2018 Upstate Regional Summit
An event held every other year for leaders and interested stakeholders from across the region to reaffirm the value of “thinking regionally”

The Purpose of the Upstate Regional Summit
The mission of Ten at the Top is to encourage collaboration and partnership on cross-sector and cross-jurisdiction issues that impact economic vitality and quality of life in the Upstate region. Held every other year, the Upstate Regional Summit is an opportunity for leaders and interested stakeholders from across the Upstate to gather together in one location to reaffirm the value of “thinking regionally” as a component of community success while learning more about and discussing some of the key issues facing the region. The theme for 2018 is “Winning the Future” and the entire event is themed around how to ensure the Upstate is best positioned for future success.
Program Overview
Networking & Sponsor Expo | 7:30-8:40 AM (Expo area will also be open between 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM)
Opening Session | 8:45-9:55 AM
Breakout Session 1 | 10:05-10:50 AM
• Winning the Future around Creating Vibrant Communities
• Winning the Future around Innovation & Technology
Breakout Session 2 | 11:00-11:45 AM
• Winning the Future around Mobility & Connectivity
• Winning the Future around Education & Workforce Development
Click on “Breakout Sessions” tab for more information and list of speakers.
Keynote Luncheon | 12:00-1:30 PM
Click on “Keynote” tab to learn more about Keynote Speaker Polly LaBarre
Opening Session
For the 3rd consecutive summit, TATT is fortunate to have Amy Wood, Emmy award-winning interactive news anchor for WSPA, host the opening session.
“Is South Carolina and the Upstate Well Positioned to ‘Win the Future’ in Economic Development & Job Creation?”
Moderators:
- John Lummus, Upstate SC Alliance
- Amy Wood, WSPA-TV
Panelists:
- Frank Davis, Haynesworth Sinkler Boyd
- Beth Land, Site Selection Group
- Nelson Lindsay, South Carolina Department of Commerce
- Trey Pennington, CBRE
Breakout Sessions
Winning the Future around Education & Workforce Development
Moderator:
- Ansel Sanders, Public Education Partners
Panelists:
- Dr. Joanne Avery, Anderson School District 4
- Dr. Ronnie Booth, Tri-County Technical College
- Dr. Brendan Kelly, USC Upstate
- Carlos Phillips, Greenville Chamber
Winning the Future around Innovation & Technology
Moderator:
- Rob Krulac, CU-ICAR
Panelists:
- Roy Costner, Spectrum & Pickens County Council
- Joel Jones, ReWa
- Dr. Thomas Mensah, Georgia Aerospace Systems
Winning the Future around Mobility & Connectivity
Moderator:
- Doug Webster, Carolinas Alliance 4 Innovation
Panelists:
- David Bruemmer, Adaptive Motion Group
- Leesa Owens, Michelin
- Dr. Nick Rigas, CU-ICAR
Winning the Future around Creating Vibrant Communities
Moderator:
- Jennifer Evins, Chapman Cultural Center
Panelists:
- Phil Hughes, Hughes Investments
- Terence Roberts, City of Anderson
- Blake Sanders, City of Easley & Town of West Pelzer
- Nancy Whitworth, City of Greenville
Polly LaBarre, 2018 Upstate Summit Keynote Speaker

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Polly LaBarre
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.
As co-founder of the Management Lab, a “think-and-do” tank dedicated to rebooting management for the 21st century. Along with her partners at MLab (pronounced “M-Lab”), Polly has developed a pioneering method and platform for changing how large organizations change. They run large-scale, real-world experiments in “hacking management” to build the deep organizational capabilities crucial for thriving in a creative, disruptive world: adaptability, innovation and inspiration.
Polly has traveled the world to study and work with the courageous contrarians, management mavericks, and pioneering progressives who are inventing the future of organizations and business.
Early in her career, Polly was part of the founding team of Fast Company magazine. There she played a central role in the remarkable success of a magazine that recast the conventional wisdom on power, competition, work, leadership, innovation and change. The magazine introduced the world to a new universe of organizations and leaders whose management models were as distinctive as their business models were disruptive.
Polly is the co-author of the award-winning book Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win, which was a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek bestseller. Published in over 20 territories, Mavericks was a “Business Book of the Year” for the Financial Times, the Miami Herald and The Economist, which called the book “a pivotal work in the tradition of In Search of Excellence and Good to Great.” CNN, CNBC and GMA all created series around the book.
Polly’s writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review online, Fortune.com, the McKinsey Quarterly and she has served as business and innovation correspondent for CNN.
Sponsorship Opportunities
If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities at future Upstate Summits, please contact Caroline Gross at 864-360-1015 or sponsor@tenatthetop.org.
*Sponsorship are continuously being sold, please contact Caroline for availability
2016 Upstate Summit
2016 Upstate Summit: Creating a Leading Region
September 13, 2016
TD Convention Center
The 2016 Upstate Summit engaged nearly 900 business and community leaders.
2014 Upstate Summit
2014 Upstate Summit: Rechecking Our Reality
More than 800 leaders from across the ten-county Upstate region came together to discuss how to continue growing economic vitality and quality of life across the Upstate during the 2014 Upstate Regional Summit: Rechecking Our Reality.
Held on September 16, 2014 at the TD Convention Center, the Summit included breakout sessions and panels discussing key Upstate issues as well as keynote address from Glenda Hood, former Mayor of the City of Orlando.