Richard Breen Email & Phone Number

Columbia, S.C.

Throughout my career I have engaged in freelance writing to either supplement my income or serve as a primary income stream in between full-time gigs. My expertise is in business writing, particularly economic development and real estate, as well as sports writing. Have provided articles to daily newspapers, magazines and websites, in addition to ghostwriting blogs, op-eds, and web content for public- and private-sector clients.

administering a Facebook page

Electronically prepare and file federal and state tax returns for a variety of individual and business clients. Perform various media relations and public relations services, including the writing and editing of news releases and marketing collateral.

Have contributed feature articles, including cover stories, for a family of business magazines. Gathered data from and conducted interviews with sources from coast to coast on a variety of business topics.

Anderson, S.C. And Surrounding Counties

There is nothing in journalism like covering high school football, driving into small-town South Carolina on a Friday night, seeing the stadium lights in the distance, hearing the drumlines warm up, and knowing that for a couple thousand people, that football field is the center of their universe for the next few hours.

Upstate, South Carolina

Sportswriter providing day-to-day coverage of the Greenville Drive minor league baseball team as well as other events at Fluor Field. Wrote game stories and feature articles. Provided photography and photo editing. Engaged in social media on Twitter, particularly livetweeting, to support the blog.

Greenville, South Carolina Area

I worked with clients on their media relations needs, whether it is sending out news releases, coordinating event coverage, responding to media requests, or pitching newsworthy story ideas to local, regional and national media. I also managed blogs for clients and was part of a team that earned a Mercury Award.

I covered the goings on at Fluor Field, including Greenville Drive baseball, for a national online news source.

I worked on the assembly line at BMW in Greer as a temp for a BMW contractor. My team was responsible for engine sub-assembly. As such, I was trained to put together and/or attach various parts and combinations of parts ranging from transfer cases to oxygen sensors.

Upstate, South Carolina

The U.S. Census Bureau put me to work on several different assignments. I was expert at visiting hard-to-count households in Greenville and Spartanburg and gathering accurate data. That included conducting the census survey in Spanish, if necessary.I also assisted in overseeing the work of other crews of enumerators. Before the actual counting started, I was a recruiting assistant, helping to recruit, test and hire the thousands of workers needed across South Carolina to work on Census… Show more The U.S. Census Bureau put me to work on several different assignments. I was expert at visiting hard-to-count households in Greenville and Spartanburg and gathering accurate data. That included conducting the census survey in Spanish, if necessary.I also assisted in overseeing the work of other crews of enumerators. Before the actual counting started, I was a recruiting assistant, helping to recruit, test and hire the thousands of workers needed across South Carolina to work on Census 2010. Show less

My duties included meeting with Realtors to gather info for a blog ("The Intelligence Chronicles") and find potential recruiting leads. I did statistical research and reporting on real estate trends locally, statewide and nationally to augment the blog. I also performed PR functions such as writing and distributing news releases, and marketing functions such as event networking and assisting Realtors with their e-marketing.

I headed the editorial department of what was, at the time, the best business periodical in the Upstate. In addition to managing and editing the work of staff writers and contributors, I led the publication's story generation efforts and wrote a good number of stories myself. I also provided photography and represented the publication at numerous community events.

Began as Community Editor, then switched to Business Editor. Covered community and business news in the greater Greenville (S.C.) area, meeting weekly deadlines with responsibility for several articles and notes packages per issue.

Covered business news throughout the Upstate, writing multiple articles per issue, meeting bi-weekly deadlines.

Once, when I was between full-time writing gigs, I took a job at a shoe store. They were closing and all their workers had quit, so they needed some temps while they sold down their remaining inventory. They didn't let me work the cash register. I got a couple of decent pairs of shoes out of it.

Greenville, S.C.

Was responsible for designing and editing several broadsheet pages of the sports section, including covers. Met multiple nightly deadlines. Also performed occassional reporting duties, covering subjects such as high school football and minor league baseball.

Was responsible for copywriting, production scheduling and commercial rotations for what was then the top radio station in the Upstate.

Greenville, South Carolina Area

Worked the weekend graveyard shift at a contemporary hit radio station. We once got in trouble for playing a listener request of "the pina colada song" one too many times.

Greenville, South Carolina Area

Got a taste of what it is like in the exploit-or-be-exploited economy. Part of a team of low-skill workers who "cleaned" carpets at mostly low-income people's houses. Leads were generated by telemarketing operation. Long days, low pay. Was great motivation to find a better job. Also made me confident that if things got bad enough for me professionally (and they have from time to time) I could always survive in some dead-end job until I found something more rewarding.

Mauldin, South Carolina, United States

Moved to the Upstate of South Carolina with no job prospects and found work cleaning a minor-league baseball park. My main task was to strap on a leaf blower and direct peanut shells row-by-row into the aisles, where my teammates would sweep them into dustpans. We weren't given ear protection (it was the 1990s) so I wore a Walkman. There was an aircraft maintenance facility nearby and sometimes huge military planes would appear from my blind side, banking low over the ballpark on a shakedown… Show more Moved to the Upstate of South Carolina with no job prospects and found work cleaning a minor-league baseball park. My main task was to strap on a leaf blower and direct peanut shells row-by-row into the aisles, where my teammates would sweep them into dustpans. We weren't given ear protection (it was the 1990s) so I wore a Walkman. There was an aircraft maintenance facility nearby and sometimes huge military planes would appear from my blind side, banking low over the ballpark on a shakedown run, and scare the crap out of me. On one occasion, I was tasked with cleaning the picnic area on the edge of the parking lot. Someone had been barbecuing the night before, and I disposed of the charcoal ashes and picnic supplies. The whole "douse and stir" process wasn't a mandatory procedure (It was the 1990s). Later, while I was cleaning the back parking lot, I saw black smoke billowing from a dumpster. Who knew peanut shells, stale hotdogs and tobacco spit were so flammable? Anyway, my boss runs out there with a fire extinguisher, uses it up, and then THROWS IT INTO THE FIRE. That's my favorite part of the story. He got in more flak for that than I did for the fire. Show less

Ba, Journalism (Broadcasting)

Diploma