Accolades & More Southern Tank Transport Inc. was awarded five first place awards by the South Carolina Trucking Association. Southern Tank Transport, with terminals in Holly Hill and eight terminals nationwide, was awarded first place in General Commodities Combined, General Commodities Intercity, Tank Operations Local, Tank Operations Intercity and an Industrial Safety Award for Tank Operations.
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TPM hired Benjamin Seth Woolwine as coastal account executive. Woolwine worked for USA Mobility for two years prior to joining the team at TPM.
Calendar JULY 11: Business Networking International meeting, West Ashley “Edge of America” chapter. Noon at Sunfire Grill in West Ashley. Information: Katie Lentz, 670-1737.
Democracy interrupted: America needs civics lessons By Bill Settlemyer With the recent collapse of the bipartisan effort to pass the immigration bill, many people are rightly asking whether the 218-year-old American experiment in democracy has come off the rails.
CSU to use texting to alert students Charleston Southern University has employed a new alert and notification system in response to the April 16 tragedy at Virginia Tech University. The system, designed by TechRadium and called Immediate Response Information System, alerts the campus of danger by sending messages to cell phones, PDAs, home phones, fax machines and e-mail addresses.
An eye on the future By Kathleen Dayton The mere mention of Watson Hill, a community of nearly 5,000 homes proposed for the Ashley River Historic District, has officials at MeadWestvaco vowing “never again.” The paper company received significant public backlash after its sale a few years ago of approximately 6,670 acres off S.C. Highway 61.
Urban projects knit together city’s East Side By Kathleen Dayton Million dollar condos, urban lofts, a promenade for cyclists and pedestrians, shops, offices and a new school are not the things most people associate with downtown Charleston’s East Side.
Mount Pleasant circles support for U.S. 17 plan By Kathleen Dayton One of Mount Pleasant’s signature sights, the daily traffic snarl that creeps up and down U.S. Highway 17 North, will soon undergo a transformation that is expected to lure pedestrians and cyclists and new businesses as well.
Data CSI: Computer forensics experts piece By Shelia Watson The television series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” has done much to educate the viewing public on the importance of collecting physical evidence. Each week viewers are treated to a variety of forensic activities, including autopsies, ballistics examinations, fingerprint collections, DNA tests and blood sampling.
Incentives cutback threatens S.C. film industry By Dennis Quick The S.C. Department of Commerce’s recent decision to reduce financial incentives it began offering last year to film production companies set the state’s film industry on a potentially downward slide.
NDTA keeps military, commercial business connected By Shelia Watson The convergence of commercial and military systems to improve transportation might seem like a case of strange bedfellows, but according to Fred Stribling, president of the Charleston chapter of the National Defense Transportation Association, the concept is just good business for both parties.
After the fire, shock gives way to recovery, response By Dan McCue After days of shock, disbelief and heartbreak in the wake of the Sofa Super Store fire that claimed nine city firefighter’s lives, the city of Charleston largely got back to the business of the living.
Coliseum staff also copes with loss By Dan McCue It was a morning that riveted Charleston.As helicopters whirred overhead and a string of black hearses awaited them outside, the nine Charleston firefighters who lost their lives in the Sofa Super Store furniture store on June 18 were remembered not just for their heroism and devotion to community, but as neighbors, fathers, coaches and members of local church communities.
GPS devices on service trucks save time, money By Shelia Watson Service industry companies, such as plumbers and electricians, over the years have embraced the latest in technology in the name of efficiency.
Citigroup signs deal to purchase Mount Pleasant’s ATD By Dan McCue Citigroup Inc., the nation’s largest bank, announced it will buy Automated Trading Desk of Mount Pleasant for $680 million, including $102.6 million in cash and 11.17 million shares in Citigroup stock.
Fine art, fine food merge at Charleston event By Dennis Quick Take samples of cuisine from some of Charleston’s finest restaurants, pair those dishes with artworks in some of Charleston’s finest galleries and the result is an event that helps boost business for local art dealers and fund a scholarship for Charleston County high school art students.
Real estate developer’s political star plummets By Dan McCue While it’s unlikely that the drug treatment facility he’s currently in would allow him to stay up late enough to watch it, a clear sign that Thomas Ravenel’s political star has crashed and burned on a massive scale was a segment that featured his current travails on Comedy Central’s "Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
Hydrogen project achieves commercial market milestone By Shelia Watson The Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory has successfully completed a 100-hour demonstration that produced hydrogen from water, which officials say represents a significant milestone in the development of an efficient process to generate hydrogen for fuel.
Other hydrogen projects in near-market stage By Shelia Watson The Savannah River National Laboratory is the Department of Energy’s leading lab in the area, but other hydrogen work in the state is making significant strides as well.
Ethanol production facility could be located in Charleston By Lindsay Street It would be the largest ethanol plant in the world, producing 216 million gallons of ethanol per year and consuming 80 million bushels, or 4.5 billion pounds, of corn. And it could end up in the Charleston region.
Homebuilding association pushes members to go ‘green’ By Dennis Quick It used to be the public perception of an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, ecologically safe home was of an expensive, secluded, 1970s back-to-nature aesthetic monstrosity equipped with huge solar panels and windmills, a structure that hardly looked like a traditional house.
Budget cutbacks causing Social Security claims backlog By Dennis Quick In 2005, Summerville resident Don Longest became too sick to work. The traveling sales representative for an Atlanta-based company developed cancer due to his exposure to Agent Orange during his military service in Vietnam.
Surgical robot reduces hospital stays By Kristen Poland When Charleston resident Mark Wilson weighed his options for where to receive surgery for his prostate cancer, he knew traveling six hours would make an already stressful situation all the more daunting.
Internet still king of trade innovation By Dan McCue In a world of ever-sophisticated gadgetry, the most profound innovation for the port industry may well have been one of the first—the widespread use of the Internet, said one of Charleston’s customs brokers and freight forwarders.
At SCRA good things come in nano packages By Shelia Watson The mention of “composites manufacturing” might evoke an image of large sections of steel coming together to form even bigger pieces of equipment.
Shipping company to double its footprint By Dan McCue In a major vote of confidence for the Port of Charleston, the Mediterranean Shipping Co. announced Thursday that it will nearly double its regional operations here, moving to a new 44,000-square-foot facility in Mount Pleasant by this time next year.
Career Coach: There is a cure for the summertime blues By Barbara Poole The bumper sticker said it all: “A rainy day at the beach is better than a good day at the office.” It was rush hour, and the driver of the car sat at the red light with a look of grim resignation on his face.
Nonprofit Development: Use many approaches to assemble membership puzzle By June Bradham Q. I run a nonprofit trade organization here in the Lowcountry and we are just about to start our annual membership drive. Do you have any recommendations on how to attract new members and retain the ones we have?
Workers celebrate in North Charleston as Boeing unveils first 787 By Dan McCue It was a rare Sunday evening at the office for hundreds of workers at the Vought Aircraft Industries and Global Aeronautica plants in North Charleston, but then this was no ordinary shift.
Landmark NYC store to carry Charleston brand By Kathleen Dayton Infant couture, Charleston-style, has arrived in New York City. Pixie Lily, a luxury infant clothing company founded by local designer Leda Jackson and headquartered in Charleston, was recently invited to set up its own boutique area inside the fabled toy store FAO Schwartz at 1345 Avenue of the Americas.
Google still searching for Mt. Holly management team By Dan McCue In spite of a response from applicants that he described as “pleasantly overwhelming,” Google has yet to hire a single employee for the site, the company’s point man for the development of its new Mt. Holly facility said July 11.
Parish auction to feature ‘high-end items’ and pre-bidding By Dan McCue When the court-appointed receiver in the Al Parish fraud case first started planning the auction of the former economist’s belongings, certain high-end items—expensive pens, watches, vehicles and guitars—weren’t expected to be among the booty being sold Friday and Saturday at the North Charleston Convention Center.
Governor speaks out against incentives for retailers By Kristen Poland Big box retailers are welcome in South Carolina, but not on the dime of the smaller, family-owned businesses that would be their competition. That was Gov. Mark Sanford’s message July 11 as he spoke from Haddrell’s Point Tackle & Supply in West Ashley.
Public to get first glimpse of Parish’s assets By Dan McCue The doors of Exhibition Hall B at the Charleston Area Convention Center opened at 1 p.m. today for a public preview of what at least one of the participants described as the largest auction of a single person’s property in memory.
With auction, Parish fraud case approaches its first crescendo By Dan McCue For Jim Scarborough, today and Saturday’s auction of economist Al Parish’s ill-gotten assets at the Charleston Area Convention Center, is effectively the end of the treasure hunt.
Parish, a former professor with Charleston Southern University, has been charged with 11 criminal and five civil counts related to his management of five investment pools through, which he allegedly defrauded as many as 500 individuals of about $55 million.
MeadWestvaco wraps up first meetings on development plans By Kathleen Dayton MeadWestvaco officials said once again at a public meeting Thursday night they intend to protect the environment and rural character of former timberland as they move toward a master plan to develop some of the 72,000 acres the paper company owns in Charleston and Dorchester counties.
Building officials to seek tighter rules, more understanding By Dan McCue South Carolina’s building officials plan to draft a letter to their state representatives next month asking that building contractors be required to maintain their professional certifications through continuing education and an as-yet unformulated regime of follow-up testing.
Going, going ... it’s almost all gone but the heartache By Dan McCue July 13 and 14 proved to be less than successful for the auction held to liquidate the personal and business assets of disgraced economist Al Parish. After two days of sometimes-fevered bidding at the Charleston Area Convention Center, the receiver in the investment fraud case, which now has the once flamboyant Parish awaiting a federal criminal trial, raised $2.35 million.
City council votes to rezone large Johns Island tract By Kathleen Dayton Charleston City Council on Tuesday night voted 10-2 in favor of rezoning a large tract of land on Johns Island that would reduce the number of homes proposed for the area by a developer.
City to examine a language requirement for construction By Dan McCue A change that may be coming to North Charleston is an ordinance requiring contractors working on residential projects to have an English-speaking foreman on the worksite at all times and that the foreman be experienced and knowledgeable about the actual type of work he’s overseeing.
Debate may not be the economic juggernaut that was expected By Dan McCue It’s one of the most repeated assertions of the run up to the July 23 Democratic presidential candidate’s debate—that the high-profile appearance of the Democratic field led by Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards will have an economic impact approaching $30 million.
Auto components manufacturer to open locally By Dan McCue Proponents of the Lowcountry’s burgeoning automotive cluster hit a figurative grand slam on Thursday morning, not only scoring a worldwide supplier of vehicle components for the tri-county region, but securing its North American headquarters as well.
‘Early Show’ makes big investment to solidify Charleston market By Dan McCue CBS’s “The Early Show” on-location broadcast from Charleston’s historic battery this morning wasn’t just intended to solidify the show’s ratings in the market, it’s also intended to be a hallmark of the program’s integration with 21st-century technology, said the network’s vice president for morning broadcasts at CBS News.
