YMCA of Greenville hires vice president of endowment
The YMCA of Greenville hired John Clark as vice president of endowment.
Clark comes to Greenville from Ohio, where he practiced law for 17 years after graduating from the Emory University of Law. He was a member of a regional law firm specializing in estate planning, trust, and probate law.
The YMCA of Greenville Foundation Inc. secures gifts as part of the Endowment Fund that are held separate and apart from the operating funds of the YMCA.
Individuals who give to the Endowment Fund know that only the income generated from their charitable contributions is used to support the YMCA programs. The preservation of the amount gifted allows for those funds to grow as part of the invested Endowment Fund to provide a benefit each and every year to the YMCA in order to respond to Greenville's growing needs.
Banking
United Community Bank added experienced banker Samantha J. Strain to its Specialized Lending Team as a senior vice president and general manager. Strain will lead the bank's growing dental and medical SBA lending operation.
Prior to joining United Community Bank, Strain spent four years as vice president and regional sales manager at Bank of America Practice Solutions, where she worked with clients across the Southeast. Strain was named Rookie of the Year in her first year and grew her region by 110-120 percent each year.
She has also worked with three of the country's largest dental distributors as a sales representative, where she consistently led her team in equipment and merchandise sales growth. Her area of expertise is in financing solutions for start-ups, expansion, remodeling, debt consolidations, commercial real estate, ground up construction and multi-office locations.
Communications
The South Carolina Department of Archives and History said Geoffrey Hardee has been tapped as the agency's new communications director. Hardee will report to Dr. W. Eric Emerson, agency director.
As communications director, Geoffrey serves as the agency's primary media contact and spokesman, focusing on external communications and media relations activities as they pertain to the agency. He will manage all social and traditional media outreach and serve as agency advancement liaison for the department's foundation and partner organizations.
A native of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, Geoffrey moved to the Midlands a few years ago and worked in development, first for the University of South Carolina College of Mass Communications, then the South Carolina Policy Council.
Design and construction
O'Neal Inc., a Greenville-based design and construction firm, has hired April Emory as business development manager and Paul Wood as mechanical engineer.
Emory has 14 years of experience in business development and project management, having gained experience working with Sulzer Pump Solutions and Siemens. She obtained her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Youngstown State University and recently achieved her MBA from the University of South Carolina.
Wood has more than five years of mechanical design experience, gaining experience from his work with WMA Architects and Planners, Sebring Engineering and NBP Engineering. He obtained his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University.
Environmental
EnviroSouth, Inc., an Upstate environmental consulting firm, added Jonathan D. Gerst as its newest project hydrogeologist. Gerst earned a bachelor's in geology from Appalachian State University and a master's in hydrogeology from Virginia Tech.
He joins EnviroSouth with six years of professional experience after working in Virginia and Oregon. He has worked on a variety of groundwater contamination and water supply projects for domestic and international clients.
IT
Veteran information technology engineer Chris Talley has rejoined EDTS, a regional IT services company specializing in managed IT services, network security, and advanced infrastructure for Southeastern businesses, as a network engineer on its rapidly growing team.
A native of Hendersonville, North Carolina, Talley has nearly a decade of combined professional experience in networking, support and systems engineering across multiple industries. He returns to EDTS from an IT management role with a Charlotte-based technology solutions provider, which he joined after several years in with EDTS earlier in his career.
Talley holds certifications including HIPAA Security Certification 2015, the CompTIA A+ certification, VMware VTSP5 accreditation, and multiple Microsoft professional certifications. He is particularly experienced in server and workstation security, monitoring and optimization.
In his new role, he will help ensure that critical IT systems are available, optimized, and secure, while helping client organizations increase team productivity and reduce cost associated with information technology. Talley will work primarily out of the Greenville and Columbia offices of EDTS.
Marketing
Infinity Marketing added new hires Mark Havens, Maura Anthony and Brittany Chamness.
Havens comes to Infinity as a digital media coordinator. His responsibilities include developing digital media campaign plans and strategies; managing daily execution of search campaigns; and researching, developing and monitoring keyword lists.
Anthony and Chamness join Infinity as graphic designers where they work on the telecommunications team. As designers, they participate in creative development and design, provide layouts for a variety of marketing materials and oversee quality control, among other responsibilities.
Prior to joining Infinity, Havens owned a digital marketing company where he helped clients increase sales through various digital and search marketing efforts. He is a Six Sigma Green Belt and is certified in Google AdWords and search engine optimization.
Anthony attended Winthrop University where she earned a bachelor's degree in graphic design. Prior to joining Infinity, Maura worked as a freelance graphic designer.
Chamness comes to Infinity from BoomTown ROI, a Charleston company specializing in real estate sales and marketing software. She is a graduate of The Art Institute of Charleston where she earned a bachelor of arts in graphic design.
Medical
ChartSpan Medical Technologies, a downloaded medical app in the U.S., added Shane Grivich as vice president of product sales. Grivich will manage revenue generation and overall sales operations for ChartSpan.
Grivich comes to ChartSpan with more than 12 years of experience in the healthcare industry, including experience launching several new medical technologies, both in the United States and internationally. His most recent role was vice president of sales and marketing for Latin America at Cantel Medical Corporation, a publicly held company.
Consumers use ChartSpan's Patient Platform to manage their electronic healthcare records and information on their smartphone, tablet or computer.
Real Estate
CBRE, a commercial real estate and investment firm, announced the promotions of Charles Gouch and Trey Pennington to senior vice president and Blaine Hart to vice president in its Greenville office.
In the past nine years, Gouch has consistently been a top producer for CBRE in the Upstate and has proven his expertise through more than 500 office lease or sale transactions. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in economics.
Pennington joined CBRE in 2007 and provides comprehensive services to owners and users of industrial real estate. In 2005, he earned both his Juris Doctorate and an International Masters of Business Administration (IMBA) from the University of South Carolina School of Law and The Darla Moore School of Business, respectively.
Hart also joined CBRE in 2008 and specializes in providing brokerage and consulting services for local and national clients in the office sector. He has participated in more than 100 transactions since graduating from Furman University in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Allen Tate Realtors said Rochelle Byrd has joined the Greenville-Midtown office. Byrd is an Upstate native who specializes in residential real estate.