Amid uncertainty about when large gatherings will be permitted or advisable, Ten at the Top has made the decision to postpone their signature young professional event, Pique, until September 14 th. It was originally scheduled for March 23rd and had been rescheduled for June 15 th. The event will still be held at the Huguenot Mill and Loft in downtown Greenville, with ScanSource as the presenting sponsor, and local author Sallie Holder as the keynote speaker.

Attendees who have already purchased tickets will be issued a refund if they are unable to attend at the later date; those who have tickets and do still wish to attend do not need to take any further action.

The event focuses on connecting young professionals across the Upstate, giving them opportunities to network as well as to hear from experts on topics that are relevant to their working lives.

A Word from Clemson University President James P. Clements

These are extraordinary times for all of us in higher education, for our country and, indeed, the world. I never imagined that we would be heading into what normally is among my favorite weeks of the year—May commencement—with virtually no one on our campus and no graduation ceremonies planned.

I have been struck over the past several weeks by just how much I miss our students and the energy they bring to campus. They are the reason all of us at Clemson University come to work every day, and their absence has made me appreciate them even more.

This isn’t the end to the academic year that any of us at Clemson wanted for our students, especially our Class of 2020 graduates, but I can’t help but be proud of the way the university and our students have responded to this unprecedented crisis.

Click Here for the Full Article

How the Hispanic Alliance Is Helping Spanish Speakers Navigate COVID-19

by Lindsey Tabor, Communications & PR Manager, Hispanic Alliance, with Sharon Purvis

The Hispanic Alliance was born as a network of people within the Upstate’s Hispanic community, along with individuals—educators, pastors, and others—who work in and with that community. That network became a non-profit, and ten years later, the network is more than 2,000 strong and counting. With community teams around four pillar areas—education, financial stability, health, and legal services—the group seeks to connect Spanish speakers in the Upstate with the resources they need.

Click Here for the Full Article

AnMed Health’s Response to COVID-19: Q & A

by Michael Cunningham, Vice President for Advancement, AnMed Health, with Sharon Purvis

AnMed Health, Anderson County’s largest employer, has been serving Anderson and surrounding counties in the Upstate and Georgia with comprehensive healthcare for over 110 years. With its mission “to passionately blend the art of caring with the science of medicine to optimize the health of our patients, staff and community,” the hospital, like hundreds of others across the country, is facing an unprecedented challenge in COVID-19.

Click Here for the Full Article

GSP International Airport Response to COVID-19

by Scott Carr, Vice President of Commercial Business and Communications at the Greenville Spartanburg Airport District

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. With that declaration, efforts to prevent the virus from arriving in the U.S. through a few select gateway airports were intensified to include all airports. By March 13, some communities across the nation began to implement stay-at-home recommendations, and companies halted non-essential travel. More communities implemented restrictions in the days to follow.

The impact of the declaration and community stay-at-home guidance was immediately felt by the aviation industry. Passenger traffic declined, advance bookings dried up, and commerce inside the terminal building dropped off dramatically.

Click Here for the Full Article

Watch Out for the Top Six COVID-19 Scams

by Vee Daniel, President & CEO of the Better Business Bureau of the Upstate

Better Business Bureau of the Upstate is warning and providing tips for the top six coronavirus scams. As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, so does uncertainty and fear: two elements that con artists thrive on. During these stressful times, Vee Daniel, BBB President and CEO, recommends that consumers be especially alert to avoid falling for a scam.

Click Here for the Full Article

Small Business Spotlight: A Conversation with Paige Bowser of Breezy Quarters

by Paige Bowser, Owner, Breezy Quarters, with Sharon Purvis

I spoke to Paige Bowser, CEO and Maker-In-Chief at Breezy Quarters, a brick-and-mortar and online store that makes and No-Melt Lip Balm, soap, lotion, bath, candles, scent and skincare products from natural, sustainable, mostly plant-based ingredients (goats milk and beeswax being the chief non-plant ingredients). A former teacher, Paige started selling her product line at the local farmers market and grew her business into a shining star of Abbeville’s growing small business community. Currently, it’s her soap—and her newest product offering, hand sanitizer (sourced elsewhere)—that makes her an essential business, but just because she has a product everybody needs doesn’t mean this time isn’t challenging for her as a small business owner.

Paige invites you to browse the Breezy Quarters website and find something to soothe, delight, or celebrate you and those dear to you—and if you have questions, you can email her.

Click Here for the Full Article

A Conversation with Rebekah Cribb on COVID-19’s Impact on the Restaurant Industry

by Rebekah Cribb, Marketing & Events Coordinator for Cribbs Catering, with Sharon Purvis

Rebekah Cribb is the Marketing and Event Coordinator for Cribbs Catering, which she owns with her husband William Cribb—who is connected to several establishments that make up a significant part of the restaurant scene in Spartanburg. He is the chef/owner of Cribbs Kitchen on Main and part of Hub City Hospitality, which includes the very popular Willy Taco, the new hot chicken restaurant Flock Shop (with two locations in Greenville and Spartanburg), and the Fr8yard. The couple are also part owners of The Kennedy. With her connection to that group, Rebekah was a good person to talk to about the impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry.

Click Here for the Full Article

Over the last two months, while the pandemic has curtailed our ability to physically gather, it has only increased our realization that collaboration and working together are critical to our individual and collective success. We are blessed in the Upstate to have so many different organizations, businesses and communities that are overcoming the limitations this crisis is placing on all of us to work together to ensure that all Upstate residents are able to withstand this crisis.

At Ten at the Top, we have recognized that the most impactful way we can support organizations, businesses and local communities during this challenging time is to serve as an information collector and connector.

As the crisis started to grow in mid-March, Ten at the Top launched the Upstate COVID-19 Information Repository with links to local government, health organizations, K-12 and higher education, utilities, non-profits and other COVID-19 related resources. The site now also includes links to the latest government and community information, ways you can help, positive community stories and a calendar of virtual meetings & events.

If you have a regional resource or updated information to add to the repository or for us to share through social media, please contact Sharon Purvis, TATT Outreach & Special Projects Director.

Though we have been unable to physically gather over the last month, Ten at the Top has fostered continued regional conversations by hosting a weekly zoom "TATT CHAT" to share updates on COVID-19 as well as other things happening across the Upstate.

We will continue hosting the weekly virtual meetings from 3:00-4:00 p.m. every Thursday through the month of May.

Each call includes updates from sector leaders as well as county updates. Among the topics included have been updates from GSP International Airport, the Upstate Mobility Alliance, Clemson University and the Upstate Workforce Board as well as an overview of CoVID 19 related scams from the Better Business Bureau. In addition, the most recent call included a federal legislative update from Congressman Jeff Duncan.

Here is a direct link to presentations, summaries and videos from the four TATT Chat sessions held in April.

Speakers for the May 7th call will include Tim Todd, Executive Director of Discover Upcountry, to give an update on tourism in the Upstate and Elizabeth Freeman, who is a faculty member at USC Upstate in the Psychology Department and is, specifically, an Industrial/Occupational Psychologist. She will give some hints for maintaining mental health for yourself and your employees during the pandemic. In addition, we will have our weekly county updates.

The call is open to anyone interested in staying updated on what is happening across the Upstate, but advance registration is required in order to receive the weekly call login.

Ten at the Top (TATT) has announced the addition of Justine Allen to the position of Program and Event Coordinator.

Her role will be to continue building the capacity of Ten at the Top’s task forces and working groups that have an ongoing focus on collaborating to address regional issues. Those groups include the Education Spectrum group, which has been addressing the teacher shortage in South Carolina and is now working on a statewide portal to enter the profession, along with the Teach at the Top campaign; the Senior Issues group, which is exploring issues around an important topic of growing concern as our population ages; the Upstate Entrepreneur Ecosystem, which is made up of organizations and entities that support entrepreneurs, and which is currently offering a weekly series of webinars related to COVID-19; and the Upstate Professional Planners, a group of city and county planners who convene to share best practices around land use and planning policy. She will also be working with the Ten at the Top board of directors committee focused on new initiatives.

Justine brings to Ten at the Top a background in event planning and management; she came to the Upstate originally to work as event planner, charity liaison, and volunteer coordinator on the BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament. With that experience, she will take the lead on TATT’s annual events, Pique and Celebrating Successes.

To help better understand and inform the Upstate community around key Upstate issues, Ten at the Top and the Upstate Mobility Alliance have started interviews series with key leaders from across the Upstate.

Michael Hildebrand, Director of the Upstate Mobility Alliance, is conducting weekly interviews with leader around transportation and mobility issues in the region. Leaders that Michael has interviewed include James Keel, Director of Greenlink, Suzanne Dickerson from the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness and Laura Ringo, Executive Director of Partners for Active Living. Here is a link to all of the interviews.

One of the focus areas for Ten at the Top in recent years has been helping grow awareness of the challenges facing our growing senior population. TATT Program & Event Coordinator Justine Allen has started a new series of interviews with leaders within the field of supporting seniors. Among those she has interviewed are James Bennett, President of Upstate Home Health Care Solutions, Vee Daniel of the Better Business Bureau and Tim Womack of the Upstate Council on Aging. You can watch all the interviews through this link.