South Carolina Business Review

SC oyster farm spurring growth in industry

By Mike Switzer

Published February 29, 2024 at 6:30 AM EST

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Mike Switzer, host of the SC Business Review

Most people are probably aware that we are right in the middle of oyster season in our state and being aficionados of these mushrooms of the sea ourselves, a recent article in Columbia Metropolitan Magazine caught our eye. And it got more interesting the more we read as we learned that one of our local oyster farms is making a lot of headway in helping to grow that industry here through the relatively new practice of growing oysters in floating cages. Mike Switzer interviews Julie Davis, manager of farm operations at Lady’s Island Oyster in Beaufort, 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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