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The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Our Workforce

Elizabeth McClendon
Mike Switzer/SC Public Radio

According to a recent report from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), our state ranks 8th in the nation in new cases of AIDS per capita, with Columbia ranking 5th, Charleston, 22nd and Greenville, 51st.  And our next guest says that 40% of our state’s new cases are age 20 -29, young people just entering the workforce, which she believes could lead to a significant impact on our economy.

Mike Switzer interviews Elizabeth McLendon, a consultant with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and a volunteer with the HIV Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina in Columbia, SC.

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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.