2012 Nov/Dec South Carolina Business

N ovember /D ecember 2012 V ol . 33 | N o . 6

Stars of Business Business Leader of the Year S.C. Top 100™ Economic Sporting Events Public Servant of the Year Famous South Carolinians S.C. Big 50Ž Sgt. Jasper Freedom Award

BIGGEST?

We may not be the biggest, but with 125 lawyers in 5 cities in South Carolina and in Washington, DC, we’re certainly not the smallest.

OLDEST?

We may not be b the h oldest, ld but b with i h a history hi dating back to 1887, we’ve been around the block a time or two.

BEST ? *

We are proud to say we have 67 Shareholders named to The Best Lawyers in America 2013 listing.

No matter how long we’ve been around or how many lawyers we have, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd continues to be committed to providing clients, large and small, with efficient solutions to their complex problems.

We look forward to serving our clients, community and neighbors for another 125 years.

WWW.HSBLAWFIRM.COM

CHARLESTON

COLUMBIA

FLORENCE

GREENVILLE

MYRTLE BEACH

WASHINGTON, DC

Anne S. Ellefson, Managing Directoror, 75 Beattie Place, 11th Floor, Greenville, SC 29601 * The Best Lawyers in America® 2013. Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC; or The Best Lawyers in Canada 2012.

Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC.

contents FEATURES

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Athletics remain economic drivers..........................18

by Dana W. Todd

Made with Pride in South Carolina......................... 24

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by Kristine Hartvigsen

Human Resources: Keeping up with the times.......... 32

28

by Gail DePriest

The ultimate manufacturing machine................ 36

South Carolina Chamber of Commerce 1301 Gervais Street, Suite 1100 Columbia, South Carolina 29201 800.799.4601 www . scchamber . net

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Natives put state in national spotlight....................28

November/December 2012 Volume 33, Number 6

by Julie Scott

P resident & C hief E xecutive O fficer OTIS RAWL V ice P resident of P ublic P olicy & C ommunications DARRELL SCOTT A ssociate V ice P resident of C ommunications

JULIE SCOTT M ulti M edia M anager

A loyal statesman............................................. 54

by Jean Cecil Frick

Jean Cecil Frick G raphics & W eb A dministrator BOBBY BAKER

An unwavering spirit. ........................................60

32

by Julie Scott

Preparing future stars through apprenticeship.....................................11

Kelly Steinhilper

36

Protecting our business-friendly environment................................................... 12

James H. Fowles & Todd S. Timmons

with Distinction

Milestones underscore momentum at state’s ports.......................................... 13

Bill Stern Public and private investment key to successful downtowns......................... 15

Reba Hull Campbell

54

South Carolina tourism industry rising in the ranks.......................................... 17

Kim Jamieson

DEPARTMENTS Message from the Chairman................. 5

Jim Reynolds

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Message from the President...................7

Otis Rawl Message from the Governor................. 9

Nikki Haley

South Carolina Big 50......................... 50 South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Staff.................................. 65 South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Leadership.......................................... 66 Advertiser Index...................................67

South Carolina Top 100.......................42 Pinnacle of Leadership........................ 68

The opinions and views expressed by the contributors to this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, its staff or members.

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STATE CHAMBER

| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

M SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS MAGAZINE E ditor Jean Cecil Frick A rt D irection & D esign TIM MCKEEVER / TMCA INC. P roduction & P rint C oordination TMCA INC. D igital I maging & P rinting PROFESSIONAL PRINTERS A dvertising S ales CONVERGING MEDIA LLC DEIDRE MACKLEN 803.318.3923 C over SANDY ANDREWS Copyright © 2012 by Converging Media LLC for the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. All foreign and U.S. rights reserved. Contents of this publication, including images, may not be reproduced without written consent from the publisher. Converging Media LLC. 803.256.3010

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A M e s s a g e f r o m t h e C h a i r ma n ~ J i m R e y n o l d s

Creating a culture of success

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s business leaders, we all love South Carolina and want the best for its citizens, families and businesses. To have the best, we must create a lot of sustainable, high-paying jobs. A state that continues to create jobs must have three things: 1. A highly educated workforce with globally competitive skills 2. An environment that promotes business success 3. A culture of respect and collaboration for a bold vision

Highly Educated Workforce

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ost South Carolinians believe our state ranks 50th in education. Ten years ago that was true, but with strong collaboration among business, education and political leaders, South Carolina is nearing the national average in many metrics.

• The dropout rate has improved by 26 percent and now nearly 74 percent of our students graduate on time • South Carolina’s virtual high school program ranks 2nd in the nation • 170,838 citizens have earned WorkKeys® Career Readiness Certificates, ranking S.C. No. 2 in the U.S. behind Georgia • ApprenticeshipCarolina™ has seen a 440 percent growth in the number of registered apprentices, increasing from 777 in 2007 to over 4,200 in 2012 • QuickJobs, an innovative program through our technical colleges, is training thousands for high-need jobs in manufacturing, transportation, distribution, logistics, IT, energy and health care • readySC™ consistently ranks in the top 10 in the U.S. for workforce training.

We have proven to ourselves that with innovation and collaboration, South Carolina can achieve dramatic improvements in education outcomes. With that confidence, we now need to commit to moving our state from near the national average to the top tier of states in education and workforce quality. That will require: • Transforming our PreK-12 system to a learner-centered model where 90 percent of our students graduate career, college and citizenship ready • Focusing on children from infancy to age 5 to prepare them for success in school • Transforming higher education to connect degrees to careers and provide constant knowledge and skill retraining for adult workers Business Friendly Environment

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P a t C r aw f o r d

outh Carolina is a business friendly state, and everyone pitches in to make it easy to locate and expand jobs here. However, to remain competitive, we must address our infrastructure, tax policy, support for entrepreneurs and health care costs.

Infrastructure: South Carolina’s federal and state leaders took bold action to ensure the Port of Charleston gets deepened to 50 plus feet. We must now take bold action to widen our interstates, with a priority on I-26, I-85 and I-95, so our businesses can efficiently transport raw materials and finished goods.

Tax policy: South Carolina manufacturers currently pay the highest industrial property taxes in the country, while all other business properties pay the 7th

highest property taxes. The business community has called for comprehensive tax reform for many years, and especially after the passage of Act 388property tax reform for homeowners, we need it more than ever. Tax policy must be modernized to ensure stability, adequacy and predictability.

Support for entrepreneurs: The state has a high rate of business startups but a low rate of sustained success. We must put in place policies, support structures and access to capital to enable entrepreneurs to take their ventures to scale here in South Carolina and create great jobs for our citizens.

Health care costs: Health care insurance is an out of control cost for businesses. We must partner with health care providers, insurers and state agencies to transform health policies to improve the well-being of our workforce and reduce the costs we all bear.

Collaboration for a Bold Vision

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ne of the advantages South Carolina has as a small state is that we all know each other and can build relationships of trust that transcend politics. We see that come to the forefront when opportunities arise like bringing Boeing to the Palmetto State. We face deep challenges for our nation and our state in the coming years, and we must approach these challenges with a unified commitment to a bold vision for a globally competitive South Carolina.

Achieving this vision will require a culture of collaboration, respect and trust among all our leaders in tackling the problems that can no longer wait until after the next election. These critical issues must be approached as a Boeing moment, where political advantage is put aside and solutions that benefit our state long term are enacted by leaders who are unified.

Business leaders appreciate that the people of our state are smart, hard working and willing to embrace innovation and change. Working together, South Carolina will become a powerhouse for creating great jobs, prosperity and quality of life for our citizens and success for our businesses.

Jim Reynolds is chief executive officer and a partner in Total Comfort Solutions and served as chairman of the 2011-2012 South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

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A Message from the President ~ Otis Rawl

Where the rubber meets the road

S and y A nd r e w s

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reat things are happening in the Palmetto State. We are blessed with a climate and natural resources that bring visitors from all over the world to spend their hard-earned money in South Carolina. The state Department of Commerce continues to have record breaking years bringing jobs to the state. We are home to the fastest growing Top 10 U.S. container port during the first half of 2012, and are poised to grow even more with expansion of the Panama Canal.

Our second to none technical college system continues to graduate welltrained employees for businesses investing in the state. Companies, like Boeing, have stated that the technical college system’s programs are some of the best in the nation and often tout the positive impacts on their bottom lines. More good news is that we are set to become the “tire empire” of the nation, with recently announced expansions at Michelin and Bridgestone as well as a major investment announcement by Continental Tire.

We also have industry stars in South Carolina, great companies that are creating high-paying jobs. These small, medium and large businesses are entrepreneurs, manufacturers, health care facilities, suppliers, and more, but they all share a common need. Federal and state government policies must encourage their growth, because we all know that if businesses grow and thrive, so do jobs.

With today’s 24-7 business cycle, global competition and a state unemployment rate of more than 9 percent, public policy officials must ramp up their focus on job creating business priorities in 2013 to give South Carolina an edge.

On a biannual basis, I meet with my counterparts from other state chambers of commerce. I can tell you that from their perspective, we have plenty of things to brag about here in the Palmetto State. We are fortunate to have a state legislature that, for the most part, values job creation priorities. In 2012, 41 legislators earned perfect scores on the South Carolina Chamber’s Legislative Scorecard, and 62 percent of legislators scored at 80 percent or above. Additionally, our governor has made job creation her No. 1 priority. Many states are not so fortunate, and this dedication gives us a huge opportunity to rise above our regional and national competitors in creating a more business friendly climate. We must take a proactive approach to job creation.

2012 was a banner year for pro-business policies at the State House, and the business community achieved some significant victories. Through the South Carolina Chamber’s direct advocacy efforts at the State House and strong alliances with our partners, South Carolina businesses will benefit from more than $800 million in legislative changes. One of the most significant victories was correcting an outrageous Supreme Court ruling providing that any emission into the environment would now require a permit, even if one did not exist. I don’t know about you, but I drive a car to work every day, and my vehicle does put out emissions. This Supreme Court ruling made it possible for people to sue me for this every day function. The Chamber led the fight to correct the ruling and its potentially devastating impact on economic development, and we prevailed.

Charleston Harbor deepening was also a big priority of business leaders, and the General Assembly included full funding in their 2012-13 state budget at $300 million, sending a strong message to international customers that Charleston will indeed be a 50-plus foot harbor. South Carolina will be ready to compete globally.

The business community also achieved additional unemployment safeguards in 2012 as the state continues to pay back its debt to the federal government. We worked on both sides of the aisle to protect unemployment benefits for deserving workers but also safeguard employer tax dollars paid into the system. Specifically, unemployment payouts were eliminated for workers fired for misconduct after

it was revealed that millions in payouts were being made to people who clearly broke laws or company policies. The new law should save the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund up to $50 million annually. The General Assembly also provided $77 million in tax relief to employers saddled with paying back the federal loan. Over the last few years, the Chamber has led the way towards major reforms at the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce that have saved hundreds of millions of dollars for employers.

We are proud to honor Senate President Pro Tempore John Courson as the 2012 Public Servant of the Year. A businessman himself, Senator Courson understands that the private sector needs to lead the path forward in creating jobs in South Carolina. This year, he was key to the passage of critically important legislation to help protect businesses from frivolous lawsuits. As chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Senator Courson has led a host of priorities to improve workforce development, including the Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA). The EEDA has been instrumental to improving South Carolina’s graduation rate. We are pleased to honor such a deserving public policy leader.

In this expanded edition of South Carolina Business magazine, we also honor a great star of business: Josef Kerscher, who leads BMW, a company that has changed the business landscape of the Palmetto State since its arrival 20 years ago.

BMW has become the No. 1 auto exporter in the U.S., and its impact on South Carolina cannot be denied. BMW also has helped put South Carolina on the map, both nationally and internationally. Close to 200 auto-related manufacturing companies have invested in our state, directly spurred by BMW’s presence. Josef Kerscher has been dedicated to improving South Carolina’s business climate since his arrival to the Palmetto State in 2007.

There is no doubt we have a great deal to be proud of in South Carolina as well as some work to do. The South Carolina Chamber’s legislative victories are made possible by business leaders who recognize the value of investing in the work we do every day to improve the climate for creating jobs. All South Carolina Chamber members share a common goal: they want to make South Carolina a better place to do business. The investment matters immensely. In order to continue to grow economic development opportunities and maintain a pro-business environment, we must all work together to make South Carolina a global powerhouse: business leaders, public policy officials and citizens. That’s where the rubber meets the road.

Otis Rawl is president and CEO of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the state’s unified voice of business.

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Experience Counts • First in the South to perform robotic, endoscopic, beating-heart surgery • One of the first sites in the nation chosen for the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program • South Carolina’s first two-time recipient of the prestigious Magnet® designation for nursing excellence • South Carolina’s first nationally accredited Chest Pain Center • First in the state to use TomoTherapy® radiation therapy • Fully accredited Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit • Most comprehensive and experienced da Vinci® robotic surgical program in the state • Named a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence, with more than 1,800 surgeries performed • Affiliated with the MD Anderson Physicians Network® • First certified Primary Stroke Center in South Carolina • 18 certified Patient Centered Medical Homes within the Spartanburg Regional Physician Group

101 East Wood Street | Spartanburg, SC 29303 864-560-6000 spartanburgregional.com MKTG92P

A Message from the Governor ~ Nikki R. Haley

It’s a great day in South Carolina

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s many of you have heard me say before, it is a great day in South Carolina! We have so much to be excited about in our state, and the future is bright with our existing businesses growing and expanding and new ones investing every day. We are innovators here in South Carolina—we build planes and cars, we manufacture tires and we develop pharmaceuticals. There is nothing South Carolina workers cannot do, and we have proven that by announcing more than 27,000 new jobs and over $5 billion in investments in our state.

Companies are investing in South Carolina because we understand, even as we recruit new industry, that we must take care of the businesses we already have.

Keeping the cost of doing business low for our existing companies is crucial as we continue to grow the economy. That’s why we were proud to deliver tax relief by reducing the income tax rate for small businesses from 5 percent to 3 percent over the next three years. Returning tax dollars back to small businesses allows them to hire people and expand their businesses.

From a policy perspective, our focus continues to be on pro-business reforms that cut regulation and red tape. For small businesses, time is money. If you are costing a business time, you are costing them money. And that is not acceptable.

Pro-business legislation is the cornerstone of economic growth. Americans for Tax Reform recently wrote that South Carolina has “aggressively championed and pursued pro-growth reforms and policy initiatives that will attract employers to South Carolina and make it a more competitive state to do business and create jobs in the process.”

Business executives are turning to South Carolina as a result of these policy initiatives. We are a right-to-work state. Businesses take care of their employees, and our state government should do everything it can to take care of businesses. A major factor in our recent economic development success is our low unionization rate - the second lowest in the country - and I want to keep it that way. We don’t need unions in South Carolina because our workers don’t want unions in South Carolina. Employees love the direct relationship they have with their employers, and no union bosses should ever stand in the way of progress.

The results of this business friendly atmosphere are clear, and we have so much to be proud of. Some of the world’s most successful businesses call the Palmetto State home and we have partnered with them like never before.

A few months ago I sat on the tarmac at the Boeing facility in North Charleston and watched as a new 787 Dreamliner rolled down the runway sporting a ‘Made with Pride in South Carolina’ decal. Even better were the thousands of non-union employees cheering, smiling and so proud of what they had built. Boeing hopes to build 3.5 passenger jets per month. As Boeing grows, it will need more materials and support from suppliers. We will make sure they can find everything they need in South Carolina.

The Wall Street Journal published an article earlier this year that said, “anyone still thinking the U.S. has lost its manufacturing chops hasn’t been to [South Carolina.]” We have three of the four largest tire producers in the world and are about to become the No.1 tire producing state in the country. Michelin expanded in Lexington County and built a plant in Anderson County, investing about $1 billion and creating more than 750 new jobs. Continental Tire broke ground in Sumter County with a $500 million plant that will create more than 1,600 new jobs. Bridgestone invested $1.2 billion in Aiken County, creating 850 more jobs and marking the biggest single corporate investment in state history. Now, South Carolina holds a 30 percent share in U.S. tire exports.

We are on a roll in the manufacturing industry. South Carolina’s exports increased 21.4 percent in 2011 over 2010—shipping about $24.6 billion in goods to 198 countries around the world.

BMW expanded its plant in Spartanburg County with a $900 million investment, creating 300 new jobs and reclaiming its spot as the nation’s No. 1 exporter of vehicles. Honda is producing ATVs, making South Carolina the No. 1 four-wheeler producer in the world.

With businesses choosing to invest and expand in South Carolina, it is incumbent on us to have a trained workforce ready to fill these new positions.

Restructuring the state’s workforce training program will provide businesses with the employees they need. When a company breaks ground in South Carolina, it will only have to look as far as our state border for a skilled workforce.

This is all about Team South Carolina. We are on the right track with our economic development efforts and will continue to bring job-creating investments to the Palmetto State. Thanks to the hardworking business owners and their employees, it will continue to be a great day in South Carolina.

Nikki R. Haley is governor of the State of South Carolina.

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W o r k f o r c e D e v e l o pm e n t

Preparing future stars through apprenticeship

d i g i ta l S t o c k

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nce in a while, you run across a solution that begs a double take, an ideal solution perfectly aligned with your goals.

Apprenticeship Carolina may just be that solution.

Housed in the SC Technical College System, this unassuming program is an absolute gem for building South Carolina’s skilled workforce. Apprenticeship Carolina dedicates its resources to increasing registered apprenticeships in the state.

And, it has done just that. South Carolina currently boasts one of the fastest growing apprenticeship systems in the country and is garnering numerous national accolades and recognitions.

Since its beginnings in 2007, Apprenticeship Carolina has played a key role in growing apprenticeship participation from just 90 companies to 552, a growth of 513 percent. During that same period, the number of active apprentices increased more than five-fold, growing from 777 to 4,221. In 2007, only 22 South Carolina counties had registered programs. Now all 46 counties are represented with at least one registered program.

The evolution is phenomenal.

“Our growth strategy sets us apart,” said Brad Neese, director of Apprenticeship Carolina. “We made a conscious decision to break down the traditional barriers to registered apprenticeship. We’re redefining a centuries old concept and making it something that has real value for business and industry in South Carolina.”

Apprenticeship Carolina proactively reaches out to nontraditional sectors such as health care, finance, hospitality and tourism, information technology and advanced manufacturing with the message that apprenticeship has evolved. It is no longer limited to just traditional occupations. These non-traditional sectors can also benefit.

Today in South Carolina, organizations such as CVS Pharmacy, Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Peoples Bancorporation, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, 3M, Lexington Medical Center and many others have registered apprenticeship programs. These programs represent such

occupations as pharmacy technician, customer service representative, bank teller, medical practice administrator, programmer analyst, maintenance mechanic, and the list goes on.

Apprenticeship Carolina’s innovative approach has not gone unnoticed.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama expressed his commitment to supporting programs like apprenticeship. Programs that “help ensure America remains home to the most creative and talented workforce in the world.”

In May, the White House invited representatives from Apprenticeship Carolina, along with Aiken Technical College, Aiken County School District and Tognum America Inc., to participate in a roundtable discussion focused on youth apprenticeship.

In July, the U.S. Department of Labor honored Apprenticeship Carolina with a 21st Century Innovators and Trailblazers Award.

This award recognizes programs for their long-standing success and innovative approaches to training U.S. workers.

Another honor came when the national Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship named Garcia MillsTate, training manager for information systems at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, to their board as a representative of non-traditional sectors.

In 2009, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina established one of the state’s first apprenticeship programs in the information technology sector. The organization now offers apprenticeship programs in multiple occupations, including programmer analyst, web systems support programmer and network support technician.

“Apprenticeship programs are a great way for us to grow our own experts in the information technology field. Our partnership with Apprenticeship Carolina and our local technical college has produced a training program that will help BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina meet its need for skilled workers,” said Mills-Tate. “As not only one of the state’s largest employers but also one who continually earns honors as a top employer, we recognize the need to build talent among our dedicated employees and are firmly committed to creating a culture of innovation and

Since 2007, Apprenticeship Carolina has played a key role in growing apprenticeship participation from just 90 companies to 552, a growth of 513 percent.

continuous improvement.”

A commitment to building South Carolina’s talent lies at the heart of Apprenticeship Carolina’s growth. “We have a very business-centric focus. As we introduce the benefits of registered apprenticeship, companies see the value in it – higher skills, decreased turnover, consistent training and a reliable plan for transferring knowledge from an aging, experienced workforce to the next generation of talented employees,” said Neese. “We walk companies through the process. We make it very easy – painless, in fact.”

In addition, eligible businesses can receive a South Carolina tax credit of $1,000 per apprentice per year for up to four years.

As South Carolina works to grow its skilled workforce, enhance its competitiveness and increase the employability of its citizens, Apprenticeship Carolina is a program perfectly aligned with these goals — one that commands a double take.

Kelly Steinhilper is the vice president of communications for the South Carolina Technical College System.

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G o v e r n m e n t / R e g u l ato r y E n v i r o n m e n t

Protecting our business-friendly environment

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aced with a federal administration that is increasingly supportive of organized labor, South Carolina has fought hard to defend and maintain the state’s pro-business environment. Our state’s efforts are highlighted by three key successes over the last several years.

Save our Secret Ballot

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uring the general election of 2010, voters in South Carolina passed a ballot referendum amending the state constitution to guarantee workers the right to a secret ballot vote in union representation elections. Over 86 percent of voters supported the Amendment, which was championed by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce as a countermeasure to the federal Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) introduced in the U.S. Congress in March 2009. EFCA would have eliminated most secret ballot elections for union representation in favor of a card signing process. This troubled many voters and businesses who realized obtaining a signature on a union card could be achieved through pressure – or

worse – intimidation. EFCA appears to be a notso-subtle attempt to prop up union growth at the expense of employee rights.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently challenged a similar constitutional amendment in federal court in Arizona arguing state constitutional amendments guaranteeing secret ballot elections are preempted by federal labor laws. Last month, the court threw the case out on procedural grounds, so we do not yet know if courts are receptive to the NLRB’s preemption argument.

The Right to Work Act of 2012

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n June 7, 2012, Governor Haley signed into law the Right to Work Act of 2012. Although South Carolina has long been a right-to-work state, the Act strengthened our right-to-work laws by: (1) clarifying language in the previous laws so it is clear an employee’s right to work cannot be denied due to membership or non-membership in a union; (2) providing that an employer may display a poster informing workers of the Act’s right-towork protections; (3) promoting transparency by

requiring unions to file regular reports with the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; (4) increasing civil penalties for violations of the Act; and (5) requiring written authorization from an employee before any union dues can be deducted from his or her paycheck.

Invalidation of the Board’s Employee Rights Poster

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n a lawsuit brought by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in Charleston, U.S. District Court Judge David Norton ruled in favor of the Chamber on April 13, 2012 and invalidated the NLRB’s notice posting rule, which would have required most employers to post a notice regarding the rights of employees to organize and join a union. This decision conflicts with a decision by a federal judge in D.C. that upheld the NLRB’s authority to issue the notice posting rule.

As a result of the Chamber’s success in the South Carolina litigation, no employer is required to post the notice at this time. But the South Carolina ruling is not the end of the story. The NLRB has filed appeals in both the Fourth Circuit and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeals. Also, legislation reversing the notice posting rule has been introduced in Congress.

James H. Fowles III is a shareholder and Todd S. Timmons is an associate in the Columbia, S.C. office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C.

In a lawsuit brought by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in Charleston, U.S. District Court Judge David Norton ruled in favor of the Chamber on April 13, 2012 and invalidated the NLRB’s notice posting rule, which would have required most employers to post a notice regarding the rights of employees to organize and join a union.

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Infrastructure

Milestones underscore momentum at state’s ports

scspa

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here is no doubt the state’s key economic engine is our public port system. Under the leadership of South Carolina Ports Authority President and CEO Jim Newsome and his executive management team, the Ports Authority is pursuing aggressive sales and marketing efforts to increase volume, diversify cargo business and improve the efficiency of cargo movement. The board and staff are also committed and focused on deepening Charleston Harbor in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Recent success is a direct result of very dedicated and capable employees who consistently produce high levels of safe productivity and customer satisfaction.

The Ports Authority Board of Directors recently reviewed activity that occurred in fiscal year 2012.

The Port of Charleston was the fastest-growing top 10 U.S. container port for the first six months of 2012.

Charleston container volume grew 7.4 percent from January to June this calendar year, edging out other top 10 ports on both the U.S. East and West coasts.

Container business at the Port of Charleston was up 3.5 percent in the fiscal year that ended June 30, with 1.43 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled last fiscal year. Representing further recovery in trade activity following the global recession, the fourth quarter of FY12 (April-June) was the Port of Charleston’s highest quarter for container volume in more than three years.

Further gains have been made in recruiting noncontainer business. Breakbulk volumes reflected more than a 42 percent gain from the previous fiscal year, with 1.4 million pier tons recorded at South Carolina’s public port facilities in FY12. In Charleston, the Port handled 863,471 pier tons of non-containerized cargo last fiscal year, a nearly 21 percent increase from the previous year. In the Port of Georgetown, business nearly doubled last year. For fiscal year 2012, Georgetown handled 548,919 pier tons of cargo, with major commodities handled including bulk cement and petroleum coke.

Additional accomplishments include: • The addition of new services with five weekly calls in the Port of Charleston, including a direct service to Vietnam and an Australia service; • Incorporating a rail drayage program to improve the efficiency of cargo movement in the area.

The program matches loads of containers to and from the intermodal rail yards in North Charleston;

• Greater utilization of the Port Incentive Tax Credit; • Bringing on new transload infrastructure and business for retail and agricultural products; and • Transforming Columbus Street Terminal to support cargo diversification and non-containerized business.

Fiscal year 2013 is off to a strong start. In July, the Port of Charleston handled 131,767 TEUs, a 16 percent increase from the same month last year and a nearly seven percent gain from June. These numbers reflect two things: recovery and a commitment to meeting aggressive goals.

As a means of capitalizing on these goals, the board recently announced the development of an inland port in Greer, which will be served by overnight rail service to and from the Port of Charleston.

Creating a facility in the densest manufacturing and agricultural area of our state will provide reduced costs to inland customers. The facility is expected to convert as many as 50,000 truck trips on I-26 into rail moves, and the Ports Authority is rapidly advancing this project. The board approved a resolution authorizing President and CEO Jim Newsome to take any necessary action to bring the project to fruition at a cost of up to $25 million.

Significant progress was also made on the Charleston Harbor Post 45 Harbor Deepening Project during the past year. For the first time, the project was included in President Barack Obama’s Executive Budget for 2013 and was one of seven priority infrastructure projects included for expediting in the Administration’s “We Can’t Wait” initiative.

Coupled with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ new streamlining measures, this inclusion means the project could be completed by 2019, which is five years earlier than initially announced.

On the state level, the South Carolina General Assembly moved to fully fund the project’s construction phase by setting aside the entire $300 million estimated cost. This allocation would cover the state’s 60 percent share, or $180 million, as well as fund the federal share of deepening Charleston Harbor to 50 feet or greater, if needed. Thanks to the General Assembly’s action, the project will not be slowed by financial constraints.

As the South Carolina Ports Authority prepares

Container business at the Port of Charleston was up 3.5 percent in the fiscal year that ended June 30, with 1.43 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled last fiscal year.

for the future, it is important it has the necessary capacity for volume and appropriate channel depth for bigger ships. The development of the Navy Base Terminal, supplemented by improvements to existing facilities, addresses capacity needs through 2030.

The post-Panamax shipbuilding boon has taught us that channels must be at least 50 feet deep and accommodate two-way traffic. The post-45 foot project in Charleston will accomplish both.

Future container terminal capacity will be accomplished at the proposed Jasper Ocean Terminal site, and we will work diligently to build this facility in the proper sequence. A new deepening project will have to accompany any terminal construction in Jasper as the current Savannah River deepening project only calls for 47 feet of depth and one-way traffic.

I am proud to serve as the Chairman of the Board for the South Carolina Ports Authority and am greatly appreciative of the business community’s role as an advocate of the port system. South Carolina’s ports are vital to the state, and their success is a win for everyone. As the port prepares for the future, we will strive to continue to bring jobs and economic opportunity to South Carolina in the decades to come.

Bill Stern is chairman of the board of the South Carolina Ports Authority.

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Quality of Life

Public and private investment key to successful downtowns

Doug Garner

G

reat downtowns don’t just happen. They are the result of vision coupled with public and private investment and collaboration.

Three South Carolina business leaders in cities of varying sizes say their hometowns have found the right formula and can serve as a lab for other cities and the businesses located in them.

Greenville’s renaissance began with a vision more than 30 years ago. The downtown Greenville of today in no way resembles the city of the 1970s.

Downtown Greenville has emerged with a strong mix of residential, retail and office space, as well as a pedestrian-oriented Main Street.

Anne S. Ellefson, managing director of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd says, “We have been blessed in Greenville to have visionary leadership. A creative combination of public and private efforts has allowed us to create development beyond normal expectations.”

And Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd is putting its money where its mouth is. The law firm’s Greenville office opened on Main Street 125 years ago later moving to several other locations around the city. In 2013, the firm’s office will move back to Main Street.

“The decision to move back that way was a return to our roots,” Ellefson says. “The evolution of Main Street over the past 30 years has been awesome to watch. The area where our new One Building is located will be the link between the north end and the south end of Main Street, tying lots of development efforts together. We are excited to help make that happen.”

Greenville Mayor Knox White is a partner at Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, and this dual role allows him to live what he preaches. “The city has a tradition of working in partnership with private businesses.

Together we create an environment that is beautiful and full of life.”

It’s not just the big cities that are seeding their downtowns to be attractive for new investment. In Manning, entrepreneur Jeffrey Black could have chosen to locate his international consulting business anywhere, but he saw the potential in his hometown Main Street. He owns 12 downtown buildings in Manning and runs his company from one.

Black says he chose to invest in downtown Manning because he believes a city’s downtown is the first impression people get of what a community’s

values are. “Nobody wants to come to a place that looks tired and uncared for. They want to come to a place that is alive and vibrant - a town rich in history, but with a vision for the future.”

Black points to the City of Manning’s participation in the Main Street SC program as a real asset to its downtown development. “This group’s support is instrumental in enhancing downtown, one building at a time. This organization provides yearly façade grants, and building owners realize that a new coat of paint, good signage and planters can make a world of difference.”

In Lake City, businesswoman Darla Moore also felt the pull of her hometown when she decided to help revive downtown Lake City.

“This is my hometown,” Moore says. “Lake City is where I learned the critical values and work ethic I needed to succeed in my profession. And, as such, it is a town I want to see succeed. Our research tells us Lake City has the assets necessary to succeed, and I believe, with a little help, we can use these assets to transform Lake City.”

“Our town leaders, led by Mayor Lovith Anderson, have committed their time and resources to be part of a huge public/private partnership effort to improve the economic viability of Lake City,” Moore says.

“This collaboration is demonstrating to everyone involved the importance of working together to solve problems.”

Moore says downtown Lake City has been able to retain its early 1900’s façade. And the town has passed a historic preservation district ordinance to ensure the preservation of the downtown area. The town is also working to offer downtown property owners grants and tax incentives to improve the facades of their buildings.

She believes that this Pee Dee town can become a destination many people will want to visit in order to reconnect with a small town atmosphere that has mostly disappeared from the countryside.

“I envision a vibrant, active downtown full of restaurants, retail stores, apartments and hotels to accommodate all the people who will want to spend some time visiting museums, viewing the agribusiness history of Lake City, honoring the life of the distinguished astronaut, Ronald E. McNair, and enjoying the beautiful gardens and rivers in the Lake City community,” Moore says.

The City of Manning’s participation in the Main Street SC program was a real asset to its downtown development.

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd is returning to its roots with a new building on Greenville’s Main Street.

Reba Hull Campbell is the deputy executive director of the Municipal Association of South Carolina.

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Tourism

South Carolina tourism industry rising in the ranks

D . T an g n e y J r / J u d y M a r t i n / TMC A S t c o k

S

outh Carolinians embody a sense of pride like no other. They understand sweet tea tastes best out of a mason jar, grits are seasoned with salt not sugar, rocking chairs are a front porch staple, and almost anything can be fried. When individuals from the outside visit South Carolina, this homegrown sense of pride is what attracts and draws them in. Southern hospitality and way of life makes nearly every South Carolinian a part of the tourism industry.

As a whole, tourism continues to thrive in the state, employing one in every 10 South Carolinians.

As a vital building block to driving local and statewide economies, tourism industry leaders have worked tirelessly to showcase the attributes that make South Carolina a desirable destination. This year, many within the tourism industry were recognized for going above and beyond to make visitor experiences exciting and memorable.

Located in the heart of the Palmetto State and a major driver of business, governmental and leisure travel, the Columbia region was recognized

by Boating Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Places to Live and Boat,” named by Forbes Magazine as one of the “25 Best Places to Retire in 2012” and is home to the No. 1 gated attraction in South Carolina, Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. In recent years, multiple new construction and expansion projects have turned eyes to the Columbia region. The city’s sense of graciousness, central location and innovative business community aids in the allure of new residents and business development.

Strolling the streets of downtown Greenville and searching for hidden bronze mice is a unique and fun way to end a long weekend. Greenville’s popular Main Street was named one of the “Top Main Streets in the United States” by Travel + Leisure magazine. The Brown Street Club, located off Main Street in downtown Greenville, was the only restaurant in the state named to the OpenTable Diner’s Choice List for “Top 100 Late Night Dining Restaurants.”

Historic elements are also a draw to South Carolina. Charleston earned the No. 6 spot of the “Best U.S. Historic Destinations” by U.S. News & World Report, a well deserved honor and nod to the city’s investment in historic preservation. Charleston’s Husk restaurant, known for creatively incorporating sustainable and local produce into menu items, is

the reigning “Best Restaurant in America” chosen by Bon Appétit magazine.

South Carolina’s coast is an ideal recipe for a great vacation destination. The picturesque city of Beaufort was named a “Coastal Dream Town” by Coastal Living magazine. Additionally, Myrtle Beach was named one of the “Best Beaches in the U.S.” and listed as one of the “Most Affordable U.S. Vacations,” by U.S. News and World Report.

Also receiving high honors was Aiken’s premier hotel, The Willcox. Recognized as one of the “Top 50 Hotels in The World”

by Travel + Leisure magazine, this property is an example of Southern hospitality at its finest. Wild Dunes Resort and Kiawah Island Resort have both worked to create an environment that guests will never want to leave, skyrocketing these properties to the top of an elite list of resorts across the world.

Wild Dunes Resort was named in the “Top 20 Southern U.S. Golf Resorts” by Conde Nast Traveler’s readers’ poll in both 2011 and 2012.

Kiawah Island Golf Resort was recognized as a “Top Continental U.S. And Canada Resort” by Travel + Leisure magazine, as well as honored with a place on the “Top Properties in the World” list by Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Award.

While these accolades are just a sampling of the countless recognitions earned across the state, it is important to note that a win for one, is a win for all in South Carolina. State tourism industry leaders have capitalized on the charming characteristics that make this state what is it is today. Undoubtedly, these efforts will continue to propel the state forward by generating revenue, highlighting its value and making South Carolina a second to none destination for years to come.

Kim Jamieson is the director of communications for the Midlands Authority for Conventions, Sports & Tourism in Columbia, S.C.

Lake Murray

Historic Charleston

Downtown Greenville As a whole, tourism continues to thrive in the state, employing one in every 10 South Carolinians.

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Athletics Remain Economic Drivers

By Dana W. Todd

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| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

W

hen we think of sports stars in South Carolina, we may think of the players and coaches who play the game well and inspire others to greatness. We may think of those who were born or shine in our state such as George Rogers, Steve Spurrier, Alex English, Cale Yarborough, William Perry or Frank Howard. The continuing legacy of these and many other players and

coaches is fuel on the fire of sports tourism in our state. The mystique of sports legends keeps in-state and out-of-state visitors coming back and adding money to our economy.

South Carolina is dependent upon money filtering into the state due to sports-related

tourism. Without the major sporting events hosted throughout the state, our economy would be lowered by a few billion dollars in revenue that annually flow to businesses and government agencies as a result of direct and indirect spending. Golf, tennis, equine competitions, motor racing, and college athletics are the super stars in the state with one-time and recurring sporting events that consistently lure spectators back for more. Economists analyze the economic impact of these sporting events because the resulting numbers show specific value to the community.

Golf is King

T h e P G A o f A m e r i c a , M o n t ana P r i t c h a r d

G

olf is the premiere economic stimulant in the state when it comes to sporting events, even for one-time shots like this year’s PGA of America Championship at Kiawah Island. The College of Charleston estimates that event added more than $92 million to the region’s coffers, money that is not regularly a part of the local economy. Economic impact figures include direct impacts such as what the hosting organizations spend; what visitors spend on hotel rooms, restaurant meals and shopping; and what employees spend who work the event. The amount also counts indirect impact such as the money added to the economy when “suppliers sell to the supplier” to fulfill extra needs. Indirect impact includes the “multiplier effect,” which measures the re-spending of earned dollars in the local economy, particularly important since the money stays in the local community.

“When a major championship [such as Kiawah Island’s PGA Championship] comes to town, the PGA has someone on site for a couple of years to help the community plan for it,” says Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation. The PGA official’s relationship with local venue representatives makes a difference as to whether the organization will want to come Tiger Woods during third round play at the PGA Championship at back in the future. “From what I understand, the PGA of America had a very good experience Kiawah Island. at Kiawah. It was a commercial success and played well in the national media through television coverage,” he says.

Media coverage, particularly TV, makes or breaks venues. Kiawah seems to have fared well because of its s c c h a m b e r. n e t | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss |

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TOURISM WORKS FOR US!

THE ECONOMIC ENGINE

10/15/12 4:37 PM

It’s the economic engine that fuels the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina. Tourism affects not just those directly working in the hospitality industry but many other facets of our community, including education, infrastructure, economic development, the arts, and recreation.

The Myrtle Beach Impact tourism StateWide IMPACT Domestic traveler spending in South Carolina directly generated nearly $1.5 billion in tax revenue for federal, state and local governments in 2010, up 4.7 percent from 2009. The total tax revenue increase is largely driven by growth in federal payroll income tax, local property tax, and state sales tax.

$6.3

Economic impact in the Myrtle Beach area.

$9.7

Generated from Horry & Georgetown counties in retail sales in 2010-11.

billion

billion

$17.2

Generated from Horry & Georgetown counties in accommodations taxes in 2011.

Million

73,500

Local jobs 20

| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

Tourism generates directly or indirectly most of the jobs in Horry & Georgetown counties.

“unbelievable vistas” and “existing infrastructure,” which puts it in a good position to be considered in future years, according to Mona.

Almost three-fourths of state golf courses are available to the public, which makes it particularly attractive to tourists who enjoy playing a round or two. Recurring golf tournaments, such as the RBC Heritage presented by Boeing and Augusta National’s Masters Tournament, infuse money into the state each year. The 44-year-old RBC Heritage is on the PGA Tour and produces an average annual economic impact of $81 million according to a 2010 Clemson Economic Impact Study. It draws a steady stream of tourists who pump dollars into both the local Hilton Head Island and the larger state economies. According to Angela McSwain of RBC Heritage, 56 percent of tickets go to state residents, neighbors from Georgia and North Carolina purchase 16 percent of tickets, and visitors originating from a range of other states buy the remaining passes each year. These 100,000 visitors don’t include the millions watching on live network television and The Golf Channel, exposing the state to a future leisure travel audience who wants to experience South Carolina firsthand.

Sporting events don’t solely increase business and government revenues; many of them have a component of greater good that increase the quality of life for all residents. The RBC Heritage, for Media coverage, particularly TV, makes or breaks venues. Kiawah example, distributed $23 million to local charities in need over the last 25 years, $1.5 million going this year to non-profit charities, arts and medical organizations, and funding educational scholarships. seems to have fared well because of its ”unbelievable vistas” and ”existing infrastructure.”

Another annual golfing event on the PGA Tour, the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation, reports annual economic impact between $4 million and $5 million, with winning amateur and celebrity golfers determining which local charities receive donations. This year, donations totaled more than $600,000 for the Upstate area. Since 2001, charitable contributions total $9.25 million.

“The event draws people to see what we have in the Upstate,” says Max Metcalf, co-chair of the BMW Pro-Am and treasurer for SC Charities, Inc., the organization set up to run the annual PGA event.

“Celebrities learn about the area and are blown away with how well they are treated here.”

Metcalf says it’s difficult to measure the economic impact of some aspects, citing the small businesses such as roadside mom-and-pop produce stands that benefit from increased traffic during the event.

Even neighboring events, such as the annual Masters tournament held in Augusta, GA, close to South Carolina’s border, increase sales in the state. The total impact for the tournament is conservatively $110 million, according to South Carolina Parks, Recreation & Tourism’s (SCPRT’s) Marion Edmonds. Although he is uncertain what percentage of that figure benefits our state specifically, he cites the ripple effect of business travelers who are unable to find lodging during the tournament and are pushed north into Columbia to book hotel rooms and visit restaurants.

The 45-year-old RBC Heritage draws a steady stream of tourists who Overall, with these major tournaments and other smaller events scattered around the state, golf’s pump dollars into both the local Hilton Head Island and the larger annual impact on the state’s economy is nearly $2.7 billion according to a 2007 SCPRT study. The state economies.

American Society for Horticultural Science reports South Carolina enjoys the 13th highest economic impact resulting from golf courses. Statewide, golfers play an average of almost 28,500 rounds annually, resulting in recurring revenues of $1.7 million each year for golf course owners. This doesn’t include pro shop sales, restaurant purchases or other items such as cart fees.

C o u r t e s y BM W P r o - A m / T h e H e r i t a g e / T h e P G A o f A m e r i c a , M o n t ana P r i t c h a r d

Several Sports Vie for Title of Queen

A

lthough golf is extremely important in the state, it is not the only hard-hitting contributor to the economy. Several other sporting events are important, including NASCAR racing, fishing, tennis and college athletics.

On Mother’s Day weekend, NASCAR race fans congregate at the Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Raceway President Chris Browning says the economic impact from that traditional weekend adds $54 million to the local economy, particularly helpful in a rural area that is not a common tourist destination. To keep the venue busy, the Raceway hosts 30 to 35 smaller events throughout the year, such as driving schools, which further increase its impact on the economy.

Civic events, such as the Taste of Darlington, whose proceeds go toward downtown revitalization, The BMW Charity Pro-Am draws many celebrities such as (l to r): supplement the local economy even further.

Oliver Hudson, Kurt Russell and Lucas Black.

“Many visitors end up in Myrtle Beach or Charleston, especially those that come from far away,” says Browning. “They make it a vacation and spend several days before or after [the race], golfing and participating in other activities.”

Browning anticipates the weekend’s economic impact to remain about the same in the future. After all, Darlington Raceway has been serving NASCAR fans since the 1950s when it was built as the first paved superspeedway for the NASCAR circuit. It draws fans from all 50 states and a handful of foreign countries.

Down the road, Charleston is no stranger to the economic benefit of being a tourist destination. Sports tourism also plays a big role in its economy, most noticeably through the Family Circle Tennis Center and its annual Family Circle Cup on Daniel Island. High-profile female tennis players have played here, such as Chris Evert, Martina

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Navratilova and Serena Williams. Bob Moran, general manager of the Tennis Center, says the venue hosts 10 to 12 large events each year, including two recent sold-out Hootie and the Blowfish concerts, volleyball tournaments and World Team Tennis (founded by Billie Jean King). The Family Circle Cup alone boasts a $30-$40 million annual economic impact on the region, and Moran expects an increase in future years because of the Center’s focus on national and international advertising.

Although smaller events add to the bottom line, it’s the major sporting events that have a higher economic impact because travelers must secure lodging and buy restaurant meals for several days when they travel from other parts of the country and internationally.

Another professional sport – equine competition and steeplechase racing – adds economic value to the state’s residents. Hope Cooper of the National Steeplechase Museum in Camden says the SC Equine Park welcomed 3,060 horses last year for competitions.

In addition to increased revenue for local Kershaw County Spotting Celebrities business owners, these equine events provide a venue where Hollywood celebrities pop up at local charitable organizations can raise money each year, sporting events in our state. Here’s who most notably the Junior Welfare League, the Jaycees and the is attending South Carolina events: Camden Booster Club.

“We pride ourselves on the fact we’re a non-profit, and we BMW Pro-Am in Greenville: Kevin Costner, give back proceeds to other non-profit organizations,” says Teri Dennis Quaid, Joe Pesci Teed of The Carolina Cup Racing Association, which operates the Springdale Race Course Training Center and the two Cup RBC Heritage in Hilton Head: Robert Irvine races. The Association has given about $90,000 each of the of the Food Network last five years to KershawHealth.

Together, the University of South Carolina (USC) BMX National in Columbia: BMX estimates the Carolina Cup and Colonial Cup steeplechase Olympian Maris Strombergs events at the Springdale Race Course and the SC Equine Park competitions enhance the local economy each year by about Darlington Raceway: Josh Turner, Billy $10 million. With special promotions like last year’s free tickets Currington for military members, the Colonial Cup drew in 3,000 visitors who have never attended a steeplechase event at this venue.

The Carolina Cup in Camden: Vonnie Media coverage in major trade publications and network and Holliday of NFL fame, Mark Bryan of Hootie cable television reaches a larger, national audience. and the Blowfish Also of vital importance, major college athletic events at the two largest universities, Clemson University and USC add to quality of life. A recent study conducted by Clemson revealed that their athletic events generate $115.3 million in economic output statewide and $8.2 million in net state revenue. Clemson athletic events generate 1,200 jobs locally due to spending by attendees who travel from outside the Clemson area, and each home football game accounts for 198 direct jobs.

In April, Lake Murray hosted the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship where top teams competed for the title of national champion in this three-day nationally televised event, showcasing the Midlands of South Carolina.

Welcoming NASCAR’s biggest drivers and thousands of spectators each year, Darlington Raceway attracts tourists who are likely to visit other South Carolina attractions.

A recent study by Clemson University revealed that their athletic events generate $115.3 million in economic output statewide and $8.2 million in net state revenue.

Regional Events Add Value

S C o u r t e s y o f C l e m s o n U n i v e r s i t y / D a r l i n g t o n R a c e wa y

maller traveling youth tennis and soccer tournaments and specialty events like marathons and mud runs add money to enhance life for residents on a smaller economic scale. Scott Powers of the Columbia Regional Sports Council, which helps organize and promote participant-based sporting events in Richland and Lexington counties, reports an economic impact of $5.7 million annually resulting from about 40 events.

“Our central location makes us the natural choice for any state championship,” says Powers. “We are a strong location for rowing events, which is unusual in the Southeast, and tennis has always been strong.”

The Long View

S

ome economists and others who follow sporting events disagree about measuring economic impact, saying the state should be careful about overinflated numbers. NASCAR.com columnist Mark Aumann writes about the substitution effect, saying an event may temporarily double the size of a city but includes spending by locals who otherwise may be making purchases at local shops and malls. This transfer of spending clouds the issue of how much an individual event actually affects the local economy.

The truth may lie somewhere between the two view points, but sports’ contribution to a portion of the $15 billion spent on tourism in South Carolina each year is a good thing for sports lovers and business owners in our state.

Dana Todd is a freelance writer and public relations consultant based in Columbia, S.C.

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Made with Pride A

Evening

Afternoon

Morning

s you go through the day, think about all the products that were developed right here in the Palmetto State, with many being shipped to other customers overseas. South Carolina is proud to be home to numerous global companies and has a bright future for attracting many more.

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Wake up to the sound of your Bose® alarm going off. The Bose South Carolina plant in Blythewood opened in 1996 and currently builds and ships products to customers in North America and overseas to Asia-Pacific.

Slip on a pair of Kentwool socks.

Family owned and operated out of Pickens since 1843, Kentwool prides itself as making the world’s best golf sock.

Fix a turkey sandwich. Your turkey may have come from Prestage Farms located in Camden.

This division began operations in 1994 and sells its birds to Louis Rich, a division of Kraft Foods in Newberry, SC.

End the day by taking in a Carolina Panthers football game. On October 26, 1993, NFL owners unanimously selected the Carolinas as the 29th NFL franchise and the first expansion team since 1976, marking a dream come true for Panthers founder/owner Jerry Richardson. The Panthers have been playing in Charlotte since 1995 and hold their training camp each year at Wofford College in Spartanburg.

| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

Put on a Southern Tide shirt.

When Allen Stephenson started Southern Tide in 2006, he set out to make the best polo shirt available. The line quickly spread to include ties and men’s and women’s clothing sold throughout the U.S.

Put out a table cloth. Mount Vernon Mills is a diversified and integrated producer of yarns, fabrics and finished products for the apparel, industrial, home furnishings, institutional and consumer goods markets.

Headquartered in Greenville, Mount Vernon Mills employs over 3,600 associates and operates 15 manufacturing facilities across America, including three in South Carolina.

Eat a frozen meal made by Nestlé. South Carolina’s Nestlé plant, located in Gaffney, is a food processing and packaging facility for Stouffer’s® and Lean Cuisine® dinners.

in South Carolina Fix a cup of coffee. In 2009, the Starbucks Coffee Company opened a roasting plant in Calhoun County that supplies coffee to the company’s southeastern United States stores. The facility has been awarded LEED® Silver certification for New Construction by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The Starbucks brand is known throughout the world for sourcing and roasting coffee.

Walk into your office on carpet made by Milliken. The Spartanburg based company is a global leader in textiles and specialty chemicals. Milliken was founded in 1865 and holds over 2,200 patents in the United States.

Use a paper towel made by KimberlyClark. Every day, 1.3 billion people use Kimberly-Clark brands to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being.

Kimberly-Clark’s Beech Island mill outside of Aiken, which opened in 1968, makes bathroom and facial tissues, paper towels and wet wipes, and infant and child care products.

Enjoy a glass of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. In April 2008, Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka made its debut. The product is a twist on the southern staple, sweet tea, with the vodka distilled on Wadmalaw Island and the tea coming from Charleston Tea Plantation.

Images courtesy of their respective copyright holders.

Have a bite from a snack held in Sonoco packaging. Sonoco’s roots can be traced to the Southern Novelty Company, which was founded in Hartsville in 1899.

The company is a $3.5 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer packaging products and provider of services and solutions, with more than 300 operations in 35 countries.

Take your medicine.

Roche provides more than 35 medications in the United States in major therapeutic areas including oncology, cardiovascular diseases, central nervous system disorders, dermatology, infectious diseases, AIDS and transplantation. Roche Carolina developed a pharmaceutical research and manufacturing complex in Florence in 1992.

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Want to grow your business?

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Contact us today at 800-799-4601, or learn more at www.scchamber.net.

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at 843.614.6554

For more information on UEC Electronics please visit: www.uec-electronics.com

s c c h a m b e r. n e t | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss |

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Natives put state in national spotlight

By Kristine Hartvigsen

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any individuals with ties to The Palmetto State have made names for themselves in national and global business circles. South Carolina Business

Ben Bernanke

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ore than once, Ben Bernanke beat the odds. Not because the small-town boy from rural Marion County grew up to become Chairman of the Federal Reserve System in 2006 and Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2009. No, Bernanke significantly beat the odds just by graduating from Dillon’s J.V. Martin High School, which was featured in a documentary chronicling the high dropout rates of poor rural schools.

A feather-plume-and-chinstrap-wearing, marching band saxophonist and valedictorian who taught himself calculus, Bernanke knew the value of a dollar and the dynamics of risk. He watched his father run the family drug store, one of very few in the segregated South that extended credit to black customers. Bernanke’s bluecollar upbringing − including a summer waiting tables at the South of the Border theme park with the iconic sombrero tower − grounded his values and enhanced his increasingly wide-angle perspective on life.

An educator for most of his adult life (he was tenured at Princeton by age 31), Bernanke’s mother, Edna, was a teacher, and his wife, Anna, also is a teacher. “When individuals are denied opportunities to reach their maximum potential,” Bernanke told attendees at the Children’s Defense Fund 2012 national conference, “it harms not only those individuals, of course, but also the larger economy, which depends vitally on having a skilled, productive workforce.”

A respected Great Depression scholar, Bernanke blamed most of the 1929 crash on a cowardly and indecisive Fed, which had failed to lower interest rates, expand the money supply or institute other measures to stimulate the economy.

Instead, it raised rates and tightened the nation’s purse strings. As a result, a third

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of the nation’s banks failed, which exacerbated an already plummeting level of consumer confidence. History tells the rest.

Bernanke’s balanced leadership on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2002 to 2005 caught the notice of President George W. Bush, who in 2005 tapped him to chair the President’s Council of Economic Advisors before ultimately choosing him to succeed Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Fed in 2006.

President Barack Obama re-nominated Bernanke for a second term in 2010, a term that will expire in 2014. It’s notable that both Republican and Democratic presidents endorsed Bernanke’s ability to lead the Fed in its mission to ensure a stable economy and maximize employment through monetary policies.

Determined to continue proven strategies while putting a more public face on the Fed, Bernanke soon found himself blindsided by the worst financial crisis since the Depression. His response – to dramatically lower shortterm interest rates and purchase assets to inject money into the markets − drew both praise and criticism. The bank bailouts were the most vehemently ridiculed. Yet many economists credit those Keynesian measures with saving the country from a far worse fate.

Senator Jim DeMint

J

ust because it walks like a conservative and talks like a conservative doesn’t necessarily mean it is a true conservative. This sentiment has won both friends and detractors for Sen. Jim DeMint, who favors the uncompromising tenets that form the original DNA of conservatism − including individual freedom, smaller government and traditional values. DeMint has supported Tea Party candidates

Cour tesy of Feder al R eser ve /Public Affairs

takes a look at just a few whose achievements have made South Carolina proud.

C o u r t e s y o f C h i l d r e n ’ s D e f e n s e F u nd

running against fellow Republicans whom he believes are not authentic conservatives. These actions have not come without reprisal from members of his own party.

However, DeMint is undaunted, and the country is taking note.

“Tea Party candidates are no passing fad; they are trailblazers of a new, lasting political reality,” DeMint wrote in a July 23, 2012, op-ed in The American Spectator. “Activists around the country have ready access to politicians’ voting records, speeches, and statements with just a few clicks of a mouse. … The Tea Party has provided a much-needed infusion of accountability to ensure that the GOP champions the values that have made our nation prosperous. The genius of the Tea Party is that it is not a single group that may one day be corrupted. Its allegiance lies with the Constitution and our founding principles, not with a person or party.”

Raised in Greenville, DeMint earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee and an MBA from Clemson University. With a background in marketing research and advertising, DeMint eventually formed a marketing research firm, The DeMint Group, which he ran for 15 years before seeking political office. DeMint won a seat for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998 and went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He is currently serving in his second Senate term.

“As a business owner, I started to see how taxes and regulations affected my business,” DeMint said in a recent media interview. “I had become burdened by the loss of freedom in our society and our growing dependency on government for everything. … What I saw was a continuous shift to more of a socialistic style of government.”

After his first election, DeMint went to the nation’s Capitol armed with strong ideals and plenty of advice from party contemporaries and veterans alike. “I arrived in Washington like Don Quixote, with bold ideas but very naïve,” he admitted. Take earmarks, for example.

“As a new congressman from South Carolina, I stood in the shadow of several senior congressmen who were known for ‘bringing home the bacon.’ When I came to Washington, I thought it was my responsibility to direct as much federal spending back to my congressional district as I possibly could,” DeMint wrote in his 2009 book Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America’s Slide into Socialism. “Now I’m a recovering ear-marker on a crusade to stop this

practice because I believe it is the main driver to wasteful government spending and our growing debt.” DeMint has earned national acclaim for his efforts to ban earmarks in Washington.

“When people ask me if I’m pro-business or pro-labor, I say I’m neither: I’m pro-freedom,” DeMint wrote in a The Greenville News op-ed published May 5, 2012.

“Government’s job shouldn’t be to tilt the field for one team or another but to guarantee a level playing field for everyone.”

Marian Wright Edelman

L

ike Ben Bernanke, Marian Wright Edelman came from a small town and eventually earned an advanced degree from an Ivy League school. Born in Bennettsville, Edelman was raised by parents who strongly valued education. “I figured out as a very young child that the only time that Daddy wouldn’t give us chores is when we were reading,” she said. “So I read a lot.” She graduated from Spelman College and Yale Law School determined to make a difference in the world. It was her parents’ enduring lesson, that no matter her gender or race, she could accomplish anything she set her mind to.

In the mid-1960s, Edelman brought her determination and values to Mississippi, where she became the first black woman admitted to the Bar. “I got mad one day when I went down to the NAACP and saw all these people who didn’t have lawyers,” she recalled.

“The white lawyers wouldn’t take cases. So I applied to law school. I hated it, but I stayed because it was the right tool then.”

Activist Edelman eventually discovered her passion and lifelong calling, however, in children’s advocacy. She founded the national non-profit Children’s Defense Fund in 1973 to give voice to the plight of poor, minority, and disabled children. In South Carolina alone, one in four children lives below the poverty line.

“Children under 5 are the poorest age group in America; one in four infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are poor during the years of greatest brain development,” Edelman blogged recently. “Our nation’s greatest deficit is not one of money but of values and priorities that leave millions of children without hope or a vision of the future worth striving for in our militarily and materially powerful but spiritually anemic nation.”

s c c h a m b e r. n e t | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss |

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U

.S. Air Force veteran and University of South Carolina (USC) graduate Sen. Lindsey Graham entered public service in 1994, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Third Congressional District. He went on to serve South Carolina in the U.S. Senate in 2002 and is in his second term. Known for his steadfast leadership and a willingness to reach across the aisle, the charismatic Republican works tirelessly on his signature issues surrounding the federal budget, national defense and energy independence. All have been widely debated in a volatile election year with much at stake, particularly sequestration provisions of the Budget Control Act of 2012, which in January 2013 will launch automatic spending cuts totaling $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

“The consequences to our nation’s defense infrastructure, of which South Carolina plays an integral role, would be severe,” Graham wrote in a June 2012 op-ed. “These deep cuts create increased uncertainty for both our military and defense industrial base and come at a time when threats to our nation are increasing, not declining.”

Graham advocates delaying sequestration and instead taking temporary cuts until a workable compromise can be reached with a new Congress.

On the South Carolina front, Sen. Graham has crusaded for proposals to deepen and expand Charleston Harbor.

“Charleston Harbor deepening is a critical project for our state, region, and national economy,” he said. “It is a vital economic engine which must be deepened so it can handle 24/7 the new, larger post-Panamax ships coming online. … I have been and will continue working with my congressional colleagues to help create a meritbased, national vision to deal with port expansion and modernization.”

In June 2012, Graham introduced the South Carolina Offshore Drilling Act to authorize leasing for oil and gas exploration off the South Carolina coast as part of his energy independence agenda. The legislation, which currently sits in committee, includes a 10-mile protected buffer zone and would funnel portions of the proceeds to South Carolina, its coastal counties, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the federal government for deficit reduction.

Thomas R. Kurfess

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outh Carolina Business magazine chose Dr. Thomas R. Kurfess, the eternally youthful wunderkind of advanced manufacturing, as its March 2007 Centerfold in recognition of his outstanding leadership of the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center and as BMW Chair of Manufacturing at Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research.

“I am an engineer who teaches other engineers,” Kurfess said in 2007. Fast-forward five years, and Kurfess is holding court with top officials in the Obama Administration as part of his yearlong appointment as assistant director for advanced manufacturing for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. His central mission is to identify and develop strategies to address gaps between advanced manufacturing research and its

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commercialization. “Manufacturing is not dead,” he said at the National Instruments NI Week Worldwide Conference this past August. “Manufacturing continues to grow here in the United States. The U.S. still out-invests the world (in R&D), but others are catching up.”

“Seventy percent of R&D in the United States is focused on aspects of manufacturing, and 90 percent of patents issued in the U.S. are related to manufacturing,” Kurfess continued. “Manufacturing is critical because it allows us to move forward as a nation. … Technology is changing, and the rate of change is accelerating.” What’s holding our country back, he says, are gaps in access to new research – what Kurfess calls “Big Data” – and enterprises large and small that can carry the ball to the finish line.

“The United States is very, very good at the basic research, coming up with the ideas that we need to move forward,” he explained. “We need to create infrastructure, to get from R&D to production and create an environment to help move it in that direction.”

Darla Moore

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lothiers for Augusta National Golf Club will have to nip and tuck a lot of green fabric to properly fit blazers for two of its newest members. In August, philanthropist and financier Darla Moore made history as one of the first two women admitted as members in the Club’s 80-year history. She is in good company. The other inductee is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Both are refined, accomplished and tough as nails.

“Augusta National has always captured my imagination and is one of the most magically beautiful places anywhere in the world, as everyone gets to see during the Masters each April,” Moore said in a statement. “I am fortunate to have many friends who are members at Augusta National, so to be asked to join them as a member represents a very happy and important occasion in my life.”

A native of Lake City with an undergraduate degree from USC and an MBA from George Washington University, Moore has always been comfortable playing through the halls of high finance, leaving slower-moving counterparts behind. This is not her first “first.” In the mid-1980s, Moore was the highest-paid woman in finance. In 1997, she was the first woman to appear on the cover of Fortune magazine, which declared her “the toughest babe in the business” for her bankruptcy takeovers. The gutsy businesswoman unapologetically ousted T. Boone Pickens from his own debt-riddled company before turning it around. And Moore (who donated some $70 million to USC and after whom its business school is named) was the first female member of the USC Board of Trustees. She was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 2007.

So many prominent South Carolina figures are worthy of attention, such as former S.C. Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley or former S.C. Speaker of the House and U.S. Ambassador to Canada David H. Wilkins, and civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Or renowned artists Jasper Johns and Blue Sky. Or Astronaut Charles F. Bolden. Or the late Sen. Strom Thurmond. Or esteemed authors Pat Conroy, Dori Sanders and Nikky Finney, or her father, civil rights attorney and former S.C. Supreme Court Justice Ernest A. Finney, Jr.

D a r l a M o o r e and T h o m a s R . K u r f e s s b y P a t C r aw f o r d

Senator Lindsey Graham

Whether they were born here or stayed just long enough to get red clay on their shoes, their success may be linked to a culture with a proud agrarian history, fierce independence and traditional values.

South Carolinians are hard-working, confident dreamers who know the rules but aren’t afraid to take a chance by occasionally breaking them.

Kristine Hartvigsen is a freelance writer based in Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina Meets Hollywood

H

ollywood is full of talented South

Carolinians. Who

could forget Comedy

Central political satirist Stephen Colbert

from Charleston, Kristin Davis of “Sex and the City” fame from Columbia, USC journalism graduate and talk show host Leeza Gibbons from Irmo, Gaffney-born actress Andie McDowell, Charleston native Darius Rucker, who founded Hootie and the Blowfish and now is a popular country performer, singer Edwin McCain of Greenville, Columbia-born actor Aziz Ansari on TV’s “Parks and Recreation,” “The Wheel of Fortune” personality Vanna White, who was born in North Myrtle Beach, the late James Brown, who grew up in Barnwell County, and the late singer-actressseductress Eartha Kitt, who was born in Orangeburg County. South Carolina has launched many creative careers and continues to generate big talent in the entertainment industry.

s c c h a m b e r. n e t | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss |

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Keeping up with the times

By Gail DePriest

W

hether you are working in the surgical unit of a large hospital or as a mechanic assembling a jetliner, you are involved in a world of work that has become increasingly complex.

Human resource (HR) professionals are tasked with sourcing the appropriate employees and ensuring all the skills are in place to meet the demands of service delivery or product manufacturing.

South Carolina has its share of innovative human resource professionals who are working diligently to provide their organization, community and state with a competitive advantage in the area of workforce readiness.

Technical Skills Gap

E

d Parris, president of Phillips Staffing, recently addressed the Leadership Summit at Clemson University and stated that currently the greatest challenge facing the human resource profession is addressing the workforce readiness gap.

With nearly a 10 percent unemployment rate in the state, there are thousands of jobs that remain unfilled because of the skills gap. The increasingly high-tech manufacturing jobs require better education and technical skills.

Governor Nikki Haley has announced timely workforce initiatives and Parris believes that one of those, the WorkKeys® Program, is a uniquely suited tool to address the skills gap. It will require a comprehensive effort between industry, technical schools and grades K-12.

Beverly Deal, a certified WorkKeys profiler with Phillips Staffing, looks at manufacturing jobs and determines the level of skills needed to perform a particular trade. The WorkKeys assessment is then used to evaluate a prospective employee in the areas of: applied math, locating information, reading for information, applied technology, team work, workplace observation, listening for understanding, business writing and writing to find the best fit for that job.

The two most often needed skill areas include: Locating Information – This assessment measures the skill people use when they work with workplace graphics. Examinees are asked to find information in a graphic or insert information into a graphic. They must also compare, summarize, and analyze information found in related graphics. This is a basic skill required in today’s workforce.

Workplace Observation – This assessment tests the examinee’s ability to

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make inferences, anticipate outcomes and/or extrapolate information from an observed demonstration, procedure or process.

The director of human resources at Schaeffler Group USA, Rita Revels, partnered with technical schools to gain the customized training she needed for her organization. Collaborating with other organizations, Revels co-developed a program with the technical schools to meet their training requirements, incorporating the WorkKeys program and minimizing costs.

Soft Skills Needed

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n the fall of 2011, human resource leaders from GE, BMW, Michelin, Milliken, Canal Insurance and others came together to discuss the realities facing new managers. Many indicated that transitioning from the individual contributor role to that of manager is as difficult as any transition an employee might ever make. It is especially challenging now that the role of manager is becoming more complex.

Managers need soft skills training and practical application tools in the areas of self awareness, effective employee engagement, coaching direct reports and encouraging innovation.

Managers require specials skills for leading and motivating. Focused change intervention can increase productivity, improve organizational communications, increase efficiency, improve quality and raise employee morale if the change is done well.

These companies partnered with the Center for Corporate Learning at Clemson at the Falls to co-design a new manager transition program specific to their needs.

New managers participated in a blended learning program complete with classroom training, field assignments, an online learning center and a 90-day project.

Process Improvements

A

nother major challenge facing human resource professionals is continually aligning the functional activities with the company’s strategic goals. This effort often includes assisting employees’ shift from task-oriented activities to more creative, customer-oriented approaches that are performance-driven and utilize project management methods and tools. Methodologies such as Total Quality Management and Lean Six Sigma can play a major role in an organization’s transformation and help support HR and management in building a common culture.

Kali Nine

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Under the leadership of deputy director and CIO, John Supra, the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS) began implementing a Lean process to enable the organization to more effectively serve its stakeholders, Medicaid members and providers across the state. In launching the initiative in 2011, key team leaders were selected to participate in the process improvement training. This included not only documenting current processes, but also identifying ways to drive improvements and efficiencies. A critical component of the program was employee buy-in.

By using a Lean framework, the organization was able to train staff and execute projects in a consistent manner. Additionally, by developing a program that includes both classroom training and the completion of a three-month project, staff was able to engage in improving their own areas with the use of new tools. The program includes teaching creativity, leadership changes, collaboration techniques and coaching throughout the project period. Each group of trainees also presents their

project results to executive leadership and peers in order to solidify the buy-in for the program across the organization.

“By focusing efforts and energy around process improvement projects using the Lean Six Sigma principles, we have been able to start building a culture around performance-based improvement and management,” Supra says.

South Carolina’s congressional members and lets them know how issues will impact South Carolina businesses and its human resource community.

HR professionals have been inclined to wait until legislation is passed and then respond. This is a mistake. Both Nail and Parris advocate that HR professionals represent large populations through their organizations and should take a very active role in supporting pro-business legislation.

Legislative Issues and Employee Relations

H

R professionals are facing some of the most critical challenges as a result of legislation imposing new regulations in the areas of workforce readiness, labor, health care and taxes. Human resource professionals should monitor and know how new legislation will impact their business.

Steve Nail, vice president of human resources for Hubbell Lighting, pays attention and carefully tracks federal and state issues as well as new regulations put out by agencies. Nail stays in contact with

Unemployment Frau Costs You Money

Technology

T

echnology is also impacting the human resource profession in a profound way. While the human resource community has begun using social media like Twitter and Facebook to improve recruitment, they have also seen that technology has brought to light new challenges. Some challenges include harassment investigations that involve texting and Facebook messages, termination for inappropriate web postings and keeping policies up to date with new technology components.

Now that technology is at the fingertips of employees and candidates, many believe that they should get an instant reply to an e-mail, a voicemail or a resume submission. Not responding as quickly as another company may cause an organization to lose an applicant. HR professionals need to be aware of the impact technology has made on responsiveness.

Globalization of HR

W

hile Sharon Sellers has worked with many organizations as an HR consultant, she has created a niche for herself by serving entities from a number of countries, including Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Sellers provides human resources and training services to these organizations. Many worldwide organizations are putting employees on the ground in the U.S., and Sellers helps ensure a smooth transition. She aids the companies in complying with U.S. employment regulations, various state regulations, monitoring benefit and compensation administration and providing advice regarding employee management.

Many countries have very different employment laws than the U.S. Her challenge is to help the client create a benefit package that closely mirrors the packages found in other countries.

Talent that can make a difference in the global economy can be hard to find. The increased competitiveness for skilled workers and need for talent development ensures that workforce readiness remains the key challenge facing human resource executives. Organizations depend on the ability of the human resource department to hire, develop and retain the right talent to keep them performing well.

South Carolina human resource professionals have illustrated that they are up for the challenge.

Unemployment fraud is: • Paying individuals “under the table” to avoid unemployment taxes • Paying an employee who is submitting unemployment claims • Purposely categorizing employees as independent contractors

For more information,

visit: dew.sc.gov/fraud

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SC Department of

EMPLOYMENT AND WORKFORCE

12/14/2011 4:38:08 PM

Gail DePriest is the director of corporate relations & leadership development for Clemson at the Falls in Greenville, S.C.

Women in Philanthropy and Leadership for Coastal Carolina University

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When she was one of four survivors of a plane crash into the Andes in 1995.

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Feb. 8, 2013 | 843-349-5033 | wiplconference.com

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2012 Business Leader of the Year ~ Josef Kerscher ~

s c c h a m b e r. n e t | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss |

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By Julie Scott

PHOTOGRAPH BY SANDY ANDREWS

ross a railroad track in the Palmetto State and it may be that a rail car loaded with BMWs just passed on its way to the Port of Charleston where shiny new vehicles will be shipped to proud owners in Germany, China or one of 130 other countries in the world. Since its celebrated arrival in South Carolina 20 years ago, BMW Manufacturing Co. in Spartanburg County has not disappointed, solidifying itself as a true star of the business community. At the helm of this magnificent worldwide operation in Greer is President Josef Kerscher.

C

The Ultimate Manufacturing Machine

2012 Business Leader of the Year

~ Josef Kerscher ~

Since his arrival five years ago to lead the automotive powerhouse, Kerscher has embraced the Palmetto State and its unique perspective on the global economy. An average day begins with his 7 a.m. arrival to the plant, where he immediately examines the production figures and activities from the previous day’s shifts before preparing for the current shifts. He also stays in close contact with BMW’s German headquarters and, together with colleagues in Munich, shares BMW best practices and experiences around the world.

This team spirit is also what drives Kerscher’s management style. He feels the most important aspect of BMW is its production associates and says BMW decided 20 years ago to locate in South Carolina because of its skilled workforce.

Kerscher values time spent on the shop floor and maintains

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close interaction with associates at the plant, who he believes are the heart of producing the ultimate driving machine. At lunch time, Kerscher can often be found in the cafeteria dining with associates and learning about their days. In fact, Kerscher says he has not once left the plant to go out for lunch.

“Our 7,000 associates are critical to our success. We have a very well trained and skilled workforce proud to produce the ultimate driving machine. People here are very flexible and dedicated to work hard and smart, and they do a great job for the company,” he said.

He also believes South Carolina has a huge asset in its state port system and its potential for growth. He says continued expansion at the Port of Charleston is vital to the company’s future international business. After all, South Carolina is now the largest automotive exporter in the nation, thanks to BMW. “Another reason BMW located here was the infrastructure.

The Port of Charleston is today even more important because our exports are growing, and most of our cars are going through Charleston to the world,” Kerscher said.

The company continues moving onward and upward. The latest facility to be completed at the expansive plant is the X3 Assembly North facility. The operation, which got underway in September 2010 with a $750 million investment, boasts one of the most modern and flexible assembly lines in the world, utilizing logistics and structure to make it unique. The logistics concept brings more than 80 percent of the parts directly to the assembly line without any hours in between, making the operation extremely efficient. Associates were the first consideration in designing the modern line. Ergonomics was the most important task to complete, and the new X3 operation is more comfortable for working associates, a top goal for Kerscher and his team.

BMW’s environmental footprint is also a priority for its leader.

“What is really a strategic approach is that BMW will be the most sustainable. For example, our energy consumption per unit manufactured over the last five years was reduced by 40 percent,” Kerscher said.

Even with one new assembly line just completed, BMW continues to plan for future growth. The manufacturer will soon expand its portfolio even further to produce the new BMW X4.

This latest announcement means a chance to grow even more and secure future jobs for associates. It is expected the X4 will debut in 2014. The new model will be made in the Palmetto

The Kerscher family at daughter Petra’s graduation from Clemson University.

J u l i e S c o t t / C o u r t e s y o f t h e K e r s c h e r F a m i ly

B

orn and raised in Bavaria, Germany, 58-year-old Kerscher graduated from the University of Applied Science in Munich with a degree in mechanical engineering.

He joined BMW in 1979 and worked in various positions at the plant in Landshut, when in 1996 he was promoted to vice president of final assembly at the plant in Munich. In 2004, he took the helm in Munich before moving to South Carolina in 2007 with his wife, Marianne and daughter, Petra, to lead operations at the Spartanburg County plant.

Today no matter where you are in the world, if you see a luxury X3 or X5 Sports Activity Vehicle or an X6 Sports Activity Coupe, it was built right here at the BMW plant in South Carolina.

World sales are flourishing, up 14.3 percent through the first nine months of 2012. Export of passenger vehicles through the Port of Charleston by BMW in 2011 totaled $7.4 billion, making it the leading U.S. automotive exporter.

C o u r t e s y o f BMW M an u fa c t u r i n g c o . LLC

State for the world market, bringing the total vehicles made exclusively in South Carolina to four.

BMW continues to invest in the Palmetto State, and Kerscher believes in the future of manufacturing here. A few years ago he expanded that concept by taking the helm of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s Manufacturers Steering Committee. Though he won’t admit it, he is responsible for reestablishing and reviving the committee. In fact, under his leadership, the first statewide Manufacturers Conference was held in 2010 with great success.

The importance of the business community speaking with a unified voice is something Kerscher advocates.

“Some years ago, Milliken CEO Joe Salley asked me to join the South Carolina Chamber because it is important to the Upstate of South Carolina. I agreed. I really believe that South Carolina is a very good place for manufacturing and advanced manufacturing, and so I think it is also my duty to not only be focused on BMW but to transfer our experience to help other companies and suppliers do even more business here,” he said.

Kerscher has a vision to not only grow the annual Manufacturers Conference, now in its third year, but also to increase South Carolina manufacturers’ worldwide reach.

“My vision is for this conference to have the opportunity to show the U.S. and the world that South Carolina is a good place for manufacturers to do business,” he said.

Kerscher’s interaction with the business community not only includes involvement with current business leaders, but also future ones as well. For the past several years, BMW has invited 200 high school students attending South Carolina Business Week to tour the plant, using the operations

as a teaching tool. In fact, BMW’s educational reach extends far beyond Business Week. For the company, connecting with a variety of institutions is vital.

“We want to be a good neighbor and do something for the local community, whether it is Business Week or a local charity,” he said.

The annual BMW Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament continues to shed a positive national spotlight on South Carolina, and its charitable contributions have totaled more than $9 million since 2001. Kerscher himself had never hit a golf ball or stepped on a green before arriving in the Palmetto State, at a time when BMW was in the midst of the tournament. Since his first swing in 2007, he now enjoys the game very much.

As he works in the community and helps prepare the future workforce, Kerscher knows South Carolina cannot rest on its laurels. He says he thinks daily about the automotive business becoming more competitive all over the world and how BMW can stay on top. Kerscher strongly believes the state must shape its own future by helping citizens prepare for advanced and hightech manufacturing.

“I’m optimistic about the growth of BMW because the U.S. market will be one of the most important markets in the future,” Kerscher said.

Since his arrival to South Carolina more than five years ago, this president continues to learn valuable lessons.

“Every day I have my lessons. We are part of the BMW production network worldwide. To balance our BMW German roots with the experience in the U.S. is still a challenge. But, it is our diversity that makes us so successful. Coming from German roots and using American optimism and flexibility and the entrepreneurial spirit, bundled with our engineering roots, makes this plant so unique and successful,” he said.

Kerscher loves the Palmetto State and looks forward to visiting some other gems in the U.S., which includes traveling to California to take in its vineyards and touring Alaska. But, when he’s in South Carolina, he especially enjoys Charleston and all that its downtown and beaches offer for his family.

His other family - the thousands of associates at BMW Manufacturing in South Carolina - know the dedication their leader has to the company’s success. Kerscher’s commitment to his associates is evident as he walks through the production floor and speaks to the team. When an associate is asked what the best part of BMW is, they will often tout their leader’s hands-on, present approach.

“Associates know Josef because he has a strong presence in their daily work environments,” said Bunny Richardson, communications specialist at BMW. “Associates are proud when they travel outside the U.S., see one of our vehicles and tell people, ‘I built that car.’ South Carolinians will also tell people, ‘that was built in my state.’”

Julie Scott is associate vice president of communications at the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

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| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

Reason says: go with the well-known.

Instinct says: go with the know-how.

At Grant Thornton we specialize in helping dynamic organizations like yours, because we are one too. We know how to confront the challenges you face and bring a real, competitive advantage of senior staff time, short decision-making chains and sound processes. To help unlock your potential, visit GrantThornton.com/SC100.

Grant Thornton refers to Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.

Grant Thornton llp presents

In association with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the 28th annual ranking of the state’s largest privately owned companies

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| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

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his year marks the 28th edition of the Grant Thornton South Carolina 100TM, the only ranking of South Carolina’s largest privately held companies. The South Carolina 100 is compiled by Grant Thornton LLP under the direction of Mark Ballew, partner-in-charge of the Columbia Office, in cooperation with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

Dynamic companies share five traits: innovation, expansion, talent, culture and agility. The Grant Thornton South Carolina 100 private companies certainly embody these traits. As evidenced by the changes in the listings over the past few years, privately held companies in South Carolina have undergone considerable changes. This is evident from the changes seen in comparable statistics between the 2012 and 2011 South Carolina 100. (See Figure 1) The top 10 companies saw very little movement. The most significant movement was with the addition of 11 companies joining the ranking for the first time or after an absence. (See Figure 2) That compares with just three companies joining in the 2011 ranking.

Participation in the South Carolina 100 is voluntary, and companies are ranked based upon their net revenues for their most recently completed fiscal year. To qualify, companies must be privately held, headquartered in South Carolina, and cannot be a subsidiary of another company. Financial institutions, insurance companies, real estate and other brokerages, health care organizations and companies primarily engaged in retail are not eligible for the South Carolina 100 listing.

The people in the independent firms of Grant Thornton International Ltd. provide personalized attention and the highest quality service to public and private clients in more than 100 countries. Grant Thornton LLP is the U.S. Member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd one of the six global audit, tax and advisory organizations. Grant Thornton has 56 offices in the United States and services dynamic companies in South Carolina, the United States and around the globe.

Figure 1:

2012-2011 Comparable Statistics

2012 2012 2012 2011 2011 2011 Category # Revenue Employees # Revenue Employees Manufacturers 23 $7.7 32,700 23 $7.5 34,200 Distribution 25 7.2 10,000 24 6.2 8,700 All Other 51 5.4 47,300 46 4.3 37,100 Total

99 $20.3

90,000

93 $18.0

80,000

$ in Billions

Figure 2:

8 18 22 45 47 56 62 65 90 91 96

Companies Joining or Rejoining Rankings W. Lee Flowers & Co., Inc Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP Evening Post Publishing Co. O’Neal, Inc. Life Cycle Engineering Inc. Palmetto Corp. of Conway Levelwing Media LLC Hartsville Oil Mill Tyler Construction Group, Inc. Colite International, Ltd. Carolina Ceramics, LLC

To learn more about this year’s survey, please contact Mark Ballew, audit partner, in Grant Thornton’s Columbia office at (803) 231-3045 or e-mail at mark.ballew@us.gt.com. For more information on the Grant Thornton South Carolina 100, including prior year rankings, go to www.gt.com/sc100.

T h e 2 8 th A n n u a l S o u t h C a r o l i n a 1 0 0 ™ NO.

1

COMPANY

Milliken & Company

CITY

CEO

M OR E T H AN $ 1 Spartanburg Dr. Joseph M. Salley

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

B ILLION Manufacturer of textile products and chemicals

2 The InterTech Group, North Charleston Anita G. Zucker

Inc. and Affiliates and Jonathan M. Zucker

Diversified company with core operations and investments in consumer, industrial, real estate and financial services, among others

3 J M Smith Corporation Spartanburg William R. Cobb

Wholesale distribution of pharmaceutical and computer hardware, software and data processing services; robotic pill dispensing machinery

$ 1 0 0 M ILLION TO $ 9 9 9 M ILLION

4 Southeastern Freight Lines Inc. Lexington William T. Cassels, Jr. Motor freight transportation

I nd u s t r i a l A r t & D e s i g n

5

Piggly Wiggly Holdings, LLC

Charleston

David R. Schools

Wholesale grocery distribution

6 Ellett Brothers, LLC Chapin Bradley P. Johnson

Wholesale distributor for shooting, hunting and marine products

7

Carolina-Eastern, Inc.

Distributor of fertilizer, agricultural chemicals and seeds

8

W. Lee Flowers & Co., Inc.

Charleston

Alton Phillips

Lake City

Heyward King

Wholesale grocery distribution

9 Mount Vernon Mills, Inc. Mauldin W. David Hastings

Manufacturer of apparel fabrics, upholstery fabrics, napery and chemicals

10 Hilex Poly Co. LLC

Manufacture of plastic bag and film products

Hartsville

Stan Bikulege

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T h e 2 8 th A n n u a l S o u t h C a r o l i n a 1 0 0 ™ NO.

COMPANY

11 Dearybury Oil & Gas Inc.

Spartanburg

CEO

C. W. Dearybury, Jr.

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

Distributor of petroleum products

12 Blanchard Machinery Columbia Joe Blanchard

Company

Sales, rentals, parts and service for Caterpillar machines and engines

13 Edens

Columbia

Terry S. Brown

Retail shopping center owner and developer

14 Ogletree, Deakins, Nash,

Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

Greenville

Kim F. Ebert

Professional services, labor & employment law

15 M. B. Kahn Columbia William H. Neely

Construction Co. Inc.

Construction company offering full line of services including: general contracting, design/build, and construction management

16 Consolidated Systems, Inc.

Manufacturer of metal building products

Columbia

Bradford L. Pemberton

17 Medical Services Lexington Ronnie L. Young

of America, Inc.

Health care services; rental and sale of home medical equipment and supplies

18 Nelson Mullins

Riley & Scarborough, LLP 19 Southeastern Paper Group 20 The Ben Arnold-Sunbelt

Beverage Company of SC, LP

44

CITY

Columbia

James K. Lehman

Legal services

Spartanburg

E. Lewis Miller, Jr.

Wholesale distribution of paper and cleaning supplies

Ridgeway

Kevin J. Karcher

Spirits and wine wholesale distributor

21 Metromont Corporation Greenville Richard H. Pennell, Jr.

Manufacturer of precast and prestressed concrete products

22 Evening Post Publishing Co. Charleston John Barnwell

Diversified company, including newspapers, television stations, interactive marketing and forestry

23 JHM Hotels

Greenville

Hasmukh P. Rama

Developer, owner and operator of upscale hotels

24 Prestage Farms

of South Carolina LLC

Camden

Dr. Ron Prestage

25 West Oil Company Inc.

Hartsville

Lex West

Live turkey production

Distributor of petroleum products; mini-storage facilities

26 Thomas & Howard Columbia Jeff S. Leischner

Company Inc.

Distribution to convenience stores throughout SC, NC, GA and TN

27 Cox Industries Inc. Orangeburg R. Michael Johnson

Manufacturer and distributor of treated lumber products including outdoor wood products for the residential, commercial, industrial and utility markets

28 Shealy Electrical

Wholesalers, Inc.

Wholesaler of electrical products

West Columbia

David White

29 Spartanburg Forest Greer Stephen Michael

Products Inc.

Sell, distribute and manufacture pressure treated lumber and all related products

30 Spirit Communications

Columbia

Robert M. Keane

Internet, data and voice services

31 The Mungo Companies

Irmo

Steven W. Mungo

Residential construction and development

32 Defender Services, Inc. Columbia G. Hollis Cone

Janitorial, security and staffing services on a contractual basis

33 G & P Trucking Co. Inc.

Truckload transportation of freight

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Gaston

G. Clifton Parker

T h e 2 8 th A n n u a l S o u t h C a r o l i n a 1 0 0 ™ NO.

COMPANY

CITY

34 Pearlstine Distributors Inc.

CEO

Charleston

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

Larry Lipov

Wholesale distribution of beverages

35 Diamond Hill Darlington John C. Ramsey

Plywood Company Inc.

Wholesale distribution of building supplies/materials and manufacture of specialty plywood

36 Terminix Service Inc. Columbia M. A. (Lex) Knox, Jr.

Termite and pest control services, moisture control, repairs and insulation

37 IH Services, Inc. Greenville Ryan D. Hendley

Industrial and commercial contract maintenance services and staffing

$50

M ILLION

TO

$99

38 Dilmar Oil Company Inc.

Florence

Gray & Earle Atkinson

39 Café Enterprises

Taylors

Jim Balis

M ILLION Wholesale distributor of various lubricant products Casual dining restaurant company

40 Springs Creative Rock Hill Derick S. Close

Products Group, LLC

Wholesaler of retail fabrics, packaged crafts and specialty fabrics

41 Thompson Construction

Group, Inc.

Industrial and commercial construction

Sumter

Greg A. Thompson

42 Loxcreen Company Inc. West Columbia John Wayne Parrish, Jr.

Manufacturer/distributor of aluminum and plastic extrusions and building products

43 Cregger Company Inc.

Wholesale distribution - plumbing and HVAC products

West Columbia

Morris Cregger

44 Greystar Real Estate Charleston Robert Faith

Partners LLC

Investors and operators of multi-family real estate assets in the United States with a fully integrated, national platform

45 O’Neal, Inc. Greenville Kevin C. Bean

Planning, design and construction services for manufacturing, chemical pharmaceutical and heavy industrial clients

46 The Ritedose Corporation

Columbia

Umesh Dalvi

Contract pharmaceutical manufacturer

47 Life Cycle Engineering Inc.

North Charleston

James R. Fei

Engineering and consulting services

48 ISO Poly Films Inc. Gray Court Jon T. McClure

Manufacturer of polyethylene film for food, medical and consumer products

49 T & S Brass & Bronze Works Inc. Travelers Rest Claude I. Theisen

Manufacturer of institutional plumbing, faucets and fittings

50 CoLinx LLC

Greenville

Donavan A. Louis

Logistics and IT services

51 General Information Services Inc.

Chapin

Raymond Conrad

Employment screening and HR onboarding solutions

52 The Yahnis Company

Florence

Byron C. Yahnis

Distributor of beer and non-alcoholic beverages

53 The Beach Company Charleston John C. L. Darby

Full-service real estate company - sales, leasing, management and development

54 First Sun Management Corp.

Clemson

Joseph J. Turner, Jr.

Restaurant franchisee

55 H. G. Reynolds Company Inc.

Aiken

Jeffrey G. Reynolds

General contractor

56 Palmetto Corp. of Conway Conway Shawn Godwin

Complete site work and construction company - asphalt manufacturing and paving; grading, concrete & vertical construction

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T h e 2 8 th A n n u a l S o u t h C a r o l i n a 1 0 0 ™ NO.

COMPANY

CITY

CEO

57 Thompson Industrial Services LLC Sumter Greg A. Thompson

Provider of integrated industrial cleaning and facilities support services in Southeastern US

58 Merritt Veterinary Supplies, Inc.

Distributor of veterinary supplies and equipment

Columbia

Robert M. Mims, Jr.

59 BFG Communications Hilton Head Island Kevin Meany

Marketing services; including strategic promotions, field marketing, digital and creative services

60 Industrial Packaging Supplies

Wholesale distribution of packaging materials

61 ElDeCo, Inc.

Fountain Inn

Jerry W. Murdock

Greenville

Allen McKinney

Electrical subcontractor

62 Levelwing Media LLC Charleston Steve Parker, Jr.

Creates business intelligence solutions, mining and analyzing data to help businesses market and operate with greater clarity and profitability

63 McNair Law Firm, P.A.

Legal services

Columbia LESS

46

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

David J. Tigges T H AN

$50

M ILLION

64 Whaley Foodservice Repairs Lexington Wells F. Whaley

Commercial foodservice equipment parts distributor; service for commercial cooking, refrigeration and HVAC equipment

65 Hartsville Oil Mill

Darlington

Edgar H. Lawton III

Manufacturer of cottonseed products

66 Gateway Supply Company Inc.

Columbia

Sam P. Williams, Jr.

Wholesale distributor of plumbing and HVAC products

67 Wolverine Brass Inc. Conway Lloyd W. Coppedge

Manufacture and distribution of quality plumbing products

68 Gregory Electric Company Inc.

Columbia

Robert E. Livingston, Jr.

Electrical and mechanical services

69 Yeargin Potter Shackelford

Construction, Inc.

Greenville

R. Lynn Yeargin

General Contractor - Commercial/Industrial construction

70 Palmetto Synthetics LLC

Kingstree

Henry M. Poston

Manufacturer of specialty synthetic fibers

71 Southern Weaving Company Greenville Ron Mohling

Design, development and manufacture of industrial woven products

72 Dillon Provision Company Inc.

Wholesale meat distributor

Dillon

Dan Bozard

73 H. R. Allen Inc.

Charleston

Herbert R. Allen, Jr.

74 Greenville Meats Inc.

Greenville

Dan Sloan

75 Park Place Corporation

Greenville

Jimmy Orders

76 Whit-Mart Inc.

Charleston

Gary P. Whitman

Electrical and mechanical contractor Beef, pork and poultry processing and distribution Manufacturer of mattresses, box springs and foundations Restaurant operator

77 AME Inc. Fort Mill Gregg S. Campbell

Industrial contractor; general contractor; crane rental, fabrication and machinery/equipment installation

78 General Wholesale Greenville Tee Hooper

Distributors LLC

Distributor of HVAC systems to contractors in South Carolina

79 IMIC Hotels Columbia E. L. (Bert) Pooser, Jr.

Developers, owners and operators of hotels; marina, restaurant and storage facilities owner

| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

T h e 2 8 th A n n u a l S o u t h C a r o l i n a 1 0 0 ™ NO.

COMPANY

CITY

CEO

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

80 GMK Associates Inc. Columbia Thomas P. Monahan

Architectural, engineering, design-build, construction services and interior design

81 Augusta Fiberglass Coatings Inc. Blackville

Fiberglass reinforced plastics

John W. Boyd

82 Waldrop Inc. Spartanburg Bill Caldwell

Full-service mechanical contractor servicing the commercial, institutional, industrial, healthcare and residential sectors

83 Dove Data Products Inc.

Florence

Richard B. Coxe

Manufacture and distribution of computer printer supplies

84 Martin Engineering Inc.

White Rock

Whitney Delbridge

General contractor

85 Sumter Packaging Corp Sumter Benjamin DeSollar

Custom manufacturer of corrugated shipping containers and specialties

86 Trehel Corporation Clemson Will Huss, Jr.

Design and building contractor specializing in commercial, institutional, multi-family and ecumenical facilities

87 Commercial Foodservice Greenville Kurt Herwald

Repair Inc.

Support services for convenience store industry, other retailers and restaurants

88 GBS Building Supply Inc. Greenville Bob Barreto

Distributor of quality start-to-finish products to the professional building/remodeling market

89 New South Construction

Supply LLC

Distributor of construction supplies

90 Tyler Construction Group, Inc.

West Columbia

Jim Sobeck

Columbia

Charles P. Tyler

Commercial construction

91 Colite International, Ltd. Columbia Martin Brown

Global signage manufacturer with turnkey project management and program implementation

92 Companion Professional Columbia Terry M. Floyd

Services, LLC

Information technology consulting group dedicated to providing innovative and cost-effective IT solutions primarily to the healthcare industry

93 J. L. Anderson Co. Inc.

Wholesale and retail sales of brick and masonry products

Cheraw

Robert S. Rogers III

94 Hawthorne Services Inc. Charleston Bruce Stoehr

Provide aircraft fuel services and facility support by contract to governments

95 Southland Log Homes, Inc.

Designer and manufacturer of custom log home materials

Irmo

Kenneth S. Sekley

96 Carolina Ceramics, LLC Columbia Michael Borden

Brick manufacturing and distributor for brick, mortar and other masonry products

97 Chicora Affiliates LLC Myrtle Beach Don J. Smith

Residential and commercial sales; residential and HOA property management; land development

98 C. Ray Miles Construction Co. Inc. Lugoff

Heavy road construction

99 Chernoff Newman LLC

Columbia

C. Ray Miles W. Lee Bussell, Sr.

Integrated marketing communications

s c c h a m b e r. n e t | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss |

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Expanding Your Business.

South Carolina St yle

We have a good thing going here in the Palmetto State. There’s plenty of room to grow, unmatched recreational opportunities, a low cost of living, a willing and able workforce, an unbeatable business climate and South Carolina’s Power Team. The Power Team is composed of Santee Cooper and the state’s 20 electric cooperatives.

Together, we are committed to building strategic partnerships with smart, forward-thinking businesses. And we back this commitment by delivering quality service and reliable electric power at some of the lowest rates in the nation.

To find out more, visit www.scprimesite.com/SCB.

You see a small town…

We see a lively downtown district where local shops and businesses thrive and residents gather to live, work and play. South Carolina’s small towns are a critical part of our state’s economic engine that attracts industry and creates jobs. www.CitiesMeanBusiness.org

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| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

10/8/2012 9:52:16 AM

More Than Bean Counting Started as a sole proprietorship in 1934, J.W. Hunt & Company, LLP, today has grown in size and expertise to be one of the Midlands area’s largest accounting firms. Bean counting is only a small part of what we do.

Does your business need assistance with accounting, auditing and management? Maybe you personally need estate and tax planning advice.

Our diversity makes us generalists and allows us to draw from a wide range of experience serving locally owned businesses, publicly traded companies, financial institutions, auto dealers, construction companies, not-for-profits and governmental entities.

We know how important personal attention is for our clients, thanks to the referrals we receive. To learn more about our attention and expertise, visit www.jwhunt.com or call 803-254-8196.

Come by for a cup of coffee, and let’s talk about what you need.

C O M P A N Y, LLP Middleburg Office Park l 1607 St. Julian Place PO Box 265 l Columbia, SC 29202-0265 803-254-8196 l www.jwhunt.com

J.W. Hunt & Company llp presents

In association with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the ranking of the state’s major employers

50

| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

T

he South Carolina Big 50® ranks private, public and foreignaffiliated companies by the number of employees on their South Carolina payrolls as of June 30, 2012.

Individual company employment figures are not published in the South Carolina Big 50. Results reported for this 2012 South Carolina Business magazine represent approximately 203,000 employees, down 3,000 from approximately 206,000 in 2011.

Unlike the South Carolina 100, the South Carolina Big 50 includes company subsidiaries and divisions (both public and private), and parent companies do not have to be located in South Carolina to be included.

The South Carolina Big 50 includes manufacturers, financial institutions, insurance companies, retail establishments, hospitals and other health care organizations. The Big 50 excludes government agencies and organizations.

The top company remained the same as in 2011, with Walmart Stores Inc. continuing to be ranked No. 1. Hospital systems held the other top three spots as Greenville Hospital System moved up to No.2 from No.3 and Palmetto Health moved from No.4 to No.3.

Seven companies are included in the 2012 list that were not part of the 2011 list. They include: Food Lion headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina ranked No.7; The Boeing Company, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois ranked No.8; Bon Secours St. Francis Health

System, headquartered in Marriottsville, Maryland ranked No.19; AnMed Health, headquartered in Anderson, South Carolina ranked No. 23; Kapstone Paper & Packaging Corporation, headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois ranked No. 47; Comporium, headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina ranked No. 48; and AlliedBarton Security Services, headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania ranked No. 50.

All companies with operations in South Carolina are eligible for the South Carolina Big 50, but the ranking may not include all major employers in the state because the list is tabulated according to participant responses received. Participants are asked to provide their employment figures, location of corporate headquarters and products and services.

The South Carolina Big 50 is compiled by the South Carolina based public accounting firm of J.W. Hunt & Company LLP, in cooperation with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, under the direction of Anne H. Ross, CPA. Realizing that business employment figures fluctuate constantly, the South Carolina Chamber encourages top employers to participate in the South Carolina Big 50 each year to ensure accurate rankings. To learn more about this year’s survey or to be included in the survey for 2013, contact Anne Ross at 803-254-8196 or aross@jwhunt.com.

THE 2 0 1 2 S OUTH C AROLINA B I G 5 0 No. Name Headquarters

CEO

®

Business Description

1 0 , 0 0 1 - 3 0 , 0 0 0 emp l o y ees 1

Walmart Stores Inc.

Bentonville, AR

Mike Duke

Retail stores

2 Greenville Hospital System Greenville, SC Michael Riordan Health care

4 , 0 0 1 - 1 0 , 0 0 0 emp l o y ees 3

Palmetto Health

Columbia, SC

Charles Beaman, Jr.

Health care

4

Michelin North America Inc.

Greenville, SC

Pete Selleck

Tire manufacturer and seller

5

BMW Manufacturing Co. LLC

Munich, Germany

Josef Kerscher

Automobile manufacturing

6

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

Columbia, SC

David Pankau

Health insurance services and employee benefits

7

Food Lion

Salisbury, NC

Cathy Green Burns

Grocery retailer

I nd u s t r i a l A r t & D e s i g n

8 The Boeing Company Chicago, IL W. James McNerney, Jr. Fabrication, assembly and integration of

787 Dreamliner 9

Lowe’s Companies Inc.

Mooresville, NC

Robert Niblock

Home improvement retailer

10

Wells Fargo and Company

San Francisco, CA

John Stumpf

Diversified, community-based financial services

11

Lexington Medical Center

West Columbia, SC

Mike Biediger

Health care

12

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare

Spartanburg, SC

Bruce Holstien

Health care

13

Roper St. Francis Healthcare

Charleston, SC

David Dunlap

Health care

14

SCANA Corporation

Cayce, SC

Kevin Marsh

Regulated electric and natural gas operations

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THE 2 0 1 2 S OUTH C AROLINA B I G 5 0 No. Name Headquarters

CEO

ÂŽ

Business Description

4 , 0 0 1 - 1 0 , 0 0 0 emp l o y ees 15

MAU Inc.

Augusta, GA

William Hatcher

Staffing, recruiting and HR services

16

Duke Energy

Charlotte, NC

James Rogers

Electricity

17

Dollar General

Goodlettsville, TN

Richard Dreiling

Discount retailer

18 Robert Bosch LLC Farmington Hills, MI Werner Struth Automotive components, industrial drive and

control products

2 , 5 0 1 - 4 , 0 0 0 emp l o y ees 19

20

Bon Secours St. Francis Health System

Marriottsville, MD

Mark Nantz

Health care

Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company Inc.

Charleston, SC

David Schools

Wholesale/Retail supermarkets

21 Milliken and Company Spartanburg, SC Dr. Joe Salley

Specialty chemical, floor covering and performance material manufacturer

22

Target

Minneapolis, MN

Gregg Steinhafel

Retail

23

AnMed Health

Anderson, SC

John Miller, Jr.

Health care

24

NHC - National Healthcare Corp.

Murfeesboro, TN

Robert Adams

Rehabilitative and long-term health care

25

Walgreens Co.

Deerfield, IL

Gregory Wasson

Pharmacy

26

American Services Inc.

Greenville, SC

Henry Harrison

Contract security, staffing and janitorial

27

Kraft Foods Global Inc.

Northfield, IL

Irene Rosenfeld

Food processing

28 URS Corporation Aiken, SC Martin Koffel Engineering, design, construction, nuclear

waste cleanup

2 , 0 0 1 t o 2 , 5 0 0 emp l o y ees 29

AT&T

Dallas, TX

Randall Stephenson

Communications

30

Self Regional Healthcare

Greenwood, SC

James Pfeiffer

Health care

31

BB&T of South Carolina

Winston-Salem, NC

Kelly King

Banking and financial services

32 Providence Hospitals Columbia, SC George Zara Health care

1 , 5 0 1 t o 2 , 0 0 0 emp l o y ees 33

Bank of America

Charlotte, NC

Brian Moynihan

Banking and financial services

34

Sonoco

Hartsville, SC

Harris DeLoach, Jr.

Consumer and industrial packaging

35

Nucor Corporation

Charlotte, NC

Daniel DiMicco

Steel products and solutions

36 Eaton Corporation Cleveland, OH Alexander Cutler

Electrical/hydralics components and systems, truck and auto drivetrain systems, airospace fuel

37

Health care

Tuomey Healthcare System

Sumter, SC

Jay Cox

38 First Citizens Bancorporation Inc. Columbia, SC Jim Apple Banking and financial services

1 , 0 0 0 t o 1 , 5 0 0 emp l o y ees

52

39 The Timken Company Canton, OH James Griffith

Highly engineered bearings, power transmission solutions and high quality steels

40

Poultry processor

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp.

| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

Greeley, CO

William Lovette

THE 2 0 1 2 S OUTH C AROLINA B I G 5 0 No. Name Headquarters

CEO

®

Business Description

1 , 0 0 0 t o 1 , 5 0 0 emp l o y ees 41

Bridgestone Americas Inc.

Nashville, TN

Gary Garfield

Passenger and light truck tire manufacturer

42

Oconee Medical Center

Seneca, SC

Jeanne Ward

Health care

43

Schneider Electric

Paris, France

Jean-Pascal Tricoire

Switchgear, switchboard, critical power

44

Blackbaud Inc.

Charleston, SC

Marc Chardon

Software and services for non-profit organizations

45 Kimberly-Clark Corporation Irving, TX Thomas Falk

Manufacturer of family and personal care consumer branded products

46

Time Warner Cable

Charlotte, NC

Glenn Britt

Communications

47

Kapstone Paper & Packaging Corporation

Northbrook, IL

Roger Stone

Paper and packaging products

48

Comporium

Rock Hill, SC

Bryant Barnes

Communication and security services

49 Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company Columbia, SC Randall Horn Voluntary insurance, benefits communication and

enrollment services

5 0 0 t o 1 , 0 0 0 emp l o y ees 50

AlliedBarton Security Services

Conshohocken, PA

Bill Whitmore

Security services

If values aren’t shared, they aren’t lived.

For 140 years, BB&T has never taken a relationship for granted. We set out to earn your business each and every day. Our strong value system helps us determine what is right and reasonable. We think things through, debate them and ultimately follow what our heads and instincts tell us. We believe if something sounds right, you should think about doing it. We believe if something feels wrong, you should walk away. It’s simple logic, but it works well in a complicated financial world. Find out how the values that drive us can help you move your business forward. BBT.com

B A N K I N G

.

I N S U R A N C E

.

I N V E S T M E N T S

Member FDIC. Only deposit products are FDIC insured. © 2012, Branch Banking and Trust Company. All rights reserved.

s c c h a m b e r. n e t | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss |

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| S o u t h C a r o l i n a B u s i n e ss

2012 Public Servant of the Year S.C. Senate President Pro Tempore John Courson

A loyal

statesman

By Jean Cecil Frick

S and y A nd r e w s

W

alking into Senator John Courson’s office in the Gressette Building, one cannot help but be reminded of a previous president pro tempore, the late U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.).

In fact, an entire wall in Courson’s office is dedicated to Senator Thurmond. Both men heard the calling of public service and dedicated many years to serving the people of South Carolina. In 2012, Courson was elected by his peers to serve as president pro tempore of the South Carolina Senate.

Growing up in Augusta, Georgia, Courson could have never guessed that he would one day be encouraged by his peers to seek a leadership position in the South Carolina Senate. Courson crossed the bank of the Savannah River to attend the University of South Carolina and was smitten with the state once he met his wife, Elizabeth Poinsett Exum, in undergraduate school. The couple married on April 28, 1973 and has three children.

If you want to get Senator Courson’s attention, ask him about baseball.

Courson’s love of baseball began as a boy when he played in the American Legion league. He can remember attending baseball games with his father and praises baseball as a “uniquely American sport.”

“More than any other sport, baseball is the sport that has held this country together. It is based on history, based on facts, based on statistics,” said Courson.

Often traveling by train throughout the United States, Courson has visited 30 of the major league baseball stadiums. Most recently, he and his son, Harris,

traveled to New Orleans to watch a game. He has made it a goal to visit all the major ballparks and has returned to many after renovations have been completed.

Courson believes, however, that nothing beats the level of excitement of watching a Red Sox vs. Yankees game at Fenway Park.

Courson’s interest in politics began with President John F. Kennedy. While he was not keen on Kennedy’s vice president, Lyndon Johnson, Courson appreciated the young president’s vision for the country and even attended Kennedy’s funeral in Washington. A year later, Courson’s passion for politics was really ignited when he heard Ronald Reagan’s famous speech, “A Time for Choosing,” urging voters to support Republican U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona for president.

Listening to Reagan, Courson got behind Goldwater and he would be joined by others in the Palmetto State.

In 1964, Sen. Thurmond endorsed Goldwater for president and changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

According to Courson, Thurmond’s choice showed “unprecedented political courage.” It also changed the course of the Republican Party in South Carolina, helping it gain prominence in a state that had largely been Democratic. Although Goldwater would eventually lose the presidential race, he did win the support of South Carolina.

This was Courson’s first taste of a campaign and he would go on to serve as state chairman, co-chairman and treasurer of Senate re-election campaigns for Thurmond. He also got involved on the national level, serving as a member of the South Carolina Presidential Electoral College in 1980 and 1984 as an elector for President Reagan. A letter from President Reagan framed in Courson’s Senate

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2012 Public Servant of the Year ~

office says “we need fine men like you in public life.” Reagan had the biggest political influence on Courson because he says he knew him and was involved in his administration. In fact, Courson is so fond of the late president that his golden retriever is named Reagan.

President Reagan was not the only person to affect Courson’s life. The late Walter M. Keenan, Sr. had a tremendous influence on the path Courson would take. Keenan was a good friend of Courson’s father-in-law and encouraged him to go into the property and casualty insurance business. Courson joined Keenan’s insurance group, now called Keenan Suggs Insurance, and has been with the company

S.C. Senate President Pro Tempore John Courson for almost 38 years. Courson said Keenan was instrumental in both his professional and personal relationships and credited Keenan with any successes he has had professionally.

It was during Reagan’s administration that Courson first ran for the South Carolina Senate. A former Marine, Courson was elected in 1984 and has represented the people of Senate District 20 (Richland and Lexington) ever since. Wanting to see South Carolina progress is what first led Courson to serve through elected office and still motivates him today.

Courson said, “We have made South Carolina an attractive state in which to do business, and it is one of the few states that still has an AAA bond

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rating.” Courson also points out that South Carolina continues to grow in population, which highlights that it is a state people are attracted to.

Years of focus on economic development and taxation issues have made the state appealing for businesses, and Courson wants to see that trend continue.

“During the 2012 legislative session, John Courson was key to the passage of critically important economic development legislation to help protect businesses from the frivolous lawsuits that can cripple our economy,” said Otis Rawl, president and CEO of the South Carolina Chamber.

Rawl said Courson worked tirelessly with senators from both sides of the aisle to reach a compromise the business community could embrace.

“What Senator Courson helped us achieve is paramount to restoring regulatory certainty and fostering a pro-job creating business climate. As a businessman himself, Courson understands that businesses thrive on certainty, and the private sector needs to lead the path forward in creating jobs in South Carolina during these challenging economic times,” Rawl said.

Courson is proud of the work he has done to reform the state’s education system and says education issues should not be partisan. “It is the responsibility of government to have educated citizens, especially in a global economy,” said Courson. “Having a skilled workforce is one of the tools South Carolina can use to attract new businesses.”

8/13/12 3:17 PM

F ast F acts about J ohn C ourson

Jean Cecil Frick is the multimedia manager at the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and the editor of South Carolina Business.

Health care is changing.

And it’s for the better.

By collaborating with your doctors, we’re providing a path toward healthy living for all South Carolinians.

work-related disability in the United States. Which is why we’ve partnered with Greenville Hospital System to pilot the Back and Neck Pain Program. We’ve

edia

point in their lives. It’s the most common and most expensive cause of

te T r

Chronic low back pain affects up to 80 percent of Americans at some

Imm

Favorite spot in S.C.: My home- love my home and my neighborhood Favorite historical figure: President Reagan because I knew him and was involved with his administration Favorite Book: President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime

by Lou Cannon Favorite Movie: Being a Marine, I have to say Full Metal Jacket Favorite Activity: Tennis with my son and friends Inspiration: Being an American

state. We are a unique state, and I want to continue to improve the quality of life in the Palmetto State.”

Courson said that loyalty is the No. 1 quality needed in today’s workforce, “loyalty to the people and the organization in which you work.”

For someone who grew up in Georgia, there may be no one more loyal to South Carolina than John Courson.

eatm ent

Courson currently serves as chairman of the Senate Education Committee. During his tenure, a host of priorities to improve workforce development have passed, including the Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA). The number of students receiving higher education in the state is growing, and Courson has been helpful in igniting innovative programs in K-12 education as well.

“For many years, Sen. Courson has provided strong leadership on education issues for South Carolina. As chair of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Courson has advocated for education as the foundation for economic development and jobs and has worked hard to build bipartisan support for important education initiatives,” said Jim Reynolds, CEO of Total Comfort Solutions and chairman of the 2011-2012 South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

“Courson led the passage of the Education and Economic Development Act, which helps students connect education to career goals and has led to a 26 percent reduction in the state’s dropout rate. A steadfast supporter of our technical college system,

John led the passage of ApprenticeshipCarolina™ legislation, which has resulted in an increase of registered apprentices in South Carolina from 777 five years ago to over 4,200 today.” said Reynolds.

“As a champion of education in South Carolina, Sen. Courson has lived out the motto he embraced as a U.S. Marine, ‘Semper Fidelis’,” said Pamela Lackey, president of AT&T South Carolina. “He has always been faithful in advocating for policies and approaches that create educational excellence. He has been particularly committed to assuring that South Carolina students have access to affordable opportunities in higher education, enabling them to pursue the advanced degrees and training needed in a global economy.”

Courson has found his time in public service to be very rewarding and said, “If people are willing to put the time into it, I would encourage them to seek public office because it is an honor to serve the

streamlined what was a complicated process for pain relief by creating a customized treatment track that starts the very day a patient comes in. It matters how you’re treated.

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See what your physician has to say about the future of our health care by visiting

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Because it matters how you’re treated.

Copyright © 2012, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. All rights reserved.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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Through the South Carolina Prosperity Project, employers and employees can obtain information and materials that explain, in simple language, the importance of state and federal elections.

This includes information on candidates, issues and public policies that affect job security and the economy – information every citizen should consider when they go to the polls to vote.

Use the South Carolina Prosperity Project to stay informed on the issues that concern you most.

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2012 Sergeant William Jasper Freedom Award Lieutenant Clebe McClary

An Unwavering Spirit

By Julie Scott

A

s a young child, Patrick Cleburne “Clebe” McClary spent his days on a 10,000 acre Lowcountry plantation just outside of Georgetown, S.C. where he grew up hunting alligators, fishing and excelling at sports. He had no idea then that one day he would be recognized as an American hero after bravely serving his country in Vietnam.

After an extensive injury, he would face the most enormous challenge of his life: overcoming those physical and mental wounds and pushing onward to inspire soldiers across the United States.

During McClary’s young days growing up on the plantation, it was two African American men who took great interest in his upbringing and had a profound impact on his life. One was like a father, McClary said, and took him to hunt his first deer, turkey and duck. The other was his godfather. He said he learned a great deal from the two men, who taught him the ways of the world.

“I think young people today have really lost those roots. We move so much and live so many places. When you have a James Graham and a Snowy to look up to, you don’t want to let them down,” McClary said.

His other major influencers were his coaches and his father, who also taught him the value of hard work.

“Daddy always said if you are going to work, work hard. If you are going to play, play hard. And if you are going to pray, pray hard,” McClary said. “I tried to take that through life with me.”

After graduating from Erskine College in Due West, S.C., McClary taught and coached for three years at two high schools. He was then offered a chance to coach at the University of South Carolina. It was in his early days there when he witnessed a startling scene at an athletics event: the burning of an American flag by students protesting the Vietnam War. It was 1967 and just weeks before

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2012 Sergeant William Jasper Freedom Award ~

one of the most important days of his life. He was to marry his soulmate, a South Carolina beauty queen named Deanna.

Soon after and without hesitation, McClary resigned from his coaching job and volunteered for the U.S. Marine Corps, something he said he had always wanted to do.

“In this world of give and take, there are not enough people willing to give what it takes,” McClary said.

After completing his training, Lt. McClary said goodbye to his new bride and became platoon leader of the 1st Recon Battalion in Vietnam. Lt. McClary proudly went to serve his country. It would not be a routine mission though. In October, 1968, Lt. McClary was critically wounded alongside 13 of his men during an enemy ambush on Hill #146.

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The enemy surrounded us and hit us with

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Lieutenant Clebe McClary tremendous force. Our men fought well, but we had two dead and eight wounded,” said McClary.

After their rescue, Lt. McClary spent more than two years in military hospitals, endured more than 30 surgeries, suffered the loss of an eye and arm and was told he would never walk again. As he was moved from one care facility to another his strong sense of spirit remained.

The President of the United States later presented Lt. McClary with the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for his bravery.

When he returned to the states, it was Deanna’s turn to be brave, and she proudly stepped up to the enormous task.

“I was in the hospital and real critical. After I got strong enough to travel, they brought me to Bethesda where I had tremendous treatment. Mother and Daddy flew up with Deanna. The medical team stopped them as they were getting off the elevator to prepare them for what they would see,” McClary said.

“Deanna went right through them, walked into the room and turned around to walk out because she didn’t even recognize me.”

He said, “Deanna it’s me.” She turned around stunned and after that moment, never left his side. A nurse in training, Deanna helped him learn how to walk and eat again. “She put me back together,” McClary said.

McClary’s recovery was not easy to say the least. He could not feed or dress himself at the start of his recovery, and he said his mental wounds were even more serious than his physical wounds.

“Being married to Deanna gave me the will to live,” he said. “I’m sure God used that to save my life. I really wanted to see her again. If I hadn’t been married, I probably wouldn’t be alive today.”

After his recovery, McClary decided his new mission would be to help and inspire others in their greatest time of need, visiting military hospitals and connecting face-to-face and through social media. His message of courage, determination and dedication now compels thousands to reach beyond their limitations.

Traveling the U.S. with Deanna, McClary continues to use his amazing story of courage and determination to show soldiers, high school students, business leaders and others what is truly possible in the face of challenge.

“Once you’ve heard Clebe McClary speak, your life will never be the same...Only better,” Dan Reeves, former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos said.

Today, McClary and Deanna are working on a special mission. While they still spend a great deal of time visiting hospitals, traveling to meet with soldiers (most recently to Alaska), opening their home near Georgetown and connecting with families in the military, they are also working on Old Seaside Manor, a sanctuary on 8.8 acres of lake front property in Lake Lure, N.C. for combat injured veterans. McClary hopes this atmosphere of hope and caring will open soon to servicemen and women who need another type of family to help them on their journey of recovery.

“If you can help one family, it’s been worthwhile,” he said.

McClary believes one of the nation’s greatest challenges continues to be helping military heroes when they return home. With multiple deployments, he believes today’s American heroes need more help when they return than ever before. That’s why he and Deanna have made it their mission to work with soldiers and their families to adjust to the challenges of returning home.

“This day in time about 1 percent serve the country. Ninety nine percent have freedom of

worship, religion and free enterprise because of what the 1 percent is doing,” McClary said.

His life’s work has been published in a book, Living Proof, and portrayed in a movie. Business, military, civic and faithbased leaders all over the world attest to the power of his story in changing lives.

“Clebe is a man who represents all that is good about this country, one of our best,” the

Reverend Billy Graham said.

No matter what, this great American hero fondly looks back on his childhood in the South Carolina Lowcountry, which he said prepared him for his extraordinary life and where he still calls home.

“I’m proud to be a South Carolinian. I’m not a hero. The folks that didn’t come home and paid the ultimate price – those are the real heroes,” McClary said.

Julie Scott is associate vice president of communications at the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

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Vision Statement The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce is the unified voice of business and premier advocacy organization in the state. The South Carolina Chamber creates prosperity for all citizens through an economy of increased productivity and global competitiveness.

M i ss i o n S t a t e m e n t The mission of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, as the single, unified voice of business, is to enhance the quality of life for all South Carolinians. The South Carolina Chamber leads the way in achieving global competitiveness and ultimately increasing prosperity for our citizens by: • Creating a shared, collaborative vision for South Carolina; • Increasing productivity through an educated and highly-skilled, capable workforce; • Advocating a balanced, predictable tax and spending system; • Fostering a favorable climate among our members and their diverse employees; and, • Promoting the positive impact of a successful business community on our citizens.

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For additional information, contact us at 843-819-5129, or visit us on the web at www.sls-consulting.biz

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7/30/12 2:58 PM

S o u t h C a r o l i n a C h a m b e r o f C o m m e r c e S t a ff Front Row Left to Right: Tish Anderson, Associate Vice President of Programs and Events; Ann Smith, Area Manager, New Members; Susan O’Neal, Accounting Manager; Jean Cecil Frick, Multimedia Manager/South Carolina Business Editor Second Row Left to Right: Barbara Beckham, Vice President of Membership Relations; Carolyn Tupper, Programs and Events Assistant; Chris Dornburg, Administrative Assistant for Workforce, Education & Manufacturing Policy; Donna Cantrell, Administrative Assistant; Roxie Williamson, Administrative Assistant; Alexa Stillwell, Programs and Events Coordinator; Kathy Jacobs, Accounting Assistant Third Row Left to Right: Tim Timmons, Vice President of Human Resources; Sherry Prioleau, Assistant Director of Business Relations, SC GEAR UP; Sarah Buscher, Coordinator of SC Chamber of Commerce Homework Centers and Business Week; Julie Epstein, Programs & Events Intern; Mark Langbein, Area Manager, New Members; Lindsay Jackson, Executive Assistant; Katie King Schanz, Legislative Counsel Back Row Left to Right: Robbie Barnett, Associate Vice President of Workforce, Education and Manufacturing Policy; Julie Scott, Associate Vice President of Communications; Cynthia Bennett, Director of Business Relations, SC GEAR UP; Otis Rawl, President and CEO; Beverly Hampe, Renewal Manager; Jack Sloan, Associate Vice President of Membership Development; Randy Bradley, Vice President of Workforce Relations and Administrative Services; Darrell Scott, Vice President of Public Policy and Communications Not Pictured: Bobby Baker, Graphics and Web Administrator and Donna Turbeville, Administrative Assistant

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S outh C arolina C hamber of C ommerce L eadership 2012-2013 South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors H Executive Committee member H Chairman Mr. Michael Brenan President BB&T, South Carolina H Chair-elect Ms. Pamela Lackey President, SC Operations AT&T H Past Chair Mr. Jim Reynolds CEO Total Comfort Solutions H Treasurer Mr. Chris Barras Executive Director Ernst & Young, LLP H General Counsel Mr. Charles “Ted” Speth II Shareholder Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. Mr. Jimmy Addison Executive Vice President & CFO SCANA Corporation Mr. Charles Beaman, Jr. CEO Palmetto Health

H Mr. Cliff Bourke Manager of Legal Claims Southeastern Freight Lines

Mr. Walter Davis Vice Chairman CertusBANK, N.A.

Mr. Butch Bowers Partner Womble Carlyle

Mr. Tom DeLoach President & CEO SC BIPEC

Mr. Jeff Brown Senior Vice President & CMO, Marketing & Branding Colonial Life

H Mr. Marvin Dickerson Director of Human Resources Alcoa Mt. Holly

Mr. Bruce Brumfield President & CEO Founders Federal Credit Union Ms. Sharon Bryant SC Banking Executive and Director of Wealth Management First Citizens Bank Mr. Allen Creighton Vice President, EHS & Corporate Compliance FUJIFILM Manufacturing USA Inc. Mr. Charles Dalton President & CEO Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative Mr. Rick Davis Managing Shareholder Elliott Davis, LLC

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Mr. Richard Dillard Director, Public Affairs Milliken & Company Mr. Fred Dohse Executive Vice President & COO Savannah River Nuclear Solutions H Ms. Sara Fisher Senior Executive Vice President & COO NBSC, a division of Synovus Bank Mr. L. Dwight Floyd Partner Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP Mr. Clark Gillespy President, South Carolina Duke Energy

Mr. Greg Guerra Executive Vice President, Product Management and Business Development Spirit Communications Mr. Randy Halfacre President & CEO Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce Mr. Randy Hatcher President Management Analysis & Utilization, Inc. H Ms. Mary Anne Jacobs Senior Director, Government Relations Time Warner Cable Mr. Michael Johnson President & CEO Cox Industries H Mr. Josef Kerscher President BMW Manufacturing Co. Mr. Gene King Managing Director WRSequence, LLC Mr. Richard Kizer Vice President, Government & Community Relations Santee Cooper H Mr. Ray Lattimore President & CEO Marketplace Staffing Services, Inc. Mr. Steve Matthews Shareholder Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. Mr. Chad Melvin Vice President, Human Resources AFLAC Mr. Scott Middleton CEO Agape Senior

H Mr. John Moloney Senior Director, Government Relations The Boeing Company H Mr. James I. Newsome III President & CEO South Carolina State Ports Authority H Mr. David S. Pankau President & CEO BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Mr. Robert Pearce, Jr. Attorney Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP Mr. Arthur Perry II President & CEO 2AM Group Dr. Ronald W. Prestage DVM & Managing Member Prestage Farms Mr. Jeff Price Division President Milliken & Company Mr. Mark Propst Plant Manager The Timken Company Mr. Rex Query Vice President & General Manager Nucor Steel South Carolina Mr. Mickey Renner Senior Vice President & Business Banking Executive Wells Fargo Mr. Andy Satterfield Partner Jackson Lewis LLP

Mr. Kenneth Seeger President, Community Development and Land Management MeadWestvaco Mr. Pete Selleck Chairman and President Michelin North America Mr. Jack Shuler President Palmetto Agribusiness Council Mr. Ron Smith Principal McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture Mr. David Tigges Managing Shareholder McNair Law Firm, P.A. Mr. John Uprichard President FGP International Mr. Gary Williams Vice President of Human Resources Mount Vernon Mills, Inc. Mr. Gene Wise General Manager Target Distribution Center, Target Corporation Mr. Keith Wood Director, Public Affairs URS Mr. John M. Worley, Jr. CEO Zeus Industrial Products, Inc. Dr. Mick Zais SC Superintendent of Education

Mr. Barry Saunders Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Sonoco

A d v e rt i se r

I n d e x

2AM....................................................................................................63

Jackson Lewis....................................................................................... 6

AT&T...................................................................................................31

J.W. Hunt & Co. LLP........................................................................... 49

Bank of America................................................................................ 16

MASC................................................................................................ 48

BB&T.................................................................................................. 53

Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce............................................... 20

BlueCross BlueShield of SC................................... 57, Inside Back Cover

Nexsen Pruet...................................................................................... 10

BMW Manufacturing LLC.................................................................. 20

O’Brien & Gere................................................................................... 66

CCC Group Inc.................................................................................. 59

Palmetto Pride.................................................................................... 56

Cherry, Bekaert & Holland.................................................................. 64

SCDEW.............................................................................................. 34

Clemson University.................................................... Inside Front Cover

Santee Cooper................................................................................... 48

Coastal Carolina University................................................................ 35

SLS Consulting................................................................................... 64

Duke Energy.......................................................................................22

Sonoco............................................................................................... 14

Enterprises......................................................................................... 66

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare........................................................ 8

First Citizens Bank................................................................................ 3

Stäubli.................................................................................................. 4

Grant Thornton LLP.............................................................................41

UEC Electronics LLC............................................................................27

GSSS Foundation................................................................................62

Young Plantations...............................................................................27

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A...............................................................1

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Pinnacle of Leadership Thank you to the many outstanding corporate citizens – South Carolina Chamber members who are investing at exceptional levels in the work of the Chamber. These leading companies are shaping the future of South Carolina and helping make the state a better place to live and work.

Summit $25,000-$34,999 BB&T BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Michelin North America, Inc. Milliken & Company Wells Fargo

Peak $15,000-$24,999 AT&T Colonial Life Duke Energy Carolinas Eaton Corporation Fluor Corporation Santee Cooper South Carolina Electric & Gas TD Bank, N.A. URS

Crown $5,000-$14,999 A. O. Smith Water Products Company Aflac Group Alcoa Mt. Holly Allied Air Enterprises Inc. AnMed Health Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company Bank of America BD Diagnostics, Preanalytical Solutions BI-LO, LLC BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC The Boeing Company Bojangles Restaurants, Inc. Bon Secours St. Francis Health System Bose Corporation Bridgestone Americas Canal Insurance Group CareCore National Carowinds CenturyLink CertusBANK N.A. CH2M HILL Charleston Place Hotel CMC Steel South Carolina Covidien Healthcare Cytec Carbon Fibers, LLC Darlington Raceway Delta Dental Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP CPAs Domtar EagleMed Eastman Chemical Company Elliott Davis LLC EnergySolutions, LLC Fabri Kal First Citizens Bank Fisher & Phillips LLP FN Manufacturing, LLC Founders Federal Credit Union FUJIFILM Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc. General Dynamics Land Systems – Force Protection

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General Electric Southeast Region Gestamp South Carolina, LLC GKN Aerostructures North America Google Inc. Grant Thornton LLP Greenville Hospital System Gregory Electric Company, Inc. Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. Honda of South Carolina Mfg., Inc. Honeywell Aerospace Greer Hospitality America, Inc. International Paper The InterTech Group, Inc. Jackson Lewis LLP Jarden Applied Materials Johnson & Johnson, Inc. Johnson Controls KapStone KENTWOOL Kimberly-Clark Corporation Kingston Plantation - Kingston Shores Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC Kraft Foods Lexington Medical Center Lockheed Martin M. C. Daniel, Inc. MAU (Management Analysis & Utilization, Inc.) McAngus, Goudelock & Courie, LLC McNair Law Firm, P.A. MWV MeadWestvaco Medical University of South Carolina Nan Ya Plastics Corporation Naturally Advanced Technologies, Inc. NBSC, a division of Synovus Bank Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP Nestle Prepared Foods Company Nexans High Voltage USA Inc Nexsen Pruet, LLC Norfolk Southern Corporation Nucor Steel South Carolina

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. Palmetto Health Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP Piedmont Natural Gas Pratt Industries - Greenville Converting Prestage Farms Progress Energy Pure Power Technologies, a Navistar Company Regions Bank of South Carolina Resolute Forest Products Robert Bosch Corporation, LLC Roche Carolina Inc. Roper St. Francis Healthcare Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC Schaeffler Group USA INC. SCRA Sealed Air Corp.

Select Health of South Carolina, Inc. Self Regional Healthcare Sexton Dental Clinic Shaw Industries Group, Inc. Sonoco South Carolina Education Lottery South Carolina Hospital Association South Carolina State Ports Authority Southeastern Freight Lines Spirit Communications Springs Global US, Inc. Sunbelt Rentals T & S Brass & Bronze Works, Inc. Target Distribution Center, Target Corporation TBC Corporation Time Warner Cable The Timken Company United Parcel Service University of South Carolina Walmart Stores, Inc. Westinghouse Electric Company Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP World Acceptance Corporation WSI Savannah River Site

Health care is changing.

And it’s for the better.

By collaborating with your doctors, we’re providing a path toward healthy living for all South Carolinians.

connecting physicians, nutritionists, care coordinators and even your pharmacists - so you’re provided with outstanding preventive care and a full understanding of your medications. It matters

how you’re treated. And we’re working to make health care better for you and everyone else in the state.

See what your physician has to say about the future of our health care by visiting

aHealthySC.tv

o

llab

Co

Personalized

of the old ways of health care: You finally get to spend time with your doctor again. We’re

C ive rat

Treatment Electronic Records

are

A patient-centered medical home is a new way of practicing medicine that will remind you

Because it matters how you’re treated.

Copyright © 2012, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. All rights reserved.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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Contact Deidre Macklen at 803.318.3923 for 2013 marketing and advertising opportunities.

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