GIVING BACK
Office Express employees collect money for Red Cross
Office Express recently presented a $1,050 check to the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund. From September through early November, employees collected donations from customers to help people who are affected by disasters. Office Express pledged to match total customer donations up to $500. Pictured, front row, from left, are Denise Corcoran; Office Express owner Bonny Luthy; Kevin Titus, American Red Cross, Carolina Lowcountry Chapter executive…
CALENDAR
JAN. 5: Mount Pleasant Business & Networking Group meeting. Noon at Old Village Post House, 101 Pitt St., Mount Pleasant. Guests and prospective members are welcome. Information: Tricia Casey, 364-7898 or Chris Kendra, 343-3701.
JAN. 11: Charleston Women in International Trade meeting. 11:45 a.m. at the Radisson Airport Hotel, 5991 Rivers Ave., North Charleston. Albert E. Parish, director of the Center for Economic Forecasting at Charleston Southern University, will present “Economic Outlook for 2005: a…
PEOPLE
TECHNOLOGY
Audio Visual Innovations Inc. has appointed Mark A. Campbell sales engineer. He will manage business development and system design efforts for the state.
UEC Electronics and UEC Automation has hired Randy Burnham as senior software design engineer. He has 15 years experience in software design, embedded development engineering and the development of PC applications. …
EDITORIAL: Social insecurity—Drunken sailors plan to bail with a teacup By Bill Settlemyer What do the nation’s major airlines and the federal government have in common? They both have a knack for staying in business while losing billions of dollars.
What do Americans have in common with both the air carriers and the federal government? They defy fiscal gravity by spending like drunken sailors, gorging on home equity loans and bloated credit card balances to sustain unsustainable lifestyles.
Increasing child care costs force parents to choose between work, staying home By Matthew French Having children can be one of the most blessed events in a couple’s life together. It is also one of the most expensive events. Current estimates of the costs of raising a child hover at about $200,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual report on the subject.
ACCOLADES
Myatt & Bates Heating & Air Corp. has earned its accreditation as a Bryant Factory Authorized Dealer. This endorsement program was designed by Bryant Heating and Cooling to promote quality, excellence and attention to detail.
Thompson E. Penney, president and chief executive officer of LS3P Associates Ltd., was the keynote speaker at the VII Bienal de Arquitectura in San Jose, Costa Rica, in October. Penney also chaired the seventh annual Design Awards Program for…
Charleston chopper dealer one of top three in nation By Sarah G. McC. Moise “This has been an incredible year. Last week, we cleared $8 million in gross sales,” says Tony Sprovero, owner of EastCoast IronHorse.
APPOINTMENTS
Margaret Cotton, director of advertising for Charleston magazine, was elected president of the Mount Pleasant Business and Professional Association. John Carroll, president of Unlimited Performance, is immediate past president. Chuck Diggle, publisher of Diggle Publishing Co., was elected vice president. Diane Pauldine was reelected secretary. She is owner of Direct Marketers of Charleston. Lynda Boals was reelected treasurer. She is in charge of business development of Southcoast Bank. In addition, several members retained their committee…
Lowcountry poised for 3% job growth in 2005 By Dennis Quick A “vibrant” economy will place the Charleston area in the forefront of South Carolina job growth during 2005, according to researchers at the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business.
The Lowcountry’s tourism, health care and construction industries are expected to fuel a regional job growth of nearly 3%. The forthcoming Vought-Alenia $560 million aircraft manufacturing center in North Charleston will add an extra boost to the region’s overall economy and further brighten the job picture, economists say.
Caterer, seafood restaurant join local food scene By Dennis Quick To Fred Neuville, executive chef at downtown Charleston restaurants 39 Rue de Jean and Coast, starting a catering company made perfect sense. He recently catered an event for more than 1,500 people at Charleston Maritime Heritage Foundation.
The huge task was nothing new to him and his staffs at the two restaurants.
“Essentially, we’ve been running a catering company for several years now,” Neuville explains. “After the success of the maritime event, I realized it was time to go ahead and make it official.”
Local auto dealer banks on new SUV model By Matthew French America is truly in love with its sport utility vehicles. The bigger the vehicle, the more respect it gets on the road, at least in the minds of those driving them.
And that, say industry experts, explains why sales of the H2, Hummer’s latest iteration, have taken off in recent years. The vehicle is so popular, despite its $52,000 to $60,000 pricetag, that McElveen, one of the largest automobile dealers in the Lowcountry, earlier this month broke ground on a Hummer-only dealership in Summerville.
BLACKBOARD: Working overtime: How new labor laws affect teaching By Dr. Linda Karges-Bone New labor laws affecting overtime pay created some upheaval when they were enacted in late August. Some people were excited; some were worried. The fact remains, however, that the outdated statutes, unchanged since shortly after World War II, needed a review.
Now individuals who make less than $455 per week can receive overtime pay, while those who make over $100,000 per year cannot. Somewhere in between there is a vast and thorny land of confusion—and most of us, including teachers, live there.
OP-ED: Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act could benefit South Carolina’s small businesses By David Parrish It has often been said that small businesses are the engine that fuels growth and creates jobs. Perhaps nowhere is that impact felt more significantly than here in South Carolina. We have an estimated 300,900 small businesses in the state, employing 745,970 people—or about 46.7% of the state’s non-farm private workforce. The income for small business proprietors was $7.2 billion in 2003, up 7.9% from the previous year. And during a period when the state as a whole saw employment drop 9.4%, jobs at firms with one to 19 employees actually grew 10.16%.
Make no mistake: Small business has a big impact on South Carolina. That is why a new law creating a watchdog to protect those companies from burdensome regulations is so vital to our economic future.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Liability worries: Much ado about nothing Your newspaper overstated the significance of the recent S.C. Supreme Court ruling on insurance coverage for contractors under the commercial general liability (CGL) policy (“S.C. court turns contractor liability upside down,” Nov. 15, 2004).
QUICK NOTES: Quality of life is great—if you can afford it By Dennis Quick – Luxury location. Waterworks, a national retailer of luxury bathroom fixtures and furnishings, recently opened on upper King Street. In its display window is a copper bathtub that Joanne Munyon, the store’s general manager, says sells for between $25,000 and $30,000.
“Who’s going to pay that much for a tub?” I asked.
“You’d be surprised,” she answered.
BRACK REPORT: Hollings leaves S.C. an environmental legacy By Andy Brack Just about every South Carolinian has an opinion about retiring U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings who, as most know, has an opinion on just about everything.
Regardless of your view, you’re going to miss Hollings if you love South Carolina’s special places.
Women’s Business Center and Network expand to Charleston By Sarah G. McC. Moise Just 25% of businesses in South Carolina are owned by women, placing the state as the 30th in the nation and more than a percentage point below the national average—according to the “Status of Women Report” put out by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
The Palmetto State ranks 31 out of 50 for the percent of women (31%) employed in managerial and professional occupations. And, most shocking of all, in the last year, South Carolina dropped from 47th to 50th in women’s equality and status.
EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT: Building a cohesive team By Wayne Outlaw Learning how to build a strong, cohesive team is one of the most important skills an executive must learn. Many times executives fail to realize the importance of a team that works with—and not against—each other, but whether a team consists of only two people or many, how they function or work together may be more important than the collective knowledge and skills of its members. The truly effective executive not only understands the importance of building a cohesive team, but also realizes that it takes time, effort and specific skills to build relationships and create inter-dependence.
S.C. MONTHLY OUTLOOK: Small businesses look to angels for assistance The following information is provided to the Charleston Regional Business Journal by the S.C. Department of Commerce for publication once a month.
This holiday season, who wouldn’t appreciate a little help from an angel? Many of South Carolina’s entrepreneurs are hoping for assistance from a particular kind of angel—an angel investor.
Broadly defined, angel investors are wealthy individuals who invest in entrepreneurial companies, usually at an early stage. Like venture capital firms, many angel investors provide cash to young companies and take equity in return. One difference is that angel investors typically make smaller investments than venture capitalists do.
College of Charleston hosts new programs, supports entrepreneurial education By Sarah G. McC. Moise Twenty “at-risk” seniors from West Ashley High School visited the College of Charleston’s Tate Center for Entrepreneurship to learn how the classes they take in school today will help them in wealth creation in the future. College of Charleston business majors and entrepreneurs also participated to discuss the high school students’ entrepreneurship projects.
Business execs mentor Citadel students toward success By Dennis Quick Saif Sattar, a graduate student in The Citadel’s master of business administration program, intends to pursue a career in sports marketing. He sees a bright future for himself, thanks largely to his marketing mentor, Ken Fox.
Engineering program gains steam in the Lowcountry By Matthew French The lack of qualified, homegrown engineers and a lack of focus on math and the sciences have long been decried in education circles, as America falls further behind the global competition. Engineering programs at major colleges and universities are attracting fewer domestic students and more international participants, and that, say industry experts, could cause real problems for the future economy.
But a program sponsored by the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York has gained a foothold in the Lowcountry that could do a lot to reverse the trend.
MUSC doctors explore cancer recurrence, treatment By Dennis Quick A group of researchers funded by the National Cancer Institute claims to have found a way to detect cancer of any type before tumors form. The early detection involves finding in blood samples a “biomarker” of the disease indicating that cancer is in process. With this information, doctors could one day offer cancer treatments that would prevent tumors from developing, according to the researchers.
The method for this kind of early detection is expected to enter clinical trials early next year. The NCI has awarded $13.4 million to two research teams in the hopes of hastening the discovery of a protein biomarker that could lead to early detection and diagnosis of cancer.
TIME WELL SPENT: Germ warfare at work: defend yourself from cold, flu By Honor Hawkins Each year, Americans miss 23 million days of work because of a cold, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That’s a lot of Kleenex, and a lot of lost productivity. The flu is less common, but this year’s vaccine shortage could mean more of us will need to call in sick. With colds abundant and flu season upon us, preventing the spread of infection is a matter of self-preservation.
Debate continues on the merits of medical damages By Martin Sinderman Proponents of caps on damages awards in medical malpractice cases are set to swing into action—again—when the South Carolina Legislature convenes this coming January.
One more time, members of the state house and senate will have to determine if capping awards for non-economic damages is the answer to the escalating premiums physicians pay for their malpractice insurance. And once again, they’re not going to have a lot of irrefutable evidence to work with.
Aircraft plant to create hundreds of direct jobs, thousands in support By Matthew French The announcement of the new Boeing aircraft plant in North Charleston earlier this month was met with cheers and accolades from politicians and economic development insiders from all over the tri-county area.
Now that word of the plant has spread, and the prospect of 645 new high-paying jobs coming into the area is imminent, area analysts are spinning the wheels to determine what further fallout will come from the plant’s locating to the Lowcountry.
Local retailers see increase in holiday shopping By Sarah G. McC. Moise Each year, Britt Beemer of America’s Research Group conducts a holiday sales forecast, which randomly polls 1,000 shoppers from across the country.
“There was no single ‘hot’ toy or must-have electronics item this holiday season,” says Beemer. “So shoppers weren’t as excited or aggressive in their shopping.” In fact, the survey showed the pre-season was so flat, many children weren’t asking for specific items. Parents and grandparents were left to make gifting guesses, purchasing Nintendos and PlayStations (25.5%), Barbies (22.5%), bicycles (19.1%), action figures (18.8%) or hand-held games (16.5%).
Two friends open family-oriented restaurant By Holly Fisher When two Mount Pleasant moms decided to go into business together, creating a family-friendly restaurant seemed the likely choice. In November, Just Chill opened in Park West Shoppes off Highway 17 North, dishing up hamburgers, sweet potato fries, ice cream and morning coffee.
Mischelle Lesemann and Suzanne Smeak are friends and neighbors in Brickyard Plantation. Lesemann and Smeak love to entertain and cook for friends and family—who often suggested the two should open a restaurant.
