Apr 14, 2022 | News
Meet the Upstarters Making the Most of the Upstate
Abundance of jobs & advancement opportunities drive region’s magnetism
Cherry blossoms blooming, green returning to trees, and temperatures rising combine to make spring one of the best times to live it up in the Upstate.
And our secret’s catching on: with an average of 34 people per day moving to the Upstate and South Carolina ranked the 2nd most popular moving destination in 2020, there’s a magnetism to our region.
So what’s attracting people to move up, make more and build their best lives in the Upstate? Boundless career opportunities — 260,000+ unique job postings from 11,330+ employers — mixed with superb quality of life.
Move Up, an initiative of the Upstate SC Alliance created to connect employers and talent, has a job board to help you tap into Upstate career opportunities from creative services to manufacturing and engineering.
Looking for inspiration or stories to tell your friends? Read on to meet the Upstarters making the most of life in the Upstate.
‘Opportunities to make an impact’: Michael Judice
Michael Judice, a Virginia native, loves the sense of community he’s found in Spartanburg since moving here a few years ago.
It’s a contrast to his 13 years spent in New York City, Philadelphia and Charlotte, where Michael gained experience with world-renowned architecture firms though felt the lifestyle was too expensive and “a hustle all the time.” Today, he works with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture’s Community Studio, helping to design projects like a parking garage, police operations building and massive redevelopment sites.
Looking for a location to grow their family and make a community impact, Michael and wife Cathryn moved to her native Spartanburg, where Michael’s applied his design love into renovating a craftsman bungalow. And they find life is the right speed here: walkable to downtown Spartanburg and a Happy Hollow Park, where they love to unwind with their three boys.
With the return of farmer’s markets, you can catch him planning recipes at the Hub City Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings — a perfect pairing of hobby and passion, as he serves on the Hub City Farmer’s Market Board of Directors.
“What I really like about the Upstate is that there are better opportunities here to make an impact in the local community. It’s small enough to actually effect change, and to get involved.”
Setting roots in Seneca: Allison Pursley Moran
Allison Pursley Moran, a Seneca native, never imagined building her life in the Upstate.
Six years after returning from the University of Alabama, she’s deepening her roots here and progressing through her company’s ranks.
As branch manager for the Greenville office of ECS Limited, Allison leads a team of 25 engineers, project managers and field technicians who perform due diligence, testing and ongoing code and specification review for construction sites.
“It blows my mind when I think about what I’ve been able to work up to within six years,” she adds, noting that the firm propelled her advancement from field technician through engineering certificate training and pursuing her Professional Engineer license.
“As long as you give back to a company that’s investing in you, you’re going to keep moving up,” she adds.
Allison and her husband, Andrew, welcomed a baby boy in December 2021, and they find the Upstate a perfect place to grow their family.
The pair loves to make the most of the scenic outdoors with their dog Sancho – taking in the dense concentration of waterfalls during hikes in Oconee County, or enjoying days on the water at Lake Keowee or Lake Hartwell.
“We’re so close to the mountains, we could hit anywhere from four to 10 waterfalls in a day,” she says.
A sweet spot for creatives: Jehan Wills
If you put Jehan Willls’ previous residences on a spectrum, you’d find a charming, Southern small Kentucky town at one end and the tree-lined streets of the nation’s capital at the other.
In between, you’ll find Mauldin, South Carolina, the supportive, “right size” atmosphere Jehan now calls home.
And what a journey she’s had: since moving to downtown Greenville in 2019, she and her husband purchased a home and welcomed twin boys. Shortly after, Jehan was promoted to Senior Marketing Manager with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture.
A marketing and communications pro with diverse experience, Jehan honed her skills working in commercial real estate in Charlotte before moving to Washington, D.C., as a Marketing Coordinator for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), a global architecture firm known for projects like the Burj Khalifa. There, she handled business development, proposals, and qualification efforts.
A graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in Corporate Communication, Jehan has always been interested in the intersection of marketing, business development, and communication— the sweet spot where she applies her creative energy today.
“I feel very fortunate to work with an understanding and collaborative team. I look forward to exploring my new role—both professionally and personally.”
In her off time, Jehan and family love to make the most of Greenville’s amenities, from outdoor eateries like Gather GVL to strolling Falls Park to visiting the Greenville Zoo with their one-year-old boys.
Join the Movement
Whether you’re interested in finding a job in Upstate SC or telling all your friends to make the move up and experience more in Upstate SC, you, too can join the movement.
Find a Job: Big names in business, technology and financial services maintain major headquarters operations in the Upstate, which means a range of open positions, including in marketing and sales, human resources, IT and much more. Explore the Move Up job board to find a job in Upstate SC today.
Get Social: share how you’re living your best life in Upstate SC by tagging #MoveUpSC and #UpstateVibe365 on social. Are you up for it?
Apr 14, 2022 | News
The BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX has big goals for sustainability! In 2021 it became a zero-waste event, diverting 100% of all waste from landfills. They were able to set baselines in many other areas as well, such as WtE, carbon footprint, water consumption and more.
Even more, is happening in 2022. The tournament is working on becoming a carbon-neutral event. Thanks to the support of Milliken & Co., Rabble Wine Co., and IAC Group the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX has partnered with TreesUpstate to do multiple tree giveaways throughout the year.
The first Tree Giveaway in honor of Arbor Day:
- Date: Saturday, April 30
- Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm
- Location: Roger Milliken Center – 920 Milliken Road, Spartanburg, SC
- For more information visit: TreesUpstate.org/BMWCharityGolf
The tournament has also partnered with the Hispanic Alliance, so you will see some changes in signage and social media this year. We are working on becoming an inclusive event and ensuring everyone feels welcomed. There will be bilingual volunteers, updates to the website featuring a Spanish section, and the signage at the tournament will be in Spanish and English.
We are also working with One Acorn to ensure outreach in the community! They want to reach ALL communities and ensure access to everyone that is interested.
There are many other great things happening before the tournament as well.
In partnership with Keep OneSpartanburg Beautiful, we will be hosting a litter cleanup. Last year the tournament was able to help clean up 2260 pounds of litter!
In honor of Earth Day, we will be cleaning up a section of roadway in Spartanburg.
- Date: Friday, April 22
- Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm
- Location: J. Verne Smith between 101 and 290
- For more information email Kari Snyder at Ksnyder@sccharities.org
There is much more happening with sustainability leading up to the tournament and during the tournament. If you are interested in helping in any way, please reach out to us to let us know! There are many sponsorship opportunities within sustainability, volunteer opportunities, and other partnership opportunities…together we can make a difference.
Visit bmwcharitygolf.com for more information or sign up for the newsletter to stay in the know!
Apr 12, 2022 | News
Creating a Safer Upstate Beyond the Shield Workshop – Law Enforcement Outreach Strategies
4/11/2022
The first Creating a Safer Upstate – Beyond the Shield Virtual Workshop of 2022 provided an opportunity for Upstate law enforcement agencies to share some of the ways they engage with their local communities.
The law enforcement panelists for the session were Chief Matt Hamby from the City of Greer, Chief Sonny Ledda from the City of Clinton, Chief Ben Ford from the City of Travelers Rest, and Lt. Todd Caron from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office. The Community Leaders participating in the conversation will be Inez Morris from the West Greenville Neighborhood Association and Patrena Mims, Executive Director of the Bethlehem Center in Spartanburg’s Highland Neighborhood. Jim Shew from Marsh & McLennan and Keishe Nelson from Michelin coordinated the audience questions during the session.
Coffee with a Cop was a popular activity, along with community meetings, funeral escorts for veterans, and doing “talks” around town for churches and other civic groups. Many agencies offer trainings including active assailant, bus driver active shooter response, active shooter and reunification, and safety trainings for seniors and women. Many Upstate agencies also have citizens academies and do events for kids like trunk or treats, touch a trucks, First Bump Fridays, gun safety, Girls on the Run, summer Camp, and stuff a cruiser to collect school supplies and holidays gifts.
Ten at the Top will host a virtual event in May with Upstate agencies invited to hear from a National Night Out representative about the benefits of registering events this year, with the hope to have all events on the same day to build energy and awareness around community engagement.
Questions from the community involved building trust and relationships between law enforcement and communities. Chief Hamby discussed taking advantage of random opportunities to engage while working in neighborhoods, and the efforts law enforcement makes to incorporate community engagement into their work. COP cards (like baseball cards) were mentioned, and decals for drivers with autism. Many agencies receive training from their local disabilities and special needs boards.
View the slide presentation here, and a recording of the meeting here.
Apr 12, 2022 | News
Spring is the air on Furman’s campus and our faculty, staff and students have been actively engaged both inside and outside our gates. With that in mind, we’d like to share a few highlights with you:
- The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament first- and second-round games hosted by Furman and the Southern Conference generated more than $10 million in economic impact and added $125,000 in revenue to the local tax digest. March Madness was a Big Win For Greenville!
- Furman dedicated a peace pole, presented by the Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection, between the Dining Hall and Furman Lake. The pole “represents Furman’s hope and commitment toward peace in our community and the entire world,” said student Abijah Leamon ’24.
- The 14th annual Furman Engaged event was held on April 12th. This amazing day highlights students’ achievements in research, internships and study away.
- Gabie Giers ’23, a sustainability science major, was named a Newman Civic Fellow. The honor includes a year of training and networking to build personal and professional skills aimed at helping students make a difference in their communities.
- George Shields, professor of chemistry, received the 2022 Faculty Mentor Award from the Council on Undergraduate Research and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.
- Tom Whittemore ’23 and Colin Bready ’24 were named Goldwater Scholars, the preeminent honor for undergraduates studying the natural sciences, engineering and math. Furman has had six Goldwater Scholars since 2019.
- A Greenville News story about the danger White Horse Road poses to pedestrians in Greenville cites the research of Furman senior Loise Aleria.
- Bob Anderson ’18 and some of his students at JL Mann High School in Greenville have taken on the job for mapping stars as part of the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program.
Written by: Liz Seman
Apr 6, 2022 | News
UEE Partner Workshop Recap (April 5th)
How’s Business…Really? – Organizing the Numbers
The “How’s Business…Really” series continued with Organizing Your Numbers, presented by Earl Gregorich of the South Carolina Small Business Center. This is part of the 2002 virtual Upstate Entrepreneur Ecosystem Partner Workshop Series.
Earl discussed organizing numbers to make sense of them, keeping the audience in mind, for example, bankers and investors are looking for very specific information to provide funding. Organizing the numbers is also important for daily operations and decision-making. Here is a downloadable sample excel spreadsheet.
The SC Small Business Development Center, the Women’s Business Center of CommunityWorks, and Piedmont SCORE are offering this series to provide tools and tips for you to assess the financial health of your small business. The third of the series continues on May 3 with Translating the Numbers into Financial Goals, with Jerry Smith of SCORE. Register here for this virtual workshop.
Apr 5, 2022 | News
Our Mission
Upstate Forever (UF) is a nonprofit conservation group that works to balance growth with natural resource protection. Our mission is to protect our region’s critical lands and waters, especially in the face of rapid sprawl. We advocate for an environmentally healthy, economically prosperous Upstate where residents experience a high quality of life because our region’s natural assets are maintained and preserved through conservation and smart growth. Our programs include Land Conservation, Clean Water, Energy and State Policy, and Land Planning and Policy.
Program Overviews
Land Conservation: UF was the first land trust in South Carolina to receive national accreditation. Our Land Conservation program partners with landowners to protect special places through permanent conservation easements. In 2021, our team protected approximately 3,600 acres of private and public forests, farmlands, and greenspaces across the ten Upstate counties we serve. Through our partner projects with other nonprofits, we also successfully protected an additional 900 acres.
Clean Water: Our Clean Water team partners with a diverse group of stakeholders to ensure water quality and quantity are protected, especially as population pressure increases. We focus on keeping streams, rivers, and lakes healthy and protecting watershed lands critical to clean drinking water.
Energy & State Policy: UF has recently emerged as leader in energy advocacy. We work at the state and local level to fight unnecessary infrastructure and lay the groundwork for regulations and policy that encourages flexible and cost-effective clean renewable energy, energy storage, demand side management, and energy efficiency.
Land Planning and Policy: With the Upstate’s projected population growth estimated to reach nearly 1,750,000 – an increase of 64% since 1990 – by 2040, our Land Planning and Policy team works diligently to facilitate plans and policies to accommodate that growth. Where and how growth occurs directly impacts residents’ quality of life and the region’s natural assets. We believe that growth should be directed to already urbanized areas equipped with supporting infrastructure.
Greenville City and County recently adopted Comprehensive Plans, which include targeted goals to advance smart growth. Historically, such plans have too often remained underrealized and never enacted with policy. However, we are excited to see the City and County drafting new ordinances to support implementation of their Comprehensive Plans.
Current priority efforts in Greenville County
We have seen growth within the City of Greenville, but Greenville County is growing rapidly, too, with 220,000+ new residents projected by 2040.
In early 2020, County Council unanimously adopted a widely supported Comprehensive Plan that envisions protecting natural assets while accommodating growth by directing most new development to the county’s center, where infrastructure can support it. To help realize this vision, Greenville County is drafting a new Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to replace existing zoning and land development regulations.
The new UDO should enact the community’s future vision by allowing higher density development in already urbanized areas and limiting development intensity in rural, undeveloped areas with remaining forests and farmlands. The UDO should also respect the community’s desire to protect natural assets by strengthening open space requirements in the county’s rural conservation subdivision design standards, as well as tree canopy and riparian buffer protection countywide. Riparian buffers play an enormous role in preventing severe flooding events and stabilizing streambanks, thereby protecting water quality and critical habitats.
Land conservation is critical to water quality as well. In fact, the Trust for Public Lands found that every $1 spent on land protection saves $27 on water treatment costs, reinforcing the crucial relationship between land conservation and water quality, and the essential role that local conservation banks and funding can play in protecting water quality and residents’ quality of life. Keep an eye out for our kiosks along the Swamp Rabbit trail to learn more about how we’re protecting Greenville’s water sources.
City of Greenville
The City is currently developing the GVL Development Code to implement their new comprehensive plan: GVL 2040. This multi-year, once-in-a-decade process intends to overhaul zoning and land development regulations to direct most future growth to nodes and corridors through traditional, higher density urban development. To realize this vision, the new Code must ensure smart growth that is more urban and less suburban.
Three priorities are driving the new Code: preserving greenspace, offering more affordable housing, and reducing dependence on cars. Our Land Planning and Policy team closely monitors and advocates for provisions in the Code to advance these community goals. We advocate for incentives and requirements that promote upward, not outward forms of development; green and open spaces within developments; diverse housing types that suit their location, such as taller buildings on major streets and house-size buildings in walkable neighborhoods; pockets of higher density, walkable, mixed-use development that make efficient public transit feasible; complete streets that encourage walking, biking, and transit; and deliberate steps to avoid displacing current residents, especially in historically marginalized communities of color.
How Greenville residents can help
To further our work, we need more local conservation funding to match state and federal funding sources. Local funding sources, such as the Greenville County Historic Natural Resources Trust and the Upstate Land Conservation Fund, and state funding sources like the South Carolina Conservation Bank, are dedicated to supporting local conservation projects, but the local match piece is critical.
Our programs also rely overwhelmingly on donations from residents, and you may donate directly to UF.
If you are interested in joining the efforts in the City or County, Upstate Forever has several upcoming opportunities.
Land Planning and Policy will host our popular Citizens Planning Academy this fall, which is an interactive course designed to help Greenville residents, business owners, and neighborhood leaders understand processes that drive local planning and land use policy.
If you’d like to stay informed about general updates, news, or action alerts, then please join our email lists or visit our website upstateforever.org. We have other events coming up, including our ForeverGreen Annual Awards Luncheon on June 13th, and a variety of volunteer opportunities and site visits.
You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
