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Richland County Making Economic Development Easy

Jeff Ruble
Mike Switzer/SC Public Radio

Of the 46 counties in our state, Richland has the youngest population with a median age under 33.  And of the 3,142 counties in the United States, Richland is in the top 10% in not only that category, but also in level of education.  Our next guest says that these statistics and the fact that Columbia is becoming a pretty cool place to live, are combining to make his job a little easier.

Mike Switzer interviews Jeff Ruble, director of economic development for Richland County, SC.

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After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.