Interested in learning more about the Florence Police Department?
Join the Citizens Police Academy starting April 16th! Classes run every Tuesday night for 6 weeks from 6pm-8pm.
Topics include Officer Development, Criminal Law, K-9 tactics, Traffic Enforcement, and Much More!
To sign up, contact Lt. Barley at bbarley@cityofforence.com or call 843-665-4008. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to get an inside look at law enforcement!
Last week, the South Carolina Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) made no changes to the General Fund revenue forecasts for FY2023-24 and FY2024-25 which were last updated in November 2023. The BEA noted that while tax collections (including sales, corporate income, and individual income taxes) are running ahead of projected levels they are not doing so at rates high enough to warrant revenue forecast revisions. As a result, the BEA “…determined that a cautious approach was warranted in waiting to have more information…” before making any changes to the FY2023-24 or FY2024-25 revenue forecasts.
For FY2023-24, the BEA estimates General Fund revenues of $12.89 billion, leaving state budget writers with a one-time surplus of $448.1 million. Combined with the prior year’s surplus and the FY2023-24 Capital Reserve Fund, lawmakers will have $896.1 million in one-time funds available to appropriate for non-recurring purposes. For FY2024-25, the BEA estimates General Fund revenues of $13.21 billion, meaning that budget writers will likely have $673.1 million in new recurring revenues to appropriate during this year’s budget process. More information on the BEA’s forecast can be found here.
For more information, click here.
Sonoco of Hartsville is celebrating 125 years in business last week.
Sonoco started in 1899 as a small and humble company in a rented warehouse and has now more than 300 operations in 33 counties and employs more than 23,000 people.
The company’s products and services include consumer packaging, protective packaging, healthcare packaging and industrial services.
The company’s CEO and President Howard Coker has been with Sonoco for 38 years and said they serve some of the world’s best-known brands in consumer, industrial and other markets.
To read the full story, click here.
6 bands confirmed with only ONE spot left for one more band! Looking forward to seeing Cross Keys HS Tribe Of Funk Marching Band, Mullins High School Band Program, Columbia High School Band Program – Huntsville, Al, Cross High School Trojans, Wilson High School Marching Tiger Pride Band and Woodland High School Marching Wolverines!! With a very special celebrity guest appearance to be announced very soon! Get your tickets now!
South Carolina is home to thousands of manufacturers creating products used daily throughout the world. And the Pee Dee Region is no stranger to some of the coolest things made in South Carolina. The South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance is holding a contest to determine the coolest product produced. You can nominate your favorite business/product and it could end up winning the title of the Coolest Thing Made in South Carolina!
Nominations for the 2024 contest are now open. Submit your favorite South Carolina-made products through Thursday, February 22, then return here on Monday, February 26 to cast your vote for your favorite products!
For more information, click here.
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
For more information, click here.
The keynote speaker for the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce annual Outlook Luncheon on Wednesday, March 20, will be Howard Coker, President, and CEO of Sonoco in Hartsville, SC. Mr. Coker’s role at Sonoco has global leadership, sales and operating responsibility for all of the Company’s diversified consumer, industrial and protective packaging businesses.
We expect to hear Mr. Coker talk about the growth of his company, product innovation and the general economic outlook here in South Carolina, along with some conversation about international business.
The program will include the announcement of the Small Business Person of the Year, which is sponsored by Dedicated Community Bank, and the Public Servant of the Year, which is sponsored by Francis Marion University.
The Chamber’s Ambassador of the Year will also be recognized.
The luncheon will be held at the Florence Center with doors opening at 11:30am and the program to begin at 12 noon. Individual registration is $40 for members and $50 for non-members. Special reserved tables of 8 are available at $475.
To register online, click here.
Melissa Adams, Owner of Adams Arms Homecare, was the Chamber’s radio guest on ChamberLink Radio this past weekend.
You can catch the conversation each Sunday from 12:00 – 12:30 pm on LIVE 95.3FM in Florence, SC.
This radio program is brought to you by the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
The 2024 Building Bridges Leadership and Diversity Summit takes place on Monday, March 18th from 9:00 am-3:00 pm. The event will be held at the Florence Center and will feature multiple breakout sessions.
More information will be coming soon! To register online, click here.
You can’t succeed and thrive for 35 years and multiple generations without learning to pivot and adapt to change, and Raines has certainly done that. But for the longtime hospitality company, there has been one constant, and that is putting people first.
It’s that philosophy that has been a core tenet of the integrated Florence, South Carolina-based development, management, and investment company and has helped it steadily expand its portfolio of Southeastern properties. Grey Raines, managing partner, Raines—who is the son of founder Mark Raines and first joined the company in 2003 as general manager of the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Florence—acknowledged some of the changes that have occurred. “It’s been an evolution from where we started in hospitality to where we are now. We started with one hotel in Florence and grew to some 40-plus hotels spread throughout the Southeast. It’s really kind of a crazy adventure that we’ve been on with a lot of rapid growth,” he said.
To read the full story, click here.
