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Charleston Business

#CharlestonAgenda: Hollings Cancer Center, New West Columbia Brewery, Fixing SC Roads, Co-Working Coming To Camperdown, A New Greenville Biz Podcast, When Sky Art Turns Bad ... Very Bad

May 15, 2019 03:08PM ● By Chris Haire

Highest score ever for Hollings Cancer Center: Cancer centers must rank in the top 4 percent in the U.S. to earn the prestigious National Cancer Institute designation, and Hollings Cancer Center of the Medical University of South Carolina recently earned a renewal of this designation -- the only cancer center in South Carolina to earn the distinction. Only 70 cancer centers in the U.S. have been given this status.

Along with the renewal comes more than $10 million in funding to boost research efforts.

After first earning the designation in 2009, the Hollings team submitted a Cancer Center Support Grant renewal to NCI in 2018 and then had a site visit later that year. The designations and renewals are based on scores for leadership, vision, facilities, commitment to research, and community outreach.

Gustavo Leone, director of Hollings Cancer Center, said he was proud of the teamwork that led to the highest score the center has ever received. “This took an enormous effort form a large group of team members to be able to present and highlight the excellence at Hollings to the NCI leadership,” he said.

MUSC President David J. Cole said the honor “validates the significant, ongoing, and dedicated effort by Hollings Cancer Center scientists toward advances in cancer prevention, diagnoses, and treatment, with the ultimate goal of finding cancer cures.” --Leigh Savage

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U.S. News and World Report's annual Best States list is out and South Carolina didn't fare so well, coming in 42 overall. The bottom three states in descending order: Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. 

The study "uses more than 70 metrics and thousands of data points to capture how the 50 states best serve their residents across eight main categories, including health care, education, economy and infrastructure," U.S. News notes. 

South Carolina consistently score fair to low numbers in all categories accept for economic growth, where it was ranked eighth. However, the Palmetto State only managed to come in at 16th for the economy as a whole, a position brought down by a ranking of 34 in business environment and 23 in employment. 

Georgia earned an overall rank of 17, with North Carolina following at 18. The No. 1 state: Washington, home to Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks, among others. New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah, and Vermont rounded out the top 5.
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Amsterdam-based coworking outfit Spaces will move into the first and second floors of Falls Tower at the new Camperdown development, according to a release from CBRE. 

With locations all over the world, Spaces offers users "workspaces and access to a wide array of amenities, including fast WiFi, community events, barista coffee, and reception and mail handling services," the release noted.

“At Spaces, we’re always looking for the next great location to expand our offering that aligns with what we stand for as a brand: being creative, dynamic, and collaborative,”  said Michael Berretta, VP of Network Development for IWG, the owner of Spaces. “Falls Tower and Greenville could not be a more perfect fit and we’re excited for our first Spaces in South Carolina to be in this city. Whether you’re a small business, entrepreneur, or multi-national corporation, Spaces provides more than just a place to work -- it’s a unique community that supports the cultivation of ideas and innovations.”

Prior to the Spaces announcement, Camperdown was already expected to fundamentally transform downtown Greenville, with some speculating that the so-called center of downtown will shift to the new development. And with good reason: Bank of America has already announced they will move their downtown offices from ONE Plaza to Camperdown, while long-time Greenville business firm Elliott Davis recently announced it will be moving its headquarter to Camperdown.

Falls Towers, the signature high-rise at Camperdown recently released new renderings and details about its luxury condos, while just steps away from Camperdown, the boutique hotel The Grand Bohemian Greenville is set to break ground April 17. The site currently includes the new home of the Greenville News and will be the home of a new AC Hotel by Marriott.

CBRE also notes that another as-yet-to-be-announced tenant is on the table, leaving only one floor left in Falls Tower for prospective new residents. 

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Greenville software firm Kopis has launched a podcast interviewing Upstate business leaders called EDGE.  In the first installment, host Cody Edgar will interview Lelia King, executive director of Build Carolina and former member of the Iron Yard team, a now-defunct Greenville-based coding school. 

“We really wanted to broaden our online presence throughout the community and with podcasts being so popular, we decided to test the waters with EDGE,” Andrew Kurtz, president and CEO of Kopis, said in a statement. “Our intent is to get people more interested in the software business as well as gain some insight on what we do.”

We spoke to King in December about a joint effort between Build Carolina, BMW, the S.C. Commerce Department, and the Greenville County Library to offer a free online educational platform, SC Codes, teaching users to code.

“Part of the goal with S.C. Codes as a platform is, yes, to have a curriculum and tutorials and ways for people to learn, but even more than that, it is to be a place to bring people together in local communities,” King said. “My hope is now we can say we’ve got a handful of people who want to learn and are learning in your local community and we’ve got mentors in your community and locations where people want to come together and learn and connect. We are going to be able to bring that all together.” 

You can listen to EDGE on the Kopis website

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Santee Cooper spars with VC Summer contractor over leftover equipment (Post and Courier)

Want to repair SC’s roads? Industry to hire hundreds under gas tax construction boom (The State)

GreenLink head Gary Shepard steps down surprising city, county leaders (Greenville News)

30 years in and The Sweetery in Anderson continues to innovate and grow with wine sticks (Anderson Independent-Mail)

Why this development group has high hopes for downtown Rock Hill as it embarks on first project (Charlotte Business Journal)

‘Get the ball rolling’: Horry County taking a look at joining others with plastic bag ban (Myrtle Beach Sun News)

Duke Energy official: Regulators 'spit in our face' with ruling (Greenwood Index-Journal)

A $20.6M Rock Hill road widening project will start soon. Here’s how to find out more (Rock Hill Herald)

Proposal in Oregon Would Allow Farmers to Sue GMO Patent Holders for Contamination (Route 50)

Rising Rents for Millennials Give Rise to a New Breed of Lender (WSJ)

The AI Supply Chain Runs on Ignorance (The Atlantic)

Airbus Seeing Value of 3D Printed Parts (Aviation Week)

Roads Suffer When States Focus on Expansion Over Repair, Report Says (Route 50)

The Navy’s probe into sky penis (Navy Times)
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The Wire
The Cassina Group Closes First Quarter With Record Sales Volume

Riggs Partners Announces 2019 Pro Bono Marketing Marathon For Nonprofits

Three Mashburn Projects Receive Historic Preservation Award

Palmetto Technology Group Offers Microsoft Teams Training To Microsoft Office 365 Users

$580,870 Awarded By Greenville Women Giving At Annual Meeting

LS3P Columbia Celebrates 15 Years Of Design Excellence And Community Engagement