SC Business briefly
Wayne Cannon of Irmo has been named 2015 Optometrist of the Year for the second time by the South Carolina Optometric Physicians Association. The recognition is for Cannon’s career of service and dedication to the profession and the advancement of optometry, the association and its causes. Cannon has been in private practice in Columbia since 1967. A retired Army colonel, Cannon owns two practices: Drs Eyecare Family Vision in Irmo and Columbia.
Israeli company opens Greenville facility
An Israeli packaging company plans to put 63 jobs in Greer as it establishes a U.S. beachhead. Aran Packaging will spend $5.2 million to launch a U.S. headquarters in an existing building along Poplar Drive near Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, according to news releases from local and state economic development agencies. The 180-worker company specializes in “bag in a box” packaging for liquid food products such as wine, juice, milk, oils or eggs in liquid form.
▪ Wicked Stick Golf Links in Myrtle Beach is scheduled to close Sept. 15. Wicked Stick’s sale is expected to be completed in two transactions, with part of the property zoned for residential building and the rest for commercial use.
▪ Ride-hailing mobile app Uber has launched in Clemson, opening its sixth South Carolina market. Users were alerted to the new service location in an email Thursday afternoon. So far, the expansion is going even more successfully than the company had hoped, said Michael Black, Uber’s general manager for South Carolina. The Clemson area is more rural than previously established markets in South Carolina, which include Charleston, Greenville and Columbia.
▪ One of Asheville, N.C.’s, popular craft breweries will soon be selling its ales and lagers across South Carolina, the first time those beers have been available outside of North Carolina. Hi-Wire Brewing, which recently opened a second brewery in Asheville to increase production, has added distribution across the Palmetto State, from Charleston and Myrtle Beach to the Upstate.