Capital Rotary Club

Our speaker at our meeting Wednesday, June 15th was Ms. Meghan Hughes Hickman, Executive Director of EngenuitySC.  Meghan is a graduate of the Honors College @ The University of South Carolina.  She was first Deputy Finance Director for Senator Lindsay Graham, then a Senate Press Secretary.  In 2011, she assumed the duties as an senior account executive with StrataComm and then returned to Columbia from Washington, DC in 2014 to lead EngenuitySC.  In this role, she oversees theregional competitiveness mission of EngenuitySC and the execution of all their primary objectives including: developing a competitive environment regionally and measuring their progress against five indices of competitive communities including clusters, talent, innovation, entrepreneurship and livability.

Our speaker at our meeting Wednesday, May 25^th was Mr. Bryan Stirling, Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Governor Nikki Haley appointed Mr. Stirling as Director of the D.O.C effective October 1, 2013. He is responsible for a staff of over 5,700 employees at the Department of Corrections that operate 24 penal institutions across the state incarcerating more than 21,500 inmates.

Prior to joining the correctional system, Director Stirling served Governor Nikki Haley as her Chief of Staff from October, 2012 to September, 2013. From January, 2006 to October 2012, Director Stirling was a Deputy Attorney General for the State of South Carolina. He served as a Legislative Liaison reporting directly to the Attorney General.  Director Stirling entered public service after working as a lawyer in the private sector. From March, 2005 to January, 2006, he worked with McAngus Goudelock & Courie, LLC in Columbia, S.C. His areas of emphasis included Government Affairs, Civil Litigation, and Real Estate.  Director Stirling received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina Law School in 1996 and previously received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from USC in 1991.

Our speaker at our meeting Wednesday, May 11th was General Les Eisner, USC Office of Economic Engagement. Gen Eisner is a graduate of Mercer University; Eisner graduated in 1976 with an Army commission in infantry. In 1979, he graduated from the Initial Entry Rotary Wing Course at Fort Rucker, Ala. In September 1985, he left the active Army to join the S.C. National Guard. He has held positions including platoon leader, operations officer, executive officer and battalion commander. In February 2006, Eisner became assistant adjutant general and was promoted to brigadier general. In January 2008, he was appointed as full-time deputy adjutant general and also served in a dual-hat assignment as deputy commanding general, Army National Guard at Air Defense Artillery Center, Fort Sill, Okla. Eisner was promoted to major general in August 2010.

General Eisner’s goals were to show tangible results in his first few years in research partnerships between USC faculty and other entities “that will be beneficial to everyone.” Sounds like part of the 4-Way Test to me!

Our speaker at our meeting Wednesday, April 27th was State Representative Nathan Ballentine, from district 71 which includes Richland and Lexington Counties.

Mr. Ballentine was born in Columbia, a 1992 graduate of the prestigious University of South Carolina, and resides in Chapin.  He is a vice president at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and an active member of the Lake Murray/Irmo Rotary Club.

Our speaker at our meeting on Wednesday, April 13th was Mr. Andy Shain, report and editor of The State Newspaper. For several years, Andy covered USC basketball, football, and baseball and assisted in producing GoGamecocks.com.  He currently covers Governor Nikki Haley and related politics, plus the University of South Carolina.  Andy earned his Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.