City Gives Land Parcel to Magnolia Mall for Potential Retail/Restaurant Space

Magnolia Mall, image courtesy: createworldwide.com

From the Morning News:

Florence City Council voted to give a portion of property near the corner of David McLeod Blvd. and Dunbarton Dr., to the owners of Magnolia Mall.

The portion of land could be used for a variety of things, including a potential new restaurant, officials said.

According to the article, “The city council originally was given the parcel by the state and decided to convey the land to PR Magnolia, LLC.

“By doing that, Magnolia Mall proper can develop it how they see fit,” Florence Mayor Pro Tempore Buddy Brand said. “Which could be two or three parcels, or extra parking for Chik-fil-a, really however they want to use it,” Brand continued.

Brand said he sees growing potential for another restaurant or something similar at the location.”

Read the entire article by clicking the link below:

SCnow.com web article- City Council Gives Surplus Land to Mall

Apply Now to Take Part in Upcoming Leadership Florence Program

There is still time to complete an application for Leadership Florence Class of 2016-2017.

Leadership Florence is a comprehensive nine-month program designed to identify, cultivate and motivate new leadership for the Greater Florence Area. Participants will increase their knowledge of the Greater Florence area, and enhance their involvement in community activities while further developing their leadership skills.

To find out more about Leadership Florence or to secure an application, contact the Chamber today at 843-665-0515.

Small Business Owners: Don’t Spend Your Money on These 3 Things

From Inc Magazine:

“You have a choice as a small company: Are you going to spend frivolously on things you don’t need, or are you going to be appropriately frugal?

“Being appropriately frugal means saving money on things you can save money on,” says Brett Fox, Former CEO at Touchstone Semiconductor, GM at Micrel and EIR at Crosslink Capital. Fox continues his explanation below:

  1. Buy all your office furniture used or get it for free. We got our first set of 20 cubicles for $500. The next set we got for free. They didn’t match, but who cares.
  2. Buy all your test equipment used. We bought everything in our lab second hand. The equipment was perfectly fine, and we saved a bundle of money.
  3. Fly coach. This is an obvious one, but I’m still surprised at how many people don’t do this.

There are many more you can do, but setting the tone of frugality is contagious. The rest of the automatically starts thinking of ways to save money when you lead by example.

On the flip side, spend money where you need to spend the money. Each situation is different, so we spent on:

  1. Hiring the best engineers we could. High quality engineers in our industry (high performance analog ICs) are a scarce commodity. We spent what we needed to spend in order to hire A players.
  2. Having the appropriate software and tools for the engineers. Releasing a hardware product costs a reasonable amount of money, so the more first-time successes the better. We never scrimped on the verification tools our engineers needed.
  3. Healthcare. We wanted our benefits to match up with our larger competitors. This was a big selling point for new employees.
  4. Marketing. Our business model was predicated on having 1000’s of customers buying from us, so we spent what we needed to spend. At the same time, we negotiated great deals with the various trade publications in our industry.”

See the entire article on Inc’s website by clicking the link below:

Inc Magazine Article: 3 Things a Small Business Should Never Spend Money On

First Friday Concert Downtown to Feature Mark Humphries and the Easy Kind

2016-0805_MarkHumphries

From the City of Florence:

Happy Friday Florence! It’s not just Friday, it’s FIRST FRIDAY!

Join us downtown this evening from 6-10 pm in the James Allen Plaza with the sounds of Mark Humphries and the Easy Kind!

Hope to see you there!

For more information, visit:

Florence Downtown Website

Second Aldi Store Opens in Florence

aldi

(image courtesy: Aldi.com)

A second Aldi store opened its doors to the public on Thursday, near the intersection of David McLeod Blvd. and N. Beltline Drive.

The 17,000 square foot grocery store stays in line with the grocer’s national commitment to cost-saving measures that the company says, “offer incredibly high quality at impossibly low prices.”

You can read more about the grand opening and the newest Aldi location in the following story from the Morning News:

SCnow.com web article- Second Aldi Store Opens in Florence

Ribbon Cut on Luther F. Carter Health Sciences Facility

            

(Images courtesy: City of Florence Facebook page)

City officials, FMU representatives and local leaders gathered Thursday morning for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Luther F. Carter Health Sciences Facility in downtown Florence.

The more than 50,000 square foot facility will house the advanced medical education programs at Francis Marion University and third and fourth year medical students who will be finishing their education in the Pee Dee.

You can read more about the ribbon cutting ceremony by clicking the link below:

SCnow.com web article- Ribbon Cutting Coverage

You can view the entire album from this morning’s ribbon cutting by clicking on the following link:

City of Florence Facebook Album: Health Sciences Facility Ribbon Cutting

 

Junior Leadership Florence County Welcomes 2016-2017 Class

(2016-2017 Junior Leadership Florence County Class)

This year’s class of Junior Leadership Florence County met for the first time this week.

The leadership program enables high school students from public and private schools across the county, to come together to get an inside look at the business and government communities in Florence.

Please stay tuned for updates on this exciting program that is presented by Clemson Extension, the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and Francis Marion University.

 

We can’t wait to see what unfolds this year!

For a look at the entire album from the orientation session, click on the link below:

Junior Leadership Florence County Facebook Page

Florence Civic Center to Host National Horseshoe Event in 2018

(image: National Horseshoe Pitcher’s Association recent tournament in Alabama, courtesy: National Horseshoe Pitcher’s Association FB Page)

From the Morning News:

“FLORENCE, S.C. – In July of 2018, thousands of professional horseshoe players and enthusiasts from across the world will converge at the Florence Civic Center for the National Horseshoe Pitching World Tournament.

The tournament is a two-week event and is expected to draw more than 1,200 participants from all 50 states, Canada and several other countries. It is scheduled for July 9 to July 21 of 2018.

Civic Center General Manager Kendall Wall said an event of this magnitude is good for the entire region, and it will move Florence toward becoming a destination rather than just a stop on I-95.”

Read the entire article by clicking on the link below:

SCnow.com web article- Horseshoe Event Coming to Florence

Rainwater Building preserves history, brings jobs downtown: SCnow.com Web Video

RainwaterBuilding

Rainwater Building

(image courtesy: macrostiehistoric.com)

From the Morning News:

“FLORENCE, S.C. – The Rainwater Building serves as an example of what can happen when private and public partnerships form to revitalize historic properties and bring jobs and further investment to downtown with sister companies EmployReward Solutions and Med-Enroll.”

See interviews with those involved by clicking on the link below:

SCnow.com web video- Rainwater Building

Downtown Florence Apartments to Welcome Residents in Next Two Months

emerson

Rendering of completed Emerson Apartment Building

(Image courtesy: apartments.com)

From the Morning News:

“Florence’s Emerson Apartments expected to get first residents soon.

In about two more months, downtown will bustle anew. The first phase of The Emerson apartment complex is expected to welcome residents.

The 83 units are wrapped around a four-story parking garage in the heart of downtown.”

See more about the apartments’ opening by clicking on the link below from SCnow.com:

SCnow.com web article- Emerson Apartments