Meet the passionate individuals behind our mission, a team dedicated to guiding you
through every step of your business journey.
Ken Tallmadge has a lifetime of business expertise that he has brought to Murphy Business & Financial and Murphy M&A Advisors. As part of the Murphy Carolina team, Ken applies his business knowledge and hands-on experience to help small and middle-market business owners prepare their companies for sale and then execute the transaction while they focus on running the business. He also assists buyers to locate a business that is specifically suited to their strategic and economic requirements.
Before returning to SC, Ken ran a highly successful Kinetico water treatment dealership in the Charlotte, NC area. There he held an NC and SC plumbing license and was a certified water specialist. He handled all day-to-day operations, HR, AR, AP, sales, marketing and supervised an excellent and talented team. The business was able to grow over 500 % under his leadership and team efforts. While running the business, Ken was active in the local Rotary Club, where their motto is “Service Above Self”. The Denver NC/ Lake Norman Rotary is incredibly involved in the community and is a help to charity and nonprofit organizations.
Before owning the Kinetico dealership, Ken graduated from the SC Criminal Justice Academy. He then served as a Law Enforcement Officer for the city of Rock Hill, SC. In addition to the patrol duties, Ken was a Field Training Officer and Ethics Instructor for the Police department.
Ken moved to Rock Hill, SC from his hometown of Conway, SC. It was in the Myrtle Beach/Conway area where he started his first retail business over 28 years ago. His experience in business ownership includes two retail shops in busy shopping malls, a Mrs. Fields Cookie franchise, and two water treatments businesses. Ken developed the entrepreneurial spirit at an early age while living in the family motel living quarters from birth. While growing up, his parents owned and operated several small businesses. The family businesses, in addition to the motel, include seafood restaurants, a golf store, a hat store, a beachwear store, an insurance agency, jewelry stores, and gift stores. Ken worked and helped in all of them. You could say business is in his blood as he continued the family tradition by starting his first business in 1993 after earning his BS in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina (Coastal Carolina Branch).
