South-Carolina
South Carolina's Darla Moore School Marks Half A Century Of Excellence In International Business
The Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024. Applicants to the Moore School’s International MBA are celebrating, too, because to mark the occasion the school is offering major financial incentives.
“This year, we have instituted multiple scholarships that — for top candidates — award up to 100% of tuition,” says Abhijit Guha, academic director of MBA programs at the Darla Moore School. “Not only does this celebrate the 50th anniversary of the IMBA, but it also reflects our commitment to improving access to the IMBA.”
Rohit Verma, dean of the Darla Moore School of Business: “Almost every week we welcome guests from around the world. These interactions enrich learning experiences for our students, providing them ongoing opportunities for experiential growth.”
Access to the Moore School’s IMBA — ranked No. 1 in international business by U.S. News for 10 straight years, and in the nation’s top three for more than three decades — has launched the careers of countless executives at major companies like Accenture, Walmart, Allegiant Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, and many others since the school’s founding in 1974. “Our top programs have continued to thrive over the past 50 years and have built on its earlier success with a continually growing list of global partners and graduates who work on multiple continents,” says Rohit Verma, dean of the Moore School.
How has the International MBA been so consistently successful? From the start, the school has been ahead of the curve.
“Our faculty members foresaw the business world’s trajectory 50 years ago, anticipating the rise of multinational corporations and interconnected supply chains,” says Verma.
Verma also credits an inclusive approach and welcoming spirit toward students from diverse backgrounds. The Moore School’s commitment to diversity of experience is evident from the moment one sets foot on campus to be greeted by 80 flags proudly representing the backgrounds of students and faculty.
Verma commends the school’s more than 180 top-notch faculty, saying the program wouldn’t be as successful as it is today without them. He also credits the school’s talented students and alumni — many of whom, he notes, are making waves in the business world.
A WINNING RECIPE
Marc van Essen, associate dean of international programs and partnerships
The Moore School’s IMBA program has been ranked No. 1 for 10 consecutive years and has been in the top 3 for 34 consecutive years — ever since U.S. News & World Report released their first IMBA rankings.
Verma says part of the school’s winning recipe is a multidisciplinary approach to learning.
“Our curriculum also builds on the interdependence of international business with finance, supply chain management, marketing and human resources,” he says. “We build on the strength of our school, and international business is our longstanding strength — along with a few others like global supply chain and a very strong program in human resources.”
Over 50 years, partnerships and relationships have become a key ingredient in the recipe for success in strengthening the international connections at Darla Moore.
“An invaluable indirect advantage lies in the diverse array of visitors we receive, fostering global connections,” says Verma, who recently returned from a trip to visit partner schools in Asia. “Almost every week we welcome guests from around the world. These interactions enrich learning experiences for our students, providing them ongoing opportunities for experiential growth.”
MOORE CONNECTIONS IN COLUMBIA
Abhijit Guha, Moore School academic director of MBA programs
At Darla Moore, research centers are an active ingredient in their success.
“We have 12 active research centers, and they work with both local and international companies on educational and scholarly projects,” Verma says. In Columbia, South Carolina, where the school is located, many avenues for growth surround the school, particularly in the service and manufacturing sectors. The Moore School is mixing in new programs to build and enhance these strengths.
“This area is a hub for multinational companies — importers of many businesses, lots of economic prosperity,” says Satish Jayachandran, associate dean of graduate programs.
“BMW has made South Carolina home, Volvo Motors also, Boeing, Michelin, the Samsung production hub. Students are getting opportunities to interact and connect with them. A lot of people settle on the eastern coast, the western area has beautiful mountains. We build on this, we have academic strength and area strength.”
Another highlight of the program is the opportunity to fully immerse in another culture. “Our students have the option of learning multiple languages and going abroad to a country,” Jayachandran says. “This opportunity gives them an insight to the culture and the language — a distinct part of the program.”
Jayachandran commends highly successful alumni like Sali Christeson, founder of clothing company Argent, and Wendy Thomas, CEO at SecureWorks, a cybersecurity firm.
MOORE TO EXPLORE GLOBALLY
Satish Jayachandran, associate dean of graduate programs
“Over time, the Sonoco International Business Department at the Moore School has developed into a hub of world-class, multi-disciplinary knowledge,” says Marc van Essen, associate dean of international business and one of three professors — along with João Albino-Pimentel and Beth L. Renninger — named to Poets&Quants‘ 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors Of 2023.
Van Essen teaches Comparative Corporate Governance for IMBA students. “I enjoy challenging students, especially their assumptions, to help them better understand how to manage a multinational company, deal with different stakeholders and how this differs globally depending on the context,” he says. “It is a privilege to observe students develop into intellectuals who can think critically, reason and understand complex ideas while studying at the Moore School.”
Another successful aspect of international business at Darla Moore is their Cohort IB program, where students can study at multiple top schools. While abroad, they’ll learn the ins and outs of international business at one of the school’s 80 plus partner schools and gain global insights, language skills, and a professional network.
“We aren’t just preparing students for their first job after the IMBA; we’re preparing them for an overall successful career,” says van Essen.
“The global classrooms and IMBA immersions provide interactions with a variety of companies, industries and people that broaden your horizon and introduce you to a different way of thinking. These immersions are a great way to really experience and understand the people, their traditions and their culture. Even if you plan to be employed in the U.S., the foreign experience gained by study abroad is deeply valued by companies,” he says.
Darla Moore partners with some of the top schools around the world, learning about pressing topics such as sustainability, corruption, inequality, corporate governance issues in a global context.
“We are preparing them for global disruption and teaching them how to lead effectively through it,” states van Essen.
With a legacy of producing accomplished graduates and fostering international success, Darla Moore continues to lead in providing world-class education and preparing future global business leaders.
Darla Moore IMBA students
South-Carolina
Nancy Mace’s foul-mouthed airport tirades roil race for South Carolina governorship as rival slams ‘spoiled brat’
New disclosures of a foul-mouthed tirade by Rep. Nancy Mace in the Charleston airport have roiled the South Carolina governor’s race and ignited angry accusations between the lawmaker and one of her competitors in the Republican primary.
Her rival, state AG Alan Wilson, called Mace a “spoiled brat” who treats cops like “servants,” at a time when the two of them are furiously competing for support from voters – and President Trump.
Mace back in August called herself “Trump in high heels” and acknowledged “I would really like his support for governor.” So far, Trump hasn’t given it – to anybody.
Mace this week slammed an internal Charleston Airport Authority investigation that probed her profanity-laced “spectacle” Oct. 30, when Mace chewed out police officers and TSA agents over expedited security for her outbound flight, after a planned VIP escort fell through.
New details are still coming to light – including an earlier incident in April where Mace allegedly blew up at agents who wouldn’t let her bring a family member through expedited security, according to the investigation report.
“This is the only airport that gives me s–t,” she complained, according to one of the numerous law enforcement officers interviewed as part of the probe.
The investigative report was obtained by The Post through a public documents request.
One interviewed TSA agent quotes Mace as telling a cop following the botched Oct. 30 escort for her arrival at an airport gate, “I’m sick of your s–t, I’m tired of having to wait.”
Another officer, an explosives tech, described Mace as being “very nasty, very rude.” She said she could hear Mace calling police officers “f–king idiots” and “f–king incompetent” and stating that she was a “f–king representative.”
Yet the airport was “not busy at all” at the time of the incident, the officer said.
A TSA agent said during the interaction Mace “literally was on that phone talking and texting her life away” as well as “saying rude things,” according to the investigative report.
One TSA officer who had been at the airport 23 years told investigators “every VIP or whomever, dignitary, that we’ve been across and had to deal with, we never, never had this problem.”
Mace hired an attorney and threatened weeks ago to sue the airport over the October incident, but has yet to do so.
The report revealed the April confrontation when agents wouldn’t let Mace bring a family member through expedited security. TSA later let her take family members with her when she got screened.
“I thought that the way she acted showed a sense of entitlement – [that] she is entitled to special protection, she is entitled to special treatment. When she doesn’t get special treatment, she throws a tantrum. To me that harkens back to a child not getting their way,” Wilson told The Post in an interview.
“These are public servants, not personal servants,” he said of law enforcement at the airport.
Mace told CNN in an interview this week the report had been “falsified,” without providing evidence. In response to Wilson’s “brat” comment, she wrote: “Imagine being ‘Attorney General’ and flying 500 miles for the sole purpose of dismissing death threats against a single mom.”
She told The Post she has received numerous credible death threats, and said on Friday a judge denied bond to a man accused of making online threats against her. She said during the April incident TSA had violated its own policy allowing federal officials to bring a guest and separated her from her child.
Mace has been taking her case to the airwaves in a week where she trashed the House Republican leadership in a Washington Post op-ed.
A consultant to Mace’s campaign, Austin McCubbin, resigned Dec. 1, accusing her of turning her back on MAGA and trying to “hug the political cactus that is the [Sen.] Rand Paul [and Rep.] Thomas Massie wing of the Party.”
South-Carolina
A Stronger Rail Network Is a Win for South Carolina’s Economy – FITSNews
“The combined rail system would offer the reliability our business community has been asking for…”
by NATHAN BALLENTINE
***
For as long as I’ve served in the South Carolina House, I’ve believed that strong infrastructure is the backbone of a strong economy. Whether talking about roads, bridges, broadband, or freight mobility, our ability to efficiently move people and goods determines how competitive our state will be in the decades ahead. South Carolina continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the country, and with that growth comes a responsibility to ensure our logistics network can meet the demands of modern commerce.
That is why the proposed merger between Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) deserves thoughtful consideration, not just at the national level, but here at home. South Carolina’s economic success is directly tied to reliable freight transportation. From advanced manufacturing in the Upstate, to the distribution and warehousing centers in the Midlands, to the countless businesses that depend on steady supply chains, every region of our state relies on a freight system that works smoothly and predictably.
When freight rail is fragmented across multiple networks, bottlenecks and delays become far more common. Businesses, especially those operating with tight production schedules and narrow delivery windows, feel the impacts immediately. A delayed railcar can throw off inventory planning, disrupt operations, and create ripple effects that stretch across an entire supply chain. These unpredictable slowdowns can be enormously costly for the companies that keep South Carolina’s economy moving.
***
The Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger aims to address many of these longstanding challenges. By creating a unified network connecting more than 50,000 miles of track and linking 43 states with over 100 ports nationwide, the combined rail system would offer something our business community has been asking for: reliability. Studies indicate the merger could generate approximately $1 billion in annual cost savings and improve freight-car velocity by around 10 percent. These aren’t abstract figures, they reflect tangible improvements that would strengthen operations for employers, distributors, retailers, and consumers alike.
***
“Economic development teams would also have an even stronger pitch when attracting new employers to South Carolina…”
***
A more dependable rail network means companies can plan with greater precision, suppliers can manage logistics with fewer surprises, and transportation partners can commit to schedules with increased confidence. Economic development teams would also have an even stronger pitch when attracting new employers to South Carolina: not just a skilled workforce and business-friendly climate, but a transportation network capable of supporting long-term growth.
Improved rail performance also benefits South Carolina’s infrastructure more broadly. Rail is one of the most efficient ways to move goods long distances. Every shipment that travels by rail instead of truck reduces congestion on our highways, lowers fuel costs, and decreases wear and tear on roads that taxpayers ultimately fund. Better rail capacity complements, rather than replaces, our ongoing efforts to invest in roads and bridges across the state. It allows us to stretch transportation dollars further and focus on the improvements most needed in fast-growing communities.
Another important factor is competitiveness. States across the Southeast are aggressively investing in logistics infrastructure to position themselves as national leaders in manufacturing and distribution. If South Carolina wants to stay ahead, and continue attracting companies that create stable, high-quality jobs, we must support improvements that strengthen the reliability and efficiency of our freight network. The Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger presents an opportunity to do just that.
***
RELATED | SOURCES: S.C. LAWMAKERS THREATEN SUPREME COURT
***
As someone who has spent nearly two decades advocating for responsible, forward-looking growth in our state, I believe that modernizing our freight system is not just a transportation issue, it is an economic necessity. Ensuring that goods can move quickly, safely, and predictably is fundamental to the success of our businesses and the financial well-being of South Carolina families.
Federal regulators will ultimately determine the path forward, and their review should be thorough and transparent. But from where I sit, the potential benefits to our state are clear. A more integrated, efficient rail system will help South Carolina businesses compete, help consumers by keeping costs lower, and help our state maintain the strong economic momentum we’ve built over the past decade.
A stronger rail network means a stronger South Carolina, and that is a future we should fully support.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Nathan Ballentine represents the citizens of House District 71 in the S.C. General Assembly.
***
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South-Carolina
LIVE: SC AG Alan Wilson, state, national leaders hold press conference on statewide drug busts
Statehouse Reporter Mary Green will have more on this tonight.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – South Carolina Attorney General and other officials will be holding a press conference Friday at 9:30 a.m. to talk about statewide drug busts.
Wilson is set to be joined by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel, representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, as well as several local sheriffs and other law enforcement partners.
Watch the full press conference in the video above.
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