Hilton Head Business

BEAUFORT DIGITAL CORRIDOR LOOKS TO 2019 FOR GROWTH

From college students to recent retirees, the Beaufort Digital Corridor has attracted a variety of skills to the Lowcountry in its first two years.

Modeled after a similar program in Charleston, the Beaufort Digital Corridor helps facilitate development and growth for companies hoping to profit off of South Carolina’s $11 billion tech industry.

In 2009, Boeing opened an assembly and delivery facility in North Charleston — the second in the country to produce the company’s 787 Dreamliner. The move to South Carolina was part of Boeing’s strategy to diversify geographically; its only other Dreamliner facility is in Everett, Washington. Boeing got a warm welcome in the Palmetto State.

WORK TOGETHER WITH YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISER

Successful financial advisers are passionate about keeping up with changes in the industry and committed to educating their clients. This is important because financial and investment laws and products are constantly evolving.

A good financial planner will help you manage your total financial picture. Cash flow planning, retirement planning, investment management, insurance planning, estate planning, and tax planning are a few key areas that a financial adviser can help with. But even the best financial adviser is only as good as the information you share with him or her.

PURSUE YOUR PURPOSE IN 2019

Successful business leaders are often the envy of others. Maybe you started a business and hit your initial income goals. Or perhaps you climbed the ladder of success in your field to a very high level. Either way, others might look at your life and think you have it made.

But often even successful businesspeople feel that something is missing. They may not know what, they feel like things aren’t quite perfect.

Now that the holidays and parties are over, people are looking ahead to the new year and getting ready to file income taxes. The tax reform law passed in late 2017 by Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act took effect Jan. 1, 2018, and could affect your federal income tax returns. There will be winners and losers under the new tax law, depending on individual circumstances.

Some say commercial shrimping in Beaufort County will disappear eventually, but Larry Toomer believes that the combination of an evolving market and creative local solutions could save the business that’s in his blood.

“I get satisfaction from figuring out where they are,” he said. “I love the feeling of ‘Got you!’”

10 TIPS TO HELP LOCAL OFFICIALS FIND SUCCESS

Like most of us, I closely followed the election race for mayor on Hilton Head Island. Now that the elections are over, it’s time to get to work. Whether we like it or not, Hilton Head and Bluffton are at a “strategic inflection point.” Our citizens and community leaders must come together and begin a dialogue driven by positive thinking. We can no longer allow ourselves to be driven backward by naysayers.

After more than 20 years as one of Hilton Head Island’s premier caterers, Lori Craven is is also making her mark on the dessert world. Her company Palmetto Sweets was created to showcase her signature honey pecan bars — originally a thank-you gift to clients and now a regional favorite. Made with local honey and pecans, sweet cream, butter, brown sugar and molasses on top of rich shortbread, they embody some of the best-loved tastes of the South. 

NEW WESTIN GM LIKES WHAT HILTON HEAD OFFERS AND COURTS MORE GROUP BUSINESS

When hotelier Michael Scioscia eyes his competition, he is not looking around Hilton Head Island, or even toward Savannah or Charleston. He’s focused on Florida and the huge number of conferences held in resorts in the Sunshine State.

Finding an “optimal mix” between business and group travelers and vacationers is a priority for Scioscia, who became general manager of The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa in May. He wants to attract more groups to the island, especially in the off-season months.