Congratulations to the graduates of the 2016 Leadership Florence class!
The fine group of leaders raised more than $26,000 for local charities including Help4Kids and the CARE House of the Pee Dee.
You can see even more pictures from Tuesday evening’s graduation ceremony by following the link below:
SCnow.com Media Gallery- 2016 Leadership Florence Graduation
(images courtesy: SCnow.com/Morning News)
(image courtesy: Getty images, CNBC.com)
Purchases of small businesses are among their highest levels since 2007.
Experts say it’s still a buyer’s market, but it’s starting to shift and even out.
Median revenue of sold businesses on BizBuySell (an industry website that tracks small business purchases) in 2015 grew to $449,462, up from $417,562 in 2014, while the median sales price also increased 7.6 percent to $199,000.
Whether becoming a first-time business owner or acquiring a business to expand your current company, ask the following questions before signing on the dotted line:
CNBC web article: 7 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Business
Congratulations to the current Leadership Florence class of students who will graduate on Tuesday evening! Collectively, the group raised more than $26,000 for local charities.
During Tuesday night’s graduation, the group’s leaders will present checks to The Care House of the Pee Dee and Help 4 Kids, and money will also go toward funding scholarships for future Leadership Florence and Junior Leadership programs.
2015/2016 Leadership Florence Class:
Read the full article on the group’s efforts by following the link to the story below from the Morning News:
The Florence Chamber is currently seeking applicants for a unique and innovative leadership program. The Emerging Leaders Summer Institute is a program designed to generate professional training and development, mentorship, community engagement and recruitment opportunities. The purpose is to identify, develop and empower “Emerging Leaders,” specifically minorities, small business owners and innovative professionals poised to move into the next level of community and business leadership.
PROGRAM STRATEGIES:
PROGRAM DATES:
Sessions will last from 8 am – 1 pm. Breakfast and Lunch will be provided.
Location: TBA
Chamber offices
OTIS, SiMT and Morning News
North Dargan Innovation Center and several local businesses
City Center, Floyd Conference Center at Carolinas Hospital and area Parks & Recreation Sites
PROGRAM COST/SPONSORSHIP:
Cost includes food and program materials. While many candidates are sponsored by their employer, a limited number of partial scholarships are available.
Non-profit rate: $200
Small/Minority Business rate: $250
Corporate rate: $500
For more information, contact: Les Echols, Director of Community & Minority Enterprise, Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce. (843) 665-0515. Applications and further information available online by following the link below:
If you have big ideas for the long Memorial Day weekend, you might want to take a look at the potential impact of tropical weather on the forecast.
According to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski. “We expect the system to track slowly toward the northwest through the weekend and end up near the South Carolina or North Carolina coast sometime on Sunday,”
“Beach, fishing and cruise interests along the mid-Atlantic and southern Atlantic Seaboard may want to monitor the track and strength of the system into next week.
The system is in the very early stages of development. The system could become a depression at any time.
At this time, the biggest threats will be to bathers and boaters in the region.
The latter part of this week and first part of the holiday weekend will bring the best weather for bathing, sunning and boating along the southeastern U.S. Atlantic beaches,” the AccuWeather article stated.
Click on the link below to find out how downpours could affect your weekend travel plans:
AccuWeather web article on tropical forecast impact on Memorial Day Weekend
(image courtesy: FDTC Facebook)
From the Morning News:
“The Darla Moore Foundation announced a $5 million gift to the Florence-Darlington Technical College Educational Foundation during a ceremony Thursday morning at the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology Center.
The creation of a culinary and hospitality program at FDTC’s Lake City site is the primary focus of the gift, but portions of it will be used for other areas for the college.
Darla Moore Foundation President and CEO Marion Fowler said FDTC has played a vital role in providing educational opportunities to students in the Pee Dee for over 50 years.
“The magnitude of this gift demonstrates our foundation’s recognition of the important role that Florence-Darlington Technical College has played in the economic development of Lake City, Florence, Florence County and the Pee Dee,” Fowler said. “Not only does Florence-Darlington Tech help provide basic job training, it is also on the cutting edge.”
To read the full article, follow the link below:
Have plans for the weekend? Want to know what to plan for in the week ahead?
Take a look at the Florence Downtown Development Association’s Weekly Newsletter for information on the featured band for this week’s Florence After Five concert, find out what’s going on at the FMU Performing Arts Center and much more!
Just click on the link below for more details:
Interested in the Young Professionals of Florence group? Then make plans to join us on Thursday, June 2nd from 5:30-7 pm at the offices of the Florence Chamber for a very exciting announcement and the opportunity to check out the Chamber’s downtown space!
Enter the Chamber’s front door at the corner of Dargan and W. Evans and then make your way to the Community Room in the back for a larger space to network together. (Don’t worry, there will be plenty of people to guide you!)
For more information on how you can sign up to take part, visit the event’s Facebook page by following the link below:
Young Professionals of Florence/ Florence Chamber Event FB Page
Want to spend more time going after new business and less time struggling with invoices, bills and receipts?? Well, there’s good news for small business owners like you, thanks to an ever-growing suite of cloud-based accounting tools.
What, exactly, is the cloud? Cloud-based software, or software as a service (SaaS,) offers users access to technology on a subscription basis. The software provider securely hosts all necessary databases and servers, and small-business owners access their data anytime, anywhere via internet connection.
Click below to find out more in this article from Entrepreneur magazine:
