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Upstate university committed to entrepreneurship

Ranked recently by U.S. News & World Reports as the #5 Most Innovative College in the country, our next guest’s institution stays busy engaging its students in social and entrepreneurial ventures around the world. Mike Switzer interviews Anthony Herrera, chief innovation officer and executive director at the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Furman University in Greenville, SC.

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After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.