SC Life Sciences Industry Fastest Growing in Southeast

By Mike Switzer

Published July 26, 2023 at 5:30 AM EDT

After a stint heading up Louisiana’s economic development efforts, our next guest took over the reins of those same efforts for our state’s life sciences industry two years ago. Let’s check in and see how he and that sector of our state are doing. Mike Switzer interviews James Chappell, president and CEO of SCBIO in Greenville, 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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