South Carolina Business Review

German-American business summit coming Feb. 18th

By Mike Switzer

Published February 11, 2026 at 6:30 AM EST

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Mike Switzer, host of the South Carolina Business Review

According to our commerce department, Germany is South Carolina’s largest export partner. We don’t have the final numbers for last year yet but in 2024, the trade volume between our state and Germany was $13 billion. And we are currently home to 270 German companies that employ over 44,000 South Carolinians. Which is why our next guest’s college set up an event to help support and grow that relationship. Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Morgan Marcell Koerner, director of German Studies at the College of Charleston, the host organization for the 10th annual German-American Business Summit coming February 18th.

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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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