Small Business "Backbone" Podcast

Small Business "Backbone" Podcast

by Frank Knapp
EntrepreneurshipPolitics
Season 2
Many SC small towns are on a "Roster of Shame" for corruption, mismanagement and infighting
Tony Bartelme, senior projects reporter for the Charleston Post and Courier talked with podcast host Frank Knapp about his latest series of investigative reports called Townfall. He created a Roster of Shame list of 120 South Carolina towns and municipalities that have experienced various problems ranging from embezzlement to corruption to misconduct to mismanagement. Bartelme said that the common theme in most of these towns is they are not doing their basic financial analysis and audits in spite of state law requiring towns to do independent auditing and submitting these to the state. Towns included in these “accountability deserts”, resulting largely from mismanagement, allow for corruption, waste, questionable conduct and infighting. Bartelme talks about Elloree, SC, as an example of the problem. He points out that 23 states monitor and respond to their local governments in fiscal distress. But South Carolina does not. He illustrates how North Carolina’s Local Government Commission has done a good job helping their towns in trouble get back on track. Bartelme believes that good governance at the local level is essential for economic development in these rural and underserved communities.
S2 · E9
Jul 16, 2026
26:52
GOP Gubernatorial candidate, Rom Reddy, warns of the danger of corporate money in elections
Rom Reddy said that he has lived the true American dream. He immigrated from India as a teenager, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, working in the corporate world, becoming a business owner and ran for Governor of South Carolina this year. While he was not successful in his Gubernatorial campaign, Mr. Reddy tells the podcast host, Frank Knapp, the experience opened his eyes to problem of negative campaigning, and he saw politics bring out the real evil in people. Mr. Reddy talks about his opposition to data centers because they do not create jobs while raising the costs for consumers. He cites the primary reason South Carolina has not passed regulations on data centers is the large amount of “dark money” from the data center industry flowing through Political Acton Committees to support candidates from the state to the local level. He calls the system “corrupt” and says that if we don’t fix it, “we the citizen will forever be lost.” Mr. Reddy announced that starting September 1st, he is launching a podcast called “The Reddy Room”. He plans on interviewing national politicians and experts on important issues.
S2 · E8
Jul 1, 2026
26:55
Gubernatorial candidate Nancy Mace ready to take on data centers
SC Congresswoman Nancy Mace spoke with Small Business “Backbone” Podcast host Frank Knapp about what she intends to do about data centers if she is elected Governor. She says that she has heard from a lot of people across South Carolina that they are against data centers and that they don’t think that their voices are being heard. Congresswoman Mace severely criticized one of the Senate bills, offered this past legislative session to supposed to regulate data centers, saying that it did not protect ratepayers. She said that the failure of the legislature to pass meaningful data center regulations was a result of “doing what we’ve always done, which is nothing.” If elected, Congresswoman Mace said that she will be very involved in the data center issue and that she would personally wright the bill.
S2 · E7
May 29, 2026
14:27
New report sheds negative light on South Carolina transparency on data center incentives
Anthony Elmo, Public Education Defender for Good Jobs First, a national organization founded in 1998 that fights for transparency around public money used for economic development purposes. His organization pushes back on corporate welfare, he told podcast host Frank Knapp. Elmo’s organization cites data center tax abatement as one of their concerns, especially because it results in public schools losing tax revenue. In South Carolina, the estimate is upwards of $500 million in funding not going to schools. Good Jobs First recently released a report, “Data Center Tax Abatements. Why States and Localities Must Disclose These Soaring Revenue Losses”, which identifies 14 states that offer incentives to data centers yet do not disclose how much tax incentives are going to data center projects. South Carolina is one of those states. The conversation covered recent efforts in the South Carolina legislature to regulate data center development and at least get one year disclosures of data centers tax incentive used and their water consumption.
S2 · E6
Apr 26, 2026
25:57
Senator Leber on needed AI regulations: The longer we ignore it, the harder the fight is going to be.
Charleston Senator Matt Leber has worked in the SC House and now in the Senate to push legislation to regulate Artificial Intelligence. He talked with podcast host, Frank Knapp, about how he has sponsored bills that address guardrails on chatbots, computer programs that pose as humans to engage AI users in conversations online. These computer-driven chatbot conversations have been responsible for suicides and other self-harm, harm to others, sexual exploitation, anxiety, depression and other negative consequences. Chatbots also collect sensitive personal information that is then used for targeted advertising. Senator Leber’s bill addresses the above problems and importantly seeks to hold AI to product-liability laws. Senator Leber believes that we are facing a real battle for our dignity, for our personal rights and for being stakeholders for our children. The longer we ignore this problem, he says, the harder the fight is going to be.
S2 · E5
Mar 18, 2026
22:59
Senator Kennedy pushes for small business property tax relief
Senator Carlisle Kennedy of Lexington County believes that helping small business owners should be a priority for the state legislature. While big businesses, with their out-of-state ownership and shareholders, often get the tax breaks and other state incentives, Senator Kennedy tells podcast host Frank Knapp that he wants to focus on in-state small business owners who are the heart of communities. Senator Kennedy's efforts have been to reduce the business property taxes owed by a small businesses. His first bill 2024 would have reduced the fair market value of business property owned by a small business. He has just introduced a new version of that bill that would give a $10,000 tax credit on business property owned by a small business. He argues that reducing property tax on small businesses will wind up providing more tax revenue for counties because that money will be spent in their local economies.
S2 · E4
Feb 10, 2026
19:27
Deepfake expert has warning for all politicians
Professor Siwei Lyu, University of Buffalo, started his research on detecting computer manipulated images and audio 26 years ago. Then in 2017 Artificial Intelligence (AI) came on the scene and he was both excited and concerned. The ability to produce realistic deepfake manipulated images, videos and audio exploded. Professor Lyu told podcast host Frank Knapp that detecting deepfakes will no longer be possible by individuals and institutions. Only sophisticated technical examinations will be able to detect deepfakes. The tools to create deepfakes are easy to obtain and even people with no computer education, including teenagers, can easily be deepfake creators. Professor Lyu has a warning for all politicians regardless of partisan affiliation. Politicians are particularly vulnerable to deepfakes because of the amount of public video, images, and audio of them. Professor Lyu’s computer lab has created a free online platform for deepfake detection, the Deepfake-O-Meter. However, he believes that there should be legal requirements for AI generated deepfakes to be labeled, including both visual and audio warnings as well as watermarking of all AI generated deepfakes. Such state and federal laws would reduce, but not eliminate, the number of deepfakes being generated and hold deepfake creators legally accountable for the labeling.
S2 · E3
Feb 9, 2026
26:41
SC Professor talks about his experience in Minnesota
The whole world has been watching immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Probably not too many South Carolinians have been there during this time. But Professor Will McCorkle just returned from Minnesota. McCorkle is an Associate Professor at the College of Charleston with a research focus on the intersection of nationalism, immigration, and education with a particular focus on more marginalized migrant communities. He is also the program director of the University’s Master’s of Teaching, Learning, and Advocacy. Professor McCorkle talks about his personal experience and interaction with others at protests and vigils. He also shares his conversations with small business owners and the effect the ICE activities have had on their business.
S2 · E2
Feb 5, 2026
25:35
National non-profit consumer organization pushes for states to regulate AI
Ben Winters, Director of AI and Data Privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, leads his 57-year old organization’s efforts to have states regulate artificial intelligence to protect the public. Winters argues that there is no better time for states to regulate AI to address problems ranging from algorithms used to recommend actions impacting consumers, deep fake images, utilization of personal information for marketing, and AI generated interactions with the public including children. His organization has just released the People-First Chatbot model bill that states can modify. Included in the bill is giving the private right of action when the AI products harm consumers. This product liability is a critical need for states to pass. Big tech companies have already said in court that they are not liable for the harm their product causes.
S2 · E1
Jan 22, 2026
25:16
Season 1
National coalition supports regulating AI to protect the public
Realizing that his young adult children and their generation had been very poorly served by a failed policy experiment to let social media go completely unchecked with no regulation for 20 years, Rob Eleveld, who has an extensive background as the CEO of tech software and data companies, co-founded the Transparency Coalition in 2023. Eleveld talked with podcast host Frank Knapp about the mission of his coalition, which says that the health and well-being of US citizens, especially children, has been an afterthought in the race towards profits masked as innovation. The sexual and suicide grooming of children by AI generated chat boxes are horrific examples of why states should regulate AI. He says that the tech lobby has DC wired so that it won’t pass the AI regulation that President Trump called for in his recent Executive Order, which called for an almost complete ban on states regulating AI. He says that no AI regulation already passed has impacted national security and innovation, the concerns stated by the President. Eleveld lists laws passed in red states that are good examples of needed legislation in every state. His coalition advocates that the AI industry should be held accountable for the harm it causes to our citizens and businesses under existing product liability laws. He says that small businesses in particular are very exposed if they use AI systems because the AI companies shove all liability in the use of their systems onto the business. Eleveld calls for laws to make the developer of the product also liable.
S1 · E47
Dec 22, 2025
28:55
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