Credit card popularity signals change for restaurant servers By Holly Burns Chances are you know someone who has done it. Perhaps you’ve even done it yourself.
With two out of five adults working in the restaurant industry at some point in their life, according to the National Restaurant Association, waiting tables is one of the most popular jobs in the country—particularly among young people, for whom the instant gratification of receiving tips in cash every night is a huge draw.
Wage gap is slow to close By Holly Fisher Each year the wage gap closes by about a half a cent. But if you’re a working woman bringing home the bacon, a half a cent won’t buy much these days.
Women’s advocacy groups report that women today make about 75 to 77 cents for each dollar a man makes. African-American and Hispanic working women make even less.
At this rate, women’s pay won’t catch up to men’s pay for another 46 years or so. In fact, women lose thousands of dollars over their careers because of the wage gap; a woman who begins working at age 25 and spends 40 years in the workforce still comes out $523,000 behind her male counterpart.
Brokers regroup after mutual funds scandal By Shannon Brigham The Securities Exchange Commission and National Association of Securities Dealers Inc. recently announced they are taking disciplinary action against 15 brokers for failing to give investors breakpoint discounts on their mutual funds.
Six of the firms have offices in Charleston.
QUICK NOTES: City teamwork expands Charleston retail base By Dennis Quick Business brokers. German sports shoe and apparel company Puma is opening a store at 285 King St. (Kerrison’s former site), and the city of Charleston helped pave the way.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is opening a store on South Market Street, next to Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream.
In December, the city proved instrumental in landing upscale electronic retailer Sharper Image at 235 King St.
Asset protection varies with corporate structure By Sarah G. McC. Moïse Everyone has heard scary stories about runaway juries and activist judges. As more people lose their hard earned property to huge court awards, others are trying to prevent it from happening to them.
Educators face funding obstacle to hi-tech graduate programs By Dennis Quick If local education leaders achieve their dream, the Lowcountry will produce research programs that spawn technology companies. In turn, those companies would pay high-end salaries, bolstering the region’s per capita wealth.
That’s the economic impact of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose Lincoln Laboratory has spun off more than 80 electronics and air-defense system companies.
THE BRACK REPORT: Stop whining about the Senate’s use of filibuster By Andy Brack After several weeks of protracted Senate debate over a stronger state seatbelt law, there’s more legislative and editorial whining about the use of the filibuster than heard in a long time.
Instead of complaining, proponents of the measure, which would allow police to stop a vehicle for no other reason than the driver not wearing a seatbelt, should work harder for a compromise.
WORKING: Take your turn at the firing range—and aim well By Aleigh Acerni Though it may be satisfying to fire a troubled employee a la Donald Trump, simply barking, “You’re fired!” may not be the best approach. In fact, it could leave you open to all sorts of problems—including a wrongful termination lawsuit.
S.C. MONTHLY OUTLOOK Commerce Secretary Bob Faith has appointed former manager of European trade Sam Moses to lead the state’s European office, based in Munich, Germany. Moses brings a great deal of skill to the state’s efforts in Europe, serving South Carolina’s European client base as well as furthering the advancement of new investment and trade opportunities for the state.
OCRM dragging feet over Hoopstick development By Sarah G. McC. Moïse After nearly three months, both developers and concerned members of the Wadmalaw community are still waiting for approval from Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) on the fate of Hoopstick Island.
LISTMAKERS Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. That’s why we at the Business Journal thought you might be interested in getting to know the top executives of some of the most successful local companies.
Local homeowners ‘in sink’ with design trends By Holly Burns Bathrooms across Charleston are taking on a new look, as an increasing number of homeowners are deciding to replace their standard sink with a unique and eye-catching alternative.
Rural Dorchester County hit with housing explosion By Dennis Quick Travelers have to squint hard to find Knightsville on a map. Once there, a blink of the eye can cause motorists to miss much of the quiet, Dorchester County town west of Summerville.
Residential development moving into Hardeeville By Holly Fisher Lowcountry developer HLA Inc. is about to double the population of Hardeeville. The Bluffton company’s plans for a new housing development in the small town off of Interstate 95 on the border of South Carolina and Georgia will provide more than 500 new homes. Hardeeville currently has a population of about 2,600.
Internet rentals spike despite soft apartment market By Sarah G. McC. Moïse Despite the rebound in the U.S. economy, the real estate rental market has remained soft. However, this softness hasn’t stopped a quiet revolution from occurring in the way renters are finding their next apartment. From residential to vacation rentals, more than three million renters per month use third party, web-based property listings, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
More real estate agents elbow into crowded job market By Dennis Quick Are you a prospective Lowcountry homebuyer looking for a real estate agent? No problem. You’ve got a choice of more than 2,700. That’s about 250 more agents than you had to choose from in 2002 and almost 500 more than in 2001, according to the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors.
House beautiful: Homeowners, builders use outdoor lighting to showcase homes By Dennis Quick In 1997, Steve Stubbs left a corporate job in Atlanta and bought an Outdoor Lighting Perspectives franchise.
Founded nine years ago in Charlotte by Tom Fenig, Stubbs’ former corporate co-worker, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives provides low-voltage exterior lighting for upscale homes. Come nightfall, landscape and architectural lights shine softly on the dwelling as though it’s on center stage.
Grounded planes become home sweet homes By Renee Johnson There’s nothing veteran airline pilot Tom Bennington dislikes more than having to tear apart an airplane. That’s why he’s transforming Boeing 727s into something practical: homes. That’s right—homes. The places where people live.
Mixed use marks return to traditional development By Sarah G. McC. Moïse Developments are popping up around the Lowcountry and the most desirable seem to be mixed use, which include combinations of housing, offices, retail and service businesses, and public and institutional uses. It differs from traditional zoning in that mutually supportive land uses are integrated, rather than separated or buffered from one another.
State Department building beats construction deadline By Dennis Quick Charleston-based Hightower Construction Co. recently completed the 100,000-square-foot addition to the U.S. State Department complex on the former Navy base.
Begun 16 months ago, the project was completed March 29—more than two weeks ahead of schedule.
Office furniture industry may be emerging from slump By Holly Fisher When businesses are trying to save pennies, new office furniture is one of the first items on the chopping block.
Office furniture retailers have spent the last three years in a slump, but in 2004 they are hoping for an upturn. The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association is predicting the office furniture industry could see 5.6% growth in shipments this year. Local businesses say growth is coming—but it is modest and slow.
Undiagnosed depression hurts employee productivity By Holly Burns American employees take around three million days off work every year due to untreated depression, according to the National Mental Health Association. That’s more sick days than employees use for physical illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure or arthritis.
GET A LIFE: Excuse my French: Lessons for the eager Francophile By Holly Burns Although I’ve been speaking French for 10 years, I once let my dining companion order le cheval in Paris, both of us blissfully unaware—until I thought to consult my French-English dictionary afterwards—that what he had been munching on quite contentedly for half an hour was, in fact, horse meat.
When it comes to food, is small the new big? By Holly Burns While the makers of BMW’s Mini Cooper and Apple’s iPod Mini may have known for a while that good things come in small packages, it looks like the food industry is starting to take note.
Mount Pleasant made: New toy encourages fitness for kids By Holly Burns A new product that is part toy and part educational tool is now available from its Mount Pleasant-based developer. Former pediatric nurse and gymnastics teacher Elspeth Robertson says the product, Kikaflik, aims to teach children the basics of coordination, balance and timing skills while still allowing them to have fun.
LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP: Ethical reasoning must be rooted in values By Jack Hoey At a recent industry conference, I attended a CEO roundtable discussion of corporate ethics. At one point the discussion leader asked the CEOs how many of them had published corporate codes of ethics. Several hands went up; many heads nodded approvingly.
REWRITE: OLD NEWS MADE NEW By Holly Burns It was an inspired move: creating an advertising campaign for a product that didn’t exist, but still got tongues wagging across the country (“Tasteless ad campaign takes product from fiction to reality”, July 14 2003).
Sum greater than parts at marine lab By Sarah G. McC. Moïse Fact or fiction? Charleston has a state-of-the-art facility that combines federal, state and academic minds and dollars, is dedicated to saving oceans and mankind and is training the next generation to cooperate and share.
