Charleston planning director to chase Ph.D.

Charleston city planning director Josh Martin, known to just about anyone who brought a real estate project before the city in the past two years, is leaving his post to pursue a doctoral degree.

Martin, 32, will leave Aug. 15 to attend the University of Pennsylvania to chase a Ph.D. in urban design and city and regional planning. During his short term, he has represented the city's position on a handful of major real estate developments, such as the Midtown, Concord Park, Long Savannah and the Magnolia project.

Mayor Joe Riley said last week he hopes Martin will return to work for the city after he finishes the one-year program, adding that a national search will be launched to find his replacement.

Riley called Martin gifted and prodigious. He also said he kept up communications with other people throughout the city. "His e-mails are legendary, not just in terms of numbers (of them) and thoroughness but in terms of what hour of the day or night they are sent," Riley said.

Bears on Daniel Island

Wall Street was less than thrilled about Blackbaud Inc. 's decision to shell out $46 million in cash for a long-struggling rival that has never posted a profit.

On Friday, the day after Blackbaud announced the deal, shares of BLKB were hammered down nearly 8 percent early on before regaining some ground to close off 3.7 percent at $23.66. Meanwhile, shares of the acquisition target, San Diego-based Kintera Inc. , surged 58.8 percent to a whopping $1.08 apiece.

Kintera has never been a money tree. The firm has posted a loss in every quarter since its 2000 inception and had accumulated a $148 million deficit by the end of March. A chart of its stock price looks like a steadily descending staircase.

Still, it is one of the few companies that does what Blackbaud does, and it traditionally has been cast as the enemy among the ranks on Daniel Island. Kintera boasts 4,000 customers, including some large charities such as the Lance Armstrong Foundation. It notched $44.9 million in revenue last year.

We'll see if investors change their tune by the time the deal closes in the first week of July.

In hot water

As if local creek, rivers and waterways aren't crowded enough, promoters of the boating business are touting Charleston as one its top hot spots as part of national public relations campaign.

In no particular order, the industry-funded DiscoverBoating.com ranked Charleston among the top 10 best locations in the "cruising" and "sailing" categories, based on "polling suggestions from hundreds of boaters, industry experts and travel enthusiasts ..." according to a written statement last week.

Other wet spots that made the cut were in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.

The DiscoverBoating campaign, sponsored by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, comes as the industry struggles with falling sales amid skyrocketing fuel prices.

In an unfortunate but all-too-common error, the group's statement identified one the top locale as Miami's "Intercoastal Waterway." It would seem that a national boating organization would get the name right; it's actually the famous Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

Designing woman

Fashion designer Mary Norton is turning up in some far-flung — and at times unexpected — places these days.

The Charleston native and founder of the company formerly known as Moo Roo - best known for quirky handbags toted by celebrities such as Sharon Stone and Halle Berry - now has her shoe collection featured on the Web site of high-end department store chain Nordstrom (nordstrom.com; click on "Designer Collections.")

Coincidentally — or perhaps not — Nordstrom's director of designer merchandise is another Charlestonian, Jeffrey Kalinsky, whose family owns Bob Ellis Shoes, a neighbor of the Mary Norton boutique on King Street.

On a slightly more incongruous note, the Speedway Children's Charities 28th Annual AutoTrader.com Gala, a fund-raiser last month in Charlotte hosted by NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, featured a Mary Norton purse as one of the hot items in its silent auction.

Grapevine was unable to learn how much was bid for the bag. Prices for purses in Norton's spring catalog (viewable online at marynorton.com) range from $895 to $1,295.

Norton gained some marketing firepower by her decision in 2006 to sell a majority stake in her company to Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, a Swiss private equity fund that also has invested in such high-dollar brands as Cartier, Montblanc and Alfred Dunhill.

Twisting words

The pride of rural Williamsburg County used his shtick and did his bit to promote his home state to the travel press in the Big Apple.

Chubby Checker, the king of "The Twist," was on hand a few weeks back at a New York City restaurant as part of a publicity drive by the South Carolina Association of Tourism Regions. He urged anyone within earshot to "Take a Twist Through South Carolina" at a media event attended by several national publications, including as Travel + Leisure, Men's Vogue and Elite Traveler.

Checker's support crew included Helen Hill, executive director of Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and advertising and marketing executive Lou Hammond of New York-based Lou Hammond & Associates, who has a house in Charleston.