Archive for year: 2019

by Matthew Christian

South Carolina Ports Authority CEO James Newsome on Tuesday afternoon listed three areas of potential growth for Inland Port Dillon: retail distribution, export transload facilities, and manufacturing.

Newsome, who has been president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority since Sept. 1, 2009, was the featured speaker at the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce 2019 Outlook Luncheon in the ballroom of the Florence Center.

Retail distribution is a growth area, Newsome said, because of the inland port’s location just off Interstate 95’s Exit 190.

“That’s an essential artery for that,” Newsome added.

Inland Port Dillon already has one transload facility for C&M Hog Farm.

Transloading is the process of changing from one type of transportation to another. In this case, from trucks to rail.

Newsome also cited the location of the inland port as the reason for potential manufacturing growth.

Already, a manufacturing plant has located in Marion County citing the availability of the inland port.

Inland Port Dillon was opened in 2018 and it’s estimated that the port will take five years to reach its planned capacity.

Newsome also addressed the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.

“I’ve heard it said— I think it was on CNBC— South Carolina is probably the state in the country that is the most dependent on global trade of any state,” Newsome said.

He added that he hoped the dispute would be solved quickly and that free trade would be allowed to continue.

Other areas of growth for the port include the deepening of the harbor at the Wando terminal in Charleston, the refurbishment of the Wando terminal, and the opening of phase 1 of the Leatherman terminal, which is named after Sen. Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. of Florence.

In several places in his speech, Newsome praised the efforts of Leatherman to provide funds to the ports authority. Prior to 2019, Leatherman served as president pro tempore of the South Carolina Senate. He continues to serve as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which controls the budget-writing process for that chamber of the South Carolina General Assembly.

“I can’t thank Senator Leatherman enough,” Newsome said. “Almost from my first day, I had the support of Senator Leatherman.”

Leatherman provided the introduction for Newsome at the luncheon. Leatherman was introduced by John Brand, son of Florence Mayor Pro Tempore Frank J. “Buddy” Brand.

A Savannah native, Newsome served as president of Hapag-Lloyd (America) Inc. and as an executive vice president with Nedlloyd Lines from 1987 to 1997. He also spent 10 years with Strachan Shipping Company, where he was president of its Hoegh Lines Agencies subsidiary.

The South Carolina Ports Authority, established by the state’s General Assembly in 1942, owns and operates public seaport and intermodal facilities in Charleston, Dillon, Georgetown and Greer. The port operations facilitate 187,200 statewide jobs and generate nearly $53 billion annual economic activity.

To read the full article on SC Now, click here.

by Ardie Arvidson

Blake Pate followed in his father’s footsteps on Tuesday when he was named the 2019 Small Business Person of the Year during the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce’s Outlook Luncheon at the Florence Center.

The award, sponsored by Dedicated Community Bank for the past five years, was awarded to Pate’s father, David Pate, the first year of the bank’s sponsorship.

“I miss my dad a lot every day,” Pate said. “He taught me so much.”

Pate said he and his wife are excited to be in Florence.

“I always knew Florence would be my home,” he said.

His father was in the business for about 30 years and died in 2018. He said his father received the award two years before he retired.

Blake Pate, owner of Chick-fil-A West Florence, has been a Chick-fil-A operator 10 years.

Pate said winning the award and following in his father’s footsteps mean a lot to him. He said there are so many others deserving of the award.

Announcing the award, Jim Ivey, president and CEO of Dedicated Community Bank, said “Blake Pate was not handed a restaurant — he had to stand on his own through the very difficult process of becoming a Chick-fil-A operator in Magnolia Mall. Then, he had to interview again to become the operator of the former drive-thru location, which was renovated last year into a beautiful free-standing restaurant.”

Active in the community, Pate supports all three public high schools and most of the private schools in Florence, Ivey said. He has been active in coaching. He is the Wilson High School boys’ soccer team head coach. He also holds leadership positions with the Boys Scouts, the Florence Symphony Orchestra and St. Luke Lutheran Church and is president-elect of the Florence Rotary Club.

“Blake was the perfect choice for the Small Business of the Year Award,” said Mike Miller, president of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce. “He does so much work for the community, but does it in a quiet and effective way. Humble might be the best way to describe his demeanor and generous might be the best way to describe his way of contributing to our communities.”

Chick-fil-A sponsors a host of events in the community. Among them are the Florence Athletic Hall of Fame, the Florence Little Theatre’s Children’s Workshop Program, the Florence Soccer Association, The Girls Scouts, Francis Marion University, McLeod Health and Fitness, the Florence County Museum’s Pee Dee Regional Art Competition, the Miracle League, Habitat for Humanity, the Pee Dee Coalition Againist Domestic and Sexual Assault, Florence County Disabilities and Special Needs and many others.

Ivey said Pate’s location is poised to reach the $125,000 mark in scholarships awarded to employees this year.

Pate said he has already presented scholarships this year to 28 team members, representing about $2,500 per scholarship.

Pate and his wife, Annie, are expecting their first child this summer.

“This is very special for us since his father was given the award a few years ago,” Annie said.

In addition to the Small Business Person of the Year Award, the chamber recognized the Ambassador of the Year.

Brian Davison, director of sales for the Florence Center, was named Chamber Ambassador of the Year 2018. He was one of the most active chamber representatives during the year. He attended ribbon cuttings and Business After Hours events and made member visits throughout the year,

The chamber has been busy this year, Miller said. It has conducted 13 difference business seminars. In the last 30 days, the chamber has presented a Legislative Breakfast with Drew Griffin, Florence city manager, as speaker; Business After Hours with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office; Young Professionals of Florence Social; Leadership Florence Legislative Day; Fellows in Education Day; Youth Apprenticeship Accelerator Meeting; Building Bridges Summit; and the Outlook Luncheon.

Coming up are the CEO Breakfast on March 21 at Hope Health; How to Start and Grow Your Business on March 21 at the Florence Chamber; Young Professionals “Nachos ‘n’ Networking on March 21 at King Jefe; Fellow in Education Gathering on April 2 at Carter Elementary; Jr. Leadership Education Day on April 4 at the Luther F. Carter Center for Health Sciences; Leadership Florence Local Government/Law Enforcement Day on April 9; Doing Business with Government on April 15 at Florence Chamber; Leadership Florence Class 2018-19 Oyster Roast on April 18 at the Florence Center; Administrative Professional Day Luncheon on April 24 at the Florence Center; Chamber Spring Golf Tournament on May 2 at The Traces Golf Club; and Leadership Florence Business and Industry Day on May 14.

Miller said the chamber has the highest number of social media followers in the state of any chamber of commerce with the exception of Myrtle Beach.

The Florence Chamber has about 650 members with more than 1,700 members associates.

To read the full article on SC Now, click here.

by WMBF News Staff

More than 70 people attended the Building Bridges Diversity Summit in Florence on Monday.

The event took place on the campus of MUSC Health Florence Medical Center.

Developing a diverse and inclusive workplace and helping women succeed were among the topics discussed during the summit.

Florence Chamber of Commerce member Les Echols said these discussions aren’t just good for employees but also good for business.

“A lot of research has shown that diversity and inclusion is good for business. It’s one of those things that will help us move forward. The more diverse, the more innovative you are and that’s the area we need to work on now,” Echols said.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Atiya Stokes-Brown, who is the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Coastal Carolina University.

Copyright 2019 WMBF. All rights reserved.

To view the full article and watch the video on WMBF News, click here.

Staff Reports

F.R. “Rick” Saunders was awarded The Order of the Palmetto — the highest civilian honor awarded to residents of South Carolina for extraordinary lifetime achievement, and for national or statewide service — by S.C. Sen. Hugh Leatherman during a luncheon Friday at Florence Country Club.

“I am honored to receive this recognition,” said Saunders, CEO and president of First Reliance Bank in Florence. “Early in my career I made the commitment to be involved in the communities we do business in and try to truly make a difference. I was fortunate to expand that to the state level as the bank grew and more opportunities arose.”

Saunders was appointed by Gov. Mark Sanford to the South Carolina State Board of Financial Institutions, where he served a 12-year term. On the board, he led efforts to restructure the responsibilities of the State Banking Commission and worked closely with legislature to accomplish this. He also served on the State Chamber of Commerce Board and the South Carolina Bankers Association Board, both of which are state-focused organizations. Saunders has also served on more than a dozen other local and regional boards since the formation of First Reliance Bank in 1999.

For his leadership and work, Saunders has been recognized for other past awards such as an Entrepreneur Award for his contributions to the prosperity of the Pee Dee Region by the Florence Darlington Technical College, Business Man of the Year by the Florence Chamber of Commerce, The Beta Gamma Sigma honoree from Francis Marion University School of Business and The Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year national award for the financial industry.

To read the full article on SC Now, click here.

by Nia Watson

Carolina Bank and Florence city officials celebrated the grand opening Thursday afternoon of the new $4.5 million branch and headquarters in downtown Florence.

“Our family had a vision to move to Florence and here we are today enjoying the moment,” said Carolina Bank CEO Rick Beasley.

Beasley said the business started with his grandfather opening up a small bank in Lamar in 1936. Currently, the company has 12 locations in six counties with the latest and biggest branch in the hub of the Pee Dee.

“City of Florence has been great. They’ve opened their arms for us.” Beasley said.

Brian Falcone, the bank’s senior loan officer, said after seeing the growth in Florence, they decided to relocate from Darlington and renovate the three-story building into their new home.

However, their presence in Florence isn’t new. There’s also a branch on West Palmetto Street. Falcone said 70 percent of Carolina Bank’s loans are in the city.

“The Waters building, Kress corner, so we’ve been kind of instrumental in doing a lot of lending in this area so we kind of felt like it was time for us to move to downtown,” Falcone said.

Mayor Pro Tem Frank Brand said the steady development is a result of government and the private sector working together.

While the bank is the latest business to open up, another one is in the works on North Dargan Street.

The Lost Cajun Seafood and Gumbo restaurant with a rooftop bar received approval from the city’s design review board Wednesday afternoon. The business still has to submit plans to the building department.

Brand said the goal of is to get young people to the community.

“The young people that is what is driving this whole thing to get young people that have gone off to universities and work in Charlotte or Charleston. We want then back here, we want them in Florence,” Brand said. “If we can do it in Florence it’s just the more opportunity for them to come back and Florence is not an expensive place to live compared to these other cities.”

At the rate of this progress, Brand said it won’t be long until the vision becomes reality.

“The last five years it’s going to be multiplied over again as Florence continues to march forward, getting better, bigger and just more alternatives for people to do things in our community,” Brand said.

Copyright 2019 WMBF. All rights reserved.

To read the full article and to watch the video on WMBF News, click here.