Recent hurricanes signal importance of disaster resilience for businesses

By Mike Switzer

Published November 15, 2024 at 6:30 AM EST

Provided

Ben Means, professor and John T. Campbell Chair in Business and Professional Ethics at the Joseph F. Rice School of Law at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.

The recent visit to our state from Hurricane Helene brought the topic of disaster readiness to top of mind for many in our local business community. If you’re a small business owner, how can you become less vulnerable and more resilient to disaster? Mike Switzer interviews Ben Means, a professor and the John T. Campbell Chair in Business and Professional Ethics at the Joseph F. Rice School of Law at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. Resource: go.sc.edu/fsb

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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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