About Chad

Chad is a native of Chattanooga, TN who graduated from The University of Virginia after taking a one-year sabbatical in 1988 to work in the Reagan White House.  

 

Shortly after college, Chad and two high school friends moved to Charleston, SC to start a restaurant. They sold the company in 2006 to a private equity firm after growing the brand to include sixteen restaurants and over a thousand employees throughout the Southeast and a national line of grocery products.

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Chad took a two-year sabbatical from his company to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff to then Governor Mark Sanford where he led the team which wrote the first working Executive Budget in state history.  Afterwards, Chad chaired several statewide organizations including the SC Venture Capital Authority, the SC Club for Growth and the SC Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (GEAR) Commission which identified over half a billion dollars in savings within the Budget and Control Board and helped pave the way for the creation of the Department of Administration.  

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Chad later served as Vice Chair of Nikki Haley’s Gubernatorial Transition Team and as her appointed Chair of the SC Board of Economic Advisors during the six years of her administration. Since then, Chad has been involved as an investor and advisor in many other successful startups and

real estate projects including the mixed-use redevelopment of the historic Cigar Factory in downtown Charleston.

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Chad lives on Sullivans Island where he is the proud parent to three teenagers.