VOLUME 24 NUMBER 10 ■ GSABUSINESS.COM
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MAY 17 - MAY 30, 2021 ■ $2.25
The port will purchase two $2.2 million RTG cranes to keep up with its rapid growth. (Photo/Molly Hulsey)
New chief for SC Biz News
GSA Business Report’s Rick Jenkins to head statewide operations. Page 7
Global fluency
Business people take part in workshop on the mores of international business. Page 8
View from the top
Trucking industry works to demonstrate the appeal of a career in the big rigs. Page 15
Movement at Toray Though not official yet, the plant closed since June is showing signs of reopening. Page 21
INSIDE
Leading Off .......................... 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 C-Suite ................................ 4 In Focus: Manufacturing & Aerospace ......................... 19 LIST: Manufacturers ...........23 BONUS LIST: Aviation & Aerospace Companies Statewide ..........................26 At Work ..............................28 Viewpoint .......................... 30
Inland Port Greer to launch major expansion this summer See Page 12
For the survivors, the pandemic is an era of opportunity By Ross Norton
rnorton@scbiznews.com
It was early in the pandemic, and Paul Ryll was sitting in one of his enterprises, then a still-new Tipsy Taco restaurant in a still-new Hartwell Village shopping center in Clemson. But all was quiet in what had just a few weeks earlier been a bustling restaurant, shopping center and town. “It was lunchtime,” he said, “and no one was there but us.” Rather than pull back, Ryll and his business associates decided to open another restaurant — one that wouldn’t simply survive a pandemic, but a concept that could
thrive without dine-in customers. About a year later, with Tipsy Taco doing just fine in Clemson, they opened Parsley & Mint in Greenville, announced plans for another in Travelers Rest and hinted at plans for more to come. By December, more than 110,000 American restaurants had closed permanently or long term, the National Restaurant Association reported, but during those darkest days in memory for the restaurant industry, Ryll moved ahead with plans to open more restaurants. Despite the U.S. Marines emblem on his lapel and displayed prominently at Parsley & Mint, it’s not necessarily bravado that drives
In Focus
Looking to the skies?
Leisure travelers are on the move again but business travelers (or their bosses) are a little more reluctant. Page 19
Ryll to move forward, according to restaurant consultant Zac Painter, principal at Candor. While the pandemic brought an end to many restaurants, it also created opportunities, both for existing restaurants willing to adapt and restaurateurs moving forward with new concepts in dining. “No one could have imagined what would happen,” Painter said. “Had you told me in late January (2020) that restaurants were going to be forbidden from opening dining rooms to guests, I would have laughed that off but then, by the time we hit early March, See SURVIVORS, Page 10