South Carolina Business Review

In case you missed it earlier this year, the Columbia Metropolitan Airport named a new leader.  He’s had a couple of months on the job now so we thought we’d check in to get his thoughts.  Mike Switzer interviews Chris White, the new President & CEO at the airport, as of January 5th.

Growth of a start-up business often hits a plateau as the founder struggles to maintain a healthy work-life balance.  Our next guest says that neuroscience may provide the answer.  Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Joseph Drolshagen, a business coach and consultant in Mountain Rest, SC.

Student loan borrowers have faced a lot of challenges over the years, from the government’s on again/off again debt cancellations, to just plain unaffordable payment plans.  Our state has nearly 775,000 federal student loan borrowers (14% of the state’s population) collectively owing a total of $30 billion.  Our next guest says recent legislation may cause more challenges.  Mike Switzer interviews...

For many years we have been hearing about a coming financial apocalypse: the stock market is crashing, Social Security is running out of money, inflation is making so much unaffordable, all causing a lot of worry for one group in particular: retirees. But our next guest says you might be surprised to find out what the real number one concern is for retirees.  Mike Switzer interviews Noel Swain, a...

An update of the news, events and issues that are trending right now across our state's business community.  Mike Switzer interviews Alan Cooper, founder and editor of three online business news websites in South Carolina: MidlandsBiz, UpstateBizSC, and LowCountryBizSC.  Today, Alan tells us about our state’s participation in International Women’s month.

Beginning this year, our next guest’s professional women’s tennis tournament will award equal prize money—a historic milestone that makes it the first standalone WTA 500 tournament to voluntarily increase prize money to match comparable ATP 500 events for men.  Mike Switzer interviews Bob Moran, tournament director of the Credit One Charleston Open women’s professional tennis tournament, coming to...

The 2025 InnoVision awards were announced late last year and our next guest’s group of students won the Community Service award, which is given for innovations that improve life in our state’s communities.  Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Elaine Parshall, an engineering instructor and head of the Robotics Program at the SC Governor's School for Science + Mathematics in Hartsville, SC.

There’s a new graduate degree available in finance in our state now thanks to its recent accreditation.  Our next guest says it will allow more students here to prepare for careers in corporate finance, investment management, real estate analysis, corporate banking and more.  Mike Switzer interviews Vince Intintoli, director of the new Master of Science in Finance program at Clemson University’s W...

Estate planning is probably not anyone’s favorite thing to do, but for most people, it is a good idea.  Our next guest says that his favorite way to approach this is what he calls an estate planning “fire drill.”  Mike Switzer interviews Jon Robertson, a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Columbia.

Our next guest’s team of reporters recently won 12 awards at the South Carolina Press Association’s annual awards banquet, including two announced as surprises at the event.  Mike Switzer interviews Jessica Holdman, a reporter with the South Carolina Daily Gazette in Columbia, SC.

The craft beer industry has been struggling over the past few years maybe because too many breweries opened up and then there was the pandemic and its resulting inflation.  But our next guest says the industry is far from dead and will be demonstrating that at their upcoming festival in the Midlands.  Mike Switzer interviews Jordan Skeen with the SC Brewers Guild in Columbia, host of their annual...

Our next guest’s education technology company has developed an AI tool that creates emotionally responsive virtual patients in an effort to help future clinicians improve results in real-world healthcare environments.  And that’s why the company was named the recipient of the 2025 InnoVision Award for Education.  Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Jeff Borckhardt, a professor at the Medical  University o...

There’s been plenty of news over the past year about electric vehicles, mostly not positive: tax incentives have disappeared causing the major car companies to pare back their EV manufacturing plans.  Yet over 90% of current EV owners (full disclosure: myself included) say they would only consider buying an EV for their next vehicle.  And our state could be seriously affected by these trends since...

Every day, millions of Americans are scrolling through YouTube and their social media accounts in search of quick financial insights. While many creators share information with good intentions, a growing number of what our next guest says are being referred to as “finfluencers” are individuals who don’t have serious qualifications but still offer opinions or guidance on investing, budgeting, crypt...

It’s Monday and that’s when we check in with one of our business journalist friends to get their take on the latest news across our state’s business community.  Mike Switzer interviews Ross Norton, managing editor of SCBiz, which publishes a monthly statewide business magazine.  Ross tells us about some new music venues opening in Greenville, SC and why that trend across the state is good for busi...

You’ve probably heard that the long abandoned nuclear plants in Jenkinsville, SC may soon be resurrected.  Santee Cooper, the owner of the facilities, has reached an agreement with a purchaser and our guest today is here to give us an update.  Mike Switzer interviews Jimmy Staton, president and CEO of Santee Cooper in Moncks Corner, SC.  Resource: SCNuclear.com

Nonprofits are an integral part of our economy and each year they gather in our state for an annual conference where they discuss best practices and new strategies to help them sustain and grow their social as well as that economic impact.  Mike Switzer interviews Dawn Dowden, president of Homes of Hope and co-chair of the Together SC Summit coming to Greenville, SC Mar. 9-11.

You’ve probably heard of TED Talks, and maybe even TEDx, but you may not be aware that for over a decade, our capital city has not had either.  But soon that will change. Shyam Ganesh Babu is a top scholar at the University of South Carolina and founder of TEDxCongareeVista, coming to Columbia March 14th.

The tariff mess that started a year ago just got more confusing and has been blamed for last year’s weak economic growth.  How does the latest tariff news affect our state’s economy?  Mike Switzer interviews Joey Von Nessen, chief economist at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. 

It’s Monday, and that’s when we like to take a look at current business issues that are trending across our state and discuss them with one of our fellow news media friends.  This week, Mike Switzer interviews John McDermott, business editor of the Post and Courier in Charleston, SC.  John tells us what he’s hearing locally about the recent Supreme Court overturning Trump’s tariffs.  He also share...

It just makes sense that preventing unwanted pregnancies would be beneficial for both workers and employers.  And recently released data from a South Carolina program indeed shows that contraceptive access isn't just about healthcare, it's also now a proven economic development policy.  Mike Switzer interviews Bonnie Kapp, president and CEO of the New Morning in Columbia, SC.  South Carolina's "No...

When our next guest noticed her nursing students struggling to understand congenital heart defects, she realized the issue wasn’t their effort, it was the tools they were using.  So she turned this classroom challenge into an education technology startup.  Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Stephanie Schaller, assistant professor at USC’s College of Nursing and founder of NursEdvance Innovations in Colum...

March Forth, as in “go forth,” is an annual celebration of the legacy of one of our state’s most popular authors, Pat Conroy, who died 10 years ago on March 4, 2016.  It’s a week-long event hosted by the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, SC.  Mike Switzer interviews Sean Scapelatto, board chair for the center.

You may have heard of the “Sandwich Generation” — adults caring for aging parents as well as their own children.  This group faces several stressful challenges which is why our next guest says that setting clear priorities is very important.  Mike Switzer interviews Chris Cabri, a certified financial planner with Wells Fargo Advisors in Greenwood, SC.

Mike Switzer interviews Alan Cooper, founder and editor of three online business news websites in South Carolina: MidlandsBiz, UpstateBizSC, and LowCountryBizSC.  Alan updates us on the latest regarding the Scout Motors plant being built in the Midlands.