Oak Ridge Today

Senate approves Lake City’s name change to Rocky Top

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Lake City Council Approves Rocky Top Name Change

The Lake City Council votes 4-0 in November to change the town’s name to Rocky Top, and Rep. John Ragan said he had draft legislation to approve the name change to introduce in the Tennessee General Assembly. (File photo)

WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

A bill that will allow Lake City to officially change its name to Rocky Top was unanimously approved in the Tennessee Senate on Thursday, three days after the state House of Representatives also unanimously voted to support the measure.

Lake City Council members approved the name change, seen as a vital first step toward developing a Rocky Top theme park in the former coal mining town, in November. The bill will now go to Gov. Bill Halslam’s desk for his signature, then the Lake City Council must ratify it by a two-thirds majority.

The name change is seen as a necessary first step toward turning the former coal mining town into a tourist destination, taking advantage of its two exits off of I-75. Plans call for an interactive 3-D theater, a restaurant, a water park and a hotel, as well as other attractions. [Read more…]

ORHS students work on branding, design ideas with mall redevelopment company

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ORHS Students Work on Mall Redevelopment

Standing from left to right are Buddy McWilliams, Payne Adkins, Abigail Clanton, and Chris Giese. Seated from left to right are Wesley Robinson and Alex Tavangaran. (Photo courtesy J. Clint LaFollette)

Submitted

For three classes at Oak Ridge High School, the future of the old Oak Ridge Mall property is something the students are taking personally. Nearly 60 students in the Digital Arts and Design and Virtual Enterprise classes have been working on a branding strategy for the once-thriving retail site, and their top ideas will be presented to Crosland Southeast, the Charlotte-based firm that has been working with the City of Oak Ridge to develop a plan to establish a multi-use work-live-play-shop destination.

“It has been an exciting project to work on, because there have been several attempts to revitalize this property, and all have failed due to, among other things, the lack of focus on the specific interest of Oak Ridge residents,” said Buddy McWilliams, an ORHS senior who is working on the project. “Crosland Southeast has shown that they want to be successful by looking at the interest of students and others who will be using the property.”

Crosland Southeast approached Oak Ridge School Board Chairman Keys Fillauer with the idea to work with the students, and an enthusiastic Fillauer discussed it with ORHS Principal David Bryant and teachers Linda Ousley and Clint Lafollette, and the project was off and running.

Ousley is the facilitator of the school’s Virtual Enterprise program. Ousley said that Crosland Southeast will get a good cross-section of Oak Ridge opinion by talking with the students, and the students are getting excellent experience they can use on their future resumes. [Read more…]

Spotlight: Leadership Anderson County visits state government in Nashville

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Leadership Anderson County Nashville Trip

The Leadership Anderson County Class of
2014 recently visited Nashville on a state government trip.
Rep. John Ragan, Sen. Randy McNally, and Rep. Dennis Powers are also in the photo with the class. (Submitted photo)

Leadership Anderson County Class of 2014, a program of the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce, and members of the Leadership Anderson County board of directors, visited Nashville for their state government trip in March.

The class, shown at left with Rep. John Ragan, Sen. Randy McNally, and Rep. Dennis Powers, participated in a mock session, visited the Tennessee Fusion Center, toured the Capitol and Supreme Court, and met with Comptroller Justin P. Wilson and Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2015 class. For more information, contact the Chamber at (865) 457-2559 or visit www.andersoncountychamber.org.

Mortgage originator Yvonne Cummings moves to CapitalMark

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

CapitalMark Bank and Trust has added Yvonne Cummings as a mortgage loan originator in the Knoxville and Oak Ridge markets, a press release said.

Cummings is a 16-year veteran mortgage loan officer and consultant who most recently worked with a regional financial institution. She has earned corporate recognition from previous employers as a top producer and customer loyalty expert, the press release said.

Cummings received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in economics from Methodist University in Fayetteville, Tenn. She received a master’s in computer science and management of information systems from Webster University. [Read more…]

Featured at Obama speech, Sleek SuperTruck saves fuel, money

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

David Koeberlein SuperTruck Cummins Engine

David Koeberlein, director of advanced engineering for Cummins and principal investigator on the SuperTruck project, says the prototype tractor-trailer uses exhaust heat that would otherwise be wasted to help power the crankshaft. (All photos courtesy ORNL/Genevieve Martin unless indicated otherwise)

Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m.

Tractor-trailer prototype uses probe developed by ORNL for better gas mileage, cleaner exhaust

It’s a sleek, aerodynamic freight-hauling machine. With its wide tires, rounded edges, and body parts that hug the ground, this million-dollar prototype looks like it could be at home on a race track.

It’s already achieved celebrity status, serving as the backdrop for President Barack Obama during a February speech on greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency standards.

But the SuperTruck is more likely to end up hauling meat and potatoes from Boise to Boston.

SuperTruck at ORNL

The fuel-efficient SuperTruck, the result of a four-year collaboration between the trucking industry and the federal government, made a pit stop at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Tuesday.

Still, researchers have reason to celebrate. On Tuesday, they said the high-tech tractor-trailer has increased fuel efficiency by 75 percent. Fully loaded, the SuperTruck can drive 10.7 miles on a gallon of gas. That compares to an industry average of 5.8 to 6.5 miles per gallon.

“This is a really big deal,” said Claus Daniel, deputy director of sustainable transportation projects at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where the SuperTruck made a pit stop on Tuesday.

It’s the result of a collaboration between the trucking industry and the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s not clear how soon the new technologies tested in the Cummins/Peterbilt tractor-trailer, which was built in Denton, Texas, will show up on the nation’s highways. [Read more…]

Anderson Chamber offers business counseling

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center advises and assists future and existing business owners.

Jutta Bangs, senior business specialist, is available for free and confidential counseling sessions on Thursday, April 16, from 9–11 a.m. at the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce at 245 N. Main Street, Ste. 200, in Clinton.

To make an appointment for this, or another day, please call (865) 457-2559 or email accc@andersoncountychamber.org.

To learn more about the TSBDC, visit www.tsbdc.org.

2013 record-breaking year for Roane County and Roane Alliance

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Leslie Henderson

Leslie Henderson

Submitted by Roane Alliance

$150 million worth of new development opened

KINGSTON—To The Roane Alliance—and to many across Roane County—2013 will be remembered as one of the busiest years ever, with record-setting activity in major grand openings, business expansions, and in state-wide, national, and international recognition and awards.

“Most impressive were grand openings of more than $150 million worth of new development projects,” said Leslie Henderson, president and chief executive officer of The Roane Alliance, “including the new $76 million hospital in Midtown, the $35 million carbon fiber manufacturing research facility in Oak Ridge, and the $40 million Volkswagen 460,000-square-foot distribution facility along I-40 in east Roane.”

Henderson said in the report that in 2013 Roane County also saw records set in numbers of announced expansions of existing industry and also in a record number of recognitions and awards for Alliance programs’ accomplishments. [Read more…]

K-25: Large, flat, close to ORNL, interstate—good for economic development

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Gov. Bill Haslam Visits ETTP/K-25

Sue Cange gives Gov. Bill Haslam, right, an update on the almost-completed demolition of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building. Cange is deputy manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. Also pictured are Leo Sain, left, president of cleanup contractor UCOR, and Jeff Tucker, UCOR deactivation and decommissioning manager.

It was built during World War II to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs. Then, it helped win the Cold War. Now, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge presents a giant opportunity for economic development in Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam said during a tour last Friday.

“We have a real interest in what happens here,” Haslam said in a short meeting with reporters before getting a brief update on the demolition of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, which was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

The governor said the K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center, has 2,000 flat acres with infrastructure already in place, including roads and rails, and it’s three miles from Interstate 40 and seven miles from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest science and energy laboratory.

“We don’t have that opportunity in a lot of places,” Haslam said. “Finding 2,000 flat acres in East Tennessee is virtually impossible.” [Read more…]

Demolition, construction to start soon on ORNL shipping, receiving building

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Demolition and construction are expected to start soon on a shipping and receiving building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a press release said.

“Hickory Construction Inc. will begin demolition of an existing structure ahead of breaking ground on a LEED Gold design-built construction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on April 1, as part of the campus-wide Site Sustainability Plan,” the press release said.

“We are always honored to work with ORNL, and the chance to build a LEED Gold structure is something we love to do,” said Chris Duncan, project manager. “Hickory not only has the ability to make quality LEED buildings, but it does so for incredible value and on time.”

The building, which will serve as a central hub for everything that ORNL ships and receives, will be a total of 26,000 square feet. Of that, 17,000 square feet is designated as a shipping/receiving warehouse with 11 loading docks, and areas for packaging, staging, and storage. The remainder of the building is designated as office space. [Read more…]

Safety forum to focus on UPF nuclear safety culture

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Uranium Processing Facility

Pictured above is the proposed Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex, with the administrative area in the front and the fortified section of the building in the rear. (Submitted image)

The Oak Ridge Business Safety Partnership will have its first community safety forum of 2014 from 8-10 a.m. April 2 at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. The topic will be “Nuclear Safety Culture of the Uranium Processing Facility.”

The agenda includes an overview of the UPF project by Federal Project Director John Eschenberg; a presentation about the project’s nuclear safety culture by Project Director Carl Strock; and a presentation on how the project successfully manages its nuclear safety culture by UPF Acting Manager for Environment, Safety, and Health Gary Hagan and ORAU Senior Scientist Jeff Miller.

The ORBSP was formed in 2004 to help companies working on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation understand the DOE safety culture, to enhance communication among them, to share lessons learned about safety issues, and to share ideas about effective safety programs with commercial companies. [Read more…]

ETCompetes! Speaker Series: Secrets of successful communities

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Submitted

In the ever-changing world of economic development, it is imperative that communities in East Tennessee recognize the paradigm shift that is happening nationally in regards to enhanced community character, retail, real estate, and economic changes. In an effort to foster change and growth all around our beautiful region, ETCompetes!—in conjunction with their partners East Tennessee Quality Growth, NAI, US Bank, and University of Tennessee School of Landscape Architecture—are sponsoring two workshops featuring nationally recognized speaker, Ed McMahon, Urban Land Institute senior resident fellow.

McMahon spent 14 years as the vice president and director of land use planning for the Conservation Fund in Arlington, Va., where he helped protect more than five million acres of land that has historic or natural significance. McMahon is also the cofounder and former president of Scenic America, a national nonprofit organization devoted to protecting America’s scenic landscapes. [Read more…]

Roane Chamber seeks nominations for April 25 awards banquet

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Chris Ahler Roane Chamber Award

Roane Chamber Board Chair Chris Ahler won the 2011 Paul Goldberg Young Professional Award. (Submitted photo)

Submitted

KINGSTON—The 68th annual Roane Chamber Awards Banquet—the spring social event of the year—will be held on Friday, April 25, to present this year’s coveted business awards: the Distinguished Service, Business of the Year, Woman of the Year, and Young Professional awards.

The awards have been an integral part of the Chamber for decades, with the Distinguished Service Award dating back to 1970. Some of the previous award-winners include such renown community names as Jim Henry, Ken Yager, David Webb, Rocky Top General Store, Patterson’s Home Appliances, Junior’s Restaurant, Dr. Sherry Hill, Live and Let Live Drug Store, Harriman Mayor Chris Mason, and Dr. Paul Goldberg, who was also additionally honored in 2010 with becoming the namesake of the Chamber’s newest award, the Paul E. Goldberg Young Professional Award. For a list of all the past winners visit www.RoaneChamber.com/Awards. [Read more…]