New Study Ranks the Top Cities in the U.S. to Open a Restaurant – Where did Charleston rank?

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A recent report from Bid-On-Equipment, a restaurant equipment sales company, compiled the rankings based on four main factors: annual restaurant sales per capita, restaurants per capita, workforce and median income in each city. The report analyzed those factors for 236 cities in the United States.

Arlington, Virginia was named the best city to start a restaurant in, followed by Ann Arbor, Michigan, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Coming in at #21 is Charleston, South Carolina.

Congratulations to Charleston for being named in the Top 25 cities in the United States to open a restaurant out of 236 cities ranked.

Here are the complete results:

On This Day in Charleston History: Charleston, S.C. surrenders to Union Army, Feb. 18, 1865

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On this day in 1865, the mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered his beleaguered city to Alexander Schimmelfennig, a Union Army brigadier general, three days after Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard had ordered the remaining Confederate forces to evacuate the city. On the previous day, Union Army Gen. William Sherman had captured Columbia, the state capital; the all but defeated Confederates saw no feasible way to block his imminent arrival in Charleston.

A northern newspaper reporter portrayed the city on this day as one of “ruins, — silent, mournful, in deepest humiliation. … The band was playing ‘Hail, Columbia,’ and the strains floated through the desolate city, awakening wild enthusiasm in the hearts of the colored people …”

When Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln’s fears that events in South Carolina would propel the nation into a civil war were realized. After a 34-hour bombardment by Beauregard’s shore batteries, Army Maj. Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. The inevitable consequence was a war between North and South and claimed some 620,000 American lives over four years.

Charleston had been under a continuous siege by Union forces since July 10, 1863. The bombardment caused major damage in the city. The Union Navy also enforced a blockade of the harbor that shut down most commercial traffic, although some blockade runners got through.

After the Confederate evacuation, Union troops moved into the city and took control of the United States Arsenal, which the Confederates had seized at the outbreak of the war. During the Reconstruction era, the U.S. War Department also confiscated the grounds and buildings of the Citadel Military Academy, using them for more than 17 years to garrison federal troops. In 1882, the facilities were returned to the state; they reopened as a military college and are in use today.

SOURCE: U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; “CIVIL WAR DAY BY DAY: AN ALMANAC 1861-1865” BY E.B. AND BARBARA LONG (1971)

SC Works Awards Local Businesses $100,000 For Incumbent Worker Training

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (Feb. 14, 2019) –  SC Works Trident and its Trident Workforce Development Board has awarded $100,000 to eight local businesses connected to Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) programs. The funds, made possible by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), will support training as each business advances technology, expands and offers new services as part of a layoff aversion strategy.   

“From engineering to environmental services, we’re delighted to see these employers benefit from their commitment to a well-educated, local workforce,” said BCDCOG Executive Director Ron Mitchum. “These dollars mean a great deal to our mission of preparing tomorrow’s workforce for the demand of the region’s growth sectors.”

Businesses receiving funds through the $100,000 grant include Levy Environmental Services-Charleston Mill, Equiscript, LLC, Life Cycle Engineering, AHT Cooling Systems USA, CECA, Voith Syn-Strand, Thrace-LINQ and Argos. For more information on SC Works and its Trident Workforce Development Board, visit www.tridentscworks.org.  

About SC Works Trident

SC Works helps individuals find their dream career at any age and any stage of their lives, and is comprised of one-stop centers in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. SC Works Trident offers a variety of services to help employers and job seekers meet their workforce development needs.  For the latest on SC Works, visit tridentscworks.org and like us on Facebook.

A program of the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments.

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Charleston, South Carolina selected for Global Leadership Exchange

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NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – South Carolina Federal Credit Union has chosen Charleston, SC to be the host city for its inaugural DE TEACH Global program from March 1-15, 2019. As part of its efforts to facilitate global dialogue around organizational leadership and talent retention, DE TEACH Global Program will promote cultural diversity and inclusion among cohesive teams engaged in high team performance.

Troy Hall, Ph.D., Chief Strategy Officer for South Carolina Federal, created the cultural leadership event in partnership with Konstantin Comeros, Area Director for credit union development at VICTO National in the Philippines.

“Dr. Troy,” as he is known in his industry, travels the globe speaking and consulting with C-level executives about emerging trends in how to retain talent and transform the work space into a culture of cohesion. Dr. Troy and Mr. Comeros will conduct a series of business meetings for local CEOs and their teams from all business sectors. These exchange events are intended to explore and discover concepts from both the U.S. and Asian markets on how to apply practical leadership principles to create a sustainable and successful culture that retains top talent and drives team performance.

“In today’s competitive environment, we cannot take for granted that once we onboard someone new to our team that we are done with their development. It is imperative that senior leadership, in conjunction with their H.R. team, be involved and intentional in retaining top talent”, shared Scott Woods, CEO of South Carolina Federal. “We are honored that Charleston business leaders and executives will help play a global role in this leadership exchange,” he added.

C-level executives and founders who are dedicated to talent retention are invited to join Dr. Troy and Mr. Comeros at one of their events. Seating is limited. Send inquiries to Laura Morris.

Charleston Month of Love: I Love the Way You Love – Original Poem

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By Mark A. Leon

I love the way you love

The dance in the middle of the park without music, without an audience but a story of a princess and the ball running through your head
The mornings when the aroma of coffee and the warmth of the rising sun remind me of home

It is in the heart that you share
The compassion for the weak that makes you strong

If I could feel the love you feel, I would know the answers I have sought as I journey to this sunset
On this horse named Hope, I ride without direction
Listening for your heartbeat

You hug as if it is the first time seeing me
Holding tight, reminding without words the importance of touch

You laugh with the strength of Hercules; cry with the devastation of Pompeii

Patience
So much patience
One step at a time
Birth to twilight

When you close your eyes as the wind brushes back your hair, there is a connection with nature most can never understand

I love the way you love
All things
All dreams

In the rain, you see re-birth
A cleansing of the soul
The rest run

At night, you embrace the silence
In the crowds and the screaming, the embrace of life

I love that you believe in the greater good
Humanity is a gift you unwrap once strand at a time
Mental nakedness lets you feel

I love the way you love
In you, I continue to learn

Charleston Based Blackbaud Introduces Purchase Cards and Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT®

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Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, today announced its new Blackbaud Purchase Cards, which provide social good organizations with an efficient and convenient…

CHARLESTON, S.C., Feb. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, today announced its new Blackbaud Purchase Cards, which provide social good organizations with an efficient and convenient alternative to traditional procurement methods and paper-based payables processes such as checks, purchase orders, and invoices. Blackbaud Purchase Cards enable organizations to set spend controls for individual cardholders, track business expenses across the organization, and ensure that policies are being enforced-all through a user-friendly online portal. Blackbaud Purchase Cards will soon integrate with Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT®, enabling non-financial staff members to track and submit their own credit card transactions and invoice requests for approval, drastically reducing the staff time required to manage this process.

“Blackbaud is committed to helping our customers improve operational efficiency and maximize mission delivery,” said Kevin Gregoire, president, Enterprise Market Group at Blackbaud. “We are excited to work with Regions Bank to deepen this commitment with the introduction of Blackbaud Purchase Cards, which help enable social good organizations to make the transition to automated purchasing and employee expense processes-drastically reducing administrative costs and fraud risk.”

Blackbaud is working with Regions Bank to issue chipped Visa® cards to social good customers to use for travel and operational purchases. Blackbaud Purchase Cards, which come with no annual fee, are available to customers in the United States with approved credit. Additional benefits include automatic annual cash back on all purchases, Visa® Signature Business benefits including travel coverage and liability waiver, and 24/7 access to a secure online portal for purchase card program management.

“Regions has a commitment to improving our communities and making banking easier for all those we serve,” said Jay Darnell, senior vice president, Commercial Card Group at Regions Bank. “We look forward to working with Blackbaud to provide their customers with more flexibility, convenience and control through the new Purchase Cards.”

According to the RPMG Research Corporation’s 2017 North American Purchasing Card Benchmark Survey,   annual purchasing card usage is expected to grow 10.5% per year through 2021. The report also states that-compared to traditional payment methods-purchase cards can lead to benefits such as reduction in procurement cycle time, increased savings through supplier discounts, and working capital and cash flow improvements. Blackbaud will address these needs with its new purchase card offering along with its deep integration with Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT.

Blackbaud Purchase Cards and Expense Management deliver a robust accounts payable and expense solution-from core accounting system to the method of payment-to enable customers to decentralize daily purchasing while implementing and monitoring the right controls in a scalable way. With Blackbaud Purchase Cards and Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, customers can:

  • Set spend limits and authorization controls-unique to each cardholder-on everything from vendor type to amount and frequency of cash advances
  • Give their non-financial staff members secure access to track and submit their own expenses directly in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT
  • Provide their finance teams with maximum visibility and control of organizational spending with secure, reliable purchase card integration
  • Make timelier payments and gain greater insight into vendor spend to negotiate better rates based on spend volume
  • Reduce the need for burdensome, paper-based processes-such as purchase orders, invoices, checks, requisitions, and approvals-to alleviate administrative effort and simplify reconciliation

“With Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, I can easily log in to the system to review expense requests and transactions-and even drill into each line item to view details and attachments,” said Tracee Wright, development assistant at Commemorative Air Force. “Because credit card transactions are automatically populated in the system, I have the information needed to proactively reach out to cardholders when additional documentation is needed. It’s such a huge time savings to have everything in one place.”

Customers are already experiencing the benefits of Blackbaud Purchase Cards and the insights that it provides to organizations’ financial teams. “With much of the data prefilled, it was so simple to complete the online application process for the Blackbaud Purchase Card,” said Regina De Hoyos, associate chief financial officer, StarCare Specialty Health System. “The online portal is easy to use, and it allows me to do everything from setting limits by user to reviewing and downloading cardholder statements.”

For more information on Blackbaud Purchase Cards, click here. For more information on Expense Management, click here.

Click to Tweet: Now available: @Blackbaud Purchase Cards from @askRegions and Expense Management in Financial Edge NXT help social good organizations more efficiently manage financial processes https://blkb.co/2Uzy72D

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community-nonprofits, foundations, companies, education institutions, healthcare organizations and individual change agents-Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise, and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility, school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing, and analytics. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Most Dangerous States for Pedestrians – Where Does South Carolina Rank?

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In the past decade, the number of people struck and killed while walking increased by 35 percent. The last two years on record (2016 and 2017) were the most deadly years for people killed by drivers while walking since 1990.

Every year, Dangerous by Design releases an annual survey of pedestrian fatalities and ranks states by incidences and danger levels.

This year, South Carolina came in as the 10th most dangerous with an index of 107.8. Within the state, two regions made the top 20 in the nation,

  • Greenville / Anderson / Mauldin – South Carolina #15 in the nation
  • August / Richmond County – Georgia/South Carolina #20 in the nation

Full Study Results

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks – Inspirational quotes from a true inspiration

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Today would mark the 106th birthday of Rosa Park (February 4,  1913).  A civil rights activist and patron of equality, Ms. Parks represented the essence of strength and courage, not only for blacks and females, but for millions around the world.

In honor of her birthday, we would like to share some of Rosa Parks most inspiration quotes

Quotes of Rosa Parks

“I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”

“Each person must live their life as a model for others.”

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

“No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

“Each person must live their life as a model for others.”

“Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.”

“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.”

“Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”

“Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again.”

“I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.”

“All I was doing was trying to get home from work.I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”

60 Years Ago Today, February 3, 1959, ‘The Day the Music Died’

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60 years ago today, on a fateful stormy night in Iowa, the plane carrying up and coming stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson went down killing three of the most prominent figures in music and a day that would be known forever as ‘The Day the Music Died’.

The legacy of these three stars lives on in their music, film and the poignant song of Don McLean. As a tribute to these rock icons, we want to celebrate and remember their lives through their music

Enjoy these great hits and this beautiful montage of American Pie.