PICKENS, SC - Jim Anthony of Pickens has been named a co-chair of the South Carolina Statewide Finance Committee for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Anthony is the founder, president and CEO of The Cliffs Communities, Inc.

Anthony founded The Cliffs Communities in 1991, upon his development of The Cliffs at Glassy, the Company's first of seven master-planned communities. A visionary example, Anthony lives according to a philosophy of respect for the integrity of the land, a sense of deep connection to community, and a love of his work.

Prior to his founding The Cliffs, Anthony spent more than twenty years as a telephone line repairman for Southern Bell, while building an active real estate development business on the side. Jim purchased his first piece of property at the age of nineteen for $100 an acre, later selling it at six times the purchase price. In a leap of faith, Anthony traded his job security at age forty to devote himself to his dream of being a full-time developer. In the 1980s, he acquired approximately 70 different, contiguous tracts of land on Glassy Mountain totaling 3,500 acres, and in 1991, The Cliffs at Glassy debuted and has since, like its six sister communities, won myriad awards and accolades for its beauty, uniqueness, and amenities.

Anthony’s land preservation efforts and phenomenal success selling real estate led to his being recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year for the Carolinas in 2000 by Ernst & Young, LLP. In 1999, he was named The Most Influential Greenvillian by Greenville Magazine, and was a finalist for Greenville Magazine’s Business Person of the Year. He has since been named to Greenville Magazine’s list of 50 Most Influential People in 2005 and 2006.

Anthony's personal passion is giving back within the community, and he has been instrumental in The Cliffs Communities’ establishment of the Carolina Legacy Trust, whose Board of Directors manage the Company’s annual philanthropic donations. In 2006, Anthony spearheaded the construction and opening of a Veterans Memorial atop Glassy Mountain, the funds from which go toward the American Patriots Scholarship Fund to help the children of fallen service men and women receive a quality education. His personal passion for children's wellness led him to found Zest Quest in 2004, a non-profit children's health initiative now in the pilot stages in the South Carolina public school system. In honor of this level of generosity and for his profound impact upon the community, he was given the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Blue Ridge Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 2006.

He and his wife, Vicky, live in his hometown of Pickens, South Carolina, and have two grown sons, Jacob and Lucas. In his free time, Anthony enjoys hunting, clay shooting, fly fishing, and traveling internationally – particularly to The Cliffs’ properties in British Columbia and Patagonia, Chile.

Prior to his founding The Cliffs, he spent more than 20 years as a telephone line repairman for Southern Bell, while building an active real estate development business on the side. In 1999, Anthony was named "The Most Influential Greenvillian" by Greenville Magazine, and was a finalist for Greenville Magazine's "1999 Business Person of the Year." In 2006, he was honored with the Blue Ridge Council of the Boy Scouts of America's Distinguished Citizen Award. Anthony also serves on the Society of International Business Fellows and the Upstate Alliance, an economic development cooperative of the Carolinas.