Engenius’ Manley named 2013 South Carolina Young Entrepreneur of the Year
April 29, 2013
GREENVILLE, SC – April 29, 2013 – The U.S. Small Business Administration has named Chris Manley, cofounder of Greenville web design and development company Engenius, the 2013 South Carolina Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
The SBA’s Young Entrepreneur award honors a small-business entrepreneur under the age of 30 whose company has experienced outstanding growth and demonstrated considerable innovation and community involvement.
Engenius was born from Manley’s own need for a solid, affordable website service. In 2007, Manley was unable to find an affordable yet competent provider to create a website for his non-profit organization, ReWiGo Ministries. Realizing this was a problem facing other small businesses and non-profits, Manley and partner Chase Finch decided that the best way to find a solution was to become the solution.
In January 2008, Finch and Manley, then 23, started Engenius to provide comprehensive web solutions to small businesses and organizations. Launched at the peak of the recession, Engenius’s initial growth was slow yet steady. In 2010, that changed when Engenius introduced the Top Hat services concept to provide small businesses with an even more affordable full web service package. Now known as the Small Business Website Package, it helped Engenius to more than double its number of clients that year.
By September 2010, Engenius had hired its first employee. Four months later, in January 2011, the company became a bona fide actual brick-and-mortar business with the opening of an office on Camperdown Way in downtown Greenville. One year later, Engenius moved across the street into its own building. Currently, Engenius has six employees and serves more than 130 clients.
With its roots in the non-profit world, the heart of Engenius is in service to others. In 2010, Manley launched the Engenius Grants program to provide non-profits with funding and in-kind support. Through its Grants program, Engenius has provided more than $40,000 in funding and pro-bono services. Manley also continues to run ReWiGo, which creates safe home environments for the elderly, disabled and impoverished.
Manley was nominated by Scott Whelchel, area manager of the Greenville Small Business Development Center. The SBA will recognize Manley and all other South Carolina award winners during the annual Salute to Small Business event on Thursday, May 23, in Columbia.
About Engenius
Engenius is headquartered in Greenville, S.C., and specializes in serving businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs through web design, mobile apps, and online marketing. Learn more at www.engeniusweb.com.
