By Betsy Finklea
The Bolts, Screws, and Forks Lunch Series hosted by the DCP3 launched the first meeting in their series with entrepreneur, Tim Norwood, today at the City of Dillon Visitor Center.
A full house turned out for the event. Guests enjoyed a delicious hamburger lunch prepared by Cindy’s Kitchen as they listened to Norwood and Dillon County Economic Development Director Rodney Berry talk about Norwood’s journey. City of Dillon Mayor Tally McColl introduced Norwood before the conversation began.
Berry said Norwood’s story was not a get rich quick story, it was a story of grind and perseverance.
Norwood said he got his ambition from his mother. He was an active Boy Scout and earned his Eagle Scout.
The Francis Marion graduate talked about moving to Georgia and Texas, where he stayed for two years. While in Texas, he met a debutante and was exposed to so much by that family.
His mother told him to come home and work with her building Farmer’s Home houses. He decided to do this. He was a home builder and real estate broker. His first five years were fantastic. Then he got a big head and started taking risks he shouldn’t take. He got stuck with 13 spec houses he built and couldn’t sell. He started taking jobs he shouldn’t have taken to try to turn cash. He said finally he had enough.
He owed a great deal of money. He finally sold the houses for basic construction costs. He was about $300,000 in debt. He tried to work out something with some of the vendors.
Norwood said he got convicted of some bad checks in Columbia and had to pick up trash on the side of the road in an orange suit on I-20. He couldn’t get jobs. Some people wouldn’t hire him because of his background. He eventually went to work at Carolina Model Homes. He got back in the home building business. He and his brother had sold six or seven homes at a fixed rate, and Hurricane Andrew came along and building supplies went through the roof and they ended up losing a great deal.
In 1994, he went into something to help people rebuild their credit. A manager of a mobile home lot came in, and he was making a fortune selling mobile homes, and he decided to do that. He said he was there for three months, and he felt like they were taking advantage of people, and he just couldn’t do it.
Norwood talked about becoming a Christian in 1987. He said that one night he was reading his Bible and a verse in Galatians jumped out at him that said forget your past and move forward. He said after that epiphany, he was a new person. The next day he started a business called Mobile Home Brokers. He was making six figures and developed some property. Once he forgot his past, it started moving quickly.
He then talked about the peaks in his journey. He talked about some of his success in the mobile home business. He talked about his work with a company called SMS. They sold the company for a great deal of money. He took a year off in 2004 to run for state senate. He then worked for ADP. After a while, they started another business called Synergi Partners. He retired from the tax credit business in 2022.
Norwood talked about how he got into business at Victor’s and eventually became the owner. He then detailed about moving Victor’s downtown and how Hotel Florence came about. He said they had to convince the city to be a part of this because they were not bought into it.
He talked about Drew Griffin, who took over as city manager. He said Griffin had vision. The city eventually participated in it.
Norwood talked about some of the things that took place to improve downtown Florence.
You can watch this conversation at the following link:
More About Tim Norwood
(From Mayor Tally McColl’s Introduction)
Norwood is the retired Executive Vice-President of Sales at Synergi Partners. He has more than 25 years of experience in state and federal tax credits, regulatory compliance, and employee screening. He owns Victor’s, an upscale restaurant in downtown Florence. Prior to Synergi Partners, he served as Global Sales Manager and Vice-President of Sales at ADP Tax Credit Services.
Norwood is a graduate of Francis Marion University. He was extremely active in the Boy Scouts and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Norwood has served as President of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the Francis Marion University Board of Trustees, President of Florence County Progress, Chairman of the Pee Dee Area Boy Scouts of America, and Chairman of the Florence Downtown Development Corporation. He is presently serving as Chairman of the Francis Marion University Foundation. Norwood was named the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce Businessperson of the Year in 2009, was a 2011 South Carolina Economic Development Ambassador, an Outstanding Alumnus of Francis Marion University, and was awarded the Marion Medallion.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Betsy Finklea/The Dillon County News, LLC
