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VOLUME 24 NUMBER 3 ■ GSABUSINESS.COM

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Driving into a new season

Greenville baseball team operators supplement lost season with events. Page 13

TOWERING STRENGTH

Genetic services in demand

Greenwood Genetic Center secures grant to help meet rising expectations. Page 6

Model engineers Clemson engineers encourage STEM for minority students. Page 12

Unemployment

Additional federal benefits begin reaching Palmetto State in January. Page 11

INSIDE

Leading Off........................... 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 C-Suite................................. 4 In Focus: Banking and Finance.............................. 17 LIST: Banks......................... 18 At Work...............................22 Viewpoint............................23

Report: Greenville to be decade’s most resilient county Growth, costs bode well for the 2020s. See page 8.

Team designs bridges, light poles from turbine blades By Molly Hulsey

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

ind farmers face a colossal quandary that is only growing with the size of turbine blades, some that are now almost the length of a football field. Turbine blades have a maximum life span of 25 years, according to Russell Gentry, director of Georgia Institute of Technology’s Master of Science program in architecture and principal investigator of Project Re-Wind, an American-Irish-Northern Irish partnership seeking to bring new life to retired blades. Today, thousands of blades are being decommissioned after an eight or 15-year career as engineers are discovering that longer blades boost airflow and air resistance. The fiber-reinforced polymer used in the

massive blades — many reaching almost 165 feet long — is expensive, nonbiodegradable and, so far, not recyclable. “Unfortunately, they’re leaving a lot of wind blade turbines out there with no additional use,” said Vikash Patel, one of the founders of Greenville-based supply chain management firm, Logisticus Group. Often, it costs wind farmers $300 to $500 a ton just to dispose of the blades in a landfill even at their present size, Gentry said. “The upkeep and maintenance of wind energy assets is a huge issue because these turbines go into service for 25-plus years and no big machine runs forever,” he said. And that doesn’t even include the expenses incurred from transporting and grinding up the decommissioned blades — which is where Logisticus steps in to serve wind farms across

In Focus

Leading the charge

One analyst tells why he thinks Spartanburg is poised for roaring back. Page 17

the country. The company has been searching for a way to make this process more cost-effective and sustainable for clients. “Already, we’ve seen a certain percentage of them shift from a landfill to renewable sources, and right now the major solution that’s kind of on the docket is using them in cement, so there’s a large portion of the blades that are now moving down that path,” Patel told GSA Business Report. He estimated that in 2020, 90% of all blades were trucked to the landfill. The new year has brought that percentage down to 25%. Most of these solutions are what industry professionals call “down grading.” The blades might be ground up or melted down to be used as filler in a concrete countertop or as See TURBINES, Page 14

Leading Off

BRIEFS | FACTS | STATEWIDE NEWS | C-SUITE

A LA CARTE

Are you planning to get the vaccine?

BASF team members delivered 125 meals

his question is bouncing around businesses and homes across South Carolina as people struggle with not only figuring out if they can get the coronavirus vaccine at this

ees at Prisma Health Oconee County Me-

moment, but if they should. What happens if they don’t? Will their employer mandate getting jabbed, something SC Biz News has explored with the help of a few labor attorneys.

morial Hospital. Elba Lizardi, site director

Whether you’re in the group that wants the shot or the group that isn’t sure, what’s clear from a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology analysis of South Carolinians

for BASF in Seneca, said it was to salute

shows that if you’re in Greenville County, you’re more likely to be looking for the shot than residents in other counties, such as Union County, where the 59.6% who say they will

the steadfast healthcare employees.

from Kentucky Fried Chicken to employ-

take the vaccine is among the lowest in the state.

MIT used data from Carnegie Mellon University’s Delphi Lab, which is working with Facebook and the CDC to analyze attitudes during the pandemic. The research took place during the first two weeks of January 2021. The researchers used data from surveys from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pew Research Center to verify their own results.

TAKEAWAYS

59%

77,186,384

48%

92%

The good news is, unlike neighboring N.C. or Georgia, the lowest county in South Carolina dipped just below 59%. Georgia hit 51.5% and N.C. hit 52.0%

The MIT data show that 25% of Americans would not accept the vaccine if it were available to them at this moment. That’s around 77 million people.

Terrebonne Parish, La., owns the stats for the lowest acceptance rate for the vaccine. Of course, this could change as more data and information becomes available to those in the Bayou State.

Residents of Arlington County, Va., aren’t shunning the vaccine. The county has the highest percentage of people lining up to get the jab.

Gretta McCall’s “Blue Ridge Thicket” is one

Will you get the shot in these South Carolina’s counties?

Vaccine attitudes across the Southeast

More than 60% of residents in 19 of South Carolina’s 46 counties said they would get the shot today if it was available. Researchers used nearby data for counties with fewer than 100 respondents, which is why 26 counties have rates of 59.6%.

The Southeast has the county with the highest acceptance rate in the U.S. for the coronavirus vaccine and the county with the lowest acceptance rate. Welcome to the dichotomy of the South.

COUNTY Charleston Richland Greenville Greenwood Laurens Spartanburg Anderson Oconee Pickens Cherokee Union

LIKELY TO GET THE SHOT 78.1% 68.2% 67.6% 65.1% 64.0% 62.3% 62.2% 61.7% 61.5% 59.6% 59.6%

STATE Virginia North Carolina Kentucky Florida Tennessee South Carolina Louisiana Arkansas Georgia Alabama Mississippi

HIGHEST 92.4%* 87.7% 82.5% 81.0% 80.0% 78.1% 78.0% 77.1% 76.7% 75.2% 70.8%

LOWEST 66.1% 52.0% 64.2% 59.5% 58.6% 58.9% 48.4%* 61.4% 51.5% 56.4% 59.3%

*Denotes highest and lowest percentages in the U.S.

Sources: MIT, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Carnegie Mellon University, Facebook

ON THE

RECORD

of more than 100 pieces of art that will be part of AC Hotel by Marriott Greenville Downtown showcase of local artists. More than 30 artists will be in Art at AC Greenville.

Infinity Marketing strengthened its partnership with the Cancer Survivors

“The Greenville market is a very strong market. There’s no question about it.”

Park Alliance through campaign support and the addition of Cassie Thompson to the alliance’s board of directors. Infinity

— Dan Doyle, COO and senior vice president of The Beach Co.

is providing a variety of marketing tactics for the organization’s upcoming capital campaign.

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CHARLESTON

Charleston Regional Business Journal

Trident Tech’s $1 million Truist grant to develop new transportation and logistics center

he Truist Foundation has given a $1 million grant to Trident Technical College, setting plans into motion for the college’s new Truist Transportation and Logistics Center at its Berkeley campus in Moncks Corner. This is the first part in Trident Tech’s multiphase plan for renovation of its 38-yearold campus into a high-tech training facility. The entire project will cost $32 million. “This grant is a wonderful beginning of a very large renovation,” said Meg Howle, Trident Tech’s vice president for advancement. “We’re so appreciative that we’ve got this initial funding, and it’ll go a long way, but there’s so much more that the workforce training needs.” The grant was given on a one-time basis. Truist Market President Mark Lattanzio said Trident Technical College was chosen because its goals aligned with the foundation’s core values. “We focus ourselves on four pillars, one being building career pathways to economic mobility, which is what we’ve seen Trident Technical College do in the past with its nursing program,…the aeronautical training center,” Lattanzio said. “They’re once again providing education and training for a workforce that, as we’ve seen especially in the pandemic, desperately needs workers.” In space that has opened up since the creation of Trident Tech’s aeronautical training center, the college will use funds to provide a nine-week course in commercial driver’s license training beginning this fall. Broken into three segments of classroom learning, practicing on campus property, then driving on the real road, the program aims to start a new cohort of students every three weeks. The pace is meant to put people to work quickly and immediately, said Cathy Almquist, Trident Tech’s vice president for education. Though rigorous, the program will be offered during the daytime and evenings, with financial aid options available to students, regardless of whether they’re taking it for credit. “There simply are not enough drivers out there in CDL, so this is going to be a place where we can fill a desperate need on both ends of the spectrum,” Almquist said. “There are people who need to get a good-paying job as soon as possible, and meanwhile, we’ve got employers all through our three counties that are desperate for CDL drivers.” BEST ADVICE Bobby Cummings, founder, president Cummings Wealth Management

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By Teri Errico Griffis

More consolidation Cummins to bring Memphis operations to North Charleston facility. Page 5

Still cooking

S.C. chef ambassadors to serve a second year. Page 2

Part of the

tgriffis@scbiznews.com

principal, Pernice Adams, offered a life-changing intervention. Adams encouraged the teen to apply her skill set toward pre-engineering classes and connected her with a teacher that could provide hands-on experience. Austin admits she’d never heard of engineering before then. “You don’t necessarily have to see where you’re going in order to go, though,” she said of taking that first class. Trident Technical College plans to use space at the college’s Berkeley campus to provide a course for commercial driver training. (Photo/File)

Work rewarded

Columbia Chamber honors businesses, projects. Page 8

DETAIL WORK Columbia consultant does the research that leads to the finished product for historic projects

New tenant

Midway Logistics VI leases space to Home Depot. Page 10

Store closing

Walmart shuttering location on Bush River Road. Page 11

INSIDE

Upfront ................................ 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 In Focus: Architecture, Engineering and Construction .......................................... 13 List: Architecture Firms ...... 14 At Work .............................. 21 Viewpoint ...........................23

By Melinda Waldrop

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

anie Campbell is the woman with the answers — even when they aren’t necessarily what clients want to hear. Campbell, preservation consultant with Columbia law firm Rogers Lewis, is often the first stop for owners and developers seeking historic tax credits for upcoming projects. She’s their guide through a labyrinth of painstaking paperwork and bureaucratic red tape, but she also often serves as a dispenser of cold reality. “I always joke that I am simultaneously the most loved and hated person in any project, because I’m the one who does all the work to get the money, but I also call myself the dream crusher,” Campbell said. “People are like, ‘We want to have exposed brick this and exposed

ceilings that,’ and I’m like, ‘Nope. Historically it had pressed-tin ceilings, so that’s what you have to use,’ or ‘You need to restore the plaster, not remove it.’ But often, what becomes the most problematic part of a project, for whatever reason, ends up being the coolest feature when it debuts.” The projects Campbell has spearheaded include Hotel Trundle, winner of state preservation awards and featured in Southern Living magazine’s Hotel Collection since its 2018 opening, and the Hunter-Gatherer at Curtiss-Wright Hangar, which transformed a 1,300-square-foot former airplane hangar into the second location of a popular downtown brew pub in 2018. She’s currently part of the team bringing to life the latest vision of Columbia developer Scott Middleton, the man behind the transformation of the 1600 block of Main Street into an enclave of enter-

tainment and dining options. Smoked, a restaurant which will offer smoked oysters and meats as well as microbrews, is being carved from the circa-1872 buildings at 1639-1643 Main St. It will join Middleton properties including restaurant and boutique bowling alley The Grand and Main Course, which features a live music venue and immersive gaming bays. “This is kind of our first venture into just a solo restaurant,” Middleton said during a December sneak peek at the property. “The 1600 block is becoming a destination place for entertainment and also for food. These buildings here have been in need of renovation and in need of repair for a long time.” The upscale casual restaurant, slated to be completed in early August, will occupy three See RESEARCH, Page 17

Room to grow

Boyd Foundation Building to expand Sandhills School’s capabilities. Page 18

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Bringing representation into STEM sector

Janie Campbell (far left and inset) explains historic photos related to Smoked, a new project planned for 1639-1643 Main Street. (Photo/Melinda Waldrop)

By design

Charleston’s new architect immersing herself in design of historic city. Page 8

New era

Chernoff Newman restructures, sees shifts in executive leadership team. Page 11

INSIDE

Upfront ................................ 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 Best Advice .......................... 4 In Focus: Architecture, Engineering and Construction ............... 13 List: Engineering Firms ......24 At Work ..............................29 Viewpoint ........................... 31

WINTER 2020

See ENGINEERING, Page 6

Home office tax deductions require more than COVID

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Metal merger

Summerville metal company purchased by New Yorkbased company. Page 7

She described the moment she fell in love with engineering as a literal light bulb moment — connecting wires and batteries in class to make her first bulb illuminate. Today, Austin has carried that passion into a senior operations manager at General Electric and is one of two Clemson alumni being honored at the BEYA STEM Global Compet-

MOVING STUFF

Trident Technical College receives $1 million foundation grant for the Truist Transportation and Logistics Center, the first part of a multiphase plan to renovate the 38-year-old Berkeley campus into a training facility for high-demand jobs. Page 10

tgriffis@scbiznews.com

he IRS may have pushed the start of tax season to Feb. 12, but it’s never too early to start preparing — especially if you’re thinking about writing off your home office as a tax deduction. Millions of Americans have been forced to work from home for most of 2020 because of the pandemic shutdowns, but that doesn’t mean W2 workers can suddenly claim their home office — especially when it’s a makeshift set up on your dining room table, local tax professionals said. With the Targeted Jobs and Tax Cut Act of 2018, W2 employees can no longer write off their home office, said Clint Hulsey, tax director at Atlantic Coast Tax & Accounting Inc. in West Ashley. “It used to be that if you worked for an employer and had a W2 from them, and worked from home some of the time and out of that office, you were able to deduct some of those expenses, even working on behalf of your employer,” Hulsey said. “Things changed with the new tax laws in 2018.” While some may be disappointed they can’t

Get in touch

Home grown Consumer demand for local food surges as pandemic alters eating habits

See HOME, Page 9

CHARLESTON UNDER CONSTRUCTION Who is building what in the Charleston area? Projects, companies, prices, projected timelines, photos and stories. Page 13

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ANMED HEALTH EXPERT ANSWERS TOP COVID-19 VIRUS QUESTIONS How has AnMed Health coped with COVID-19? AnMed Health enacted an Incident Command System (ICS) a month before we had our first case of COVID-19. We have adjusted policies, staffing, and have canceled elective surgeries on multiple occasions in response to the pandemic. Overnight, we adopted Telehealth technologies to deliver telemedicine services. We evaluate new information daily, and the ICS synthesizes it and continues to develop the next steps to move us forward. If there is one good takeaway from the pandemic, it is that we are working collaboratively with colleagues across the state and country in one big group effort to share best practices to defeat this virus Talk to us about the hospital capacity. In the past two weeks, we have set records for both the number and percentage of patients with COVID in the hospital. We’re running out of room to put people, and also running low on staff to take care of everyone who is sick. Thanks to the dedication and teamwork of our staff, we’ve been able to manage this influx, but we are close to capacity. We urge everyone to continue to do what they can to prevent the spread of infection through mask wearing, social distancing, and washing hands often. How did the influx of COVID patients affect visitation policies? The COVID impact on visitation is a nightmare for patients, families, and staff alike. To stem the spread of disease, we have had to limit visitation

Michael Seemuller, MD; Chief Quality Officer or eliminate it. This causes problems with communication between the team and families and also deprives patients of what they sometimes need most – support and advocacy of a loved one. To lessen the impact on our patients and families, we have added more staff to make calls to family members with updates and we have added more technology to allow patients to visit “virtually” with loved ones whenever possible. Our staff has stepped up in all kinds of incredible ways to support patients. In one case, our ICU nurses arranged for their patient to stand at his window so he could see and wave to his loved ones in the parking lot below.

Let’s talk about the vaccine? Have you received it? I received the first dose of the vaccine three weeks ago and I will get my booster dose this Friday. I encourage all of my colleagues, friends, family, and patients to get it. The vaccine has been proven to be very effective and very safe for most adults. Getting our community vaccinated is the most important tool we have for overcoming this pandemic and returning to more normal life. What vaccine did AnMed Health receive? We received the Pfizer product just before Christmas and began distributing to staff a few days after getting it. Let’s talk about what your new role of Chief Quality Officer means for AnMed Health? Taking care of patients and serving our community is such an awesome responsibility that we have at AnMed Health. I have enjoyed overseeing the outpatient quality structure for several years now and intend to use that experience to optimize all aspects of the care we deliver. Many of our departments have dedicated staff with great potential. With the right coordination, a focus on service to others, and striving for continuous process improvement, we can go from a good hospital system to a great hospital system. I look forward to the challenge and the opportunity.

Sponsored Content

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February 8 - February 21, 2021

The CBRE study compared a county’s forclosure risk with its concentration of high debt-to-income conventional mortgage orginations in 2019. Only counties with 1,000 originations are shown. (Map/Provided)

Analyists also weighed in on the number of STEM students that graduate from four-year universities at least 50 miles from each county. School acceptance rates are shown on the heat map here. (Map/Provided)

Report: Greenville to be decade’s most resilient county By Molly Hulsey

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

When The Beach Co. commissioned Australian mural artist Guido van Helten to add local flair to what would become the keystone of its Canvas development, its development company’s leadership team gave van Helten free rein with the project. It was a leap of faith, COO and Senior Vice President Dan Doyle said. As he did with the rest of the city, van Helten kept the developer in the dark about the subject that would grace the façade of the 18,900-square-foot former BB&T office building until just before the installation, but Doyle had full confidence the internationally-acclaimed artist would deliver after he spent weeks scouting out the right story to tell. “We didn’t know what he was going to do there, and that’s part of his process,” Doyle said. “But really, when you’re dealing with very creative people, you entrust them with the ability to go ahead and do what they do best.” After 704 hours working high above the street below with a paintbrush, van Helton revealed local teaching icon Pearlie Harris, once the only Black teacher at an all-white school during the segregation era, surrounded by local students as the Canvas centerpiece. “It was a phenomenal result,” Doyle said, adding that the company was very pleased with the mural’s message on “importance of education and the ability for our children to have an education no matter their background — rich, poor or whatever the case may be (and) how important that is to our future.” With demand for multi-family housing, retail and office space plummeting across the country during 2020, The Beach Co.’s “significant and sizable investment” — used to renovate 130,000-square-feet of office space, lay the groundwork for 31 future townho-

“Greenville County has become a high-growth area due to its widerange of manufacturers, prime Southeast location, low cost of living, great transportation and large talent pipeline.” Steve Smith Greenville County managing director, CBRE

Despite a national hit to the single family and retail real estate markets, Canvas Loft developer The Beach Co. and brokerage partner CBRE believe that Greenville Co. has strong rebound potential. (Photo/Molly Hulsey)

mes, and to lease 48 luxury apartments and almost 21,000 square feet of retail space — may have been a gamble. Still, despite a rocky start, the next decade looks bright in the Greenville market, and Doyle is convinced The Beach Co. bet on the right horse. “It does go back a number of years,” Doyle said of Greenville’s healthy market, “and it follows our philosophy, not only looking at Greenville as a market, but really similar markets throughout the Southeast. … These are all areas over the course of the past 10 years, that have really seen significant growth of population and not only that in job growth, in manufacturing

and technology, medical care and so forth — all major drivers of growth.” CBRE, The Beach Co.’s brokerage partner on the Canvas project, recently named Greenville one of the 11 most resilient counties in the country for the next decade. The corporate site selection study took into account population size and growth, public transit dependence, housing costs and foreclosure risks, the workforce pipeline from universities, airport access, fiscal health and risks from natural disasters. “Site selection for companies is a highly specific and individualized process,” Tedd Carrison, senior financial analyst of

CBRE’s Location Incentives Group, said in the report’s announcement. “Dense cities and coastal hubs always will be well positioned job markets, often due to established talent bases, innovation networks, cultural amenities and other important considerations. But smaller markets may be increasingly appealing as we continue into the next decade, and they should not be overlooked as viable options for many companies and projects.” Greenville County, Boise’s Ada County, Idaho; Spokane County, Wash.; Kansas City’s Johnson County, Kan.; Knoxville’s Knox County, Tenn.; Davis County, Utah; Omaha’s Douglas County, Neb; Des Moines’ Polk County, Iowa; Indianapolis’ Hamilton County; Grand Rapid’s Kent County, Mich.; and Franklin County, Ohio, were the only locations left after CBRE researchers filtered all U.S. counties based on the team’s resilience criteria. “Greenville County has become a high-growth area due to its wide-range of manufacturers, prime Southeast location, low cost of living, great transportation, and large talent pipeline,” Steve Smith, managing director of Greenville’s CBRE office, said in the report’s press release. “The area’s strong market fundamentals will help it continue to be resilient

February 8 - February 21, 2021

throughout 2021.” Greenville County’s role as a manufacturing hub and workforce pipeline from local technical schools played a crucial role in boosting its resiliency during the study. And out of all the 11 counties listed —barring Knox County — Greenville claimed the lowest housing costs at 25% below the national average. This is despite the fact that the county’s

www.gsabusiness.com 9

contractor is continuing to work on, The Beach Co. was also the vision behind South Ridge and the 292-apartment Main and Stone mixed-use communities. Part of the growth could be attributed to the city’s affordable housing prices relative to other parts of the country, including downtown Charleston and Nashville — though he said housing prices were not extraordinarily low compared to most of The Beach

“When you’re dealing with very creative people, you entrust them with the ability to go ahead and do what they do best.” Dan Doyle COO and vice president, The Beach Co.

bustling population density is 667 residents per square mile and its annual per capita housing construction rate is more than twice the national average. In 2019, an estimated 88 housing units for every 10,000 county residents were delivered to the market. That didn’t come as a surprise to Doyle, who is no stranger to Greenville’s residential market. Aside from the 31 townhomes Creative Builders will break ground on this month and a mixed-use complex the Greenville

Co.’s other Southeastern markets. “A lot of that is driven by what may be lower housing costs and greater affordability,” Doyle said of Greenville’s rapid growth. “So over time, that’s gradually ratcheted up to where we are today.” Especially during a pandemic-driven exodus from the larger cities over the last year. “We have seen that over the past 10 years,” he said. “And I think it will only happen at a much more rapid pace in the years to come. We’re seeing that first-

CBRE is managing the approximately 21,000 square feet of retail space at the Canvas development in partnershp with The Beach Co. (Photo/Molly Hulsey)

hand, whether that’s here in Charleston, in Greenville or other markets that we’re in throughout the Southeast.” Tenancy in The Beach Co.’s Greenville apartments has remained steady despite the country’s swerve toward a single-family market over the past year and the company is scouting out similar mixed-development opportunities in downtown Spartanburg. And though the office market still

remains slow, Doyle’s glad that Mashburn Construction and The Beach Co.’s development team will breathe new life into the structure as it reaches completion in the coming months. “The Greenville market is a very strong market,” he said. “There’s no question about it.” Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

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February 8 - February 21, 2021

www.gsabusiness.com 11

Additional federal unemployment benefits begin reaching S.C. Staff Report

gsanews@scbiznews.com

s the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce began paying a second extended federal unemployment benefit, initial unemployment claims filed in South Carolina since March 15, 2020 topped 825,000. On Jan. 11, DEW began issuing payments to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants who had exhausted their 39 weeks of benefits. The agency began paying extended Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits the previous week. The PUA extension, made available through the Continued Assistance Act passed Dec. 27, 2020, will provide an additional 11 weeks of benefits. Individuals receiving benefits as part of this extension will also get the $300 FPUC weekly supplement, according to the agency. “After implementing the $300 FPUC payment to South Carolinians in record time, we are now pleased to announce we have begun the PUA extension program less than a week later,” Dan Ellzey, DEW executive director, said in a news

release. “This will provide benefits to people who are self-employed or those who were found ineligible for state unemployment insurance benefits. Knowing that the holidays and expiration of the CARES Act funds have put a strain on people throughout our state, our agency continues to work extremely hard to initiate the new programs.” On Jan. 22, DEW began paying out Pandemic Unemployment Emergency

ing the implementation of Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation. For the week ending Jan. 16, 6,683 initial claims were filed, down 1,952 from the 8,635 filed the previous week. Since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the state in March, 825,538 initial claims have been filed in the state. For the week ending Jan. 16, Greenville County saw a state-high 589 claims filed, while Horry County had 580 and

“As an agency we are continuously looking for new, innovative ways to allow claimants to feel connected to and invested in their claim’s process.” Dan Ellzey Executive Director, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce

Compensation benefits, available to those who have exhausted all regular state benefits. Those initial payouts pushed the state past $5 billion, or an average of $500 million every month, in state and federal benefits paid since March 15. DEW is continuing to receive U.S. Department of Labor guidance regard-

Richland County 459. Berkeley County had 401, Spartanburg County 398, Charleston County 344 and Lexington County 290. Nationally, 900,000 initial claims were filed, down 26,000 from the previous week. For the week ending Jan. 9, 8,635 initial claims were filed, a decrease of

693 from the previous week. Last month, DEW launched a new mobile app that will allow users to certify their weekly unemployment claims and monitor their claim status. The free, downloadable app lets users complete weekly certification requirements from their smartphones. Claimants can also check claim status and payment history as well as see documents and correspondence from DEW. “We are very excited about bringing this app to life,” Ellzey said. “As an agency we are continuously looking for new, innovative ways to allow claimants to feel connected to and invested in their claim’s process. “This is just one more way the agency is leveraging technology to improve the user experience.” Ellzey said more features will be added to the app, which can be found by searching for “SC DEW” app in users’ app stores. Notifications can be enabled to allow updates on program news, deadlines and requirements. For now, initial claims will still need be submitted and documents uploaded via computer or mobile internet browser at dew.sc.gov, the agency said.

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February 8 - February 21, 2021

Bringing representation into STEM careers By Teri Errico Griffis

tgriffis@scbiznews.com

rowing up, Wysheka Austin loved drawing, and excelled in math and science. But she had no idea how to translate those skills into a career. She considered architecture. With few resources at home to guide her, Austin turned to her career center where her principal, Pernice Adams, offered a life-changing intervention. Adams encouraged the teen to apply her skill set toward pre-engineering classes and connected her with a teacher that could provide hands-on experience. Austin admits she’d never heard of engineering before then. “You don’t necessarily have to see where you’re going in order to go, though,” she said of taking that first class. She described the moment she fell in love with engineering as a literal Austin light bulb moment — connecting wires and batteries in class to make her first bulb illuminate. Today, Austin has carried that passion into a Myers senior operations manager at General Electric and is one of two Clemson alumni being honored at the BEYA STEM Global Competitive conference — an annual event that recognizes Black engineers of the year. On Feb. 12, she will receive the Science Spectrum Trailblazer Award, while Oliver Myers, an associate dean at Clemson since 2020, will accept the Dr. Eugene Deloatch Legacy Award. “It’s OK to not really know what you want to do. I can’t say I had it figured out on day one or even day two,” she said. “But don’t limit yourself in your ability because you’re a woman or underrepresented, because you have an identity that’s different from most or any other identifying factors that aren’t the standard.” A first-generation college graduate, Austin earned her Bachelor of Science in engineering in 2011 and, right out of college, she was accepted into GE’s Operational Management Leadership Program. Austin remains with the company today as a combustion repair cell leader at GE Power Systems in Greenville.

“Anyone can tell a child they can be what they want, but it carries more weight if that person looks like them.” Rev. Bill Stanfield CEO, Metanoia

Oliver Myers, right, and Brandon Williams work with some of the smart material they have developed at Clemson University. (Photo/Clemson University)

Through GE, she earned her master’s degree in supply chain management from Penn State and is now pursuing her Ph.D. in engineering and science at Clemson — a degree she said not enough Black women pursue. Her career is a far different future than the one she envisioned as a teen. She only hopes she now can serve as an example for other students of color to follow, those from low-income areas who lack early exposure to STEM opportunities and have no understanding of how to connect skills to careers.

STEM stars in schools

In Charleston, a capable population is available to fill jobs in a booming STEM economy, said the Rev. Bill Stanfield, CEO of Metanoia. But the region lacks the bridge to connect the two — and he says that reformation

challenge to doing business. Without finding quality people to fill jobs in communities, businesses can’t grow and a cycle of generational poverty — one that a good job can turn around — continues for families. “There’s plenty of unmatched, unacknowledged, undiscovered potential within communities of color in our region, and we’re all suffering from that not being brought forth and discovered,” he said. As part of her commitment to bring more representation to the field, Austin helps GE recruit underrepresented talent. She regularly visits colleges, providing personal insight into what it’s like working as an engineer and how she made the transition into leadership. Her hope is to inspire other women of color while also pinpointing weaknesses in the education system and demonstrating how small

“It all goes back to school and resources ... This is why early exposure is so important and why it’s important to capture children in that middle-school age. ” Wysheka Austin senior operations manager, General Electric

starts with the schools. “Charleston for so long has had two education systems,” he said. “One that works for whiter, wealthier residents of our district and one that really, by any measure of data, is not working for people of color, low-income folks in our region.” Before the pandemic, unemployment reached record lows with businesses across South Carolina consistently listing hiring as a common

interventions can create large effects of change. After all, it was her principal’s nudge that veered her career course on this unimaginable path. “I look at where I am and where I’m positioned in this industry and also in academia with a Ph.D., and I think about how do I bridge that gap?” Austin said. “How do I give my community someone to look up to or at least have a futuristic idea of, ‘Hey, that’s

what an engineer looks like. I can ask her about engineering things, versus just how to get a standard job.’” Stanfield said it’s on everyone to fix the region’s educational system and better prepare young people of color to get into those opportunities. To get there, however, there needs to be a stronger will to change and the desire to genuinely listen to those who aren’t being served by the current system. His own backyard is an ideal place to start. Where Stanfield lives in North Charleston, students attend failing schools. Though they make A and B grades, they still fail on the state tests, he said. “It all goes back to school and resources. … This is why early exposure is so important and why it’s important to capture children in that middle-school range,” Austin said. Gov. Henry McMaster’s recent emphasis on early childhood education is encouraging for Stanfield, but it takes more than just exposure to make an engineer, he said. “I can go to an NBA game once a week, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to play professional basketball,” he said. “We need to get serious about building the educational progress pipeline for students so that even as we create opportunities for them to be inspired by and think about those STEM careers, they have the right environment that is going to give them what they need to move into those careers and be successful.” As the only female Black student in her Ph.D. classes, Austin thinks there is still so much more progress to be realized. But she is proud to be an example, to lead the way for young students — girls especially — who, like her at one time, have no idea what an engineer is. “Anyone can tell a child they can be what they want, but it carries more weight if that person to looks like them, Stanfield said. “And that goes for any of us.” Reach Teri Errico Griffis at 843-849-3144.

February 8 - February 21, 2021

www.gsabusiness.com 13

Greenville Drive looks ahead to next event season By Molly Hulsey

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

fter playing in 2020 without the roar of fans, Major League Baseball in early February pushed back its season to April 29. What that means for the minor league is to be determined as Eric Jarinko, general manager of the Greenville Drive, eagerly awaits word on the 2021 schedule. It hasn’t been an easy road for the Drive, either for its sidelined team or its event operations. After Fluor Field rebranded itself as Greenville’s prime social distancing venue last summer, Jarinko said only a few small events were hosted on the field during what would have been baseball season. Only a fraction of the weekend gatherings typically filling Fluor Field’s calendar during the rest of the year found their way to the Drive in 2020. Most have been socially-distanced rendezvous hosted by private businesses or organizations supplemented with the Drive’s COVID-19 protocol. “Being able to pivot this year and host events obviously helped us in a time of need, but it didn’t come close to offsetting obviously what a baseball season would look like,” Jarinko said. He said the Drive and minor league

A $2.5 million city project includes a FIeld Street plaza to be used for events. (Rendering/Provided)

teams across the country fielded substantial losses, enhanced by a business model heavily dependent not only on ticket sales but also merchandising, concessions and other facets of the stadium experience. The Drive received a PPP loan last year ranging from $350,000 to $1 million to help sustain its 314 employees and operations, according to U.S. Small Business Administration data. And the minor league isn’t the only organization waiting with bated breath to see if COVID-19 numbers drop before moving ahead with spring plans. Jarinko said most large events scheduled in the

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facilities for last year into early spring are waiting for the widespread roll-out of a vaccine before pinning down a date. Organizers of the Irish festival Return to the Green, one of the first events at Fluor Field to be cancelled last March due to COVID-19, recently rescheduled its 2021 plans for a tentative fall date. The event typically draws hundreds of festival goers to the stadium. Jarinko said some events are just not safe right now and even the 2021 minor league season will be met with limitations. “It’s tough to say you’re a part of the fabric of the community and then also be trying to host an event for 2,000 people,”

he said. “That’s just not appropriate.” Still, he hopes Fluor Field’s current venue offerings will grease the tracks for what is to come. He expects that its 200,000 square feet of outdoor space and stadium enhancements installed in 2017 will help attract more activity. The city of Greenville is banking on a comeback too, with up to $2.5 million in plans to develop a plaza on Field Street at the entrance of Fluor Field as a pedestrian-friendly space on game days or during special events. Improvements will include public restrooms, landscaping, lighting and furniture, among other features.. Renderings from Seamon Whiteside show a barricaded avenue lined with food trucks and outdoor tables. The City Council held a first reading Jan. 25 on funding the project for the project.” “It’s in times like 2020 when we didn’t have a baseball season that it was important for us to rally around the community, still, and help with different organization’s endeavors out there,” Jarinko said. “Because we knew at some point we were going to have baseball again and obviously, we will need the continued support of the community when we do have baseball again, for us to be successful.” Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222.

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www.gsabusiness.com

February 8 - February 21, 2021

TURBINES, from Page 1

kiln fuel. And those options aren’t cheap either. “Finding a secondary solution is generally more expensive than landfilling by probably one and a half to two times the cost,” Patel said. “So, a big hurdle that a lot of blade owners had to get over is the additional cost of finding a secondary use instead of landfilling them.” So when the Logisticus team met Georgia Tech’s segment of the Re-Wind team at an industry conference a year and a half ago, they became fast-friends. Re-Wind needed blades for its research in “upscaling” the polymer components into infrastructural products, ranging from soil stabilizers to light poles to pedestrian bridges. The group also needed supply chain experts able to hash out the costs and logistics of shipping these titanic parcels to-and-fro across the country when Re-Wind’s two pending patents hit the commercial market. “We’ve been in the industry for 15 years,” Patel said. “We pride ourselves in trying to be involved with the newest technologies and the newer solutions. And so that when this problem arose, we really took it as an internal challenge to see how we could really help the industry, but also at the same time, give ourselves a solution in the market that would keep us relevant for future years to come.” The link was solidified with a three-year U.S. National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation grant awarded to Georgia Tech and Logisticus announced last November, adding to financial backing from the Science Foundation of Ireland and the Department for the Economy of Northern Ireland, which supports Re-Wind research at University College Cork and Queen’s University Belfast. The City University of New York faculty and students also contributed to the project. “Ireland is a great testbed for our research because they have a lot larger kind of commitment to wind energy,” Gentry said, given the island’s limits on

Greenville-based Logisticus manages the transport of turbine blades, some reaching almost 165 feet long, after the blades are retired from service. (Photo/Provided)

energy resources like timber or coal. The Re-Wind teams in Cork and Belfast are spearheading an initiative to use the blades as the weight-bearing component in 20- to 60-foot long pedestrian bridges, especially for use in the island’s rails-to-trails greenways, much like Greenville’s Swamp Rabbit Trail. Hundreds of bridges will be needed for those projects over the next 10 years, he said. Georgia Tech is backing Irish colleagues on the bridge program with engineering work, but research and development on this side of the pond tends to favor the vertical: “blade poles” used to hold electrical powers lines, cell phone equipment or signs. Gentry and Re-Wind co-founder Larry Bank have worked in the infrastructure composite field for 25 years, primarily researching the composite materials used for the aerospace industry but also for concrete reinforcement, structural elements in bridges or buildings or materials in golf clubs or bike frames. Composites similar to the fiber-reinforced polymers used to make turbine blades that, transport costs aside, would

be relatively cost-free for a manufacturer to procure from a wind farm after they retire. In fact, wind farmers would pay the manufacturers a part of the decommissioning cost for the blade. “Of course, these materials are bespoke, they’re expensive, but they’re extremely high performance,” Gentry said. “So we can’t really build entire buildings or bridges out of them, but in certain conditions, especially highly corrosive environments, they’re really quite effective structural products just for everyday buildings and bridges.” The Georgia Tech team is expecting a shipment of components from 10 GE 37-meter blades from Logisticus within a month or so, which will be used by faculty, lab staff and architecture and engineering students for structural, finite element and life-cycle analysis, as well as in full-scale prototypes tested in the school’s Digital Fabrication Library. Researchers have also developed a proprietary algorithm for a tool called the “blade machine,” according to a news release. Within a year, Gentry hopes to be able to show off his team’s work to Logisticus

and other partners — including future investors — through a full-scale demonstration of a blade bridge and blade pole. “That will capture people’s imagination. If people can walk on it. People can see it in use,” he said. “Demonstrating the commercial viability of products from reused materials is a real challenge.” Still, the project already has hooked its first client, an independent power provider in the Midwest. Students have voiced interest in startup plans for commercialization. Fans have flooded voicemail boxes with ideas for the blades like those used in playgrounds in Holland or bus stops. And even after six years on the project, the scale of the blades and how they can be used still captures Gentry’s imagination too, he said. “I’m a professor in architecture and civil engineering. So, one side of what we do is about creating possibility, and the other side is about [the] pragmatic: does the material meet the requirements? I’d say the joy is in trying to combine both.” Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

S.C. colleges and universities receive scholarship funding

Staff Report

outh Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities, a Columbia-based higher education nonprofit, has distributed $60,0000 to private schools statewide through a grant from the Council of Independent Colleges in Washington, D.C. More than $1.5 million in student scholarships were distributed nationally through the CIC/UPA Educational Endowment, started by UPS in the 1970s. “The UPS Foundation has been a longtime and generous supporter of indepen-

dent college higher education, not only in South Carolina, but nationwide,” Jeff Perez, president and CEO of SCICU, said in a news release. “We are very appreciative of their support and recognize that the lives of many worthy students have been changed for the better.” S.C. colleges receiving scholarship funds this year include: Allen University, Anderson University, Benedict College, Charleston Southern University, Claflin University, Coker University, Columbia College, Columbia International University, Converse College, Erskine College, Furman University, Limestone Univer-

sity, Morris College, Newberry College, North Greenville University, Presbyterian College, Southern Wesleyan University, Spartanburg Methodist College, Voorhees College, and Wofford College. “Independent colleges and universities in this country are remarkably effective at educating and graduating low-income and first-generation students in less time, with less student debt,” said Richard Ekman, CIC president. “Helping these students afford a private college education is a truly critical need in our society, and it is rewarding to be a partner with the UPS Foundation and the SCICU as

we help to support deserving students.” The CIC/UPS program has made a private college education possible for more than 21,000 low-income, first generation, and minority students, according to the release. “The UPS Foundation is honored to work with CIC to provide scholarships for students at independent colleges and universities,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of the UPS Foundation and chief diversity and inclusion officer at UPS. “Our goal is to fund powerful programs that make a lasting difference to the global community.”

February 8 - February 21, 2021

www.gsabusiness.com 15

Online master’s program creates opportunities for workers Staff Report

gsanews@scbiznews.com

master’s program in industrial engineering that has been offered only online since it was launched at Clemson University in 2008 growing as it ages, now attracting students from five continents. One at home is Patrick Carrington, who said the capstone project he did to complete his master’s degree helped open new opportunities for him at his job with electric-bus manufacturer Proterra. “It got me noticed,” Carrington, now a launch manager at the company, said in a news release. “The capstone project I did for my master’s program was also presented to our COO, senior directors and vice presidents. It was important enough for it to be viewed by executive team members.” Carrington is among about 300 students to receive a Master of Engineering in industrial engineering as part of the program. Courses have been focused primarily on supply chain logistics. But as the program enters its 13th year, faculty members are starting to broaden the curriculum to reflect the rapid growth of e-commerce and reach a wider range of students, Bill

Patrick Carrington says his online coursework helped him get noticed at electric-bus manufacturer Proterra in Greenville. (Photo/Clemson University)

Ferrell, the Fluor-Clemson International Capital Supply Chain Partnership Professor in Industrial Engineering, said in the news release. “We will be talking less about moving large pallets and a lot more about the e-commerce side and moving small packages,” he said. “Content is going to evolve as our consumerism evolves and as the sourcing evolves. This program is right

in the middle of the way we buy and sell things in the real world in 2020, and I see the same trends continuing into 2030 or 2040.” The program is 100% online and asynchronous, which means lectures are recorded, and students can watch whenever is convenient for them. Mike Wheeler, senior vice president of supply chain and chief procurement officer for Fluor, said in the news release that the master’s program has been a cornerstone for the company’s skill development. Kristen Taylor worked for Fluor Corp. in Santiago, Chile, and studied from her hotel room at night. “I didn’t have to skip a beat with my career responsibilities, and nothing suffered in my graduate program,” said Taylor, now a supply chain manager in Fluor’s life sciences business group. It takes three years and a semester to finish the program. A new group starts each summer, and about 25-30 students graduate each August. Each student completes the program with a capstone project directly relevant to industry needs. Several companies, including Fluor Corp., have used some capstone projects as company initiatives, the release said.

Students have to be at least three years past receiving their undergraduate degree to enroll. Most are about 5-10 years into their careers and are just beginning to take on supervisory roles, Ferrell said in the release. An undergraduate degree in a science, technology, engineering or math field isn’t needed to enroll. About half the students have business degrees, and about half have STEM backgrounds, Ferrell said. When Carrington enrolled, he had a bachelor’s degree in political science and a Master of Business from Clemson. Taylor had a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and international trade. Students come from companies in industries ranging from automotive and aerospace to package delivery and advanced manufacturing. Fluor Corp. was instrumental in launching the program. The company has provided two endowments totaling $3.5 million to the program, Ferrell said in the release. Mike Wheeler, senior vice president of supply chain and chief procurement officer for Fluor, said the master’s program has been a cornerstone for the company’s skill development, especially for leadership.

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February 8 - February 21, 2021

THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE SC BIZ NEWS FAMILY What’s new on SCBIZtv this week? Check us out on YouTube. With more than 100 archived videos (and counting), you’ll find a wide variety of businessrelated content, including: Virtual awards shows, Power Events, interviews with high-level business executives and several ongoing video series, including Coffee With…, 120 Seconds, Industry Trends and Coping with Covid. Here’s just a taste of what you’ll find on SCBIZtv this week

VIRTUAL AWARDS SHOWS

120 SECONDS

COFFEE WITH…

COPING WITH COVID

From Women of Influence in the Upstate to Forty Under 40 in the Lowcountry to Icons and Phenoms in the Midlands, you’re sure to find executives you know being honored in a variety of ways.

Business executives sharing insight about their business, the industry in which they work and the community in which they live.

CEOs answering as many questions as they can in two minutes. You’ll definitely learn something personal about the executive and get a thoughtful answer on a serious topic to boot.

Explores the impact the Coronavirus is having on our daily lives, both at home and at the office.

This is just a sampling of what you’ll find on SCBIZtv. Check us out on YouTube to find a complete library of archived videos.

In Focus

BANKING AND FINANCE

NEXT ISSUE’S FOCUS: Health Care

LISTS: Banks, Page 18

Wells Fargo: Spartanburg ready for boom times By Molly Hulsey

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

ew economists thought that the shape of economic recovery from 2020 would favor Winston Churchill’s “V for victory” gesture or the quick upturn of a mountain valley. The trip back to normalcy would be long and arduous — shaped like a Nike Swoop. And in many ways, it still will be, but as Wells Fargo Security’s senior economist and Managing Director Tim Quinlan sees it, Spartanburg may be further out of the woods than many other parts of the country. For one, the Spartanburg County far outpaced nearby counties, the state and the nation in terms of how much of the workforce has returned to the brickand-mortar workplace. Spartanburg’s non-remote workforce was 12% lower than its pre-pandemic baseline last November, according to data Quinlan pulled from Google. In comparison, Greenville County’s returned workforce was still down by 22% and statewide the number was down 19%. “A lot of office workers have yet to go back to work,” Quinlan told a virtual audience for Outlook Spartanburg, One Spartanburg Inc.’s annual forecast event, late last year. “Now Spartanburg, with a denser concentration of manufacturing jobs, is sort of outpacing other regions in sort of this willingness to get back to their workplace, and that’s something we’ll keep our eye on to see how consumer activity is faring.” Another indicator for Quinlan was how many shoppers and patrons are out and about as reported by cell phone data. Spartanburg County in October was only 4% less active than it was before

Jumping in on Spartanburg’s flourishing single family residential market, Lennar Corp. last year announced plans for Bird Quarry, a new neighborhood in Greer. (Photo/Provided)

the COVID-19 pandemic. Shoppers and patrons in Greenville County were 10% less active than its baseline numbers. The average drop across the country was 18%. Accumulated savings on a national level are “comfortably north of a trillion dollars,” Quinlan said, after it initially spiked to more than 30% last year, almost six times the pre-pandemic percentage. He called this mindset “forced thrift,” partially due to lower income but mostly thanks to uncertainty about the future: fears about finances or infection. By October, the savings rate returned to 13.6%. Unlike in most recessions, the sale of durable goods —such as cars, household appliances and jet skis — have shot up to 14%, while service income still suffers from social distancing and stymied surgeries. In fact, durable goods are being bought out even faster than three years into an economic expansion. Likewise, non-durable goods like grocery items have also rebounded by 5% since the pre-recession peak, he said.

Part of it can be attributed to the high rollers. “The top 20% of income earners give you about half of your overall consumer spending,” he said. “Even in the absence of a stimulus program, I think the economy’s able to continue to grow.” But favor looks on certain regions too. And South Carolina — Spartanburg, in particular — is bustling with home sales and single-family construction projects. “Although incomes are down, people’s wealth is actually moving a little bit higher. That’s if they’re lucky enough to have a stock portfolio or a retirement account in the stock market or housing,” Quinlan said. Developers’ 2019 love affair with multi-family projects snapped in March and gave way to a home-building boom. In Spartanburg, requests for single-family building permits reached an all-time high, shooting even far higher than requests during the housing bubble.

“Here’s where you see remarkable strength in this cycle,” he said, noting that 3,444 home building permits were requested in Hub City in October. From 1998 to 2003, the average number of permits was 1,599. “That’s a very unusual dynamic,” he said. “You don’t see that in very many markets.” Zero multi-family permits were requested during the same time. With rentals giving way to skyrocketing home sales across the nation, prices began to climb as mortgage rates plummeted to below 3%. “It’s a seller’s market right now, and part of the reason for that is mortgage rates are the lowest they’ve been in living memory of anybody right now,” Quinlan said. “That makes houses that may have otherwise been out of reach a little bit more affordable for buyers.” And so far, Spartanburg’s prices have remained steadier than in other parts of the country and state. In September, the average price per square foot was $168.60. The South Carolina average was $182. Manufacturing production also saw an initial spike of recovery as factories churned back into motion by third quarter but the sudden growth began to fade. Quinlan doesn’t forsee production righting itself on a national level until 2022 but believes Spartanburg will see a much swifter rate of recovery. And capital spending on the factory floor could be playing a significant role in that rebound. Equipment spending shot up by 66.6% last year as the country’s manufacturing facilities reopened after temporary pandemic-related closures and as the fallout of a trade war was put behind them. See SPARTANBURG, Page 20

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IN FOCUS: BANKING AND FINANCE

www.gsabusiness.com

February 8 - February 21, 2021

Banks

Ranked by Market Share Company

Phone / Website / Email

Top Local Official(s) / Year Founded

Truist Bank 1 N. Main St. Greenville, SC 29601

864-242-8010 www.truist.com

Wells Fargo Bank N.A. 15 S. Main St. Greenville, SC 29601

Market Share

Market Deposits

Market Offices

Michael Brenan 1872

18.15%

$5,490,726

800-869-3557 www.wellsfargo.com

Justin Hawkins, J. Mark Westmoreland 1852

14.38%

$4,349,416

Bank of America N.A. 101 N. Main St. Greenville, SC 29609

864-404-4100 www.bankofamerica.com

Stacy Brandon 1904

10.28%

$3,108,833

TD Bank N.A. 104 S. Main St. Greenville, SC 29601

864-552-9025 www.td.com/us

David Lominack 1852

9.96%

$3,013,055

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. 325 W. McBee Ave. Greenville, SC 29601

864-255-3700 www.firstcitizens.com

James G. Gulledge, Jr. 1913

7.84%

$2,370,625

South State Bank 200 E. Broad St. Greenville, SC 29601

864-250-4455 www.southstatebank.com

Mike Coggin 1934

6.53%

$1,973,903

United Community Bank 2 W. Washington St., Suite 700 Greenville, SC 29601

864-250-7656 www.ucbi.com

Lynn Harton 1950

5.05%

$1,526,490

Southern First Bank 100 Verdae Blvd. Greenville, SC 29607

864-679-9480

Mike Dowling, Cal Hurst, Art Seaver, Jr. 1999

3.66%

$1,105,572

Bank of Travelers Rest 42 Plaza Drive Travelers Rest, SC 29690

864-834-9031 www.bankoftravelersrest.com

R. Bruce White 1946

2.86%

$866,195

GrandSouth Bank 381 Halton Road Greenville, SC 29607

864-770-1000 www.grandsouth.com

JB Schwiers 1998

2.2%

$664,179

Park National Bank 200 S. Church St. Spartanburg, SC 29306

864-208-2005 www.parknationalbank.com spartanburg@parknationalbank.com

John D. Kimberly 1908

1.93%

$584,171

Arthur State Bank 100 E. Main St. Union, SC 29379

864-427-1213 www.arthurstatebank.com info@arthurstatebank.com

J. Carlisle Oxner 1933

1.6%

$485,254

Countybank 419 Main St. Greenwood, SC 29646

864-942-1500 www.ecountybank.com customerservice@ecountybank.com

R. Thornwell Dunlap III 1933

1.53%

$461,472

Synovus 201 E. McBee Ave. Greenville, SC 29601

864-241-7900 www.synovus.com info@synovus.com

C.W. "Chuck" W. Garnett, Dixon Harrill 1905

1.36%

$411,969

Community First Bank Inc. 3685 Blue Ridge Blvd. Walhalla, SC 29691

864-638-2105 www.c1stbank.com

Richard Burleson 1990

1.35%

$408,906

Pinnacle Bank 550 E. McBee Ave. Greenville, SC 29601

864-250-9800 www.mypinnacle.com

Ed Stein 1991

1.21%

$367,221

First Piedmont Federal Savings & Loan Association of Gaffney 1229 W. Floyd Baker Blvd. Gaffney, SC 29341

864-489-6046 www.firstpiedmont.com ibank@firstpiedmont.com

Kathy Baines 1933

1.14%

$343,479

United Bank 3695 E. North St. Greenville, SC 29615

864-516-2907 www.bankwithunited.com customerservice@bankwithunited.com

Ryan Earwaker, Jim Boyd 1839

1.08%

$327,636

Oconee Federal Savings & Loan Association 115 E. N. Second St. Seneca, SC 29678

864-882-2765 www.oconeefederal.com curt.evatt@oconeefederal.com

Curtis T. Evatt 1924

1.03%

$310,064

The Peoples Bank 801 E. Front St. Iva, SC 29655

864-348-6181 www.peoplesbanksc.com

Shawn McGee 1951

0.97%

$293,116

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.

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deposit market share as of June 30, 2020 (latest available at time of publication). Researched by Business Report staff

IN FOCUS: BANKING AND FINANCE

February 8 - February 21, 2021

www.gsabusiness.com 19

Banks

Ranked by Market Share

â€˘

Company

Phone / Website / Email

Top Local Official(s) / Year Founded

First Horizon Bank 3401 Pelham Road Greenville, SC 29615

864-213-9109 www.firsthorizon.com

Regions Bank 290 S. Pleasantburg Drive Greenville, SC 29607

Market Share

Market Deposits

Market Offices

Kin Britton 1898

0.75%

$227,266

864-233-7989 www.regions.com

John M. Turner 1928

0.68%

$204,352

The Commercial Bank 4 Church St. Honea Path, SC 29654

864-369-7326 www.thecommercialbanksc.com

Tim C. Thompson 1934

0.61%

$185,156

First Community Bank 45 Farrs Bridge Road Greenville, SC 29617

864-294-9711 www.firstcommunitysc.com

Mike Crapps 1995

0.44%

$133,936

Blue Ridge Bank 100 E. Main St. Walhalla, SC 29691

864-638-5444 www.blueridgebank.com customerservice@brbwal.com

C. Kyle Thomas 1957

0.43%

$129,613

Citizens Building & Loan SSB 229 Trade St. Greer, SC 29651

864-877-2054 www.cblgreer.com

Jennifer Jones 1907

0.35%

$105,093

First National Bank of Pennsylvania 217 N. Granard St. Gaffney, SC 29341

864-488-2265 www.fnb-online.com

Vincent J. Delie 1864

0.32%

$95,545

Ameris Bank 1614 Woodruff Road Greenville, SC 29607

864-286-5737 www.amerisbank.com

Jody L. Spencer 1971

0.31%

$93,717

HomeTrust Bank N.A. 8599 Pelham Road Greenville, SC 29615

864-605-6200 www.htb.com

Dana L. Stonestreet 1926

0.29%

$87,335

Pickens Savings and Loan Association F.A. 205 E. Cedar Rock St. Pickens, SC 29671

864-878-2444 www.pickenssavingsandloan.com

Rod Gettys 1920

0.29%

$88,364

First Reliance Bank 500 E. Washington St. Greenville, SC 29601

864-672-1776 www.firstreliance.com

F.R. "Rick" Saunders 1999

0.26%

$77,566

Abbeville First Bank SSB 205 S. Main St. Abbeville, SC 29620

864-366-2158 www.abbevillefirst.com info@abbevillefirst.com

Andy Timmerman 1907

0.24%

$71,458

Woodruff Federal Savings and Loan Association 247 N. Main St. Woodruff, SC 29388

864-476-8144 www.woodrufffederal.com

Morgan C. Smith 1934

0.24%

$71,909

Woodforest National Bank 1451 Woodruff Road Greenville, SC 29607

864-676-0090 www.woodforest.com

James Dreibelbis 1980

0.14%

$41,453

Coastal Carolina National Bank 416 E. North St. Greenville, SC 29601

864-278-0600 www.myccnb.com

Laurence S. Bolchoz 2007

0.13%

$39,056

Chase Bank N.A. 1075 Tiger Blvd. Clemson, SC 29631

864-729-6242 www.chase.com

Jamie Dimon 1824

0.12%

$35,513

PNC Bank N.A. 531 S. Main St., Suite 100 Greenville, SC 29601

864-282-1600 www.pnc.com

William S. Demchak 1804

0.12%

$36,722

Iberiabank 110 E. Court St., Suite 101 Greenville, SC 29601

864-448-1020 www.iberiabank.com

Samuel L. Erwin 1887

0.11%

$32,098

Select Bank & Trust 115 N. Main St. Six Mile, SC 29682

864-481-3026 www.selectbank.com

William L. Hedgepeth 2000

0.09%

$27,836

Thrivent Trust Co. 1 9 Halton Green Way Greenville, SC 29607

864-233-7405 www.thriventrust.com

Teresa Rasmussen 1998

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deposit market share as of June 30, 2020 (latest available at time of publication). Researched by Business Report staff

IN FOCUS: BANKING AND FINANCE

www.gsabusiness.com

February 8 - February 21, 2021

Bank sees success for early PPP borrowers By Molly Hulsey

Target your market in an upcoming issue of the GSA Business Report

FEBRUARY 22

HEALTH CARE

List: Hospitals Advertising Deadline: February 8

MARCH 8

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION (AEC) List: Architecture Firms Advertising Deadline: February 22

MARCH 26

BOOK OF LISTS

Advertising Deadline: February 13

APRIL 5

LAW

List: Law Firms Advertising Deadline: March 22

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

espite concerns from some bankers about customers being unable to render their loans forgivable, so far United Community Bank’s Jana Scroggins has found that most borrowers are on the right track. The loans have already been forgiven for all 70 borrowers she worked with during the first round of the PPP. Scroggins is United Community Bank’s commercial lending division manager for Greenville County. On Jan. 29, $877 million of the PPP loans submitted by the bank as a whole had been forgiven by the U.S. Small Business Administration and $1.12 billion in loan funding is pending SBA approval, according to a bank spokesperson. “We’ve had great success with the forgiveness process,” Scroggins said. “We required our existing PPP customers to apply for forgiveness before getting a second draw just to make sure that they were prepared and we knew that they have the information for the first forgiveness before they apply for a second one.” At least 25% to 30% of Scroggins’ customers that returned for a second round of PPP funding were able to qualify for additional aid. While customers from all sectors qualified, those in hospitality were the most likely to make the cut. United Community Bank also launched a PPP application portal for new customers on Jan. 28. Scroggins suggests that new customers may find it easier to apply at their former bank if they received the first round of funding there, but staff are always ready to help first-time applicants. This time, having a portal in place and information in the system for existing customers made the application process much less hectic for both banker, she said. “It’s been a whole lot less stressful this go-around,” she said. “But the first round was so rewarding, and we were able to

SPARTANBURG, from Page 17

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More than 426,570 square feet of industrial space was absorbed in the Spartanburg-Anderson market by the end of that quarter, according to an Avison Young market report. Commercial real estate firm Sealy and Co. purchased eight industrial properties — adding up to 1.1 million square feet — for $87.5 million, anticipating growth in the sector. Even before the beginning of the

help over 11,000 customers. It was probably the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my 21-year banking career for sure.” Chartspan Medical Technologies, McMillan Pazdan Smith, Hughes Development Co., Soby’s, The Abbeville Area Medical Center and Old Colony Furniture Co. were just a few of the businesses that received PPP funding through United Community Bank, according to the SBA’s searchable database. “After 75 years in business, we have weathered a lot of things, but the shutdown in the spring was a completely new challenge that caused us to look for outside help,” owner Edward Johnson said in an email. “Although we didn’t have a preexisting relationship with United, they answered our call and went above and beyond for us during the whole process.” Despite being closed for several weeks, the Greenville retailer kept all employees on the payroll with its PPP loan. “They helped us through each step, from application on a Saturday to receiving forgiveness this fall,” Johnson said. “In such uncertain times, it was a breath of fresh air to receive that level of personal support.” Although headquartered in Blairsville, Ga., United Community Bank’s executive offices are in Greenville and the company is investing in its future in the Emerald City with a new $30 million building on Camperdown Way. The plans, released to the public on Jan. 29 through Greenville County records, are expected to create 227 jobs in the area. On Feb. 2, the Greenville County Council approved an ordinance to include the 200 E. Camperdown Way property in a joint county industrial and business park with Anderson County and a fee-in-lieu of tax agreement with the bank. The bank will be required to invest $24 million in five years for a 35% county tax discount over the next 10 years. Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

third quarter last year, Tindall Corp. announced a $27.9 million investment in a new facility. Michelin, too, promised a $75 million investment in its Spartanburg location, paving the way for a $380 million investment from an undisclosed company, announced by the county this year, among others. “That is a really, really strong rate of growth there,” said Quinlan. Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

At Work

BUSINESS DIGEST | PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Business Digest

NGU articulates with seminary

AM King receives ABC awards

AM King said it earned two “Best in Class” Eagle Awards, as well as the 2020 Design-Build Award, in the Excellence in Construction Awards competition sponsored by the Associated Builders and Contractors of the Carolinas. AM King was also a finalist for ABC’s 2020 Project of the Year. The company was recognized for its work on TrueCore’s Greenfield Insulated Metal Panel manufacturing facility in Laurens and its transformation of an 88,000-square-foot vacant shell building into a food processing facility for Southern Foods in Greensboro, N.C.

Chrysalis opens Greenville clinic

Pictured from left to right are Danielle Fields, assistant vice president and financial center manager at Countybank; Tony Lawton, vice president and commercial relationship manager at Countybank; Patrick Craven, assistant vice president and financial center manager at Countybank; Hannah Gantt, director of resource development at United Way of Greenwood and Abbeville Counties; and John Cooper, private client adviser with Greenwood Capital.

Donations support United Way

Countybank and Greenwood Capital donated $26,936 as part of their annual Pacesetter Campaign to the United Way of Greenwood and Abbeville Counties. Associates from both organizations made personal pledge donations totaling $16,936 as part of the employee campaign, while the Countybank Foundation provided an additional campaign contribution of $10,000.

SWU offers virtual teaching degree

Chrysalis Orofacial said it opened an office at 302 Ashby Park Lane, Suite A, Greenville. Chrysalis Orofacial is a myofunctional therapy health clinic and professional training organization. The therapy helps with issues related to speech, feeding, sleep apnea and tongue posture. In addition to treating patients, Chrysalis Orofacial provides professional training to doctors, dentists, orthodontists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and lactation consultants.

Southern Wesleyan University said it is now offering a 36-hour online Master of Education degree with a new specialization in virtual teaching. The program combines educational theories, instructional strategies, and a hands-on exploration of digital learning approaches. Students may also choose to take the four courses outside of the master’s program, leading to a graduate certificate in instructional design, which counts toward the state endorsement in online teaching.

Water company supports college

Story announces MarCom Award

A $16,000 grant from Spartanburg Water will assist University of South Carolina Upstate’s Watershed Ecology Center in continuing its mission to encourage watershed awareness through education, experience, and community outreach. The Watershed Ecology Center’s annual goal for 2021 is to reach 22,000 K-8 Spartanburg County students through watershed-based educational programming, continuing to provide tools to incorporate virtual formats and individual student supplies.

Story said it received a Gold MarCom Award for a website redesign it completed for Sexton-Griffith Home Builders in Easley. MarCom entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops, production companies and freelancers. MarCom is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.

Assisted living opens in Verdae Blake Management Group of Jackson, Miss., said it opened an assisted living and memory care community called The Blake at Hollingsworth Park in the Verdae neighborhood at 360 Woodruff Road, Greenville. The community will offer chef-prepared meals and restaurant-style dining, a chapel and courtyards. The community also features a theater room, fitness center and spa, outdoor spaces and a business center.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and North Greenville University have partnered to count certain college credit hours toward a Master of Divinity degree. The schools say the arrangement will help students save time and money. The articulation agreement lays out a pathway for NGU Christian studies majors to apply qualified earned college credits toward the master’s degree offered by the seminary. Qualifying students can earn up to one-third of the required hours for the master’s degree, according to a news release. North Greenville students can count qualified hours toward any specializations that include expository preaching, Biblical languages, Christian thought, Christian education, Christian apologetics, and others.

AFL, Drive enter new partnership AM King takes part in Angel Tree

For more than a decade, Carolinas-based AM King, an integrated design-build firm with an established presence in the Upstate, has designated funds during the holiday season for each of its employees to sponsor a child from the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program. This year the firm ensured that 136 children in the Greenville and Charlotte communities received Christmas toys and winter clothing. AM King employees in the Greenville office, like their Charlotte colleagues, shopped for their Angels shortly before Thanksgiving. They coordinated gift package assembly for each individual Angel, then loaded clothes, toys and scooters onto an AM King truck for delivery to The Salvation Army of Greenville. “AM King is proud to be part of such a meaningful program year after year, assisting with the collective effort to help families who are struggling,” said AM King’s Andre Harris, Greenville Business unit leader. “We are blessed to be able to play a small role in making wishes come true for kids who might otherwise not receive

AFL, an international manufacturer of fiber optic cable, connectivity and equipment, announced a multiyear partnership with the Greenville Drive, an advanced Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. This partnership announcement was designed to enhance AFL’s community visibility, marketing capabilities, and relationship development efforts, while engaging and spotlighting AFL associates, customers and key stakeholders, according to a news release. As part of the partnership, AFL will be prominently featured across a range of Fluor Field visibility touchpoints including outfield signage, the award-winning Greenville Drive Magazine, all Drive digital owned media channels (website, social media and CRM e-blasts), as well as special features during Drive games each season. In addition, the Drive and AFL will collaborate each Drive season on event integration opportunities aligned with AFL’s community outreach priorities (children, education and workforce) as well as hospitality events to further showcase and recognize AFL associates.

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February 8 - February 21, 2021

People in the News BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

Patonay

Tompkins

The OpExChange of South Carolina announced that Eileen Patonay and Gary Tompkins were selected to serve on the OpExChange advisory board. Patonay works for the S.C. Department of Commerce serving Georgetown, Williamsburg, and Horry counties. Tompkins is the president and CEO of The Kidder Group in Greenville.

CONSTRUCTION Nelson Tracy Pellett, stockholder and chairman of the board of Triangle Construction Co., retired on Jan. 1. Son of founder John D. Pellett Jr., he started working in Pellett the business at 14 in 1964, eventually serving as project manager, vice president and president before taking the role of chairman. His notable projects include Wofford College’s Olin Hall, Christ Church Episcopal School’s new middle school, GSP’s South Concourse and Billy Graham’s Cove Chapel.

COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPE The Greenery Inc. welcomed Shontel Babb as a business developer in the company’s Greenville-Spartanburg branch. Babb will be responsible for business development for commercial landscape maintenance. Her main focus is to build relationships with clients to generate opportunities for company growth in Greenville-Spartanburg and surrounding areas. She previously served as business development manager for US&S Inc.

MANUFACTURING

Kirkland

Jerome Kirkland, site manager for BASF’s Converse manufacturing facility in Spartanburg County, has been named to Leadership Spartanburg.

NONPROFITS The Spartanburg County Foundation hired Sheila Snoddy to oversee and implement the Foundation’s grantmaking program and community leadership Snoddy initiatives. Snoddy’s experience includes working as director of community action for the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care and as regional director for the Girl Scouts of South Carolina. The Better Business Bureau serving the Upstate announced the appointment of David Mitchell, vice president and group account director at EP and Co., as chairman Mitchell of the Better Business Bureau Local Advertising Review Program Committee. Dorothy Freeman Self, CEO of DFS Creative Concepts, will serve as vice chairman. Lou Hutchings of Hutchings Solutions has been appointed to chairman of the Better Business Bureau Education Foundation for another term in 2021. The BBB Education Hutchings Foundation Board of Directors includes Stephanie Rose of Godshall Professional Recruiting as vice chair, Jill Rayburn of North Greenville University as secretary, Cheryl Hicks of Pinnacle Financial Partners as treasurer, and Vee Daniel, BBB president/CEO. BBB Education Foundation Program Directors include: Allie Van Dyke of The Blood Connection, Emily Scurry of Flourish, Gail Englert of Bask Enterprises LLC, and Michelle Byrd of Greenville Technical College. Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina announced that Gerald Smalls, chair and associate professor of law and accounting at University of South Carolina Upstate, and Macon Lovelace of Trinity Partners will join the foundation’s board of trustees. Additionally, the board announced the election of Andy Folsom, vice president of mergers and acquisitions and strategic investments at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, as the incoming board chairman. The Greenville Center for Creative Arts

Clemson research chief elected elected six new members to its board of Greenville County Schools. The organito Turkish Academy of Sciences Staff Report

gsanews@scbiznews.com

lemson University Vice President for Research Tanju Karanfil was elected to the Turkish Academy of Sciences, a society of the top academicians of his native country, Turkey. Nominated by his society peers, Karanfil joins 150 scientists elected as principal members. According to the organization, principal membership recognizes Turkish scientists who have earned national or international awards or medals; are credited for significant discoveries, Karanfil inventions or other innovations; or who have been heavily cited in literature. The Turkish Academy of Sciences works to encourage scientific pursuits in Turkey, honor outstanding scientific contributions, and inspire new generations of scientists. “I am deeply honored to be recognized by my peers and will enjoy the camaraderie. I am inspired to see my native country recognize the impact that science has on the world,” Karanfil said in a news release from Clemson. “This is an incredible and well-deserved recognition,” Robert Jones, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in the release. “Tanju is a talented researcher and leader who has been invaluable to Clemson’s maturation into a Carnegie R1 research institution over the past several years. His election to TUBA recognizes the totality of his career contributions.” Karanfil moved to the United States after earning his bachelor’s degree from Istanbul Technical University in 1988. After earning a master’s and Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of Michigan, he began a career at Clemson that now spans nearly 25 years, the release said. He became vice president for research in 2016 and remains an active faculty member with directors: Diana Farfan, ceramic sculpture artist; Sam Jenkins, project manager, Cely Construction; Lindsay Odom, project manager, Synnex Corp.; Vee Popat, director, The Fine Arts Center; Nathan Reynolds, service project manager, Watson Electric; and Bradley Wingate, director of visual and performing arts,

a research group in the environmental engineering and Earth sciences department in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences. A fellow of the International Water Association, Karanfil is an international expert in physicochemical water, wastewater and hazardous treatment processes and water quality who serves frequently as a consultant to utilities and engineering firms. Among several societal impacts, his research has aided the understanding and removal of synthetic organic contaminants and harmful, emerging disinfection byproducts from drinking water, wastewater effluents and swimming pools, the release said. He also extensively studied the effect of wildfires on water quality and treatability and has supported the development of new technologies for water and wastewater treatment. Karanfil has published two books and more than 160 peer-reviewed articles during his career. He has mentored more than 125 graduate students, post-doctoral research associates and graduate-level visiting scholars, including numerous students from Turkey. He has attracted and been involved in more than $13 million in research funding for his research program, according to the release. As an administrator, Karanfil has led Clemson’s research enterprise through a period of growth. Clemson posted an all-time high in research expenditures during Karanfil’s tenure, with expenditures reaching $219 million in 2019, the most recent year data is available, the release said. In the past five years, Clemson has received 55 grants valued above $2 million, bringing more than $258 million in research funding to the university. He initiated and implemented the R-Initiatives programs to stimulate and nurture research. Through R-Initiatives, Clemson has invested more than $6 million, supporting more than 250 faculty members and 90 Ph.D. students from all colleges since 2017 and assisting in the hiring of 18 post-doctoral students and research faculty. zation also named four former directors as members of its Founder’s Circle: artists Randy Armstrong and Carrie Burns Brown, business leaders Bryant Brown of GMKA, and J. Earle Furman Jr. of NAI Earle Furman. This distinction recognizes these leaders and founders for their vision and commitment to the organization.

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Viewpoint

VIEWS, PERSPECTIVES AND READERS’ LETTERS

5 ideas for business success in 2021 A s we put 2020 in the rearview mirror, now is a great time to reflect on your business successes and struggles over the past year. 2020 was incredibly disruptive for all of us in the Upstate, both personally and professionally. If you’re like me, the pandemic and corresponding economic crisis ROBERT changed a lot of my DEHOLLANDER original business plans. Fortunately, with vaccines now in distribution, the outlook is improving. As a result, it’s a great time to revisit your business planning for 2021. Here are five ideas to help kick start your strategic thinking.

Update your goals

The successful businesses and managers I work with set annual goals. I think this year could be particularly tricky. It’s easy to fall into the trap of expecting this year to be like last year. While this may sound obvious, a lot of the business owners I’ve spoken with are still thinking in crisis mode. Plan confidently now to be positioned for success as things inevitably improve. Remember the old maxim: “Luck is what happens when preparation

working, consider an alternative. Move on and think creatively for success in the post-COVID world.

Network with your peers

It’s easy to become isolated right now. There is nothing like talking to other businesspeople for sparking new ideas, refining old ones and making contacts. Consider forming a peer group to share best practices or perhaps finding a mentor. With people becoming more comfortable with web-based meetings, these peer groups and monitoring opportunities don’t even need to be in your own city or region. Reach out and connect.

Schedule personal time

Deposit Photos

meets opportunity.” Prepare today and then be on the lookout for opportunities as they inevitably arise. Things will get better, and probably quicker than expected. Plan accordingly.

time each week to review your marketing plan. Not only will this help you stay productive, but you will feel more focused and intentional throughout the year.

Market your business

How has your business changed? The impact of COVID has changed a lot of industries. Products and services that worked in the past may not be as effective today. Other techniques have surged (anyone conducted a web-based meeting such as Zoom this week?). If a service, product, or business relationship isn’t

It’s easy to get stuck in survival mode during a crisis. However, if you want to attract new customers, you must make marketing a priority. Take the time to update your marketing plan and account for the tremendous changes we’ve been living through. Also, set aside

Reevaluate your industry

This may seem out of place in a business article. However, all work and no play is a recipe for mental and physical disaster. This is especially true during a time of disruption and stress like the past year. Without mental and physical rest, you can’t perform at your best. You can’t be the best boss, employee, parent, or spouse. So schedule time for yourself and treat that time as if you were meeting with your best customer or client. Take time to refresh and recharge! Robert DeHollander is a certified financial planner. He is managing partner and co-founder of DeHollander & Janse Financial Group in Greenville.

Habitat improvement adds value to rural property

and investors great and small know well the importance of location when choosing a property. What is less well known is the degree to which wildlife can add to its value. Wildlife is so much more than an add-on to land that makes for beautiful photo opportunities. It adds CELEB tangible, monetary RISINGER value to an investment. Working to increase the wildlife on a property through habitat improvement can translate into increased yearly income and an increase in the sales price.

Impact on rural land

Researchers at Mississippi State University conducted a survey from 2003 to

2008 to find the wildlife-related impacts on rural land values in Mississippi. The researchers set out to find the type of parcels purchased during the five-year period. They found that the majority of properties were forested (45%), followed by agricultural lands (26%). Other property features consisted of weedy areas, grasslands, old fields or pastures, shrub thickets and young forests (25%).

Bottom line

Next, the researchers asked purchasers of private rural land — acquired during the time period for recreational uses — how they were using the land. Almost all of the land (99%) was used for hunting. Motorized vehicle use came in second (65%), and fishing came in third (12%). Other uses were horseback riding (10%), wildlife watching (5%), and nature-based activities such as camping and hiking (1%). Once property type and land use were

identified, researchers asked reputable institutions and professionals — banks, real estate firms, lenders, and appraisers — to estimate the value of each tract of land sold, without considering wildlife-related recreation as a sale component. Combined, they estimated that these properties would have sold for an average of $3,065/hectare each. However, in reality, the properties examined sold for an average of $4,631/ hectare each. Stated otherwise, the wildlife-related recreational value accounted for an estimated $1,566/ hectare extra per property at the time of sale. This translates into an added 34% more value at the time of sale. The researchers found that during the period examined, the prices paid for the recreational function of the land had increased. In other words, this suggests that demand for well-managed properties that support wildlife for recreational use will only increase with time.

Wildlife recreation is a boon for families who want to spend more time in the great outdoors. They enjoy the opportunity to be active together as a family and indulge in all the health benefits that nature offers. Additionally, they can enjoy the potential of multiple income streams from their land and accrue considerable gains whenever they decide to sell. Besides the monetary implications, the intrinsic value of managing a property for wildlife can be measured by the years of personal memories made outdoors. It also brings with it a certain pride in having cared for something larger than oneself that can be enjoyed by generations to come. Celeb Risinger is a land professional with National Land Realty. He is based in Jacksonville, Fla. The company’s proprietary video technology, Land Tour 360, as well as its GIS land mapping system, LandBase, is offered for free to the public.

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February 8 - February 21, 2021

2020 GSA

The definitive resource guide for business professionals in the Upstate.

BUSINESS REPORT BOO

MARCH 27,

UME 23, NO. 2020 | VOL

K OF LISTS

The Book of Lists includes up to date information on more than 1,200 companies in the Upstate. Because businesses are ranked according to number of employees, revenue, square footage and other criteria, it is an invaluable business resource.

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The Book of Lists has a 12-month readership life and appears in print and electronic format. It is distributed to area chambers of commerce, economic development offices, commercial real estate firms, and every subscriber and advertiser of GSA Business Report.

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PUBLICATION DATE: March 26, 2021

ADVERTISING DEADLINE: February 13, 2021

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