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Thursday, October 12, is a very special day for the Florence and the Pee Dee as it celebrates the Grand Reopening of one of the areas oldest nonprofits, Pee Dee Hearing Center.  The City of Florence passed a resolution naming October 12 Pee Dee Hearing Center Day!    Founded in 1968 by a group of concerned citizens who recognized  a need in our community for services for the speech and hearing impaired, the Center provides reduced rate services and hearing aids for  clients from every walk of life.  We want to be able to reach more people in need of treatment for their hearing loss as our population grows and changes by increasing our ability to provide low cost hearing aids.

Formerly Pee Dee Speech & Hearing Center, the practice’s mission is to empower the lives of people who struggle with all degrees of hearing challenges. Hearing loss is a prevelant condition throughout the community and is becoming even more common in younger generations as our environment grows noisier.  The proliferation of electronic media, sound systems, lawn and garden equipment, and a host of other noise pollutants is causing irreversible hearing loss across the generations. Hearing loss of all degrees affects people’s ability to navigate their relationships at home, in the marriages, at work, at school, and at play. When people treat their hearing loss, their relationships tend to improve in all these areas.   We see educating people about the risks of noise pollution and ways to prevent noise induced hearing loss as a significant part of our job.

Join us on Thursday, October 12th from 4:30 – 6:30 pm at 153 N B Barrody St in Florence.  Please RSVP to peedeehearingandspeech@gmail.com ASAP.

If you own or manage a business in the Greater Florence or Pee Dee area the Florence Chamber encourages you to offer your input into the Palmetto Business Barometer for October. The Palmetto Business Barometer, is a collaboration between the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.

It’s important to know what conditions employers are facing, so employers, other businesses, and the public are well-informed about our state’s economy and workforce. Rest assured that your individual responses will be confidential; we only ask for your email address, so we may send the survey to you in future months and can connect responses together between months to identify trends. This survey will only take 2-3 minutes each month and will produce information to help us better serve you and your business.

To participate in the survey, click here.

MUSC Health Black River Medical Center would like to announce the first recipient of the DAISY award. The DAISY award is given to a nurse whose job performance exemplifies the mission, vision and values of MUSC Health. The recipient must also keep a consistent focus on meeting patient-family goals, collaborate with the healthcare team to meet patients’ needs, use critical thinking to deliver extraordinary patient care, and demonstrate a caring attitude, as well as professionalism in the workplace during all situations, according to the hospital announcement.

MUSC Health Black River Medical Center recently named Justice Hickman, a registered nurse in the Emergency Department, as the recipient of the DAISY Award for nursing.

She was nominated by a parent whose son was treated for a broken wrist. “Justice was an outstanding nurse who treated my child with a truly caring attitude. She talked to me and gave me mom-to-mom advice. She is a true example of what a mom expects in a nurse caring for her child. We are true believers in prayer, and on her way out from her shift, she checked in on us and commented that she would be praying for my son. That meant more than a thousand words to my mom heart!”

To read the full press release, click here.

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program announced last week that Jermaine Ford, president at Florence-Darlington Technical College, was selected for the inaugural class of the Aspen Presidents Fellowship.

This program, made possible with support from JPMorgan Chase, focuses on developing a sustainable and comprehensive reform agenda that advances excellence and equity in student outcomes at scale.

This class of fellows represents the diversity of the nation’s community colleges. They lead institutions across 14 states that collectively educate more than 280,000 students in varied settings, from a rural college of 700 students to an urban one with enrollment of more than 24,000. The incoming class of Presidents Fellows is 56 percent women and 44 percent people of color.

To read the full story, click here.

Former Mayor Joe W. “Rocky” Pearce Jr. — whose fingerprints are on much of Florence’s development from the past 40 years — was honored for his accomplishments at the annual School Foundation Gala for Florence 1 Schools.

Hundreds gathered to raise money for The School Foundation and to celebrate Pearce, whose resume includes being the youngest mayor in Florence’s history, chairing the county’s economic development board and running a national insurance agency, among many other things.

Jean Leatherman, who introduced Pearce, said the longtime civic leader dedicated himself to his community and has “woven a tapestry” of service over the years.

In his remarks, Pearce said receiving the honor of being this year’s Florence 1 Schools Distinguished Graduate wasn’t in the cards when he graduated from McClenaghan High School in 1970.

The night included Pearce’s remarks, a short play sketching out his story and speakers from across the country who congratulated Pearce in a video message.

To read the full story, click here.