SWU Alumni Director Elected to Statewide Post

Joy Bryant, executive director of alumni and constituent relations at Southern Wesleyan University, was elected as president of the South Carolina Alumni Association Directors.

The announcement was made Jan. 27 at the close of the SCAAD Winter Conference, held at Asheville, N.C. SCAAD is a professional organization of all alumni directors from both private and public colleges and universities across South Carolina. She will serve a two - year term as president. This leadership role also allows Bryant to assume the position as chairman of the SCAAD board, which meets twice a year to assist in the leadership development conferences for alumni directors of South Carolina.

“I can easily see why the South Carolina Alumni Association Directors would elect Joy as their next president. She is personable, knowledgeable and wonderfully connected. She is a natural for this role and will help move this organization to even newer heights in the next two years,” said Dr. Todd Voss, president of Southern Wesleyan.

“Joy has demonstrated outstanding leadership as Southern Wesleyan’s executive director of alumni and constituent relations,” said Rev. James Wiggins, vice president for development. Wiggins adds that in her 14 years at Southern Wesleyan, Bryant has served effectively in a number of roles.

“Following in the leadership shoes of Mrs. Ann Cameron, director of external relations at the University of South Carolina, will be a tall order,” said Bryant. “Working with alumni professionals across the State of South Carolina is an honor. I look forward to the next two years of serving in this role.” 

Jeffrey Gregorec Joins Blytheco as VP, Sales

Greenville, South Carolina – January 5, 2012 – Blytheco, LLC is pleased to announce that Jeffrey Gregorec will join the company effective January 1, 2012 as Vice President of Sales. He will report directly to Stephen Blythe, CEO.

Jeffrey comes to Blytheco from Sage's North American CRM sales organization which included the ACT!, SalesLogix and SageCRM brands, and brings over 18 years of leadership experience from the IT industry to this role. His client experiences range from small business through the Fortune 100 as well as state, local and federal government. Jeffrey has over 18 years of sales management experience and has managed teams upwards of 90 people.

“I couldn’t be any more excited about being a part of the Blytheco team”, remarked Jeffrey.   “The people,  the culture and the newly defined direction is what attracted me to the organization. Although there is  much work to be done, I am anxious to begin this new journey. I see nothing but a bright future ahead.”

“We are pleased to welcome a seasoned sales professional like Jeff to our team,” said Stephen Blythe. “We look forward to his leadership and are confident he will assist Blytheco in continuing our growth plans for 2012.”

Jeffrey is a graduate of Arizona State University, a member of several business and civic organizations, including an executive member of the Fiesta Bowl Committee and proud husband and father.

Social Media Makeover Contest Under Way

Blytheco, LLC, a leading provider of Sage solutions for thirty-one years, is getting its community involved with social media by offering a free Social Media Makeover to one lucky business.

Blytheco has launched the Social Media Makeover Contest, offering eight hours of social media consulting conducted by their own marketing experts, to one company that demonstrates a need and desire to boost its social presence. Prospective Makeover businesses will submit video applications to show why they should win the Makeover on Blytheco’s website. 

The contest is open to the public – not just Blytheco customers – and will run through August 31. The winner will be chosen in early September.

“We understand that evolving from social media to the social business is a leap for many companies,” said Stephen Blythe, CEO and Founder of Blytheco, LLC. “But we have seen amazing results from our own social media initiatives, and we want to share what we have learned with our community – the Social Media Makeover will help us share our experiences and mentor others.”

Blytheco Honored as Sage Partner of Year

Blytheco, LLC , a leading provider of Sage solutions for thirty-one years, is pleased to announce that the company was recognized as Sage’s Business Partner of the Year for 2010 at last week’s Summit conference. Summit is Sage’s annual conference and trade show for the company’s partners and customers, and was held this year at the Gaylord National Hotel and Conference Center in National Harbor, MD.

The Business Partner of the Year honor is given to the top-ranked business partner for Sage Business Solutions (SBS) for the company's fiscal year 2010 from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010.

As the Sage Business Partner of the Year, Blytheco holds the number one position among the Sage North America Business Partners for 2010. Blytheco was also named to the Million Dollar Club, a group of leading sales producers among Sage Business Solutions business partners representing a host of segment-leading brands, as well as the Chairman’s Club, a level of distinction for exceptional Sage business partners. The company was also recognized as top partner for the Sage ERP X3, Sage ERP MAS 500, and Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200 product lines.  

“Receiving the Partner of the Year award from Sage is a tribute to the whole team at Blytheco,” said Stephen Blythe, CEO and Founder of Blytheco, LLC. “They continue to exceed expectations and put our customers first, and it shows in our results.”  

“Blytheco, LLC continues to deliver outstanding experiences for Sage customers to be successful, thereby earning themselves the 2010 Partner of the Year Award,” said Tom Miller, VP of Channel Management for Sage. “We commend the outstanding team at Blytheco, LLC for their accomplishments in 2010. Congratulations!”

United Way Awards Dinner Honors Volunteers

The United Way of Anderson County held its annual meeting on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at the Hilton Garden Inn. During the evening several volunteers and organizations were recognized and thanked for their participation during the annual campaign and the United Way fiscal year. Campaign Chair, Ben Hagood of Carolina First Bank, thanked the campaign cabinet and volunteers for helping to raise, $1.660,756 during this year’s campaign to match the amount raised last year. AnMed Health was recognized as having their best campaign year ever, raising $417,678, almost a 4% increase over last year. In recognizing companies and organizations with the highest giving per capita, Duke Energy with 100+ employees had a per capita gift of $249.33; Blue Ridge Security with 51-99 employees had a per capita gift of $276.42 up from $257.22 last year and also had 100% employee participation.  With 26-50 employees, John S. Rainey Generating Station had a per capita gift of $317.30 up from $286.42 last year. Maynard’s’ Home Furnishings rounded out the top campaigns in the 2-25 employees category with a per capita gift of $472.61 up from $432.17 last year.  Pat Patrick of Attaway, Inc. was recognized as the incoming campaign chair for 2010-11.

The D. Kirk Oglesby Award of Excellence was presented to Dr. Frankie O. Felder for leading the Imagine and Neighborhood Project in Belton that took a $5,000 United Way grant and with an army of 127 volunteers and three months of Saturday’s turned it into over $75,000 of community impact through improvements to 25 homes and properties in the Zion Street neighborhood. 

For their company having 100% employee participation in the campaign, their management team’s involvement in various areas of United Way and for providing their printing services to United Way at “rock bottom prices”, Attaway, Inc. was presented with the Spirit of Anderson Award.

The new slate of officers was also installed at the meeting:

Pat Joye, Chair of the Board of Directors; Mary Gay Drake, 1^st Vice Chair; Rev. Jim Thomason, 2^nd Vice Chair; Brian Johnson Treasurer.

During the meeting, the 2010 leadershipNEXT Fellows were recognized. This is the largest leadershipNEXT class ever, with 32 Fellows. The participants are: Chad Allen, Southwood Middle School, Anderson School District Five; Lauren Barnett, AnMed Health; Clint Bates,Suggs Johnson, LLC; Wes Billingsley, Elliott Davis, LLC; Vernita Boone, Anderson Interfaith Ministries; Tracy Bowie, Anderson Interfaith Ministries; Nedra Brown, AnMed Health; Rey Castro, Cross Country Home Services; Stephanie Collins, AnMed Health; Lacey Councill, Doclink; Jason Craddock, Bank of Anderson; Meredith Driver, First Citizens Bank; Erin Fann, City of Anderson; Jennifer Hardin, Pharm. D., AnMed Health; Nicole Hatten, Publix Supermarkets; Kristen Jordan, IMPACT!; Brooks Keys, Palmetto Insurance; Lorin Larason, AmeriCorps - Anderson School District Four; Brian Little, AnMed Health; Mandy Long, Carolina First Bank; Michael Mance, Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce; Julie Morrison, AnMed Health; Danielle Norris, SENIOR Solutions; Farrah Norris, AmeriCorps - Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Upstate; Marie Peace, Harris Carpets/Flooring America; Matthew Perkins, Law Office of Matthew A. Perkins, LLC; Melissa Powell, Anderson Free Clinic; Ashley Pruitt, Hospice of the Upstate; Blythe Smith, DHEC, Region 1 Public Health Office; Imani Smith, AmeriCorps, United Way of Anderson County; Tiffany Watkins, IMPACT!; Dr. Joel Williams, Clemson University.

Michael Cunningham, Director of Communications with AnMed Health and Founding member of leadershipNEXT was the featured speaker for the evening. He compared the participants in leadershipNEXT to a battery…When left alone, it is a simple battery with a lot of stored up energy and a lot of potential. But, when put in the right infrastructure it becomes an energy source to light a path. Putting the battery in a flashlight, he illustrated the importance of LeadershipNEXT as it harnesses and utilizes the energy of its Fellows as they light pathways in the community.