New CEO Ignites Growth at SC Public Company

By Mike Switzer

Published April 12, 2019 at 5:08 AM EDT

Since our next guest became the CEO of one of our large, publicly-traded companies based in the Lowcountry a little more than a year ago, he has instituted some changes that have led the company to get back on the growth track and become noticed again by investors.

Mike Switzer interviews Ray August, CEO of Benefitfocus in Charleston, SC.

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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.

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