While many US ports struggled with supply chain problems during the COVID-19 pandemic South Carolina ports — specifically the Port of Charleston — seized the opportunity to improve.

The Port of Charleston jumped from the ninth to the eighth largest port in the country and knocked the Port of Oakland down one in doing so, said Barbara Melvin, president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority.

Eighty percent of the nation’s imports come in through the nation’s top 10 ports.

Melvin was the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce’s Outlook Luncheon keynote speaker Wednesday, March 22nd as 500 area business and community leaders attended the event.

“During the pandemic it was pretty obvious to everybody that things weren’t working well in the supply chain,” Melvin said. “We take great care making sure that we remained productive and while other ports struggled close to two years to get rid of the congestion we did it in five months and we did it because we partnered with everyone up and down the supply chain, selflessly, to make sure you got the goods you needed.”

“We all heard about the West Coast ports and we all saw that picture that looked like the Normandy invasion off the West Coast while there were more than 100 ships off shore waiting to be worked,” she said.

Many shippers transited the Panama Canal to the Gulf Coast and East Coast ports to avoid that congestion.

“Charleston grew the third fastest (of U.S. ports) during the last 10 years,” Melvin said. Only Houston and Savannah grew more.

“Our goal is to grow two times the national port market growth rate. We feel the Southeast affords us the opportunity.”

The pandemic fueled some of that growth.

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On Monday, March 27th in Boston, with over 1,000 nationwide peers in attendance, the Downtown Florence Main Street Program was honored with Main Street America’s Great American Main Street Award. This achievement is a once in a lifetime recognition, as a community can win this award only once.

This award represents the boundless investment, hard work, tenacity, and vision from local investors and partners, small business owners, government officials and leaders, event and program attendees, residents, and our statewide Main Street network over the last twenty years, and especially over the last decade. Once described as too far gone to be saved, Downtown Florence has become the place to be, to live, and to do business in our region, and we aren’t done yet. Continue to follow along with our Downtown team at Downtown Florence or on the downtown website, www.florencedowntown.com

The 2022-2023 Fellows in Education class enjoyed a visit to Royall Elementary March 14th. Mrs. Julie Smith, Principle, spent time sharing the students & staff accomplishments along with the numerous school awards, including Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Lighthouse School in 2022. The classroom visits were wonderful.

The Fellows in Education Program is designed to improve education for students by involving local leaders in the atmosphere and experiences that our students share each day. The program seeks to create a community of leaders that can share firsthand knowledge and help collaborate with policymakers and the community on the educational concerns of the future.

Fellows In Education is A Joint program between Florence School District One, The School Foundation and The Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.

Raines, a fully integrated hotel development, management, and investment company located in Florence, has acquired HP Hotels, a full-service, third-party hotel management company, resulting in operational expansion throughout the southeast and southwestern United States. The financial terms of the transaction are not being publicly disclosed.

“Assets alone will not get Raines to where it needs to be as a company,” said Grey Raines, managing partner of Raines. “In addition to acquiring third-party management contracts, Raines is adding experienced principals, trusted partnerships, and operations, sales and marketing, and human resources teams to its arsenal of experienced hospitality professionals. By selecting, developing, and empowering talent diligently, we are positioning ourselves to better achieve our company goals and deliver to our stakeholders.”

“This acquisition is more than just adding assets to our portfolio,” said David Tart, managing partner of Raines.

The acquisition expands Raines’ footprint geographically beyond the Southeast, adding properties in the Southwest, including Texas and Oklahoma. As a result of the partnership, Raines adds not only its first IHG properties but also its first independent assets. The addition of HP’s independent and soft-branded properties will grow Woven by Raines, a specialized division of the company providing a unique development and management approach to boutique hotels, to a portfolio of eight hotels.

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