GREENVILLE, S.C.— Ten at the Top was selected as the 2018 Outstanding Planning Advocate by the South Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association (SCAPA), for having improved quality of life within the state. The award was presented at SCAPA’s Fall Conference held in Greenville, S.C. on November 2.
Pictured left to right: Barry Nocks, TATT Founding Board Member; Dean Hybl, TATT Executive Director; Andrea Pietras, SCAPA President; Stephanie Monroe Tillerson, Former Upstate Professional Planners Co-Chair; Michael Forman, Upstate Professional Planners Co-Chair; Phil Lindler, Upstate Professional Planners Co-Chair.
The SCAPA Planning Awards recognize those who, through their exceptional efforts, have contributed to the advancement of the art and science of planning in South Carolina. Each of these plans, projects, organizations and individuals acknowledged have furthered the quality of life for the people of South Carolina. The awards offer one of the few opportunities that South Carolina planners and communities have to highlight the virtues of planning and recognize those who contribute to the profession.
Since 2012, Ten at the Top has convened the Upstate Professional Planners Group that includes local government as well as private planners from across the region. The group has worked collaboratively on a number of projects, including developing an Upstate Planners Tool Kit, conducting a review of all the county Comprehensive Plans in the region and serving as the technical committee for the Shaping Our Future and Connecting Our Future regional initiatives.
Dean Hybl, Executive Director of Ten at the Top, stated that he is “honored even to be considered for such an award. Planning professionals play a vital role in shaping our communities and Ten at the Top is pleased to be able to provide opportunities for discussion and collaboration around issues that are impacting how we are growing as a region.”
About Ten at the Top
Comprised of public, private and civic leaders from across the ten-county Upstate South Carolina Region, Ten at the Top was created to connect and encourage regional collaboration through data-driven research and regular convening of leaders and citizens to address key issues facing the region. Ten at the Top works with regional partners to foster collaboration and strategic planning to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life for Upstate residents both today and as the region continues to grow.
In October, a luncheon in Columbia, hosted by South Carolina Business Awards and presented by The Capital Corporation, celebrated the top 25 fastest-growing companies in South Carolina—and twelve of those companies are here in the Upstate.
The qualifications for the awards are that
the company must be headquartered in South Carolina, have been in operation for
at least 3 fiscal years, and have reported revenues of at least $3 million in
the most recent year; judging is based on financial and employee growth over a
3-year period.
Those Upstate companies that were honored at
the luncheon reflect the larger trend of growth in our area. The companies
include:
a financial services firm: WCM Global Wealth (Greenville), a diversified financial services firm specialized in providing exclusive financial products and services
two staffing firms that cater to technology groups: The Hiring Group (Greer), a technical staffing and recruiting firm, and Intellectual Capitol (Greenville), a staffing and technology services company that provides technology assessment and consulting, strategic staffing, and application development
three companies in the technical/engineering/manufacturing sector: Clear Touch Interactive (Greenville),a leading provider of multi-touch interactive flat panels for education,government, and businesses; NextGen Supply Chain (Greenville), providing consulting, engineering support, andsupply chain management services to advanced manufacturing industries such as aerospace, automotive, and medical devices; and Thomas Mechanical (Laurens), a mechanical contractor specializing in commercial/industrial HVAC services, fabrication, process piping, engineering, and maintenance services.
two contracting and construction companies: Harper General Contractors (Greenville), a full service general contracting and construction management firm offering preconstruction, building information modeling, design-build, construction management at risk, LEED construction, and design-assist services; and Clayton Construction Company (Spartanburg), a general contractor that will provide preconstruction planning, project coordination, post-construction follow-up, and a range of other services based on the project.
two real estate companies: RealOp Investments (Greenville), a commercial real estate investment company; and National Land Realty (Greenville), a full-service real estate brokerage company specializing in farm, ranch, recreational, plantation, timber, equestrian, waterfront, and commercial land across the country.
a fitness company: 9Round (Simpsonville), specialized fitness centers that bring kickboxing fitness training to the average person in a convenient, affordable, 30-minute, full-body circuit format.
and a food company: Duke Brands (Greenville), the holding company for Duke Foods, a manufacturer of ready-to-eat dips, spreads (most notably Duke’s Mayonnaise), and bakery items, as well as the Duke Sandwich Company restaurants.
Additionally, the following awards were
handed out: Harper General Contractors, headquartered in Greenville, was
presented with the South Carolina Economic Impact Award. The Rising Star was
awarded to Global Sales Group (Easley). South Carolina Excellence in Business
Awards went to A3 Communications (Irmo), Duke Brands (Greenville), PCI Group (Fort
Mill), and Quality Business Solutions (Travelers Rest).
Congratulations
to all of these companies for their growth and for their contribution to the
grown of the Upstate and of South Carolina.
By Erin Ouzts, TATT Economic & Entrepreneurial Vitality Task Force Chair
While much of the publicity related to jobs and economic development is often centered on larger employers, the reality is that small businesses and entrepreneurs are critical to the economic success of any community or region.
In the Upstate, many people are working to cultivate an entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports individuals and small businesses. Engaging the support providers for this key economic engine has been a focus of Ten at the Top and the Economic & Entrepreneurial Vitality Task Force since the early days of the organization.
Over the last year, our Entrepreneur Support Providers Network has been hearing from local and national leaders on how to continue growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Upstate.
People, trust, values, culture. How do these attributes make our Upstate region entrepreneurs, founders and business owners more successful?
When Andy Stoll, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Senior Program Officer in Entrepreneurship and overall entrepreneurial ecosystem development leader in the U.S., talked with our Entrepreneur Support Providers by Skype last November, this is what he said we needed. As you can imagine, our practical Upstate advisors, coaches, lenders, investors, SBDC & SCORE representatives, incubators, accelerators and every organization that supports entrepreneurs were a little uncomfortable with this. We were also a little uncomfortable with the region’s lack of awareness of the amazing work we do to build a thriving base of support for our entrepreneurs.
As engagement with the Economic and Entrepreneurial Vitality driver area has grown, we knew we depend on our personal networks to match our entrepreneur clients to the appropriate network. Then we gathered professionals from around the 10 counties and realized there were many resources we didn’t know about that could be exceptionally helpful. The challenge became: How do we actively connect these new links to our network and provide appropriate resources for entrepreneurs?
Stoll explained that entrepreneur ecosystems allow entrepreneurs to more quickly access the knowledge and funding they need, shortening their time to success and potential need for additional funds. To provide unobstructed pathways, we professionals need to know others in the network, understand the strengths and special skills each brings, take the time to connect entrepreneurs to the right person, and trust our peers. When I asked how to do this, he said one of the best ways is to do something together.
What could we all do together, yet separately, to support our local entrepreneurs and increase awareness Our Entrepreneur Support Providers Network (soon to be Entrepreneur Ecosystem)? How about a regional Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration? That might work! In 2018, our ESP meetings have been geared toward individual events held within each community yet promoted collectively on shared platforms to shine a light on the extent of the many organizations involved in supporting entrepreneurs, founders and growing companies.
Ten at the Top has a Regional Resource Map with Ecosystem members’ location and information easily accessible. In the Know Upstate is the regional calendar for the events. The Global Entrepreneurship Week and Ten at the Top brands on our materials will identify us as connected.
The following resources give more information about entrepreneurial ecosystems:
“Winning the Future” theme will infuse Opening Session, Workshops, and Keynote Address
GREENVILLE, S.C.— Winning the Future, the 2018 Upstate Summit hosted by Ten at the Top and presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, has confirmed more than three dozen regional leaders to speak, representing a vibrant cross-section of the Upstate’s corporate and civic community. The 2018 Regional Summit is scheduled for Tuesday, September 25 at the TD Convention Center, from 7:30 am to 1:30 pm. Tickets are available via Eventbrite via tenatthetop.org for $65 per person (corporate) and $45 per person (non-profit). Registration ends September 14, 2018.
“The 2018 Upstate Summit will provide a unique opportunity for business, community and civic leaders, as well as interested stakeholders from across the region, to share ideas and discuss how to work collaboratively to ensure our region continues to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life for all residents,” said Dean Hybl, Executive Director of Ten at the Top. “We expect between 800 and 900 to attend, and are looking forward to a great event.”
Doors open at 7:30 am with the Summit’s B2B Expo sponsored by ScanSource, providing networking and continental breakfast until the Opening Session begins at 9:00 am.
Opening Session Panel
The Opening Session of the 2018 Upstate Regional Summit, presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, is entitled “Is South Carolina and the Upstate Well Positioned to ‘Win the Future’ in Economic Development and Job Creation?” Speakers are set to include:
Frank Davis, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd
Beth Land, Site Selection Group
Nelson Lindsay, South Carolina Department of Commerce
Trey Pennington, CBRE
Moderators: Amy Wood, WSPA-TV; and John Lummus, Upstate SC Alliance
Breakout Sessions
The Summit will continue with breakout sessions involving presentations by and discussions with Upstate leaders through the lens of Ten at the Top’s five Regional Driver areas: Winning the Future Around Education and Workforce Development; Winning the Future Around Mobility and Connectivity; Winning the Future Around Innovation and Technology; and Winning the Future Around Creating Vibrant Communities. Each Summit participant chooses two of the four breakout sessions. Each breakout sessions lasts 45 minutes with a short break in between.
Winning the Future Around Innovation and Technology
Speakers are set to include:
Susan Brami, Spectrum
Glen McManus, ReWa
Lelia King, Build Carolina & Carolina Code School
Moderator: Rob Krulac, CU-ICAR
Winning the Future Around Creating Vibrant Communities
Speakers are set to include:
Phil Hughes, Hughes Investments
Jil Littlejohn, Greenville City Council & the Urban League of the Upstate
Blake Sanders, City of Easley and Town of West Pelzer
Nancy Whitworth, City of Greenville
Moderator: Jennifer Evins, Chapman Cultural Center
Winning the Future Around Mobility and Connectivity
Winning the Future Around Education and Workforce Development
Speakers are set to include:
Joanne Avery, Anderson School District Four
Ronnie Booth, Tri-County Technical College
Brendan Kelly, USC Upstate
Carlos Phillips, Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce
Moderator: Ansel Sanders, Public Education Partners
Connections Corner
New to the Summit experience this year, participants may visit Connections Corner during the Breakout period. Connections Corner, sponsored by GSA Business Report and Limestone College, allows Summit participants to engage in conversation with community leaders around specific topics of interest, as a way of cultivating more and deeper connections and collaborations among those who share areas of passion, interest, or industry.
During Session One, the topics and confirmed conversationalists in Connections Corner are as follows:
Future of K-12 Education
Dr. Burke Royster, Greenville County School District
Dr. Richard Rosenberger, Anderson County School District 2
Role of Technical Colleges in Reducing the “Skills Gap” for Manufacturing
Henry Giles, Spartanburg Community College
Dr. Jermaine Whirl, Greenville Technical College
Importance of Higher Education and Advanced Degrees for Future Workforce
Dr. George Petersen, Clemson University College of Education
Dr. Paul LeFrancois, Limestone College
Promoting Multi-Modal Transportation and Mobility in the Upstate
Keith Brockington, Greenville Pickens Area Transportation Study
Ty Houck, Greenville County Trails Director
How can we promote Sustainable Growth in the Upstate?
Sue Schneider, Spartanburg Water
Lisa Hallo, Upstate Forever
During Session Two, the topics and confirmed conversationalists in Connections Corner are as follows:
Providing for the Needs of Our Growing Senior Population
Catriona Carlisle, Meals on Wheels of Greenville
James Bennett, Upstate Home Health
Creating an Ecosystem to Support Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses in Your Community
Erin Ouzts, Spartanburg Angel Network
Dave Eldridge, Tri-County Entrepreneurial Development Corp
What is on the Horizon for Economic Development in the Upstate?
Heather Jones, Greenwood Partnership Alliance
Patty Bock, City of Spartanburg
Development Trends and Challenges in the Upstate
David Feild, Colliers International
Todd Horne, Clayton Construction
How do we recruit future talent to the Upstate?
John Lummus, Upstate SC Alliance
Allen Smith, Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce
Keynote Address
The Summit will culminate with the Summit Keynote Address sponsored by Greenville Business Magazine. Ten at The Top is excited to welcome Polly LaBarre as the 2018 Upstate Summit Keynote Speaker. Polly LaBarre is the Co-author of Mavericks at Work, Co-founder of Management Lab and Founding Writer at Fast Company. For more than 20 years, LaBarre has used her writing, business consulting, and speaking to help organizations unleash and organize human potential in ever more powerful ways.
More than 70 organizations across the Upstate support the 2018 Upstate Summit as sponsors and make the event possible, including BlueCrossBlueShield of South Carolina, Spartanburg Water, Fluor, WSPA-TV, Greenville Business Magazine, Skyline Exhibits & Design, Palmetto Technology Group, USC Upstate, Piedmont Natural Gas, ScanSource, GSA Business Report, Limestone College, Upstate Business Journal, Hughes Investments and In the Know Upstate.
About Ten at the Top
Comprised of public, private and civic leaders from across the ten-county Upstate South Carolina Region, Ten at the Top was created to connect and encourage regional collaboration through data-driven research and regular convening of leaders and citizens to address key issues facing the region. Ten at the Top works with regional partners to foster collaboration and strategic planning to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life for Upstate residents both today and as the region continues to grow. For more information, visit www.tenatthetop.org.
Ten at the Top recently hosted an event called “A Cleaner Future: A Look at Air Quality, Sustainability, and Energy Innovation in the Upstate,” which covered topics ranging from health issues to homebuilding to transporting groceries more sustainably.
In the focus area of transportation, Maeve Mason and Landon Masters from the SC Office of Regulatory Staff Energy Office gave a presentation about their organization’s Transportation Fuel Action Tool—and if you’re scratching your head, wondering why the Energy Office is talking about transportation, Masters offers this statistic in answer: 29% of energy consumption in South Carolina is due to transportation (compared to 32% industrial use and only 22% residential).
With that in mind, the Energy Office has a suite of tools and initiatives aimed at making that consumption more efficient—among them, the above-mentioned Transportation Fuel Action Tool, which helps companies and organizations that own fleets of vehicles to audit and analyze their fleet, factoring in intangibles such as public opinion, political will, economic development, and more, in order to inform decisions about a possible move to alternative fuel sources. Masters notes that in areas where electricity is generated by coal, making a shift to electric vehicles may not be much of a gain in terms of clean energy, but the tool takes that into consideration based on the user’s region.
In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, there are also a variety of tools for individuals to make informed decisions about their fuel consumption, whether they’re buying a new or used car, wanting to find alternative fueling stations, or looking for information to read up on the subject. There are mobile tools as well for locating fueling stations and comparing fuel efficiency, emissions, and costs among different vehicles.
As part of the Palmetto Clean Fuels coalition (PCF), Plug In SC is an initiative whose aim is to increase the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by making charging stations visible and easy to find, using signage, pavement markings, and designated parking spaces. It wasn’t enough to simply provide the charging stations, Masters says, because many times they were tucked away behind a concrete wall in a corner of a parking garage. True, EV drivers will find them because they need them, but part of making them visible is creating awareness in other drivers that charging stations are plentiful and accessible.
A comprehensive state energy plan is in the works—a collaboration of stakeholders putting together a vision for the future of energy in the state and recommendations about what is needed to get there. One of those recommendations came from the transportation subcommittee: Lead by example, particularly when it comes to the adoption of alternative fuel sources and modes of transportation.
“We’ve been working with our stakeholder groups and state fleets to identify goals for adoption of alternative fuel vehicles statewide from a public fleet perspective,” Masters says. “We’re hoping that we can include a recommendation for a state goal, and that goal can be established and we can work using the tool that we have to help fleets make that transition.”
For more information about how your organization or you as an individual can conserve fuel, consider alternatives, and make an impact on South Carolina’s air quality, visit Palmetto Clean Fuels.org.
Last October, Ten at the Top and various stakeholders launched Connecting Our Future with a kickoff event that looked at the region’s transportation needs, where we’re going, and how best to get there.
For the past several months, those stakeholders—individuals from public, private, and civic organizations ranging from freight, logistics, and industry to education and healthcare—have been working together to create a regional vision for transportation, mobility, and connectivity in the 10 counties of the Upstate.
In March of this year, a Connecting Our Future idea exchange was convened to explore both issues and possible solutions (click here for the presentation from that forum), facilitated by consultant Stephen Stansbery of Kimley-Horn. Other team meetings have been happening regularly to keep momentum going and to allow coalition members to continue talking to one another.
On Tuesday, a Public Rollout Event was held at the TD Convention Center with a group of more than 220 stakeholders–although Ten at the Top executive director Dean Hybl says he doesn’t want the term “rollout” to give anyone the impression that there’s a finished product and the work is done. Instead, he wants to change the way we think about implementation. “What we’re trying to do is to create a culture to enable projects, encouraging people to come together to solve problems instead of completing a project,” he says.
Our Region’s Challenges
Stansbury gave an unvarnished look at the challenges facing our region that will need to be addressed in working towards sustainable mobility. Among those, one of the biggest is that we are a very auto-dependent region, with only 2% of the population using some other means than a car to get where they need to go. Geographically, there isn’t much to restrict sprawling growth—and that growth is happening quickly, with Greenville being the 3rd fastest-growing community of its size in 2015–2016. Additionally, we are a freight-heavy region, not only being in the middle of the Charlotte-Atlanta corridor, but also being home to manufacturers whose products are destined for wide distribution and export.
Perhaps the biggest challenge, though, is that the need is outpacing resources when it comes to addressing mobility issues, which means some out-of-the-box thinking is needed from individuals and groups who may not be used to working together.
Impacts to Our Region
Representatives from three stakeholder groups—elected officials, workforce development, and energy—gave perspectives on ways that mobility issues impact us.
Terence Roberts, now serving his fourth term as mayor of Anderson, talked about the lack of funding for public transportation and how it affects low-income individuals, relating the story of seeing four people waiting in 90-degree heat for a bus with their groceries, some of which must have been perishable. And seniors who don’t drive and don’t have family to drive them may miss medical appointments, which affects healthcare. “How do we serve those individuals?” he asked.
Janice Moss, head of human resources for the staffing company redi-Group, addressed the challenges of finding and keeping qualified workers when there is a large group of untouched workers who don’t have access to transportation. Yes, we can recruit from out of state and bring workers in, but looking at the lack of public transportation to manufacturing facilities here in the Upstate would allow access to a wider group of workers who are already here—and that’s why redi-Group joined Connecting Our Future.
Clark Gillespy, senior vice president of economic development at Duke Energy, painted two pictures, one of what is, and one of what could be. The first was all too familiar: You’re sitting in your gas/diesel powered car on I-85 between Pelham Road and the 385 interchange at 6:00 in the evening, with fender benders and brake lights as far as you can see. The pollution, lost productivity, wasted fuel, insurance claims, and general frustration don’t paint a pretty picture. In his second picture, though, the gas-powered cars have been replaced by electric vehicles; tractor trailers are in their own designated lane; self-driving cars make for fewer accidents; and the air is cleaner and quieter.
Next Steps
Wrapping up the event, Leesa Owens of Michelin North America shared the story of how the world’s first automobile accident, involving one James Lambert of Ohio in 1891, spurred policymakers to start thinking about how to regulate this new technology—things like speed limits, brake lights, licenses, and safety features did not exist and needed to be created in order to keep the public safe as we plunged into the future of cars.
Keith Scott, of Electric City Transit, challenged those assembled not to leave it to transportation providers to be the only ones thinking about these issues. Solving the Upstate’s transportation issues will take years, he said, and other groups need to partner with those in transportation in order to find solutions. “Will you join us at the table?” he asked. “ And how long will you stay there?”
To take a seat at the table, visit the Connecting Our Future website and find out more about how you can be involved.
entrepreneurial ecosystem development leader in the U.S., talked with our Entrepreneur Support Providers by Skype last November, this is what he said we needed. As you can imagine, our practical Upstate advisors, coaches, lenders, investors, SBDC & SCORE representatives, incubators, accelerators and every organization that supports entrepreneurs were a little uncomfortable with this. We were also a little uncomfortable with the region’s lack of awareness of the amazing work we do to build a thriving base of support for our entrepreneurs.
What could we all do together, yet separately, to support our local entrepreneurs and increase awareness Our Entrepreneur Support Providers Network (soon to be Entrepreneur Ecosystem)? How about a regional Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration? That might work! In 2018, our ESP meetings have been geared toward individual events held within each community yet promoted collectively on shared platforms to shine a light on the extent of the many organizations involved in supporting entrepreneurs, founders and growing companies.
As part of the Palmetto Clean Fuels coalition (PCF), Plug In SC is an initiative whose aim is to increase the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by making charging stations visible and easy to find, using signage, pavement markings, and designated parking spaces. It wasn’t enough to simply provide the charging stations, Masters says, because many times they were tucked away behind a concrete wall in a corner of a parking garage. True, EV drivers will find them because they need them, but part of making them visible is creating awareness in other drivers that charging stations are plentiful and accessible.
Janice Moss, head of human resources for the staffing company redi-Group, addressed the challenges of finding and keeping qualified workers when there is a large group of untouched workers who don’t have access to transportation. Yes, we can recruit from out of state and bring workers in, but looking at the lack of public transportation to manufacturing facilities here in the Upstate would allow access to a wider group of workers who are already here—and that’s why redi-Group joined Connecting Our Future.