President, The Maritime Association of South Carolina
Heather Holmquest is not on social media. It’s a personal choice for her. Her style of management is to build relationships in-person. As president of the Maritime Association of South Carolina, she oversees an association that includes 240 member companies in Charleston and across South Carolina. “My way of disconnecting is to be in relationships, to be one-on-one with people, to be learning from them, to be listening and having a dialogue,” she said. As a champion for workforce development, she points out that many positions in her field pay 40 percent higher than entry-level wages out of college.
Her advice to emerging leaders: “You have to be your biggest champion and your most vocal advocate. … Be loud and proud and talk about your accomplishments.”
About the Honoree
Heather M. Holmquest is President of The Maritime Association of South Carolina. With extensive experience managing trade groups, her mission is to develop value added services, generate new revenue streams, grow membership, provide educational resources, operate as communication conduit for emergency management during heavy weather events and provide networking forums serving the maritime community.
Heather greatly enjoys volunteer work and board appointments including the American Lung Association, S.C. International Trade Conference and S.C. Logistics Executive Forum for the S.C. Council on Competitiveness.
Prior to joining the Maritime Association, Heather served multiple associations simultaneously, under SmithBucklin Corporation. SmithBucklin is the world’s largest association management company. Sectors served include trades, technology, healthcare and general business.
Over the course of her career, Heather has been an entrepreneur, writer and teacher. Having spent her childhood in a remote part of Japan, she returned to Sapporo mid-career to experience work abroad. Her passion for international business led her to serve in university administration, managing projects for business groups representing a broad range of countries worldwide through various grant programs.
Heather is very passionate about the maritime sector in South Carolina and is honored to be in service to its community.
About Women Vision SC
Women Vision SC is a program that focuses on issues affecting women throughout the state and the nation and a new generation of young people pursuing public service for their communities and the state at large. The program is produced and hosted by former SCETV president Linda O’Bryon.