East Tennessee Economic Council Archives

ETEC presents Muddy Boot, Young Professional awards

Posted at 4:15 pm December 21, 2018
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Three women captured the Muddy Boot Award and Postma Young Professional Medals presented by the East Tennessee Economic Council at its annual awards luncheon on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018. Pictured above from left are Ashley Hartman Saunders, Naomi Asher, and Sherry Browder. (Photo courtesy ETEC)

Three women received the Muddy Boot Award and Postma Young Professional Medals presented by the East Tennessee Economic Council at its annual awards luncheon on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018. Pictured above from left are Ashley Hartman Saunders, Naomi Asher, and Sherry Browder. (Photo courtesy ETEC)

Three women received the Muddy Boot Award and Postma Young Professional Medals presented by the East Tennessee Economic Council at its annual awards luncheon on Friday, December 14.

The Muddy Boot Award was created in the 1970s to honor individuals who have gone above the call of duty—like those who served the nation during the Manhattan Project—to make the community, the state of Tennessee, and the nation a better place to live and work, a press release said. More than 90 people have received the award. A full list of recipients and more information about the honor can be found on the ETEC website at www.eteconline.org.

Lawrence Young, founding president and chief executive officer of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, presented the Muddy Boot Award.

Sherry Browder, currently the re-industrialization manager for URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) at the East Tennessee Technology Park and a career environmental management specialist, was awarded the Muddy Boot Award for, among other activities, her work to transform the former gaseous diffusion site to an industrial asset in Oak Ridge and Roane County, the press release said. [Read more…]

Five receive Muddy Boot Awards

Posted at 3:09 pm December 22, 2017
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Five people won Muddy Boot Awards this year. In the top row, from left, they are Tom Ballard, David Bradshaw, and Sue Cange. In the bottom row are David Millhorn, left, and Ken Rueter.

Five people received Muddy Boot Awards this year. They include scientists, business leaders, government officials, and a man who has done a little of everything during his career, a press release said.

Here are the winners of the 2017 Muddy Boot Awards, which are from the the East Tennessee Economic Council:

Tom Ballard, who has had three careers—with the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and now Pershing Yoakley and Associates, and still finds time to “spread the gospel of innovation” with his daily Teknovation.biz newsletter.
David Bradshaw, another multi-tasker who has worked at the Y-12 National Security Complex, Technology 2020, and most recently Pinnacle Financial Partners, and who has also served as the mayor of Oak Ridge and chairs of dozens of community causes.
Sue Cange, whose career with the U.S. Department of Energy saw her rise from a new employee in the environmental management program to the acting head of that same program before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt University this fall and who, in many ways over the years, enabled the reindustrialization program at the East Tennessee Technology Park site.
David Millhorn, senior vice president of the University of Tennessee and a leader in the revitalization of both the university system and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Ken Rueter, president of URS | CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), a relative newcomer to East Tennessee who brings energy to everything he does, whether it be the environmental stewardship programs at ETTP or his work building hiking and biking trails while supporting the Foothills Land Conservancy and the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.

“The one common trait in these five individuals,” ETEC President Jim Campbell said, “is the passion they bring in their own way to the work they do. Their dedication is infectious, and it makes everyone around them better. Clearly each person has made East Tennessee a better place to work, to play, and to thrive.” [Read more…]

Hammond, Howerton receive 2017 Postma Young Professionals Awards

Posted at 1:07 pm December 21, 2017
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Reverend Derrick Hammond, left, and Consolidated Nuclear Security’s Senior Director of Transformation J. Travis Howerton were named the latest winners of the Herman and Pat Postma Young Professionals Award by the East Tennessee Economic Council at the annual awards celebration held Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge. (Photos courtesy ETEC)

Reverend Derrick Hammond and CNS’s senior director of transformation J. Travis Howerton were named the latest winners of the Herman and Pat Postma Young Professionals Award by the East Tennessee Economic Council at the annual awards celebration held Friday, December 8, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge.

The Postma Young Professional Medal was created by the East Tennessee Economic Council to honor the accomplishments of young professionals who have made an impact and fostered a community culture in the region. Former Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Herman Postma epitomized this spirit during his life; and his wife, Pat, continues the tradition of service today through her involvement in the Oak Ridge community, a press release said.

Pat Postma and Ted Sherry made the award presentations.

The Postma Medal, however, is about more than outstanding work, the press release said. [Read more…]

UT executive David Millhorn, a UT-ORNL leader, died Monday at 72

Posted at 1:47 pm December 19, 2017
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David Millhorn

KNOXVILLE—David Millhorn, University of Tennessee senior vice president emeritus and national laboratory relations advisor, died on Monday in Knoxville. Millhorn, who joined UT System Administration in 2005 as vice president for research and economic development, was 72.

In July, Millhorn transitioned to his most recent role with the university after having served as UT senior vice president and vice president for research, outreach, and economic development since 2016 and president of the UT Research Foundation since January 2014.

Two years after Millhorn’s service as a member of the UT president’s staff began in 2005, he took on the additional role of UT executive vice president and served in both that capacity and as vice president for research until 2016, a press release said.

Millhorn oversaw multiple, unprecedented achievements for the university’s research enterprise, the press release said. Among those, UT’s contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage Oak Ridge National Laboratory—in partnership with Battelle Memorial Institute of Ohio—earned two five-year extensions, in 2010 and 2015, without having to re-compete. [Read more…]

Congressmen praise consolidated contract at Y-12, Pantex

Posted at 4:58 pm October 25, 2017
By John Huotari 4 Comments

U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry, left, a Texas Republican, and Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, are pictured above after an East Tennessee Economic Council meeting on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Two congressmen, one from East Tennessee and other the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, praised the consolidated contract that has been used to manage and operate the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge for more than three years.

The two sites are managed by Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC. Y-12 and Pantex are involved in nuclear weapons work and nuclear nonproliferation, and providing enriched uranium for naval, research, and isotope production reactors.

The transition to the consolidated contract, one of the most complex in the history of the U.S. Department of Energy, was completed on July 1, 2014. At that time, officials said the contract included a total annual operating budget of $1.5 billion and employment of about 8,000 in Tennessee and Texas. [Read more…]

ORNL, TVA, NuScale Power, others to present at nuclear supply chain workshop

Posted at 5:12 am August 24, 2017
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The agenda has been finalized for the Nuclear Suppliers Workshop in September that will be hosted by the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council and the East Tennessee Economic Council.

On September 6-7, companies interested in being part of the supply chain and searching for manufacturing opportunities around small modular reactors, next generation nuclear technology, nuclear medicine, and national security programs are invited to attend the Nuclear Suppliers Workshop at Pollard Technology Conference Center in Oak Ridge.

Thomas Zacharia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be the keynote speaker, a press release said. The Tennessee Valley Authority, NuScale Power, Duke Energy, AMS Corporation, Teledyne Brown Engineering, and others will also present. [Read more…]

Nuclear Suppliers Workshop in Oak Ridge in September

Posted at 10:15 pm August 8, 2017
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The East Tennessee Economic Council and the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council are having a Nuclear Suppliers Workshop in Oak Ridge in September.

The workshop is September 6-7 at the Pollard Technology Conference Center in Oak Ridge.

The focus of the event will be on manufacturing opportunities arising in the southeastern United States around small modular reactors, next generation nuclear technology, nuclear medicine, and national security programs, a press release said.

Invited speakers include senior executives from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, NuScale Power, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Terrestrial Energy, University of Tennessee, Duke Energy, and others. The final agenda is still under development, the press release said. [Read more…]

ETEC accepting nominations for 2017 Muddy Boot Award, Postma Young Professional Medal

Posted at 2:45 pm June 7, 2017
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The East Tennessee Economic Council is now accepting nominations for the 2017 Muddy Boot Award and Postma Young Professional Medal, a press release said.

In 1973, the founders of ETEC (then the Roane Anderson Economic Council or R-AEC) created the Muddy Boot Award to reflect the efforts of the Manhattan Project founders of Oak Ridge, who worked through adverse conditions to build the community, the press release said. Each year since then, ETEC has honored individuals or groups of people who have continued to help build and bolster the community’s economic base. The award has been presented to elected officials, business leaders, representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, and others.

The objective is to recognize an individual—not an institution—for significant and long-term contributions to the East Tennessee region with respect to the federal government programs and its spin-offs by leveraging the federal presence to create private sector jobs, the press release said. Participation in the community beyond the workplace is essential.

The 2016 recipients included Mike Belbeck, Covenant Health; Chuck Fleischmann, U.S. Congressman, Third District; Frank Munger, recently retired from Knoxville News Sentinel; and Mike Pasqua, recently retired from SAIC/Leidos. [Read more…]

Westcott’s 95th birthday will be celebrated Jan. 21

Posted at 1:09 pm January 11, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Ed Westcott is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

The family of Ed Westcott, the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during World War II, is inviting the community to celebrate his 95th birthday on Saturday, January 21.

The birthday celebration is at 2 p.m. January 21 in the Wildcat Den at Midtown Community Center at 102 Robertsville Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Westcott was the only authorized photographer in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal project to build the world’s first atomic bombs—before Germany could. Oak Ridge was a production site for the Manhattan Project, and the city, which was then known as Clinton Engineer Works, enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime. [Read more…]

Fleischmann, Belbeck, Pasqua receive Muddy Boot Awards

Posted at 5:32 am December 11, 2016
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randy-mcnally-and-chuck-fleischmann-muddy-boot-award-dec-9-2016-scaled

Tennessee Senator and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, left, presents a Muddy Boot Award to U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, at an East Tennessee Economic Council meeting on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

Businessmen Mike Belbeck and Mike Pasqua and U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann were honored Friday with Muddy Boot Awards. The awards from the East Tennessee Economic Council, or ETEC, pay tribute to people who, through their work and activities, build a better community.

Pasqua helped found and grow SAIC’s Oak Ridge offices and later led the transition to Leidos, a press release said. Belbeck is executive vice president for operations of Covenant Health and active in numerous organizations across the region, the release said.

Covenant Health’s Jan McNally, who recruited Belbeck to be her successor as administrator of Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, presented his award, and Sherry Browder, current chair of ETEC and a former colleague of Pasqua at SAIC, presented that Boot.

Fleischmann returned from Washington to receive his Muddy Boot Award, which was presented by incoming Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, the press release said.

The Council’s Pat Postma also presented the Postma Young Professional Medal to Wade Creswell, chief executive officer of The Roane Alliance. [Read more…]

ORAU donates $100,000 to International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion

Posted at 5:25 pm December 10, 2016
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orau-donation-to-friendship-bell-tatum-postma

ORAU President and CEO Andy Page, left, surprises Pat Postma, second from left, and Alan Tatum, second from right, co-chairs of the Advisory Committee of the International Friendship Peace Pavilion, with a $100,000 donation from ORAU to go toward the new pavilion on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. Also pictured is ORAU Executive Vice President Eric Abelquist. (DOE photo courtesy Lynn Freeny)

Surprise announcement made at ETEC annual awards luncheon

ORAU President and CEO Andy Page presented a $100,000 donation for the International Friendship Peace Pavilion during a surprise announcement at the East Tennessee Economic Council’s annual awards luncheon on Friday.

The plans for the new International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion, which includes moving the 8,000-pound bronze cast bell from its current location in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge to another location within the park, were unveiled recently.

Organizers and volunteers have now raised $525,000 in the drive to build the new Peace Pavilion. They have said it could cost $750,000 to build the new structure and pavilion. [Read more…]

Last seven days have been great for Oak Ridge, mayor says; read presentation here

Posted at 2:23 pm September 9, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 3 Comments

Warren Gooch (2016 file photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This is a lightly edited version of a presentation that Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch gave to the East Tennessee Economic Council on Friday, September 9.

It is a pleasure for me to be here this morning as I begin my 22nd month as mayor and to share my thoughts about the positive direction of our city, and why that is important to you and your companies. First, I want to thank you for supporting Oak Ridge and investing your time and your money here.

My family and I have lived in Oak Ridge for 23 years. But my law firm, Kramer Rayson, has been involved in one way or another with Oak Ridge from its earliest days when our founding partner, Russell Kramer, received a call from an old friend in Washington. (Gooch tells a story about a telephone call with President Roosevelt.)

By any standard, the last seven days have been great for Oak Ridge and have increased the excitement that is being expressed about the momentum of our city.

First, demolition has accelerated at the old mall as construction for Main Street Oak Ridge ushers in a new and exciting era for our community. The tax increment financing (TIF) loan for Main Street had closed, and so has the loan for the new Marriott hotel that is being built. The importance of Main Street Oak Ridge to the image and self-confidence of our city and the economic vitality of Oak Ridge, Anderson, and Roane counties cannot be overstated. The success of Main Street and the continued redevelopment of our center city’s retail, residential, and commercial properties is my number one priority. We must work hard to maintain this momentum and take full advantage of it in the coming months. If we are successful, it will help you recruit the new workers you require for your businesses.

Second, LeMond Composites announced its licensing agreement with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and that the company is coming to Oak Ridge to manufacture innovative, high-volume, low-cost, carbon fiber in the Horizon Center Industrial Park.

Third, the National Park Service named Kris Kirby as the superintendent of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. [Read more…]