The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce will host its “Buy Local Cash Mob” on Friday at Clinch River Yarn Co. in Clinton.
Refreshments will be served, and there will be a 20 percent discount on everything in the shop, excluding looms, wheels, and equipment accessories. “Buy Local” Cards are available at the Chamber office and at the cash mob, which is from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Clinch River Yarn Co. at 725 N. Charles Seivers Blvd. in Clinton.
Roane State’s Andy Pokelwaldt, right, works with instructor Josh Martin to set up a filament-winding machine used by students in the college’s composite materials courses. (Submitted photo)
As the leader of Roane State Community College’s Advanced Composites Employment accelerator, Andy Pokelwaldt can blend his experience as a military trainer, an educator, and a mentor.
“I enjoy teaching, and I understand what having skills in composite materials will mean in the marketplace,” Pokelwaldt said. “Learning about composite materials will make people more employable, and that’s what this job is all about.”
The ACE program, based at the Halcyon Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, provides three introductory courses in composite materials. People with two- or four-year degrees can take the courses at no cost because ACE is grant-funded. [Read more…]
Chairman-Elect Tom Rogers, President and CEO John Morris, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, and Chairman of the Board David Bradshaw discuss Tech 20/20’s recent ranking as one of the top university business incubators in the world. (Submitted photo)
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann visited Tech 20/20 to congratulate the Oak Ridge venture development organization for its global ranking in managing new business incubators.
Sweden’s University Business Incubator (UBI) Index listed Tech 20/20 the fourth-best in the U.S. and in the top six worldwide in managing business incubators for value contributed to their clients and community, and overall performance. [Read more…]
The Kroger Co. will have an Aug. 22 groundbreaking ceremony for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center on 25 acres at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue.
The Kroger Co. announced Monday that it will have a Thursday morning groundbreaking ceremony for its new Marketplace store in Oak Ridge.
Demolition and land clearing work is already under way at the 25-acre site northeast of the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue, and a Kroger spokesman has said building construction at the shopping center could start in October.
The groundbreaking on Thursday, Aug. 22, will be at 10 a.m. [Read more…]
Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer, left, Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, center, and City Manager Mark Watson outside Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab and Kitchen in October 2012.
ORNL Federal Credit Union has picked Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab and Kitchen for its second Small Business Counts “cash mob.”
Razzleberry’s was originally a small ice cream parlor, and it is owned by Waldek and Ilona Kaczocha, who moved their business from Pompano Beach to Jackson Square in Oak Ridge more than seven years ago, a press release said.
“Since then, the little neighborhood spot has slowly grown into a full restaurant serving lunch and desserts daily (and breakfast on Saturdays), while also featuring a number of homemade international food products and unique gift items,” the release said. [Read more…]
Blasting at the Kroger Marketplace construction site in central Oak Ridge is on hold for now. A Kroger spokesman has said there is some rock on the 25-acre site, but blasting will be the company’s last option.
The contractors for the Kroger Marketplace shopping center have notified Oak Ridge officials that blasting at the 25-acre site may not be required for now.
“The City of Oak Ridge will notify affected businesses and citizens when, and if, blasting is required,” a Friday morning press release said.
Oak Ridge had previously announced that a blast survey was performed, and no “collateral damage had been predicted,” the release said. [Read more…]
Now that the project has received final approval, crews are working quickly to finish demolishing and cleaning up hotels and homes, remove trees, and clear land at the 25-acre site of a Kroger Marketplace shopping center northeast of the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. The former Robin Lane is in the center of the picture.
Now that the project has received final approval, crews are working quickly to finish demolishing hotels and homes, clean up debris, remove trees, and clear land for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center at one of the city’s busiest intersections.
Building construction could start in early October, and there could be some blasting at the 25-acre site starting at 2 p.m. Friday.
The $30 million shopping center will be named the Westcott Center in honor of renowned photographer James Edward Westcott, and it is scheduled to open in August 2014. [Read more…]
Rental properties in the Manhattan District Overlay could be registered and regularly inspected under a proposal unanimously approved in the first of two readings by the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday. The rental properties are pictured in red above. (Image courtesy of Oak Ridge city staff)
The ordinance was already on the books, and on Monday, city officials agreed to expand the area where inspections of rental homes are allowed to include most of the center of the city.
The expanded residential inspection district, which had originally applied to the Highland View Redevelopment Area, could include about 1,700 rental units.
The Oak Ridge City Council unanimously endorsed the expansion during a Monday night meeting. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
On Monday, the Anderson County Operations Committee voted 5-2 to recommend purchasing the former Bank of America building in Lake City for use as the new home of the Coal Miners Museum and some county government operations. The bank is asking $100,000 for the property, which supporters say will find a new purpose as not only the home of a museum honoring the area’s rich coal mining history, but also as a storehouse for excess county supplies due to its vault and as a satellite office for county departments, which would be able to make use of the existing drive-thru window.
The full County Commission will consider the committee’s recommendation when it meets Monday, Aug. 19.
The electronic sign at Oak Ridge High School is pictured above. (Photos courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
The public debate gained notoriety in December with a dispute over an electronic sign featuring an animated Santa. After months of meetings and hours of discussions, it could be close to being resolved, although the community appears to remain divided.
On Monday night, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 4-3 to approve, in the first of two monthly votes, ordinance changes that would, among other things, prohibit videos or continuously scrolling messages on electronic signs, revisions that would presumably prevent an animated Santa.
The revised ordinance would require messages on the increasingly popular signs to be static and remain displayed for five seconds. The changes, which still have to be approved on second and final reading in September, would also govern signs used for sporting events, set maximum brightness levels, and require the displays to automatically dim through photo cell technology. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider new regulations for electronic signs, expanding the city’s residential rental inspection district, and creating the first-ever land bank in Tennessee.
Oak Ridge officials could prohibit animated electronic signs, expand the city’s residential rental inspection district to include about 1,700 homes, and officially set up an Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp. during a Monday night meeting.
The Oak Ridge City Council will also consider approving contracts with economic development consultant Ray Evans and state lobbyist Bill Nolan, and terminating the lease on the building that once housed the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic on Badger Road. Now partially empty, the split-level two-story building still houses the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, and city officials said they haven’t decided what to do with it yet.
The Monday night City Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board on Monday will have a hearing for an Oak Ridge restaurant and bar that reportedly sold beer to a minor in March.
The board agreed last month to have the show cause hearing for Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill during a meeting that starts at noon Monday. [Read more…]
