South Carolina Business Review

Major bowling event coming to Upstate S.C.

By Mike Switzer

Published September 12, 2024 at 6:30 AM EDT

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Heath Dillard, president and CEO at VisitGreenvilleSC

If I were to tell you that the largest tourism event in the history of one of our state’s largest cities would involve bowling, you might think there was a punchline coming. But, in fact, waves of bowlers will roll into Greenville, S.C. during a months-long period of 2028. They will bowl in lanes that don’t yet exist and won’t exist when the event is over. But what will be left behind, according to our next guest, is 70 million tourism dollars. Mike Switzer interviews Heath Dillard, president and CEO at VisitGreenvilleSC.

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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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