With this issue, UBJ welcomes Trevor Anderson, a Spartanburg-based staff-writer
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History is important. For each of us, life experiences are what make us unique. They define us. They impact our decisions, priorities and the way we engage with the world around us.
With all that said, my journey into journalism has been about discovering who I am, what makes me tick and, at least in part, what I was put on this earth to do.
In 1987, my family moved across the country from Carson City, Nev., to Warren, N.J. My dad had decided at the age of 30 to quit his warehouse job and go back to school for computer programming.
After earning his degree, my dad landed a job at the North American headquarters for sports apparel giant Adidas. The company offered him the opportunity to relocate from New Jersey to its distribution center in Spartanburg.
In 1991, my family stepped off a plane at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport and drove to our new home in Boiling Springs.
During my sophomore year at Boiling Springs High School, I somehow got stuck in a remedial English class. It just so happened that my teacher also taught journalism. She encouraged me to take that class. By my senior year, I was co-editor-in-chief of the news show and newspaper.
I spent my freshman year in college at Gardner-Webb University. The following year, I transferred to the University of South Carolina-Upstate.
I bounced around between majors for the first couple of years. My main focus was on soccer and my grades really suffered. During my junior year, I decided to make the jump back into communications. Gradually, my grades started to improve and I began thinking about the future.
After graduation, I went to work as a freelance writer for GSA Business. I wanted to find a full-time job in my hometown, so one day I put on a tie and walked into the Herald-Journal in downtown Spartanburg.
I was hired part-time at first, covering everything from volleyball games to dirt-track racing. After paying my dues for a while, I was offered the job as the business reporter in 2006.
It has been such an honor to work at the Herald-Journal and witness the change that has occurred in my community.
Since 2010, the county has netted more than $4.3 billion in capital investment almost 9,000 jobs, according to the Economic Futures Group. It has become a hub for manufacturing and distribution operations, boasting operations of companies such as BMW, Toray, Amazon, Rite Aid and several others.
Cultural and financial growth sparked by seven local colleges and investments by local residents have continued to take root in and around the city’s urban center. Dozens of new businesses and residential developments have opened in downtown during the past three years. A new AC Hotel by Marriott is under construction, the revitalization of the 92-year-old Montgomery Building is underway, the state’s first cooperatively owned grocery store opened recently, and several more projects are on the horizon.
I’m excited to start a new chapter with Upstate Business Journal while continuing to cover the business community in Spartanburg County and beyond. I can’t wait to see where the momentum takes us.
