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Furman lauded for sustainability
Funds support minority accelerator
For the third time in a row, Furman University earned a Sustainable Tracking, Assessment and Rating System Gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for the third consecutive year. The gold rate places Furman among the top three baccalaureate schools in the United States, the university said. The STARS Program is a self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. The association grades schools in 18 categories, including curriculum, research, campus and community engagement and operations. More than 1,000 institutions have registered to use the STARS reporting tool.
Three chamber organizations from across South Carolina jointly announced that Bank of America provided a $500,000 grant to launch a statewide Minority Business Accelerator program. This program will be led by the Charleston, Columbia and Greenville chambers and is set to start in January 2022. The Minority Business Accelerator supports and scales high-potential minority-owned firms by providing targeted training, access to business coaches and access to large corporations. Participants leave the program with a threeyear strategic plan to guide development. Participants must have at least one other full-time employee and must also be headquartered in South Carolina. Recruitment for program participants will begin this fall.
New center to assist with contracts
Kopis announces partnership
The University of South Carolina’s Office of Economic Engagement, in partnership with the S.C. Department of Commerce, announced the opening of the Procurement Technical Assistance Center of South Carolina. The center will provide South Carolina businesses with resources and services required to obtain contracts and subcontracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as with federal, state and local governments. The Procurement Technical Assistance Center will provide each of the state’s 46 counties with the following assistance: identifying marketing opportunities for clients’ products/services; advising and assisting clients in preparation and submission of applications, certifications and registrations for doing business with federal, state and local governments; advising and assisting clients with the preparation and submission of bids/proposals and postaward functions; bid matching service; and pursuing subcontracting opportunities. For more information, visit www. ptacsc.org.
Prisma expands hemophilia center
Prisma Health has expanded its Hemophilia Treatment Center to include an office in Greenville as well as Columbia. Prisma Health said it has South Carolina’s only federally supported comprehensive hemophilia treatment center, serving a growing number of both children and adults across the state. Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder in which blood does not clot properly. The center has close partnerships with and access to resources from educational and advocacy community organizations, such as the Bleeding Disorders Association of South Carolina.
Greenville software company Kopis said it has partnered with an Internet of Things (IoT) design engineering firm called Connected Development on a new platform that aims to help customers with size-, power- and cost-constrained IoT applications accelerate time to market. The platform’s combination of pre-tested hardware and software building blocks will allow customers to rapidly prototype unique applications, while transitioning to volume manufacturing, the companies said in a news release.
Countybank exhibit on display
The Museum in Greenwood opened a permanent exhibit featuring Countybank. The exhibit displays many historical items from the bank’s almost 90-year history, including old photographs of the bank’s branches, a Brandt Automatic Cashier, a Mosler safe and a “cannonball safe.” The County Bank was founded in 1933 by a group of Greenwood businessmen to ensure there was a bank that would be the county’s bank in the aftermath of local bank closures and restructuring during the Great Depression. The Museum houses roughly 50,000 artifacts and features rotating and traveling exhibits.
Search dog and handler attain national certification Staff Report
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andler Mitch Henderson of the South Carolina Search & Rescue Dog Association, a non-profit, all-volunteer professional search and rescue team dedicated to finding missing people with search dogs, has attained a first national certification from the North American Police Work Dog Association in cadaver detection with K9 Penny. The national association specializes in the development, improvement, training and certification of police work dogs and assists in certifying working dog teams. Henderson and Penny passed the three-day cadaver detection certification test, which included searches for human remains in 12 scenarios in six areas, including rubble (simulating a collapsed building), vehicles, water, open wilderness, building and buried, according to a news release. Cadaver detection tests also require NAPWDA police obedience certification, which includes off-leash heeling, voice and hand signal commands, and emergency down. Henderson, an explosive detection handler with K2 Solutions, is also a volunteer with Wellford Police Department, and was a residual operator at Spartanburg Water for 23 years. He has eight years of K9 SAR experience. Henderson is a certified rescue diver with 25 years of experience in fire fighting as a former volunteer with the Boiling Springs Fire Department. SCSARDA team members take additional coursework in lost person behavior, managing the land search operation, and other advanced search-
Charlotte-based Rent Ready said it is expanding into Greenville. The company provides a technology platform to manage business-to-business services for multifamily apartments. The company currently serves the Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh markets.
ma Health Greer campus. The center will provide care to individuals struggling with major wounds, ulcers or infections and help fast track recovery with the latest technology and treatments, according to a news release. Some of the wounds commonly treated include diabetic wounds, pressure ulcers, burns, radiation burns, injuries and non-healing surgical wounds.
Prisma Health opens clinic in Greer
Pintail adds property management
Rent Ready expands to Greenville
Prisma Health Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Center opened a location at the Pris-
Greenville-based commercial real estate firm Pintail announced it is expanding
Mitch Henderson and K9 Penny earned national certification in search and rescue after three days of testing and assessment. (Photo/Provided)
and-rescue courses as well as courses in hazardous material, blood borne pathogens, crime scene preservation, incidemt command and first aid. “Human remains detection dogs are very important tools for us as they help round out our K9 SAR abilities in the field when we hunt for missing persons,” Marion Tisdale, an officer with SCSARDA and area search dog handler, said in the release. “They also can provide much-needed closure for families in the event of the death of a loved one who is missing. We are very fortunate to have a handler on our team as experienced as Mitch, who has achieved certifications now in trailing, cadaver detection, and explosives detection with three different dogs. Our team takes a lot of pride in developing highly skilled K9 SAR handlers and Mitch is certainly a strong representative of our philosophy.” services to include property management. Pintail Property Services will provide Upstate property owners with commercial property management services, including emergency support, property inspections and maintenance, contractor selection and management, construction and project supervision, financial reporting, tenant relationship management and other services. The new venture will be led by Brian Sparks, a member of the Institute of Real Estate Management and a certified property manager.
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