DI News History - December 21, 2017
TEN YEARS AGO – Vale named new DIRE director of sales and broker-in-charge
In the December 20, 2007 issue of The Daniel Island News, an article featured information about the Outward Bound Program and how the director of the program at the time, Lucy Hudgens, spearheaded a special adventure-based program for a group of Cainhoy fifth-graders. In partnership with the Boys & Girls Club, the course taught life skills, team-building, community-based outreach and outdoor survival that culminated with a Feb. 29 overnight wilderness canoeing expedition for 11 students. Before the adventure, Hudgens, herself a former Outward Bound instructor, had this to say: “The focus will be on a continuation of the social skill development and team-building learning addressed in the earlier sessions. They will learn basic camping and canoeing skills. Thousands of kids have never been outside in the woods and it’s amazing to see what the wilderness can do for them. It’s a highly structured environment where students are taught camping, cooking, cleaning and team building. There’s lots of feedback and kids learn how to communicate.”
The business news section included an article about Rick Vale, who took over the helm at Daniel Island Real Estate as director of sales and broker-in-charge. Vale replaced Dan Kingsbury, who left to accept a new position with a Columbia-based builder and developer.
“I’ve been part of the sales team and, frankly, that’s what makes this transition so smooth,” said Vale, who had been a top sales associate at Daniel Island Real Estate for five years prior to taking the new post. “I have worked alongside this great sales team that we have. And we have a mutual trust amongst one another. Truly, that’s what has made this transition so good in the short term.”
“Sales is a consumer business,” Vale said from his office at Daniel Island Real Estate. “Here, we sell houses, but we deal with people. And it’s all about the people…What we do is perform a service that goes beyond the sale of a house. We have to have high touch experiences with our clients and I think that’s the backbone or common thread that runs through any sales process.”
FIVE YEARS AGO – Benefitfocus expands DI campus
An article in the December 20, 2012 issue of The Daniel Island News spotlighted the opening of the new Benefitfocus building located across the street from its existing headquarters on Fairchild Street. The company was founded in 2000 by Shawn Jenkins and Mason Holland as way to help consumers deal with the often frustrating process of managing health care benefits. The company moved to Daniel Island from Mount Pleasant in 2006. In creating the new, contemporary office space for software engineers and software designers, Jenkins wanted to give the associates “an awesome place to hang out,” he said, as well as a space that encouraged interaction in a world where texting and tweeting limit face to face conversations. He also found that ideas seemed to flow more freely in social settings, rather than in workstations. Benefitfocus uses a single web-based platform for benefit shopping, enrollment, and management. In 2012, the company had 700 associates who operated out of offices on Daniel Island, Greenville, Tulsa, and San Francisco.
Also in the news was a photo collage of hundreds of adults and children gathered at Smythe Park for a prayer vigil to remember and honor the 20 children and six adults who lost their lives in the Newtown, Conn. shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. The victims were honored in song and prayer, and a reflection led by Daniel Island resident Amy Dietrich.