Small businesses are the backbone of South Carolina’s economy, especially in Greenville County, where they employ nearly half of the workforce. As we strive to grow our local economy, it’s vital to celebrate the progress these entrepreneurs have made – and continue to support their success.

However, many small businesses still face significant challenges. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 99.4% of all firms in South Carolina are small businesses, employing 45.3% of the state’s workforce. Yet, access to capital remains a critical barrier, particularly for minority- and women-owned businesses. A 2021 Federal Reserve survey found that only 13% of Black-owned firms received all the financing they sought, compared to 40% of white-owned firms.

Since our founding in 2008, CommunityWorks has been dedicated to serving financially underserved families and communities. We aim to provide equitable financial products and services that build wealth and promote economic mobility. This year, with the help of Wells Fargo and other organizations, we’re continuing to offer flexible financing, coaching, and technical assistance to help businesses grow and thrive.

Our impact is clear. In 2023 alone, we provided nearly $1 million in small business loans to 44 businesses across South Carolina. This support has led to job creation, neighborhood revitalization, and stimulated economic growth. We’re proud to play a role in these success stories and remain committed to fostering the potential of South Carolina’s entrepreneurs.

While much can be done by nonprofits and the business community, there is a critical role for the government to meet these needs. As an example, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott has strongly advocated for opportunity zones, a federal program encouraging long-term investments in low-income communities. These zones have attracted capital to underserved areas, driving economic development and job creation. With the combined effort of the federal government and private and nonprofit sectors, we are making a tangible difference for South Carolina’s entrepreneurs and communities. This commitment to strengthening communities mirrors our own, and the support has helped us expand our reach and deepen our impact.

Looking ahead, I am inspired by the resilience and innovation of our state’s small businesses. For the remainder of this year and into the next, we will continue increasing access to capital, enhancing our coaching and technical assistance programs, and advocating for policies that support small business growth. We are firmly committed to advancing opportunity and ensuring that our services reach those who have historically been marginalized. This commitment is central to our mission, and we will continue to work towards a more equitable future.

Our vision is simple yet powerful: a future where everyone can attain financial equality and economic mobility. Together, we empower entrepreneurs in South Carolina and work towards a more prosperous and inclusive future for all.

LaTorrie Geer is the CEO of CommunityWorks, a U.S. Treasury-certified CDFI based in Greenville.

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You’re dining with a family member that you always disagree with on politics. They throw out an opinion, and all of a sudden you’re in a full-fledged heated debate, Trump-Harris style. It’s discouraging, but it’s nothing new in an age of division that is just as palpable within our own families as it is in Congress.

Why is it so hard to talk to people we love about issues upon which we disagree? In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, psychologist Jeanne Safer pointed out that it’s our psychological differences that bother us.

“We have a fantasy that people who are our intimates are going to be like us in every fundamental way. We wonder: How can somebody important to me not see what I see?”

In order to improve these conversations, we can start by looking for lower-stakes opportunities for conversation. By saving the more controversial topics for people that aren’t as central to our lives, we can avoid jeopardizing important relationships.

Next, we must reframe these conversations for learning, with your one goal being to understand the opposing beliefs. This can transform grounds for war into fertile ground for empathy. Importantly, once you have more knowledge about why these beliefs exist, you can use it to better understand your loved ones.

The echo chambers in which we reside perpetuate a dangerous intolerance for the other side — but as college students, we have an opportunity to escape them.

Unlike our hometowns in which we are insulated by similar beliefs, college provides the opportunity to meet, talk to and befriend people that challenge us and offer low-stakes opportunities to discuss different ideologies. It’s a place to practice being quick to ask questions, and slow to argue.

Undoubtedly, some of my political conversations at college have been frustrating. But since I’ve started implementing these strategies, these discussions have become more enlightening than destructive. They have helped me learn how to prioritize curiosity over being right.

In her 2017 book “Braving the Wilderness,” author Brené Brown famously suggested the idea, “People are hard to hate close up. Move in.”

During our four precious years of growth and socialization, let’s move into curiosity. Let’s move into empathy. Let’s move into relationships that challenge our beliefs to decentralize political ideologies from our love for others, so that we as young people may dream of a future wherein we are marching toward change together.

Audrey Enghauser is a communication studies major and poverty studies minor at Furman University, and editor-in-chief of the university’s student newspaper, The Paladin.

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This kind of forward-thinking investment has created space for 300 employees to work in the heart of our city, energizing local businesses and contributing to the vibrancy — or “people on the streets” as I like to say — of our downtown.

While United built new office space, others have also recently boosted our business district. Canal Insurance brought some 200 employees to a newly renovated space on Main Street, and Purpose Financial moved its headquarters from Spartanburg to office space in the new mixed-use building in the West End.

This influx brings more highly paid workers, who are likely to support our small businesses — whether it’s a lunch break at a local restaurant, after-work shopping at a boutique, or both at places like the West End’s café and women’s boutique, Augusta 20. Corporate headquarters also frequently invest heavily in local philanthropy, becoming pillars of the community. This combination of economic activity and corporate responsibility strengthens both downtown and the surrounding areas.

While Greenville is thriving, many other large cities are struggling.

In Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Charlotte, office buildings are facing high vacancy rates due to remote work trends, forcing building owners to rapidly convert offices to residential spaces to stave off foreclosure. Without adaptation, a “doom loop” threatens: fewer workers lead to less business, lower city revenues and reduced public services, hampering efforts to attract new residents and business.

On the other hand, Greenville made thoughtful, strategic investments over the years, focusing on mixed-use development that combines office, retail and residential spaces. This approach has been the “secret sauce” to our success, transforming Greenville from an aging mill town into one of the best in the country. We’ve created a balanced ecosystem that attracts both companies and people, positioning us for sustained growth and vibrancy well into the future.

As other cities scramble to reinvent themselves, Greenville’s forward-thinking approach is keeping us on a path of thoughtful growth and success. And with investments from companies like United Community, we’re ensuring that downtown Greenville will thrive for years to come.

City of Greenville, Mayor Knox White

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Infrastructure is more than fixing pot holes and malfunctioning traffic signals, but it also has to do with making a place more accessible for everyone.

In addition to traffic issues there are other challenges. Many people are being left behind, and are not able to stay in their homes are find affordable housing, and in some cases have lost their businesses.  There also is increasing inequality. Part of having a good foundation is having a healthy, educated workforce. This state needs to do a much better job lifting residents out of poverty, so that they are able to take advantage of new opportunities.

Smart growth is also about preserving historical relics in the upstate. A city is made up of the generations who have worked, built things and lived here. The heartbeat of a city is about history, culture, natural resources. It’s not about more buildings and developments.

Change is difficult, urban planning is complex, but with the right leadership, the Upstate can create a foundation to support all ambitious projects. That is why we need new local representatives to help build a foundation and create an Upstate where everyone can thrive.

Meta M. Griffin
Spartanburg

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As a local child care center owner and Save the Children Action Network advocate, I see how essential child care is for children’s development and for working parents. Affordable, quality child care enables parents to maintain employment and support the state’s economy. Without it, families face tough choices that can harm their financial stability.

South Carolina urgently needs more investment in child care infrastructure, including expanded subsidies, improved care quality, and better training and compensation for providers. These steps will create a more equitable system for all families, regardless of socioeconomic status.

I urge policymakers to recognize the vital role of accessible, high-quality child care in our children’s well-being and the state’s prosperity. Let’s work together to ensure every child in South Carolina can thrive.

Mia Gentry
Boiling Springs

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Even with that progress, challenges remain for employers in 2024. Key among them is finding and retaining talent.

For many years, advanced manufacturing has struggled with the skills gap – the difference between the talents needed and the capabilities workers possess. As employees retire, there isn’t an adequate supply of qualified new hires to replace them, limiting growth. Even with some of the measures taken to appeal to potential employees including flexible schedules and greater rewards, talent acquisition can still be an issue. 

Building interest with students in STEM careers from an early age is a promising part of the talent solution, a tactic aimed at growing the future workforce.

That’s the idea behind the ninth annual Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Night at the Drive, coming June 25 to Fluor Field. For nearly a decade, the event has provided free admission for K-12 students along with an introduction to the opportunities ahead with an exciting show-and-tell from some of the Upstate’s largest manufacturers and leading educators. 

Related: Fluor Field to host annual Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Night

This year’s AM&E Night event will highlight hands-on, interactive exhibits featuring robotics, 3D animation and printing, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and much more. Kids will have the chance to win prizes as they see the creative application of technology to the manufacturing process. There’s also a panel discussion with leaders from BMW, Michelin, GE Vernova, and Greenville Technical College discussing the employment outlook and the education that can put people on a path to these strong careers.

As the front porch of the Upstate community for 19 years, Fluor Field is the perfect venue for AM&E Night as the ballpark spotlights the incredible manufacturing and technology work being done in our community plus helps develop our region’s next generation AM&E workforce.

For kids, AM&E Night is a fun night at the ballpark to experience high-tech tools and technologies. For families, the event can dispel old-fashioned ideas of manufacturing as a dirty, repetitive work environment. For manufacturers, Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Night at the Drive is a time to shine, giving the community an inside look at the innovative technology at use in their facilities and the advanced technical and digital knowledge needed to make it all work.

For tickets and information on Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Night at the Drive, go to greenvilledrive.com/ame. 

Craig Brown, Owner & Chairman, Greenville Drive
Dr. Keith Miller, President, Greenville Technical College

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It would reduce lanes on both sides to make room for landscaped medians, protected bike lanes and wider sidewalks. Facebook comments under numerous articles reporting on the plan were largely unsupportive of the project for various reasons, but two of those reasons in particular struck me as interesting.

One reader commented that the proposed changes to Wade Hampton were representative of planners wanting to make Greenville “a big city.” Another commenter, however, suggested that the plan would make sense in a small town that wants to remain a small town, but not in a growing area like Greenville.

Whether lane reductions and bike lanes make more sense in small towns or big cities, it’s clear that not everyone wants them here. But that kind of thinking is common across the country. Changes to infrastructure always seem like they would be a good idea in other places, but for some reason we never think they’ll work right here in our backyard.

The truth is, as decades of studies have shown, these kinds of changes are effective everywhere. Greenville is no different. Narrowing roads and allowing for alternative modes of transportation reduces congestion and improves safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists alike. Plans like the Wade Hampton overhaul work in both big cities and small towns, but where they’re most important is in places like Greenville that are experiencing rapid growth — growth that’s going to continue whether we like it or not.

Brett Williams

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You’ve heard it a thousand times. Exercise. Eat healthier. Lose weight.

As dean of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, I know this is critical advice to tackling heart disease, obesity and other chronic disease, which is the leading cause of death and disability in our community and across the nation.

I also believe medical schools can, and must, do more to equip doctors with the knowledge and expertise focused on wellness and self care to improve patient health. A healthy diet, regular exercise and managing stress are all goals you may aspire to. When prescribed by a doctor trained in lifestyle medicine, healthy behavior modifications like these can help treat or prevent diseases.

The American Hospital Association estimates 133 million Americans – nearly half the population – suffer from at least one chronic illness. Heart disease affects more than 79 million Americans and is responsible for 40% of all deaths. During the past 15 years, the number of people with diabetes has more than doubled. Obesity rates are rising for both adults (42.4%) and children (19.3%), according to the American Hospital Association.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic disease is the leading cause of death and disability. The National Institutes of Health report that 80% of these conditions are preventable through lifestyle choices or early detection and management of risk factors.

At School of Medicine Greenville, we lead an approach to health known as “lifestyle medicine” in which future doctors are trained to become partners with their patients in finding ways to improve diet, reduce stress, improve exercise habits and capitalize on the healing properties of food as medicine.

This evolution of care is an important tool to stem the long-term increase in chronic conditions and their high costs because it focuses on patients’ daily behaviors and builds strong doctor-patient relationships. The University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville is the first medical school in the country to fully incorporate education in nutrition, physical activity and healthy behaviors into all four years of the medical school curriculum.

From day one, our students cover the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: eating healthy, exercising, managing stress, building healthy relationships, developing quality sleep habits and avoiding substance abuse. We’ve incorporated 100 hours of lifestyle medicine into our curriculum.

In 2022, School of Medicine Greenville participated in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, which presented a pioneering vision for ending hunger and reducing diet-related disease by 2030. The school committed a $4.8 million in-kind donation to help implement its open-source lifestyle-medicine curriculum in all interested medical schools.

In January, Dr. Jennifer Trilk, a nationally recognized expert and director of lifestyle medicine programs at School of Medicine Greenville, served as a panelist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Food is Medicine Summit. Trilk founded the program at the school in 2012, growing it from four hours during pre-clinical years to more than 100 hours of required lifestyle-medicine curriculum across all four years. She has also created a “classroom-clinic-community” model by partnering with Greenville Technical College and the YMCA of Greenville to provide programs that educate the students with the goal of creating a healthy Greenville community.

And in April, School of Medicine Greenville became one of the first two schools in the nation awarded a Platinum Plus certification from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine in the Undergraduate Medical Education Lifestyle Medicine Curriculum Certification process.

Our free monthly “Walk with a Future Doc” event encourages lifestyle medicine within the community. Medical students discuss a health topic, then spend the rest of the hour walking and sharing conversations. It’s a fun and safe way to go for a walk, learn about health and meet new friends.

While awareness of lifestyle medicine has grown exponentially during the past two to three years, physicians and medical students often receive limited training in this approach, leaving some providers lacking the skills or confidence to adequately counsel their patients in behavioral modifications.

The American Heart Association reports that although physicians are uniquely positioned to encourage individuals to adopt healthy behaviors, lifestyle counseling does not routinely occur with their patients. This lost opportunity is attributed to a number of factors including lack of time, reimbursement processes that incentivize treatment over prevention, and limited knowledge or competencies to perform lifestyle counseling effectively.

As awareness grows for how lifestyle factors such as nutrition and exercise contribute to chronic disease prevention, medical schools are increasingly weaving principles that focus on healthy behaviors into their core curriculums. But we need to do it faster.

The traditional medical school curriculum does not include adequate instruction to educate future physicians on the importance of lifestyle for their patients’ health, especially when compared with time devoted to pharmacological treatment.

If we don’t train our future doctors how to work with patients to prevent these illnesses, the health care costs of our nation, as well the morbidity and mortality related to chronic diseases, will continue to skyrocket.

Lifestyle medicine is a lifelong solution to living longer, healthier and happier lives. We must encourage one another to live better and to make slight changes to our routines, each of which compounds to make a profound difference.

With increased focus on lifestyle medicine, we can improve the health of millions of Americans starting right here in our own community.

Marjorie Jenkins (M.D. MEdHP, FACP) serves as dean of the University of South Carolina Medicine Greenville and chief academic officer for Prisma Health Upstate.

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Nurses deserve protection from verbal, physical threats

I knew at age 8 that I wanted to go into health care. My first job in a hospital was as an operating room technician, and seeing what nurses were able to do in the trauma unit was the “light bulb” moment for me. I’ve now been a nurse for the last 20 years, working as everything from a fledgling nurse on a hospital intensive care unit to the chief nursing executive for Prisma Health in the Upstate.

Patients trust us in their darkest hours to be a beacon of light, hope and inspiration. But nurses are coming under more and more stress, sometimes choosing to leave the field altogether, because of increased levels of workplace violence nationwide.

Assaults on health care workers, whether verbal or physical, contribute to workforce burnout and turnover. They can interfere with patient care. Violence against health care workers is so serious that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers it a public health concern.

Hospitals are places where we experience life, loss, joy and pain. Some patients and loved ones can become overwhelmed and physically lash out; drugs or mental illness can make that tipping point come even quicker and be more devastating for everyone involved.

Hospitals are working to harden facilities, enhance security and increase reporting of incidents, but we need the public’s help. We need to create greater awareness of the impact abusive behavior can have – not only on our nurses but for patients and even the cost of care.

The South Carolina Hospital Association is leading efforts to address the problem by advocating for support to enhance hospital safety and security and providing resources that hospitals can use to deter aggressive behaviors by patients and visitors. It’s also partnering with state law enforcement to increase timely prosecution of complaints.

Our nurses are someone’s mother or father, best friend, and neighbor. They may be the person who saves your life, or comforts you when another life is lost. Every day they go to work, nurses make a commitment to “zero harm.” Particularly during National Nurses Week, let’s make that same commitment to them.

Michael Cavacos
Chief Nursing Executive, Prisma Health in the Upstate

—–

Nurses share common goal: great patient care

It’s National Nurses Week, a special time to celebrate the importance of nurses in the South Carolina healthcare system. Millions of patients across our state depend on the compassionate care and exceptional capabilities of registered nurses (RNs) for their health and well-being.

As anesthesia experts, South Carolina’s more than 1,400 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are proud to work alongside our nurse colleagues to keep patients comfortable and safe during surgery, labor and delivery, trauma stabilization, and other types of procedures that require anesthesia. Throughout the day, our role may intersect with the roles of operating room nurses, circulating nurses, scrub nurses, post anesthesia care unit nurses, recovery room nurses, intensive care unit nurses, emergency room nurses.

All share the common goal of providing watchful care to our patients during the most vulnerable times of their lives. Is it any wonder that, once again, the results of an annual Gallup Poll showed that Americans gave nurses the highest ethics rating for the 24th consecutive year?

For all of us who comprise the community of nurses, patient care is more than a livelihood, it’s an honor and privilege. Happy National Nurses Week!

Cheryl L. Schosky
President, S.C. Association of Nurse Anesthetists

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As board members of the American Heart Association Upstate, we are writing to urge our community to take action on a critical issue affecting the health and safety of our students.

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I recently discovered that the Simpsonville City Council will vote on Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. to save or discontinue the Greenlink Simpsonville Connector bus service (route 601).

Discontinuing this service would pose a significant hardship to my son. Every weekday morning, my son uses the Simpsonville Connector to get to work at Vocational Rehabilitation in Greenville. Vocational Rehab is a place that trains and prepares people with disabilities to enter the regular workforce. If he can’t get here to participate in this program, he may never learn the necessary skills to hold down a regular job.

If the bus service stops in Simpsonville, it will be a disservice to my son and many people like him who depend on public transportation. I hope the Simpsonville City Council chooses votes to save this vital service.

Ragan Besendorfer
Simpsonville resident

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The scientific evidence is clear: There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

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Unfortunately, I’m afraid it’s too little too late. Many exit ramps have been built with too few lanes and insufficient length to accommodate the traffic at peak rush hour, creating massive backups on the highways putting people in danger.

The northbound exit at Pelham Road is particularly troublesome. There is a clear need for three exit lanes to get the traffic off the highway which could be accomplished by widening the exit a few hundred yards. I initially contacted the South Carolina Department of Transportation more than four years ago and have checked in periodically, hoping this could be done during the $27 million dollar, four-plus year Rocky Creek project. There is still no formal plan or funds approved to do so despite the fact there have been more than a dozen accidents at the Pelham Road exits since just Nov. 1 according to the SCDOT’s own X (formerly Twitter) page.

This shows the agency is either complicit or inept. I’m not sure which is worse.

Brian Remsberg
Greenville

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Now people in Pennsylvania are watching their homes washed away by flood waters. We are seeing people in Hawaii running to the sea as fires consume their island. The smoke from fires in Canada is covering our skies. Vast deadly tornados are causing damage across the Midwest. More hurricanes of unusual power. And let’s not forget the extremes of heat and cold we have seen across the country.

Suffering around the world is rapidly increasing. Droughts are destroying crops, rising waters are displacing communities, vital needs are not being met, mass migrations are occurring, and food prices are rising. These dynamics give rise to greater numbers of refugees, terrorism, war, and even human trafficking.

South Carolina has so far have been spared from the worst of this, but it is becoming hard for us to ignore the weekly disasters in the news. Right now, we are all experiencing higher food costs, much of which is the result of supply chains being stressed. Manufacturers in the Upstate are currently dealing with this issue.

Transdisciplinary leaders and representatives from around the world are gathering in Greenville Nov. 14-15 for a Climate Emergency Response Forum (CERF) hosted by World Systems Solutions (WSS), a 501c3 nonprofit working in partnership with the Global Action Coalition, located in Greenville. The organization is currently developing a global utility as a conscious collaboration engine to align, mobilize, and synchronize humanity in common purpose to solve the climate emergency and interrelated crises.

This is the inaugural event in a series of high-level forums. Attendees will include former U.S. generals, ambassadors and government officials, spiritual leaders, AI experts, climate experts, corporate executives, scientists and other representatives to collaborate on solutions and stabilize new networks in the short time available.

No single organization or nation can solve the climate crisis alone. The CERF approach will focus on how to bring together many organizations and institutions into long term collaborative union and build new structures for solutions generation that actually do have the resources, technology and skill to solve it at the necessary global scale.

Participants will work with potential probable scenarios unfolding as a result of the 1.5 degree centigrade temperature increase and the escalating poly-crisis. They will be considering how together we can create solutions amidst these very possible conditions and dynamics because we recognize that these scenarios will be an amplification of what is happening now.

To help us find our way forward together, World Systems Solutions (WSS) is hosting this series of ongoing workshops designed to create a new paradigm for addressing the climate crisis. This forum in the Upstate will generate a ripple effect toward humanity working together on feasible solutions before we find ourselves in the scenario above, wishing we had done more.

While the event is centered in Greenville, its reverberations are global. Collaboration is always welcome as all of our contributed efforts are vital to the global solutions generation process.

WSS is developing relationships with local organizations and offering sponsorship opportunities to aligned parties. Join us in welcoming these luminaries from across the globe. To learn more, visit wssnow.org.

Rob Rowen is the president and executive director of Global Action Coalition, a non-governmental organization working in Nepal and Djibouti. He is a Greenville resident.

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The run-down neighborhood where I grew up was torn down years ago to make way for a subdivision. The memories remain.

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