Brown Bag Lunch Series - Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce

Spartanburg
Area
CHAMBER FOCUS
2011 Minority Enterprise Development Awards Honors Four
T
wo exceptional high
school students and
two impactful Spartanburg County organizations were honored at the
Chamber’s recent Minority Enterprise Development Awards Banquet.
This year’s event, presented by RR Donnelley, celebrated the many
accomplishments and
contributions of minority men and women and
those organizations that
champion the cause of
diversity and inclusion.
Guest speaker
Levon Kirkland, former
NFL superstar and diversity recruitment advocate
for Clemson University,
inspired the crowd with
his story of attaining
his college degree years
after he left school to
begin his professional
football career. Each
year, the Chamber’s
Diversity Committee
hosts this special event
to show the community
the huge impacts that can
be made by those who
are courageous enough
to lead the charge.
This year’s honorees
were:
2011 Rising Star:
2011 Rising Star:
Christopher Cooper,
a senior at Boiling
Springs High School.
Christopher, the grandson of Gene and Sherry
Cooper, is a member
of the Boiling Springs
High Student Council; a
2010-2011 graduate of
the Junior Leadership
Spartanburg program;
a member of the March
of Dimes Spartanburg
Youth Council; and has
won several scholarships
for piano education at
The Lawson Academy of
the Arts. In addition to
music and school, Christopher works for AllAmerican Martial Arts,
in Boiling Springs, as
an office manager, camp
counselor and a former
assistant instructor.
Jordyn Fox, a senior
at Spartanburg High
School. Jordyn, the
daughter of Karen Fox,
has been active in the
Student Council throughout middle and high
school, serving as Class
President each year; and
is currently serving as
Student Body President.
Fox is a graduate of
the Junior Leadership
Spartanburg program; an
Advisory Board Member
and a cast member of the
Imagine That Improvisational Theatre; All
State Choir; and has
been a member of the
Track, Volleyball and
Swimming teams. In her
spare time, Jordan volunteers with the Children’s
Shelter and was a 2011
participant of the Spartanburg Black Legislative Youth Conference.
2011 Minority Advocate communicate effectively,
of the Year:
and drive advancements
in science and technology. The school program
offers small class sizes,
increased technology,
and also diverse course
offerings including
leadership and character
Carver Middle School, education programs to
under the direction
supplement and enrich
of Principal Raashad
the classroom learning
Fitzpatrick. Carver
experience.
represents excellence
in education and is the
2011 Minority Business
county’s first secondary
of the Year:
STEM school (STEM is
an acronym for Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math). As a
STEM school, Carver
focuses on these subjects
to help youth gain the
skills required to succeed ReGenesis Health Care,
in today’s challenging
offering services in
world. High-quality sci- Family Practice, Internal
ence, technology, engi- Medicine, Pediatrics,
neering, and mathemat- Geriatrics, Immunizaics (STEM) education
tions, Women’s Health,
can unleash the creativity Family Planning, Diaand curiosity of their stu- betes Care, Laboratory
dents, motivate them to Services, X-Ray Servicunderstand their world, es, Behavioral Counseland provide them with
ing, and in 2010 introtools to think critically, duced Oral Health and a
solve complex problems, Pharmacy . In addition,
ReGenesis offers a variety of programs to serve
the family, such as Birth
Matters, Breast Health,
Diabetes Education, Migrant Health, Outreach
Services and Health
Screenings, as well as
their Back to School
Health Fair – where
this past August they
served 2300 children in
Spartanburg (thanks to
over 400 volunteers) and
over 1200 children (150
volunteers) in Gaffney.
ReGenesis is a strong
believer of the power of
partnerships – partnering with Spartanburg
Regional, the Gibbs Cancer Center, First Baptist
Church of Spartanburg,
Restoration Church of
Gaffney as well as local
school districts.
To view all of the photos
from this year’s Minority Enterprise Development Awards Celebration, visit the photo
gallery at www.spartanburgchamber.com.
Strategies for Non-Profit Success
presented by
Chris Byrd
Wisdom Selling Solutions
Brown Bag
Lunch Series
Upcoming
Chamber Events
Diversity CONNECTIONS
Non-Verbal Communication
City Range Steakhouse
Wednesday, November 9th
12:00pm
ECONOMIC CHAMPIONS
LUNCHEON
Spartanburg Marriott
Friday, November 11th
12:00pm
BROWN BAG LUNCH
Strategies for Non-Profit Success
Spartanburg Chamber
Monday, November 14th
12:00-1:00pm
BUSINESS AFTER HOURS
Atchison Transportation
Thursday, November 17th
5:30-7:00pm
Monday, November 14th
12:00-1:00pm
Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce
105 North Pine Street
Spartanburg, SC 29302
There is no cost to attend-just bring your lunch and the Chamber will provide the drinks!
To RSVP, visit the event calendar at www.spartanburgchamber.com
National Geographic Features BMW’s
Spartanburg Facility
B
MW announced
recently that the
National Geographic
Channel (NGC) will air
an hour-long documentary on the making of the
BMW X3 Sports Activity Vehicle as part of the
popular Ultimate Factories series.
The documentary premiered on
Tuesday, November 1,
2011 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT
on National Geographic
Channel, Ultimate Factories: BMW X3 will be
the second time NGC has
featured a BMW built exclusively in South Carolina. In 2007, BMW’s Z4
Roadster, also built at the
South Carolina factory
until 2008, was featured
on Ultimate Factories.
National Geographic Channel spent
almost two weeks at the
BMW factory in early
June producing and filming the new program.
“Once again,
BMW was very pleased
to welcome the National
Geographic Channel into
our plant. We are proud
to show people all over
the world the quality
and craftsmanship of
BMW X3, X5 and X6,
built exclusively for over
130 markets around the
globe,” said Josef Kerscher, President, BMW
Manufacturing. Currently, the
▲ BMW Associate, Chad Johnson, is filmed for a
segment on National Geographic Channel: Ultimate
Factories
new BMW X3, which began production in South
Carolina in September
2010 and went on sale in
the U.S. in early 2011,
has become a bestseller
for the company ― with
nearly 80,000 vehicles
sold globally in 2011.
In 2008, BMW
announced a $750 million
investment in its South
Carolina operation to
expand the factory by
1.5 million square feet to
build the new BMW X3.
The company is projecting over 270,000 BMWs
will be produced in South
Carolina in 2011.