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Business
South Carolina Business Review

Upstate company receives inaugural award from SBA

By Mike Switzer
Published August 27, 2026 at 6:30 AM EDT
Taylor Powell, chief operating officer of Industrial Motor Service in Anderson, SC
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Taylor Powell, chief operating officer of Industrial Motor Service in Anderson, SC

There was a new category in this year’s US Small Business Administration awards, the Blue-Collar Small Business of the Year and the inaugural South Carolina winner is our next guest. Mike Switzer interviews Taylor Powell, chief operating officer of Industrial Motor Service in Anderson, SC.

Industrial Motor Service infographic
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Industrial Motor Service
Industrial Motor Service infographic

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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.
See stories by Mike Switzer