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Greenville Business Magazine

#YeahTHATAgenda: UCB Expands in Columbia, New BMW Chief Executive, Charleston's InsureSign Acquired, GSP Breaks Records, Canada to Allow Cannabis Edibles

Jul 10, 2019 04:24PM ● By Chris Haire
United Community Bank Beefs Up Columbia-area Presence: Blairsville, Ga.-based United Community Bank has announced they will begin offering commercial lending services to the Columbia market. Leading the expansion for the growing bank: new hires Shannon Stephens, Austin McVay, and Michael Glenn.

Although UCB has more than 40 locations in the Palmetto State, last year United Community Banks Inc. CEO Lynn Harton told Columbia Business Magazine's David Dykes that the holding company had hoped to “find the right team in Columbia" to help the Georgia firm expand. It appears that the company has done just that.

With Greenville-resident Harton as the firm's CEO, speculation has arisen that UCB might leave its corporate headquarters in Georgia for a new home in the Upstate. UCB already has a significant presence in Greenville, which at last count included more than 200 employees. When asked about the possibility of a Palmetto State corporate relocation, Harton didn't rule out a move. 

A subsidiary of United Community Banks Inc., United Community Bank has "$12.7 billion in assets, and 149 offices in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee," according to recent announcement.
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Charleston-based e-signature company InsureSign has been acquired by the Indiana- and Colorado-based data management company Formstack. Founded in 2011, InsureSign is one of the key players in the digital signature software market led by DocuSign, which has over 1,000 employees. InsureSign is small by comparison, employing 14 staffers, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. The Gazette also notes that all InsureSign employees will be retained by Formstack

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BMW leaders to discuss successor to chief executive Harald Krüger next week: BMW AG’s supervisory board will meet July 18 at its Spartanburg plant to address who will succeed chief executive Harald Krüger, who said in May he wouldn’t seek a second term as chairman of company’s board of management.

BMW officials confirmed the board will address the matter of a successor during its meeting, which will be closed to the media. -

Read the full story at Greenville Business Magazine.

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16.7% -- Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) set a new all-time passenger record for May, outpacing last year's record by 16.7%. May was the 20th consecutive month for passenger growth for the Upstate airport. (GSP International Airport)

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"There are endless reasons to love Charleston: The dreamy Spanish-moss-draped oaks. The candy-colored row houses. The punches-above-its-weight food scene. The history. 'Southern charm at its best!' declared one fan. Its magic, perhaps, lies in an alchemy of old and new, genteel and unpretentious, city glamour and nature at your fingertips." --Travel + Leisure magazine, which just named Charleston the No. 1 Best City in the U.S. for the seventh year in a row. Nearby Savannah came in at No. 4 and Asheville at No. 8 on the prestigious list.
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Redevelopment of former Smithworks Fine Jewelry location in Spartanburg underway (GoUpstate)

Stoll Industries adding 30 jobs to Abbeville plant (Greenwood Index-Journal)

Airplane engine parts inspected at Anderson County plant could touch millions of lives (Independent-Mail)

Boeing SC refers to racial symbol as ‘knotted string’ in discrimination case (Post and Courier)

McMaster Could Lead Special Meeting to Force USC Board Vote on Former West Point Chief (Free Times)

Lockheed Martin in Greenville Update: U.S. OKs Sales of M1 Abrams Tanks, Stinger Missiles To Taiwan, But Where Are The F-16s? (The Drive)

Debt-saddled Santee Cooper’s new CEO by far its highest paid ever (The State)

'The community will forever be changed’: Myrtle Beach votes down Grande Dunes project (Sun News)

Mex-Asian eatery Dashi now in North Charleston featuring duck ramen, curry fried rice, and steamed buns (Charleston City Paper)

As Bars Close, Groups Trying to Forge New Path in Changing Five Points (Free Times)

Clemson football looks at premium seating, other augmentations to Memorial Stadium (Greenville News)

USC won’t add alcohol sales at Williams-Brice in 2019. Here’s why and what’s next (The State)
 
David Tepper’s push to woo Major League Soceer to Charlotte: ‘This is now beyond talk. This is action.' (Charlotte Observer)

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New Hires and Honors
The Columbia firm Collins & Lacy has brought on J. Lucas Richardson as an associate in its Trucking Defense Practice Group. A graduate of the University of North Carolina and University of South Carolina School of Law, Richardson will assist the Collins & Lacy team in representing" motor carriers, owner-operators, shippers, freight forwarders, and brokers in litigation statewide arising from commercial vehicle accidents and cargo claims across the state of South Carolina," according to the firm. Richardson joins recent hire Laura R. Baer, Fred H. Oliver, and J. Scott Pierce.

EY named 9Round Franchising LCC founder and CEO Shannon Hudson one of its 35 Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 finalists for the Southeast region on June 27. Founded over 10 years ago, 9Round was recently named one of the 25 Fastest Growing Companies in South Carolina by Greenville Business Magazine/Columbia Business Monthly/Charleston Business Magazine.  The fitness franchise has 800 clubs in operation around the world. 
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Inside the GM factory where Cruise’s autonomous Bolt is made (Tech Crunch)

AT&T will automatically block fraud calls for new customers (Engadget)

The US Protects the Global Commons. Others Can Police Its Choke Points (Defense One)


Sikh drivers are transforming U.S. trucking. Take a ride along the Punjabi American highway (LA Times)

Quip, an Instagram-Friendly Toothbrush Company, Is Going After the Dental Insurance Industry (Ad Week)

5 states where a physician shortage is likely (Becker's Hospital Review)

Olive Garden projected to end Applebee’s 20-year reign as segment leader as America's Top Casual Restaurant (Nation's Restaurant News)

Canada to Allow the Sale of Cannabis Edibles Late This Year (Manufacturing.Net)