Florence Chamber’s Leadership 2018 graduates

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The Florence Chamber’s Leadership Florence 2018 graduation ceremony took place at 6 p.m. on May 29th at the Floyd Conference Center on the campus of Carolinas Hospital System.
Leadership Florence is a comprehensive nine-month program designed to identify, cultivate and motivate new leadership for the Greater Florence area.
Participants increased their knowledge of the Greater Florence area, and enhanced their involvement in community activities while further developing their leadership skills. The nine-month program (one day a month from September through May) provides an in-depth look at private enterprise, government agencies, organizations, and individuals that make decisions affecting our county every day.
Individuals benefit from the Leadership Florence program in several ways, including: a comprehensive understanding of important community issues and organizations, a chance to meet with community leaders, increased leadership abilities, building a diverse network of informed colleagues and expanding contacts.
The 30-member graduating class held a Great Gatsby Gala earlier this month to raise money for local charities, including Lighthouse Ministries, All4Autism and House of Hope. At the graduation each of these non-profits was presented a check for $4,000. The Chambers Jr. Leadership Florence program, which consists of local high school sophomores and juniors and mirrors the Leadership Florence model, also received a check for $1,000.
The graduation speaker was Carl Humphries, CEO of Hope Health.
Leadership Florence Class of 2018: Aaron Robinson, Honda of South Carolina Mfg., Inc., Ali Parker, ADP, Andrea Kiester, Duke Energy, Angela K. Jacobs, Florence School District One, Barbara Merrill, Health Facilities Federal Credit Union, Brianna Dennis, Francis Marion University, Chad Collins, Florence County Sheriff’s Office, Crystal Stroud, My Realtor Group, David McBride, Florence-Darlington Technical College, David Boulware, First Reliance Bank, Hannah E. Parker, OTIS Elevator Company, Henry Duffee, Nationwide Insurance – The Hoylen Agency, Jane Comfort, Morning News, Jerry Dudley, City of Florence, Jordan Lutz, Carolina Bank, Julie Jebaily, Jebaily Properties, INC., Karen Belissary, New Generations, Kim Culberson, Florence County Economic Development Partnership, Lauren Vause, Junior League of Florence Lauren Kremidas, Edward Jones-Lauren Kremidas, Laurin Burch, Pepsi Cola of Florence LLC, Levi James, Jr, Florence County Emergency Management Department, Patrick Ford, Finklea Law Firm, Sallie Bachman, HopeHealth, Shametra Swaringer, Carolinas Hospital System, Stephen Harding, HillSouth, Todd Hightower, Carolinas Hospital System, Tracie Foster, McLeod Health, Veronica Peoples, Florence County Emergency Management Department, Zach Hearne, Signature Wealth Strategies.

Starbucks plans new location in Florence

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By: Andrew Boardwine, Morning News

FLORENCE, S.C. — Starbucks officials said Wednesday that the company would be expanding its reach in Florence with a new store.

The company, based in Seattle, Washington, now has three locations in Florence: one with a full-service drive-thru at W. Palmetto Street, one inside McLeod Health Hospital and one inside Target at David H. McLeod Boulevard.

Starbucks will expand to the south side of town with a location at Pamplico Highway across the street from Carolinas Hospital. The new store will be a full-service drive-thru.

The coffee shop will be part of a four-store development by the Shopping Center Group. Starbucks will take up a space of 2,274 square feet. According to records, Firehouse Subs will join Starbucks with a 1,738-square-foot spot. Two remaining spaces, one at 5,230 square feet and one at 1,392 square feet, are available for retail.

“Starbucks is always looking for great locations to better meet the needs of our customers,” a Starbucks representative said.

Officials said the new Starbucks plans to open this winter.

On Tuesday, May 29, Starbucks closed more than 8,000 stores across the nation, including the one on West Palmetto Street, in an effort to train employees and reflect on the realities of bias in society.

The decision was made after an incident in which a Starbucks manager in Philadelphia called the police a few minutes after two black men arrived at a store and sat waiting for a friend. When police were called, the men had not yet purchased anything. They were arrested after police arrived at the store.

“May 29 was a day of open and honest conversation starting with our partners,” a Starbucks representative said. “Our decision to close stores for racial bias learning and education was sparked by Philadelphia, so we wanted to engage in race first. Over the next months and years, we will go into different forms of bias by adding more learning sessions on understanding bias, inclusion, use of the third place and leadership among other topics.”

Officials said that Starbucks will be attending a meeting this summer, hosted by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, in an effort to take the next steps toward understanding how to address other forms of bias and how companies can best implement these lessons.

Starbucks offers more than 30 blends and single-origin premium coffees, fresh-brewed coffee, hot and iced espresso beverages, Frappuccino coffee and noncoffee blended beverages, such as Starbucks Refreshers beverages, smoothies and teas.

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Heating and Cooling company expands from Ohio to Florence

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By: Andrew Boardwine, Morning News

FLORENCE, S.C. — Russell Christian, co-owner of Best Service Heating and Cooling Inc., pulled a marble out of his pocket with an inscription on it: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” He said that was the adage his company operates by.

Best Service Heating and Cooling Inc., at 1838 Habersham Square, Suite E, joined ambassadors from the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon cutting.

Russell, who co-owns the company with his wife, Cookie, said he has operated the business for more than 40 years with a location in Columbus, Ohio. After many accolades, including BBB Accreditation in 2014 and being named a 15-time Super Service Award winner by Angie’s List, the Christians looked to expand their business to South Carolina.

“We were looking to increase our footprint and extend our summer,” Russell said. “We were looking for a place that had a good, long summer and we looked all through South Carolina. Every time we came back to Florence, we just felt at home.”

His wife echoed his sentiments.

“Everybody’s been so friendly and welcoming,” Cookie Christian said. “We’re not used to that being, from Ohio, and we just really like it here. Everything is so close and we really like the accessibility.”

Leon Holden was named the operations manager for the Florence location. Russell said he believes that Leon has the knowledge and skill to perform the job effectively.

Best Services Heating and Cooling Inc. provides an array of services, including furnace and air condition repair, installation, heat pump repair, duct cleaning, and more.

“What we bring to the table is that we live what we say,” Russell said. “We’re a Christian-based company and we look to truly serve the community. Once you use our company, you’ll see that we really mean what we say.”

Russell said joining the chamber was also a way for the company to become involved in the Florence community.

“We like living and being a part of the community,” Russell said. “We all deal with big ‘no face’ companies from time to time. What we are big on is doing one-on-one business where we get to talk to people, show them our product and explain to them how they can make their products last longer. Our theory is that if we show customers how to save money, they will come to us when they need us. I don’t want the quick service; we want the long-term customer.”

For more information about Best Service Heating and Cooling, contact 843-314-2378 or visit its website at bestservicehvac.com.

Leadership Florence knits bonds

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FLORENCE, S.C. – Leadership Florence celebrated the program’s 30 graduates with a ceremony on Tuesday evening at the Floyd Conference Center.

The nine-month leadership program helps build relationships among class members as well as connect participants to other leaders in the community, said Les Echols, director of community and minority enterprise at the chamber.

Stephen Harding, Leadership Florence graduate and HillSouth employee, said he has lived in Florence for 30 years, but Leadership Florence exposed him to many new individuals and opportunities in the community.

“It introduced me to so many new things that we have right here in our backyard that I just couldn’t believe I was blind to for that amount of time,” Harding said.

Each month of the program has a different theme such as health care or government.

Barbara Merrill, Leadership Florence graduate and Health Facilities Credit Union employee, said that for her Ride a Mile in my Shoes was the program’s most meaningful session. During the event, Leadership Florence participants rode public transportation. Merrill said she observed passengers who were riding a bus to stay warm or did not know if they had enough money for their next ride.

“We take for granted transportation, food that we know we’re going to eat, and they’ve got to figure out how they are going to get from point A to point B,” Merrill said.

Merrill and other graduates said that because of Leadership Florence they feel more aware of their community’s needs and empowered to invest in their community.

This year’s Leadership Florence class held a Great Gatsby-themed ball earlier this month to raise money for several local organizations.

During the Leadership Florence graduation, class officers made check presentations to House of Hope, Lighthouse Ministries, All 4 Autism and Junior Leadership Florence County.

Lauren Vause, Leadership Florence graduate and Junior League of Florence member, received the Outstanding Participant Award from this year’s Leadership Florence class. Each year, class members vote on who they think should receive the award.

To date, more than 1,000 people have completed the Leadership Florence program. Mike Miller, chamber president, said participants usually begin the program with hesitancy but end with lasting professional relationships.

Carl Humphries, CEO of HopeHealth, was the graduation speaker. Humphries participated in Leadership Florence during the 2002-03 program. He attributed much of the expansion of HopeHealth to the relationships he made through Leadership Florence.

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Open house brings hundreds to downtown Florence

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By: Andrew Boardwine, Moring News

FLORENCE, S.C. — Hundreds of Pee Dee residents visited downtown Florence Thursday evening to “shop, dine and unwind.”

In partnership with the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and many downtown businesses, the Downtown Development Corporation hosted a “Downtown Open House” that gave residents a chance to see the changes and progress in the downtown area.

Bob Sager, retail recruitment specialist with the Florence Downtown Development Corporation, said the event was a way to bring awareness of what’s going on downtown.

“We had an event similar to this a couple of years ago and it went really well,” Sager said. “We decided it was time to do it again. Back then, we had a lot of businesses opening and, since, we’ve had a lot more open. I think it’s a good thing for everybody.”

Each attendee of the event arrived at the chamber and was given a “passport” to take to each participating location. At the locations, they had their passport stamped and checked out what each store had to offer. After completing their passport, participants returned them to any restaurant to be entered to win $250 cash.

The first 100 attendees received a free Downton Florence tote bag filled with items from downtown shops and restaurants. Several attendees also won retail gift cards for downtown businesses.

Mike Miller, president of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce, said he expects even greater things to happen downtown in the future.

“It’s important to everybody in the community,” Miller said. “So much happens downtown. Within a week, two weeks, things change. It’s amazing what it’s going to be in six months. Some of these stores are doing quite well and people still don’t know about many of them. Any opportunity to help with the Downtown Development folks, the chamber is right on it as we would with anyone else. We’re celebrating the growth of downtown and we’re nowhere near the end.”

Sager said that he has organized groups with the downtown businesses. Through that, he said, he learned that many people are visiting downtown that haven’t been in years.

Sager said there could be plans in the near future for retail shops to stay open later one night a week.

“There are still a lot of people in Florence that haven’t been downtown,” Sager said. “We want our businesses to say that they’re meeting new customers. Events like these are really a great way to showcase what downtown has to offer. Downtown is a place you can go to shop, dine and unwind.”

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All Saints’ Episcopal Day School Young Ambassadors Club meets with the Florence Chamber

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The Greater Florence Chamber staff had the pleasure of talking to the All Saints’ Episcopal Day School Young Ambassadors Club a few weeks ago. They were a very attentive group of young individuals. Thanks for visiting the Chamber of Commerce and asking so many questions about our county.

Florence’s new soccer, basketball facilities just the start

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FLORENCE, S.C. — When it comes to recreational sports facilities, it’s all about keeping up, and even surpassing, for Florence these days.

That’s why in recent months a new soccer facility and a new basketball gym have opened, and Florence isn’t about to stop there, according to city of Florence recreation division manager Darlene Buchanan.

There is a good deal of open space out where the Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis Center is off of North Cashua Drive, and there are plans to use it for a new track and a baseball and softball complex.

It might not seem all that long ago that Freedom Florence was opened. At that time, it was state of the art, but it’s almost three decades old.

The facility still holds its own hosting baseball and softball tournaments, as well as high school cross country meets, and it had an economic impact of approximately $10 million last year, Buchanan said.

But, “Florence is competing with the Myrtle Beaches, North Myrtle Beaches, Rock Hills and Charlottes and places like that,” Buchanan said. “We have to continue to look at ways to improve our facilities.”

The newest facility to open is the basketball center at the Barnes Street Gym. The basketball center was dedicated in April and named after former Francis Marion University great and Florence native Pearl Moore.

The basketball center, located at 500 Barnes St., is roughly 31,525 square feet in size and includes three full-size basketball courts, an area for concessions and office space for staff.

The center will serve as home to the Florence Youth Basketball League, travel basketball tournaments and the Pee Dee Picklers, a local pickleball team. Buchanan said the local semi-pro basketball team, the Florence Wildcats, also will call the gym home in the future.

The city’s new $7 million soccer complex, off U.S. 76 near I-95, opened in mid-February. It contains 14 soccer fields. Eight are regulation-size fields, two are lighted championship-style fields and four are regulation practice fields.

There’s still work to be done at the facility, Buchanan said. There are plans for about a 6,000-square-foot building that will serve as a concession stand, restrooms, storage, meeting space and office staff that might be assigned to that location.

As far as development on the land at the tennis center, the track is first up, Buchanan said. A year ago, officials had to cap the track program because the athletes-to-coaches ratio was too high. But Buchanan said she thinks a new track facility will help attract more athletes and more volunteers to coach.

“We don’t want to turn any kid away,” she said. “And I think we’ll get a renewed interest from adults wanting to get involved. Everybody likes to be involved in something new.”

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Leadership Florence Alumni and Emerging Leaders Alumni come together for reunion event

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Leadership Florence Alumni and Emerging Leaders Alumni came together for a wonderful reunion event held at the Penthouse of Hotel Florence, SC.

More than 60 Leadership Florence and Emerging Leaders alumni and friends, including South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, came by to enjoy the festivities.

Florence Family Medicine aims for personal touch

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FLORENCE, S.C. — Florence Family Medicine employees joined ambassadors from the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce to hold a ribbon cutting Thursday morning.

Florence Family Medicine, at 315 N. Beltline Drive, Suite E, provides primary care services including sports physicals, sick visits, preventive medicine, routine health maintenance, management of chronic medical illnesses and more.

Ryan Williams, who co-owns the practice with his wife, Sabrina, and is the M.D., said the business opened in March.

“We had been working for larger facilities in the past and we kind of chatted one night and felt like we were called to open a small business and to serve the Florence and Pee Dee community with a private medical practice,” Ryan said.

Sabrina, a nurse, said the two had always joked about opening their own practice.

“All of a sudden it wasn’t a joke anymore,” she said. “We started looking and decided to really do it and here we are. It’s awesome and it certainly doesn’t feel like work.”

The two added Nikhole Mitchell to their staff as a registered nurse.

Ryan said the practice provides more of a personal touch than that of many other doctors’ offices. He said that the staff has prayed with patients and visited them in the hospital and that they seek to provide the highest care possible in every situation.

“Our main objective was to do this for God’s glory,” Ryan said. “We had our church come and dedicate this place. We claimed that He is the owner of the place and that puts things into perspective. It changes how we view patients and how we treat people. If you put God first, all else will fall into place. We strive to do the right thing in caring for people and we strive to be accessible to our patients.”

Sabrina said that the actions of the business speak louder than its words.

“We don’t push our faith on anyone, but we know that how we act and how we care about people, they will see Jesus in us,” Sabrina said. “In us caring about them, people see the difference.”

Sabrina said one way that the practice cares for its patients is by having shorter wait times.

“People are tired of waiting for their doctor,” Sabrina said. “They complain about having to wait two to three hours and still not being seen when they go back in the room. We will always strive to get our patients back and have them seen by the doctor in a quick time.”

Florence Family Medicine serves all ages and works with all the major insurance companies. The business plans to be full-service, meaning that it can admit patients into the hospital if necessary.

The practice is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and is closed from noon to 1 p.m. each day. For more information, visit florencefamilymed.com, follow the practice on Facebook or call 843-407-8192.

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Olanta, Hartsville banks announce merger

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OLANTA, S.C. — Citizens Bancshares Corporation, the holding company of The Citizens Bank, and Regional Bankshares, Inc., the holding company of Heritage Community Bank, jointly announced Friday the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which Citizens has agreed to acquire Regional in a cash and stock transaction with a total current value of approximately $11.3 million, based on an assumed Citizens’ stock value of approximately $30 per share as of May 17.

The combined company would have had approximately $550 million in total assets, $476 million in total deposits, and $356 million in total loans.

The transaction will create a 19-office banking company with locations in the eastern part of South Carolina.

The merger agreement has been approved by the board of directors of each company. Closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur near the end of the third quarter of 2018, is subject to regulatory approval and approval by the shareholders of Regional.

Gosnold G. Segars, Chairman of Regional’s Board of Directors is expected to join the Citizens Board of Directors. Other current Regional Board members will have the opportunity to serve as members of The Citizens Bank’s Hartsville Advisory Board.

Additionally, Curtis A. Tyner, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Regional, will serve the combined company in a consulting role for a three-year period following the completion of the acquisition.

“Our customers will continue to receive the same high quality level of service from the bankers that have served them at Heritage Community Bank. With Citizens, we have found a shared passion for our work with local businesses and professionals. This focus will continue and we are looking forward to the additional capacity that this combination of banks will bring to our customers,” Tyner said.

“Heritage Community Bank is the ideal partner for The Citizens Bank. Our banking philosophies are very similar and we have many operational similarities as well. This transaction will strengthen our ability to serve our local markets, consumers and businesses that make Heritage Community Bank and The Citizens Bank successful. I look forward to our future together as a combined institution and the substantial impact our bank will have on the communities that we serve. We welcome Heritage Community Bank customers and employees to The Citizens Bank family,” said Blake Gibbons, president of The Citizens Bank.