WHAT’S GOING ON: Business Notes
Liquid Catering Celebrates First Anniversary
Liquid Catering, the Upstate’s first full-service beverage catering company, celebrates its first year in business this week.
Liquid Catering specializes in providing top-shelf bar elements for all occasions. Liquid Catering offers bartenders and mixologists and provides an array of services from wine tastings and weddings to corporate functions and non-alcoholic events.
Tammy Johnson, the firm’s owner and president, said her company grew because of its staff who handled numerous events for clients including Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Adidas Group, Entercom Media, the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors, the Greenville Hospital System, Southwest Airlines, WHNS, and the Upcountry History Museum.
“We always want to give our customers outstanding service, and my team does that every time,” Johnson said. “They allow Liquid Catering to grow.”
The company employs 40-50 people and also can furnish security guards, cocktail servers, caterers, promotional models, and more.
Johnson, who is active in the community with the PULSE organization, the volunteer Bar Manager for Euphoria and Big Brothers Big Sisters, said she expects her company to really take off in 2012.
“We had a better than expected first year,” Johnson said. “We look forward to continued growth in 2012.”
The Reserve at Lake Keowee Named Best Lake Community of the Year
The Reserve at Lake Keowee has been named Best Lake Community of the Year in the 2012 Bliss Awards conducted by Real Estate Scorecard, an independent real estate community review and scoring website.
Real Estate Scorecard’s annual Bliss Awards define excellence created by Southeastern master planned communities. Winners are selected every January from on-site evaluations made by Real Estate Scorecard’s staff, feedback from surveying each community’s own members, and by public voting through the Real Estate Scorecard website.
Founder of Real Estate Scorecard, Margie Casey, said,
“The Reserve at Lake Keowee was chosen because of the complete lake lifestyle this master planned community offers property owners. Lake Keowee is an 18,500 acre wide bodied lake with 300 miles of shoreline. The lake is nicknamed the Garden of Eden, recognized as one of the purest prettiest lakes in the Carolinas. Life on the lake includes fishing, waterskiing and jet skiing. Anglers catch largemouth bass and trout in this fresh water mountain lake. During the summer months, the water is warm making the lake a wonderful natural swimming pool. The Blue Ridge Mountains in the backdrop will compete for your attention at this master planned community. The Reserve at Lake Keowee has a marina, 200 wet boat slips, a fuel station and provides water sport rentals. Boat slips are available for rent on an annual basis. Marina Park was named Best for Boating by Links Magazine. Speaking of golf, Jack Nicklaus designed their scenic signature golf course. The Reserve at Lake Keowee offers a unique feature called Multi-Generational Membership. This extends membership privileges to property owner’s parents, children and grandchildren. The Reserve at Lake Keowee is a classic example of southern hospitality, offering a generous Discovery Package to serious buyers.”
Other 2012 Bliss Award winners may be viewed on Real Estate Scorecard’s website and include Big Canoe, an Atlanta-based community in partnership with Greenwood Communities and Resorts – the same development partner of The Reserve at Lake Keowee.
Greenville Chamber’s PULSE Group Launches Talent Retention Program
PULSE (Professionals United for Leadership and Social Enrichment), the leadership development program of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, has started a program designed to cultivate and retain Greenville’s college-based interns.
PULSE Talent will run from May to August with a series of events aimed at upper level college students interning for area businesses, said Tammy Johnson, PULSE 2012 Chair.
“We wanted to find a way to engage this talent base and get them excited about returning to Greenville when they graduate,” Johnson said. “As an organization aimed at leading the next level of young professionals, we are thrilled to lead the development of this program.”
Hank Holseberg, the PULSE Talent chairperson in 2012, said his committee is developing programming that includes an opening session on May 30 at the Upcountry History Museum, a Walking Tour of Downtown on June 14, a luncheon at the Embassy Suites on June 25, a Greenville Drive game and more. Companies interested in investing in the PULSE Talent program or recommending potential participants can contact Tami Miller, the Chamber’s Leadership Development Coordinator, at 864-239-3743 or tmiller@greenvillechamber.org.
“The goal is to get these students interested in what Greenville has to offer outside the workplace,” Holseberg said. “We want to show them the quality of life that we all enjoy.”
PULSE officials said the need for this program was solidified by a survey of Upstate college students conducted by Greenville Forward over the past few years. Results showed only 27 percent of area students planned to stay after graduation, with 33 percent noting they were likely to move out of state. And according to results, the Upstate is 73 percent more likely than like-sized metro areas to lose African Americans, with one in five saying they would like to leave the state because of a perception of a lack of progressiveness. (Click HERE for the Survey)
Talent retention has been identified as a critical need by the Greenville Chamber via the annual Regional Economic Scorecard (Click HERE for the Scorecard), and as part of the Chamber’s Leadership Development division, one of the main goals of PULSE is to create leadership opportunities for young professionals so they will be more inclined to stay in the area.
“Workforce is the differentiating factor of the future. It all depends on talent – people with the right skills and education – to make a truly competitive region,” said Hank Hyatt, the Chamber’s vice president of economic development. “ As we attract and retain more talent in Greenville, we will see not just more competitive companies but a community that has increased wealth as measured by per capita income.”
