South Carolina Business Review

Mon-Fri, 7:51 am

Hosted by Mike Switzer

The South Carolina Business Review, with host Mike Switzer, focuses on news from South Carolina's business community with interviews of many small business owners and business leaders from around the state. South Carolina's nonprofits, including its colleges and universities are also regularly featured on the program, as well as many of the state's small business support organizations.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed on The South Carolina Business Review are their own and are not necessarily those of South Carolina Public Radio.

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SC Technical Colleges Offering "Quick Jobs" Training

By Mike Switzer • Sep 12, 2014

Our next guest says there are thousands of job openings right now across our state and thousands of people looking for work, yet most of those jobs continue to go unfilled due to the lack of training most of these jobs require.

Mike Swiitzer interviews Sonny White, president of Midlands Technical College in Columbia.

This Time, the Rise in SC's Unemployment Rate is a Good Sign

By Alfred Turner • Sep 12, 2014

Our next guest has been reporting rosy statistics for South Carolina's economy for some time now on this show. But recently, our regular guest, John "Swampfox" Warner, pointed out that while the state has been making positive jobs announcements, it doesn't announce when jobs are lost, such as Sealed Air's recent move to North Carolina. The Swampfox also pointed out that our state's GDP growth is actually lagging behind that of Georgia and North Carolina.

SC Business Update From John “SwampFox” Warner

By Mike Switzer • Sep 2, 2014

A weekly update of the news, events and issues facing South Carolina's business community.

Mike Switzer interviews John Warner founder and CEO of Innoventure, and its Swampfox business news service, based in Greenville, S.C.

Trade Secrets Are Key to Success

By t.moody • Aug 29, 2014

Successful businesses not only use patents but also trade secrets to protect their profits. However, our next guest says many companies do not know how to incorporate trade secret protection into their business practices and that businesses of all sizes can utilize this strategy.

Mike Switzer interviews Connie Jones, an intellectual property attorney with Altus IP in Greenville, SC.

USC Start-up Kills Allergens With CO2

By Mike Switzer • Aug 28, 2014

Our next guest believes his University start-up company will soon be driving vans around Columbia cool-cleaning home carpets using carbon dioxide, a method he also believes will dramatically reduce allergens in the home.

Mike Switzer interviews Mike Matthews, an engineering professor at the University of South Carolina and the chief technology officer for CarboNix.

Mentoring Part of New Trend in Business Succession Planning

By Mike Switzer • Aug 27, 2014

Many small businesses grapple with succession...who should take over the business if the owner should pass away, become disabled, or just ready to retire. There's a new trend in dealing with this issue that involves the owner selling the business to someone, oftentimes a young person, who is being mentored by the founder, who agrees to stay on for a few years in an advisory capacity. This is exactly what has happened recently with an architecture firm in Charleston.

Baby Boomers Discover the Cost of Medicare

By t.moody • Aug 26, 2014

As the baby boomer generation continues to roll into the 65+ age group, they are discovering that the myth of free healthcare, known as Medicare, is exactly that, a myth...and that Medicare does, in fact, come with a cost.

Mike Switzer interviews Alex Chastain, a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Columbia, SC.

Additional resource: medicare.gov

SC Business Update From Alan Cooper

By Mike Switzer • Aug 25, 2014

A weekly update of the news, events and issues facing South Carolina's business community.

Mike Switzer interviews Alan Cooper, founder and editor of three online business news websites in South Carolina: MidlandsBiz, UpstateBizSC, and LowCountryBizSC.

SC Dog Whisperer Finds Success With Training Business

By t.moody • Aug 21, 2014

Not everybody is born with the skills necessary to become a dog whisperer, which is why most people who aspire to becoming one, attend a dog training school. Our next guest runs just such a facility in the Upstate and is legendary in her field, training the first two retrievers to earn *both* field and obedience championships.

Mike Switzer interviews Connie Cleveland, founder and CEO of Dog Trainers Workshop in Greenville, South Carolina.

Upstate Unemployed Gain $40k Jobs in Less Than 12 Months

By Mike Switzer • Aug 20, 2014

A South Carolina partnership that is training Greenville County job seekers to fill high-skill manufacturing positions is one of just two programs from across the nation that was honored recently by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions.

Mike Switzer interviews John Baker, executive director of the Greenville Region Workforce Collaborative.

Why You Should Take Advantage of Your Employer’s Retirement Plan

By t.moody • Aug 19, 2014

Our next guest says that not only is your employer's retirement plan the best way to build that nest egg, it's also the easiest...yet many people don't take full advantage of it.

Mike Switzer interviews Neil Brown, a certified financial planner with Burkett Financial Services in West Columbia.