Author: epidevelopment

Charleston, SC – May 5, 2022 — SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) recently awarded South Carolina SHRM State Council its prestigious EXCEL Platinum Award for the South Carolina SHRM State Council’s accomplishments in 2021.

The EXCEL award is given to state councils and chapters to recognize major accomplishments, strategic activities, and tactical initiatives that elevate the profession of human resources.

“SHRM’s impact on the world of work is due to the dedication and efforts of our chapters and state councils like South Carolina SHRM State Council. “The Platinum EXCEL Award is not only a celebration of the great work done by the South Carolina SHRM State Council, it’s also recognition of their focus and determination to cause the effect to make great workplaces”, said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, president, and chief executive officer of SHRM. “Their HR leadership is exemplary.”
The EXCEL Award can be earned at four levels: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Each level has a prescribed set of requirements and accomplishments that must be met. South Carolina SHRM State Council will receive recognition in SHRM publications and at conferences, a logo to display on its website, and information to share with its members about the significance of this award.

SC SHRM’s submission for 2021 highlighted several successful initiatives, including its commitment to increase dual Chapter/SHRM membership by encouraging SC SHRM State Conference attendees to join a chapter if they were not already a part of one. SC SHRM also partnered with Junior Achievement of the Carolinas for a virtual career fair including a virtual booth, videos of HR professionals telling their HR journey and live chat with SC SHRM State Council members to answer questions the attendees had. The Council held its leadership conference virtually in 2021, its goal to educate Chapter leaders about SHRM, SC SHRM, their roles, and how to run a successful local SHRM chapter.

“We have the absolute best HR professionals in South Carolina serving in leadership positions on the SC SHRM State Council and as chapter presidents who serve on the council during their presidency. I couldn’t be prouder to receive the Platinum Excel Award for a 2nd year in a row,” said SC SHRM State Director, Teresa Vaughn, SHRM-SCP, VP of Human Resources for Johnson & Johnson, Inc. headquartered in Mt. Pleasant, SC. “It is a true honor to receive this recognition from SHRM and we look forward to celebrating these exceptional accomplishments at our annual state conference in Myrtle Beach in September”.

For more information about South Carolina SHRM State Council visit https://sc.shrm.org/

Media: For more information, contact Edward Burke, at Edward.Burke@shrm.org or 703-535-6036.

About South Carolina SHRM State Council
South Carolina SHRM State Council is the state affiliate for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). SC SHRM facilitates services and programs for the collective interest of the state’s SHRM and local chapter membership and promotes activities that serve and advance the human resources profession. Its primary objective is to support the mission and initiatives of SHRM through education. South Carolina SHRM State Council is a 100 percent volunteer organization consisting of 14 SHRM-affiliated chapters across the state. For more information, go to sc.shrm.org, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

About SHRM
SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, creates better workplaces where employers and employees thrive together. As the voice of all things work, workers and the workplace, SHRM is the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally. Learn more at SHRM.org and on Twitter @SHRM.

GREENVILLE, S.C., May 10, 2022 – The William Pender Team of CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM), one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing retail mortgage lenders, has added seasoned loan officer Jonathan Brinker to its growing branch.

Brinker joins the William Pender Team with 18 years of experience as a mortgage professional in South and North Carolina. Brinker previously served as a mortgage loan officer with Regions Bank and Wells Fargo, among other lenders. He also previously worked in real estate sales with Lennar Homes in Dallas, Texas.

Brinker is a graduate of the University of Phoenix and member of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. He is licensed in South Carolina and North Carolina.

The William Pender Team of CCM is located at 9 Washington Park in downtown Greenville and serves borrowers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. For more information or to contact the branch, visit www.crosscountrymortgage.com/William-Pender-Team/ or call 864-233-4210.

About CrossCountry Mortgage:
CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) is one of the nation’s largest retail mortgage lenders, with more than 8,000 employees operating more than 600 branches across all 50 states. Our company has been recognized eight times on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing private businesses and has received many awards for our standout culture. We offer more than 100 mortgage, refinance and home equity solutions – ranging from conventional and jumbo mortgages to government-insured programs for Veterans and rural homebuyers – and we are a direct lender and approved seller and servicer by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae. Through our dedication to getting it done, we make every mortgage feel like a win. Visit crosscountrymortgage.com.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (May 3, 2022) – YMCA of Greenville announced today that it has raised more than $1.25 million for its 2022 Annual Campaign. All the funds raised will go towards providing financial assistance so that anyone who wants to participate in the Y’s programs or services is able to, regardless of their ability to pay.

The $1.25 million will provide children, adults, and families scholarships for wellness memberships, youth sports programs, swim lessons, the SC Youth in Government program, afterschool care and summer day camps, as well as funding the Y’s food delivery programs for those experiencing food insecurity across Greenville County.

Over the past 13 years, the YMCA of Greenville has raised more than $12 million for the annual campaign, putting those funds back into helping the community thrive.

“We are thrilled that we were able to exceed our 2022 Annual Campaign goal,” said Laura Williams, YMCA of Greenville’s Annual Campaign chair. “The true success of raising more than $1.25 million is that it will have a significant impact on the health of our community and will positively change the lives of so many of our neighbors.”

“This year’s annual campaign theme is ‘We all need the Y’,” said Diana Watson, chief philanthropy officer, YMCA of Greenville. “Helping children and adults reach their potential is at the heart of what we do, and every year our volunteers and staff embody this with their dedication to this campaign. I am so grateful for their work, the financial support of each of our donors, and for the opportunity we have as an association to provide life-changing programs to the community.”

To learn more about the YMCA of Greenville’s Annual Campaign and the programs it supports, visit https://www.ymcagreenville.org/give.

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About the YMCA of Greenville, SC

The YMCA of Greenville is a cause-driven non-profit organization. Our mission is, following the example of Christ, to build a healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. With a focus on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, the Y nurtures the potential of every youth and teen, improves the health and well-being of our community and provides opportunities to give back and help support our neighbors. Founded in 1876, the Y serves more than 70,000 people annually through programs that include afterschool care, resident and day camps, aquatics, youth and adult sports, and health and wellness. Programs are offered though four family branches, as well as the Verdae YMCA, Y Camp Greenville, YMCA Judson Community Center, the YMCA Program Center and Hollingsworth Outdoor Center. The Y is also home to Y Teen Services and the SC Youth in Government programs.

For more information about the YMCA of Greenville, visit ymcagreenville.org, or call (864) 412-0288.

Thursday, April 28, at 7:00 pm, the newly opened Keipi Restaurant will host a media event, giving local food writers, bloggers and influencers the opportunity to experience firsthand the newest and most exciting dining event to hit Greenville. The Keipi, translated in Georgian, means “table.”The Keipi is a special tradition from the Republic of Georgia that takes experiential dining to new heights.
Imagine a long table filled with delicious food and wine, bustling with the conversation of friends, family, and strangers. This is the fusion of a dinner party and poetry. In Georgia, a Keipi usually goes through 16 toasting themes, led by the toastmaster, or Tamada. He will be your guide. There’s only one rule you cannot break: toast five must honor “the departed”. In Georgia you can’t actually have a Keipi without making it to at least toast five. Come prepared to laugh, cry, make new friends, and share an evening of communion in a way you’ve never experienced before!
There is no cost to attend this event (an $80 per/person value), but we do ask for press credentials and reservations, as space is limited. Contact beth@keipirestaurant.org to secure your seat.
Keipi belongs to a non-profit organization called First Things Foundation. First Things sends adventurous folks to remote places in the world for two-year stints. We live as the locals live and then give momentum to the businesses and projects of the friends we meet.
As it turns out, there’s a lot to learn from these Old World places. The Republic of Georgia, one of the countries where we work, has taught us much about community and sharing together in the beautiful things of life. This spirit, especially embodied in the Georgian toasting dinner of the Keipi, is what we hope to manifest. All available profits from Keipi go directly back to First Things Foundation to support our volunteers and the entrepreneurs we work with.

Greenville, SC — A new non-profit, Upstate Preservation Trust (UPT), is officially launching to the public with a series of events and initiatives focused on saving historic places in the Upstate. UPT was founded with the aim of saving and telling the stories of historic places through
education, advocacy, and stewardship. On March 29th at 6:00PM, UPT will kick off their education efforts with an event titled “A Virtual Introduction to the Gordon Street Mill Adaptive Reuse Project.” You can sign up here https://bit.ly/3KIsQzK.

UPT was founded by a group of concerned citizens who saw the rapid development taking place in the Upstate and identified the absence of an Upstate organization devoted solely to historic preservation. In 2019, this group convened and started the process of forming a nonprofit to strategically preserve important historic sites across the Upstate.

“Upstate Preservation Trust was born out of a need we saw for a strong preservation organization in the Upstate,” says Sam Hayes, Chairman of the UPT Board of Directors. “Our goal is to help coordinate existing efforts across the Upstate, while also filling in where there may be gaps. With the creation of this nonprofit, we are seeking to bring awareness to the major threat our historic spaces face throughout the Upstate.”

Founded to be a voice for preservation in communities across the Upstate, UPT serves as an advocate for the many preservation projects that need support. In partnership with local citizens, organizations, and governments, they work to advocate for preservation efforts to ensure our communities keep the important historic spaces that make them unique. UPT will release its 2022 Endangered Places list in April to highlight significant properties that are threatened in the Upstate.

UPT is actively working to establish a preservation easement program. This program will enable them to hold easements on historic structures which will ensure that they are preserved
in perpetuity.

For more information about Upstate Preservation Trust, visit www.preserveupstate.org. Follow Upstate Preservation Trust on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and events.

Being in the right place at the right time often means the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. Witness to History: Selma Photography of Stephen Somerstein is a perfect example of that kind of timing and is the newest exhibition opening on Saturday, February 26, 2022, at the Upcountry History Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate.

When Stephen Somerstein, a 24-year-old student and college newspaper editor, got off the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, after an all-night ride from New York City on March 25, 1965, he found himself surrounded by thousands of marchers in the civil rights movement who were heeding Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call to make their way to the steps of the State Capitol to raise their voices for the right to vote.

With five cameras around his neck and only 15 rolls of film in his bag, Somerstein immediately began taking pictures of those who had finally been able to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge after two previous attempts of trying to peacefully march from Selma to Montgomery. Though only a student, his black and white photos of prominent participants such as Dr. King, Rosa Parks, John Lewis, James Baldwin, Joan Baez and Bayard Rustin, as well as of anonymous demonstrators and bystanders captured the spirit of this critical moment in history like a seasoned professional.

In what are now some of the most iconic images of that historic entrance into Alabama’s capital and the gathering for speeches, visitors can not only see the faces of these impassioned marchers, but also feel the essence of their struggle, the strength of their resiliency, and, as Somerstein noted in an interview, the “seriousness of people bearing their own witness of being on the cusp of something great.”

On view through Sunday, May 15, 2022, the 55 black and white images featured in Witness to History: Selma Photography of Stephen Somerstein bring together a visual narrative of one of the most pivotal moments in America’s civil rights movement.

The Upcountry History Museum is located at 540 Buncombe St., in Greenville, S.C. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. For more information, call 864-467-3100 or visit www.upcountryhistory.org.

Lander University and Self Regional Healthcare today announced the creation of a new nursing scholarship program at the University, established through a transformational endowed gift from the health care provider that will energize Lander’s nursing program and help address the nation’s growing need for highly trained nurses.

The Self Regional Scholars Program will provide substantial scholarships annually to 15 of Lander’s highest performing junior-level nursing students who demonstrate exceptional academic performance, community involvement and career potential, among other characteristics. As part of the gift, Self Regional Healthcare’s name will also be proudly displayed alongside Lander on the University’s future, state-of-the-art nursing facility and the recently opened nursing simulation center.

“This is monumental for our institution, our students and our community,” said Lander University President Richard Cosentino. “Lander University and Self Regional Healthcare have an enduring partnership through health care and nursing education, and this gift reaffirms our shared commitment to providing our region with quality health care and health care professionals.”

Dr. Matt Logan, SRH president and CEO, said, “We are very excited about this opportunity to partner with Lander University to support the nursing program there. This funding from Self Regional will make an already strong nursing program even stronger. It’s vital to the health and wellbeing of our community that in the decades ahead we have a reliable source of well-trained and high-quality nursing talent right here in the Lakelands, and we are so grateful for partners like Lander University working hard to see that this need is met.”

Fulfilling a Critical Health Care Need:
The gift comes at a time when the health care industry is facing an unprecedented shortfall of qualified, baccalaureate-prepared nurses. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), a number of factors – including nurses nearing retirement age, changing patient demographics, and increasing stresses leading to burnout – are contributing to this national shortage, which is expected to hit the U.S. South and West regions hardest through 2030.

Closer to home, a 2017 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration ranked South Carolina fourth in the nation for states predicted to have a nursing shortage in the next decade. This trend has only been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Self Regional Scholars Program aims to curb this shortfall by building a strong pipeline of qualified nursing graduates for community and regional hospitals and health care facilities. Using a holistic application process, the Self Regional Scholars grant selection committee will each year choose 15 upper-level junior nursing majors to receive the $10,000 award, with preference given to students from Greenwood, Laurens, Edgefield, Abbeville, McCormick, Newberry and Saluda counties (GLEAMNS).

The one-year scholarship award is for juniors; and as seniors, Self Regional Scholars would be automatically accepted into Self’s already established and highly successful extern program.

“The Self Regional Scholars Program further expands Lander’s academic-practice partnership with Self Regional Healthcare, and provides Self with an additional year of contact with our best and brightest nursing students,” said Dr. Holisa Wharton, dean of Lander’s William Preston Turner School of Nursing. “The program will also help Lander expand its efforts to recruit and support diverse students from the GLEAMNS region, in the hopes that they will begin their career as baccalaureate-trained nurses in our local communities.”

This new scholarship program also comes on the heels of a revamped vision and mission for the School of Nursing, which includes “several bold and transformative innovations designed to enhance nursing education, promote synergy between public health and hospital nurses, and increase the public health workforce,” Wharton added. “Our graduates will use clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills as competent, flexible, transformative professionals to meet the complex healthcare needs of the 21st century.”

Bringing Greater Visibility to a Longstanding Partnership:
Self Regional Healthcare’s gift also secures exclusive naming rights for Lander’s recently announced future nursing building, as well as the University’s new Nursing Skills Simulation Center (NSSC), formerly known as the American Legion Building.

The NSSC opened earlier this semester and contains four teaching-learning labs that can accommodate 80 students per session. In addition, the NSSC has three practice labs that students can use for group practice sessions or clinical skill remediation. Bedside computers will allow for video-based instruction, simulated virtual patient encounters and electronic health record simulations, and Wharton said the goal is to bring additional technologies online soon – such as augmented reality and virtual reality training.

A ribbon cutting ceremony for the new simulation lab is being planned, as well as a groundbreaking ceremony for the future nursing building, which will be constructed with funding provided by the South Carolina General Assembly. Those dates will be shared with the community soon.

“Our state legislators believe in the importance of quality education and quality health care. Lander University and Self Regional Healthcare are well-respected, trusted leaders in these fields,” said Lander University Board of Trustees Chair Don Scott. “Having Self Regional’s name on our state-of-the-art nursing education facilities is a very visible symbol of our longstanding alliance, and our commitment to serving the diverse needs of our local communities.”

As Lander University gears up to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding, “we also celebrate the partnerships we’ve made along the way with organizations such as Self Regional,” said Lander Vice President for University Advancement Mike Worley. “This partnership further strengthens Lander’s signature nursing program, allowing Lander to train, and Self Regional to recruit, more quality nurses for our region.”