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South Carolina Business Review

2026 SC SBA Manufacturer of the Year

By Mike Switzer
Published August 13, 2026 at 6:30 AM EDT
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Mike Switzer, host of the South Carolina Business Review

When we last interviewed our next guest in 2019, they had received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue developing a double-balloon catheter using technology licensed from the Medical University of South Carolina. They finished that development and are now shipping the device across North America. Their success has led them to be named the US Small Business Administration's Manufacturer of the Year for 2026 for South Carolina. Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Cephus Simmons, founder and CEO of SealCath in Mount Pleasant, SC.

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South Carolina Business Review SC Business Reviewbusiness newsbusinessmanufacturingMUSCTechnologysmall businessSC News
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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.
See stories by Mike Switzer