MELINDA WALDROP PROFILE

Todd Adams paused midsentence as an older gentleman poked his head in the door. “Y’all ain’t open yet,” the man said with obvious disappointment. Stop back by in two weeks, Adams advised the man, drawn t... Read More

Motorists heading down Beltline Boulevard just before it intersects with Two Notch Road may do a double-take if they glance to the side, but not to worry. That really is a garden growing out of the roof of the city of Columbia&rsq... Read More

If there were ever a time for improved efficiency to help a fast-moving company, it would be now for Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. With the West Columbia-based manufacturer of sterile respiratory medication churning out produ... Read More

The effect of the pandemic on Columbia’s commercial real estate market is still playing out, industry experts say, with some segments holding steady while others suffer. One thing, though, is clear: Transactions during the C... Read More

A new program at ECPI University aims to unite two crucial areas: the ever-growing need for more cybersecurity professionals and those whom the pandemic has put out of work or who are just looking for a new challenge. The school&rsquo... Read More

Chad Elsey has been through a gamut of emotions during seven months unlike any he’s ever seen in his restaurant career. “It probably comes in waves,” said Elsey, part of the ownership group behind South Carolina&rsqu... Read More

With most area fall festivals, including the popular Oktoberfest at Incarnation Lutheran Church and Columbia’s annual Greek festival, canceled amid the ongoing pandemic, there is a bit of good news for those itching to enjoy an aut... Read More

Hughes Development Corp., master developer of the BullStreet District, said “progress will continue” at the 181-acre, mixed-use development after a fire heavily damaged the site’s historic Babcock building on Saturday m... Read More

Rick Todd waited three years for Thursday’s satisfaction. Todd, president and CEO of the S.C. Trucking Association, was an early champion of the Be Pro Be Proud workforce development program pioneered in Arkansas in 2016, lobbyi... Read More

As she helped celebrate the potential of a newly opened women’s business center at Benedict College, U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Jovita Carranza made a prediction to S.C. proprietors, incuding the minority... Read More

While customers may prefer to pay for items in cash, there is no federal requirement that private businesses accept it, according to the Federal Reserve. However, four states have passed legislation requiring states accept cash payment, ... Read More

Columbia-headquartered Optus Bank is the first beneficiary of PayPal Holdings Inc.’s $530 million commitment to support Black and minority-owned business and communities. Optus received $50 million in deposit funding from th... Read More

Columbia-based Prudential financial advisor Rosalyn Glenn’s job entails urging folks to pay close attention to their money and resources. The COVID-19 pandemic has proved an effective tool in making sure such advice is taken seriou... Read More

A planned mixed-used development at the former Veterans Administration building at the corner of Laurel and Assembly streets received unanimous approval for a requested parking variance on Thursday. The city of Columbia Board of Zonin... Read More

Mysterious packets of unsolicited seeds that began showing up in U.S. mailboxes, including some in South Carolina, late last week have now reached Australia, the European Union, and Canada, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials sa... Read More

Sam Moses didn’t know exactly what to expect when he stepped into the shed. Moses, a Columbia economic development attorney, had been invited to a friend of a friend’s backyard to discuss a business venture over beers. ... Read More

A new partnership between Richland Library and Columbia Housing is providing wireless connectivity for Richland County residents without access to online services. The Home-Spot program will circulate 65 Wi-Fi hotspots to 26 resident ... Read More

Some S.C. residents are receiving unsolicited packages of seeds that may contain invasive species, and the S.C. Department of Agriculture and Clemson University’s Regulatory Services division are working together to investigat... Read More

Question: How, exactly, do you show a house for sale during a pandemic? Answer: Carefully, but often. The COVID-19 outbreak that has decimated hotel, restaurant and retail businesses has not slowed residential real estate sales, ac... Read More

With a federal moratorium on evictions expiring this month, tenants grappling with the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may soon face a sizable rent bill. A 120-day moratorium on evictions from federally financed properties ... Read More

Years ago, there was no doubt in Leslie Clark’s mind. Clark, vice president of operations and director of government relations for construction trade association Carolinas AGC, would have said with confidence that her sons were ... Read More

Workers laboring to turn a former jail into the kitchen that will supply food for a new West Columbia brewery unearthed an interesting — and prescient — discovery.   A decades-old newspaper article liberated... Read More

Two Columbia colleges have different timelines for reopening their campuses amid ongoing COVID-19 health concerns, but they share the same goal: getting students back on track toward earning their degrees and beginning their careers as q... Read More

Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. is donating more than 100,000 bottles of company-manufactured hand sanitizer to the University of South Carolina as part of the West Columbia-based company's ongoing efforts to help fight COVID-19. Th... Read More

Mason Crowson spent Saturday evening passing out water bottles to protesters and police officers alike. Crowson owns The Aristocrat, a cocktail bar and music venue located at 1001 Washington St., close to Columbia Police Department he... Read More

Open again after COVID-19 concerns led it to close its doors for a month, Hotel Trundle is sharing its happiness with the community — in the form of toilet paper. The downtown boutique hotel at the corner of Sumter and Taylor st... Read More

Steve Spinks has heard the questions from business owners much like himself. As S.C. businesses begin to reopen under new guidelines put in place to deal with COVID-19 health concerns, uncertainty remains. “The business owner... Read More

JoAnn Turnquist admitted to being a little worried. As annual Midlands Gives charitable challenge approached last week, Turnquist, president and CEO of host nonprofit Central Carolina Community Foundation, didn’t know how the gl... Read More

It’s business as usual these days at Phoenix Specialty Manufacturing in Bamberg — for the most part. There is a greater urgency in the making of small, precision components necessary to build complex machines for industrie... Read More

Beginning today, S.C. restaurants will be allowed to reopen for limited dine-in services. Establishments will have to follow several guidelines (.pdf), including only allowing 50% of posted occupancy and spacing tables six to eight fe... Read More

Shirley Bannister received the call at 6 a.m. Bannister, nursing department chair at Midlands Technical College, answered the phone to find a former student on the line and in a panic. “Her plight was, ‘I have no mask,&... Read More

A tongue-in-cheek coping mechanism that got some movie characters through a zombie apocalypse is not an option for craft beer fans dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. In the horror/comedy Shaun of the Dead, the titular character, play... Read More

Editor's note: A previous version of this story has been updated to include FDA approval of an additional Nephron production line. West-Columbia headquartered-Nephron Pharmaceutical Corp.’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemi... Read More

Hunter Mottell, director of manufacturing operations at mattress manufacturer Sleep Number’s Irmo plant, was, like a lot of people, feeling a little helpless in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, a four-organization partne... Read More

Beer and baseball. Is there a more perfect combination? Midlands-area fans of both will get a chance to test that tasty theory when Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant opens at the BullStreet District next summer. In early March, th... Read More

The shuttering of nonessential businesses in response to the new coronavirus threat has had an obvious effect on restaurants, bars and other establishments that rely on enticing people through their doors. Perhaps less evident but equ... Read More

While construction companies soldier ahead in the COVID-19 crisis, a new industry study is sounding alarm bells about potentially rougher roads ahead. An Associated General Contractors of America study conducted from March 23-25 and r... Read More

In the year and a half his restaurant has been a part of the Blythewood business community, Trippy Phillips has done his part to contribute. McNulty’s Taproom has been serving up cold beer and hearty fare since November 2018 whi... Read More