Hilton Head Business Profiles

Join us for a spin with entrepreneur Trey Snow, who’s bringing a new ride to Old Town.

The rain had just tapered off in Old Town Bluffton as Will Moody greeted me by his pedicab in the Old Town Dispensary courtyard. The brief cloudburst, a remnant of Tropical Storm Julia’s crazed path around the Lowcountry, had scared off most of Old Town’s late-night scene. And yet the electric glow emanating from under the bike still drew curious onlookers. Dodging raindrops, a middle-aged bar patron peppered Moody with questions: how far he goes, how long he spends on the bike, what he charges.

Local entrepreneur introduces gelato brand to nationwide audience

Before her first and only trip to Italy in 2002, Ramona Fantini’s Sicilian friend told her that trying gelato would be life-changing. She was not wrong.

Robo-advisers are bringing financial advice to the masses by charging low management fees for customized asset allocation and automatic portfolio rebalancing.

More and more investors are turning to “robo-advisers” as a cheaper and more efficient alternative to traditional financial investment firms that require substantial investment sums and charge up to 1 percent to 2 percent annual portfolio management fees.

OKATIE COUPLE GIFTS DOG FENCING BUSINESS TO WOUNDED WARRIOR

You never know who you might meet in life. It could be someone who can change your life for the better overnight.

This happened to Chris Williams, a 42-year-old recently retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant and three-time Purple Heart recipient. It didn’t happen during one of his seven deployments overseas in war zones. It happened here in the Lowcountry last fall when he met Mark Peterson.

MEET JOHN TOLLY, THE MAN BEHIND SUNNY DAZE CUSTOM SURFBOARDS

Like many small business owners, John Tolly started Sunny Daze Surfboards with a mix of knack, necessity and passion.

“Buying surfboards can be very expensive, so I forced myself to make my own equipment,” Tolly says. He made his first board in 1997, and opened Sunny Daze Surfboards in 2000. “It began as a hobby and a passion, and it is still my passion today.”

HARGRAY COMMUNICATIONS RECENTLY CELEBRATED THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF ITS LOWCOUNTRY BROADBAND PLAN AT AN EVENT AT ITS HEADQUARTERS ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND.

Government and community leaders from Hilton Head, Bluffton and Beaufort were among those in attendance to acknowledge the growth of Hargray’s fiber-fueled network over the past year.

Kathy Chiarella was thrilled when her son Michael graduated college last year, but the excitement began to wane when January rolled around and he was still struggling to find a job.

Fearing he had lost confidence and needed some help, she called CompleteCandidate, a career service for recent college grads co-owned by Bluffton resident Nancy Thomas.

Melissa Christian’s biscuit business started from a somewhat selfish place: She wanted better treats for her dogs.

“We were shopping at Christmastime for our dogs’ Christmas stockings, and every package we looked at had more chemical-sounding ingredients than actual food ingredients,” she says. “We were pretty shocked. I kept saying, ‘This is gourmet?’”

Robotic science

Robotics kids: Back row (left to right); Breonia Wallace, Da-Zarriah Bush, Brandon Brantley, Janiah Orr, Brianna Smith, Alannah Bryant, Ayana

Grant, Middle row; Jayden Nunez, Kenneth Johnson, Hazella Jeffcoat, Axel Zepeda. Front row; Angel Gant, Nichelle Patrick, Jaela Gant.

Jackie O’Bannon can’t help but overflow with joy when she thinks about her 14 “babies.”

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