Daniel Rickenmann is the son of Swiss immigrants. His family immigrated to the United States in 1967. Daniel was born in 1969 and was raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Daniel’s father passed away when he was 8 years old, and he was raised by his single mother in a household where they spoke two languages.

He came to the University of South Carolina in 1987 to attend the only program in the Southeast for students with dyslexia. He fell in love with Columbia and never left.

After graduating, Rickenmann worked two jobs and saved up to start his own business. His successful restaurant led to more opportunities to invest and grow in Columbia’s community.

In 2009, Rickenmann founded a renewable energy company with innovative solutions on generating power in local communities.

Rickenmann has served two stints on Columbia city council. He was both an at-large member, representing the whole city, and the member from District 4.

For the last 15 years, Rob has helped buyer, seller, and tenant clients execute on their real estate strategies. With specific experience in multi-family, office, adaptive re-use, redevelopment, and industrial services, Rob’s focus is to help his clients maximize the strategic value of their real estate activities within their broader business plan. Rob draws on his experience as a broker and developer and by leveraging his wide network of contacts in related fields, Rob provides and helps his client’s execute effective leasing and real estate investing strategies.

On the development side, Rob has a passion for uncovering hidden gems that don’t fit the conventional greenfield development model helping to turn them into destinations.  He has led repositioning, place-making, leasing and/or redevelopment efforts at Upstate projects such as Hampton Station, Union Bleachery, Judson Mill, and Aden Bonded warehouse to name a few.  Rob loves to convene teams that create and execute redevelopment visions that bring blighted properties back to productive re-use.

Rob holds a BS in Natural Resources and Spanish from The University of the South and an MBA from Emory University. Rob has served on diverse boards including the past-chair of Sustain SC, City of Greenville’s Green Ribbon Advisory Committee and is the former President of the Friends of Paris Mountain State Park. He lives in Greenville with his wife and children and enjoys all manner of outdoor activities where helmets are advised.

Jean Cecil Frick, Vice President at NP Strategy, is a veteran of the private, public and non-profit sectors driven by helping individuals and organizations achieve their goals. She has built a career in Washington, DC and South Carolina by providing sound advice and building trusted relationships. 

Jean Cecil worked in the highest levels of government, serving in the George W. Bush Administration as a Senate liaison in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs and as a legislative specialist for Vice President Cheney’s Senate Office on Capitol Hill. After her time at the White House, Jean Cecil worked in government affairs for medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific. Jean Cecil began her career in Washington, DC working for U.S. Senator Jim DeMint.

After seven years in Washington, Jean Cecil returned to her home state of South Carolina to support the growth of businesses through the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. In 2013, she joined Governor Haley’s Administration at the SC Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW). As a member of the executive team at DEW, Jean Cecil was instrumental in developing a strategic plan for the agency, improving business processes, and serving as the legislative liaison.

Prior to joining NP Strategy, Jean Cecil served as the CEO of a start-up web development firm. Under Jean Cecil’s leadership, the firm created high design, strategically planned and easily managed websites for businesses, nonprofits and schools throughout the Carolinas.

Jean Cecil was raised in Spartanburg, SC and attended Wofford College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Art History. She is a graduate of the Riley Institute Diversity Leaders Initiative and Leadership South Carolina. She has been recognized by Columbia Regional Business Report as a 2020 Phenom and by Columbia Business Monthly as a Best and Brightest 35 and Under.

Passionate about giving back to the community, Jean Cecil serves as a Girl Scout troop leader and bi-weekly reading mentor to elementary school students. She currently serves as immediate past Chair of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce where she has been an active executive board member for seven years. Jean Cecil is also a member of the board for Prisma Health Foundation’s Calvary and Junior Achievement of Greater South Carolina- Midlands District.

As the Director of Business Services, Chantal Fryer oversees a team that assists companies with their business life-cycle needs. From an acorn a mighty oak tree grows and whether it’s Innovation or Small Business, Commerce helps companies in our state start, grow, and thrive.  By providing Recycling, Supplier Outreach, Trade, Emergency Management, Existing Industry, and Workforce support, Business Services helps foster the financial and environmental sustainability of businesses. She has served with the agency for 16 years in various roles to include directing the Recycling Market Development program. She has also served with the South Carolina Energy Office, the Governor’s Office and the Budget and Control Board during her state government career.  

Chantal received her Master’s in Public Administration from the University of South Carolina. She is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Sustainability Leadership Initiative and recently became a Fellow. She holds the Certified Public Manager and Certified Recycling Professional credentials.

Chantal resides in Lexington with her husband and two daughters. She hails from the coast, and on any long weekend, you can find her enjoying a day at a beach in the Carolinas.

Brent Jonas joined Sustain SC in September 2022 as its first ever Chief Operating Officer. Brent is a tenured economic development strategist with nearly 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors of real estate, health insurance and finance.

Prior to joining Sustain SC, Brent spent seven years as the Director of Stakeholder Relations for the Charleston Regional Development Alliance. During that time, he played a major part in cultivating and maintaining new and existing investors and strengthening relationships with public and private stakeholders.

Brent has served in many roles throughout his career including Director of the South Carolina Board of Long Term Health Care Administrators, Budget Analyst on the SC House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, and Special Assistant to the President of Trident Technical College.

Brent holds a degree in political science from Presbyterian College and a Master's in Public Administration from the University of South Carolina.

Elizabeth Rhue, Vice President Global Environmental, Sustainability, and Technical Services is responsible for leading Sonoco’s global sustainability programs and environmental services for all of the Company’s Consumer- and Industrial-related packaging businesses, including working directly with Sonoco’s key customers and business leaders to achieve improved product sustainability and environmental footprint for Sonoco’s operations. In addition, Elizabeth is responsible for product safety and Sonoco’s consumer packaging pilot facilities, testing labs, and design engineering services. 

Elizabeth started her 17-year career at Sonoco as a Research and Development Engineer with Sonoco's Rigid Paper Container business and has held several technical and commercial roles, including Sustainability and National Accounts Manager for Sonoco Recycling, focused on delivering landfill diversion solutions for major consumer product goods accounts, and Director of Marketing for Sonoco’s Flexible Packaging division, working directly with large consumer product goods customers. 

Outside of Sonoco, Elizabeth is chair of the board of directors for Keep the Midlands Beautiful, a Keep America Beautiful affiliate based in the midlands of South Carolina focused on beautification and litter prevention. Elizabeth holds a B.S. in Packaging Science from Clemson University.

Joseph “Mac” Hodgson is President and Chief Executive Officer and a Shareholder of The GEL Group, Inc.  Prior to joining GEL in 2013, Mac spent 10 years at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in Atlanta, GA, where he was a Director and Senior Analyst in the Equity Research Department.  In that capacity, Mac was a research analyst covering approximately 25 small-to-mid cap financial institutions in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest United States.

Mac earned a B.S. in Business from Wake Forest University and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation. Mac is a Rotarian and Past President of the Rotary Club of Charleston – Breakfast and a member of The Trident CEO Council and YPO.  Mac and his wife, Kathleen, have two daughters, Mae and Penny.

Courtney holds a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies and a Masters in the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources. She has over a decade of experience facilitating leadership skills workshops for corporate, academic, and non-profits organizations. 

Dr. Quinn is the CSO for Nested Sustainability Consulting, offering ESG planning and leadership workshops for sustainability professionals. Courtney also serves as the Program Director of the Sustainability Leadership Initiative with SustainSC. She teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in Sustainability and Environmental Leadership at Furman University and the University of Nebraska.

Tim Baumgartner heads the Sustainability Development Section for the Ecosystem Planning and Restoration (EPR). Utilizing his 25-plus years of experience developing nature-based solutions in both the public and private sectors, Tim assists companies evaluating, developing, and delivering sustainable nature-based solutions.

Tim grew up on a farm in eastern North Carolina, which instilled the significance of protecting and managing natural resources. He has spent his career as a leader in the compensatory mitigation industry, managing policy development and project implementation for stream and wetland restoration, riparian buffer development, habitat improvements, and water quality enhancements/quantity attenuation. Many of the processes and standards used for compensatory mitigation strategies translate well for projects focused on sustainable targets. Tim firmly believes sustainable solutions need performance-based standards providing documented evidence that goals and objectives are being met.

Jarrett Branham is the President at Branham Group, Inc., a 30-year-old general construction firm that turned its focus to sustainability and renewable energy in 2015. Jarrett has 25 years of successful construction project delivery within commercial, industrial and energy sectors and has spent 12 years in energy. His experience includes utility distributed generation projects down to small scale commercial generation.

Additionally, Jarrett also worked with (former) SCE&G on nuclear and transmission projects before transitioning into renewable energy. Jarrett is a past board member of the SC Solar Business Alliance and a previous Girls on the Run coach.

Andy Carr is the President and CEO of the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership.  Andy is passionate about U.S. manufacturing and particularly manufacturing in South Carolina. He supports team members as they work with South Carolina manufacturing companies (large or small) to help them reduce costs, increase sales, grow profits and thrive. Andy believes strong, profitable manufacturing companies are the very bedrock of our state and national economies.

With more than 35 years of manufacturing and consulting experience, Andy understands what it takes to drive lasting operational improvement. Before taking on the role of President and CEO in March 2022, Andy managed MCMEP’s field team and third-party resources. He joined SCMEP in 1998 and served as SCMEP’s representative in a 10-county area in the north and western part of the Palmetto State. 

Andy received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. He earned certifications as a Lean Manufacturing Trainer and Professional Business Advisor (PBA) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He’s a Eureka! Winning Ways Growth Coach through Eureka! Ranch and NIST MEP. 

As President and Chief Operating Officer, Thurston (Trip) L. Chavis, III is responsible for running all facets of Milliken Advisors. Trip has over 27 years of experience in the industry focusing early on technology advancements and innovative timber inventory solutions for Milliken. 

Recently, Trip has led Milliken to broaden the scope of services at Milliken to include nature-based solutions to corporate sustainability and a comprehensive portfolio approach to land management to include complimentary efforts like carbon, solar and others. In 2010, Trip was promoted to VP of Operations and was responsible for business development and field operations. In 2014, Trip was selected to lead Milliken as the President and CEO. 

Residing in Chapin, SC, Trip is married to Melissa and together they have a son, Wrye, born in 2003. Trip and his family are members of Lake Murray Presbyterian Church where Trip is an Elder. Trip is current Chairman of the South Carolina Association of Consulting Foresters, current VP of the Congaree Land Trust, member of the Forestry Association of South Carolina and is a representative on the South Carolina Foresters Council. Trip earned a B.S., Forest Resource Management from Clemson University in 1994.

Tim Howard currently serves as the Director for Watt Center Operations where he is responsible for infrastructure and sustainability initiatives. Howard has been with the Watt Center for 12 years, holding this most recent position for the past five. Howard is also the co-founder and CEO of CarbonCents.

Clemson Energy Visualization and Analytics Center (CEVAC) was started 4 years ago as an innovative partnership between Watt Family Innovation Center and Clemson Facilities. CEVAC has proven to be extremely successful in monitoring the carbon footprint of Clemson University and providing tools to monitor the entire site, down to a specific building. Furthermore, CEVAC can change the building operations through AI modeling to improve overall performance.

Previously, Howard was the Director of Corporate Quality for Infor Global Solutions where he became a certified American Society for Quality (ASQ) auditor (CQA) and was responsible for conducting both internal and external quality audits. He also served as the Director of InSync products at Integrated Support Systems (ISS). Howard started his career working for Westland Helicopters.

Caroline James is the Director of Sustainability at Atlantic Packaging in Charlotte, North Carolina. She focuses on helping customers transition to more circular packaging by assessing the environmental impact tradeoffs of each option.

Caroline holds an MBA from Yale School of Management, where her coursework focused on industrial ecology, life cycle assessment, and sustainable business. She also holds a BA from Georgetown University where she focused on environmental sciences and government.

Rick Oppedisano is the founder and CEO of Delta Bravo. Delta Bravo works with manufacturers to turn data collected on the plant floor into Predictive Models that increase throughput and quality while reducing waste. 

Rick was named a Global Top 25 Transformative Leader in Manufacturing by Smart Manufacturing Magazine in 2021 and has been featured on national television network A&E's American Entrepreneur series. The Delta Bravo team's work with customers like Rolls-Royce, Nucor Steel, Continental and others has won numerous industry awards for excellence in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

Robert Hughes serves as President of Hughes Development Corporation (HDC), a 72-year-old, family-owned real estate development firm based in Greenville, SC. HDC has developed and owned projects across the southeast in virtually all product types. Over the last 20 years, HDC has refined its focus to mixed-use, urban developments with an emphasis on place-making. Currently, HDC’s largest project is the 181-acre BullStreet District in Columbia, SC. 

As master developer, HDC is overseeing the development of up to 3.3 million square feet in commercial development and 3,558 residential units, all centered around a new MiLB ballpark. Additional recent projects include Greenville ONE, RiverPlace and the Bank of America Building, all located in downtown Greenville, SC. 

Prior to joining HDC, Robert was an Assistant Vice President in New York City for Barclays Capital, after starting his career in the same division at Lehman Brothers. In 2011, Robert left Barclays to pursue his MBA at Columbia Business School with a focus in Real Estate. He graduated with honors in 2012 and received the William J. Heffernan Memorial Award for Service. 

Robert is also a graduate of Duke University and the Lawrenceville School. Currently, he serves on the Greenville’s Racial Equality and Economic Mobility Commission, the Millennial Debt Commission, the Accelerate Leadership Council, and is a member of Leadership Greenville Class 40 and Liberty Fellowship Class of 2020.

Halsey is President and Chief Executive Officer of Milliken & Company. Headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Milliken is a privately-owned, technology-based company with leading businesses in textile and performance materials, wound care, commercial floor covering, colorants, coatings and plastic additives markets. Halsey leads the Milliken team of 8,000 associates in 70 plants and offices, selling to customers in 135 countries around the world.  

Prior to joining Milliken in 2018, Halsey was President and CEO of Sonepar USA, the world’s largest distributor of electrical infrastructure products. His previous work experience included senior P&L roles in manufacturing and technology companies, including President of Legrand Electrical as well as 17 years in Carrier Corporation, where he held marketing, operations and general management roles in France, Italy, UK and the United States.  

Halsey is a graduate of the University of The South in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics and English. He also received his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. Mr. Cook serves as a trustee of the Belle W. Baruch Foundation in Georgetown, South Carolina. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, National Association of Manufacturers, and Palmetto Business Forum. Mr. Cook is an independent director of Southwire Company, a leading global manufacturer of wire, cable and tools based in Carrollton, GA. 

Tom Hutto, P.G. is a Principal at GEL Engineering, LLC where he leads complex environmental and industrial development projects including permitting, site characterization, site development, dredging, and/or remediation. He routinely interfaces with SCDHEC and the US Army Corps of Engineers.  

Tom has long had a passion for land protection and sustainable development and believes industry and conservation have many shared interests. To that end, he serves on the Boards of the Lowcountry Land Trust and Sustain SC.  He also serves as a Councilmember in the Town of Meggett, SC.

Governor Henry Dargan McMaster, a longtime public servant of South Carolina, was born May 27, 1947, in Columbia, South Carolina. He received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of South Carolina in 1969 and as an undergraduate was a member of Kappa Alpha Order and the South Carolina Student Legislature.

In 1973, he graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he was on the editorial board of the South Carolina Law Review. Later that year, he was admitted to the Richland County Bar Association. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserves, receiving an honorable discharge in 1975.

Governor McMaster was the first U.S. attorney appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Following service on the South Carolina Ports Authority Board of Directors, he was elected lieutenant governor in 2014.  McMaster was sworn in as governor in January 2017 following then - Governor Nikki Haley’s appointment as United States Ambassador to the United Nations and was elected to a full term as governor in November 2018.

Governor McMaster served on the Palmetto Health Foundation Board and is the recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian honor awarded to citizens of South Carolina for extraordinary lifetime service and achievements of national and statewide significance. He was previously named Public Servant of the Year by the Sierra Club and National Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the Humane Society of the United States.

Governor McMaster and his wife, Peggy, have two adult children and reside in Columbia.

Senator Chip Campsen is a native of Charleston, South Carolina. An attorney and businessman, Chip has served in the South Carolina State Senate since 2004.  He is Chairman of the Senate Fish, Game & Forestry Committee; Charleston County Legislative Delegation; Senate Sportsmen’s Caucus; and, Senate Religious Liberty Caucus. Campsen also serves on the Judiciary, Rules, Transportation, and Legislative Oversight Committees. His areas of focus include constitutional law; election law; conservation and natural resources; fiscal policy; and, criminal justice reform. He is former Chairman of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission that screens judicial candidates.

Campsen holds J.D. and MBA degrees from the University of South Carolina, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Furman University. He has a 100-ton U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s License, and South Carolina Real Estate Brokers license. He is President of Fort Sumter Tours, Inc. and SpiritLine Cruises, LLC, which operate passenger vessels in Charleston Harbor. He owns Campsen Law Firm, LLC, and 

Campsen enjoys studying history, political philosophy, economics and theology. He is an avid hunter, fisherman and surfer.

Mike Mancuso is currently the Executive Director and Principal of the Waccamaw Community Foundation. Mike is a veteran business leader with more than 30 years of experience as an innovative problem solver and change agent for nonprofit, banking, and small business organizations. Mike is a skilled economic developer with background in community development, downtown redevelopment, industrial development, and strategic planning. His passion is helping communities and businesses thrive and grow. 

Most recently, Mike served as the President and CEO of the Triangle East Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development Foundation in Johnston County, North Carolina and as Executive Director for the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center, Inc. in Salem, Ohio.

Mike and his wife Christine make their home in Little River, South Carolina. They have three children and six grandchildren. Mike enjoys boating on the Intracoastal Waterway, tinkering in his workshop/garage, and spending time with family and friends.

Ashely Teasdel was promoted to Deputy Secretary of Commerce in November 2021. She most recently served as the director of the Business Services Division, which focuses its efforts on small business development, existing industry support, supplier outreach, emergency management and recycling market development. With the belief that every business, large or small, deserves every benefit it can get, Teasdel dedicated her time to developing statewide programmatic relationships to benefit local businesses and global enterprises alike.

In her tenure as director of the Business Services Division, Teasdel successfully merged the functions of the division through deliberate efforts to integrate the division’s purpose of what Commerce has dubbed as “Service After the Sale.” She was instrumental in the launch of support resources for start-ups and existing companies; accelerated the use of B2B platforms for specific industries; managed an initiative to build minority business engagement that included supplier outreach experiences; and developed ally outreach for effective coordination of small business support for more sourcing needs. Teasdel also led the agency’s COVID-19 response efforts and served on Governor McMaster’s AccelerateSC task force to support the business community in navigating impacts from the pandemic.

Prior to joining SC Commerce in 2015, Teasdel spent almost a decade working in the banking sector, focusing on small business advisory support and development within South Carolina. She served in a variety of roles including financial center management, small business advisor and commercial lending. Teasdel is an active board member of the SC Economic Developers Association (SCEDA) and the Business Development Corporation (CDC) of SC.

Teasdel holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Charleston Southern University and a master’s degree in business administration from Southern Wesleyan University. She is a graduate of the BB&T Leadership Development Institute in Winston-Salem, N.C., the South Carolina Economic Development Institute and the SC Certified Public Managers Program.

Teasdel resides in Irmo with her husband and two daughters.

Amber Tillman serves as Google’s Head of Data Center Economic and Community Development covering the company’s eastern US data center communities, including South Carolina. In this role, Amber focuses on external affairs, strategic partnerships, and program development to build connections between Google and the communities in which they operate. Amber is a leading expert in tech policy and public affairs and has previously served in roles at Meta, Chevron, and Google, focused on state, local and international government relations, economic impact, and community engagement. 

Amber sits on several boards that support the business and technology industries in Virginia, including CodeVA, RVATech, and the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce. In addition, she operates a small nonprofit focused on supporting forward-thinking projects at the intersection of science, technology, healthcare, and veterans’ wellbeing. 

Amber is a graduate of James Madison University and currently lives in Richmond, VA with her family.

Dr. Maria Whitehead is an ornithologist, professor, and conservation professional. She is currently the Vice President and Director of Land for the Southeast at Open Space Institute (OSI), where she guides the strategic direction of land conservation to realize OSI’s mission of protecting scenic, natural and historic landscapes. She serves as the lead on varied conservation projects and initiatives including landscape-scale conservation projects, comprehensive community engagement strategies, and conservation finance tactics. In less than six years, she has assisted in the permanent protection of more than 55,000 acres of some of the most important and imperiled Southeast landscapes.

For the last 15 years, Dr. Whitehead has worked in land and water resource protection in the Southeast and the interdisciplinary realm of climate adaptation and community resilience. As a coastal program manager for The Nature Conservancy, she helped initiate a water fund program to establish oyster restoration sites, protect tidal wetlands and address wetland migration in South Carolina.

Whitehead received her B.A. in Biology from Davidson College, her M.S. from University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and her Ph.D. from Clemson University’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Furman University, The Citadel, and the College of Charleston.  She currently teaches for Clemson’s Masters of Wildlife and Fisheries Resources Program.    

Ethel Bunch is the Founder and CEO of Sustain SC, a 501(c)3 bringing together a diverse group of business, economic development, academic, conservation and state agency leaders with the mission to connect the sustainability goals of business in South Carolina with local solutions that benefit the economy, environment and people.

Prior to founding Sustain SC, Ethel co-founded Witterng Advisors, a consulting group working with clients to raise the standard for informed decision making that maximizes South Carolina’s economic growth and strong natural resource based infrastructure. Serving organizations such as the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, Lowcountry Land Trust and Congaree Land Trust she helped match corporate environmental and social commitments with South Carolina’s needs.

She has 20+ years of fundraising and communications experience bridging the nonprofit and private sectors operating in healthcare, environment and education. She has served as Director of Development and Marketing for EdVenture Children’s Museum, Prevent Child Abuse South Carolina and Heathwood Hall Episcopal School.

Born and raised in South Carolina, Ethel earned a B.A. in English and Masters in Mass Communication from the University of South Carolina.

She is married to Bill Bunch and has two daughters, Caroline and Claiborne who keep her motivated and humble.