Oak Ridge Today

‘Bridging the Gap’ conference invites business community to ORNL

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Bridging the Gap

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will host its annual “Bridging the Gap” conference March 5-6. (Image courtesy of ORNL)

Several of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s most promising applied research and development capabilities will be in the spotlight March 5-6 as dozens of entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists gather at the lab’s third annual “Bridging the Gap” conference.

“This is a great opportunity for the region’s business community to receive capability briefings from some of the lab’s most dynamic researchers and to explore commercialization and collaboration opportunities,” said Tom Rogers, ORNL’s director of Industrial Partnerships and Economic Development.

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Tech 20/20 announces new board officers, members

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Tech 20/20 recently elected new officers and members to its board of directors.

David Bradshaw, president of CapitalMark Bank and Trust, is the 2013 board chair of the Board. Bradshaw succeeds Fred Tompkins, the director of Oak Ridge Operations for the University of Tennessee.

Tom Rogers, director of Industrial and Economic Development Partnerships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is the chair-elect for 2014.

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Small business conference on how to benefit from $6.5 billion UPF

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A conference at the end of February will give small businesses a chance to learn how to benefit from the planned $6.5 billion Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The 2013 Construction Opportunities Conference is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 28 at the New Hope Center at Y-12. It’s offered by the Tennessee Small Business Development Center and partners.

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Ferri retires, UCOR organization changing

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Mark Ferri

Mark Ferri

Jeff Bradford

Jeff Bradford

Mark Ferri, who has led the safe, successful deactivation and demolition work at K-25 since UCOR arrived in Oak Ridge in August 2011, has announced that he will retire from the company at the end of February and will accept a CH2M Hill corporate opportunity in the United Kingdom.

Ferri was part of UCOR’s original, handpicked leadership team. His selection proved a wise one, as progress under his leadership has been stellar. Workers have demolished more than two million square feet of the old gaseous diffusion facility, and more than 15,000 loads of waste have been shipped under the “pack as you go” philosophy that he and his counterpart, Waste Management Manager Jeff Bradford, installed as part of the UCOR way of doing business.

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Tennessee Valley Summit returns to Oak Ridge; energy, manufacturing on agenda

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U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

Third District Rep. Chuck Fleischmann has announced the Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit will be held the last week of May and return to the site where it started 18 years ago—Oak Ridge. The exact dates are being determined based on the schedules of several anticipated national speakers, including U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Senior decision-makers representing academia, government, and industry from Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina will convene in the New Hope Center at Oak Ridge’s Y-12 National Security Complex for the two-day meeting. Fleischmann will serve as host and be joined by of members of the TVC congressional delegation.

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Secretary of State warns of corporate scam

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Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office has received inquiries about an official-looking notice from Corporate Records Service. It appears that these notices began arriving in mailboxes around Jan. 22, 2013. Corporate Records Service is not registered, affiliated, or associated with the Tennessee Secretary of State.

The mailer is causing confusion for Tennessee corporations due to its appearance as an official document. Tennessee corporations are required to file annual reports with the Tennessee Secretary of State. Most corporations have also recently received annual report notices from the Secretary of State.

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Anderson Emergency Planning Committee meets Tuesday

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The Anderson County Local Emergency Planning Committee will hold its annual membership meeting on Tuesday at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.

There will be a presentation by Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS). All Anderson County and Oak Ridge area companies who handle hazardous and radioactive materials or wastes are invited to send a representative, a press release said.

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Answer Financial move has significant impact, new tenant possible

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Answer Financial Oak Ridge

Answer Financial Inc. is relocating from this building on Union Valley Road to Bridgewater Road in West Knoxville.

Answer Financial’s decision to relocate its local sales center to Knoxville, taking several hundred jobs, will have a significant impact on Oak Ridge, but another tenant could be interested in moving into the office building on Union Valley Road, business leaders said.

One of the largest auto and home insurance agencies in the United States, Answer Financial broke ground on its new 32,775-square-foot facility on Bridgewater Road in Knoxville last week. It could be open by early fall and serve as the company’s primary sales center. It will be able to house more than 400 employees, including more than 100 new employees the company plans to hire in the next two years.

Estimates of the jobs lost in Oak Ridge ranged from about 200 to 300, and officials said Answer Financial workers earned $40,000 to $50,000 or more.

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Open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for Pugh and Co.

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The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce has organized a Tuesday morning open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony for Pugh and Co., certified public accountants and public advisers.

The ceremony is scheduled from 9-10 a.m. Tuesday at Pugh and Co., which is in the Jackson Plaza, Suite A-404, 800 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

City Council to discuss electronic signs, economic development

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Rivers Total Car Care Electronic Sign

Business owners with electronic signs, including Toney Stevens of Rivers Total Car Care in Oak Ridge, objected to a letter they received in December asking them to fix sign ordinance code violations. Since then, the violation notices have been canceled, and the Oak Ridge City Council will discuss the electronic sign ordinance in a work session tonight.

The Oak Ridge City Council will review the city’s electronic reader board sign ordinance during a work session at 7 p.m. today.

The meeting will also include a presentation and report on the city’s economic development programs and possible changes in how the city supports new jobs and companies, improves retail opportunities, and enhances housing improvements.

Changes to the city’s electronic sign ordinance were proposed late last year, but they were pulled from a December meeting of the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission agenda after a backlash from business owners.

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Aldi could open at Woodland Town Center in September

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Aldi Site at Woodland Town Center

The property at Woodland Town Center where an Aldi grocery store could open by September near Panera Bread and Aubrey’s between South Illinois and South Purdue avenues.

The new grocery store that could open on South Illinois Avenue by September could be an Aldi, a developer said Friday.

The 15,800-square-foot store would be on 1.6 acres at Woodland Town Center, where the new Aubrey’s and relocated Panera Bread opened in October. It would be across from those two restaurants, on the other side of a new roadway called Woodland Terrace East.

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Anderson Chamber hosts seminar on tax law changes

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Jerry Schlandt

Jerry Schlandt (Submitted photo)

A Feb. 6 seminar at the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce will focus on the 2012 American Relief Act and tax law changes.

The seminar will be presented by J.D. Schlandt, a certified public accountant.

The seminar is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, at the Chamber office. You can join the “Chamber Chatroom lunch bunch” from 11:30 a.m. to  noon in an opportunity to network and establish new relationships, a press release said.

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