Oak Ridge Today

USEC: ORNL extends American Centrifuge demonstration program into 2015

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American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center

The American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center in south Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photos courtesy USEC)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has exercised an option to extend the American Centrifuge demonstration program into 2015, USEC announced Wednesday.

The announcement was included in a report on second quarter results, when the uranium enrichment company had a net loss of $28 million. USEC, which has operations in Oak Ridge, is undergoing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is turning over its gaseous diffusion plant in Paducah, Kentucky, to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Funding for the next-generation American Centrifuge activities was previously provided under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy. Under that cost-sharing agreement, DOE provided 80 percent of the funding, and USEC provided 20 percent for research, development, and demonstration work performed from June 1, 2012, through April 30, 2014, when the agreement expired.

On May 1, USEC signed a new agreement with UT-Battelle, which manages and operates ORNL for DOE. The agreement was called the American Centrifuge Technology Demonstration and Operations, or ACTDO, agreement, and it allows for continued cascade operations and the continuation of core American Centrifuge research and technology activities and the furnishing of related reports to ORNL, USEC said in its quarterly report.

On July 31, ORNL exercised its option to extend the period of performance for the ACTDO Agreement by an additional six months to March 31, 2015. The agreement also provides ORNL with one additional option to extend the agreement by six months to September 30, 2015. [Read more…]

Walmart, United Way, ADFAC team up to collect school supplies

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Walmart and United Way Fill the Bus

Pictured above, from left to right, are Brian Ferguson, First Student dispatcher; Maria Cacheiro; Marcus Cacheiro; Mateo Cacheiro; Diane Gibson, First Student location manager; Becky Hook, ADFAC school supply coordinator; Loraine Brown, Walmart front end zone manager; Liz Herbes, ADFAC social services program director; Annie Cacheiro, ADFAC executive director; and Rick Morrow, United Way of Anderson County executive director. (Photo courtesy ADFAC)

 

Submitted

“Fill The Bus,” an initiative led by Walmart and United Way of Anderson County Inc., helped provide much-needed school supplies to the ADFAC School Supplies Program. ADFAC (Aid To Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties Inc.) provides grade and school specific supplies to an expected 2,500 K-12 students throughout Anderson County. Walmart stores in Clinton and Oak Ridge participated as collection sites for donations.

During the week of July 26-August 4, at both entrances of the Walmart stores, customers were invited to donate school supplies. The concept was that, as customers were purchasing supplies for their own children or grandchildren, they could purchase a few extra for the ADFAC School Supplies Program.

During Tennessee’s sales tax holiday, August 1-3, Walmart in Oak Ridge invited First Student Inc.-Oak Ridge Schools to provide a “real” bus to be parked outside the store to help publicize and raise visibility for the campaign. First Student Inc.-Oak Ridge Schools also provided assistance in transporting the supplies from the donation boxes to the bus and to the storage facility. Several ADFAC staff and volunteers also assisted with the transferring of supplies. [Read more…]

Roane County Chamber has new board chair, members

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Gail Lyke

Gail Lyke

The Roane County Chamber of Commerce board of directors has a new chair and members.

The board chair for the 2014-2015 year is Gail Lyke, vice president and branch manager at First Bank of Tennessee in Rockwood. Lyke officially took over July 17 from outgoing board chair Chris Ahler of Visionary Horizons Wealth Management at the Chamber’s first board meeting of the new fiscal year. Lyke previously served as the Chamber’s treasurer for the past two years and has served on the board since 2008.

Lyke was named the 2013 Chamber Woman of the Year. She is a graduate of Leadership Roane County and serves on the Leadership Roane County Alumni Association Board, as well as the Roane County Association of Women Executives, where she previously served as past president, and as a member of the Rockwood Civitan Club. Lyke also served on the Rockwood Planning Commission.

Lyke said her focus for the year will be to work with the board of directors and the president to “help facilitate the transition and changes that have been put in place to move the Chamber into a new value-added membership structure, encouraging both membership growth and retention.” [Read more…]

Council considers Clark Center Park, ORHS stoplight, Woodland development

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Clark Center Park Water View

A view of Melton Hill Lake near a boat ramp and between two picnic areas at Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday night will consider the start of negotiations over the future of Clark Center Park, a new stoplight on Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of the high school, and changes, including rezonings, that could allow a small commercial development near Aldi grocery on South Illinois Avenue.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Monday, August 11, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. See the agenda here.

A resolution to be considered tonight would allow Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson to discuss the future of Clark Center Park with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office. DOE-ORO  has said it wants to transfer the park to the city at no cost as long as it remains a recreational park asset for the public.

The Oak Ridge Office now spends about $300,000 per year to maintain the park. One of the questions for city officials is whether Oak Ridge can afford to take over the 80-acre park, which is in south Oak Ridge on Melton Hill Lake. Also known as Carbide Park, it includes two ball fields, two large picnic areas, a small playground, a boat ramp, restrooms, fishing trails, and a beach. It also includes access to the Gallaher Bend Greenway. [Read more…]

State sales tax holiday under way

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Information from WYSH Radio

Tennessee’s annual sales tax holiday began at 12:01 a.m. this morning, and it will continue through Sunday, August 3, at 11:59 p.m. There will be no sales tax charged on clothing and school and art supplies that cost less than $100 per item and computers that cost $1,500 or less.

Examples of items that can be bought tax-free during the holiday include: [Read more…]

Gold’s Gym acquiring The Rush, including in Oak Ridge

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The Rush Fitness Complex

Gold’s Gym is acquiring 23 Rush Fitness clubs in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, including in Oak Ridge.

 

Gold’s Gym announced Monday that it has signed a deal to acquire The Rush Fitness Complex, a regional gym chain that has 23 clubs in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, including in Oak Ridge.

The deal is officially slated to close in the next month, Gold’s Gym said in a press release Monday.

As part of the agreement, the 23 Rush Fitness clubs will be rebranded under the Gold’s Gym name. The rebranding is expected to be complete by the end of the year. The clubs will remain open throughout the transition, the company said in the press release. All existing memberships will be honored at the new locations, automatically converting to Gold’s Gym memberships without any interruption to current members.

Current members will also be given the option to gain travel privileges to the Gold’s Gym network of more than 700 locations in 38 states and 28 countries, the press release said. [Read more…]

Anderson Chamber elects new board member

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Arlene Garrison

Arlene Garrison

Arlene A. Garrison, vice president of university partnerships at Oak Ridge Associated Universities, has been elected to serve on the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Garrison, with more than 35 years of experience in science and education, works with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to enhance and expand research participation programs that provide opportunities for faculty and students from ORAU member institutions to work alongside renowned ORNL scientists, a press release said.

Prior to ORAU, she served as a program director for the National Science Foundation and in a number of senior leadership positions with the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Clinton gives land to SL Tennessee for expansion, will receive fire station donation

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SL Tennessee

SL Tennessee is on Frank L. Diggs Drive in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park.

Note: This story was updated at 2:30 p.m. July 29.

CLINTON—The Clinton City Council voted unanimously Monday to make an exchange with SL Tennessee.

SL Tennessee was given more than 52 acres after the auto parts manufacturer announced plans to invest $80.5 million to build a 250,000-square-foot plant in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park. The building, SL Tennessee’s fifth expansion since locating in Clinton in 2001, will manufacture automobile headlights and tail lamps for General Motors.

In exchange, after construction is complete, the company will donate between $200,000 and $250,000 to the city to build a new fire station in the industrial park.

Anderson County Economic Development Association Director Tim Thompson approached the council during a special-called meeting Monday morning to propose the deal. No one from the public came forward to speak on the proposal. [Read more…]

MMC receives quality achievement award for heart attack treatment

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MMC Cath Lab Blurry Action

 

Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge has received the Mission: Lifeline Bronze Receiving Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the treatment of patients who suffer severe heart attacks.

“Methodist is honored to receive recognition from this highly respected organization,” said Dr. Milan Sheth, a board-certified and fellowship-trained interventional cardiologist on the staff of Methodist Medical Center. “We are deeply committed to preventing conditions that can lead to heart attacks and to diagnose and treat even the most critically ill cardiac patients.”

Each year in the United States, approximately 300,000 people have a STEMI, or ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, caused by a complete blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it’s critical to immediately restore blood flow, either by surgically opening the blocked vessel or by giving clot-busting medication.

The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program helps hospitals, emergency medical services, and communities improve response times so people who suffer from a STEMI get prompt, appropriate treatment. The program’s goal is to streamline systems of care to quickly get heart attack patients from the first 9-1-1 call to hospital treatment. [Read more…]

Photos: SL Tennessee expansion

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SL Tennessee Tail Light Hot Weld

SL Tennessee employee Ricky Bean at a hot plate welding station in the assembly area for Cadillac tail lights.

 

CLINTON—Tennessee officials and SL Tennessee executives on Friday announced 1,000 new auto parts manufacturing jobs as part of a $80.5 million expansion in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park in Clinton. It could be the largest expansion of industrial employment in Anderson County since World War II.

The South Korean company plans to invest $80.5 million to build a 250,000-square-foot plant on Frank L. Diggs Drive in the industrial park. It will be SL Tennessee’s LLC third building in the park, and the company’s fifth expansion since locating in Clinton in 2001. The new building will manufacture automobile head lights and tail lamps for General Motors.

Construction on the new building in Clinton will begin in August, and the new plant could be operating by April 2015.

Here is a collection of photos from Friday’s event. [Read more…]

Dale Carnegie Employee Engagement Workshop Series starts Aug. 14

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Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is pictured above.

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with Dale Carnegie of Tennessee to offer a six-workshop series on employee engagement. A discount is available for members of the Chamber and for those who register for all six sessions, a press release said.

The first session will be held on August 14 from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at the Chamber, located at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike. Session one is titled “How Smart Leaders Create Engaged Employees.” Based on new, groundbreaking research you will learn the three clusters of behaviors that significantly impact engagement.

Then, within each cluster, individual actions will be broken down to help participants develop enthusiastic, empowered, confident, and inspired employees—the type of employees who care, who want to be part of a success story, and who will drive an organization to the top. Learn how to increase productivity and reduce turnover by cultivating a workforce of engaged employees. [Read more…]

SL Tennessee expansion could be largest in industrial employment since World War II

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SL Tennessee Expansion Media Availability

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, center, announces 1,000 new jobs as part of an $80.5 million expansion at auto parts manufacturer SL Tennessee in Clinton. Also pictured from left are Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Clinton Mayor Scott Burton, and U.S. Senator Bob Corker.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:30 a.m. July 26.

CLINTON—The 1,000 new jobs announced at SL Tennessee in Clinton on Friday could be the largest expansion of industrial employment in Anderson County since World War II, officials said.

SL Tennessee, an auto parts manufacturer, plans to invest $80.5 million to build a 250,000-square-foot plant on Frank L. Diggs Drive in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park. It will be SL Tennessee’s LLC third building in the park, and the company’s fifth expansion since locating in Clinton in 2001. The new building will manufacture automobile head lights and tail lamps for General Motors.

The jobs announcement was made in the South Korean company’s Chassis Plant on Friday near workers assembling gear shifters and brake assemblies, mostly for GM. Marking the importance of the announcement, Gov. Bill Haslam was invited to speak and so were U.S. senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann.

“This is obviously a big day,” said Haslam, who announced the new jobs. “It shows our growth in the automotive business.”

It’s the second announcement of more than 1,000 jobs at an automotive plant in East Tennessee in the past two weeks. Last week, Volkswagen announced a $600 million investment and 2,000 new jobs in Chattanooga. [Read more…]