South Carolina Business Review

SC builds on relationship with NASA

By Mike Switzer

Published December 6, 2023 at 6:30 AM EST

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Catherine Hayes, executive director of CORE SC

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.

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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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