USC launches new advanced manufacturing leadership program

By Mike Switzer

Published November 17, 2023 at 6:30 AM EST

For a very long time, our state has been known as a manufacturing state. And during that time, a lot has happened with technology, enough so that a new segment has emerged known as advanced manufacturing. The recent announcements of several large, new such factories coming to our state has brought to the forefront the need not just for the specialized workforce training but also leadership training specifically tailored to advanced manufacturing. And that’s where our next guest comes in. Mike Switzer interviews Mark Cecchini, associate dean for Executive Education at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business in Columbia, host of the South Carolina Manufacturing Leadership Program.

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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.

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