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The Entrepreneur Meet-Up Scene in the Midlands

Greg Hilton
Mike Switzer/SC Public Radio

If you are a regular listener to this program, you know that our state is a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity.  Part of the reason may be that many resources have developed over the past decade to assist these budding small business owners.  Our next guest is right in the middle of this scene in the Midlands and he joins us now to give us an update.

Mike Switzer interviews Greg Hilton, co-founder of SOCO, a cowork center in Columbia, SC and a facilitator for One Million Cups, a national entrepreneur meet-up organization.

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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.