Florence Center To Host The Florence Food Truck Festival This Weekend

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Join the Florence Center on June 16 & 17 for the Florence Food Truck Festival!

Explore a world of new flavors with OVER 20 local and regional delectable food trucks, trailers and food vendors! Taste an array of authentic cuisines, grilled favorites, worldly flavors, and sweet treats! The Florence Food Truck Festival will not only include delicious food, it will also include live entertainment daily, games, prizes, a kids zone, a large beer garden, local craft and retail vendors and MORE!

For more information, click here.

Carolina Inflatables And Event Rentals Hosts Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

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Hunter Dewitt, owner of Carolina Inflatables and Event Rentals, along with Chamber Ambassadors cuts the ribbon as he becomes a member of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce on Monday, June 5th.

Carolina Inflatables has been in business for about a year now and has been very successful providing inflatables for parties, events, etc. They are proud to offer the Florence county area and surrounding areas fun inflatable rentals for any party needs. Their inflatables can be used dry or wet. They also provide large slides for older kids, bounce house and slide combinations, obstacle courses and basic bounce house. All their slides are delivered and set up at your site.

To get in touch with Carolina Inflatables during business hours Monday to Saturday 8 am to 5 pm call 843-687-8692 or they can be reached at their website : https://carolinainflatablesandevents.com/ or on Facebook https://m.facebook.com/Carolinainflatablesandeventrentalsllc. Contact can be made on Facebook and via text 24/7.

Freedom Family Care Joins Chamber

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Dr. Brian Hanna along with his wife Kim, co-owners of Freedom Family Care. their staff and Chamber Ambassador cut the ribbon on their grand opening while joining the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, June 1st.

Freedom Family Care is a Direct Primary Care outpatient clinic in Florence, SC. They provide primary care services to people ages birth through geriatrics. Direct Primary Care is different from traditional medicine in that they take a limited number of patients and provide 24/7 access to those patients for primary care services. They do not take medical insurance, and Direct Primary Care is not insurance; however, patients may use their health insurance if Dr. Hanna refers them for imaging studies or to see a specialist.

To read the full story, click here.

Young Professionals of Florence To Host June Networking Event

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Join YPF and Francis Marion University as they partner up to host a night full of fun, fellowship, and lots of food and drinks on Thursday, June 15th from 5:30 – 7:30 PM at the Luther F. Carter Center in Downtown Florence.

For more info, click here.

Florence After 5 Schedule

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Plan your Friday’s around the Florence After Five downtown block party each month. The fun starts at 5:30pm and includes great food, beer, beverages and great live music. Oh, and a whole lot of dancing. Take a look at the schedule above.

ChamberLink Radio

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Gary Kooper of Kooper Leadership Academy joined ChamberLink radio this weekend to talk about leadership based safety training, individual performance coaching and way’s they can help individuals gain the tools to be an effective leader.  You can catch ChamberLink Radio each Sunday from 12:00-12:30pm on LIVE 95.3FM in Florence, SC.

ChamberLink Radio

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Bill Lynch, owner of Asset Technology Group, joined ChamberLink radio this weekend to share information on their services addressing multiple tiers of IT systems, including managed firewalls, network security, backup & disaster recovery, email & spam protection, VoIP, Website design, hardware, software, and more.

You can catch ChamberLink Radio each Sunday from 12:00-12:30pm on LIVE 95.3FM in Florence, SC.

Florence Downtown Development Celebrate The Great American Main Street Award

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We want to congratulate the Florence Downtown Development folks as they celebrate the Great American Main Street Award win. The Chamber is thankful to the FDDC, and for all the amazing businesses that help bring residents and visitors to Downtown Florence. Proud to be part of downtown Florence.

Darlington Dixie Plant To Host Ribbon-Cutting For $145M Expansion

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Georgia-Pacific and Dixie Darlington are celebrating the completion of their multi-million dollar expansion in the Pee Dee.

A $145 million investment expanded and enhanced the Darlington Manufacturing site.

They are now able to make more Dixie plates and bowls, constructed a new distribution center and installed a new printer.

They will host a ribbon-cutting event at the end of the month to unveil the expansion.

To read the full story, click here.

Workforce Woes Continue in SC

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South Carolina businesses continue to suffer from workforce-related issues. From a national workforce shortage to a growing skills gap, Palmetto State employers do their best to keep their factories, stores, and operations staffed. The Post and Courier recently reported on manufacturers’ struggles to find qualified workers who can pass a drug test and background check in a stagnant and shrinking labor pool.

The article explained that companies are eligible for lower insurance premiums for complying with the State of South Carolina’s Drug-Free Workplace Act and that any company that accepts incentives must comply with all local, state, and federal laws, including the Drug-Free Workplace Act. The act lists marijuana as a banned controlled substance in South Carolina. Quest Diagnostics’ most recent Drug Testing Index showed that 4.6 percent of job seekers tested positive for drug use in 2022, and most were related to marijuana. Drug tests are becoming a more prevalent barrier for employees to achieve and retain jobs as drug use rises across the country, especially marijuana.

Additionally, background checks continue to be a barrier for many in the state’s workforce. The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce’s Labor Force Participation Task Force uncovered that a criminal record was the tenth largest barrier – 11 percent of respondents – for those who are not working and able to. South Carolina leaders are working to reduce this barrier with legislation such as H.3605 to make occupational licenses more attainable for previously incarcerated individuals, which was signed into law on May 10, 2023.

Drug tests and background checks are not the only nor the most significant barriers for South Carolinians. Transportation, childcare, training, healthcare affordability, and many other obstacles keep our available workforce out of the market. The SC Chamber continues to look for ways to strengthen and grow the state’s workforce and labor force participation rate by working with businesses, partners, and other groups to identify and push for solutions that help the state’s business community have the workforce they need to be prosperous.