Archive for month: January, 2026

We are excited to start the New Year meeting new people! Bring a friend, come hang out with us at Southern Hops!

To view the full flyer, click here.

The Post & Courier Pee Dee reported that downtown Florence has seen its share of new businesses in recent years, adding five last year.

2025 brought diverse businesses downtown, all offering something new and unique, from a jiu jitsu studio to a thrift store.

“Florence in general is a place that people want to be and it’s a growing community,” Downtown Development Manager Hannah Davis said. “There’s still a lot of opportunity here.”

“There’s just so many diverse opportunities to be entertained and to meet people downtown,” Florence Chamber of Commerce President Mike Miller said. “It is kind of the place to be.”

To read the full story, click here.

he Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 Winter Legislative Breakfast will be held on Friday, February 20 at The Florence Center.

This year’s speaker will be South Carolina Senator Mike Reichenbach representing District 31 covering Darlington and Florence Counties. His conversation will cover hot topics such as state infrastructure, education technology (phone-free schools), state employee compensation, tax policy as well as the ongoing legislative discussions on DEI and betting.

The doors for breakfast will open at 7:30 a.m. and the program begins at 7:50 a.m.

Registration for the Legislative Breakfast is $30 for chamber members, $40 for non-members and $260 for a forward reserved table of 8. The breakfast is made possible by Duke Energy and TD Bank.

The South Carolina Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics (GSSM) has announced a new partnership with Coker University to expand STEM opportunities and strengthen pathways to higher education for students across the Pee Dee region.

Beginning this year, Coker University will fund a $1,000 tuition scholarship for each high school category winner at the SC Sand Hills Region IV Science and Engineering Fair. The scholarship will be formally named the Coker University Scientific Achievement Award and may be applied toward tuition at Coker University.

The SC Sand Hills Region IV Science and Engineering Fair is an International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)-affiliated competition and will be held Wednesday, March 13, 2025, on the GSSM campus in Hartsville. The fair is open to students in grades 5–12 from Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Lee, Marlboro and Williamsburg counties.

To read the full press release, click here.

SPC Credit Union is thrilled to be kicking off the new year with a new program for First Time Homebuyers! This 8-month workshop is designed to equip participants with the tools and know-how needed to buy their first home! Classes will be led by experts from the local lending team at SPC Credit Union and will take place on the second Monday of every month beginning in February through September at the Butler Heritage Foundation Auditorium (1103 S. 6th St. in Hartsville). Class size is limited to 20, so early registration is encouraged! You do NOT have to be an SPC Member to participate. There is a $25 registration fee that participants are required to pay. This fee supports the SPC Cares Foundation’s Down Payment Assistance Fund.

To view the event flyer, click here.