Beginning his career at Proctor & Gamble and Pepsico, Leonard went on to become president of several nationally recognized companies, notably Samsonite Luggage, Pro Golf Discount and Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream.  Leonard graduated from Cornell University in 1971.

Kirk King is owner, president and CEO of CSS, one of the South’s fastest growing and highly respected technology consulting companies. CSS specializes in the implementation and support of Oracle software systems. Over nine years ago, King plunged into the start-up world with a small team of fellow consulting experts he forged over years of industry experience. Today, CSS now competes with the likes of IBM, Deloitte & Touche, and Bearing Point as a global provider of systems integration services. King attributes his success as a technology entrepreneur to the loyalty and strengths of his employees.

Before starting CSS, King was Client Services Manager for ICS in Jacksonville, Florida. He was responsible for software and services sales, as well as project delivery and management. During his tenure, King’s team surpassed sales quotas each year and closed more new license business than any other business partner. This climax came with ICS’s closure of the largest deal at that time ever closed in J.D. Edwards' history.

King also served as V.P. of Operations for Oneita Industries, a Charleston-based apparel manufacturing company, where he managed Customer Service, Production Planning, Purchasing, Distribution, Transportation and Information Systems. Before joining Oneita, King worked for various Up-State manufacturing companies (including Springs Industries). During this period, he led multiple systems implementation and engineering projects in support of manufacturing and distribution process improvement initiatives.

Thanks to consistency, perseverance and profound respect for both customers and employees, King has created an organizational culture of excellence across the company. As an Oracle Certified Advantage Partner and Oracle’s highest rated JD Edwards partner in North America, CSS software experts bring years of industry experience in manufacturing and distribution to each project. This combination of skills provides a critical business end-user’s perspective to the complex task of properly implementing software. Since its inception, CSS has engaged in numerous process and technology engineering projects for companies like Giant Cement, Nucor Steel, Hill-Rom, CommScope, GlaxoSmithKline, Baxter Healthcare and Ball Container Corporation.

CSS was honored by the Charleston Regional Business Journal in 2003, 2004 and again in 2005 as one of the 20 fastest growing companies in the Trident area. It now employs approximately 100 consultants. CSS was recruited to Daniel Island in 2001 as one of the charter members of the Charleston Digital Corridor.

King has a BS degree in Industrial Management from Clemson University and CPIM certification from APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society).

Jim holds memberships in the Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia State Bars and is admitted in the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia. Jim earned his undergraduate degree in History from Princeton University in 1995 and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2002.

Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. is widely considered one of the most visionary and highly effective governmental leaders in America. First elected Mayor in December 1975, Mayor Riley is serving an unprecedented eighth term. Under his leadership, Charleston has become one of the most livable and progressive cities in the United States. Mayor Riley has led a city government with an impressive record of innovation in economic development and urban revitalization, public safety, housing, arts and culture, and the creation of park and other public spaces.

Mayor Riley has held a number of national leadership positions and received many awards and distinctions. He served as President of the U. S. Conference of Mayors 1986-87 and currently serves on the USCM's Executive Committee. He served as Chairman of the Cities Task Force of the Southern Growth Policies Board, served as President of the National Association of Democratic Mayors (1988-92). He was given the Outstanding Mayors Award by the National Urban Coalition, the Distinguished Citizen Award by the National Association of Realtors and named the 1991 Municipal Leader of the Year by American City & County. Mayor Riley has received the Order of the Palmetto, been named South Carolinian of the Year, and given the 1982 Verner Award by the South Carolina Arts Commission for outstanding contributions to the arts. In June, 2000, he was awarded the first President's Award from the U. S. Conference of Mayors for outstanding leadership. In July 2000, he was honored as the first recipient of the Urban Land Institute J. C. Nichols Prize for Visionary Urban Development.

Through his lifetime of experience in Charleston, Mayor Riley has become a leading expert on urban design and livability issues and is a frequent speaker across the country on these topics. He was a founder of the Mayors' Institute for City Design (MICD) and has provided critical urban design support to over two hundred fifty mayors across America. Mayor Riley received the 1994 Thomas Jefferson Award from the American Institute of Architects for Public Architecture for "his exceptional leadership and 'Jeffersonian' vision in redefining the promise and, ultimately the future, of our nation and its cities."

Joseph P. Riley, Jr. was born in Charleston in 1943. He graduated from Bishop England High School, The Citadel (1964) and the University of South Carolina School of Law (1967). In 1968, Mayor Riley was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, where he served for six years. He and his wife Charlotte have two sons, Joe and Bratton.

Stephen M. Lanier, Ph.D. was appointed Associate Provost for Research and Professor of Pharmacology at the Medical University of South Carolina in December 2006. Dr. Lanier has been continually supported by the National Institutes of Health since 1985 and is the recipient of numerous awards including a Research Scholar Award from the Yamanouchi Foundation, and an appointment as a Fellow of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Lanier received postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School in the Cardiac Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was the recipient of a fellowship from the American Heart Association and a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Following his training, Dr. Lanier was appointed to a faculty position in the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and continued his research in the Cardiac Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1991, he was recruited by to the Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the Medical University of South Carolina where he rose in the ranks to tenured professor.

In March 2001, Dr. Lanier took the position of Chair in the Department of Pharmacology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans where he was appointed as the Lederle Laboratories/David R. Bethune Professor of Pharmacology.

Dr. Lanier is currently the Principal Investigator on two R01 grants from the NIH. His research achievements include recognition with a Research Scholar Award from the Yamanouchi Foundation and an appointment as a Fellow of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Lanier received his BS degree from Tennessee Technological Institute and his doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences.

Mr. Allen was able to leverage his years in the real estate industry, web marketing, and software development experience to form a business, truly pushing the limits for web marketing in the real estate industry. Since its formation in 2006, BoomTown has experienced triple digit, year-over-year growth by focusing on a measurable and predictable method of ensuring a high broker/agent return on investment using their end-to-end web marketing platform.

Prior to BoomTown, Allen co-founded (2004-2006) SLANT Media. There, Allen gained experience creating effective web marketing campaigns and developing intuitive websites and web applications for clients from various industries. Previously, Allen provided consulting services in software development for large, residential real estate companies throughout the country (2001-2004).

Allen received his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Clemson University in 2002.

Jonathan Butler is one of the founding members of Automated Trading Desk (ATD). He joined the company in 1988 and, as the first employee of ATD, Butler was a critical player in the development of ATD's proprietary limit-order trading system, creating the initial software architecture based on mathematical algorithms. In addition to being an accomplished trader, he has been instrumental in building a cutting-edge software engineering function at ATD. Butler received his bachelor's degree in computer science from the College of Charleston.