As executive director of the Greenville ONE Center, Lauren Johnson-Cummings is responsible for just about everything that happens in the 40,000-square-foot conference center — from managing the budget to hiring staff to overseeing events.
Through her 20-year career in event planning, she has made several stops in the bustling Upstate city, including the Greenville Convention Center and the Peace Center. Now, she is in charge of the boutique conference center that includes a 274-seat auditorium, meeting and classrooms, catering kitchen and café — all located at a prime downtown address.
She’s learned along the way how much the psychology degree she earned from the University of South Carolina in 2000 prepared her for a career in the high-stress field of event planning.
“When you work in events you meet all kinds of people with all kinds of personalities and expectations. In doing hundreds of events a year, I come across so many people and do so many different things,” she says. “My psychology degree has really helped me understand behavior and relationships as it relates to my career.”
Johnson-Cummings is a native of Akron, Ohio, but her family moved to Greenville when she was in high school. She started her college path as an art major at Spelman College in Atlanta and transferred to UofSC as a junior.
At the Greenville ONE Center, much of her job involves planning and organizing corporate events for organizations from around the world.
“A lot of my business is corporate planning, not social events. There is a lot riding on those events and they must be seamless,” she says. “We do a lot of repeat business and I say, ‘Once you walk through the doors at the Greenville ONE Center, we have a relationship for life.’”
And while she has had offers to leave, Greenville is truly home for Johnson-Cummings, her husband and their three children.
“I’ve established roots here. My parents are still here. Family is what keeps us here. And Greenville has grown so much. There is so much to see and do. It’s still a small city, but it has a cool, eclectic vibe. Thanks to all the growth there has been this influx of people and it’s becoming so diverse. It’s really grown in ways I’ve appreciated,” she says. “The lure of Atlanta and larger markets has almost wooed me several times — but there’s so much ease and likability to Greenville. It’s been a good journey.”
Carolina Corner is a bimonthly column from the University of South Carolina. Learn about how the university impacts the Upstate with research projects, ac-complishments of past and present students and faculty, events and more.
