If you were looking for me and Jim Ciallella in the early 2000s, a good…

If you were looking for me and Jim Ciallella in the early 2000s, a good place to start would be Barley’s patio. There we would sit, splitting a pitcher of Cashmere IPA, and eating calzones so big no plate could hold them.*

We would be talking about all the topics early-20s adults care about: the future value of money, the relative importance of an MBA education, and, of course, the trade-offs of volunteering versus building a business.

I write this after the Carolina Code Conference just named the volunteer of the year award after Jim. I couldn’t be happier. Over the 25 years of our friendship, Jim has given more of himself than any sane human should. He’s done this without expectation or desire for money, power, or awards named after him.

At 22 years old, Jim would get up early on Saturday, after too many Cashmeres maybe, and plant trees. He did this because he thought the world needed more trees. He spent years organizing and reorganizing a resale store’s inventory because he hates waste. And over the last couple of decades, he’s been the ballast of the Greenville tech community. OpenWorks, HackGVL, and so many communities depend on Jim’s willingness to show up and not give up.

I couldn’t be happier that Barry Jones decided to chase this bright ball, and I’m so proud of Jim for the work he’s done and will continue to do—quietly but consistently making Greenville better.

*Want to get Jim fired up? Ask him about the shrinkflation of a Barley’s calzone.