South Carolina Business Review

Women’s professional tennis returns to SC with equal pay for the first time

By Mike Switzer

Published March 20, 2026 at 6:30 AM EDT

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Bob Moran, tournament director of the Credit One Charleston Open

Beginning this year, our next guest’s professional women’s tennis tournament will award equal prize money—a historic milestone that makes it the first standalone WTA 500 tournament to voluntarily increase prize money to match comparable ATP 500 events for men. Mike Switzer interviews Bob Moran, tournament director of the Credit One Charleston Open women’s professional tennis tournament, coming to Daniel Island March 28 through April 5th.

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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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