Join Victors for their Annual Thanksgiving Eve Block Party on November 22nd beginning at 6:00 PM with live music in the James Allen Plaza (109 S Dargan St). Admission is just $5 and the proceeds will benefit the HopeHealth Compassionate Care Fund.
Wendell Jones and Caroline Toniolo, partners in Ensemble Wealth Planning, were on ChamberLink Radio this weekend to talk about crafting client relationships built on trust and understanding, with a focus on wealth planning.
You can catch the conversations on ChamberLink Radio each Sunday from 12:00-12:30pm on LIVE 95.3FM in Florence, SC.
ChamberLink Radio is brought to you by the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and The UPS Stores.
The Kickin’ Chicken & Chili Festival, delayed by a rainy night in October, played out Friday night in downtown Florence as several chefs and restaurants put their chicken wings and chili up in competition.
The annual event is a key fundraiser for the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
This year’s winners in the wing category were Mac’s BBQ Kitchen which took top honors, followed by Duke Energy’s team, Ashley’s Yummy Tummy at third.
In the chili competition Back Porch BBQ took top honors followed by Ashley’s Yummy Tummy.
The event was well attended for the rescheduled Festival with approximately 1,200 pounds of wings sold.
The Chamber wants to thank the Inland Band and all the Chamber Ambassadors that helped with the project, and a very special thanks to Hannah Davis and the Downtown Development team.
This year’s event was made possible by Raines Co. and Synergi Partners along with support from Willcox, Buyck & Williams, Victors, South Carolina Federal Credit Union, MPD Electric Cooperative, Florence Downtown Development Corp. and the City of Florence.
To read the full story, click here.
Sea Moss by M and S LLC owners Kerry Mango and Stephanie Todd cut their ribbon along with Chamber Ambassadors joining the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
Sea Moss by M and S LLC was founded by Kerry Manago and Stephanie Todd in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. They decided to find a way to help themselves and those in our community find a way to heal naturally but also affordably. They researched and found sea moss. They noticed that it has all these great benefits but there was nowhere here to obtain it locally and the prices on the internet were expensive. Sea Moss found a distributor for the raw sea moss, and they make and sell their gel at a reasonable price.
They recently expanded their inventory to include skin care products, hair care products and smoothies, Kerry and Stephanie live and work in Florence and can provide Sea Moss at a reasonable cost to help with your day-to-day health.
To read the full story, click here.
uying beer and wine 7 days a week in the city of Florence has been a boom for businesses since Florence residents voted for the Sunday alcohol law changes a year ago.
Both businesses and residents across the city weighed in on the fairly new law. Some businesses said it’s a work in progress while the Florence community said they’ve seen a difference.
“It’s been a great convenience, and I think it’s benefited the retailers a lot more than they initially thought that it may,” said President of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce, Mike Miller.
A year ago, 71% of Florence voters said “yes” to beer and wine sales on Sundays.
To read the full story, click here.
Governor Henry McMaster and South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) Executive Director William Floyd announced that state unemployment insurance (UI) tax rates will either decrease or stay the same for all employers in 2024, marking the third consecutive year that UI taxes have been lowered. South Carolina’s UI Trust Fund has a balance of nearly $1.6 billion, which has allowed the state to set the 2024 tax rates to raise approximately the same amount of revenue as 2023 and 2022, lower rates for rate classes 2-19 by an average of 6% (rates for classes 1 and 20 are set by statute and do not change year to year), and forgo a solvency surcharge due to the high balance of the fund.
Tax rate notices will be mailed to businesses on Monday, November 13, but employers can also log into their State Unemployment Insurance Tax System (SUITS) account to see their 2024 tax rate. More information regarding the 2024 UI tax rates can be found here.
To read the full story, click here.
Florence 1 Schools announced Thursday in a news release that a new school will be coming to the district by January 2025, and its focus will be on healthcare and students who have an interest in working in the medical field, the district said.
The School of Innovation in Healthcare will be housed at the historic Poynor Building which is able to be renovated due to a $10 million dollar grant from the Florence County Legislative Delegation, the release said.
Representative Phillip Lowe, Chairman of the Florence County Delegation, said in the news release that members developed a two-year plan to fundamentally change the entire Pee Dee region.
To read the full story, click here.
On Saturday, December 2, HopeHealth will host its annual AIDSWalk.
This year’s event will take place on the grounds of the HopeHealth Medical Plaza at 360 North Irby Street in Florence. Registration and check-in begin at 9 am in the Meditation Garden, with the program and non-competitive awareness walk kicking off at 10 am. Participants will receive a free AIDSWalk t-shirt and to-go box lunch while supplies last.
AIDSWalk has been hosted by HopeHealth since 1993 and serves to bring awareness about the importance of prevention, treatment, and breaking the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. In addition to t-shirts and door prizes, attendees can enjoy music by DJ Stylz. Pre-register for the event online by visiting hope-health.org/event-list/aidswalk-2023.
Last week, the South Carolina Chamber joined the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO) and over 240 national, state, and local business associations in filing comments opposing the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed overtime rule, and requested that the rule be withdrawn.
The proposed rule would extend overtime pay to salaried workers earning less than $55,000 a year and automatically update the salary threshold for overtime eligibility every three years to “reflect current earnings data”.
The PPWO estimates that nearly 7.2 million workers could be impacted by the proposed rule if adopted. Additionally, PPWO estimates DOL could issue the final rule as early as March 1, 2024, requiring employers to implement the changes as early as May 1, 2024. Click below for more information.
To read the full story, click here.
The SC Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) continues its mission of providing grants to address some of the state’s most pressing infrastructure needs related to public health and the environment while building capacity for economic opportunities. Last week, the RIA approved state grant assistance for 30 projects, totaling more than $18 million. These projects will benefit communities in 21 counties across the state.
The City of Florence will be awarded $1,000,000. Most of the grants will fund capital improvements, including extension of water lines to serve new customers in a disadvantaged community, construction of new wells to increase water production, replacement of sewer lines to reduce infiltration and inflow as well as upgrades to treatment plants. Other projects are designed to facilitate economic opportunities and promote job creation. Combined, these projects will benefit more than 63,000 customers in 14 counties.
A list of grant recipients for the first round of competitive grants for fiscal year 2024 can be found by clicking here.
