Anderson Brothers Bank on Hoffmeyer Road Joins the Chamber

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Anderson Brothers Bank held a ribbon cutting at its Hoffmeyer Road location in Florence on Thursday, November 4th celebrating its membership in the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.  This branch opened in November 2020, said Jamie Carsten, commercial loan officer and vice president at Anderson Brothers Bank.  “This is our third location in Florence,” he said.  The branch is at 2001 Hoffmeyer Road. Carsten said the Hoffmeyer location is temporary. Plans are to build on Evans Street between Popeye’s and Burger King.

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Kimberly Patrick Photography Opens Studio in Lamar

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A ribbon cutting was held Wednesday, November 3rd in Lamar at Kimberly Patrick Photography studio. Owner Kimberly Patrick celebrated joining the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and opening her new studio. Chamber staff and ambassadors joined in the celebration. The studio is at 179 Lorans Drive in Lamar.  Patrick is a family photographer who specializes in newborn, baby, children and family portraiture.  “I have been taking pictures all of my life,” Patrick said.  She said it gives her great joy celebrating and capturing special moments of growing families and the people they love through the art of photography. She has been a professional photographer since 2014.

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Project Urban Square to Move Forward

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Florence is getting ready to move forward on Project Urban Square.  On the agenda for the 2 p.m. Wednesday, November 3rd meeting of the Florence Design Review Board are the requests for certificates of appropriateness to construct the apartment building and the parking deck parts of the project.  Project Urban Square is a $60 million agreement between the city and Styx Land Development to bring an apartment building, hotel, townhomes, office space, a parking garage and a mini-park in the block bordered by West Evans, Coit, McQueen and N.B. Baroody streets.

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Unemployment Insurance Tax Rate Won’t Go Up in 2022

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South Carolina’s unemployment insurance tax rates for employers will decrease or remain unchanged for 2022. The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce announced last week that they would not need to raise any rates after the General Assembly used COVID relief funds to replenish the state’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund.  The UI fund now has a balance of approximately $1.19 billion, which allowed the state to avoid federal loans and interest payments. As a result, the state will set tax year 2022 rates to raise approximately the same revenue as 2021 and 2020. The state will also not require any solvency surcharge due to the sufficiently high trust fund balance.  Tax rate notices will be mailed to businesses on Friday, November 12, but employers can log into their State Unemployment Insurance Tax System (SUITS) account beginning Nov. 5 to see their 2022 tax rate. A guide showing how to access this rate can be found here. Click here to view the 2022 tax rate chart.

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Elon Musk Offers to Fulfill David Beasley’s Request That Billionaires Do More to Prevent Hunger

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The world’s richest man has responded to World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley’s call to fight hunger.  A Darlington County native and former governor of South Carolina, Beasley was featured in a CNN article Saturday where he said the world’s richest people should do more to fight hunger. He made a very similar call as the keynote speaker at the annual Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce Membership Luncheon in September.  The headline of the article quoted Beasley as saying 2% or $6 billion of Space X founder and CEO and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $292 billion net worth could solve world hunger.  A screenshot of the article was tweeted by Dr. Eli David, Ph.D. with a fact check that said the World Food Program raised $8.4 billion in 2020 – roughly 43% of this funding comes from the United States – and that these funds did not solve world hunger.

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Goldman Site Services Celebrates Joining the Chamber with Ribbon Cutting

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Florence Chamber of Commerce on Monday, November 1st with a ribbon cutting at the business on the Olanta Highway outside Scranton. Joining co-owners Ben Goldman and his father, Don Goldman, for the ribbon cutting were Chamber staff and ambassadors, family and employees.  Owner/operator Ben Goldman cut the ribbon. Goldman said they offer grading, excavation, demolition, land and brush clearing, forestry mulching and other services. He said they do commercial and residential work. Goldman said he has been in business for about three years. “We started out doing lawn care and shifted gears to do this,” Goldman said. “I learned from past experience and getting out and doing the work,” he said. “I know a lot from other jobs I have had.” Goldman said he enjoys working outdoors and the fact that everyday isn’t the same. The business is at 2865 Olanta Highway in Scranton. Goldman said they have three employees and a variety of heavy equipment to get the job done.

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Back Porch Barbecue Wins 2021 Kickin’ Chicken Wing and Chili Cookoff People’s Choice Award

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The final award winner from the 2021 Greater Florence Kickin’ Chicken Wing and Chili Cookoff has been named. Damon and Heather Kight, husband and wife partners in the Back Porch Barbecue team, were presented with the people’s choice award Monday, November 1st at the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce office. Ashley Johnson of Marion received a gift card for voting in the people’s choice contest.