Ever since China stopped importing recyclable materials from the US several years ago, we have been hearing from people who say they believe recycling doesn’t matter anymore, and that everything is just going to the landfill anyway, so why bother? But the facts are that our state is home to over 300 recycling companies, a number which actually grew last year, bringing with them over $4 billion in capital investments, and over 1,800 new jobs. Mike Switzer interviews Anna DeLage, recycling market development manager at the SC Dept. of Commerce.

In case you didn’t know, the 90-mile corridor between Columbia and Charlotte sees more than 145 million people passing through each day. It’s an area that encompasses five South Carolina counties and two metropolitan areas with almost 3.5 million people. That’s a lot of potential commerce and economic development which is why our next guest’s organization was formed. Mike Switzer interviews Chris Finn, the current president and CEO of the I-77 Alliance.

Last year, our next guest’s organization was awarded a grant of $1 million with more coming this year, all with the mission of funding collaborative projects benefiting our state’s citizens and NASA. Mike Switzer interviews Catherine Hayes, executive director of CORE SC and an industry manager with the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) in Charleston, SC.

Many people who solicit the assistance of a financial advisor have preconceived notions of what to expect involving investment management, tax planning, estate planning, etc. However, our next guest says there is often a disconnect between those client expectations and the actual services provided by financial advisors. He says the solution may be a virtual family office. Mike Switzer interviews Jeremy Finger, a certified financial planner with Riverbend Wealth Management in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Alan tells us about the current challenges to bettering education levels in our state and the recent task force survey from the SC Dept. of Education. Our prior interviews with teacher groups in SC: Teacher Shortage Continues Unabated in SC and Recruiting teachers is a priority in SC. Mike Switzer interviews Alan Cooper, founder and editor of three online business news websites in South Carolina: MidlandsBiz, UpstateBizSC, and LowCountryBizSC. Disclaimer: Alan Cooper’s company has a business relationship with Voterheads.com, an affiliate of Magnolia Media, which is the producer of the South Carolina Business Review.

Our state is home to a family-owned paint manufacturer that has been in business for over 100 years and we just learned that they are celebrating another milestone as the two brothers leading the company have now reached fifty years in that business together. They are Pope and Bobby Walker, who run the Rose Talbert Paint Company in Cayce, SC and today, we have Pope on the phone.