Small Business Lunch at Halls

Steve Bedard, President and CEO of The Gaillard, Speaking at Small Business Lunch at Halls Signature Events, Thursday, Sept. 6

The King Street Marketing Group and Halls Management Group are pleased to welcome Stephen A. Bedard, President and CEO of the Gaillard Management Corporation, as our guest speaker Thursday, September 6th at Small Business Lunch at Halls Signature Events.   Described as an "an absolute genius" in municipal finance when he was the CFO for the City of Charleston for 18 years, now Steve is bringing some of the biggest entertainers in the world to Charleston. Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Walsh, Tony Bennett... Wow! Who's next? Click Here to Order Luncheon Tickets Now In July 2016, he began his full-time service at the Gaillard, the City's  $145M Martha and John Rivers Performance Hall, Grand Ballrooms and Salons. It's one of the finest multiple purpose performance hall/exhibition hall complexes in the world. Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth Oct.9 In May 1998, Steve was named the City of Charleston's first ever Chief Financial Officer and continued to serve in this position through June 2016. During his tenure with the City, financial rating agencies ranked Charleston the number one city in South Carolina and recognized the City with eight bond rating increases. In early January of 2009, at the start of the great recession, Charleston became the first South Carolina municipality ever to receive the highest rating possible from Standard & Poor's, the coveted AAA rating. In October 2014, Moody's Investors Service upgraded the City's credit rating from Aa1 to Aaa, the highest possible rating, making Charleston the first municipality in South Carolina history to hold both S&P's AAA rating and Moody's Aaa rating concurrently. Bedard is a 1976 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy; holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics. He served 20 years in the U.S. Navy specializing in financial management retiring at the rank of full Commander in 1996. He spent his last three years in the Navy as a Joe Bonamassa, one of the greatest guitar players of his generation, at the Gaillard March 4 financial liaison to the Department of Defense, the Executive Branch's Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Congress for Navy Undersea Warfare programs. He was awarded the seventh highest military medal, The Legion of Merit, from the Secretary of the Navy upon his retirement. From 1996 through mid-1998, Steve held a key executive position at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Northern Virginia working on cutting edge naval ship development programs as DARPA's Business Manager for Maritime Research. Steve is an honor graduate with an MBA from the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the College of Charleston teaching both undergraduate and graduate classes in financial management, budgeting and strategic planning for the last eight years.   Tickets are $31 per person for the imaginative three-course meal prepared by Executive Chef Matt Greene. A full-service cash bar is available for your enjoyment. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click Here For Ticket Information or call the 24/7 ticket hotline at 1-800-838-3006.   About the Venue Halls Signature Events is located at No.5 Faber Street, just off East Bay Street and directly behind S.N.O.B. There is a city-owned parking garage right next door, with an entrance on Cumberland Street for your convenience   In the heart of historic downtown Charleston on a cobblestone street, Halls Signature Events is a 6,900 square-foot space, perfect for corporate meetings, cocktail and dinner receptions, welcome parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners and holiday parties for up to 250 guests.

Stories of Success and Shoes at Small Business Lunch at Halls Thursday August 9 with Neely Powell

The King Street Marketing Group and Halls Chophouse are pleased to welcome Neely Woodson Powell, Founder and CEO of the Charleston Shoe Company, as our guest speaker at Small Business Lunch at Halls Signature Events, 5 Faber Street, Thursday, August 9th.   (NOTE: THE DATE AND LOCATION HAVE CHANGED. This luncheon, previously set for July 12, will be held at Halls Signature Events Thursday, August 9.)   Neely will be interviewed by Emmy Award Winning news anchor Pamela Graham and will answer your questions about her success and challenges in the fashion apparel world.   Since her first stores in Savannah and Charleston, she will soon have 20 stores with four "sister stores" or franchises including nine stores in Florida and one each on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.   Plus, Neely is a television star on QVC and her company wholesales to 380 boutique shoe retailers. Revenue exceeded $11 million in 2017.   CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS   About Neely Charleston Shoe Company founder Neely Powell spent her childhood summers in a colonial town in central Mexico. In the summer of 1996, while at the College of Charleston, she met a cobbler whose simple sandals were a wardrobe staple among the villagers and visitors alike. It was Kismet.   With suitcases stuffed with the made-by-hand shoes, Neely and her mother boarded a plane home, plotting to sell sandals alongside her mother’s own burgeoning import business at furniture markets.   The shoes were embraced by young and old, and before they knew it a wholesale business was created. In 2009 when dreams of her own brand began swirling in her head, she enrolled in an accessories design program at the Savannah College of Art & Design with her young daughter, Gigi, in tow. Neely drew upon her shoe and accessory design coursework and, in collaboration with a fourth generation cobbler in Mexico, launched her own line of hand-sewn footwear then called Savannah Shoe Co.   In 2010, Neely then opened a small storefront store called Charleston Shoe Co. on lower King Street in the Antiques District, a quiet and historic section of King Street in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.

This proved a pivotal moment for the brand as the community and tourists alike embraced the collection and the charismatic proprietor. With locations in Charleston, Savannah, and Del Mar, they still could not meet the demand for the “cobblestones to cocktails” shoe and the wholesale line launched in January 2011. The Charleston Shoe Co. line is now currently sold in over 150 boutiques nationally.   From Boca Grande to Nantucket and Carmel, women can’t get enough of her comfortable, versatile, stylish and washable shoes. When she is not in the stores in Charleston and Savannah you’ll frequently find Neely traversing the East Coast selling her shoes to adoring fans of the Charleston Shoe Co line.

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About the Venue Halls Signature Events is located at 5 Faber Street, just off East Bay Street directly behind S.N.O.B. There is a city-owned parking garage right next door, with an entrance on Cumberland Street for your convenience   In the heart of historic downtown Charleston on a cobblestone street, Halls Signature Events is a 6,900 square-foot space, perfect for corporate meetings, cocktail and dinner receptions, welcome parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners and holiday parties for up to 250 guests.

Kevin Mills, President and CEO of SC Aquarium, Speaking Thursday, June 7

The King Street Marketing Group and Hall Management Group are pleased to welcome Kevin Mills, President and CEO of SC Aquarium, as our guest speaker at Small Business Lunch at Halls, Thursday, June 7 at Halls Signature Events, 5 Faber Street in downtown Charleston.   The Aquarium is one of the most important businesses on the peninsula drawing more than 425,000 guests to visit the beautiful facility on the harbor in historic downtown Charleston every year.   The Aquarium is great for local businesses because it's: A classroom A hospital A space to connect Becoming the aquarium of the future.  Click Here to Order Your Tickets Kevin Mills has served as President and CEO of South Carolina Aquarium, an organization committed to ocean and wildlife conservation, for 12 years.   Mills is no stranger to working alongside animals. Prior to the SC Aquarium, he was Vice President, Marketing and External Affairs for the Saint Louis Zoo, where he spent 10 years developing the zoo’s brand and generating support. He’s also served on the board of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and Animals Inc.   Born and raised in Kansas, Mills graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in journalism. He spent much of his career in the private sector, as marketing and sales executive for Cunard Line Ltd. for ten years, and in the publishing and advertising sectors in New York City. He spent two years with the Museum of Modern Art, New York.   About the SC Aquarium: The 93,000-square-foot attraction houses 6,243 species and operates on an $12 million annual budget. It’s also one of the top tourist draws in the state, pulling in about 425,000 visitors to the Concord Street waterfront annually.   Guests are entertained with an intimate look at many of South Carolina’s native animals and plants as their journey through the Aquarium takes them from the mountains to the sea.   In the newest interactive experience, guests can feed by hand the cownose rays and southern stingrays in The Shallows Exhibit between 9:30 am and noon each day.     About the Venue Halls Signature Events is located at 5 Faber Street, just off East Bay Street directly behind S.N.O.B. There is a city-owned parking garage right next door on Cumberland Street for your convenience.   Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is served at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Tickets are $31 per person for the luncheon. Click Here for Tickets or call our 24/7 hotline at 1-800-838-3006.   In the heart of historic downtown Charleston on a cobblestone street, Halls Signature Events is a 6,900 square-foot space, perfect for corporate meetings, cocktail and dinner receptions, welcome parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners and holiday parties for up to 250 guests. .

North Charleston Mayor R. Keith Summey Speaking Thursday, May 3

The King Street Marketing Group and Hall Management Groupare pleased to welcome North Charleston Mayor R. Keith Summeyas our guest speaker at Small Business Lunch at Halls, Thursday, May 3 at Halls Signature Events, 5 Faber Street in downtown Charleston.   For 24 years he's been the Mayor of the third largest city in South Carolina.

Not only is North Charleston the leading retail center in South Carolina, but more people go to work there every day than the entire population of Greenville.   Click Here to Order Your Tickets Now   Mayor R. Keith Summey has become widely known as a community consensus builder. He is the 3rd Mayor of North Charleston and has been re-elected for six terms.    During his tenure he has led North Charleston to becoming the retail sales leader in the State, while improving municipal services and defining a vision for the City.   He has promoted a young, highly skilled workforce and has attracted diverse industries, such as Boeing, Robert Bosch, SAIC, defense, renewable energy, financial services and information technology.   North Charleston continues to drive the State’s economy as the epicenter of business development, offering a business-friendly community, rich with incentives to allow companies to compete on a global scale.     In 1986, Mayor Summey won election to the North Charleston City Council and was then elected to Charleston County Council in 1988 where he served as Chairman for three years. During his term he led the expansion of County Library System and oversaw the way solid waste was handled by the County.    A new Tri-County Economic Development Authority was formed by Chairman Summey and the Chairmen of County Council in Dorchester and Berkeley Counties. The successes of the Authority have been many since the mid-1990's.   With the Mayor's roots in his local community, he offered himself for election to the Office of Mayor of North Charleston in 1994. Mayor Summey was born in Cottageville, South Carolina, graduated from Chicora High School and the Baptist College at Charleston, now Charleston Southern University.   Tickets are $31 per person for the luncheon. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click Here for Tickets or call our 24/7 hotline at 1-800-838-3006.   Halls Signature Events is located at 5 Faber Street, just off East Bay Street directly behind S.N.O.B. There is a city-owned parking garage right next door on Cumberland Street for your convenience   In the heart of historic downtown Charleston on a cobblestone street, Halls Signature Events is a 6,900 square-foot space, perfect for corporate meetings, cocktail and dinner receptions, welcome parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners and holiday parties for up to 250 guests. .

 

 

Coach Earl Grant Speaking Thursday, April 5 at Small Business Lunch at Halls

The King Street Marketing Group and Hall Management Group are pleased to welcome Coach Earl Grant, the College of Charleston's Men's Basketball Coach, as our guest speaker Thursday, April 5 for Small Business Lunch at Halls, at Halls Signature Events, 5 Faber Street in downtown Charleston.

 

Coach Grant brought the Cougars back to March Madness for the first time since 1999.

This year, the Cougars finished with 26 wins and the league's auto-bid to the Big Dance.   Click Here to Order Your Tickets Now   In a thrilling Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship game, the No. 1 seed Cougars came back from a 13-point halftime deficit to send the game into overtime and defeated No. 2 Northeastern 83-76 to go to the big dance for the first time in 19 years.   Last year Grant led the Cougars to a 25-10 overall record and 14-4 mark in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.   It marked the program's first 20-win campaign since 2013. Charleston, seeded a program-best No. 2, advanced to the title game of the CAA Tournament for the first time since The College joined the Colonial in 2013.   They were also selected and made their fifth all-time appearance in the Postseason NIT. It was their first postseason berth (NCAA or NIT) since 2011.     In his second season with the Cougars, he and his staff turned the program into one of the most improved in NCAA Division I and developed four all-conference players including CAA Rookie of the Year and All-CAA Third Team selection Jarrell Brantley.   The following season saw the Cougars go 17-14 (8-10, CAA), and last season they finished 25-10 (14-4, CAA) and missed the NCAA tournament only by virtue of losing to UNC Wilmington in the CAA tournament’s title game, 78-69. The Cougs would go on to lose to Colorado State in the NIT’s opening round.   Grant’s four years in charge of Cougar hoops have grown steadily. The team finished 9-24 overall in his first season, and the team’s conference record of 3-15 was good for dead last in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Tickets are $31 per person for the luncheon. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click Here for Tickets or call our 24/7 hotline at 1-800-838-3006.   Halls Signature Events is located at 5 Faber Street, just off East Bay Street directly behind S.N.O.B. There is a city-owned parking garage right next door on Cumberland Street for your convenience   In the heart of historic downtown Charleston on a cobblestone street, Halls Signature Events is a 6,900 square-foot space, perfect for corporate meetings, cocktail and dinner receptions, welcome parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners and holiday parties for up to 250 guests. .

Katarina Fjording, Volvo Vice President, Purchasing and Manufacturing, America Thursday, March 8

The King Street Marketing Group and Hall Management Group are pleased to welcome Katarina Fjording, Volvo Vice President, Purchasing and Manufacturing, America to Small Business Lunch at Halls Signature Events Thursday March 8.

Katarina is responsible for establishing an industrial footprint in the Americas and the build-up of Volvo Car's first US production facility right here in Charleston.

Volvo Cars is investing more than $1 Billion in the Berkeley County facility, its only North American manufacturing site at the Camp Hall Industrial Campus off Interstate 26. The first S60 is scheduled to roll off the assembly line next summer.

Please Note: This luncheon was rescheduled from January, and due to the overwhelming interest in Volvo Cars, it has been re-located to Hall Management Group's newest facility, Halls Signature Events which is just off East Bay at 5 Faber Street, directly behind Slightly North of Broad (S.N.O.B.)

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Once the plant is up and running at full capacity, with 3,900 employees, it is expected to produce about 60,000 vehicles per year in Berkeley County, with that rate rising to about 150,000 per year by the time the XC90 is introduced into the production line. 

Katarina has more than 28 years of global industrial operations experience from Europe, Asia and America. Katarina's international experience spans product and tooling development, purchasing and manufacturing as well as being an automotive supplier to European premium brands.

A mechanical engineer, she began her career in Volvo as a design engineer on the Volvo 850 model. She has held several senior positions within Volvo Car including Director New Model Programs, Executive Director Manufacturing Engineering Asia and most recently Vice President Manufacturing Asia, overseeing the build-up of the manufacturing operations in China.

Katarina is a board member of Sunfleet Car sharing since 2011. She also serves as an executive board member of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the boards of the American Red Cross and Cradle to Career. She has previously lived in the US while working for Ford Motor Company in Detroit and Chicago. A native of Gothenburg, Sweden, she enjoys the outdoors, including sail racing and hunting.

Located in the heart of historic downtown Charleston on a cobblestone street, Halls Signature Events is a 6,900 square-foot space, perfect for corporate meetings, cocktail and dinner receptions, welcome parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners and holiday parties for up to 250 guests. There is a city-owned parking garage located right next door for your convenience.

Tickets are $31 per person for the luncheon. Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click here for ticket Information or call the 24/7 ticket hotline at 1-800-838-3006.

Dr. Peter von Wartenberg, Senior V-P of Robert Bosch Thursday, Feb. 1

The King Street Marketing Group and Halls Chophouse are pleased to welcome Dr. Peter von Wartenberg, Senior Vice-President of Robert Bosch Thursday, February 1 at Small Business Lunch at Halls.   The Stuttgart-based company is one of the Charleston region's largest private-sector manufacturers and is one of its oldest international businesses.   It opened its Lowcountry plant in 1973 with 105 workers. Over that time, Bosch has invested more than $625 million under seven separate expansion plans. Today it has nearly 2,000 employees.   CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS   Robert Bosch, LLC is one of the world's largest automotive suppliers. The company's Charleston-area operation, which has been expanded seven times since 1973, manufactures diesel and gasoline fuel injections systems, ESP/ABS brake systems, and exhaust gas treatment systems.  There is also product development on site for adapting products to North American market needs. The plant is also a center of competency for some material applications.

Each month, Small Business Lunch at Halls features a distinguished speaker from the business, civic or political arenas upstairs at Halls Chophouse with an imaginative three-course meal prepared by Executive Chef Adam Jakins. Tickets are $31 per person plus tax and processing fee for the luncheon. Doors open at 11:45 a.m. and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click Here to Purchase Tickets Halls Chophouse is located at 434 King Street in downtown Charleston. Convenient parking is available at the Visitors Center Garage on Ann Street between King and Meeting Streets.

America's Newest Bank... Beacon Community Bank of Charleston Jan. 11

The King Street Marketing Group and Halls Chophouse are pleased to welcome Brooks Melton, Chief Executive Officer of the Newest Bank in the United States, Beacon Community Bank of Charleston as our guest speaker Thursday, January 11 at Small Business Lunch at Halls.

This is exciting news for all of us in the business community, the first newly formed bank in Charleston since 2009. In the last 10 years the number of small, locally-based community banks in Charleston has dropped from seven to one.

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Beacon Community Bank will be about this community, providing for the financial needs of underserved professionals, small to medium sized businesses, real estate investors and developers.

The Board of Directors are people you know including Bill Hall, Sr., Hall Management Group, Lt. Gen. John Rosa, President of the Citadel, Tommy Baker, CEO Baker Motor Company, Medal of Honor Recipient Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston and Nancy Elizabeth Hardwick, Exec. V-P Booz Allen Hamilton. So please join us for this lively presentation.

Each month, Small Business Lunch at Halls features a distinguished speaker from the business, civic or political arenas upstairs at Halls Chophouse with an imaginative three course meal prepared by Executive Chef Adam Jakins. Of course, there is a full-service, cash bar for your enjoyment.

Tickets are $31 per person for the luncheon. Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click here for ticket Information or call the 24/7 ticket hotline at 1-800-838-3006.

Halls Chophouse is located at 434 King Street in downtown Charleston. Parking is available at the Visitors' Center Garage on Ann Street between King and Meeting Streets, the Camden Exchange Garage between John and Hutson Streets, or at meters on the street.

Mike Seekings December 7th

The King Street Marketing Group and Halls Chophouse are pleased to welcome Mike Seekings, Charleston City Council Member and Broad Street Attorney, as our guest speaker Thursday, December 7 at Small Business Lunch at Halls.

Councilmember Seekings will tell you, in no uncertain terms, what's on his mind about traffic, tourism, flooded streets, city signage, downtown development and more.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS

In 2015 the Board of the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA), unanimously elected Seekings Chairman of CARTA. He has served on the Board since 2010 and is a partner in Leath, Bouch & Seekings, LLP.

Seekings is beginning his third term on City Council for District 8 and ran unopposed in the last election. He is an avid runner and cyclist and a champion for making the city's streets, bridges and sidewalks safer and friendlier for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Each month, Small Business Lunch at Halls features a distinguished speaker from the business, civic or political arenas upstairs at Halls Chophouse with an imaginative three course meal prepared by Executive Chef Adam Jakins. Of course, there is a full-service, cash bar for your enjoyment.

Tickets are $31 per person for the luncheon. Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click here for ticket Information or call the 24/7 ticket hotline at 1-800-838-3006.

Halls Chophouse is located at 434 King Street in downtown Charleston. Parking is available at the Visitors' Center Garage on Ann Street between King and Meeting Streets, the Camden Exchange Garage between John and Hutson Streets, or at meters on the street.

Helen Hill, CEO of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Speaking Nov. 2

The King Street Marketing Group and Halls Chophouse are pleased to welcome Helen Hill, CEO of the CACVB, as our guest speaker at Small Business Lunch at Halls Thursday, November 2. Tourism is South Carolina's biggest business. And, under Helen Hill, nearly 6 million people will visit the Charleston area in 2018, resulting in job earnings of $1.4 billion and a regional economic impact of over $3 billion.    CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS "We have fundamentally changed where our visitors are coming from in the last few years," says Hill. "The majority of our visitors were coming from within a six-hour driving radius before we started our air service push in 2010. Now, New York City is No. 1."    Selling Charleston As Charleston "The reality is, we have a lot of history in Charleston that's not pretty," says Hill. "We're not selling a modified version of the Old South in hoop skirts. We are a real place, and we want to show visitors who we really are."   Hill believes it's this sincere approach to tourism that has put Charleston squarely on the traveler's map. The destination has received numerous awards, including No. 1 City in North America in Travel + Leisure's World's Best list for the past seven years and Conde Nast Traveler Reader's Choice as No. 1 City in the U.S. from 2011 through 2017.    The city now attracts more than 6 million visitors annually. This is thanks in part to new businesses such as Boeing, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Volvo that helped establish new air service to Charleston, making it a go-to weekend getaway for bigger markets such as New York City, Boston and Chicago, now just a two-hour nonstop flight away.   Hill, who grew up in Charleston, joined the Charleston Area CVB right after she graduated from Clemson University. She started as the sales manager and then moved to the role of marketing director. In 1989, Hill was named acting executive director and then executive director, putting her in charge during one of Charleston's more challenging times: Hurricane Hugo.

Each month, Small Business Lunch at Halls features a distinguished speaker from the business, civic or political arenas upstairs at Halls Chophouse with an imaginative three-course meal prepared by Executive Chef Adam Jakins. Tickets are $31 per person plus tax and processing fee for the luncheon. Doors open at 11:45 a.m. and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click Here to Purchase Tickets Halls Chophouse is located at 434 King Street in downtown Charleston. Convenient parking is available at the Visitors Center Garage on Ann Street between King and Meeting Streets.