James B. Bagwell, III
Board Member
James B. Bagwell, III was the president and owner of Regional Material Handling, Inc., from 1984 until 2022. Located in Columbia, S.C., Regional Material Handling distributes industrial material handling systems and commercial equipment across the country and represents 85 different manufacturers.
For more than four decades, Bagwell has long been active in his community, including serving as chair on multiple boards such as East Cooper Hospital Board of Directors, Ronald McDonald House Board of Directors, Patriots Point Foundation Board of Trustees, Trident Tech Foundation Board of Directors, and MUSC Children’s Hospital Fund Board of Directors. He is a former president of the Executive Association of Greater Charleston and has served on the Mount Pleasant Town Council, as Chairman of the Mount Pleasant Sesquicentennial Commission, Rotary Club of Mount Pleasant, Charleston County Private Industry Council, and SCANA East Cooper Advisory Board. He was president of the Rotary Club of Mount Pleasant, charter president of the Rotary Club of East Cooper, chairman of the Rotary Club District 7770 \”Gift of Life\” Committee, District 7770 \”Rotarian of the Year,\” and a five-time recipient of Rotary International’s \”Paul Harris Fellow\” Award.
He was also a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1969 to 1975 and served as an active-duty sailor from 1970 to 1972. He is a lifetime member of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Mt. Pleasant and a member of the Hibernian Society.
Bagwell holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from The Citadel and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of South Carolina. He and his wife, Penelope Willard Bagwell, have one son and three grandsons.
