© 2026 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
SC Public Radio's statewide network is experiencing intermittent outages and programming issues due to ongoing infrastructure upgrades. Our team is working to keep these disruptions to a minimum and to resolve issues that do arise. Streaming on this site, the SCETV App, the NPR App, and smart speakers is unaffected.

PLEAF and the real world

Kellee Melton, South Carolina State Conservationist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service at the US Department of Agriculture in Columbia, SC
Provided
Kellee Melton, South Carolina State Conservationist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service at the US Department of Agriculture in Columbia, SC

Over the past few years we have interviewed Kirby Player, director of the Palmetto Leadership for the Environment, Agriculture, and Forestry (PLEAF) program at Clemson University, and today we have one of the program's graduates on the phone to tell us about her real world experience since graduating. Mike Switzer interviews Kellee Melton, South Carolina State Conservationist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service at the US Department of Agriculture in Columbia, SC.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service logo
USDA

Stay Connected
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.