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Charleston Business

#YeahTHATAgenda: New Greenville Hostel, More on New BMW Boss, Woolpert Wins Award, Boston Farm-to-Table Franchise Coming to Upstate, Charleston's Recovery Room is the King of PBR

Jul 25, 2019 09:06AM ● By Chris Haire
South Carolina to get its second hostel company with Greenville's Modal: Shout outs from national travel magazines. Weekend trip play-by-plays in one of the Big Three newspapers. Unexpected visits by internationally famous movie stars. All are signs that a city is becoming something of a tourist town.

But fewer things are more indicative of a city's CVB arrival than a youth hostel. And by the end of 2019, Greenville is set to have its first hostel company, and the Palmetto State's second.

Earlier this week, co-owners Joe Hindman (right) and David Stone (left) announced that they will open a new hostel at 813 Augusta St. called Modal in a former dentist office. Decorated with works by local artists, Modal will feature three dormitory-style rooms and two private rooms. All together, the hostel will be able to house 28 people.

“Modal was born out of a passion for art, people, travel, and Greenville," Hindman says  “If you stay at Modal, you’ll get an immediate entrance into the thriving art community of Greenville.”

He adds,  “We want everyone to feel welcome; inclusivity is at our core.”

Charleston is the only other city in the state with a hostel, the aptly named NotSo Hostel.

The Holy City hostel company currently has two locations on the peninsula, both within a short walk of the city's bustling tourist and entertainment districts. Greenville's Modal will also be within walking distance of the city's downtown leisure district.

“The building sits comfortably outside of the bustle of downtown," Hindman says, "while still providing immediate access to all of the entertainment, food, and night life.”

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More Details about Incoming BMW CEO: Last Thursday, BMW AG promoted production chief Oliver Zipse to the post of chief executive officer during the Munich-based automaker’s supervisory board meeting at its Spartanburg plant. 

Zipse will succeed Harald Krüger, who said in May he wouldn’t seek a second term as chairman of company’s board of management.

On August 16, Zipse will assume the chairman’s role, while Krüger will resign as chairman and leave BMW’s board of management by mutual agreement the preceding day. 

“With Oliver Zipse, a decisive strategic and analytical leader will assume the chair of the Board of Management of BMW AG. He will provide the BMW Group with fresh momentum in shaping the mobility of the future,” Nobert Reithofer, chairman of the supervisory board, said in a statement.  

Zipse has been a member of BMW’s board of management since 2015 and is currently responsible for the production division. He began his professional career with the company in 1991 as a trainee and has held various management positions, including managing director Plant Oxford and senior vice president of corporate planning and product strategy. 

Krüger assumed the chairman’s position in May 2015. Under his leadership, the company put forward its Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT initiative, which enabled the BMW Group to actively shape the transformation of the industry and the transition towards sustainable mobility.

With the largest model roll-out in the company’s history, vehicle deliveries reached all-time highs, while at the same time the company systematically expanded its electromobility strategy. By 2023, the BMW Group will have 25 electrified models on the road.

As chairman, Krüger further strengthened the significance of strategic partnerships--particularly in the area of breakthrough technologies such as highly automated driving.

Still, the Munich-based company has faced headwinds confronting the entire automotive industry. Those include high costs to develop electric vehicles to meet tighter emissions regulations in Europe and China, and investments in autonomous vehicles to compete with tech companies like Waymo and Uber, The Associated Press has reported. --David Dykes

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The Boston-based farm-to-table fast-casual chain B.GOOD is coming to Greenville: With over 80 locations nationwide, the sustainably sourced restaurant franchise has its eyes on three, as-yet-to-be-announced locations in the Upstate.

Using goods from local farms and sources, B.GOOD serves a wide selection of kale and grain bowls, burgers and chicken sandwiches, and smoothies and milkshakes.

The company is also looking for franchisees in the area. (B.GOOD)

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The S.C. American Public Works Association has awarded the City of Columbia and the water resource engineering and landscaping firm Woolpert with its 2019 Project of the Year Award for their Martin Luther King Jr. Park detention and water quality project. 

In addition to improving the park's stormwater retention capabilities, the project added a new visitor-enticing amenity to the park: a wheelchair-friendly boardwalk along Rocky Branch Creek. (Woolpert)

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$87,280: The amount given to 12 charities by the Rotary Club of the Reedy River Greenville following their annual Reedy River Duck Derby fundraiser. The event features a "race" of thousands of rubber ducks over Reedy River Falls. (Rotary Club of the Reedy River Greenville)

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How Charleston’s Recovery Room Tavern began selling the most PBR in the country (Post and Courier)

South Carolina one of 10 best places in America to land your dream job (CNBC)

STEM Jobs Are The Future...But The Number Of STEM Instructors Is Declining (Greenville Business Magazine)

Upstate peach farmers report a good growing season (GoUpstate)

For decades, fertilizer plants polluted SC salt marsh. Now, ExxonMobil pays the price (The State)

Clemson business college grads will be prepped for workforce, says new dean (Upstate Business Journal)

Charleston County: Manufacturing And Life Sciences Are Driving Growth, But The Good Times Have Led To Transportation And Housing Challenges(Charleston Business Magazine)

Greenville County board rejects 862-home subdivision on Hollingsworth land near Piedmont (Greenville News)

Condos may be coming to downtown Florence (SCNow)

How a culmination of 3 women’s interests led to downtown Greenville’s specialty bookstore (Greenville News)

BMW has a new CEO, but the same old approach to electric cars (Electrek)

Has Lockheed Replaced Boeing as Trump’s Favorite Defense Firm? (Defense One)

How a new economic development focus could land high dollars for Chester County (Herald Online)

Here’s how North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach chose to proceed in hospitality tax saga (Myrtle Beach Online.

Lowcountry Local First hopes to cultivate new businesses with entrepreneurship course(Charleston City Paper)

Charleston’s Anita Zucker awarded EY’s lifetime achievement award (Post and Courier)

4 new restaurants opening in Charleston area; tobacco shop coming to King Street (Post and Courier)

Hires & Honors
The Upstate real estate firm Spencer Hines Properties recently received the Newcomer of the Year Award from United Way of the Piedmont for their work providing food boxes to the less fortunate during the nonprofit's annual Thanksgiving Drive. (Spencer Hines Properties)

Amy Kemper recently joined the Coldwell Banker Caine team in Spartanburg as a residential sales agent. 

The interior design firm Au Courant Interiors of Simpsonville has been selected to compete against 21 other minority-owned businesses in the second annual Million Dollar Challenge. Twenty-two entrepreneurs will make their pitches to a panel on July 31. The finalists will face off on October 11. 

The Upstate group Ten at the Top has added Kaylee Harrison to their staff. Harrison will serve as the company's collective capacity coordinator.