Star Profile
Ike McCleese of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce

Ike McCleese Photo by John Temple Ligon

By John Temple Ligon

Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Ike McCleese learned the lessons of hard work and everyday dedication growing up on a dairy farm in Anderson County, He was president in his senior year at Anderson Boys High School, which evolved and merged with Anderson Girls high School into T. L. Hanna High School.

After a freshman semester at Clemson, McCleese came home to Anderson College, finishing in two years and moving on to USC's Columbia campus. After another two years, McCleese had his degree in political science and his position in Washington with the U.S. Senate.

In 1966, McCleese worked with Fritz Hollings to defeat Donald Russell for the U.S. Senate. After the inauguration, he ran Hollings' Upstate office while Bubba Meng headed the Columbia compound.

Lt. Governor John West had a tough fight against Albert Watson for the governor's job in 1970, but with McCleese running the Upstate campaign and with Watson running a self-destructive racist record, West prevailed.

A new office with new federal dollars was organized by Governor West to combat illicit drugs. West put McCleese in charge. McCleese applied the funds to productive use, and the project worked its way into the Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

After a few years as head of marketing for the Columbia-based architectural/engineering firm, LBC&W, McCleese became vice president at Cook/Ruef for political activities, mostly among Democrats. All went well until Ronald Reagan swept the country including South Carolina in 1980.

McCleese stayed with Cook/Ruef while it was sold to what became Chernoff Newman.

In 1994, McCleese took the job as president and chief executive officer at the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. At the time, the Chamber was in deep debt in a building it couldn't fill or afford. Also, the Chamber's old building at Sumter and Laurel was empty and unsold.

McCleese managed the sale of the old building and this past January the sale of the Chamber's headquarters on Richland Street, leasing back for a six-year occupancy.

Finally on sound financial footing, the Chamber is looking at a major capital campaign by 2007. Over the next five years, McCleese sees seven priorities: (1) economic development, (2) a great transportation system, (3) homelessness, (4) river development, (5) environment and quality of life, (6) hydrogen fuel cell research and development as an economic engine, and (7) intergovernmental cooperation.

A tremendous opportunity McCleese is developing with the department of defense concerns alternative fuels. Once the DOD establishes a program for alternative fuels, the program headquarters must be located. The Columbia scene with USC's Innovista connected with Aiken's Savannah River Site and Greenville's ICAR (Clemson's automotive research center) all set up an ideal headquarters here for the DOD's alternative fuels program.

Another opportunity further developed is the Midlands Education and Business Alliance, which focuses on Midlands Tech and its offerings in cooperation with local businesses for a combined work/study program. A separate 501C3 can receive support for MEBA.

Among many other proposed projects, such as managing homelessness, McCleese sees a positive push on all fronts. After all, this is the community that connected its three major governments to move forward for the Midlands Tech campuses, the airport, the zoo, and most recently the convention center.