S.C. State Ports Authority among first in U.S. to use new radiation portal monitors By Matthew French Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, millions have been spent on improving security at the nation’s borders and airports. With the birth of the Homeland Security Department, internal security became a priority and getting into this country became considerably more difficult for travelers.
Disaster dollars: Storm profiteers rake in the dough season after season By Matthew French When the winds and rains in the south Atlantic start to pick up, most people in the coastal Southeastern states understandably begin to fret. Milk, bottled water, batteries and plywood leap off the shelves, generators are bought up from hardware stores, and gas stations have lines that closely rival those of the oil crisis of the 1970s.
Long-awaited facelift en route for Montague Avenue By Dennis Quick Since the 1990s the city of North Charleston has discussed re-landscaping Montague Avenue, a 4.5-mile thoroughfare that in some areas cuts through blighted neighborhoods and whose commercial zones are spotted with vacant lots.
QUICK NOTES: Kiawah’s Sanctuary delivers luxurious promise By Dennis Quick High-end hotel. On Aug. 20, the 255-room, $125 million Sanctuary at Kiawah Island held its grand opening. According to hotel manager Prem Devadas, 150 invited guests plus about 2,350 others attended the ribbon cutting and daylong celebration.
Port expects commerce to sail higher on deeper harbor By Dennis Quick Deeper harbors mean bigger ships, bigger ships mean more cargo and more cargo means more commerce. It’s a formula by which competitive seaports prosper.
THE BRACK REPORT: It’s time to do something about domestic violence By Andy Brack Kathy Hicks was a good woman.
On Sundays in our church in Charleston, she always had a smile. Whenever you talked with her, genuine warmth flowed. You felt the power of her spirituality.
CARROLL ON WORK: Continuous improvement: a recipe for great results By John Carroll The Japanese call it kaizen, their single-word term for continuous and incremental improvement. In America, it’s more commonly known as continuous improvement and is most frequently associated with what has come to be known as the quality movement. Quality as a business methodology gained its first foothold in Japan when American statistician W. Edwards Deming arrived to assist Japan’s manufacturing recovery in the wake of the atomic bombings in 1945.
College of Charleston welcomes new business dean By Holly Fisher Dr. Robert Pitts is proud of the School of Business and Economics at the College of Charleston. In fact, the programs were one of the main reasons Pitts relocated to Charleston to become the school’s new dean.
PEOPLE
REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION
Clement, Crawford & Thornhill has added three new staff members. Elliott Bates is the information coordinator, helping redesign the web site and assisting in the marketing department. She graduated from Wofford College in May with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Lynn Z. Dantzler will specialize in sales and management of plantations, farms and rural properties. He retired in early 2004 after more than 32 years in lending and management positions…
CAREER COACH: How to sell yourself in today’s competitive job market By Barbara Poole You’ve been thinking about it for a while. Your current job is OK, but after all these years you can do it with your eyes closed. You’ve explored promotional opportunities with your current employer and realize you’ve hit a ceiling. There are simply no prospects for a new assignment on the horizon. After months of deliberating, you’ve summoned up your courage to take the plunge and look for a new job that will make your heart sing. It’s time to sell yourself to the job market.
North Charleston leading state retail destination for 12th consecutive year By Sarah G. McC. Moise For the twelfth year running, North Charleston claims the strongest retail sales of any city in the state. The city has fewer actual retail businesses than Columbia and Charleston, as well as a smaller population base, yet its sales figures soundly conquered both the capital and the holy city, as well as Greenville in the upstate.
RETAIL NEWS
Retailers saw lull in August as back-to-school sales shifted
The retail sector continued to show mixed results last month, according to the latest findings of the NRF Executive Opinion Survey, a monthly index by the National Retail Federation. The Retail Sector Performance Index for August declined 9.9 points from the previous month to a slightly below-normal reading of 48.1. Reasons for the August decline range from the devastating effects of Hurricane Charley to shifting start dates…
ThinkTec hosts forum on legalities of hiring and firing By Sarah G. McC. Moise On Sept. 28, ThinkTEC will host a networking breakfast on the legalities of increasing and decreasing your workforce. ThinkTEC is the arm of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce that helps foster knowledge-based industries and their service providers. Attendees will learn about recently adopted South Carolina employment rules and what they mean to business owners and managers.
TECH BRIEFS
Survey finds 64% plan to increase security spending
According to the second annual 2004 State of Information Security study from PricewaterhouseCoopers and CIO magazine, external factors, including regulations and potential liability, are the primary forces driving security initiatives.
The research identifies best practices to combat security threats and the degree to which they have been accepted and implemented by participating organizations. The global security study of more than 8,000 senior information technology executives representing…
International Boulevard becoming hotel hot spot By Dennis Quick Late last week, Charleston-based development company Fennell Holdings Inc. held a ground breaking for a hotel on North Charleston’s International Boulevard. Construction of the hotel, a 142-room Holiday Inn, begins this week. The hotel is scheduled to open in the fall of 2005.
REWRITE: Old News Made New By Dennis Quick Last January, more than 100 Kiawah Island residents attended the unveiling of Freshfields Village, the much-publicized mixed-use development featuring high-end retail outlets, residential units, offices and outdoor gathering places.
Listmaker: Engineering Firms Business executives share many qualities, such as leadership, ambition and a drive to make a difference. The Lowcountry is home to business leaders of all types and while they may share some of the same skills and characteristics, we at the Business Journal thought you might like to have a closer look at what sets some of them and their industries apart—and puts their companies at the top of the list.
North Charleston mall becomes class ‘A’ office park By Dennis Quick The Verizon Wireless call center being completed in North Charleston’s Charles Towne Square Mall is changing the long-dormant shopping center into a potentially vibrant office enclave.
Growth on tap for healthy retail real estate market By Martin Sinderman Buoyed by area consumers ready to open up their pocketbooks, a strong tourism market and continued regional residential growth, the Charleston-area retail real estate marketplace remains in an expansion mode.
Commercial Real Estate News
REIT acquires Fort Mill office facility for $29 million
Lexington Corporate Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust, has acquired an office facility in Fort Mill, S.C., for approximately $29 million. The property is a newly-constructed three-story office building containing 169,218 square feet located on a 16.1 acre site. The property is net leased to Wells Fargo Bank N.A. through May 2014. …
Bohicket undergoes $15 million renovation By Matthew French If all goes according to plan, the new Bohicket Marina and Yacht Club will be the finest such establishment in the Southeast, and possibly on the entire East Coast. That is the lofty goal the partners who own the Seabrook Island establishment have set for their investment as its multimillion-dollar renovation project gets underway.
Preventing water damage: North Carolina company looks to keep water damage costs at bay By Matthew French Recent storms have shown that a storm system doesn’t have to be a Category 4 hurricane to cause major damage. The damage that tropical storm Gaston caused the Lowcountry came not because of 100 mph winds, but because of soaking rains for hour after hour.
Designing for Disaster: Architects and engineers design buildings to withstand earthquakes, hurricanes and terrorism By Sarah G. McC. Moise “The Charleston area ranks among the highest areas in the nation for difficulty of design due to the combination of both very high seismic criteria and high wind speeds,” says Robert Still, project manager and structural engineer for ADC Engineering. “Most areas in the United States have only one or another, rarely both at the degree that we have.”
Oakland development attracts retailers, big-box discounters Greenville’s Avtex Commercial Properties is preparing to break ground on its $85 million development project, the Avenues at Oakland Plantation. The 75-acre site at the intersection of Porchers Bluff Road and U.S. Highway 17 North calls for 225,000 square feet of economic development, 415,000 square feet of retail space and 36,000 square feet of office space.
More homes designed with flexible space By Sarah G. McC. Moise “In the house I grew up in 20 or 30 years ago, I can’t ever remember using the living room except once a year on Christmas morning. The same went for the dining room,” recalls Sissy Bradham of Designs Three and Associates. “But with the way families live nowadays, I try to make all the space livable.”
Realtors find unique niches in dogs, attire By By Glenn Roberts Jr. Glenn Wallace’s company is named after his dog. J.J. Jones is the “Hat Lady of Southwest Florida.” And Brian Crenshaw is “The Tuxedo Man.”
More than a drop in the bucket: Billing apartments individually can conserve water Municipalities and policy makers seeking incentives to improve water conservation should embrace direct water billing by the apartment industry, according to a new study produced in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 10 municipal water utilities and two national apartment associations.
American Subcontractor Association chapter recognizes excellence By Matthew French When the Charleston chapter of the American Subcontractor Association hands out its annual awards, contractors, architects and engineers throughout the Lowcountry sit up and take notice. The awards are decided by the organization’s membership, giving them the solid credential of peer recognition.
Garrett Academy students build home, gain practical experience By Sarah G. McC. Moise On Sept. 2, Sandra Holmes became the new resident of a 1,200-square-foot yellow house on Sorrentrue Avenue, with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms. Holmes has a bunch of smart kids to thank for it. For the last two years, the students at Garrett Academy of Technology have worked to complete her new home in North Charleston.
Real Estate Convention and Seminar Calendar
Sept. 20: Annual Forum on High Net Worth Real Estate Investing
This Marcus & Millichap event will take place at the Marriott Financial Center Hotel in New York, N.Y. Topics include:
– Evaluating asset allocation
– Taxes
– Manager selection and alignment of interests
– Private REITS
– Tenants-in-common
– Fiduciary issues
Registration, information: 212-768-2800 ext. 1 or visit www.imn.com. …
ACCOLADES
The Charleston Chapter of International Association of Administrative Professionals was one of five recipients of the Avery Dennison Achievement Award presented at the IAAP International Convention & Educational Forum recently in Washington, D.C. The awards program recognizes IAAP chapters that display excellence in specific areas of chapter operations, including membership recruitment and retention, outstanding educational programs, promotion of professional certifications, and community service. President Darlene Lees accepted the award on behalf of the chapter. …
CALENDAR
SEPT. 20: Charleston Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute meeting. 6:15 p.m., Tommy Condon’s, 160 Church St. Al Parish, director of the Center for Economic Forecasting at Charleston Southern University, will address the economic future of the region, with a particular emphasis on the construction sector. Information: Julia H. Hall, 577-4444 or juliahall@ls3p.com. …
APPOINTMENTS
David S. Cox, a principal in the law firm of Buist Moore Smythe McGee P.A., has been selected to become a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel. The IADC is the oldest international organization of defense attorneys devoted to the representation of the interests of corporations and insurers. Cox practices in the areas of commercial disputes, products liability, insurance coverage and defense, media law and intellectual property law. …
