Oak Ridge Today

Perma-Fix awards 2014 Career Day scholarships

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Kaylee Burton

Kaylee Burton (Photos courtesy Roane County Schools/The Roane County News)

Submitted by The Roane Alliance

KINGSTON—The fourth annual Perma-Fix Career Day Scholarships have been awarded to a graduate from each of the five Roane County high schools. The students receiving the $250 scholarships applied for them during their junior year while participating in the Roane County Chamber’s High School Career Day.

The five graduating seniors awarded this year’s Perma-Fix Scholarships are Matt Snow, Harriman High; Ryan Hamby, Rockwood High; Austin Strange, Roane County High; Kaylee Burton, Midway High; and Amber Eddy, Oliver Springs High.

Each of these seniors are seeking postsecondary education by attending college, a technical center, or taking workforce training courses, a press release said.

“We want to encourage and help students continue their education after high school,” said Kenyon Mee, facility manager for Diversified Scientific Services Inc., a subsidiary of Perma-Fix Environmental Services in Kingston. “This is our fourth year of sponsoring scholarships for graduates of Roane County high schools. Next year, we will announce five more scholarships for the Class of 2015.” [Read more…]

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…]

Yager presents Brown-Forman donation to Roane Alliance’s Education Matters!

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Brown-Forman Donation to Roane Alliance Education Matters

Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager, center, presents a donation from Brown-Forman to the Roane Alliance’s Education Matters. Also pictured are Rep. Kent Calfee, left, and Allen Lutz of The Roane Alliance. (Submitted photo)

Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager on Thursday announced a new partner for the continued funding of The Roane Alliance’s award-winning Education Matters! program. Yager presented a $5,000 check at the beginning of the Roane County Chamber of Commerce regular monthly board meeting.

Yager presented the check to Allen Lutz, education and workforce development specialist for the Roane Alliance, on behalf of Brown-Forman—the global, multi-billion dollar company that produces and markets Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey.

The Brown-Forman donation comes on the heels of the Alliance’s Education Matters! program receiving an international economic development award earlier this month. The Roane County program won a Gold Award for Excellence in Economic Development (category 25,000-200,000 population) from the International Economic Development Council at their annual conference in Philadelphia. [Read more…]

Roane Alliance Education Matters! program takes home the ‘Gold’

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

IEDC Award

Submitted

The Roane Alliance’s Education Matters! program has been selected as a Gold Award recipient by the International Economic Development Council, or IEDC, for excellence in economic development.

The award was presented at the 2013 IEDC Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pa., on Tuesday. Receiving the award on behalf of The Alliance was Leslie Henderson, Alliance president and chief executive officer, and Allen Lutz, education and workforce development specialist at The Alliance.

Education Matters! received the award in the category of Partnerships with Educational Institutions in communities with a population between 25,000-200,000. According to the IEDC, their Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognize the world’s best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials, and the year’s most influential leaders. [Read more…]

Officials celebrate opening of $40 million Volkswagen distribution center in Roane County

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Volkswagen Southeast Regional Distribution Center Opening

Volkswagen, Roane County, and Tennessee officials celebrate the opening of a $40 million parts distribution center in eastern Roane County on Tuesday.

ROANE COUNTY—A new $40 million Volkswagen distribution center in eastern Roane County will distribute domestic auto parts to a global market for the Passat, which is made in Chattanooga, the company said Tuesday.

The Southeast Regional Distribution Center started operating on a limited basis as a redistribution center in April. It serves five other depots in the United States, as well as warehouses in Canada, Mexico, and Germany.

Later, it will include a parts distribution center for 110 Volkswagen and Audi dealers in the Southeast. [Read more…]

Roane Alliance kicks off Education Matters! fundraising drive

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Roane County Education Matters

Front row: Allen Lutz; back row (l-r): Carmen Van Horn, Gary Aytes, Chris Whaley, Leslie Henderson, and Chris Ayers. (Submitted photo)

The Roane Alliance on Thursday kicked off a fund drive to keep its Education Matters! initiative—a “Best Practice” program, according to the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce— continuing in the future.

The Education Matters! program funding is being cut as of June 30 of this year.

“The Education Matters! mission is that every child in Roane County gets some post-secondary education—and does well at it,” said Leslie Henderson, president and chief executive officer of The Roane Alliance. “Education Matters! is making remarkable progress towards that goal, but starting at the end of June this year, the program has lost its funding and we need the community’s help. [Read more…]

Roane Alliance: 2012 the ‘busiest and most productive ever’

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Roane Alliance has released its most recent annual report, and it called 2012 the “busiest and most productive year ever.”

Roane Alliance officials said they will remember 2012 as the year of the Volkswagen Distribution Center project.

But it was also a year of many other accomplishments, said Alliance President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Henderson.

[Read more…]