VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7 ■ GSABUSINESS.COM
Part of the
APRIL 6 - APRIL 19, 2020 ■ $2.25
network
SPECIAL REPORT: COPING WITH COVID PAGES 13-20 Doctoring devices
Engineers and physicians team up to create solution to national shortage in crisis. Page 12
Still solutions
When sanitizer supplies run low, Powdersville distillery changes recipes. Page 8
W DOWN NOT OUT With most of the people who live in Clemson gone, businesses reel from sudden shutdown
See Page 10
Students building with hemp Creative inquiry project puts hemp in construction project. Page 6
Unemployment soars 1,600%
After months of historic lows, jobless rate makes dramatic turn. Page 3
INSIDE
Leading Off .......................... 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 C-Suite ................................ 4 In Focus: Law.....................23 LIST:Law Firms ..................24 At Work ..............................28 Viewpoint ........................... 31
An early afternoon in Clemson finds the streets and sidewalks uncharacteristically quiet and empty. (Photo/Ross Norton)
Chamber CEOs reach out to area businesses By Molly Hulsey
T
mhulsey@scbiznews.com
he Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce CEO knew she would have to act fast to answer a host of queries about Small Business Administration disaster loans. Pam Christopher called SBA regional director Bruce Levell and Columbia’s SBA director Gregg White back-to-back for insight on how the chamber could connect members with the funding they needed to survive challenges brought by the new coronavirus. Recognizing the barriers created by social distancing, she prompted SBA to offer webinars both for small business owners and the bankers counseling them. “It can be a one o’clock with the bankers and a 1:30 or 2 with the small business people — they just need to have a headsup,” she said at the time. Levell and White brought the webinar series live statewide March 19 and 23, followed by local presentations Christopher initiated with Clemson’s Small Business Development Center, local attorneys and AnMed Health. “We are all just trying to roll with the punches,” Christopher said, adding she has been impressed by the innovation of the Anderson business community and South Carolina as a whole. “We are trying to think – well, we’ve blown that box up – See CHAMBER, Page 7
In Focus
Legal work goes remote Law firms say working remote goes with the territory. Page 23