John Cutchin, President

Palmetto Plating Company, Inc.

 

MCPC Treasure

 

Johnson Hunter Cutchin started Palmetto Plating Co., Inc. in 1961 at age 17 and incorporated the business in 1964.  One year at University of Georgia and two semesters at Clemson College (now Clemson University).  Married with two children.  Company specializes in metal finishing treatments of large stainless steel components.

 

PalmettoPlating.com

jcutchin@palmettoplating.com

864.859.9314

 

 

Jim Daly, Vice President, Human Resources

Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co.

 

 

 

 

ReliableSprinkler.com

jdaly@reliablesprinkler.com

864-843-5200

 

 

Jim Kaplan, President

Cornell Dubilier

 

Jim Kaplan graduated from Clemson University in Ceramic Engineering in 1987 and received an MBA from the College of William in Mary in 1992.  He is president of Cornell Dubilier (CD), a manufacturer of industrial capacitors.  They have plants in New Bedford, Mass., Liberty, SC, Barre, VT (closing next month) and Mexicali, Mexico.  He has been working for CD since 1987 and has been a process engineer, line supervisor, manufacturing manager and his current position for 15 years.  In addition, he ran the production control department at the Mexican for three years.

 

Jim’s specialties are acquisitions and general manufacturing.  He has bought eight companies in the past 13 years and integrated all of them into existing facilities.  He is involved in all aspects of acquisitions from pricing, negotiating, contract drafting to facility move and consolidation.  He is intimately involved in all aspects of manufacturing and currently spends most of his time managing the R&D group for new products.

 

He has a great passion for community work.  He raised all the money and spearheaded the Pickens Playground of Promise and organized 150 volunteers to build a three acre playground in one week.  He has been fundraising chairman for Pickens County United Way and the Pickens County Red Cross.  Currently, he is on the board on the Pickens County United Way and the Alliance Pickens Economic Development.

 

Jim lives in Pickens with his wife, Julee and three kids, Jamie (19), Claire (16) and Tomson (11).  Jim would rather be fly fishing or quail hunting as opposed to working but needs the money.

 

CDE.com

jkaplan@cde.com

864.843.2277

 

 

Edward Martin, Owner and Managing Partner

MST Concrete Products, Inc.

 

Education:

   1980   D.W. Daniel High School, Central, South Carolina

   1982  Tri-County Technical College, Pendleton, South Carolina

               Associates Degree – Civil Engineering Technology

   1985  SC General Contractors License

Experience:

   Russell Dam Power House Project

           Field Engineer, 1982 -1983

   Duke Power Bad Creek Project

           Field Engineer, 1983 - 1984

   MST Concrete Products, Inc.

           Owner and Managing Partner, 1984 – Present

   Newly Formed Central Business Council

            Chairman, 2002

   Pickens County Alliance

             Member, 2003-2006

    Pickens County Transportation Committee

            Chairman, 2003 – 2011

    Clemson Chamber of Commerce

            Board of Directors, 2004 – 2008

   Member of ASTM International

             Voting member, 2009-present

   Board of Directors for Fort Hill Natural Gas Authority

              Director, 2011- present

 

MSTConcreteInc.com

ed@mstconcreteinc.com

864.639.2894

 

 

Tom O’Hanlan

Sealevel Systems, Inc.

 

Founded in 1986 by Tom and his wife, Susan, Sealevel provides innovative, reliable hardware and software products to enable computer connectivity and control. With more than 300 standard I/O products, the company constantly develops new products that leverage emerging technology. The company’s customer base ranges from Fortune 500 companies to militaries around the world.

 

In 1984, O’Hanlan designed the first RS-422/485 communication adapter for the IBM PC. In 1985, at the age of 30, Tom was granted the first of two patents: the first was an error detecting system (US Patent No: 4,513,420), and the second patent, awarded in 1997, was a communication device for transmitting asynchronous formatted data synchronously (US Patent No: 5,689,643).  Along with his mentor and industry expert, Jon Titus, O’Hanlan also co-authored The Digital I/O Handbook: A Practical Guide to Industrial Input and Output Applications.

 

Sealevel Systems, Inc., is headquartered in a 48,000 square foot facility near Greenville, South Carolina, employs 50+ people, and contributes to a number of charities including Helping Hands, United Way, March of Dimes and local schools.

 

O’Hanlan is a native of Waynesboro, Virginia and graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech at Blacksburg.  Now, O’Hanlan's community service includes being a member of the Society of International Business Fellows, a member of the Baptist Medical Easley Hospital Board of Directors, Chair of the Pickens Innovation Center Board of Directors, and is Chair of March of Babies 2016 campaign for Pickens County. Tom is founder and member of Manufacturers Caring for Pickens County whose goals are to reach out to our Pickens County community, to enhance, develop, and enrich our socioeconomic values and conditions to higher and higher levels.

 

O’Hanlan is a former member of the Clemson University Research Foundation Board, Furman University Advisory Board, South Carolina Independent College and University Board, Greenville County Museum Association Board, the Federal Reserve Small Business Advisory Committee, Pickens County Economic Development Alliance, and a City Councilman for the City of Liberty.  He was the recipient of the 1995 Economic Development Ambassador award for Pickens County.

 

O’Hanlan is an avid reader whose intellectual pursuits has led him to wood working, music production, bird hunting, and most recently tree farming. He is the proud grandfather to 6 grandchildren.  In his spare time, he enjoys travelling with his wife and developing his 490 acre Mill Pine farm.

 

Sealevel.com

tboh@sealevel.com

864.843.4343

 

 

Tom Strange, Director of Research and Development

Abbott

 

MCPC President and Chairman of the Board

 

Thomas Strange has an extensive background in materials science, and is the author of forty five patents and numerous papers over the last two decades, covering all aspects of capacitor development. Following his undergraduate degree and graduate studies in Physics at the University of South Carolina, he joined Philips Components as a member of the research staff.

 

During his 15 years with Philips Components in Columbia SC, and 2 years with Aerovox Inc. in Huntsville AL, he participated in or led the research activity involving development of electrochemical and AC film capacitors. He was a member of a small team of entrepreneurs who, from 1993 to 1996, developed and produced the pioneering flat medical grade electrolytic capacitor that made thoracic implantable cardioverter defibrillators possible. Now 18 years at St Jude Medical/Abbott in Liberty SC following a successfully managed buyout, Strange and his team comprise the Power Technologies Group for IESD, and continue to define state of the art in implantable medical devices for both pacing and arrhythmia correction, as well as neuromodulation power devices.

1985 North American Philips Corp. Creative Innovator award, highest honor for NAPC.

1998 St. Jude Medical Hendrickson Award for his work on development of flat capacitors, highest honor for SJM.

2001 InnoVision Award for technology development in the upstate of South Carolina.

2002 Appointed Economic Ambassador for Pickens County by Governor Jim Hodges.

2005 St. Jude Medical Patent Hall of Fame award.

2007 University of SC Distinguished Alumni

2009 Dr. Charles Towns Individual Achievement Award

 

He also Chairs or serves on the board of directors for:

Alliance Pickens Economic Development (Chair)

South Carolina Research Authority

SC Launch! (Past-Chair)

InnoVision Technology Awards

SC Bio (officer)

Warehouse Theatre (Pres)

Trustee - Tri County Technical College – Pickens County

Past President Greenville Museum of Art Association

Past President Pickens County Red Cross

 

Abbott.com

thomas.strange@abbott.com

864.843.8200

 

 

Jim Wanner, CEO

KeyMark Inc.

 

Jim Wanner is a founder and the Chief Expectations Officer at KeyMark, Inc. KeyMark is a systems integrator that is headquartered in Liberty, SC. Under Jim’s leadership, KeyMark has consistently been named a top reseller by its software vendors, most recently being named to the SC Best Places to Work list for the third consecutive year by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and SC Biz News. KeyMark has also ranked 17th in the 2016 South Carolina’s Fastest Growing Companies competition and has appeared four times on the INC 5000 list of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies. Jim, whose background is in automated data management, graduated from James Madison University in 1998 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. When he is not spending time with his family around Clemson, SC, Jim will most likely be found engaging with KeyMark customers, vendor partners and employees asking “how are we doing?", and “what can we do better?”. Before forming KeyMark, Jim worked for a systems integrator in Northern Virginia and for a marketing firm in South Carolina.

 

 

KeyMarkInc.com

Jim.Wanner@keymarkinc.com

864.343.0500

 

 

Robert Thomas, CFO

Alice Manufacturing Company, Inc.

 

MCPC Vice President

 

Robert Thomas is the CFO of Alice Manufacturing Company, Inc.  Family owned since 1923, Alice Manufacturing Company has earned the reputation of a global leader in the textile industry. The company has developed a state-of-the-art manufacturing operation providing the highest quality fabrics to a diversified customer base which includes the home furnishing, apparel and health care industries.

 

Previously, Robert served as an audit manager for Ernst & Young. Robert sits on the Board of the South Carolina Manufacturer's Alliance and is a member of the tournament committee of the BMW Charity Pro Am Golf Tournament. Robert is a graduate of Presbyterian College and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business, Accounting and Applied Mathematics.

 

AliceMfgCo.com

rhthomas@alicemfgco.com

864.859.6323

 

 

 

Scott Austin

TAYLORMADE Golf Company

 

Scott Austin is the Plant Manager for the Liberty TaylorMade Golf Ball Plant.  He has been with TaylorMade since 2006, and was instrumental in moving the aging Maxfli Westminster Golf Ball Plant in 2013 to Alliance Pickens Industrial Park in Pickens County.  The Liberty Plant produces golf balls for PGA Tour and Marketplace worldwide distribution, including making golf balls for 5 of the current Top 10 PGA golfers in the world.

 

Headquartered in Carlsbad, CA, TaylorMade was founded in 1979 with the creation of the first metalwood and has a global impact with regional offices located all around the world.  Driven to lead the industry in product innovation, TaylorMade is committed to exploring new frontiers, pushing the limits of product manufacturing, and constantly pursuing the next great breakthrough in golf.  TaylorMade supports local golf tournaments along with the FCA, The United Way, YMCA, Wounded Warriors, March of Dimes and local school golf teams.  The Liberty Plant is the only TaylorMade golf ball plant in the world, and employs over 130 associates, with most living in Pickens County.

 

Scott has an extensive background in manufacturing engineering and Lean Manufacturing, and has worked for numerous Tier 1 automotive suppliers after graduating from Auburn University with a BME in 1991.  He is married with two children and enjoys restoring cars and vintage arcade games in his spare time when he’s not making the best golf balls in the world.

 

taylormadegolf.com

scott.austin@taylormadegolf.com

864.843.1943