Ten at the Top Upstate News
December 6, 2021 | Volume 12, Issue 12
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Ten at the Top (TATT) hosted their 11th Annual Celebrating Successes event yesterday, November 17, at the Greenville Convention Center. During this event, Representative Rita Allison, Neal Workman, and Clemson University were honored for their contributions to enhancing the Upstate region. Allison received the Burdette Leadership Award while both Clemson University and Workman were recognized with the Welling Award for Regional Collaboration.
Celebrating Successes is an annual event presented by BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina. Ten at the Top annually hosts public forums, workshops, and other events across the Upstate on issues of regional significance with the overarching goal of building consensus, encouraging regional thinking, and enabling leaders to set aside parochial priorities in order to address critical challenges and visualize opportunities for the future.
This marks the sixth year of the Burdette Leadership Award, which is given in recognition of Carol Burdette, the first female chair of Ten at the Top. This award honors women who have both served and led across the Upstate. Previous recipients of the Burdette Award are Dr. Fay Sprouse, Beth Padgett, Minor Shaw, Dr. Becky Campbell, and SC Representative Chandra Dillard. Allison is currently in her second stint as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, having originally served as the representative for House District 36 from 1993 to 2002. She was reelected to the seat in 2008 and is currently the chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee.
The Welling Award for Regional Collaboration, named after Ten at the Top founding chairman Irv Welling, recognizes individuals who have demonstrated longstanding involvement in encouraging collaboration across jurisdictional and stakeholder boundaries. Previous recipients of the Welling Award include Erwin Maddrey, Phil Hughes, GSP International Airport, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Michelin North America, Dean Hybl, Minor Shaw, Carol Burdette, Rick Danner, Terence Roberts, and Bobby Hitt.
Workman, the founder of Trehel Corporation, was recognized for his decades long service to collaborative organizations across the Upstate. He has been a member and officer of multiple Chambers of Commerce in the region and was involved in starting the Oconee Economic Alliance. Workman is also a founding board member of Ten at the Top and served as the second chairman of the organization in 2012-2013.
Founded in 1889 as a public land-grant university in South Carolina, Clemson University has long been a catalyst for collaborative partnerships that enhance economic vitality and quality of life across the Upstate region and state of South Carolina. In recent years, efforts including the creation of CU-ICAR and partnerships with the Greenwood Genetics Center have increased the role of Clemson as a leader around key Upstate issues. In addition, the graduate program for City & Regional Planning was instrumental in providing Ten at the Top with data and guidance when developing the Our Upstate Vision created during the first two years of the organization and still used today as part of TATT’s strategic plan.
Accepting the award for Clemson was Clemson University Trustee Emeritus Ambassador David Wilkins.
“Last year’s event was virtual, with a different spin on it as we honored unsung heroes, so we are incredibly grateful to honor these deserving award recipients in-person. These leaders are very important to our Upstate community, and it is a privilege to recognize their hard-work, leadership, and commitment to our region at our annual event,” said Dean Hybl, Executive Director of Ten at the Top.
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Ten at the Top (TATT) hosted their 11th Annual Celebrating Successes event, presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, yesterday November 17 at the Greenville Convention Center. At this event, five finalists for the 2021 Hughes Investments Elevate Upstate Community Vibrancy Grants presented their projects on enhancing community vibrancy across the Upstate.
Hughes Investments contributes at least $10,000 per year to this program, with two recipients each year receiving $5,000 to support a new vibrancy initiative in the Upstate. The program began in 2013 in conjunction with a series of Community Vibrancy Workshops hosted by Ten at the Top. Since the inception of the grants program, Hughes Investments has contributed nearly $100,000 to community vibrancy initiatives across the Upstate.
There were five finalists selected to present from the 19 applications that were submitted for the two grants available this year. At the event, each of the finalists presented a brief overview of their initiative before the 2021 recipients were selected by the committee and winners were announced.
The two recipients of the 2021 Elevate Upstate Grants were the City of Belton and the Italian American Club of Greater Greenville.
The City of Belton was selected for their Belton’s Downtown Sounds Project, which will bring music and food to Downtown Belton four times during the summer of 2022. Each of the four events will include local bands and food trucks.
The Italian American Club will be hosting their first-ever Italian-American Festival on Main Street in Fountain Inn. The one-day festival will include food & drink vendors, craft vendors, live music, dancing, and carnival rides. The area will be decorated with appropriate Italian décor to set the tone and atmosphere.
In addition to providing the two $5,000 grants, Hughes pledged to contribute $1,000 to each of the other three finalists if they move forward with their project. The other finalists were the United Way of Anderson, Conestee Nature Preserve and the Honea Path Planning Committee.
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Ten at the Top hosted several virtual and in-person workshops in November. Below are summaries from those sessions. You can also watch videos of the virtual workshops on the TATT YouTube Channel.
November 2 - Beyond the Shield - Law Enforcement Recruitment, Retention & Training
Speakers Chief Matt Hamby, City of Greer; Chief TJ Chaudoin, City of Greenwood; and Chief Howie Thompson, City of Greenville presented recruitment, retention, and training methods of Upstate law enforcement departments.
Community Leaders Dr. Toney Parks, Senior Pastor at Mt. Sinai Baptist and Chaplain to Greenville City Police; Mayor Terence Roberts, Mayor of Anderson and Board of Directors Chair of TATT; and Keishe Nelson, Credit Manager at Michelin directed questions to the law enforcement panel.
We learned that in this competitive job market, departments are relying more on communities, focusing on minority recruitment, and reducing turnover. The intensive hiring process takes six months due to all the requirements. Some of the minimum standards set by state law (an average of 6% of applications received are eligible) include being at least 21 years old, a citizen, a High School graduate or equivalent, having a SC driver’s license, no driver’s license suspensions, no felonies, crimes of moral turpitude, and a good credit history.
National studies show that 29% of officers leave within the first year of being hired. An additional 40% leave the professional within five years. 8-20% stay to reach retirement. According to the SC Academy, in five years, 50% of the class is no longer in law enforcement after graduation.
Creativity is required in retention, including working toward being detective, becoming a school resource officer, working toward the K-9 or drone team, and playing a role in future planning. Cash incentives are sometimes offered to current officers to recruit, and college students are increasingly recruited.
Becoming actively involved in the community to build relationships for the future is key to building a force, so departments welcome invitations to attend and speak at local events. With removing someone’s freedom comes heavy responsibility, so a high level of trust must be obtained by getting to know each other outside “business” dealings. Neighborhood engagement teams help keep relationships solid.
National accreditation and training in crisis intervention, emotional intelligence, bias, communication, and de-escalation is key.
November 11- Global Entrepreneurship Week Event in Fountain Inn
The Upstate Entrepreneur Ecosystem celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week on November 11, 2021 with an event at the Fountain Inn Depot. A panel of entrepreneurs shared how they have navigated the ecosystem, working with Upstate entrepreneur service providers to start and grow their businesses.
Moderator:
Panelists:
November 15 - Creating a Safer Upstate: Community Law Enforcement Forum at Tri-County Technical College in Anderson
Ten at the Top joined Tri-County Technical College for a Community Forum with Law Enforcement at the Anderson campus on November 15, 2021. After a welcome by TATT Board Chair and Anderson Mayor Terence Roberts, and introduction by TATT Executive Director Dean Hybl, work groups met to address four topics: recruitment, training, and retention; police use of technology: community engagement: and general police policies.
November 30 - Beyond the Shield - Community Forum
The fourth Creating a Safer Upstate - Beyond the Shield Virtual Workshop provided an opportunity for Community Leaders to share concerns with Law Enforcement Officers across the Upstate.
The panel included Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis, Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw, Town of Williamston Police Chief Tony Taylor, City of Anderson Chief Jim Stewart, and City of Greer Police Chief Matt Hamby. Jim Shew from Marsh & McLennan and Keishe Nelson from Michelin coordinated the audience questions during the session.
Sheriffs and Chiefs addressed questions about how community leaders can support law enforcement, how the national conversation on criminal justice reform impacts implementation of law enforcement practices and procedures at the local level, how information is communicated and where to look for the most accurate news, what communities can do to help police in regards to response and communications, community engagement, mental health, and reporting.
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Ten at the Top is fortunate to have many great funding supporters and appreciate all who help ensure the current and future success of the organization. Our highest partnership level is the Leadership Level, with companies or organizations investing $10,000 or more annually to support TATT.
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Ten at the Top funding partners and event sponsors are the backbone of the organization.
In addition, TATT is continuing to accept support for our Ignition Fund Campaign. This effort is a long-term funding program designed to help TATT to continue to ignite initiatives across the Upstate. Click Here for more details.
If you have questions about TATT partnership and sponsorship opportunities or would like to set up a personal meeting, please contact Dean Hybl for questions or more information.
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Ten at the Top is a regional non-profit organization with the mission of fostering collaboration and partnerships across the Upstate around issues that impact economic vitality and quality of life. |
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