Our inaugural Who’s Who winners share their thoughts on the future of Greenville and the Upstate – and what they’re doing to help get us there.
Rick Davis
Greenville’s clearly been the beneficiary of great leadership from years ago. As we look ahead and say what it will take for Greenville to move forward and stay in this position, it’s incumbent upon us to make sure that the next generation of leaders is prepared to step into roles we need in numbers like we’ve never needed them to step in before, so that Greenville can have that broad base of leaders to take us where we’re going to go. We need to make sure we don’t just hope it happens, but that we have a strategy to make it happen.
I’m helping by providing leadership to community organizations, always looking for innovative ways to get others involved, and developing future leaders who will have a major impact on Greenville’s future.
Bob Morris
The leadership we can provide [will help move Greenville forward]. We can invest early in some initiatives and make a difference. We are lucky in that there are two substantial partners we work with: the United Way and Hollingsworth Funds.
There are also a lot of outside forces: When I first got here there was the Internet crash, then 9/11, the financial crisis. That all impacted our ability to financially support projects, so we had to come up with innovative ways to get us through difficult financial circumstances. For example, Heritage Green needed funds to upgrade, build the library, for the Bob Jones Gallery; we agreed to borrow money from Carolina First and let the county repay us from the accommodations tax on that loan. You can’t find anyone in the country that’s done that. It was unusual and complex, but not a risky thing to do.
Carl Sobocinski
It is my responsibility as a restaurant owner to bring new and innovative ideas to the city’s hospitality business.
Debra Clements
I am very impressed with the Upstate in recent years. When you are in downtown Greenville, you can see the results. The entire region is vibrant and alive with development. While growing aggressively, the Upstate has maintained its character, and we are on the right track.
Walter Davis
I hope that the jobs we’re creating, the projects and businesses we finance and customers we loan to also have an economic impact on Greenville, along with teammates’ involvement in other organizations.
Bob Hughes
I think Greenville is well on its way to being the place where people who get to choose where to live will live. The corridor we’re in is going to continue to grow, and this is where the creative leaders in that corridor will choose to be.
You can’t ever rest on where you are. One of my biggest fears for Greenville is that we say we’re happy with what we’ve done and where we are and stop trying. We have to keep moving forward. Keep trying and keep calibrating.
We [Hughes Development] really do try to respond to what the future of Greenville wants. This is a town for the young people. We’re all here building the future; we can’t build the past. If you aren’t aimed correctly, the further off course you get. We try to aim correctly and do a course correction at every chance we get.
David Wilkins
We believe Greenville should be an anchor city for Clemson University. ICAR is huge. We’re the research engine for the new medical school. The graduate school has a huge presence downtown. Those aren’t the only things. Clemson’s presence in Greenville should grow. We want it to grow.
I can tell you we’re solid in our commitment to Greenville. Greenville is the economic engine for the Upstate. It makes sense for Clemson University to be an integral part of Greenville and Greenville to be an integral part of Clemson. That connect is there and it is getting stronger.
Michael Riordan
Regardless of where I am, I have a real connection to our vision and mission. We’re not just here to deliver health care, but to transform it. We need to be part of the local, regional, national debate on a system that there’s universal consensus needs to be improved.
For the future, what we’re doing now with the partnerships with the universities is terrific. I think the sky’s the limit for the resources we’re going to bring her
