FlexCold, a leading cold storage warehousing and logistics company, announced plans to establish operations in Dorchester County. The company’s $49.9 million investment will create 59 jobs.

Headquartered in Charleston, FlexCold specializes in cold storage warehousing and logistics by providing customers with personalized cold storage expertise and targeting strategic locations that are advantageous to today’s evolving food supply chain. The company focuses on storing, handling, and distributing poultry, seafood, meat, packaged goods and frozen produce.

 Located on Patriot Boulevard in North Charleston, the Dorchester County facility marks FlexCold’s first cold storage location in South Carolina and second facility in the United States.

 The new operations will include a highly modern, cold food storage facility to accommodate a diverse customer base with a focus on receiving a substantial amount of imported goods.

 Operationally, FlexCold will provide import and export services, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration inspections, labeling and repacking, and cross-docking services.

 “We are thrilled to be expanding our footprint by establishing operations within a modern cold storage facility strategically located close to the Port of Charleston,” said FlexCold co-founder Jeff Manno.

 “We’re proud to further add to the economic development of the area in a meaningful and tangible way by helping meet the need to accommodate critical import and export business, specifically seafood.”

Columbia, South Carolina-based RSi LLC, a national provider of revenue cycle services for the hospital and large physician practice market, has announced its acquisition of Invicta Health Solutions LLC.

 Invicta, based in Houston, Texas, has earned a reputation for progressive tech integrations, unique partnerships with established entities, and a mastery of business intelligence to recast traditional revenue cycle management services such as Insurance Discovery, Claim Status, Eligibility Verification, Medicaid Enrollment and Out-of-State Medicaid Billing.

 Along the way, the company has developed clientele that expands beyond healthcare systems and hospitals to include other larger revenue cycle service providers.

 “RSi's leadership team and Invicta's leadership team have been acquainted for many years. From both operational and administrative standpoints, there are few duplications between the companies,” said RSi CEO Brent Rollins.

 “We want to see Invicta continue to grow as part of RSi, and this integration will functionally allow our united teams to deliver front-end to back-end solutions to our clientele.”

 RSi made M&A headlines in 2019 when WestView Capital Partners announced it was financing RSi's aggressive growth strategy. WestView is a Boston-based growth equity firm focused on investing in middle-market companies with a longstanding dedication to the revenue cycle sector.

The Foundry at Judson Mill, Greenville’s only all-genre live music venue, has partnered with Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., the world’s leading live entertainment company, to bring more music, national touring artists, and a variety of genres to the Upstate.

 “Our partnership with Live Nation will enhance our guests’ experience and entertainment choices, while positioning The Foundry at Judson Mill as a destination music venue,” said owner Howard Dozier.

 Formerly known as Cowboy Up, the music venue recently re-branded as The Foundry at Judson Mill to better reflect the broad range of musical genres and artists the venue will host.

Recent announcements of upcoming concerts include the sold-out Mt. Joy show as well as Sean Kingston, 49 Winchester, the Cadillac Three, Will Hoge, and the Vegabonds. More shows are scheduled to be announced in the coming weeks.

 “Our rebranding reflects the larger acts and variety of genres fans can enjoy at The Foundry at Judson Mill, and our partnership with Live Nation builds on our commitment to bring more live music to the Upstate,” said Braxton Wilson, owner of Palmetto Entertainment and business partner with Howard Dozier.

 The Foundry at Judson Mill re-opens Jan. 14, with the Sean Kingston performance. The venue features state-of-the-art production equipment, a 30- by 21-foot stage, and concert-level sound and lighting. 

Equable Institute released a year-end update to its State of Pensions 2022 report. The analysis finds the aggregate funded ratio for U.S. state and local retirement systems declined from 83.9 percent in 2021 to 77.3 percent in 2022, based on available data through Dec. 31, 2022.

 Equable Institute estimates that unfunded liabilities will total $1.45 trillion for the 2022 fiscal year, representing a loss of nearly half of the gains from 2021's record investment returns.

 After a year of investment volatility and record inflation, public pension plans averaged a -6.14 percent return on average in 2022, dramatically underperforming the 6.9 percent average assumed annual rate of return.

 Despite a year of significant losses, the funded status of state and local retirement systems remains stronger in 2022 than it was heading into the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019. However, based on Equable Institute’s outlook for 2023, most pension funds are not on track to meet investment return targets.

 “While the positive gains from 2021 weren't entirely wiped out in 2022, the outlook for 2023 is not strong,” noted Equable Executive Director Anthony Randazzo.

 “Many major market indices were close to flat over the last two quarters of the calendar year, suggesting that most pension funds with a fiscal year ending in June are already behind the curve for 2023.”

 The year-end report also includes a ranking of the 2022 funded status of all 50 states plus Washington D.C.  The analysis reveals that Washington D.C. and Washington State top the list with aggregate funded ratios of 103.4 percent and 102.9 percent. South Carolina ranks 47th with 57.8 percent.