Throughout Columbia’s 237-year history, there have been a number of people who have helped shape the city’s history.
From sheriffs to politicians to leaders of our higher education institutions, the list goes on and on. This year, The Post and Courier annual Power List features 30 movers and shakers in our community for 2024. The list was chosen by staff of The Post and Courier Columbia/Free Times.
The following biographies were compiled and written by Jimmy Nesbitt, Caleb Bozard, April Santana, Josh Archote, Ian Grenier, Tiffany Tan, Kalen Lumpkins and Sydney Dunlap.
No. 1 Michael Amiridis
USC President Michael Amiridis
Amiridis took over the state’s flagship university as its 30th president in 2022, after working at the university for over two decades as a professor and provost, and then as the chancellor of the University of Illinois-Chicago. He’s brought stability to the school’s helm after its previous president’s controversial, two-year-long administration ended amid a plagiarism scandal. Under his leadership, USC has emphasized infrastructure growth and increasing enrollment, while also setting a new university record for annual research awards and setting its sights on a new medical school and health sciences campus.
No. 2 Daniel Rickenmann
Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann
File
Rickenmann was elected as Columbia’s 71st mayor in 2022. He is a Spartanburg native and first-generation American citizen. Rickenmann graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1992. Formerly an entrepreneur in the restaurant and renewable energy sectors, Rickenmann began his political career in 2002 when he was elected to City Council, where he served for 14 years. Rickenmann also chairs the U.S. Conference of Mayors energy committee.
No. 3 Leon Lott
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott
John A. Carlos II
Lott just won his eighth term as sheriff of Richland County, the second most populous in the state, with an estimated 425,000 residents. Lott, 71, leads an agency that has around 900 personnel and an annual budget of $48 million. He has said his main priority is to reduce gun violence in the Columbia area, especially among juveniles. Lott was named Sheriff of the Year in 2021 by both the South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association and the National Sheriffs’ Association. He currently also serves as commander of the South Carolina State Guard.
No. 4 Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks blistered Memphis on Tuesday before the coach and two players headed to Birmingham for SEC Tipoff.
If you asked to define “culture-shift,” the people of Columbia would simply say Dawn Staley. The South Carolina women’s basketball head coach has been the bench boss since 2008, and what an impact she’s had. Since taking over, Staley has led the Gamecocks to three national championships (2017, 2022, 2024), six Final Fours and eight SEC championships. While Staley’s success on the court needs no explanation, her work off the court is equally magnified. In 1997, she established the Dawn Staley Foundation, creating after-school programs for children in need. Her Champions Fund at USC supplies scholarships to disadvantaged students. Staley uses her position to help others, which is the embodiment of what South Carolina is all about.
No. 5 Shane Beamer
Shane Beamer picked up his second SEC Coach of the Year award on Wednesday.
Jacob Kupferman
Shane Beamer, the head coach of South Carolina football, has done plenty to earn the love of Gamecock fans. Upon his arrival in 2020, he has done plenty of charity work, as well has created fun events like the Beamer Ball. USC is currently having their best season under Beamer, as they go for their first 10-win season since 2013, and just the fifth in USC history. He also scored a win this year against Clemson in the biggest game of the rivalry’s history. Beamer is described as outgoing, loving, and the type of guy that would tell you he doesn’t bleed red, but instead garnet.
No. 6 Scott Keogh
Scott Keogh is the CEO of Scout Motors.
Scout Motors / provided
The Midlands and state as a whole have turned its eyes to Blythewood as a landmark investment and incentives package coinciding with the construction of the Scout Motors production facility continues. At the helm of the company is CEO Scott Keogh, a longtime automotive corporate head who hopes the $2 billion Scout investment will bring national attention and commerce to the region. Before taking his current position in 2022, Keogh served in executive roles at Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, according to his company bio. He is a native of Old Brookville, New York, and lives in McLean, Virginia.
No. 7 Matt Kennell
Matt Kennell is the CEO of the Main Street District, a nonprofit organization which promotes economic development in the 36-block center of the city bordered by Gervais, Elmwood, Assembly, and Marion streets.
Main Street District / Provided
Kennell is the CEO of the Main Street District, a nonprofit organization that promotes economic development in the 36-block center of Columbia bordered by Gervais, Elmwood, Assembly, and Marion streets. The organization provides public space management and marketing services for the Main Street neighborhood and works to fill vacant commercial and residential spaces in the area. Kennell has served with the organization since 2002, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously worked for a similar organization centered around downtown Roanoke, Virginia.
No. 8 William “Skip” Holbrook
Columbia Chief of Police Skip Holbrook pleas on behalf of the Josephson family for a the maximum sentence allowed for Nathaniel Rowland on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. John A. Carlos II / Special to The Post and Courier
John A. Carlos II
This year marks Holbrook’s 10th year as chief of the Columbia Police Department. The police department, which has about 400 personnel, is the main law enforcement agency in the state capital of 140,000 residents. Under Holbrook’s leadership, the department has been commended by the U.S. Department of Justice for its commitment to 21st century policing strategies. Holbrook, 59, who has advocated for policing reform and racial justice, received the Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s public servant of the year award in 2022. This year, Gov. Henry McMaster appointed him to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Training Council.
No. 9 Teresa Wilson
Columbia City Manager Teresa Wilson
John A. Carlos II
As Columbia city manager, Wilson’s job comes with an extensive number of job responsibilities. For 11 years, Wilson has led Columbia’s executive team and balanced meeting with community members, attending events and daily operations. This year threw some extra challenges at Wilson who worked to support residents as Hurricane Helene swept through Columbia, shutting down roads and spreading false rumors about contaminated drinking water. She has also defended the decision to increase parking rates, saying they are needed to keep up with Columbia’s high quality of service.
No. 10 Henry McMaster
Gov. Henry McMaster holds a press conference detailing the state’s current response to Hurricane Helene on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024.
Caleb Bozard/Staff
By the time his second term ends, McMaster will be the longest serving governor in South Carolina history. McMaster was elected lieutenant governor under Nikki Haley’s governorship in 2014 and then succeeded to the office in 2017 when Haley resigned to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He won his first full four-year term in 2018 and was reelected in 2022. In 2024, McMaster helped guide the state through the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which took the lives of nearly 50 people across the state. McMaster was born in Columbia and is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.
No. 11 Carl Blackstone
Carl Blackstone is president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
Provided
Blackstone leads the Columbia Chamber of Commerce as CEO and president. The chamber is a membership-driven organization that works to support businesses in the city through networking opportunities and other programs. Blackstone also serves as a board member of the national Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. Before joining the chamber in 2014, Blackstone worked as a government relations adviser for Columbia public relations firm Copper Dome Strategies and as senior legislative adviser to former Gov. Mark Sanford, according to his bio on the Chamber’s website.
No. 12 Aditi Bussells
Columbia Councilwoman Aditi Bussells.
Provided
Bussells isn’t afraid to stand out, from making history as the first South Asian American woman elected to the Columbia City Council to being the youngest person currently holding a seat. Most recently, she was the only council member to vote against the city’s increase in parking rates, noting concerns with the impact on local businesses, communication and the need for more investment in walkability. The at-large member has long advocated for small business growth, quality of life improvements and transparency — evident by her active social media accounts, where you can follow her along doing everything from interviews about Rapid Shelter Columbia to visiting holiday lights with her son.
No. 13 Mike Brenan
Brenan
File/Provided
Brenan was hired as the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s president and CEO in 2024. Brenan led the organization in an interim role and served on the board beforehand. For decades, Brenan worked in South Carolina’s banking industry before retiring in 2023 as the regional president for the South Carolina Region of Truist Bank. In 2012, he won the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the United Way of the Midlands. He has also served on the boards of the South Carolina Philharmonic, the United Way Association of South Carolina, the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics Foundation, the Moore School Business Partnership Foundation, the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Foundation, and the South Carolina State Board of Education.
No. 14 Jesica Mackey
Jesica Mackey.
Provided
Mackey has represented Northeast Columbia and the Pontiac community for Richland County since 2020. She recently became chair of the Richlandwe County Council. Mackey has worked for the Palmetto Parent magazine, Governor’s School of Science and Mathematics Foundation, and led economic development for the City of Goose Creek in the Lowcountry before moving back to Columbia. She now serves as a senior project adviser for NP Strategy. She also serves on the boards of the United Way of the Midlands and the South Carolina chapter of Women in Transportation Seminar.
No. 15 Tem Miles
West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles.
John A. Carlos II/Special to the Post and Courier
The West Columbia mayor, who is originally from Lake City, has served the city since 2013 when he won a seat on city council after being a write-in candidate for District Four. Miles was elected mayor in 2019 and since then has worked at growing and revamping the city. West Columbia continues to see a number of improvements on U.S. Highway 1, ranging from improving Meeting Street to making the area more pedestrian-friendly. Miles is also the founder of The Miles Law firm. Established in 2020, he focuses on civil litigation, personal injury and workers’ compensation.
No. 16 Heather Bauer
South Carolina Rep. Heather Bauer, D-Columbia. She is running against Republican Kirkman Finlay in House District 75, a urban battleground district located in downtown Columbia.
Nick Reynolds/Staff
Bauer proved this year that her surprise victory in House District 75 in 2022 was no fluke. Bauer was first elected to represent the district in 2022, when she narrowly defeated Kirkman Finlay, who had held the seat for a decade. Finlay ran again this year for his old seat, but Bauer held on, winning by an even larger margin. Bauer is an insurance technology project manager and owner of Warrior Fitness and Martial Arts. She earned her master’s degree at the University of South Carolina in media arts.
No. 17 Bakari Sellers
Bakari Sellers.
Sellers is a senior member of Strom Law Firm’s jury trial team, where his areas of expertise include criminal defense, personal injury, business development, municipal finance and civil rights violations. He leads the firm’s strategic communication and public affairs team and regularly appears on CNN as a political commentator. Sellers, 40, was a state lawmaker for eight years, representing House District 90, which covers Bamberg, Colleton and Orangeburg counties. He made history when he won his first election in 2006, becoming the youngest member of the South Carolina General Assembly. He made a bid for the state’s second highest office in 2014, when he became the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.
No. 18 Roslyn Clark Artis
Roslyn Clark Artis, president of Benedict College
Benedict College/A.J. Shorter Photography/Provided
Since 2017, Artis has served as the first woman president of Benedict College. She is the founding co-chair of the Historically Black College and University Annual Sustainability Summit. Artis has received more than 300 awards and recognitions locally and nationally for her work. In 2019, she received the Top 35 Leading Women in Higher Education award. Artis was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity in 2021 — a committee that advises the U.S. secretary of education on matters concerning accreditation and federal student aid. She received a seven-year contract extension earlier this year.
No. 19 Lou Kennedy
Lou Kennedy File/Provided
The Nephron Pharmaceutical CEO faced challenges following the Covid-19 pandemic as the West Columbia drugmaker was the subject of intense FDA scrutiny. But while other companies closed or went bankrupt, Kennedy said Nephron persevered. The company opened a plant creating nitrile gloves in 2022 and recently announced a $10 million investment in IV bottles that allow medications to be produced more efficiently. Kennedy has also been a strong supporter of the Columbia community and has made specific efforts to support and hire Columbia residents — ranging from large hiring sprees to hosting school field trips.
No. 20 Bill Ellen
Bill Ellen
Bill Ellen/Provided
The president and CEO of Experience Columbia has been encouraging people to visit Columbia throughout his more than 40-year career in the tourism and hospitality industry, but this year, the city did especially well. In addition to hosting popular annual events, Columbia added a historic matchup between English soccer clubs Manchester United and Liverpool. In August, the game brought a soldout crowd of 77,559 people from across the world to Williams-Brice Stadium. Ellen has said that with new developments along the river and continued growth in areas like Bull Street, he expects Columbia’s appeal only to grow.
No. 21 Alan Wilson
Wilson
Alan Wilson is halfway through his fourth term as South Carolina’s attorney general, a position that political watchers expect to be his launching pad toward a run for governor, congressman or senator. Wilson’s tenure has been notable for the number of legal challenges he has signed on to against Democratic presidential administrations. So far, he has filed over 200 amicus briefs and lawsuits against the administrations of former President Barack Obama and current President Joe Biden. Wilson, 51, has twice been elected chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association: in 2013 and 2021. He is a member of the South Carolina National Guard and saw combat in Iraq.
No. 22 Debi Schadel, Tracie Broom and Merritt McNeely
Debi Schadel
Provided
Tracie Broom
Provided
Merritt McNeely
Provided
Schadel and Broom are co-founding partners of creative agency Flock and Rally. McNeely has been the CEO since 2020 and manages every facet of the company. Schadel and Broom founded the agency in 2010. Flock and Rally provides branding, communications and marketing services to clients in sectors such as higher education, travel and tourism, health care and economic development. The Flock and Rally team has garnered more than 85 industry awards. This year alone they received three Best in Show awards across three platforms and nine awards total.
No. 23 Robert Dozier Jr.
Robert Dozier Jr. is the CEO of Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union.
Chris Terlinden/Provided
Dozier was appointed president and CEO of Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union in February 2023 after the retirement of longtime President Nick Wodogaza. Palmetto Citizens is one of the largest financial institutions headquartered in Columbia, where it was founded 1936. The credit union operates 14 branches across the Midlands, with plans to expand into rural, underserved areas. The institution is planning a five story, 100,000-square-foot headquarters on Sumter Street slated for a spring 2025 groundbreaking. The investment would be the largest office development downtown in decades.
No. 24 James T. McLawhorn
J.T. McLawhorn
McLawhorn has been the president and CEO of the Columbia Urban League since 1979. McLawhorn helped plan the 2000 King Day at the Dome march and rally — one of the largest Civil Rights demonstrations in the history of South Carolina. The demonstration attracted over 50,000 people to downtown Columbia to protest the flying of the Confederate flag atop the State House. In his current position, he helped publish “The State of Black South Carolina: An Action Agenda for the Future” — a report on the most pressing issues affecting African Americans in South Carolina. McLawhorn has received the Order of the Palmetto, the highest award given to a civilian in the state.
No. 25 Frank Cason
Frank Cason
Provided
Cason has been in commercial real estate for over 16 years. Prior to starting his own development group in 2015, he worked at Cypress Real Estate Partners, focusing on development projects and working with national retailers to expand in the Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut markets, according to his website. He started Cason Development Group with a focus of expanding redevelopment projects in the South Carolina market. Since 2015 he has developed projects for a number of national retailers including Taco Bell, Burger King, Dollar General, Sherwin Williams, Express Oil and Golden Corral.
No. 26 Joe Wilson
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019.
File/Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Wilson has represented South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District since 2001. The Charleston native served in the military for 31 years, retiring in 2003 as a colonel. Before being elected to Congress, Wilson served 17 years in the South Carolina State Senate where he was elected chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. The 77-year-old is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he is the chair of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia Subcommittee and a member of the Subcommittee on Europe. He is also the most senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.
No. 27 Jim Clyburn
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks at South Carolina’s First in the Nation dinner at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo
Clyburn has held South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District seat for over three decades. The Sumter native was reelected in November, easily defeating Republican challenger Duke Bucker. Clyburn served as House majority whip from 2019 to 2022 and 2007 to 2010, making him the first African American to serve multiple terms as majority whip. Clyburn has long been a power broker in South Carolina politics. A longtime friend of President Joe Biden, Clyburn is widely credited with saving his campaign in 2020 when he endorsed Biden days before the South Carolina Democratic primary.
28. Naida Rutherford
Naida Rutherford
Rutherford made a splash in the political scene in 2020 when she defeated five-term incumbent coroner Gary Watts. She earned nearly 60 percent of the vote and became the first woman and African American to hold the title of Richland County coroner. Rutherford, who has a biology degree from Benedict College and a master of science in nursing degree from the University of South Carolina, has a large following on social media. She enjoys bringing shows like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” to life for students and the community through her Coroner Cadet program.
29. Jeff Ruble
Jeff Ruble, Richland County Economic Development director.
PROVIDED
Ruble has led the Richland County Economic Development Office for nine years. In November, Richland County Council voted to dissolve the department and turn it into a nonprofit organization. Before joining the economic development office, Ruble was senior vice president of global business development at South Carolina Power Team, where he previously served as director of business recruitment. Ruble earned his bachelor’s degree from Erskine College and graduated from the University of South Carolina with his master’s in 1991. Ruble was named “developer of the year” in 2023 by the South Carolina Economic Developers’ Association. His most recent career success is bringing Scout Motors to South Carolina.
30. Dick and Jamie Lindler Harpootlian
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian questions Becky Hill during the Alex Murdaugh jury-tampering hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center on Jan. 29, 2024, in Columbia.
Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool
The White House nominated South Carolina attorney Jamie Lindler Harpootlian on July 21, 2021, to be the U.S. ambassador to Slovenia. She was approved by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 17. Provided
Despite losing the Democratic primary for state Senate District 26 last spring, the longtime attorney and politician remains an influential figure in the Midlands. The Wales Garden resident represented Alex Murdaugh in the former Lowcountry lawyer’s double murder trial and as senator played a part in a bill to reform the state’s bail bond system. This year, Dick Harpootlian has led efforts to challenge liquor license renewals from bars in Five Points that he sees as problematic. His wife, Jamie Lindler Harpootlian, is a former U.S. ambassador to Slovenia. She resigned from that post in July to focus on the November election.
