South Carolina Business Review

Upstate SBDC wins award

By Mike Switzer

Published October 20, 2022 at 5:30 AM EDT

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Our state has many resources for small businesses these days. 21 of those happen to be the Small Business Development Centers that are located across South Carolina. One of which recently won the SBDC Excellence and Innovation Center Award for 2022 from the US Small Business Administration. Mike Switzer interviews Ben Smith, Region Director for the Clemson Area Small Business Development Center at Clemson University.

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Mike Switzer

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.

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