Oak Ridge Today

Campbell retiring, Boatner to be new ETEC president

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Jim Campbell

Jim Campbell, president of the East Tennessee Economic Council, is retiring March 31 after serving as president for 26 years. ETEC’s vice president, Tracy Boatner, has been selected to replace him.

The leadership change was announced Friday morning by Buddy Heins, ETEC board chair.

“We thank Jim for his many years of consistent and effective guidance of ETEC,” Heins said in a press release. “The growth and influence of Jim and ETEC in Oak Ridge, East Tennessee, and beyond have been truly remarkable. I, along with the Executive Committee, look forward to Tracy’s leadership of the organization in the months and years to come.”

ETEC members met in person to celebrate the 2020 winners of the Muddy Boot Award and Postma Young Professional Medal, originally awarded virtually last December. Also announced was the date for ETEC’s 2021 Annual Meeting and Awards Celebration, which will be February 4. At this end-of-year celebration, both Campbell and Boatner spoke about the leadership change.

“This has been fun,” Campbell said. “The metamorphoses of this region over the last generation are a wonder, and there are only greater things in store for the Oak Ridge Corridor in the generation to come.”

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Indoor Winter Farmers’ Market opens Saturday

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Farmer Tracy Monday of Enlightenment Acres is pictured at Winter Farmers Market in Oak Ridge in 2018. (Submitted photo)

More than 30 farmers, bakers, and artisan crafters are moving indoors Saturday, December 4, for the sixth season of the Winter Farmers’ Market, which will be open Saturdays through March from 9 a.m. to noon.

The market is located in the gym at St. Mary’s School at 323 Vermont Avenue in Oak Ridge. Customers may shop in person or choose curbside pickup or home delivery through the Market-To-Go program.

“The Winter Farmers’ Market brings local food and local folks together in a unique and fun way, with great food, live music, cooking demonstrations, free kids’ activities, artisan crafts, and more, indoors all winter,” said Rebecca Williams, director of Grow Oak Ridge, the local nonprofit that produces the market.

“We have two ways to shop again this year: in-person and online through Market-To-Go.”

The market offers an abundance of locally grown cool season produce like kale, spinach, lettuce, and gourmet mushrooms, and even some winter strawberries and tomatoes, a press release said. It also carries free-range eggs, pasture-raised meats, tilapia, local honey, artisan breads, pastries, unique handmade bath and body products, and handmade gifts from local artisans.

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NNSA awards Y-12, Pantex contract

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A contract worth $2.8 billion per year has been awarded to Nuclear Production One LLC to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration announced the contract award on Monday.

NPOne is a limited liability company that consists of Fluor Federal Services Incorporate and AECOM Energy and Construction, an Amentum company, a press release said.

“For over 40 years, the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas has been the nation’s primary nuclear weapon assembly, disassembly, and life-extension center,” NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby said in the press release. “The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has been strengthening our national security and reducing the global threat from weapons of mass destruction since 1943. I look forward to NPOne helping us accomplish our mission.”

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General Fusion locating U.S. headquarters in Oak Ridge

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General Fusion Corporation will locate its U.S. headquarters in Oak Ridge as the company advances plans for a commercial pilot plant, Tennessee officials and company executives announced Wednesday.

The headquarters decision was announced Wednesday by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe, and General Fusion Corporation executives.

General Fusion Corporation is based in Vancouver, Canada. The company says fusion could provide a carbon-free power source that would meet the growing global energy demand while fighting climate change.

The U.S.-based subsidiary of General Fusion Incorporated will initially invest $539,000 and create 20 new jobs in Anderson County during the next five years, a press release said. It’s the first private fusion company to establish an office in Tennessee, General Fusion said. The new headquarters in Oak Ridge will be near Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a science and energy lab that is home to the U.S. ITER program. ITER is an experimental fusion device being built in southern France through an international collaboration and planned to be the first such device to produce net energy.

In Oak Ridge, General Fusion said it will collaborate with “world-leading fusion scientists and tap into key engineering talent.”

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Small business of month: Acato Information Management

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Acato Information Management, located at 173 Mitchell Road, is the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for November 2021. (Submitted photo)

 

Acato Information Management, located at 173 Mitchell Road, is the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for November 2021, a press release said. The award is sponsored by Enrichment Federal Credit Union.

“Service, integrity, and joy—those are the core values of Acato Information Management,” the press release said. “Owner Cathy Toth says those values drive everything they do.”

Launched in 2010, Acato is a software company focused on software quality. The company provides software testing for clients and government contractors.

“Traditional software testing revolves around executing tasks and resolving defects,” Toth said. “The value we bring is figuring out how well you know if you got what you wanted and then how you will confirm that you got what you wanted. It’s that analysis and then building tests to do that is really where we bring more value to the client.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Chamber’s Christmas Parade is Saturday, Dec. 11

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Santa plans to participate in the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas Parade. This year’s traditional parade will be held on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, beginning at 6 p.m. (Photo credit: Ray Smith.)

 

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce will have its annual Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 11.

This year’s theme is “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

The sponsor of this year’s parade is The Cowperwood Company.

There is no cost to participate.

The Chamber will be accepting parade entries online through Tuesday, December 7. You can register by visiting the Chamber’s website: www.oakridgechamber.org. [Read more…]

Spa One Seventy has ribbon-cutting

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The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Spa One Seventy on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Spa One Seventy on Tuesday, October 26.

Spa One Seventy is located at 170 West Tennessee Avenue, Suite 200.

Howl-O-Ween dog costume contest at PetSmart

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There will be a Howl-O-Ween Dog Costume Contest at PetSmart in Oak Ridge on Saturday, October 30.

The contest is presented by the Anderson County Animal Shelter and the County Mayor’s Office, a press release said.

It will begin at 11 a.m. that day. Registration for the contest will begin at 10:15 a.m. under the tent in the parking lot, the press release said.

PetSmart is at 203 Main Street in Oak Ridge.

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Oak Ridge Chamber names Life Safety Inspections small business of month

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Life Safety Inspections (LSI), located at 313 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Suite 107 A, is the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for October 2021. The award is sponsored by Enrichment Federal Credit Union. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

Life Safety Inspections is the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for October 2021. The award is sponsored by Enrichment Federal Credit Union.

Ask owner Chip Dooley what led him to start LSI and he’ll tell you it came to him in a dream. 13 years ago, he found himself unhappy in his job – he had even gone so far as to write a letter of resignation, but just wasn’t quite ready to submit it. He tucked it away under his desk calendar and went home. That night, he dreamed about fire extinguishers and exit signs. He began researching fire extinguisher companies in the area and could only find six. After working on a business plan, he decided the market could handle another one.

According to Chip, “The hardest thing was to bring it to my wife and say, ‘Hey! I’m quitting my job, and we’re gonna be broke.’ She didn’t bat an eye. She said, ‘That’s fine’ and I was just amazed. She’s been my champion and cheerleader ever since.” [Read more…]

UCOR requiring COVID vaccinations

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UCOR is requiring its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The requirement applies to all of its nearly 2,000 employees, and it is a condition of employment, the company said Tuesday.

The vaccination requirement was announced by UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter on August 26.

The company, an Amentum-led partnership with Jacobs, is the U.S. Department of Energy’s lead environmental cleanup contractor on the Oak Ridge Reservation, and it has an award-winning safety record, the company said. Rueter said that the decision to require the vaccine was in line with the company’s commitment to safety and its culture of caring.

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Farm Fest in Jackson Square on Saturday

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Farm Fest in the Square is in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

The festival will be in Jackson Square from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, September 18.

“The event will be a celebration of life down on the farm,” organizers said. “We have a pie bake off, square dancers, animals from Little Ponderosa Zoo, music from Liza Jane and Curly Fiddler, an open bluegrass jam, and vendors! The Oak Ridge Farmers Market will be right across the street, so come get some great eats and learn a bit about the history of farm life.”

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Oak Ridge Pharmacy named small business of month

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Pictured above are Saad Aqqad, Allyson Neal, Brittany Moser, and Lindsey Rowland of Oak Ridge Pharmacy.

 

Oak Ridge Pharmacy was named the small business of the month in September by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

The pharmacy is located at 854 Main Street West.

The award is sponsored by Enrichment Federal Credit Union, a press release said.

“Driven by the desire to better meet the needs of customers he had served for many years at a large pharmacy, Saad Aqqad opened Oak Ridge Pharmacy in July 2019,” the press release said. [Read more…]