Young Professionals of Florence had the best time at their Christmas event on Thursday, December 21st from 5:30 – 7:30 PM at Cru Wine & Tap! While they got together, they also took up donations for Lighthouse Ministries.
To view photos from the event, click here.
Members of the Chi Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. along with Chamber Ambassadors cut their ribbon, on Wednesday, December 20th, thus joining the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi’s stated purpose has been “to attract and build a strong and effective force of Handsome men dedicated to its Cardinal Principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and “uplift”. Throughout the world, many notable members are recognized as leaders in the arts, academics, athletics, entertainment, business, civil rights, education, government, and science fields.
With “Uplift ” being one of their cardinal guiding principles, the Chi Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. through its partnership with their supporting foundation “Magic City Ques Foundation” work all year to give back through their scholarship fund, winter coat giveaway, school book bag and school supplies giveaway as well as other community programs and initiatives such as delivering prepared Thanksgiving dinners to several families in around the Florence area. It is through the generosity from local businesses, community organizations and community members they can put smiles on the faces of area children and families.
To read the full story, click here.
On January 6, the Florence Center will be celebrating excellence as a new class is inducted into the Florence Athletic Hall of Fame.
Join them for a social at 5:00 PM, followed by the prestigious banquet at 6:00 PM. Let’s honor greatness together!
Kristine Galemmo, Principal at St. Anthony’s School in Florence, was on ChamberLink Radio on December 24th to discuss efforts the school’s mission which is rooted by four pillars – Faith, Family, Knowledge, and Service. St. Anthony offers a Christ-centered learning environment with 11 full time homeroom teachers in grades 3K-8th.
You can catch the conversations on ChamberLink Radio each Sunday from 12:00-12:30pm on LIVE 95.3FM in Florence, SC.
ChamberLink Radio is brought to you by the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and The UPS Stores.
According to data released last week from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW), South Carolina’s workforce continues to show growth. The number of individuals working increased by 5,000 from October 2023 levels, bringing the total number of South Carolinians employed up to 2,398,350. This marks a 104,000-person increase over November 2022 levels. Additionally, the state’s labor force, people working plus unemployed people looking for work, grew by 6,609 people from October 2023 levels while the labor force participation rate held steady at 57 percent.
According to SCDEW’s Executive Director William Floyd, while the state unemployment rate experienced a slight increase from 2.9 to 3.0 percent in November, on a month-to-month basis, people are continuing to join the workforce as pay rates have remained competitive with an average hourly wage of $30.48.
On Tuesday, December 12th, the Florence Chamber’s Leadership Florence class held their Ride A Mile day session.
The Ride A Mile program is a simulated society experience in which participants face real-time life scenarios by those at various economic levels.
A thank you to all partners in the program: Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority, Florence 1 Schools, Lighthouse Ministries, Mercy Medicine, and Francis Marion University.
To view photos from the day, click here.
On December 12th, The Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce organized a luncheon with area business & industry leaders to discuss the Florence Regional and American Airlines flight schedules.
Part of the discussion included ways to improve commercial ridership from area businesses on flights in and out of the FLO airport and how we might improve daily flight frequency to Charlotte Airport (CLT).
Greg Atkins, Airline Consultant & Director at AilevonPacific, addressed the invitation only group of 20-25 business leaders that included representatives from Honda, Assurant, FMU, McLeod, FDTC, CVC, WestRock, GE Healthcare as well as county and state representatives. Mr. Atkins shared airport and flight statistics showing that American Airline flights in and out of FLO represent good performance and comparative or better to all other surround commercial airports when connecting in CLT.
Gregg Robinson, CEO of Florence County Economic Development Partnership shared the importance of growing the FLO airport flight schedules for our future economic development needs.
For more information on the airport discussions, please contact Mike Miller at the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
For the first time in history, Florence 1 Schools exceeded its giving-goal and provided over $50,000 to seven partner organizations. $17,475 to The School Foundation; $8,471 to CEF; $8,383 to the House of Hope of the Pee Dee; $5,431 to Good News Clubs; $4,097 to the UNCF; $3,563 to Habitat for Humanity; $3,288.04 to the United Way of Florence County.
Recent data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife’s Small Business Index (SBI) shows small businesses’ confidence in the economy dropped to 61.3 percent in the 4th quarter (Q4) of 2023, down from a recent high of 69.2 percent in Q3. According to the data, less than 25 percent of small businesses surveyed say the U.S. economy is in good health which is down eight points from Q3.
On the positive front, about two-thirds (64 percent) of small businesses say the health of their business is very or somewhat good. Over two-thirds (67 percent) of small businesses say they are somewhat or very comfortable with their current cash flow.
In South Carolina, the Palmetto Business Barometer measures business conditions and attitudes every month to better understand the conditions South Carolina employers are facing. Similar to the Q4 results of the SBI, the November results of the Palmetto Business Barometer showed that the business average performance rating stayed at 7.1, down from peak levels in late summer/early fall, which shows that confidence in the economy may have slightly dipped. Positively, over two-thirds (68 percent) of businesses surveyed said that their revenues either exceeded or met expectations over the past month which is up from 63 percent in October.
Find the results of the Palmetto Business Barometer here and take the December survey today.
A German manufacturer of magnets used in electric vehicles is set to create 300 new jobs and invest over half a billion dollars.
Sumter will be home to the first U.S. facility for e-VAC Magnetics, which produces rare earth permanent magnets. CEO Erik Eschen and Gov. Henry McMaster made the announcement at a press conference Dec. 13.
The manufacturing plant will be placed on an 85-acre lot at Pocotaligo Industrial Park and is expected to be completed by fall 2025.
The announcement comes after the Department of Defense in September announced plans to expand domestic manufacturing of rare earth permanent magnets. The DOD plans included a $94.1 million award to e-VAC. The magnets, aside from being used in EVs, are used in the creation of military vehicles such as the F-35 plane and unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a DOD press release.
To read the full story, click here.
