Greenville County Economy Hitting Stride

By Mike Switzer

Published January 15, 2016 at 5:34 AM EST

You are probably aware that Greenville County, SC is home to several world-class manufacturers, such as Michelin, General Electric, and BMW. And while the county recently lost the headquarters for innovative electric bus manufacturer Proterra, it still retained the manufacturing operations. With the city of Greenville continuing to win accolades for its quality of life, is business recruitment and retention in the area getting easier?

Mike Switzer interviews Mark Farris, president and CEO of Greenville Area Development Corporation, the county's economic development organization.

Tags

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