GSA Technology Council

The Upstate Carolina Angel Network, LLC (UCAN), a group of local investors who support startup and early stage, high-growth businesses in the Southeast, announced today that the organization’s director, Matt Dunbar, has been elected to a three year term on the thirteen member Board of Directors for the Angel Capital Association.

The Angel Capital Association (ACA) is the North American trade association of angel groups and private investors that invest in high growth, early-stage ventures. The Angel Capital Association provides professional development for angel groups, family offices and individual investors and delivers services and benefits to support the success of the portfolio companies of ACA members. The association also serves as the promotional voice for the North American angel community and the public policy voice for the USA professional angel community.

ACA membership includes more than 185 angel groups and twenty affiliate organizations from across North America. Angel Capital Association member angel groups represent 8,500 accredited investors, are funding approximately 800 new companies each year and manage an ongoing portfolio of more than 5,000 companies across North America.

via Angel Capital Association

Clemson University this week kicks off the inaugural EnterPrize Awards presented by CertusBank, a three-city, three-week roadshow and competition that showcases MBAe student ventures. The roadshow provides graduating students enrolled in the specialty MBA program, which has created an innovation pipeline for entrepreneurs, a public platform to pitch concepts in return for up to $40,000 in seed funding.

Students competing in the Clemson EnterPrize Awards will present to a five member panel of judges in Charleston, Atlanta and Greenville on May 16, 23 and 30. Prize funding will be awarded based on the quality of presentation, viability and practicality of the idea as well as the concept’s opportunity for monetary and societal impact.

“The EnterPrize Awards investor roadshow further differentiates the Clemson MBAe from other programs nationally,” said Greg Pickett, associate dean of Clemson at the Falls. “Designed as a capstone to our experiential-based curriculum, the roadshow provides promising student ventures access to the resources and capital they need to succeed.”

Several proposed concepts have already attracted the attention of investors, including:

• Dabble, a mobile application created by Brendan Lopes, Josh Lopes and Carlisle Kennedy, that helps college students discover new activities and experiences;
• Upkeep Charlie, an iPhone App developed by Stefan Hahn in partnership with The Iron Yard that connects homeowners with network of vetted home service professionals; and,
• Tarian Orthotics, a medical device venture founded by Riley Csernica that is commercializing a breakthrough shoulder brace designed to accelerate dislocation recovery.

The ventures are the result of Clemson’s one-year, intensive, experiential MBA program where students enroll with an idea, apply rigorous business principles and graduate with a market-ready business.

The EnterPrize Awards are open to the public and include networking receptions in Charleston and Atlanta. A gala is scheduled to follow presentations in Greenville, recognizing graduates and their extensive network of professional mentors.

via Clemson MBAe

Software Developer
Stark RFID is currently looking to hire 1 or 2 additional full-time software developers with C# and .Net development experience to join their team.
 
 

Second most recent job posting:
Mid to Senior .NET Developer – Intellectual Capitol

Preview more open positions on the GSATC jobs board. We encourage you to share it with anyone who may be in the hunt. If you are looking for work, feel free to let us know what you need on our LinkedIn group!

Looking to hire? Post your openings to our job board.

Started in collaboration with Google, iTEAMS is the Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship Among Middle Schoolers summer experience. iTEAMS is a day camp that inspires students to pursue careers in the fields of computer science, technology and entrepreneurship through hands-on, team-based projects. Working cooperatively and using technology to solve problems, students explore fields like gaming, app development and cyber security.

This camp is open to rising 7th and 8th grade Greenville County students and also offers free transportation to select sites.

Dates: June 17-20 & June 24-27

Location: Hughes Academy

For more information or to register visit the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics.

via SCGSSM

Worthwhile, a customer-driven digital strategy firm with offices in Greenville, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C., is pleased to announce the hiring of account executive Megan E. Finnern.

As an account executive, Finnern will work to grow relationships so that Worthwhile can serve clients strategically and consistently. She will work out of Worthwhile’s Greenville headquarters. Finnern joins Worthwhile with a background in both digital marketing and communications and in client relations. She is active in Greenville Chamber of Commerce and PULSE, and serves on the social media committee for Greenville Family Partnership.

via Worthwhile

Technology integrator TSAChoice, Inc., with offices in Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC, announces that Voice/IT Field Technician Ben Bruce completed training and exams through TSAChoice’s business partner, Cisco, to earn his Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification.

Ben Bruce received his CCNA certification for Network Specialists, Administrators, and Support Engineers with 1-3 years of network engineering experience, enhancing his ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-sized routed and switched networks. Ben has been with TSAChoice’s Greenville office for one year after working as a Mitel Direct certified technician for four years. He has extensive experience working with Voice over Internet Protocol, web, and data networks.

via TSAChoice

The past few years have been challenging on many fronts. For those that are seeking to grow their businesses in 2013, there are still several factors that are common to all – unemployment and how to hire and retain good employees given a rather large number of job seekers; making sure you are planning for the slow increase in interest rates that will cause borrowing to become slightly more expensive, the Affordable Health Act, and the European and Asian economies.

Join InnoVision on Thursday, May 16 to hear about the Upstate economic factors and learn how several companies are growing in this economy.

The distinguished panel includes:

Scott Baier – Associate Professor, The John E. Walker Department of Economics, Clemson University
and Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Scott will speak about the state of the economy in South Carolina and looking forward in 2013. He will give his perspective on the challenges and opportunities on the horizon, and what can be expected.

Bill Bliss – Bliss Associates

Bill will share sales approach techniques and how to assess people for qualifications to fit the sales needed. Hiring the well-intentioned, yet inappropriately skilled people to sell for you can lead to disastrous business or organizational results. Bill has helped dozens of organizations with techniques to make more accurate assessment and hiring decisions for sales and many other positions based on the real needs of the business.

Jessica Christophillis and Amanda Gallivan – Christophillis & Gallivan, P.A.

Jessica and Amanda will highlight their recent experience starting a new law practice, and will discuss the importance for growth and client development in the future. They will offer a unique perspective on using more organic marketing approaches to provide savings to your bottom line.

Sharon Day – Sales Activation Group

Sharon will discuss business development and the importance of making theory come to life through measured practice. She’ll provide specific examples through the metrics she uses and detail how her business has grown to illustrate how positively you can impact your growth by consistently practicing the right behaviors.

Frank Mobley – Immedion, LLC

Frank will discuss leading Immedion from a greenfield startup in 2007 to being recognized as one of South Carolina’s fastest growing companies in 2012, including growing through the recession and the challenges of hiring the right people for growth.

Thursday, May 16, 2013
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm Presentation
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm Networking Reception

Location:
McNair Law Firm, P.A., 104 S. Main Street, Suite 700, Greenville, SC 29601

RSVP to Kathy Ham at kham@mcnair.net.

via InnoVision

DFJB, LLC has acquired GlobalVision, a data management and communications service provider based in Greenville and locally managed. Since 1996 GlobalVision (previously known as ACSinc.net) has been providing top-flight service to business/corporate clients in Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
GlobalVision will soon be announcing a series of strategic initiatives to be introduced under the new management team. Leverage from the financial investment and drawing on the strengths of retained and new employees , GlobalVision will strengthen and grow ISP, Wireless Internet, Cloud, VoIP, Voice Services, Metro E, hosting and MSP services to provide new and expanded solutions for its customers.
Key initiatives underway include:
1. Strengthening core businesses (cloud services, Internet, Data transport, VoIP, collocation)
2. Expansion of virtualization capabilities
3. Addressing business needs in new and emerging markets
4. Creating new businesses and accelerating innovation
5. Realigning the business portfolio and optimizing resources
GlobalVision founder Ron Younts and Director of Sales Eddie Holder will remain at GlobalVision in similar roles. Greg Stoudenmire – Wireless Manager, William Jordan – Project Manager/Network Admin and Matthew Greene Network Manager have expanded roles.
“As the oldest local internet service provider in Greenville in business for more than 16 years, we are naturally excited about adding new services for our customers,” said Younts. “We serve large multi-location customers, and small single location local business, and will be able to offer new services to help them grow their businesses.”

via GlobalVision

Stratatomic was recently awarded a 2013 Horizon Interactive Award in the Restaurant/Food Industry category for the new website developed for Copper River Grill now available online. The website features a full menu, interactive map, online gift card purchasing, e-club registration, a Twitter feed and social media integration. The website is powered by Stratatomic’s WebAdmin™ technology which enables the gift card and e-club functionality.

Stratatomic is a creative firm specializing in web, multimedia, advertising, and graphic communications. Stratatomic also offers complete solutions for web site hosting, WebAdmin™ site management software and WebStats™ site analysis tools, providing clients with a singular resource for top-to-bottom implementation of their internet marketing strategies.

Stratatomic’s proprietary WebAdmin™ e-commerce and site-management technology recently surpassed $15 million in online sales transactions and order processing. Today, WebAdmin™ enables clients of all sizes to effectively manage their own site content or storefront and is the power behind websites that receive more than 2 million page requests per month and average hundreds of orders per day. Founded in 2000 by Ryan Owens, Stratatomic LLC is a privately held company based in Greenville, SC.

via Stratatomic

ACS, a global supplier which specializes in the integration of engine and vehicle test operations into clients’ production and development facilities, will establish a regional office in Greenville County, generating at least 10 new jobs. The company serves such industry leaders as Cummins, Caterpillar, Daimler, Harley Davidson, GE, John Deere, Navistar and Tognum, and specializes in the comprehensive design, construction, integration, and commissioning of complex industrial, R&D and manufacturing facilities. Headquartered in Madison, Wis. ACS has offices in China and England, in addition to its presence in South Carolina. The company will locate operations in approximately 4,000 square feet at 55 East Camperdown Way in Greenville, upfitting the space to accommodate its engineering, planning, sales, marketing and administrative operations.

“Our goal is to provide a single source for complete project responsibility that customers the world over turn to and count on when undertaking complex projects,” said Lee Cockrum, managing director of ACS Southeast, who will head the new office. “We are a company who values long term relationships and commitment, both to our clients and our communities, and we appreciate the support of the Greenville Area Development Corporation, the South Carolina Department of Commerce, and all who assisted in making this advancement a reality.”

“ACS has developed a strong expertise in engine and vehicle research facilities design and construction,” said Cockrum. “By combining that with our knowledge of industry regulations, testing technology and applications, and the ability to fully integrate facility and test systems, we believe that Greenville’s central location in the Southeastern automotive corridor and its strong base of automotive manufacturers and suppliers will create great synergy and opportunity for our firm.”

Since January 2011, South Carolina has recruited more than $5 billion in capital investment and more than 8,000 jobs in the automotive-related sector.

“ACS Southeast is a wonderful example of a company that deploys world-class technology, performance-based processes and a mix of local and national talent to grow and expand its business, and we welcome them to Greenville County,” said Chris Riley, chairman of the Greenville Area Development Corporation. “Their engineering expertise and track record of community involvement will be a great asset to the Upstate.”

“We are thrilled that ACS has chosen to expand its presence in downtown Greenville,” said City of Greenville Downtown Development Manager Mary Douglas Hirsch. “This decision speaks to our exceptional business climate and growing reputation in the engineering and automotive industries.”

ACS is recruiting both locally and nationally for positions in the areas of facilities project engineering, project management, and controls engineering. Anyone interested in being considered for positions should submit resumes via the company’s career openings page.

via ACS