South Carolina Business Review

Paying off your mortgage early can seem like a great idea - who wouldn't want to own their home free and clear and stop making monthly payments? But is it always the best move financially? We’ve invited our next guest to the show today to help answer that question. Mike Switzer interviews Garet Strange, a certified financial planner with Hobbs Group Advisors in Columbia, SC.

An update of the news, events and issues that are trending right now across South Carolina's business community. Mike Switzer interviews Jason Thomas, executive editor of SCBizNews, the company that publishes the Columbia Regional Business Report, Charleston Regional Business Journal, GSA Business and SCBizNews magazine.

As we’ve noted recently, the pandemic motivated many people to start their own companies, and in one category more than others - food. After starting her own food truck last year, our next guest recently decided to also enter the commercial kitchen business. Mike Switzer interviews Carena Jones, co-owner of Just Jonesin’ Commissary Kitchen in Columbia, SC.

We’ve come to learn that while many companies closed during the pandemic, many also began. Our next guest is one such example. During the economic shutdown, she and her co-founder turned their hobby of jam-making into a growing enterprise with the help of a grant from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture’s Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship, known as ACRE. Mike Switzer i...

For some reason, most people still believe Georgia is the leading peach grower in the country but actually our state produces three times as much. In fact, only California is ahead of us and the second-largest peach farm in the country is here and is run by our next guest. Mike Switzer interviews Chalmers Carr, CEO of Titan Farms in Ridge Spring, SC.

Everyone’s heard the old adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. And you probably also know this is often applied to investment strategy. Unfortunately, the top 10 stocks in the US market, mostly technology companies, are now concentrated in major indices, like the S&P 500, to the highest degree in nearly five decades. While the performance of this handful of stocks has been terrific ov...

Mike Switzer interviews John Warner, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Innoventure in Greenville, S.C. John tells us about new electric vehicle news in SC and the director of the Center for Connected Multimodal Mobility (C2M2) at Clemson University receiving a $20 million grant from US Dept. of Transportation and starting a new center: the National Center for Transportation Cybersecurity and Re...

Over the years, we’ve come across many entrepreneurs who have utilized the free mentoring services provided by our next guest’s organization but it’s been a while since we’ve checked in with them. So today we’re ringing them up. Mike Switzer interviews Jim Helfgott, district director for the South Carolina chapter of SCORE.

Natural gas is often listed in the clean energy category. Some people might say a more appropriate moniker would be “cleaner than oil”. But either way, our next guest is plugging away at furthering the growth of the industry as part of a recently formed organization in the Carolinas that represents all parts of the natural gas supply chain, along with public gas entities and economic development g...

After over 20 years of planning, our next guest’s museum officially opened to the public this June, with a mission of helping visitors learn the full story of the African American journey. Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Tonya M. Matthews, president and CEO of the International African American Museum in Charleston.

We’re in that time of year where many people are going through open enrollment to determine their employer benefits for the next year. So our next guest says that makes this a perfect time for individuals and business owners alike to evaluate their 401(k)s and retirement plans. Mike Switzer interviews Anne Marie Ashworth, a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Greenville.

An update of the news, events and issues that are trending right now across South Carolina's business community. Mike Switzer interviews Alan Cooper, founder and editor of three online business news websites in South Carolina: MidlandsBiz, UpstateBizSC, and LowCountryBizSC.

Our state has thousands of small businesses and many of them are involved in e-commerce. Our next guest’s nonprofit organization is currently developing a statewide, commission-free, online marketplace that connects our state’s small companies to a centralized e-commerce South Carolina-centric community. Mike Switzer interviews Jenny Boulware with the Municipal Association of South Carolina in Col...

So you have a smartphone and maybe a smartwatch, how about trying smart jewelry? Our next guest’s Upstate start-up has, in fact, patented a smart earring that tracks biodata, such as body temperature, activity, sleep, and even women’s fertility and menstrual cycles. Mike Switzer interviews Lindsey Calcutt, CEO of Incora Health in Greenville, SC.

Our next guest’s home supply store is one of many in our state and country that help local families to build, rehabilitate and repair safe and affordable homes in our communities. Mike Switzer interviews Kevin Oliver, manager of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in West Columbia, SC.

Our next guest says that most people do not realize the importance of proactive tax planning during the overall financial planning process. Why? Well, he says the investment industry typically doesn’t allow investment representatives to talk about taxes, and most CPAs do not perform proactive tax planning unless their clients request it. Mike Switzer interviews Peter Pigeon, a certified financial...

Mike Switzer interviews John Warner, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Innoventure in Greenville, S.C. John tells us about new traction involving large companies collaborating with mid-size and entrepreneurial companies in SC as a result of this radio show.

The Small Business Act, signed into law by President Eisenhower in 1953, created a new government agency whose mission was to promote the interests of small businesses in order to enhance competition in the marketplace. Seventy years later, the institution continues to be a valuable resource for our nation’s small business community. Mike Switzer interviews Gregg White, the SBA’s district director...

After founding, operating, and exiting several small businesses throughout his life, our next guest launched his current enterprise: elevated dog beds. Why? Let’s find out. Mike Switzer interviews David Prince, founder of Truman and Teddy in Greenville, SC.

With the current rapid growth of our aging population, more and more adults are finding themselves caring for their parents. Our next guest says that can be a difficult world to navigate. Mike Switzer interviews Anna Gelbman Edmonds, founder of Reverse Magazine in Columbia, SC.

Our next guest says that, economically speaking, these are definitely challenging times. A serious overseas war, rising interest rates, up and down inflation, layoffs, strikes, AI, crazy politics, regional bank failures, and yet, a historically low unemployment rate continues. So, is a recession coming or not? Mike Switzer interviews Bruce Yandle, Dean Emeritus at the College of Business & Beh...

An update of the news, events and issues that are trending right now across South Carolina's business community. Mike Switzer interviews Jason Thomas, executive editor of SCBizNews, the company that publishes the Columbia Regional Business Report, Charleston Regional Business Journal, GSA Business and SCBizNews magazine.

In case you missed it, our state was recently awarded more than $551 million from the federal government to deploy affordable and reliable high-speed internet to over 100,000 homes and small businesses across our rural communities who do not currently have that access. Mike Switzer interviews Jim Stritzinger, director of the SC Broadband Office, which is part of our state’s Office of Regulatory St...

When you think of the livestock industry in our state, the odds are you would not think of bison. Which is why we were surprised to learn about our next guest’s 215-acre ranch with a herd of over 40 bison located in our Olde English District. Mike Switzer interviews Fred Ilse, founder and CEO of Tatanka Bison Ranch in York, SC.

After a stint heading up Louisiana’s economic development efforts, our next guest took over the reins of those same efforts for our state’s life sciences industry two years ago. Let’s check in and see how he and that sector of our state are doing. Mike Switzer interviews James Chappell, president and CEO of SCBIO in Greenville, SC.