CONTRIBUTING WRITER PROFILE

By Christina Lee Knauss  The popular Midlands restaurant chain Lizard’s Thicket closed its Beltline Boulevard location in recent weeks. There’s nothing wrong with the building and the chain isn’t giving up on th... Read More

Habitat for Humanity transforms neighborhoods one block at a time Ask someone what they know about Habitat for Humanity and chances are, they will likely know us as a philanthropic organization that builds houses for lower income ... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss It’s not often that a financial advisor looks across a desk to see a teenager asking for investment advice. That’s exactly what happened back in May, however, to Angie Thames, a financial adv... Read More

Columbia IT staffing agency adding finance and accounting services You know SYSTEMTEC as the Columbia-based IT staffing agency that identifies the most qualified candidates for technology positions. For nearly a quarter of a c... Read More

This story was originally published in the July 26, 2021 edition of the Charleston Regional Business Journal. The banking industry has seen branch footprints shrink nationwide over the past several years as customers go mobile. ... Read More

Full-service public relations firm provides more than marketing If you are going to spend a day with MPA Strategies, you better wear some running shoes because they are always on the move. The day might begin with a meeting ab... Read More

Law firm has more than 150 combined years of experience Anyone in need of legal services in the Midlands would do well to consider a venerable firm going back a half century, anchored by six practitioners selected as Super Lawyers... Read More

Civil engineering and surveying company builds communities At Civil Engineering of Columbia, our expertise in civil engineering and surveying is just one of many aspects of the work we do for our clients. We look at the entiret... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss WE BUY HOUSES! I WANT TO BUY YOUR HOUSE! Postcards, flyers, letters and roadside signs with these slogans have blanketed Midlands neighborhoods in the past few years, with skyrocketing demand in the curre... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss Columbia realtor Graeme Moore, owner of The Moore Co., recently had an experience that would be considered highly unusual in almost any other recent era of real estate sales except this one. He sold an e... Read More

Elgin-based company can handle all aspects of construction Contact Info: 749 Kirkland Circle Elgin, S.C. 29046 803-572-4300 sacon.business.site When a business needs a new office, store or restaurant, or it needs to renovat... Read More

Commercial real estate company combines experience with innovation Innovation in commercial real estate is on the rise. Individuals throughout the Midlands and beyond are looking to buy, sell, lease, finance and manage commercial ... Read More

Family-owned company serves the Midlands' heating and cooling needs Contact Info: 3102 Bronx Road Columbia, S.C. 29204 803-772-7715 coolcarehvac.com We at Cool Care Heating & Air are excited about celebrating our 20... Read More

A confluence of labor market forces, combined with an availability of federal funds, have produced a solution targeting two problems at once: unemployment and industry-specific labor shortages. A new state program unveiled by S.C. Gov... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss  A trip to the neighborhood Starbucks is a daily mainstay for many people around Columbia, and come August, Midlands fans of the Seattle-based coffee titan will have a chance to experience their favori... Read More

The strong women in our lives deserve to be celebrated. They are our moms, our sisters, our wives, best friends and mentors. They challenge and empower us to acknowledge women from every walk of life for their achievements, more than... Read More

By Jenny Peterson Contributing writer An 80-year-old abandoned ice processing plant on Spruill Avenue in North Charleston is getting new life as developers have broken ground to redevelop it into a modern and flexible office park. ... Read More

As a football coach who has led his teams to seven national championships, Nick Saban knows a little something about traveling the road to success. And in Saban’s eyes, success in football or in business isn’t achieved by foc... Read More

By Jenny Peterson Contributing Writer Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s a seller’s market for golf carts. After more than a year of staying in, Charleston residents desperate for stimulation have turned to thril... Read More

When it comes to residential real estate, the Upstate is in the right place at the right time. The vibrant, diverse market continues to attract millennials, retirees, and relocating and expanding companies and their employees. The region... Read More

By Danielle Besser, Public Relations Manager, Upstate SC Alliance Jigsaw puzzles saw a huge surge in sales in 2020, as many people hunkered at home. In an uncanny coincidence, puzzles were a theme at the Upstate SC Alliance’s... Read More

By Jennifer Floyd, President, HR Experts on Demand Ensuring your people are engaged in your business is a vital ingredient to your company’s success. Launched in 2016, HR Experts on Demand specializes in helping businesses su... Read More

Carlos Phillips, president and CEO, Greenville Chamber For more than 130 years, the Greenville Chamber set bold visions for Greenville’s future and rallied the community to meet these challenges. In 2009, business leaders formed... Read More

By Barry Waldman Contributing Writer At a key entry point to the city of Charleston comes an office building designed to harken to the nearby port and the bridge it sits beside, rising from the ground like a cargo container being lif... Read More

By Eric B. Michael, Senior Partner, KYEL Group Inc. In the early 1990s, I was treating many patients in the clinical setting suffering from similar mechanisms of injury.  Although they worked in diverse industrial settings, the r... Read More

By Marc Aleksinas, General Manager, Metal Chem Inc. For the past 35 years, Metal Chem has been actively involved in improving the chemistry used in the surface finishing industry. Focusing on research and development (R&D) and pro... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss Phones started ringing and messages started flying at many financial institutions around South Carolina when the second round of funding for the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program loans laun... Read More

By Chris Manley, CEO, Engenius Half a dozen years ago I read a study suggesting that, by 2025, Fortune 500 companies would be spending 80% of their marketing budget on digital marketing and only 20% on traditional marketing. Tradition... Read More

By Dusty Locke, VP of Operations, Swafford Transport and Warehouse In 1983, our CEO, Van Swafford, launched Swafford Transport and Warehouse. Starting as a freight brokerage service, the business has evolved into a multiple service Th... Read More

By Lauren Simer, Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Greenville Technical College Oftentimes, we are constrained by our own thought process.  My favorite quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson states, "This time, like... Read More

By William Jackson, Co-Owner, Instel Power Products Our world runs on electricity — that becomes obvious whenever there’s an outage. It’s a hassle to lose power at home, but imagine what it’s like for a company... Read More

Randall Bentley,  President, Lee & Associates Quietly, over a career that spans more than 40 years and shows no sign of sign of slowing down, Randall Bentley is part of a generation that has left an indelible mark on the Upst... Read More

By Bill Simmons,  Founder, Thrive Business Strategies Does this sound familiar? You’re working really hard at your business across all areas -- trying to improve systems and processes, paying attention to your brand and pos... Read More

This year has been dramatically different than what we all expected for our families, communities and businesses. But what I’ve learned as a small business owner in the Lowcountry is that with the support from our local community, ... Read More

By Jenny Peterson Historically, homeowners looking to purchase a flood insurance policy have had largely one option: the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program. South Carolina legislators have passed key legislation ... Read More

Lately there has been confusion regarding whether businesses have the ability to refuse cash payments, instead relying solely on credit card transactions or electronic funds transfers such as mobile payment apps. This switch to “ca... Read More

COVID-19 has significantly impacted many of our day-to-day activities. It has changed how we shop, socialize, work, travel, and the list goes on.  But this pandemic doesn’t have to change the trajectory of your educatio... Read More

By Lorne Chambers Contributing writer Hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world. It’s even stronger than some metal chains. Yet hemp’s supply chain still remains somewhat capricious in this country. A new S... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss Contributing writer Nearly every day of the week, the phone rings in Alisa Mosley’s Columbia office. On the other end is someone looking for help finding an affordable place to live. Mosley’s jo... Read More

By Holly Fisher Contributing writer Stephanie Summerson Hall’s strategy for a diversified business model was smart, but in the midst of a global pandemic, it was genius. Hall’s primary business, Ruth’s House Even... Read More

As we try to navigate through this COVID-19 pandemic, we probably don’t feel a lot of equilibrium right now. In a crisis, we experience sudden uncertainty, and we may feel a lack of control. By finding the balance between your i... Read More

By Barry Waldman Contributing Writer If you think there has never been a year like 2020, you might be right. But Charleston Southern University President Dondi Costin points out that our nation has seen elements of this year in the p... Read More

Over the past two months, there has been lots of discussion about which businesses and workers are essential. Health care workers, first responders, and countless others on the front lines are essential, and they are heroes. A linens man... Read More

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. — Viktor E. Frankl ... Read More

For employers, operating amid a worldwide pandemic is difficult. Managing the core business and doing so in compliance with the federal, state and local laws that govern the workplace is challenging enough. Now, employers also must close... Read More

When the economy is good, we all tend to be a little looser in how we spend our money. Small-business owners are no different with their business expenses. However, those times are now gone, possibly for a long time. Eliminating... Read More

By Christina Lee Knauss South Carolina has a serious problem when it comes to keeping teachers in the classroom. In recent years, alarming numbers of public school teachers have left their jobs, causing shortages of instructors in ... Read More

Is it just us or does anyone else think Generation X should be renamed the Generation of Firsts? We were the first gamers, first bloggers, invented MySpace and Twitter. We practically gave birth to the internet. Well, that’... Read More

By Dudley Brown Contributing writer A new year and a new decade are underway, and economic development leaders across the Upstate expect the growth and progress from the 2010s to continue in 2020. Unemployment rates approached 12%... Read More

See the light in others, and treat them as if that is all you see. — Wayne Dyer I read a story about a farm boy who accidentally overturned his wagonload of corn in the road. The farmer who lived nearby came to investigate.&nbs... Read More