SouthState Bank Archives - Business RadioX ®

Scott Hilton, SouthState Bank and Georgia State House District 48

December 21, 2022 by John Ray

Business Beat

Scott Hilton, SouthState Bank and Georgia State House District 48

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Scott Hilton, SouthState Bank and Georgia State House District 48

Scott Hilton, Commercial Banker at SouthState Bank and Representative from Georgia State House District 48, joined host Roger Lusby to talk about the critical issues in the state he has a passion for. They discussed the Georgia First Commission, the state’s high-demand Career Academies, interest rates and inflation, Scott’s work with small businesses at SouthState, his family life, and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

SouthState Bank

SouthState is one of the leading regional banks in the Southeast – serving more than one million customers via 275+ locations in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. SouthState offers robust banking solutions, including consumer banking, mortgage, small business banking, commercial banking and wealth management. SouthState bankers care about its customers and each other – and it shows. SouthState is proud to have earned awards for banking solutions, service and workplace environment.

For the past three years, SouthState has been ranked on the Forbes 100 Best Banks in America and has earned top workplace honors several years running. This is banking at its best. This is banking forward.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

Scott Hilton, SouthState Bank and Georgia State House District 48

**Scott Hilton, Georgia State House District 48**

Scott Hilton serves as Senior Vice-President for Commercial Banking at SouthState Bank in Atlanta. Prior to this role, Scott led the Georgians First Commission under the Office of Governor Brian P. Kemp as Executive Director. The Georgians First Commission developed policy and operational changes to reduce burdensome red tape and streamline state government for the benefit of Georgia’s small business community. Scott was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2016.

During his tenure as State Representative, Scott was appointed to a leadership role as deputy whip and was recognized as “Legislator of the Year” by numerous organizations, including the Georgia Charter School Association and Council of Municipal Court Judges. Scott has spent a career in commercial banking working directly with business owners and CFOs to provide the valuable capital needed to grow their businesses.

Scott graduated with honors from Georgetown University, with majors in finance and international business. Scott graduated from Emory University’s accelerated, one-year MBA program with a concentration in capital markets. Scott is active in his community, having served in a variety of roles including President of the Peachtree Corners Civic Association and President of the Fowler Family YMCA Board. Scott is a graduate of Leadership Georgia, the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute, and LEAD Atlanta.

Scott met his wife, Meredith, at Georgetown. Meredith is an estate-planning attorney with a focus on wills and special needs trusts. They live in Peachtree Corners with their three children and enjoy hiking, golf, traveling and pickleball.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

Roger Lusby, host of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat, is an Alpharetta CPA and Alpharetta Office Managing Partner for Frazier & Deeter. He is also a member of the Tax Department in charge of coordinating tax and accounting services for our clientele. His responsibilities include a review of a variety of tax returns with an emphasis in the individual, estate, and corporate areas. Client assistance is also provided in the areas of financial planning, executive compensation and stock option planning, estate and succession planning, international planning (FBAR, SFOP), health care, real estate, manufacturing, technology, and service companies.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Samantha McElhaney, SouthState Bank, Keith Costley, Keck & Wood, Inc., and Derek Griffin, Speartek

August 15, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

Samantha McElhaney, SouthState Bank, Keith Costley, Keck & Wood, Inc., and Derek Griffin, Speartek

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Samantha McElhaney, SouthState Bank, Keith Costley, Keck & Wood, Inc., and Derek Griffin, Speartek (ProfitSense with Bill McDermott, Episode 35)

Host Bill McDermott was joined by three accomplished business leaders on this edition of ProfitSense. Banker Samantha McElhaney discussed what business owners need to be focused on now, what to look for in choosing an advisor, as well as how she uses her extensive network to assist her clients. Keith Costley shared how his engineering consulting firm develops and retains talent, how collaboration with clients has been so crucial to their success, and his firm’s succession planning process. Derek Griffin talked about how his firm helps gift and home decor firms, industrial products companies, distributors, and other B2B companies with website and e-commerce solutions for their marketing needs.

Bill closed the show with a commentary on the four components of getting a business ready to sell for its maximum value.

ProfitSense with Bill McDermott is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton Studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta.

SouthState Bank

SouthState bankers care about their customers and each other – and it shows. They are proud to have earned awards for their banking solutions, service, and workplace environment. For the past three years, they’ve been ranked on Forbes’ 100 Best Banks in America and have earned top workplace honors several years running. This is banking at its best. This is banking forward.

Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender.

Website | LinkedIn |Facebook

Samantha McElhaney, Commercial Relationship Advisor, SouthState Bank

Samantha McElhaney is a Commercial Relationship Advisor with SouthState Bank.

She is a single mom of twins at the University of Alabama and the University of South Carolina, respectively. She has been in financial services for 28 years this September and currently holds the position of Commercial Banking Advisor in Greater GA.

She loves Lighthouses because they provide hope in the darkness/storms of life and admits she is extremely hard on herself. She leads and participated in small groups at North Point Community Church and Woodstock City Church because her faith is extremely important to her personally and professionally.

And her favorite time of the year – college football season is about to start, so bring on Fall, food, and “fandemonium”.

Keck & Wood, Inc

Keck & Wood, Inc., founded in 1954, provides professional civil engineering, landscape architecture, and land surveying services to clients throughout the southeast. The company has 65 employees in four offices. Duluth and Fayetteville, GA as well as Rock Hill and North Charleston, SC. Our clients include city and county governments, utility companies, state agencies, education institutions, and private developers.

Company website | Facebook | LinkedIn

Keith Costley, President & CEO, Keck & Wood, Inc.

Keith Costley is the President and CEO of Keck & Wood, Inc., a 65-person civil engineering firm headquartered in Duluth, GA. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a civil engineering degree in 1994 and has become licensed as a Professional Engineer in GA, SC, and NC.

He joined the firm as a Project Manager in their Rock Hill, SC office in 2000 and has steadily progressed his career by becoming the office leader in 2012 and then the President and CEO in 2017.

Speartek

Speartek is a technology company that builds online business solutions for product-based businesses that sell primarily in Business to Business environments. Yes, that online solution is a website but it is so much more than that because it enables the client to do business with their clients in a much more automated and efficient manner. Clients are typically manufacturers or product importers that well either wholesale to retailers or through a distribution channel. B2B selling is significantly more complex than selling to consumers and many of these client websites are integrated into accounting or ERP systems so that data is exchanged automatically, reducing the administrative costs and time in managing orders. With B2B as a primary focus for the past 20 years, the experience that Speartek delivers coupled with a platform built for B2B is an incredibly valuable combination.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

Derek Griffin, President, Speartek

Derek Griffin has spent 22 years as the leader of Speartek, a niche B2B eCommerce solution provider. His background includes being a CPA in public accounting for 7 years as well as a CFO for a $20M manufacturing company. That financial experience and understanding of how a business needs to operate has been tremendously valuable in what Speartek delivers for its clients. Derek has lived in the Atlanta area since 1992, is married and has 2 children. Outside of work, his interests are mountain biking and hiking national parks (up to 30!), live music, and college sports.

About ProfitSense and Your Host, Bill McDermott

ProfitSense with Bill McDermott dives into the stories behind some of Atlanta’s successful businesses and business owners and the professionals that advise them. This show helps local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. The show is presented by McDermott Financial Solutions. McDermott Financial helps business owners improve cash flow and profitability, find financing, break through barriers to expansion, and financially prepare to exit their business. The show archive can be found at profitsenseradio.com.

Bill McDermott is the Founder and CEO of McDermott Financial Solutions. When business owners want to increase their profitability, they don’t have the expertise to know where to start or what to do. Bill leverages his knowledge and relationships from 32 years as a banker to identify the hurdles getting in the way and create a plan to deliver profitability they never thought possible.

Bill currently serves as Treasurer for the Atlanta Executive Forum and has held previous positions as a board member for the Kennesaw State University Entrepreneurship Center and Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity and Treasurer for CEO NetWeavers. Bill is a graduate of Wake Forest University and he and his wife, Martha have called Atlanta home for over 40 years. Outside of work, Bill enjoys golf, traveling, and gardening.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn and Twitter and follow McDermott Financial Solutions on LinkedIn.

Don Ross and Tara Gilbert-Ross, The Boujee Southerner Experience, and Samantha McElhaney, SouthState Bank

August 12, 2022 by John Ray

Family Business Radio

Don Ross and Tara Gilbert-Ross, The Boujee Southerner Experience, and Samantha McElhaney, SouthState Bank

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Don Ross and Tara Gilbert-Ross, The Boujee Southerner Experience, and Samantha McElhaney, SouthState Bank (Family Business Radio, Episode 35)

Host Anthony Chen profiled Don Ross and Tara Gilbert-Ross, The Boujee Southerner Experience, and banker Samantha McElhaney, SouthState Bank, on this edition of “Family Business Radio.” Don and Tara discussed their journey as entrepreneurs, their military service, how they work together as business owners and a married couple, and their plans for The Boujee Southerner Experience. Sam McElhaney shared how she works not only to give the best banking and financial advice and service for her clients but connects them in ways which help their business. Anthony closed the show will a commentary on using money to fulfill life’s purpose.

Family Business Radio is underwritten and brought to you by Anthony Chen with Lighthouse Financial Network.

The Boujee Southerner Experience

The Boujee Southerner Restaurant, and Selfie Museum (AKA) “The Boujee Southerner Experience” was created to educate and celebrate African American contributions to Southern cooking and healthy living. The business seeks to serve plant-based replicas to popular Southern soul food dishes in an African American culturally inspired space that promotes pride and self-love.

The boutique section of the restaurant seeks to provide a shared retail space for minority businesses looking to gain more exposure. The Selfie Museum is dedicated to “Mental Health Awareness”, focusing on those who are learning to love themselves.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Don Ross, Co-Owner, and Tara Gilbert-Ross, Co-Owner and Lead Chef, The Boujee Southerner Experience

Donald and Tara Ross are a happily married couple originally from Chicago, IL. Parents of 7 children (2 boys and 5 girls), grandparents to 6 grandchildren, and 1 grand puppy. The retired military couple has dedicated their lives to service of God, country, family and community. 2 1/2 years ago Tara had a mental breakdown that led to her leaving the workforce and losing own identity and purpose. Donald worked to provide for the family while caring for Tara.

In September 2020, Tara and Don became grandparents to premature identical twins who were diagnosed with achondroplasia. Inspired by the twin’s tenacity and courage, Tara and Don wanted to resume life, serving others and building a foundation for their family and community. This desire brought them to Lawrenceville, GA where they’re building their family business “The Boujee Southerner.”

Don and Tara can be reached by email.

Website

SouthState Bank

Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender.

Website | LinkedIn |Facebook

Samantha McElhaney, Commercial Relationship Advisor, SouthState Bank

Samantha McElhaney is a Commercial Relationship Advisor with SouthState Bank.

She is a single mom of twins at the University of Alabama and the University of South Carolina. She has been in financial services for 28 years this September and currently holds the position of Commercial Banking Advisor in Greater Georgia.

And her favorite time of the year – college football season is about to start, so bring on fall, food, and “fandemonium.”

Anthony Chen, Host of Family Business Radio

**Anthony Chen, Lighthouse Financial, and Host of “Family Business Radio”**

This show is sponsored and brought to you by Anthony Chen with Lighthouse Financial Network. Securities and advisory services offered through Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. (RAA), member FINRA/SIPC. RAA is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of RAA. The main office address is 575 Broadhollow Rd. Melville, NY 11747. You can reach Anthony at 631-465-9090 ext 5075 or by email at anthonychen@lfnllc.com.

Anthony Chen started his career in financial services with MetLife in Buffalo, NY in 2008. Born and raised in Elmhurst, Queens, he considers himself a full-blooded New Yorker while now enjoying his Atlanta, GA home. Specializing in family businesses and their owners, Anthony works to protect what is most important to them. From preserving to creating wealth, Anthony partners with CPAs and attorneys to help address all the concerns and help clients achieve their goals. By using a combination of financial products ranging from life, disability, and long-term care insurance to many investment options through Royal Alliance. Anthony looks to be the eyes and ears for his client’s financial foundation. In his spare time, Anthony is an avid long-distance runner.

The complete show archive of “Family Business Radio” can be found at familybusinessradioshow.com.