Two of Country Music’s most dynamic performers and multi- platinum selling and award-winning artists, Travis Tritt and Chris Janson, are set to embark on a co-headline tour, the Can’t Miss Tour, and it’s coming to Florence Center on November 4. Joining Tritt and Janson are War Hippies, who will appear as special guests along the tour.
For ticket information, click here.
Newly released state-level Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that nearly 86,000 South Carolinians left their jobs in April to pursue other opportunities, with South Carolina employers adding over 113,000 new workers during that same time period. The total number of individuals that left their jobs is 3.7% of the state’s total workforce. As of May 2022, there were over 112,000 open jobs in the state and only 79,000 unemployed individuals.
While much has been made nationally about the “great resignation” with workers leaving their jobs at staggering rates, recent analysis by the US Chamber of Commerce has pushed back on that notion by highlighting that the national hiring rate (4.4%) has vastly exceeded the national quit rate (2.9%) since 2020 thus seeming to indicate that individuals are choosing to pursue other employment opportunities for a variety of reasons. A more apt description of this phenomenon would appear to be the “great reshuffling” instead of the “great resignation”.
The jobs report released on Friday by the BLS showed that the U.S. added 372,000 jobs in the month of June, exceeding projections by almost 100,000 jobs in a sign that the labor market around the country is still hot.
A ribbon cutting was held on Thursday, June 30th in the James Allen Plaza celebrating the Asiya Jordan Foundation’s joining of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
Cutting the ribbon was Shalanda Waiters, Director of the foundation, which was established in memory of her daughter, Asiya Jordan.
Sixteen-year-old Asiya Jordan died in a car crash on McIver Road in October 2019. Her mother said she was on her way to Florence-Darlington Tech.
She was a junior at Wilson and a varsity cheerleader.
Waiters said her daughter was very community-service oriented and wanted to make a difference in the world.
The foundation gives scholarships to deserving students in memory of Jordan.
To read the full story, click here.
CARE House of the Pee Dee held a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, June 28th celebrating joining the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce. Meg Temple, Executive Director, cut the ribbon and was joined by her staff, friends, and Chamber staff and ambassadors.
CARE House of the Pee Dee is a children’s advocacy center. Its mission is to promote, help, hope and healing in a nurturing environment for child abuse victims.
The center serves Florence, Marion, Dillon and Clarendon counties, Temple said. Started in 2006, CARE House of the Pee Dee is a non-profit, one-stop center for child abuse victims.
It has been in its current location at 1920 Second Loop Road in Florence since 2019.
Temple said the center works along with DSS and law enforcement to help them get what they need in the least intimidating way from a child when investigating child abuse. She said the center provides forensic interviews, forensic medical services, advocacy and evidence-based therapy services.
To read the full story, click here.
The City of Florence received statewide recognition Friday at the Municipal Association of South Carolina annual meeting. The city of Florence was selected in the economic development category for the food, artisan, and warehouse district with the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Award for Economic Development on behalf of the city.. The city partnered with a private investor to establish Sav A Lot, downtown Florence’s first grocery store. The Redbone Alley Sauce plant opened anchoring the east end of the corridor.
The city of Florence constructed a permanent public space to cultivate food entrepreneurs with the creation of the City Center Farmers Market and Commercial Kitchen to spur entrepreneurial growth.
To read the full story, click here.
For over a century, Jones Auto Wrecking Co. Inc. on Darlington Street has been a family-owned business. It has now changed hands. Stewart Jones, a third-generation owner of the auto repair business, is retiring.
On June 24, Jones sold the business to Classic Collision, a multi-shop operation. He said Classic Collision owns about 186 shops.
The company was started by J. W. “Duco” Jones, who opened the auto repair shop in downtown Florence in 1919 on the second floor of a building. Later it moved to Sanborn Street.
To read the full story, click here.
The first South Carolina Soul Fest Food Truck Festival will take place on Saturday, September 10th from 11am until 6pm at SiMT, on the campus of Florence-Darlington Technical College (1951 Pisgah Rd). For more information, contact (843) 468-7489.
The South Carolina General Assembly included a proviso in the FY2022-23 state budget that requires high school seniors to complete a personal finance course as a graduation requirement. In addition to passing the measure, they instructed the S.C. Department of Education to develop regulations for the course as a new graduation requirement by September 30, 2022. Although a few schools throughout the state already required personal finance courses, the majority of the Palmetto state’s schools did not. This new directive is a step up from the state’s economic and financial literacy social studies standards, and it will be the first time a full course for personal finance has been added to the state’s requirements.
According to The Post and Courier newspaper, South Carolina is the 15th state in the country to require a personal finance course. Lawmakers and advocates in South Carolina have long stressed the importance of learning financial responsibility at a young age due to the seriousness of bad financial habits and debt carry. “Good personal finance instruction should teach students about saving, investing, how credit and interest rates work, and about college loans. Students need to be able to evaluate the risk and reward associated with each of their financial decisions,” said Jim Morris, the S.C. Council on Economic Education’s Chief Executive Officer.
For more information, click here.
According to a study compiled by the Tax Foundation, thirteen states joined South Carolina this year in passing tax reform/relief during their respective legislative sessions. Ten states joined South Carolina in passing income tax reductions, with a handful of those states joining South Carolina in modernizing their income tax systems through the collapsing of brackets. As previously noted, S.1087 modernized and simplified South Carolina’s income tax system by collapsing our six existing individual income tax brackets down to three and reduced the top marginal individual income tax rate from 7% to 6.5% effective immediately with a further reduction to 6% over the next five years with triggers to prevent the automatic annual decrease if the state’s general fund revenue does not increase. South Carolina’s legislation also effectively reduced the industrial property tax rate from 9% to 6% by increasing the manufacturing property tax exemption. Due to this reduction, some manufacturers will see annual property tax savings of over $100,000.
Eight states passed corporate income tax reductions this year, although none were located in the Southeast. Ten states joined South Carolina in returning money to taxpayers by passing income tax rebates this session. It is evident that record revenue collections allowed many states to enact tax reform and relief.
For more information, click here.
The Chamber’s Emerging Leaders had their Technology, Innovation and Industry session on Wednesday, July 13th.
The group heard presentations, did informative tours and visited several sites, including: HillSouth, SIMT – Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing & Technology, Vulcraft, Florence County Economic Development and The Manor Senior Living Community.
To view the photos, click here.
