Southern Entrepreneurs Enjoying Recognition

By Mike Switzer

Published July 8, 2016 at 5:02 AM EDT

For the past seven years, our next guest’s magazine has not only been growing its own business but those of many small businesses around our region, through it’s annual “Made in the South” awards. And a lot of these winning entrepreneurs are right here in South Carolina.

Mike Switzer interviews David DiBenedetto, Editor-In-Chief of Garden and Gun magazine in Charleston, SC, host of Made in the South Awards.

Tags

Mike Switzer

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.

See stories by Mike Switzer