Mortgage Broker in Duncan, SC

About Duncan

DUNCAN, S.C. (WSPA) – Duncan has grown a lot since BMW came to the area but long before that the farms are what surrounded Duncan.

Duncan is exactly what you think of when you think of a small town and the people are proud of that and its history.

The town is named after a man named Leroy Duncan who was a farmer in the 1800s when he heard of the railroad passing through from Greenville to Spartanburg.

Local historian Fredrick Tucker said Duncan capitalized on the opportunity and bought 158 acres of land.

“He was thinking that it would be a perfect place for a little town,” Tucker explained.

“He bought up those acres for $1,000 and that stretched from present-day Greer Street to Church Street.”

The railway was established in Duncan around the 1870s and historically this is when the mills would come through, but that wasn’t the case for the town of Duncan.

The town was built only around the railroad.

Tucker, who grew up in Duncan said, when he thinks of the town, he thinks of the railroad.

“If you’re anybody that’s passing through here, you’ll think of it too.”

Stories of the town are what help keep it alive.

Whether it’s about the train tracks that started it all or the monument that’s dedicated to a beloved member of the community.

Mayor Shirley Clopton said, “I feel like we could be the only town that has a monument to our maintenance trash man.”

“His name was Dyke and he was like known in Duncan for picking everybody’s garbage.”

As Mayor Clopton laughed she said, “I don’t know how that came about but I think it’s just great that we still have that monument.”

Mayor Clopton was born and raised in Duncan and a lot of her memories come from those train tracks that sit across from her office in Town Hall.

“When I was a little girl my grandfather owned the only taxi in Duncan. He also hung the mail on the hooks out here for the trains to come by. the train wouldn’t even stop it would fly through Duncan and they used this long hook to grab the bag. He would take me. So, I could sit right here at this intersection and look out the window at the very spot where he would take me to but he wouldn’t let me out of the car. I could still feel that. You know what I mean? When you done something that you love and you can still think and feel yourself back then and see that train go by.”

Tucker hears a lot of stories like that when researching the town and one that gets a few laughs was brought up because of a picture of one of the first cars that drove through town.

“When I showed that picture to an older man that lived here, he said, ‘I remember the first car I saw going down Main Street and it was speeding along at 15 miles an hour.”

“It was brand new and he wasn’t used to it and he was waving at everybody and screaming get out of the way!” Tucker explained.

While cars move much faster now and Main Street is a lot busier these days, Mayor Clopton said, the people of Duncan are proud of their small town.

“I’m just proud of the fact we do still maintain just a cozy, friendly, safe atmosphere for people to live in.”

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Posted on: March 9, 2023; Updated on: March 9, 2023 By Andersen Cook, COOKEA2@mailbox.sc.edu

Duncan Alford, Associate Dean for the Law Library and Professor of Law, passed away on Feb. 18.

Prior to joining the law school in 2007, he served as head of reference and adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Library, law librarian at Princeton University, and reference librarian at the Columbia University Law Library.

He was admitted to practice law in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia and at various times practiced corporate law, banking law, and commercial real estate law. Alford also served as consulting director of the Peking University School of Transnational Law Library, which offers a United States-style juris doctorate and a juris master in Chinese law. Before attending law school, Duncan was a business analyst with McKinsey & Company, Inc., in Atlanta.

The following remembrances were written by Duncan’s law school colleagues, who miss him greatly.

Duncan was a man of rich intellect and spirituality. He was a consummate professional whose advice I regularly sought and whose delivery I trusted to be balanced with practical wisdom and dapper humor. I’m proud to call him a colleague. I’m more proud to call him a friend. --Jan Baker, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Duncan was one of the most diligent people with whom I have ever worked. He never over- or under-promised. He knew what he could achieve and he did it. But I most appreciated his honesty. He never just tried to win an argument. He tried to find the best resolution for everyone and avoided thinking his position was the only way to get there. He was literally an institutional pillar that we will never replace. --Derek Black, Professor of Law

Duncan was an intelligent, precise person with a sharp wit, and sharper intellect. He was, above all, a gentleman. --Regenia Dowling, Administrative Coordinator/Business Manager

Duncan was always phenomenally professional and hardworking – a great colleague. He cared a great deal about the law school and the Coleman Karesh Library, but, even more, he cared about everyone who worked for him and with him. --Lisa Eichhorn, Director of Legal Writing and Professor of Law

Duncan was a revered leader in our law school. He was brilliant and kind. He elevated all who worked with him, and he inspired our students to be the best they can be. We deeply miss him, but his contributions to our school and faculty will endure for years to come. --William Hubbard, Dean and Professor of Law

I have a vivid memory of Duncan dancing in the street during a drive-by to celebrate a colleague. Because of Covid, we could not gather, but I watched with delight as Duncan danced with joy to express his happiness for her accomplishments. This memory of Duncan has always made me smile; it captures him in an unguarded moment, rejoicing with friends. Today, this memory brings me comfort. --Susan Kuo, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

I will miss Duncan’s sense of humor and whimsy. He was a serious scholar and a talented administrator, but he had a lighthearted side. He came to work last Halloween dressed as Mario. He brought his Grogu toy to work and took pictures with it. He wore seasonal ties and suspenders on holidays. He occasionally brought gadgets to work and entertained us with them, like the drone he flew around the courtyard or the little remote-controlled robot that followed him around like a dog. I took those things for granted until now. --Rebekah Maxwell, Associate Director for Library Operations

Duncan was a fine administrator, hired excellent people, and had vision for where we want to go. He was good with people, easy to work with, and always focused on improving service. He will be missed and a tough act to follow. --John Montgomery, Dean Emeritus

I will always remember Duncan as a terrific colleague, as well as for his professionalism, his commitment to the School of Law, his dedication to his students and to the legal community. I always enjoyed the projects we worked on together, especially the move from the old building to the new building. Finally, Duncan had a terrific, sly sense of humor which often brought a joyful moment to meetings. He will be sorely missed. --Gary Moore, Assistant Dean for Academic Technology

Duncan set an example of work-life balance. He encouraged the librarians to meet high standards in our work, and to take relaxing and restorative time off, as he did, often bringing back treats to share from his travels. In moments of playfulness, and to provide content for the law library’s social media, he even brought his drone and Star Wars related toys to work. He will not be forgotten. --Eve Ross, Reference Librarian

Duncan made an impact in everything he did. Even as he managed an immense administrative load in leading the Law School Library, he continued to conduct research domestically as well as in Nigeria and in China that will have lasting effects for decades to come. I am honored for him to have been my colleague for more than a decade but even more fortunate to have had Duncan as a friend for just as long. --Joel Samuels, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

Duncan would regularly reach out to personally share articles and reports and links and resources that were perfectly tailored to my areas of research. It was clear that he cared about people, knowledge, and connections between the two. He also cared about our law school and its future. Indeed, the planning documents he prepared for our school and for our library were so thorough that I was relieved to finally catch a small typo in one and thereby show I had read it! --Bryant Walker Smith, Associate Professor of Law

Duncan made everyone around him better off. He put the person first and policy second. I’ll never forget disagreeing with him on some seemingly unimportant matter in a meeting. Afterward, I asked him privately if my disagreement had been offensive. He looked straight at me, smiled, and started to laugh: it would take much more than a policy disagreement to upset him, he assured me. Duncan was always supportive, professional, and kind. I always felt welcomed and appreciated by him. --Ned Snow, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Scholarship

Duncan was one of the best – directors, bosses, mentors, friends, and human beings. I will forever be grateful for his wisdom, kindness, patience, advice, flexibility, humor, tenacity, and dedication to those and for that he held dear. He gave me support and encouragement to grow professionally and taught me so very much. He is and will be greatly missed. --Candle Wester, Associate Director for Faculty Services and Administration

Duncan’s hand in the design and construction of the new law school was as important as anyone’s. His attention to future needs and to design detail was invaluable. Duncan was proud of that accomplishment, but he never failed to put first the people in the building. Duncan held everyone to high standards. But what I remember best is that, when an issue arose with a member of his staff or with a faculty colleague, Duncan never lost faith in that person. Instead of giving up, he worked harder with those whose performance gave him concern. More often than not, his efforts succeeded. --Rob Wilcox, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law

Whenever I crossed paths with Duncan, he always found a way to identify our mutual interests and start up a great conversation. I enjoyed our chats about topics from Charlotte to Shenzhen on my walks to the parking lot with Duncan. --Emily Winston, Assistant Professor of Law

DUNCAN — When clients walk through the door of Joey Simpson’s Refined Skin and Body medical spa, she wants them to feel like family.

While Simpson does much of the spa’s injectable aesthetics, her husband serves as the medical director and provider, and her mother serves as the patient coordinator for her business.

Since Simpson’s family is helping her live out one of her dreams, her goal is for her clients to also feel like they’re a part of a family atmosphere when they come in for services.

After having over 20 years of experience in nursing, pharmaceutical sales and managing medical clinics with her husband, Simpson decided to venture into the aesthetics side of the medical field. She opened Refined Skin & Body in Duncan in late January to pursue a passion and to open a business that offered services she felt her community was lacking.

“It’s been a journey, but it’s been really fun,” Simpson said.

The medical spa on East Main Street offers some of the same services as a non-medical spa in addition to services that are supervised by an on-site medical doctor through the use of technology, products and tools that aren’t used at a non-medical spa.

Simpson said the business aspect of opening the spa wasn’t difficult, but the aesthetics side was more challenging.

Over the past year, she and her husband went to training sessions, spoke with medical professionals in aesthetics and received certifications in devices and procedures that cover aesthetics.

“We’ve tried to make it very encompassing in aesthetics and weight loss altogether so that if someone came here for a regular facial and had other areas they wanted to address, it can all be done under one roof,” she said.

Some of the services offered at the medical spa are microneedling with radiofrequency, neurotoxin injections, fillers, skin resurfacing with CO2 machines, body contouring, IV therapy, laser hair removal and medical-grade peels.

The spa has CO2 fractionated laser machines that cause resurfacing of the skin for better tightening and help with acne scarring, discoloration, fine lines and wrinkles.

Customers can get microneedling with radiofrequency as well through 24-karat coated needles that go into the skin and emit radiofrequency that can kill fat cells underneath the skin layer and produce results of skin tightening and stimulate the body to produce more collagen.

Simpson said the business’s weight loss program is popular.

Once a client gets to their ideal weight, they can look into body contouring services. For the weight loss program, semaglutide, an FDA-approved injectable weight loss medication is used. Clients also receive education on ways to implement good lifestyle choices and eating habits into their daily routines.

Customers can get medical-grade products from ZO Skin Health and SkinCeuticals.

The spa is 3,800 square feet and has five occupied treatment rooms.

In addition to a physician and someone who does injections, Simpson has an esthetician that focuses on makeup and facials and a medical esthetician who specializes in machines on her staff.

Simpson said as her business grows, she plans to look for a massage therapist and someone who does permanent makeup.

DUNCAN, S.C. (WSPA) – A dump truck overturned on a Duncan road on Wednesday afternoon.

The crash happened on Shoals Road just past the Berry Shoals Intermediate School entrance.

Traffic was stopped and rerouted around the overturned truck.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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DUNCAN, S.C. —

The president of AFL, a company based in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, has been suspended.

Jody Gallagher was the president and CEO of AFL, a company based in Duncan.

The company told WYFF News 4 in an email that Gallagher was suspended pending an internal investigation.

The email said Jaxon Lang had been named acting CEO.

"No other comments are available at this time," the email from AFL said.

The AFL website says Gallagher has served as President and CEO of AFL since 2003.

The website says the company is "an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise, hyperscale and industrial markets."

The website says the company has 7,000 employees worldwide.

According to the company website, Gallagher has been a member of the board of directors for AFL’s parent company, Fujikura, headquartered in Tokyo.

The website says, "Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan."

A news release from Fujikura posted on May 26, 2023, said there was an investigation related to "an improper real estate acquisition at a U.S. Subsidiary," after a whistleblowing complaint on May 3, 2023.

The release said in part:

"Based on a whistleblowing complaint made on March 3, 2023, we were made aware of suspicious activities regarding the personal misappropriation of real property owned by one of our US subsidiaries by a director of the Company, who is the CEO of such subsidiary, and launched an internal investigation immediately thereafter. Our investigation is still continuing at this moment, however, to date, it has uncovered that an improper acquisition was made with respect to land purchased in 2020 and a building built in 2022 by such subsidiary (the total value of such land and building at the time of acquisition amounts to approximately 6.5 million US dollars (equivalent to 847 million Japanese yen)). Further, our investigation to date has uncovered that the said officer disguised the purpose for acquiring the land and building to make such subsidiary acquire such property and that said officer used such property for a certain period for its personal purpose. The said officer has been suspended from the US subsidiary and the Company."

The company has not said whether this investigation lead to Gallagher being suspended.