SCBusinessBlog.com

How much does it take to save a life?

Written on March 10, 2010 at 11:43 pm

Today my six year old son Colson Carey III overheard me mention how a donor from Washington, D.C. sent $1,000.00 to Hidden Wounds to help us save the lives of Veterans.  Colson said, “Wow that’s a lot of money.”  He asked how much it takes to save a life.  While it is difficult to answer Colson, I must say that Hidden Wounds is turning a painful, gut wrenching moment for one family into a healing opportunity for others. 

Hidden Wounds is in place to fill a void, while also showing Veterans they are not alone.  According to the Department of Veterans Affairs and independent researchers, the suicide rate of young veterans is up 26% from 2005 to 2007.

I’m a Veteran and my dad is a Veteran.  Today as I looked at my six year old son, I thought of Mills Bigham, son of John Bigham and brother of Anna Bigham. I wondered what Mills must have been like when he was six years old.  Mills, a former Marine, took his own life on Oct. 19th, 2009.  Mills was 23 years old.  I looked again at Colson eating hard candy with his snaggle toothed grin and I got choked up.  Yes, this former Marine cries, and gets excited.  I get excited because I’ve joined a challenging mission, the fight to save lives. 

I have the opportunity to help others and that same door is open to you as well, due to Mills’s tragic suicide and Anna Bigham’s response to it.  After Anna’s brother took his own life, she started sharing her experience with Mills’s post combat stress injuries in determination to save lives.  What started out as Anna sharing her story with the hope of saving lives has become a 501(c)3 founded in January of 2010.

You can support Veterans through Hidden Wounds, a non-profit organization headquartered in Columbia, S.C.  You can help Hidden Wounds provide temporary counseling to Veterans dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, depression and other psychological challenges.  You can help us supplement the efforts of Veterans Affairs agencies.

Hidden Wounds seeks to save lives through fundraising efforts that allow the organization to serve the high demand and need for psychologically injured Veterans. As you know, counseling services and publicity campaigns cost money.  Your money and time allows Hidden Wounds to connect Veterans to support groups, provide counseling services, and educate communities.  Hidden Wounds is able to build awareness, lower the stigma, and grant the will to overcome emotional and psychological challenges to our military heroes.

Right now Veterans have to wait in line for much needed care. Dr. Gloria Neumann, the Dorn Veterans Affairs Chief Suicide Prevention Officer, supports Hidden Wounds.  Hidden Wounds has a strong network in place in Columbia, SC and is developing a nationwide network.

The time to reverse the trend to lower the soaring young Veterans suicide rate is now.  Neither I, nor Colson can measure what it costs to save a life. But when he is 18 years old, I want to know that I’ve done all that I can to help.  I encourage you to join me. 

Join the fight.  You can donate and volunteer online at http://www.hiddenwounds.org/

ken@hiddenwounds.org / Call 803-360-3433

Ken Carey is the Public Relations Director for Hidden Wounds. Ken owns Agil Staff, a Columbia, SC based employment agency specializing in the placement of bilingual and other hard-to-find people for employers. Ken is a Volunteer Facilitator for www.crossroadscareer.org/eastminsterpcusa part of a network of volunteers helping unemployed, misemployed and underemployed people. Born at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., Ken grew up in South Carolina, Spain, New York, and Georgia. He served three years in the United States Marine Corps then received his Bachelors degree in Broadcast Journalism from The University of South Carolina.  Ken is married to Heidi Carey and is the father of Colson III and Sally.

ULI’s Top 5 Design Projects from Around the World

Written on November 12, 2009 at 5:46 am

I was interested to read about these top urban design projects from around the world: 

http://www.midlandsbiz.com/articles/4253/.  I would love to get some local architects and builders to weigh in on these projects, or others that have exhibited excellent design.  Any chance we could have a project like one of these in Columbia, South Carolina in the near future?

Make the Carolinas’ Energy Lead “Untouchable”

Written on October 29, 2009 at 1:24 am

Although decades have passed since the construction of the last new commercial nuclear reactor in the nation, nuclear energy supplies roughly 20% of all U.S. electricity.  The Carolinas produce more than 11% of our country’s nuclear electricity.  We provide an important energy product to our two states and nation. 

This week Carolinians learned about other important products of the nuclear industry – jobs and economic impact.

More than 37,000 of our neighbors work in jobs related to the nuclear industry, according to new research.  The study, requested by the Carolinas Nuclear Cluster, a group of companies, educational organizations and nonprofits, was conducted by economic researchers at Clemson University.  

Understanding the economic impact of our states’ nuclear industry is especially important to the Carolinas in a tough U.S. business climate.  The Carolinians who hold nuclear positions earn and re-deploy more than $2 billion in annual pay.  In 2008 the industry also paid more than $750 million in local and state taxes. 

The message is this: The Carolinas’ nuclear industry provides us with important energy security and high quality economic support.  This point is critical. 

Consider this.  Acclaimed columnist Thomas Friedman says our “Great Recession” is not just a financial system failure. He says we relinquished our competitive edge in the world.  We borrowed our way to a high quality of life; we did not earn the intellectual equity of improved productivity and education.    

Friedman says that smart people (and insightful regions, in my opinion) ensure that they are beyond the reach of the competition:  “Those with the imagination to make themselves untouchables — to invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers or new ways to combine existing technologies — will thrive.”

Friedman’s call for a turnaround is where he and the Carolinas Nuclear Cluster intersect.  We practice the “entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity” he says our country needs.

The nuclear industry is scientists, engineers and expert crafts people.  Our supply chain responds in-kind as smart businesspeople who are audited for top quality.  Nationally, plant capacities (time on-line) have increased almost every year since the 1980s and now are above 90%.  Average nuclear production costs are down more than 30% in a decade. That’s increased productivity!   
 
The Carolinas exemplify the best of the industry.  We fabricate fuel that touches well over 50% of the nuclear power production in the U.S.  Our engineering offices design and help maintain plants globally. There is hardware from the Carolinas inside facilities down the interstate and across the oceans.  Our university graduates are stationed across the spectrum of the industry. 

Is the Carolinas’ nuclear energy competitive edge worth keeping?  I vote “yes.”  We all can vote “yes,” in several ways. 

On the national scale, our energy policy should embrace nuclear power as a safe, carbonless and reliable source of electricity. 

Within our two states we can increase our economic impact by increasing the “entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity” Freidman extols. The anticipated “nuclear renaissance” could double the more than 37,000 Carolinians currently engaged in the nuclear industry.  Local businesses would benefit from increased sales as suppliers to the industry. 

All of us can – and should – urge policymakers to recognize the environmental benefits and the financial imperatives of nuclear energy.  The nuclear industry and other high-tech businesses benefit as we support high quality engineering and technology programs.

Finally, let’s encourage young people to be energy engineers and technicians as a way to earn a good living, while supporting the Carolinas and our nation.   

Jim Little is a senior vice president of URS Corporation in Fort Mill, SC, which provides environmental planning and engineering expertise to power facilities worldwide.

Keith Olbermann

Written on October 13, 2009 at 12:28 am

I had never even heard of Keith Olbermann until last week when I stumbled across his one hour commentary on healthcare.  If you did not see it, here it is.  Your thoughts?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/33217642#33217642

Bill McDonough in Columbia, SC. Cradle to cradle.

Written on September 30, 2009 at 2:08 am

I attended the lecture series last night at the Moore School of Business, a one hour talk by American architect Bill McDonough.  My brother-in-law architect from Toronto contacted me via Twitter and indicated that this was something that I should not miss. 

He told me about Bill McDonough a year ago and suggested that I should do an interview with this giant in the world of sustainability.  The interview did not materialize, but we did incorporate some of McDonough’s ideas about Cradle to Cradle design in our 2009 Market Trends magazine.  McWaters is a local distributor of Steelcase office furniture.  Steelcase has embraced McDonough’s philosophies.  Many other large, global companies have too. 

I perused the lecture hall for people, particularly architects that I might know from around town.  How big was Bill McDonough?   40 people were in the room.    

 “Growth is good. Regulation is a sign of bad design. Nature does not have a design problem; human beings do. Does our species have a plan?  What is our intention? What does it mean to be 100% renewable? Less bad does not mean that it is good.”   Rarely have I been at a lecture where the audience gives someone a standing ovation, let alone on a Monday night, in Columbia, SC, on the 8th floor of Moore School of Business. 

Interesting.  Practical.  Positive.  Optimistic.  Authentic.  A celebration of abundance, not doom and gloom. 100% sustainability. An unbelievable business opportunity for all of us.

The Moore school, already the top business school in the country, has initiated a major new strategic initiative on sustainability.  Could they have found a better speaker for their lecture series?  On leaving, I was wondering why the whole city of Columbia was not there. 

The Outburst Poll

Written on September 17, 2009 at 3:02 am

Terri Thompson

Written on August 6, 2009 at 5:10 am

Terri Thompson, a friend from Wake Forest University passed away last week of complications related to cancer.  Though Terri was not in my study group, we all got to know each other well during our condensed 17 month program.  Terri was from Jamaica originally and on the team at Haynes clothing that came up with the tagless tee shirt.  My thoughts and prayers are with Terri and her family.  She was too young.  In her forties, I believe. 

A fellow classmate who was close to Terri kept us informed about her battle through emails and mentioned her unbreakable spirit and sense of humor in the face of her ultimate challenge.  He wrote at some point that Terri had recently been laid off from a management position, had a 12 year old son and no health insurance.  In his words: “I can’t imagine what she must be going through.”

When I heard the news of her passing last Friday, I was at our family place up in Canada.  I made a special effort to travel up there this year to visit my sister and best friend, both of whom have also had cancer issues this year.  I have had some phone calls and emails with my sister and my friend (probably not as much as I should) and some great times together during our visit.  At no time during any of these interactions did the word insurance come up in the conversation.  Or cost.  Or out of pocket.  Both were pleased with the level of care that they were receiving.

During my visit, I read an opinion piece in the Globe & Mail about Obama’s efforts to reform healthcare in the United States which brought up a good point.  In Canada, they have been toying around for years with the idea of privatizing at least some aspects of healthcare.  In the United States, public health care already exists with Medicaid and Medicare.  Both systems are moving slowly towards each other – converging.  (”Canadians could do with less waiting; Americans could do with less cost”)

Neither system is perfect; each has its well publicized flaws.  There was some YouTube video making the rounds about a Canadian woman who had to seek emergency care in Arizona.  Reasonable private healthcare in the United States for a family of 5 costs around $20,000 a year, if you include deductibles.  It’s expensive.  And it’s increasing 20% a year!  People must get sick in the United States just worrying about how they are going be able to afford healthcare.   

Public? Private?  Who knows? 

Statement from First Lady Jenny Sanford

Written on July 2, 2009 at 7:38 pm

Columbia, S.C. - July 2, 2009- The last week has been very painful for me, my family and for the people of South Carolina.  However, throughout this terrible ordeal, the incredible outpouring of kindness, support, and prayer I’ve received from countless friends and folks I have never even met has been truly uplifting.  I appreciate that more than I can say.  Please know that my sons and I are doing fine, given the circumstances.  We are surrounded by friends and family, and we will make it through this. I believe it is how we respond to the challenges we face in life, and what we learn from them, that is most telling about who we truly are.

There is no question that Mark’s behavior is inexcusable. Actions have consequences and he will be dealing with those consequences for a long while. Trust has been broken and will need to be rebuilt. Mark will need to earn back that trust, first and foremost with his family, and also with the people of South Carolina.

The real issue now is one of forgiveness. I am willing to forgive Mark for his actions. We have been deeply disappointed in and even angry at Mark. The Bible says, “In your anger do not sin.”  (Psalm 4:4) In this situation, this speaks to the essence of forgiveness and the critical need to channel one’s energy into positive steps that uphold the dignity of marriage and the family, and lead to reconciliation over time. My forgiveness is essential for us both to move on with our lives, with peace, in whatever direction that may take us.

Desmond Tutu said “forgiveness is the grace by which you enable the other person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew.”  Forgiveness opens the door for Mark to begin to work privately, humbly and respectfully toward reconciliation with me. However, to achieve true reconciliation will take time, involve repentance, and will not be easy.

Mark showed a lack of judgment in his recent actions as governor. However, his far more egregious offenses were committed against God, the institutions of marriage and family, our boys and me.  Mark has stated that his intent and determination is to save our marriage, and to make amends to the people of South Carolina. I hope he can make good on those intentions, and for the sake of our boys I leave the door open to it. In that spirit of forgiveness, it is up to the people and elected officials of South Carolina to decide whether they will give Mark another chance as well.

Governor Sanford: The Unanswered Questions

Written on June 30, 2009 at 2:06 pm

By Mike DuBose 

In the 1980’s, I was fortunate to serve our state as a campaign director or aide for both Republicans and Democrats. I worked for Govs. Riley and Campbell, both honorable men of great character who worked hard to get things done for our state. Our state made a lot of progress under those two governors, which required seeing both sides of the issue and trying to find common ground.

I was intimately involved in politics until I got sick and tired of the bickering between Republicans and Democrats on both national and state levels. I sometimes wonder if anyone really cares about our state or country any more. It seems that both parties want to see the other fail, even at the sake of our nation’s well-being.

Many political leaders have drifted from working together to solve our problems to caring mostly about themselves and their political parties. No one seems to want to meet half way. We have seen one mess after another in our state with scandals over Thomas Ravenel using cocaine, the stimulus fight, and elected officials using racial slurs. Now, we have been shamed again by the governor’s behavior. One wonders if it will ever let up!

I first met Gov. Mark Sanford in a Best Buy store and was impressed with his seemingly humble, down-to-earth personality. But when I recently attended a dinner at the governor’s mansion and was greeted by Mrs. Sanford, I saw great stress and pain in her eyes. At the time, I thought it was just the strain of being the governor’s wife and the problems that go with the job, coupled with being a parent to four boys. Little did I know about the growing problems within their family.

Many South Carolinians are wondering, “How should I feel? What should the governor do in light of these shocking circumstances? How much longer are we and our state going to be in turmoil?” I never would have thought that Gov. Sanford would have committed the acts that he did, but history is filled with great men and women who have thrown away everything they valued because of the evil and selfish temptations of life.

When the governor said he spent five days “crying in Argentina,” I believe he realized what he had done and the damage he had inflicted on himself, his family, friends, colleagues, our state, and his relationship with God. I sensed great remorse, guilt, and sadness radiating from him during the press conference where he admitted his affair.

Let’s step back and examine this situation fairly by looking at the facts before we come to a conclusion. We should judge the situation and Gov. Sanford with reason rather than emotion. Forget your political, spiritual, or individual views (and anger) for a moment and look carefully before you pull the trigger. The ultimate goal is to determine what is best for the citizens of South Carolina.

I have learned that when there is a major problem, it is best to break the big picture down into smaller pieces as you come to a logical conclusion on how to proceed. Isn’t that where we find ourselves right now? There are huge questions lingering that demand answers. 

One of my companies works with 60 school districts in the southeastern US. Based on our research, South Carolina rates very high in what I call “The Misery Index!” That is a phrase I developed that reflects the suffering our state experiences in many areas like education, health, law enforcement, and unemployment. We are a state that is hurting big time, especially in poor, rural areas and amongst minorities.

While we have made significant progress in trying to address many of our problems, South Carolina still faces major issues, such as the second highest unemployment rate in the nation. The state needs (and deserves) strong leadership in these difficult and dire times. But where have all our leaders gone? We have wasted valuable time this year fighting and bickering among ourselves while the state’s problems grow in intensity.

The first question: Is Gov. Sanford the one to lead us and our state forward? Is it time for other strong leaders to step forward and take us into the future?

While the governor has committed great sins and made judgment errors, he has asked for our forgiveness and has disclosed his transgressions in detail.

This leads to the second question: Should we forgive him as an individual?

Regardless of your political or spiritual beliefs, when someone admits sin and sincerely asks for forgiveness, they should be forgiven. We all have sinned and no one is exempt. As Jesus said when an angry crowd was ready to stone an adulteress, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!” What if all your sins were put before a camera or detailed in the newspaper? God warns Christians about judging others, and I am a repentant sinner who has been forgiven thousands of times. That is why I am reluctant to judge Mark Sanford.

Gov. Sanford will doubtlessly face many consequences and God’s wrath for his sins. We should pray that he and his family will reconcile, although the pain will never go away and they will hurt for many years to come.

Sanford recently referenced King David of the Bible, who God forgave for his sins of adultery and murder and their cover up. Although David went on to become a great king, the book of Psalms tells of the great, painful consequences for his sins (a daughter was raped by a half-brother, one of his sons tried to kill him, two sons were murdered, the time leading up to his death was very painful, and he was depressed). King David, his family, and his nation suffered greatly, because although God forgives sin, that does not relieve one of the consequences. 

The third question: Who will suffer as a result of the governor’s sins if he stays in power?

In his bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins says that effective leaders are humble, ethical, trustworthy, respectful, and focused. Leaders can work many years to build a great reputation (as Sanford did) and lose it in hours. Sincere and repentant leaders can sometimes make comebacks, but it often takes years. As the governor of South Carolina, Sanford should always place our state first. Can he effectively lead our state while his personal life is in such turmoil?

The fourth question: Can we trust Gov. Sanford to be ethical, honest, and trustworthy from this point on?  

Successful leaders must be focused on their purpose, mission, vision and values. They cannot be sidetracked by personal and professional problems. “Crying for days” hints at clinical depression, or at the very least, distracting emotional issues.  

The fifth question: Will Gov. Sanford be able to stay focused on our state’s needs in his last 18 months, or will he be sidetracked by the political and media circus that is about to follow?

Gov. Sanford has consistently maintained that leaders must be moral, ethical, and values-driven. “While in Congress in the 1990s he cited the need for a leader to have moral legitimacy as he voted to impeach Bill Clinton after his affair with Monica Lewinsky,” wrote Gerald F. Seib of The Wall Street Journal on June 26, 2009.

The sixth question: Does Gov. Sanford say one thing and do another?

Leaders must have significant political capital in order to govern effectively. This means that the governor must have many allies who will vote for the things he wants to accomplish, something that Sanford struggled with even before this scandal broke.

The seventh question: Does the governor have the political assets to get anything done in his last 18 months? 

Our governor is entrusted with vast resources and Sanford has consistently maintained a fiscally conservative image. Using state resources for personal gain is both unethical and contradictory to the image Sanford has cultivated.

The eighth question: Did Gov. Sanford intentionally use state resources to be with his lover? Did he leave the citizens of our state exposed to danger by failing to delegate power to the next person in line and alert SLED of his whereabouts when he left the country to be with her? 

The governor should always be truthful to his staff, the media, and the citizens of South Carolina. Because he misled or failed to explain to his staff where he was when visiting his mistress in Argentina, the staff passed incorrect information along to the media, who passed it along to the state and nation. 

The ninth question: Did the governor lie to his staff and intentionally falsify a story to cover up his trip to Argentina? What and when did he tell his staff?

I am not judging Gov. Sanford, and I am neither endorsing him staying in office nor encouraging him to resign. As a citizen of South Carolina, I need to know the answers to the questions I have listed so I can come to a conclusion based on facts. This information should come from an unbiased, independent group made up of both Democrats and Republicans. We need to conduct the investigation quickly to stop the media frenzy and fairly judge what our leader has done and where we should go next.

In conflict, there is always opportunity. Good did come from King David and his great sins, as the lessons he learned are preserved for posterity in the book of Psalms. Similarly, the situation with the governor reminds us all to look into the mirror at ourselves, our families, our marriages, and our relationships with God to renew our commitments, for we should treasure and preserve them.

Also, if you are as sick and tired as I am of reading about one political mess after another in the media, please go to my non-profit Web site, www.mikedubose.com, and hit the “Sick and Tired” button! Let your voice be heard loud and clear!

Mike DuBose is currently a field instructor with the University of South Carolina graduate school, a columnist for two business magazines, and the author of a new book, The Art of Building a Great Business. He owns four businesses.

On Chrysler

Written on May 14, 2009 at 10:49 pm

The Economist
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13610871

“… in its haste it has vilified creditors and ridden roughshod over their legitimate claims over the carmakers’ assets. At a time when many businesses must raise new borrowing to survive, that is a big mistake.”

The Globe & Mail 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090509.RBUYSIDE09ART1850/TPStory/?query=avner+mandelman

“A U.S. president effectively said the law be damned, the sanctity of commercial contracts be damned, if such constructs cause pain to unions.”

George Will
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/13/AR2009051303014.html

“The Obama administration, judging by its cavalier disregard of contracts between Chrysler and some of the lenders it sought money from, thinks contracts are written on water.”

That’s a pretty powerful trio of opinions!  This country, and countless others, have a lot riding on the rule of law that governs bond and equity markets.  Arguably, all of the above would have a pro-business, pro-market-driven slant, so I would love to hear the counterpoint.