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John Bauknight
Founder
John received his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Wofford College in 1989. Since graduation, he has been active in the start up of several entrepreneurial ventures. The first start up began in 1990 in the employee benefits industry; John was a founding partner of a third party administrative firm. In 1994, John left the employee benefits field for the real estate and investment arena and he is still involved as President of the real estate investment firm, Longleaf Holdings, LLC.
In 1997, John read an article in an entrepreneur's magazine about the shredding and recycling industry and passed it along to his brother-in-law, Nick Wildrick. John foresaw great marketing and sales potential as the business plan for Shred First was being formulated. He put his real estate career on hold and helped start Shred First, LLC. In seven years, Shred First was named by INC. Magazine as one of the country's 500 fastest growing, privately-held companies twice; sales were good.
In 2003, John and Nick, along with a silent partner, founded Total Records & Information Management, LLC.
Since the sale of Shred First in August 2006, John has been focusing on business development for Total Records and Longleaf Holdings.
John is a member of The Episcopal Church of the Advent and is very active in the community:
- Member Young Presidents Organization 2004
- BB&T Local Advisory Board 2005
- Wofford Presidents Advisory Board 2007
- Spartanburg Community College Incubator Advisory Board 2007
- Spartanburg County Foundation Family Mentoring Program 2007
- Liberty Fellows Class 2010
- Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce: Entrepreneurial Representative 2009
- Spartanburg Regional Fellows Class 2010-2011
- Board Member of Privately held Manufacturing Firm 2009
- National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) Presidents Advisory 2010
- National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) Captive Board Secretary 2010
Past Trade Organizations and Boards:
- Wofford Terrier Club Board of Directors 2001-2003 and 2005-2009; Chariman 2008-2009
- Wofford Alumni Executive Council 2008-2009
- Charles Lea Center Foundation Board 2003-2010 (Chairman 2010)
- NAID Board (National Association of Information Destruction) 2002-05; President 2005-06
- Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors 2002-04; Board of Governors 2006-07
- Spartanburg Regional Board of Governors 2005-07
- Upstate Better Business Bureau Board 2001-04
- Chair on the Board of The Haven until last year in service 1990's
- Board of Upstate Presbyterian Student Council 1990's
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