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Adams and Reese Partner Rob Bethea has been appointed to the South Carolina Venture Capital Authority by Governor Nikki R. Haley. Bethea will serve the appointment through July 2017.

The South Carolina Venture Capital Authority program was created to attract new venture capital investments to the State. The VCA has partnered with four venture capital funds that are willing to invest in companies looking to locate or expand within the state.

The Venture Capital Investment Act (2004) creates two funds within the Department of Commerce: the South Carolina Venture Capital Fund and the South Carolina Technology Innovation Fund. Deals must be for South Carolina-based firms that are emerging, expanding, relocating, or restructuring.

At Adams and Reese, Bethea serves as the Partner in Charge of the Firm’s Columbia office. Practicing law since 1996, Bethea is ranked by Best Lawyers (by BL Rankings, LLC) in Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Tax Law. His practice focuses on business transactions including startups, mergers, stock and asset acquisitions, recapitalizations, taxation, business contracts and agreements, succession planning, franchising, securities and company finance. He advises clients on tax consequences of business decisions and options. He also plans and structures transactions in close coordination with clients’ accountants, bankers, and other advisors.

Bethea currently serves on a committee of practitioners that is reviewing, revising, and making recommendations to the South Carolina legislature regarding amendments to the South Carolina Limited Liability Company Act. From 2006 to 2009, he served as a member of the USC School of Law faculty teaching an advanced course in South Carolina Limited Liability Companies.

In the community, Bethea is a graduate of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Columbia program. He has also served on the Discovery Council Board for EdVenture Children’s Museum and the Hammond School Alumni Board.

Bethea earned his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1997; received his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1996; and received his B.A. from Wofford College in 1993.