General Store is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Spec building planned for West Columbia industrial park By Melinda Waldrop

purchased the property, according to a news release from Trinity Partners. Roger Winn and Braden Shockley represented the seller in the transaction.

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

he tight industrial real estate market in the Columbia area will soon have a new addition. A 43,750-square-foot speculative building is planned for Saxe Gotha Industrial Park, site of Nephron Pharmaceuticals and an Amazon distribution center. Columbia-based Saxe Gotha Spec LLC is developing the Class A building on Old Wire Road, according to a news release from Colliers | South Carolina. Colliers’ industrial brokerage team of Chuck Salley, Dave Mathews, Thomas Beard and John Peebles has been hired to market the building to distributors or manufacturers. “Colliers is thrilled to be retained as the leasing team for this much-needed development in West Columbia,” Salley, managing director, industrial services, in Colliers’ Columbia office, said in the release. “Free-standing industrial buildings under 50,000 square feet are the most underserved product class in the Columbia market.”

Atlanta firm acquires properties

Atlanta-based real estate investment firm Greenleaf Capital Acquistion purchased three Columbia properties, including Windsor Square at 2711 Alpine Road. (Photo/Provided)

The building is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2023 and will feature 28-foot ceiling heights, 43 car parking spaces, five dock-high doors and one drive-in door, an ESFR fire suppression system and LED lighting. “Lexington County is excited to have another speculative building available for prospective companies looking to locate and/or expand in our flourishing community,” Lexington County Coun-

cil Vice Chair Beth Carrigg said. “We appreciate this investment and look forward to continued growth in the Saxe Gotha Industrial Park.”

Farrow Road building sells

A 94,000-square-foot building at 8911 Farrow Road in Columbia has sold for $3.6 million. A developer who intends to convert the building into a self-storage facility

An Atlanta-based real estate investment firm has acquired three flex properties totaling 107,268 square feet in Columbia. Greenleaf Capital Acquisition purchased the properties for $6.27 million in a transaction facilitated by Wilson Kibler. John Mills and Boo K. Moca with Wilson Kibler Columbia represented the seller, while Edward Wilson and Walt Robinson with Wilson Kibler Greenville represented the purchaser. The properties are: • Winsdor Square at 2711 Alpine Road • Two Notch Commercial Park at 5515 Shakespeare Road and 1700 Alta Vista Drive • The Business Park of Saint Andrews at 1401, 1404 and 1410 St. Andrews Road Greenleaf Capital Acquisition has retained Wilson Kibler to handle leasing of the properties.

IN FOCUS: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

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INDUSTRIAL, from Page 13

Sandy Run site is important because many companies seeking larger spaces have had to pass up the Midlands in recent years simply because there were not enough sites of that size available, according to Thomas Beard, vice president of industrial services for Colliers South Carolina. “Our market has been passed over by a lot of users that want to be in the Columbia market but end up having to look elsewhere, usually the next closest market, that has larger buildings either under construction or proposed,” Beard said. “Those larger sites are really the bread and butter of this market right now. There is a huge demand for that size product right now.” However, Richland County’s days of being passed over by companies looking to relocate to South Carolina might be in the past, Beard said, because of several factors. Available space in the Greenville and Charleston areas is becoming harder to find, and a move to by Richland County to become more developer-friendly through fee-in-lieu tax agreements and revenue credits has piqued developers’ interest. “We’re getting more interest and more calls on a daily basis from national and regional groups that are realizing that the Columbia market is worth looking at,” Beard said. Other large speculative projects in Richland County include Magnus Development Partners’ planned 200,000-square-foot speculative building

A 497,952-square-foot expandable speculative building planned for the Sandy Run Industrial Park in Calhoun County will be the largest ever constructed in central South Carolina. (Rendering/Provided)

on county-owned property at Blythewood’s Northpoint Industrial Park. And in May, St. Louis-based Summit Real Estate Group announced plans to invest $28.6 million toward development of a 350,000-square-foot speculative building in Richland County’s Pineview Industrial Park, to be located on 34 acres at the intersection of Bluff and Longwood roads. Charlotte-based commercial real estate firm Collett has also purchased about 19 acres of land from the county for construction of a 210,000-square foot speculative site. Casual observers might think all this will lead to an awful lot of empty build-

ings, but to borrow a quote from the wellknown baseball movie Field of Dreams, the idea behind speculative real estate is “If you build it, they will come.” Developers say the tenants start calling shortly after projects are announced. At least two tenants had already expressed interest in the new Sandy Run building even before the groundbreaking ceremony took place, said William C. Smith, Jr., CEO of Red Rock Developments. The increasing demand for speculative industrial real estate and industrial buildings in general has caused some companies like SeamonWhiteside to completely retool their business model, according to

O’Neal. “It’s a complete 180 in our business model because before COVID-19 we focused a lot on retail, hotels and hospitality and offices, and we’re not seeing as many of those at the same pace as we did pre-2020,” O’Neal said. “Smaller retail particularly was a really hot sector then, but it has slowed down, while warehousing, distribution and manufacturing has taken off.” SeamonWhiteside started looking to expand its industrial sector about five years ago, predicting a need for more manufacturing and warehousing space in the U.S, as the demand for next-day shipping and delivery became a standard. He said the company’s predictions paid off with the change in business and consumer needs that came with COVID19, as well as the increasing trend for “right-shoring,” with more U.S. companies bringing operations back here from overseas and as a result causing a boom in the need for industrial and warehouse space. Beard from Colliers said the market for speculative industrial real estate is not likely to slow down any time soon. “Speed to market is everything these days,” he said. “You rarely ever have a manufacturer come into a market and say they have time for a building to be constructed. “Everybody needs readily available space to fulfill the requirements they have, and they’re really only willing to consider buildings that are proposed or already under construction.”

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IN FOCUS: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

July 18 - August 14, 2022

Landmark Building sold to Upstate investment group By Ross Norton

rnorton@scbiznews.com

he Landmark Building at 301 N. Main St. in downtown Greenville, once the tallest building in the state, has been sold to a group of local investors. The sale price was not disclosed. NAI Earle Furman represented the buyers of the 331,00-square-foot tower at the corner of Main and College streets. With 25 floors and 305 feet high, it remains the tallest building in Greenville, according to a news release from NAI Earle Furman. Sold by Tower on Main LLC of Columbia, the buyer of the Landmark Building is a Greenville-based investment group led by CAPA Management, the news release said. Listing agents for the property were Tripp Sellers, Patrick Gildea, Matt Smith, and Blaine Hart of CBRE.

Although additional tall buildings have been built downtown, the Landmark Building remains a dominant part of the Greenville skyline. (Photo/Provided)

Conceived by Charles E. Daniel as the headquarters for his internationally known construction company, the sky-

scraper, first known as the Daniel Building, signaled the arrival of the modern office tower in the Carolinas when it was

completed in 1966. Daniel Construction occupied five full floors for many years. What was by then known as Daniel International Corp. was acquired by Fluor Corp. in 1977, and the company was known for a time as Fluor Daniel. Greenville still serves as one of Fluor’s key U.S. operations centers. The buyers plan significant reinvestment into the building, the release said. NAI Earle Furman brokers Keith Jones, McNeil Epps, Jake Van Gieson and Gaston Albergotti represented the buyer. NAI Earle Furman also will handle leasing and property management of the building. For NAI Earle Furman, this is one of the largest property management accounts and leasing accounts for the firm, the company said. First Reliance Bank of Greenville was the lender in the transaction.

Mount Pleasant company purchases Greenville shopping center By Ross Norton

rnorton@scbiznews.com

iff Real Estate Partners of Mount Pleasant has acquired Crosspointe Plaza, a 124,375-square-foot shopping center in Greenville. The center is located in one of Greenville’s most

prominent retail corridors and is next to Haywood Mall, the top performing mall in the state, according to a news release. Crosspointe Plaza boasts national and regional tenants, including TJ Maxx, DSW, JoAnn and Play It Again Sports with Chipotle and Jason’s Deli on their own outparcels.

The center was significantly redeveloped over the last decade by its prior owner and provides a mix of restaurant, service and retail tenants. Equity for the acquisition was provided by Ziff Properties trusts and capital syndicated by Ziff Real Estate Partners, the news release said.

Founded in 1991, Ziff Real Estate Partners has owned close to 8 million square feet of commercial real estate assets and has completed more than 150 acquisitions and dispositions as real estate principals and investment managers. This sale represents a transaction volume of $896 million, the release said.

Our Business is Commercial Real Estate. Leasing | Sales | Property Management | Investments

Wilson Kibler Columbia 1111 Laurel Street Columbia, SC 29201 803.779.8600

Let us help you find your next property. www.wilsonkibler.com

Wilson Kibler Greenville 13 E. Coffee Street Greenville, SC 29601 864.679.8600

IN FOCUS: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

t 14, 2022 July 18 - August 14, 2022

www.columbiabusinessreport.com 19

Commercial Real Estate Firms Ranked by No. of Commercial Brokers in the Columbia Area Company

Phone / Website / Email

Colliers International 1301 Gervais St., Suite 600 Columbia, SC 29201

803-254-2300 www.colliers.com

Wilson Kibler 1545 Sumter St., Suite 200 Columbia, SC 29201

Top Local Official(s) / Year Founded

Comm. Brokers / Offices / Current Listings /

Types of Properties

David C. Lockwood 1906

21 1 200

Flex, health care, hotel, motel, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, warehouse

803-255-8611 www.wilsonkibler.com frontdesk@wilsonkibler.com

Ted Pitts, Jeremy Wilson, Alyse Howard 1987

20 1 310

Agricultural, flex, health care, hotel, motel, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, sports, entertainment, warehouse

NAI Columbia 807 Gervais St., Suite 200 Columbia, SC 29201

803-254-0100 www.naicolumbia.com abruning@naicolumbia.com

Jonathan A. Good 2019

18 1 415

Agricultural, flex, health care, hotel, motel, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, sports, entertainment, warehouse

Trinity Partners - COLA LLC 1501 Main St., Suite 410 Columbia, SC 29201

803-567-5454 www.trinity-partners.com bharper@trinity-partners.com

Bruce Harper 2018

14 1 200

Agricultural, flex, health care, hotel, motel, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, sports, entertainment, warehouse

CBRE Inc. 1333 Main St., Suite 210 Columbia, SC 29201

803-779-7777 www.cbre.us/o/columbia

Stephen B. Smith 1998

8 1 53

Flex, health care, hotel, motel, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, warehouse

ERA Wilder Realty 3200 Devine St. Columbia, SC 29202

803-348-0306 www.erawilderrealty.com info@erawilderrealty.com

Eddie Wilder 1995

6 9 200

Agricultural, flex, health care, hotel, motel, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, warehouse

DeWees Real Estate Group 907 Elmwood Ave. Columbia, SC 29201

803-766-0900 www.deweesreg.com info@deweesreg.com

Sam DeWees 2018

4 1 -

Income-producing, industrial, land, office, retail

ROI Commercial 1300 Sumter St., Suite 200 Columbia, SC 29201

801-900-8020 www.roicommercialsc.com info@roicommercialsc.com

Sherri Burriss, George Meetze, Billy Way 2017

3 1 37

Agricultural, flex, health care, hotel, motel, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, sports, entertainment, warehouse

Cushman & Wakefield 3201 Devine St., Suite 200 Columbia, SC 29205

803-724-1345 www.cushmanwakefield.com

Brian J. Young, Philip Vann 1917

2 1 12

Flex, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, warehouse

Arnold Companies 700 Gervais St., Suite 275 Columbia, SC 29201

803-731-4321 www.arnoldfamilycorp.com kklosterman@arnoldfamilycorp.com

Shelly W. Little 1994

1 1 9

Flex, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, warehouse

Fitzpatrick Properties LLC 1728 Main St. Columbia, SC 29201

803-931-0055 fitz_prop@sc.rr.com

T. Houston Fitzpatrick 1998

1 1 12

Flex, health care, hotel, motel, income-producing, industrial, land, multifamily, office, restaurant, retail, warehouse

Turner Properties 3790 Fernandina Road, Suite 105 Columbia, SC 29210

803-407-8522 www.turnerproperties.com info@turnerproperties.com

Chris Turner 2007

1 1 3

Office

Because of space constraints, sometimes only the top-ranked companies are published in the print edition. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, errors sometimes occur. Email additions or corrections to research@scbiznews.com.

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JULIE ANN AVIN City of birth: Sumter

MAY 9, 2022

Education: B.S. in business administration, Charleston Southern University; M.Ed. in Counseling, Clemson University

RETAIL

My job: President and executive director of Mental Illness Recovery Center Inc. (MIRCI) My career: I have been the president and executive director of the Mental Illness Recovery Center Inc. since 1991. MIRCI’s mission is to create pathways to recovery for individuals who are experiencing or at risk of mental illness and/ or homelessness. Under my leadership, MIRCI has grown from a staff of three and an annual budget of $120,000, to a Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilitiesaccredited behavioral health care agency with 87 employees and an annual budget of $6.4 million. Community involvement: Member of St. John’s Episcopal in Shandon; board of directors for the SC Interagency Council on Homelessness, immediate past chair; founding board member of Transitions, Midlands Area Consortium for the Homeless, and Work in Progress. Chair, nonprofit division for United Way of the Midlands Annual Campaign. Serve on numerous committees and work groups through the S.C. Hospital Association. What has meant the most to me in my career: Having the opportunity to make changes, even small ones, to improve quality of life for the most vulnerable in our community. Here’s some advice I’d give to people just starting out in business: Always treat everyone with dignity and respect. Here’s something others may not know about me: I grew up in the country. I can drive a tractor, milk a cow, and play classical piano. A book I recommend: Anything by JRR Tolkien. My favorite is “The Hobbit.”

Columbia baker helps stock Ukrainian kitchens MOLLY HULSEY ERIN NOBLES closed the door on Silver Spoon Bake Shop’s day-to-day retail sales as ingredient costs rose and employees became scarce. She still crafts cookies, cupcakes, croissants and other baked delicacies for online orders for the Columbia shop, but inflation and the labor shortage haven’t been the only current affairs to affect her operations. As the Russian military began to tear through Ukraine in February, sparking what American think tank the Atlantic Council calls the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, thousands of Americans watched in horror from their living rooms. Since then, concerned observers have hung yellow-andblue flags in solidarity, boycotted Russian vodka and sent aid abroad. Others have supported local establishments trying to make a difference. Customers at Nobles’ Devine Street bakery have bought specially designed petit fours, raising $2,210 to sponsor meals for Ukrainian refugees. Nobles and her one employee were so busy rushing around the kitchen to fulfill 100 orders of petit fours the day SC Biz News reached out to her, so she only had a moment to catch her breath and respond via email. “Our petit fours — we call them party fours — are one of our top selling items, and since I was able to incorporate the Ukrainian national flower, a sunflower, and hearts that are half yellow, half blue, I knew it would appeal to many people who wanted to help in some way,” she told SC Biz News. The French Culinary Institute-trained baker modeled the drive after a fundraiser she had launched for a regular customer who had lost her home to flooding. Following the first days of the invasion, she contacted World Central Kitchen, an emergency food relief nonprofit founded by José Andrés, the dean at the New York Citybased institute she attended. She then donated 100% of the proceeds from the special party fours, offered in two special online events, toward the organization. “I do not know him personally, but he was a dean at my cu-

Columbia bakery Silver Spoon Bake Shop offered special petit fours to benefit Ukraine. (Photo/Provided)

linary school in New York City and I went to a demonstration he put on,” she said. “He is a great chef with a big heart.” Since the launch of World Central Kitchen’s Chefs for Ukraine mission, the nonprofit has served 16.4 million meals to Ukrainians across eight countries and in more than 100 cities and towns in Ukraine, according to data from the organization as of April 30. Donations from Silver Spoon and other fundraisers helped World Central Kitchen to transport 8 million pounds of food to hundreds of refugee assistance centers and shelters, as well as the kitchens of 440 restaurants, food trucks and caterers. As Russia advanced on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, on April 16, a missile wounded four World Central Kitchen staff members and destroyed the city’s Yaposhka kitchen. “This is the reality here,” Nate Mook, a World Central Kitchen employee said in a statement after the attack. “Cooking is a heroic act of bravery.” The Yaposhka kitchen team — several of the thousands of chefs, bakers and cooks on the ground in Ukraine with World Central Kitchen — was up and running again in a new location within two days, according to the organization. At home in South Carolina, Nobles shared how crafting the petit fours was a bittersweet and meditative experience. “I really had a more somber experience making these, because the whole time I was decorating them, all I could think of was how incredibly awful it would have to be to leave your home and family behind,” she said. “It made me extra thankful that I live in the U.S. and have never had to experience anything like this.”

Reprinted by EnVeritas Group with permission from Columbia Business Report. www.enveritasgroup.com CBR051222

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IN FOCUS: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

July 18 - August 14, 2022

Commercial Moving & Storage Companies Ranked by No. of Employees in the Columbia Area, Then Listed Alphabetically Smith Dray Line 1140 Northpoint Blvd. Blythewood, SC 29016 Phone: 803-609-3131 Website: www.smithdray.com Top Local Official(s): Scott Dickerson Year Founded: 1977 Employees: 25 Warehouse Sq. Ft.: 60,000 Climate Controlled?: Yes Packing Available?: Yes Moving/Storage Services: All moving services with various storage methods Geographic Coverage: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina

Year Founded: 1996 Employees: 9 Climate Controlled?: No Packing Available?: Yes Geographic Coverage: United States, Canada, International ABF Freight System 7424 N. Fairfield Road Columbia, SC 29203 Phone: 803-786-7450

Gamecock Moving 1506 King St. Columbia, SC 29205 Phone: 803-814-3569

Soda City Movers 3100 N. Main St. Columbia, SC 29201 Phone: 803-731-7792

Jordan River Moving & Storage 1130 Bluff Industrial Blvd. Columbia, SC 29201 Phone: 888-425-0595

Strong Man Movers & Craters 3718 Broad River Road Columbia, SC 29202 Phone: 803-407-0708

Coleman American Moving Services Inc. 2822 Commerce Drive Columbia, SC 29205 Phone: 803-771-6400

Mobile Mini 3 Palmetto Court Gaston, SC 29053 Phone: 623-777-3752

Transales Inc. 232 W. Calhoun St. Sumter, SC 29150 Phone: 803-778-0757 Website: www.transales.us Email: wilkes@transales.us Top Local Official(s): Gary Brown

Express Warehousing LLC 705 Sprinkle Ave. Orangeburg, SC 29115 Phone: 803-536-3722

Nilson Van & Storage 6821 N. Main St. Columbia, SC 29203 Phone: 803-786-1090

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Peop

t 14, 2022

At Work

PEOPLE, PLACES AND HAPPENINGS ACROSS THE MIDLANDS

People in the News ACCOUNTING

McGregor & Co. LLC has promoted two staff members to senior staff accountant. Sarah Stribling has worked out of the Columbia office since 2015 after graduating Stribling from The University of Texas at El Paso in December 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She is a member of the South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants and works primarily on Valentine audits of nonprofits and governmental entities. Christy Valentine, CPA, joined the firm in 2019 and also works out of the Columbia office. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2011 with bachelor’s degrees in economics and finance and completed her Master of Accountancy degree from USC in 2019. Valentine is a member of the AICPA and the South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants and works primarily with the tax department on automotive and nonprofits as well as audits for non-profits and 401Ks. McGregor & Co. has offices in Columbia, Orangeburg and Barnwell.

ARCHITECTURE LS3P’s interns this summer are Nehemiah Ashford-Carroll and Madison Dugar. Summer intern Ashford-Carroll is a Harvard University student pursuing a Carroll master of architecture at Harvard University; he holds a bachelor of arts in architecture with a minor in sustainability from Clemson University. Student intern Dugar is pursuing a bachelor Dugar of science in architecture with a minor in creative practice for social change at Washington University in St. Louis; she is co-president of the school’s National Organization of Minority Architects student chapter, art team lead for River City Climate Collective, and events coordinator for the Sam Fox School Black Student Network. Quackenbush Architects + Planners received a 2022 Designworks honorable

mention from the Carolinas chapter of the International Interior Design Association for the interior design of Rosewood Elementary School’s library addition. The 4,480-squarefoot addition includes a reading room with flexible furniture, soft seating, conferencing and workroom/maker space, and office and storage support.

BUSINESS SERVICES For the second consecutive year, David Yezbak won the International Business Brokers Association’s Platinum Chairman’s Circle Award for outstanding perforYezbak mance in 2021. Yezbak, a business broker for more than 23 years, won the Chairman’s Circle Award in 2019. Graduates of the Riley Institute’s Diversity Leaders Initiative’s 14th Midlands class are: Richard Band, trustee, Arras Foundation Mark Barnes, director of administration, South Carolina First Steps Janet Bell, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, South Carolina Department of Mental Health Derek Black, professor of law, University of South Carolina School of Law Jake Broom, chief operating officer, Municipal Association of South Carolina Lisa Brown, director of strategy management, City of Rock Hill John Bruton, attorney, Nexsen Pruet Neal Burkhead, vice president, Palmetto GBA (BlueCross BlueShield) Quinetta Buterbaugh, district manager–government and community relations, Duke Energy Anita Case, chief executive officer, Affinity Health Center Sally Caver, attorney, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Jamie Devine, president and chief executive officer, Community Assistance Provider Stephanie Frazier, assistant general manager, South Carolina Educational Television Doward Harvin, attorney, Sabb Law Group Hannah Honeycutt, executive director, South CarolinaAccess to Justice Commission Todd Jaeck, executive director, South Carolina Education Association Steven Johnson, assistant vice president and deputy general counsel, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Matt Kennell, president and CEO, City Center Partnership

Dan Koon, deputy commissioner for consultative services, South Carolina Human Affairs Commission Ashley Lamb, manager of human resources programs, Robinson Gray Stepp & Lafitte Lasenta Lewis-Ellis, president and CEO, LLE Construction Group Sarah Martin, vice president, partner solutions, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Jack McKenzie, attorney, McDonald, McKenzie, Rubin, Miller & Lybrand Alvin Pressley, superintendent, Newberry County School District Sidney Rex, chief financial officer, W. B. Guimarin & Co. Monty Robertson, director, Alliance for a Healthier South Carolina, South Carolina Hospital Association Ron Scott, attorney, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd Chrysti Shain, director of communications, South Carolina Department of Corrections Kimberly Snipes, Young Lawyers Division & diversity coordinator, South Carolina Bar Roy Still, trustee, Arras Foundation Michael Strange, executive vice president, Security Federal Bank John Thomas, chief diversity officer, Self Regional Healthcare Meghan Walker, executive director, South Carolina State Ethics Commission Since its inception 19 years ago, the initiative has become a cornerstone of the Furman University program. The South Carolina Society for Human Resource Management State Council, in partnership with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, will hold this year’s annual HR conference and strategic academy from September 21 to 23 at Marriott Grande Dunes. Keynote speaker will be Jeff Nally, president of Nally Group.

CONSTRUCTION McCrory Construction has promoted Seth Dunnagan to project manager. He graduated from Clemson University with a degree in environmental engineering Dunnagan and earned his master of business administration at North Carolina State University. The Sefa Group promoted Wiley Blankenship to vice president of Sefa Industrial Solutions from major project manager. Blankenship is responsible for leading the operations of Sefa’s industrial construc-

tion and installation services. Previously, Blankenship served as the comapny’s major projects manager. Before joining SEFA, Blankenship worked for over 30 years as a Blankenship construction professional in estimating, planning, scheduling, system turnover, and management.

EDUCATION Power:Ed, a philanthropy of South Carolina Student Loan, has awarded $50,000 to the Midlands Technical College Foundation for the college’s QuickJobs programs. The training programs, which last from one day to 14 months, prepare students for careers in such areas as business, health care, information technology, skilled trades, and advanced manufacturing. In addition, the college received the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations’ Gold Paragon Award in recognition of its summer 2021 training guide, produced by the marketing communications department. MTC was the only South Carolina technical college to take home a top-level Gold Award. The undergraduate operations and supply chain program at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business now ranks No. 3 in North America, according to global research firm Gartner. That’s a leap of two spots from the 2020 biennial list and 10 spots from the 2018 list. Gartner ranks the top 25 universities according to their program scope, industry value, and program size.

ENGINEERING Alexander Barr and Michele Ziehl have joined Stantec’s transportation development practice. Barr, a transportation engineer, brings more than four years of experience in transportation engineering, including roadway design, intersection improvements, and traffic safety. Ziehl, a structural engineer, brings more than seven years of experience in bridge design and bridge inspection services.

FINANCIAL SERVICES South Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company contracted with Ian Headley to serve as an agent in its Richland office. Before joining Farm Bureau

Headley See PITN, Page 22

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July 18 - August 14, 2022

People in the News PITN, from Page 21

Insurance, Headley spent 18 years in the political arena, private sector, and insurance industry. He holds a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of South Carolina.

HEALTH CARE Brett Meredith is Prisma Health Midlands Foundation’s new executive director. Meredith has more than 35 years of experience in public service, organizaMeredith tional management, and nonprofit leadership, most recently as chief executive officer of Community Food Bank of Central Alabama. In addition, Joanna Dyches has joined the foundation Dyches as manager, events. She had been a public relations specialist for the City of Charlotte. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program cited Prisma Health Richland Hospital for meeting rigorous standards for nursing excellence. Richland is the fifth Prisma Health hospital to receive Magnet recognition.

LAW Samantha E. Albrecht, an employment lawyer, has joined Burnette Shutt & McDaniel. She represents clients in a range of employment law Albrecht cases, including discrimination, wrongful termination and more. Her education law practice has included fighting for victims of school bullying and battling Title IX discrimination in collegiate sports. Her practice also includes civil rights law and whistleblower cases. Albrecht earned her bachelor’s in political science from Northern Illinois University and her juris doctor, cum laude, at the Northern Illinois University College of Law. Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd’s Ron Scott was elected to a three-year term on the board of directors for the South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society. Scott serves on the boards for Prisma

Health–Midlands, Prisma Health Richland Memorial Hospital, and the Midlands Education and Business Alliance. His practice focuses on public finance, Scott planning and zoning, local government and economic development matters. He also serves as bond counsel to housing developers for low-income–housing projects assisted through state and federal tax credits and as issuer’s counsel to local public housing authorities for private activity housing revenue bonds. Joseph Spate, an associate with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, graduated from the 2022 South Carolina Bar Leadership Academy. His practice focuses on Spate business litigation. Spate represents clients in matters involving contracts, business torts, consumer lending, products liability, and construction defects. Robinson Gray Stepp & Laffitte has received the South Carolina Bar 2022 Pro Bono Award for service to the community in 2021. The South Carolina Bar’s Young Lawyers Division raised $25,548 for food banks across the state as part of its virtual fundraising event, the SC Legal Feeding Frenzy. The event’s 2022 President’s Cup, which recognizes the law firm or legal organization team with the highest average individual donation, went to Clawson & Staubes, which had an average individual donation of $143.12.

MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Flock and Rally has brought in graphic designer and artist Cait Maloney as senior art director. Having worked as an agency contractor since 2014, Maloney Maloney now leads the firm’s art direction while continuing her graphic design work.

NONPROFIT Harvest Hope Food Bank has six interns this summer. Brittany Myers and Jaylin Madison are on the advocacy and marketing team; Brandon Brown,

John Alao, Rochelle Jadotte, and Trinita Geathers are on the information technology team. All are working throughout Harvest Hope’s 20 counties. Kara Gormley Meador has joined the Original Six Foundation as executive director. Gormley Meador, a former journalist and broadcast anchor, Meador has more than 25 years of communications experience—most recently as director of media and content strategy at NP Strategy where she provided communications and marketing assistance to global, regional and local businesses, nonprofits, and foundations. Gormley Meador took on the role after former executive director, Nikki Hood, announced she was leaving the position. Family Connection of South Carolina’s board of directors now includes Monty Robertson, who has served as the lead for multiple population health initiatives in the state. Robertson Currently, he works at the South Carolina Hospital Association as the director of the Alliance for a Healthier South Carolina. Senior Resources received a $10,000 donation from Aflac to support its Meals on Wheels program, which delivers meals to more than 600 homebound, food-insecure elderly and disabled residents of Richland County. The new chair of Welvista’s board of directors is William “Bo” McMillan. He succeeds Brian Blackwelder, who continues to serve on the board after retiring as acting chairMcMillan man for the past two years. McMillan is the president and chief executive officer of Kar Kleen Wash Systems; he served as mayor of Mullins for eight years. Myra Reece, Director of Environmental Affairs for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, has been named the new president of the Environmental Council of

Reece

the States and is expected to serve in this role until fall 2023. Reece, who has been serving as the vice president since fall 2021, is assuming the leadership role early as the previous president, Ben Grumbles of Maryland, now ECOS executive director. ECOS is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders who work together to improve the capability of state environmental agencies to protect and improve human health and the environment.

REAL ESTATE Matthew Pollard has joined Colliers South Carolina as a senior brokerage associate in its Columbia office. His focus is office and medical tenant reprePollard sentation and property acquisition. Before joining Colliers, Pollard worked in banking, primarily as a commercial banker. Peyton Bryant is now a partner and director of business development in Trinity Partners’ Columbia office. Bryant has closed more than $155 million in sales Bryant and leases during his brokerage career. At Trinity he is responsible for sourcing opportunities for the firm’s brokerage and property management divisions. Charley Mac has joined Carter Realtors. Mac has more than a decade of experience with listings and sales. Prior to entering real estate, he created, owned, Mac and operated an international pizza company with more than 1,300 locations.

RETAIL John Isgett, president of Raceway Ford and Chevrolet, has been elected president of the South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association for 2022–2023. Isgett has Isgett served on the association’s board of directors since 2009, when he was first elected as director of the Pee Dee district.

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Viewpoint

VIEWS, PERSPECTIVES AND READERS’ LETTERS

Gas prices are putting the squeeze on consumers and small businesses nationwide, while oil industry profits soar. (Illustration/File)

Blame Big Oil, now laughing all the way to the bank

hile the price on gas has dropped over the past few weeks and can even be bought for just under $4 a gallon, the consumer is still not happy. Small business owners are paying more for everything with much of the increased cost, one way or another, due to higher gas and diesel prices. And, of course, the small businesses have to pass their higher gas-induced costs on to you, the consumer. The blame for these gas prices is being largely placed on President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats. They are running everything in Washington, aren’t they? Well, they are not, but that is another issue. Consider this: Neither the president nor any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, has voted to raise gas prices. Yes, there has been bipartisan support

of Ukraine in its battle against the Russian invasion, support that has included agreement to stop buying Russian oil. Most consumers understand that some of the increased cost of gas stems from this publicly backed foreign policy. Refinery capacity is down, which also adds to the problem especially when the summer vacations are causing an increased demand for gas. So, what happens if tomorrow we flipped the presidency and control of the U.S. House and Senate. What would change regarding gas prices? Nothing. Congress could pass a federal gas tax holiday until the end of the year that would cut about 18 cents off a gallon of gas. President Biden has proposed a threemonth suspension of the gas tax but there is bipartisan opposition in Congress in spite of how popular the proposal is with Americans. A different president could release more oil from the nation’s strategic reserve, but Biden has already done much of that. What is dumbfounding then is why does the American public want to blame

Washington? Yet, there is no public outrage for the folks who are responsible for raising the price of a gallon of gas — the oil industry. Oil industry profits were up nearly 300% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year! (As of this writing, second quarter data is not available.) We are talking about profit after taking into consideration their expenses and write downs due to exiting their business in Russia. Have the oil companies used any of this obscene profit to keep the gas prices as low as possible while still making a decent profit? Of course not! Instead, the oil companies are doing what all giant corporations do when they receive a windfall (as they did in 2018 after getting a 40% tax rate cut from Congress). They use the money primarily for buying back their own stocks, increasing their value to the benefits of their shareholders and executives. Where is the public outrage? If there is finger-pointing to be done on high gas prices, it should be directed to the businesses that are greedily jacking

up their prices to make higher profits. Not the gas station owner. The oil companies. If the president and members of both political parties are to blame, it is because they are not calling out Big Oil enough. President Biden has started doing just that and Big Oil responded by bringing down the price of gas just a little. Congress can do more by passing legislation for a windfall profits tax on Big Oil with the revenue given back to consumers. The disconnect between a major cause of high gas prices and who is being blamed is clear. And the oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank. Frank Knapp of Columbia is president and CEO of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce.

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