Blair Knobel, Author at UPSTATE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Economic Development

Katherine O’Neill takes the helm at Economic Futures Group

One of the Upstate’s most influential community leaders has a new job. Former Spartanburg County administrator Katherine O’Neill is the new executive vice president of the Economic Futures Group of…

Government

Veteran diplomat to Trump Administration: Cuba policy must change

Sixty years ago, the U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled his island nation, ceding power to a charismatic cigar-chomping revolutionary named Fidel Castro. Castro quickly seized American-owned properties and embraced…

Finance

Charles Towne Holdings plans fourth-quarter push in S.C.

Charles Towne Holdings, a capital markets, investment banking and financial advisory services firm headquartered in Charleston with offices in Greenville and Atlanta, has closed on investments from three nationally prominent…

Private Equity Firm to Greenville Family Business: “Put Up Your Dukes.”

A 102-year-old brand with South Carolina roots is front and center in a federal food fight. Earlier this year, Falfurrias Capital Partners, a Charlotte-based private equity firm founded by former…

Former Larkin’s COO takes charge of Drayton Mills events space

STATUS: Revitalization complete Drayton Mills now includes 14 businesses and luxury lofts “Events at Drayton Mills” is now “Eighteen Hundred Drayton Catering & Events.” The former wedding and catering venue…

Community partners help Greenville Tech grow the area workforce

Greenville Tech Foundation, the nonprofit that helps Greenville Technical College provide a college education at a reasonable cost and helps remove financial barriers to graduation, will salute a $2 million…

ChartSpan secures $15 million as BIP Capital comes to Greenville

One of the Upstate’s biggest entrepreneurial success stories is ready to begin its next stage of growth, and with it, the expectation of 200 to 300 more jobs over the…

Finance

Breaking down walls, Pinnacle Financial Partners grows in the Upstate

Sometime next year, motorists turning the corner at the busy intersection of St. John and East Main streets in Spartanburg may see piles of debris where Pinnacle Financial Partners’ existing…

Business News

With Brexit, AFL gets closer to its European customers

If the start of America’s war for independence in 1775 was “the shot heard round the world,” the results of the 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom might be…

Parents chase jobs and child care, hoping for the best

Across South Carolina, demand for child care, especially flexible child care, remains a pressing need. Last year, says Child Care Aware of America, a national resources and referral group, 216,000…