Calendar APRIL 15: Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Developers Council meeting. 8 a.m. at the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. Cost: Free to all Chamber members. Information: Clay Gilbert, cgilbert@charlestonchamber.org.
Accolades & More M. Richard DeVoe, executive director of the Sea Grant Consortium in Charleston, has been named chair of the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association’s board of directors.
People in the News Steve Zambriczki has been promoted to banking officer and credit manager at Community FirstBank. He previously served as loan officer at Household Finance Corp.
Uniting development By Molly Parker One recent afternoon, from the second-story balcony of eLifespaces, Fred Fabian looked out onto his business’s closest neighbors: an old tire store, one modest residential home, an automobile electrician, acres of brownfield and the Norfolk Southern and CSX rail lines. The barren and blue-collar surroundings on either side of upper Meeting and King streets hardly seem fitting for the high-tech home and office electronics located inside of his depot-fashioned building.
S.C. State alumni concerned about legacy of presidential turnover By Scott Miller The average tenure of a university president is 8 1/2 years, which is nearly double that of recent leaders at South Carolina State University. The historically black college is looking to hire its fifth president in 20 years, apparently unable to find the right fit in the last four attempts.
S.C. Supreme Court upholds local smoking bans By Molly Parker In mid-December, an eight-piece eclectic band carried Bert’s Bar into the afterlife while a black casket collected dollar bills for the waitstaff. It was the last night for the blue-collar bar that was a mainstay of Sullivan’s Island for more than two decades. And it was packed, inside and out.
‘The best deal guy in Charleston’ dies at age 63 By Molly Parker Hawthorne Corp., a multimillion-dollar investment firm headquartered in Charleston and dating to the 1930s, will continue under the leadership of Steven Levesque and William Harton following the death of the company’s president and chief executive, Dean Harton. Harton unexpectedly passed away March 19. He was 63.
Hunley holds keys to more than sinking mystery By Scott Miller After surviving 136 years buried in the sand and silt just outside Charleston Harbor, the H.L. Hunley Confederate submarine and all its mysteries rest in the caring hands of Wisconsin native Mike Drews.
Contractors benefit from minority-business certification By Molly Parker Up to about a year ago, business was good for Ali Orozco. As president and CEO of his one-man business, Manifest Builders LLC, Orozco never had any problem finding work in Charleston’s booming real estate market. That all changed with the slowdown in housing construction, leaving Orozco looking for alternative projects to supplement his revenues.
Charleston airport focuses on maintaining service By Scott Miller The loss of daily flights to Boston and Orlando highlights the shift in focus of the Charleston International Airport from attracting new service to simply maintaining current schedules.
Boeing to acquire Vought share of Global Aeronautica By Dan McCue In a move intended to straighten out lingering supply chain issues related to its high-profile 787 Dreamliner program, The Boeing Co. has agreed to acquire Vought Aircraft Industries’ interest in Global Aeronautica LLC, a joint venture that owns the fuselage subassembly plant in North Charleston.
Google employees ask for transfer to Berkeley County center By Dan McCue Google hopes to add its new Berkeley County data center to its global facilities network by this summer, and will ramp up with local hires and current employees from its other U.S. sites, a company executive said earlier this month.
Distillery expands product line with Sweet Tea vodka By Kathleen Dayton How does vodka stand out if it isn’t made in Russia, Poland or Sweden? You might say nothing could be finer than vodka made in Carolina. The makers of Firefly vodka, distilled at Irvin House Vineyards on Wadmalaw Island, are ready to launch their newest product, Sweet Tea vodka.
Jafza’s S.C. marketing plan taking shape By Dan McCue As Jafza International works in earnest on its master plan to develop the company’s 1,300-acre site in Orangeburg County, a transatlantic effort is also taking shape to lure prospective tenants from around the world to South Carolina.
Transportation experts share ideas on traffic solutions By Kathleen Dayton Revamping Mount Pleasant’s Coleman Boulevard and launching train service between Summerville and Charleston could help mitigate regional traffic in the future, according to local transportation engineers and municipal executives.
SCE&G, Santee Cooper apply to build nuclear units By Molly Parker In spite of concerns over the rising cost of construction, South Carolina Electric & Gas and Santee Cooper have filed a joint application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build up to two new nuclear units at their existing V.C. Summer Nuclear Station site near Jenkinsville.
FEMA asks state to strengthen building codes By Scott Miller The state’s reluctance to adopt new international building codes could force homeowners in Berkeley and Charleston counties to pay more for flood insurance through the federal government.
MeadWestvaco sells North Charleston mill for $485 million By Dan McCue MeadWestvaco Corp. is selling its 71-year-old kraft paper mill in North Charleston and related assets to Northbrook, Ill.-based KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp. for $485
million in cash.
Residential development slower but steady By Kathleen Dayton Before the housing market weakened, a number of area developers had plans for major residential projects that would mean hundreds of rooftops along with luxury amenities, neighborhood retail and, in some cases, schools, civic buildings and other services. It seemed the Lowcountry was going to welcome not only new subdivisions but whole new communities as well.
New town part of long-term vision for East Edisto tract By Kathleen Dayton MeadWestvaco Corp.’s preliminary master plan for the 72,000 acres of former timberland it owns along the Edisto River may put a new town on the state’s map in two or three decades, company officials said.
Insurers wonder if sluggish economy spurs arson By Scott Miller State Farm Insurance underwriter Ernie Dorsey called corporate investigators recently to see if fraudulent claims from arson are on the rise. The economy is hurting. The housing market is slow. Some homeowners are unable to keep pace with the ballooning payments on their subprime mortgages.
Insurer writes coastal policies PUREly for $1 million and up By Scott Miller Coastal homeowners searching for wind and hail insurance coverage may have found it, if they meet the guidelines to join the exclusive club. A Florida-based insurer plans to begin writing wind and hail coverage within the state’s wind pool, a rare policy in an industry that tends to be fleeing the coast.
Local developer’s Florida masterpiece becomes HGTV Dream Home By Kathleen Dayton Ah, the HGTV Dream Home. This year, 41 million people registered to win the luxury home in Islamorada, Fla., which was the 12th annual home giveaway sponsored by the Home & Garden Television Network.
Garco Park to join Park Circle revitalization By Kathleen Dayton The old administration building is empty, the laboratories are deserted and Friday night dances are no longer held in Garco Village, where Garco workers once raised their families.
Brantley Construction building new middle school for Charleston County By Dan McCue Brantley Construction Co. of Charleston has started work on a $18.7 million contract to build a new middle school on Dorchester Road in North Charleston that will serve as part of Charleston County School District’s plan for helping middle school students transition to higher learning.
Google brings its Googleyness to the Lowcountry By Bob Bouyea I think it would be safe to say that most of us Google. And some of us have even been Googled, whether we realize it or not. But are we Googley?
How to be undaunted in tumultuous times By John Carroll In an earlier column, we looked at the cyclical nature of business. We considered the fact that wherever you are on the curve at present, you can expect yourself to be elsewhere on the curve in a time frame that no one can predict.
Entrepreneurial spirit prevails, in spite of the odds By Elizabeth L. Boineau While facilitating a roundtable recently at a local conference, I learned everyone at my table was or wanted to be a small business owner. What struck me were their high levels of energy, zeal, excitement and enthusiasm, which shone through brilliantly even in the dim ballroom haze.
Make your nonprofit appealing to the next generation of top-tier talent By June Bradham Q. Over the next few years, we anticipate a number of our upper-level development people will retire, and we’re turning to the next generation to fill their shoes. How can we make our organization more appealing to this generation?
Roaring 20 winner: Saulisbury Business Machines Inc. While some companies attribute their success to their employees, others say it’s their outstanding customer service. For Saulisbury Business Machines Inc., it’s the blend of retaining both employees and clients.
