The Upstate doesn't need another place to collect business cards.
It needs more opportunities for good people to actually get to know each other.
Stop collecting contacts. Start making connections.
Upstate Means Business is a local business media brand and community built around a simple idea: business gets better when people actually know each other. Not "know of." Know.
We do that three ways: WATCH — video spotlights on the people and businesses building the Upstate. CONNECT — a free community of business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs across the region. PLAY — NetPlay, our signature in-person events built around games and shared experiences instead of awkward networking mixers. Put it together, and it adds up to GROW — real relationships that create real opportunity.
Founder + Host
Meet Jon Evans.
Jon Evans created Upstate Means Business around a pretty simple belief: the more good people you know, the better business (and life) tends to get. He's spent his career in sales, marketing, communication and bringing people together, and UMB is where all of that comes together.
He's spent his career in sales, marketing, communication and bringing people together — as an entertainer, an MC, a recruiter, a marketing director, a webinar host and a sales trainer. UMB is where all of that finally comes together in one place: walking into local businesses, asking good questions, and building a community around the people doing interesting work throughout the Upstate.
Serving Upstate South Carolina
UMB is built for the whole Upstate — with an initial focus on Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Greer, Simpsonville, Travelers Rest, Fountain Inn and Duncan. If you're building something in the Upstate, there's a place for you here.