Archive for category: Ribbon Cuttings

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.

President Bob Andersen said the new Florence location, at 1448 N. Cashua Drive, rounds out the company’s reach in South Carolina.

“We’re excited to be in the Florence community,” Andersen said. “This is a great location for us and we are excited to be a part of the town. It was a great opportunity for us to enter Florence and it allows us to be able to care of the full state.”

Andersen said that U.S. Auto Sales has a selection of more than 2,000 vehicles and that fresh vehicles will arrive at the Florence location daily.

“We think we have a unique niche, particularly in this market,” Andersen said. “We offer a warranty with every vehicle and it’s part of our core to treat our guests with respect and maintain them as guests so they will want to come back.”

Andersen said joining the chamber was a way for the company to be part of the community.

“I think it’s important to always be a part of the community and to add to the community in both jobs and spirit,” Andersen said. “We want to keep focus on doing the right things in the community for the folks that live here.”

Neill Waters, chief marketing officer for U.S. Auto Sales, added that the chamber offers unique networking opportunities.

“When you’re selling cars, anyone can be a customer,” Waters said. “Being a part of the chamber allows us the opportunity to network, which create greats value to us as a company.”

As part of the festivities, Cowboy’s Famous Ribs & Chicken was on location to provide lunch. Andersen said the grand opening was a way to introduce the new dealership to the community.

“We’re always excited to open a new facility,” Andersen said. “We’re growing and continuing to expand our brand. We know that this location will do well and we’re excited to see what’s next.”

For more information on careers or available vehicles, visit usautosales.info.

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Customers can use the Chick-fil-A One app to order their food and then pick it up at one of the four identified curbside delivery parking spots in the food court parking lot. Sara Black, franchise owner, said this is one of the preparations her store is making to prepare for an influx of customers.

The drive-thru only Chick-fil-A will temporarily close starting April 23 before the freestanding Chick-fil-A outside Magnolia Mall opens later in the summer.

“We’re trying to get the word out to take care of those guests,” Black said. “If they don’t want to get out of the car, we can deliver it to their car. They just use the mobile app.”

The Chick-fil-A app is free to download for Apple and Android devices and is a rewards system. Customers receive treats periodically for using the app.

Black said she enjoys bettering a community. That is one of the reasons she decided to leave the medical field after 15 years of work as a physician assistant and in medical sales.

“I grew up in a family business in Anderson, South Carolina, and just wanted to own my own business and be able to have an impact on lives like I did in medicine but on a longer term basis like helping … people of all ages reach their higher goals and impacting the community,” Black said.

Black became the owner of the Chick-fil-A inside Magnolia Mall during January of 2017.

“I never look at it as that I’m coming to work because when you own your own business, and you’re working for yourself, you just have I think this internal motivation to always want to be more,” Black said. “It’s just to be able to set the tone of the business.”

Black said she wants to serve guests with excellence.

Chick-fil-A employees will now do table delivery and in-mall delivery for guests who use the Chick-fil-A app. Black said this is helpful for mall employees who may have short work breaks.

“We’re just really trying to think outside the box and be convenient,” Black said. “That’s one of our main missions here is to be surprisingly fast and convenient for our guests.”

Black said a goal for her Chick-fil-A is to grow the catering business. The store’s number is 843-665-9259.

“The citizens of Florence County now have a courthouse they can be proud of,” Leatherman said during his speech. “I see great nothing but great things for this county.”

The new building is on Irby Street, across from the Florence County Complex. It opened March 5 after county officials and workers moved in.

The idea for a new judicial center for Florence County was originally Judge Ralph King Anderson’s, according to Porter. Porter added that the new facility is the fourth courthouse in Florence County. The original building was built during the 1890s. That building was replaced during the 1930s, and facility currently in use opened in the 1960s.

The facility built during the 1930s had a major flaw: no air conditioning, which is not a good thing in the oppressive heat and humidity of South Carolina summers.

“They used to just throw the windows in the courtroom open in the summer,” said Porter, who worked as a young lawyer in the facility. “When a big truck went by you had to wait your turn to speak again.”

The facility built during the 1960s had air conditioning but was still not adequate so, Anderson’s idea was eventually embraced by Schofield and current County Administrator K.G. “Rusty” Smith.

“[Schofield] was like a bulldog with a bone,” Council Chairman Kent Caudle said as he introduced Schofield at the ceremony. “He wasn’t going to stop until the job was done. Well, now it’s done.”

Leatherman and Nettles also noted Schofield’s dedication to opening the facility.

Nettles added that he felt the facility represented Florence County’s continued commitment to the rule of law, the idea that laws, not arbitrary decisions, should govern society.

Also given credit during the speeches were designers Stevens and Wilkinson, Goforth and Brown, and Justice Planning Associates, contractor BE&K Building Group, the Judicial Facility Advisory Group of Schofield, Nettles, former Clerk of Court Connie Reel-Shearin, Sheriff Kenny Boone and Suzanne King. Doris O’Hara, the current clerk of court, and Connie Haselden, clerk to the County Council, were also thanked.

The colors were presented by the Wilson High School Air Force JROTC and Jerrod Deas, director of music at Wilson, played the national anthem on his saxophone during the ceremony.