Small Business Development Center Hosts Resilience and Resurgence Tour

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The SC Small Business Development Center contracted with Dr. Joey Von Nessen to conduct a statewide survey of small businesses to identify the ongoing impact of COVID-19 including current and emerging challenges they face. Not only long-term impact of shutdowns and loss of clients, but also supply chain disruptions, difficulties hiring and retaining employees, inflation and other factors are hurting their revenues and resiliency to stay afloat.

The study explains the largest concerns of business owners and what assistance they need to sustain and grow their enterprises.

This in-person session will be held on Tuesday, April 4 from 8:30 – 10:00 AM at Florence Darlington Tech’s Health Science Building (320 W Cheves St. Room 168).  The fee to attend is $10 per person.  This session will describe the results, share the key needs of small and mid-sized businesses and the hear directly from business owners on how we can help them overcome these challenges and succeed.

To register, click here.

Jarrod Tippins Named As The 2023 Small Business Person Of The Year

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Jarrod Tippins, founder of The Pharmacy on Hoffmeyer Road, was named the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year on Wednesday, March 22nd.

The president and CEO of Dedicated Community Bank, Jim Ivey, announced the award at the Chamber of Commerce Outlook Luncheon, which took place at the Florence Center. He said the Lake City native not only operates an essential business, one that became even more important and busy during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also supports the community in a number of ways.

“He’s done a lot with that business, The Pharmacy, that he started, and is just an overall superb community supporter in all kinds of corners,” said Michael Miller, president of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce. “Whether it’s education or anything else, somehow, some way he is involved in it.”

According to Ivey’s introduction, Tippins serves on a number of boards throughout the county, such as the McLeod Health Foundation Board of Trustees, the Florence County Disabilities Foundation Board of Directors and the Lake City Community Theater Board of Directors, among others.

To read the full story, click here.

Michael Hemingway Announced As The 2023 Public Servant Of The Year

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Michael Hemingway, City of Florence Economic Development and Utility Planning Director, was named the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce Public Servant of the Year at a luncheon on Wednesday.

Francis Marion University President Fred Carter announced the award at the Chamber of Commerce Outlook Luncheon, which took place at the Florence Center. He said that although Hemingway is vital to the health of the city, he maintains a humble and sensible mentality.

Current and former mayors and council members describe him as being an initiative problem solver with a strong understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong,” Carter said. “He is, pure and simple, one of the major reasons this community works as well as it does.”

Hemingway, who has worked at the city of Florence for over 20 years, quickly spread the accomplishment to those who work for him. After the luncheon, he said he would never have been recognized if not for his co-workers.

To read the full story, click here.

Barbara Melvin Addresses Crowd At Chamber’s Outlook Luncheon

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While many US ports struggled with supply chain problems during the COVID-19 pandemic South Carolina ports — specifically the Port of Charleston — seized the opportunity to improve.

The Port of Charleston jumped from the ninth to the eighth largest port in the country and knocked the Port of Oakland down one in doing so, said Barbara Melvin, president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority.

Eighty percent of the nation’s imports come in through the nation’s top 10 ports.

Melvin was the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce’s Outlook Luncheon keynote speaker Wednesday, March 22nd as 500 area business and community leaders attended the event.

“During the pandemic it was pretty obvious to everybody that things weren’t working well in the supply chain,” Melvin said. “We take great care making sure that we remained productive and while other ports struggled close to two years to get rid of the congestion we did it in five months and we did it because we partnered with everyone up and down the supply chain, selflessly, to make sure you got the goods you needed.”

“We all heard about the West Coast ports and we all saw that picture that looked like the Normandy invasion off the West Coast while there were more than 100 ships off shore waiting to be worked,” she said.

Many shippers transited the Panama Canal to the Gulf Coast and East Coast ports to avoid that congestion.

“Charleston grew the third fastest (of U.S. ports) during the last 10 years,” Melvin said. Only Houston and Savannah grew more.

“Our goal is to grow two times the national port market growth rate. We feel the Southeast affords us the opportunity.”

The pandemic fueled some of that growth.

To read the full story, click here.

Building Bridges Summit Held March 20th

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The Florence Chamber held its 2023 Building Bridges Summit on Monday, March 20th at The Florence Center. More than 100 local community participants were welcomed by Florence City Mayor Teresa Myers-Ervin, Les Echols from the Florence Chamber and representatives from Assurant.

Several speakers addressed the day-long gathering, including Dr. Louis Venters from Francis Marion University and keynote speaker Mike Young, Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for the Center for Community Health Alignment and PASOs at the University of South Carolina.

Later, during the program’s women in leadership panel, Brenda Perez, Hannah Davis, Adrian Peguese Carter and Doris Lockhart also share best practices.

The mission of Building Bridges is to enable our community to address diverse issues through a process of changing attitudes & hearts through education and issue awareness.

The Florence Chamber program was sponsored by Assurant, HopeHealth, Spherion and iHeart Media.

To see more photos, from the day click here.

Downtown Florence Wins Great American Main Street Award

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On Monday, March 27th in Boston, with over 1,000 nationwide peers in attendance, the Downtown Florence Main Street Program was honored with Main Street America’s Great American Main Street Award. This achievement is a once in a lifetime recognition, as a community can win this award only once.

This award represents the boundless investment, hard work, tenacity, and vision from local investors and partners, small business owners, government officials and leaders, event and program attendees, residents, and our statewide Main Street network over the last twenty years, and especially over the last decade. Once described as too far gone to be saved, Downtown Florence has become the place to be, to live, and to do business in our region, and we aren’t done yet. Continue to follow along with our Downtown team at Downtown Florence or on the downtown website, www.florencedowntown.com

135 Seafood Bar and Grill Celebrates Grand Opening With A Ribbon Cutting

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The 135 Seafood Bar and Grill celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting along with the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and its Ambassadors.

135 specializes in Cajun and New Orleans style food along with other various menu items such as Gator bites, Etouffee Du Jour, fish, and pasta dishes. 135 has a full complement bar as well.

They will soon be opening a rooftop bar at the location. Plans are for it to be open in April of this year.

The spokesperson for the restaurant expressed, “If you are in the downtown area and would like a good meal and refreshments, 135 Seafood Bar and Grill is the place to be.” Their tag line is, Let The Good Times Roll! We are a Southern seafood restaurant with a Cajun twist! We are located in historic downtown Florence, South Carolina and specialize in Nawlin’s inspired cuisine that will put a smile on your face and a spring in your step!

Come see us today and join the party!

The restaurant is located at 135 N. Dargan St. and is open Wednesday & Thursday 11-10, Friday & Saturday 11-11 and Sunday 11-7. The kitchen closes one hour before closing time each day.

So, for a great dinner and or drinks 135 Seafood Bar and Grill is a great place for couples, families, and friends to have a Nawlin’s style meal.

Fellows In Education Visit Royall Elementary

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The 2022-2023 Fellows in Education class enjoyed a visit to Royall Elementary March 14th. Mrs. Julie Smith, Principle, spent time sharing the students & staff accomplishments along with the numerous school awards, including Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Lighthouse School in 2022. The classroom visits were wonderful.

The Fellows in Education Program is designed to improve education for students by involving local leaders in the atmosphere and experiences that our students share each day. The program seeks to create a community of leaders that can share firsthand knowledge and help collaborate with policymakers and the community on the educational concerns of the future.

Fellows In Education is A Joint program between Florence School District One, The School Foundation and The Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.

Pee Dee Regional Transit Authority Expanding To Job Centers

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The Pee Dee Regional Transit Authority is already the third largest of its type in the United States and will soon expand to cover more job hubs.

New routes are planned to start at staggered dates over the coming months for SC 327 Pee Dee Electric Business and Commerce Center, Dillon County, Timmonsville, and Lake City, Executive Director Don Strickland told Florence City Council members at Monday’s meeting.

“As we know from economic development, workforce development, getting people and jobs together is a huge issue,” said Mayor Pro Tem George Jebaily. “We have a lot of people who are looking for quality work where they will make a good income, and then we have a lot of jobs that are out there that are in need of people.”

Of the 355,000 trips made this year using the transit system, around 44 percent were riding for work and 81 percent did not have access to a car, according to Strickland’s presentation. The authority has seen a 12 percent growth in riders since the same time last year.

To read the full story, click here.

Raines Acquires HP Hotels

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Raines, a fully integrated hotel development, management, and investment company located in Florence, has acquired HP Hotels, a full-service, third-party hotel management company, resulting in operational expansion throughout the southeast and southwestern United States. The financial terms of the transaction are not being publicly disclosed.

“Assets alone will not get Raines to where it needs to be as a company,” said Grey Raines, managing partner of Raines. “In addition to acquiring third-party management contracts, Raines is adding experienced principals, trusted partnerships, and operations, sales and marketing, and human resources teams to its arsenal of experienced hospitality professionals. By selecting, developing, and empowering talent diligently, we are positioning ourselves to better achieve our company goals and deliver to our stakeholders.”

“This acquisition is more than just adding assets to our portfolio,” said David Tart, managing partner of Raines.

The acquisition expands Raines’ footprint geographically beyond the Southeast, adding properties in the Southwest, including Texas and Oklahoma. As a result of the partnership, Raines adds not only its first IHG properties but also its first independent assets. The addition of HP’s independent and soft-branded properties will grow Woven by Raines, a specialized division of the company providing a unique development and management approach to boutique hotels, to a portfolio of eight hotels.

To read the full story, click here.