South Carolina Business Review

Growing social entrepreneurs

By Mike Switzer

Published November 3, 2023 at 6:30 AM EDT

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Many people are familiar with the term social entrepreneurship which involves creating companies that strive to solve social problems, such as poverty, education, healthcare, and environmental sustainability. Our next guest’s college has initiated a program to attract like-minded students. Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Ben Bailey, a political science professor at Presbyterian College and the director of the college's Service Entrepreneurship Program.

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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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