Joe Erwin
Majority Owner & Chairman
Greenville, SC
In describing his role as Chairman, Joe Erwin equates the job to being the organization’s Head Cheerleader. Erwin believes that that team leaders flourish when given clear roles and goals – Without micromanagement. Team staff appreciate that Erwin is always on hand when needed to support their efforts.
Erwin frequently joins the sales staff on calls to pitch new team sponsors and partners, and meets regularly with established sponsors to learn more about how they would like to optimize their relationship with our teams.
In attending team events and public events with fans and season ticketholders, Erwin understands that he is a “face of the franchise” and must earn the respect of constituencies by answering questions and sharing our vision for how Triumph an dLiberty work to create positive impacts for kids and adults throughout Greater Greenville and across the Upstate of South Carolina. In summary, his approach is the remind team leaders that they don’t work for him, but rather, he works for them.
Named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & young, Erwin is active in the community and well known throughout Greenville. He has served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Governor’s Commission on Teach Quality, the Partnership for A Drug-Free America, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Clemson University’s Erwin Center for Brand Communications, and the South Carolina Special Olympics. He has be recognized as a Green Day Honoree, which pays tribute to individuals who have helped make Greenville one of the most dynamic regions in the country.
Minority Ownership
Shannon Wilbanks
Senior Advisor
Greenville, SC
Senior Advisor for the Greenville Triumph SC, Shannon Wilbanks served as Senior Vice President of business development at Erwin Penland for 15 years prior to joining Erwin Creates and co-founding Endeavor. She began her career as an intern for U.S. Sen. Ernest F. Hollings before taking a full-time position in the Senator’s office reporting directly to the Senator and his Chief of Staff for nine years.
Seeking to return to South Carolina, Wilbanks moved to Greenville to work with the Greenville Chamber President and board, where she met Joe Erwin. Years later, Erwin recruited Wilbanks to serve as Erwin Penland’s first permanent Business Development Director, leading the new business “courtship” process and managing the internal teams that grew from 65 employees to nearly 400 under her efforts. In 2006, she joined Erwin Penland’s senior leadership team.
Wilbanks was among a small team assembled by Erwin in 2015 to develop Endeavor, a business-building co-work community in Greenville for professionals.
There, Wilbanks facilitates and manages projects for Erwin Creates, works closely with Endeavor’s corporate members, and helps new and continuing co-working members make the most of Endeavor’s assets and resources. For the Triumph and Liberty, she serves as liaison to outside legal counsel (Law Offices of Bruce B. Campbell, LLC) as well as tax and accounting partners (Elliott Davis).
Billy Webster
Part- Owner and American Business Leader, Educator, Entrepreneur, and Philanthropist
Greenville, SC
William M. Webster, IV, is an American business leader, educator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist well known throughout South Carolina and beyond. He has served at the highest levels of government, including the White House, and currently participates in a wide variety of community and philanthropic endeavors such as voter rights, education and quality healthcare.
A 1979 graduate of Washington and Lee University and a Fulbright Scholar, Webster earned a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1983. Webster is a former board chairman for Greenville Health System, and currently serves on the boards of two publicly traded companies – LKQ Corporation and Golub Capital BDC. Previously, he served as President of Greenville-based Carabo, Inc., which at the time operated 27 Bojangles’ Chicken ‘n Biscuit restaurants in South Carolina.
Webster served multiple roles in the White House, including assistant to the President of the United States and Director of Scheduling and Advance. He was Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley during the Clinton Administration and when Riley served on the Presidential Transition Team.
Hiscommunity activities include service as Chairman of the Converse College Board of Trustees, and he sits on the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees, the M.D. Anderson Medical Center Board of Visitors, the Spartanburg Day School Board of Trustees, and the Liberty Fellows Board of Directors. Additionally, Webster is an adjunct professor for health care policy at Wofford College.
Doug Erwin
Vice Chairman and Chief Brand Officer
Greenville, SC
Doug Erwin is Vice Chairman and Chief Brand Officer of the Greenville Triumph SC and Greenville Liberty. In his role as Vice Chairman, he serves as a voice of the Club’s ownership group on day-to-day operations. In his Chief Brand Officer role, he oversees the club’s branding and marketing, as well as digital and social communications.
Shortly after graduating Clemson University in 2010, Doug began his career in the Washington, DC metro area at Vornado Realty Trust – a pre-eminent owner, manager and developer of office and retail assets with more than 30 million square feet of LEED Certified buildings. While at Vornado, Erwin managed construction, renovation and maintenance projects, oversaw a portfolio of management projects and helped run day-to-day operations at multiple office complexes. He returned South to join Erwin Penland in 2012, serving in account service and project management roles for clients that included Verizon, Denny’s, Sears Auto Center and the Greenville Drive baseball team.
Erwin joined the Endeavor team prior to the co-working space opening in May 2016 and oversaw the build-out of their unique space, including construction, technology, furnishings, procurement, and installations. After serving Endeavor for two years, Erwin left to join the leadership group of the Greenville Triumph, taking on his dual roles in advance of the franchise’s inaugural 2019 season. Under his leadership, USL recognized GTSC’s marketing and social media team as one of the Best in the League, and the organization and team has become a staple attraction for the Greenville community.
Rick Pennell
Part-owner and President/CEO of Metromont Corporation
Greenville, SC
Metromont Corporation President & CEO Rick Pennell was inducted to the 2020/2021 South Carolina Business Hall of Fame, which honors outstanding business leaders who are champions of free enterprise and role models in business for the youth of South Carolina.
Like his grandfather and his parents, Rick Pennell believes in giving back to the community, and he has given his time as a board member for numerous nonprofit organizations across Upstate South Carolina. Rick has served as Director and Chairman of the board at the YMCA and co-chaired its capital campaign. He also has also served on the boards of The South Carolina Children’s Theater, Peace Center for the Performing Arts, Greenville Symphony, American Red Cross, and Artisphere. He is a current trustee of the University of Georgia Foundation, a trustee at Converse College, and a founding member of AltusGroup, a partnership of precast concrete manufacturers and industry suppliers dedicated to innovation, where he previously served as President and board member. As the President & CEO of Metromont, Rick embodies the company’s core values of faith, honor, and passion – fostering an environment of excellence for all Metromont associates.
Metromont Corporation is a third-generation Greenville company founded nearly a century ago by Rick’s grandfather, Capt. J. Roy Pennell. Under Rick’s leadership, Metromont has grown to become one of the largest precast, prestressed concrete manufacturers in the U.S., with more than 1,500 associates and six manufacturing facilities in four states.
Jim Casey
Co-head of Global Investment Banking at JP Morgan
Greenville, SC
Casey, an avid sports fan with a deep understanding of the economic dynamics of professional soccer in Europe and the United States, currently co-runs JP Morgan’s corporate debt businesses. Casey’s career includes significant tenures at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Kidder, Peabody & Co., Paine Webber, and CS First Boston, bringing extensive financial expertise to the team. Casey previously made a significant donation to the Triumph and Liberty Foundation.
Groupo Ronaldinho
Miami, FL & Greenville, SC
Ronaldinho Assis joined the ownership group on Oct. 9, 2024 where he rang the closing bell as part of International Day at the New York Stock Exchange. Widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Ronaldinho’s investment is a powerful endorsement of what the organization has built during the past six years and elevates the standing of the Greenville Triumph and Greenville Liberty within the soccer community. With the global spotlight on North America for the 2026 World Cup and Atlanta serving as a host city, Ronaldinho’s involvement is set to bring international recognition to the Triumph and Liberty teams as well as Upstate South Carolina.
Ronaldinho’s passion for the sport and commitment to fostering the next generation of soccer talent aligns perfectly with the mission of the Greenville Triumph. Wallace Cheves, a member of the GPS ownership group, brought Ronaldinho on board through Cheves’ Groupo Ronaldinho ownership syndicate.
