Welcome—Terence Roberts, TATT Chairman
Jim Shew, Vice President—Employee Benefits, Marsh & McLennan Agency
Guest Presentation—Jim Shew, Vice President—Employee Benefits, Marsh & McLennan Agency
Jim’s presentation covered how employee benefits may be impacted by COVID-19, which is important information as we head into benefits enrollment season. You can see his presentation here, and read an article with much of the same information here.
TATT Updates
Dean Hybl, TATT Executive Director
- Stay tuned for upcoming TATT Chat guest speakers!
- Networking time 20 minutes prior to the meeting on upcoming TATT Chats! Sign on early to network with friends and colleagues, and stay afterwards to chat for a few minutes as well.
County Updates
Abbeville (Charles Angel, Due West Robotics):
- STEM opportunities for youth including competitions grades K-12, not tied to a school
- Over 300 teams in SC, over 40,000 in the world
- National competition cancelled in April
- Numbers locally are holding steady and growing
- Virtual meetings and meet in person (with masks and social distancing)
- Lots of local support including printing and space to meet through Erskine College and the town of Due West community members and parents
- Known for our community support and often contacted by other members (New Zealand, etc.)
Cherokee (Terry Dennis, Meals on Wheels Cherokee County):
- On the front lines since beginning of pandemic when local senior center stopped dining service
- More volunteers than needed at first but has leveled off
- Received COVID funds
- Checking in on community members to ensure socialization
- Served on the census board and completed 75 census entries for seniors
- Nestle has donated frozen meals for our emergency programs
- Have expanded services such as providing microwaves, fans, pet food, frozen foods
- Over 70 referrals
Spartanburg (Troy Hanna, Spartanburg County Foundation):
- A year to the date from our groundbreaking ceremony certificate of occupancy obtained for Robert Hett Chapman III Center for Philanthropy (first in SC)
- Strategic planning will be focus for the next three years; non-profit effectiveness, grant-making and data driven solutions, and philanthropy in action
- Soft opening in October
- Possible virtual grand opening in beginning 2021
- Tech is a key focus
Union (Kathy Jo Lancaster, Union County Development Board):
- Increase in interest in sites and buildings; manufacturing sites/factory/warehouse, existing industry expansions as well as new locations including lots of global interest
- Workforce is going back to work, most companies are back in the workplace, most are at full capacity
- Several companies are adding in new product line (Milliken, Standard Textile (PPE), Camper Corporation (masks) and Vapor Apparel).
- Unemployment numbers are down now that BMW vendors and Standard Textiles are open
- No small business closures