Oak Ridge Today

CVMR provides information for job applicants, vendors interested in Oak Ridge work

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Michael Hargett and Kamran Khoza of CVMR USA

CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday, March 13, to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

CVMR, the Toronto company that is moving its headquarters to Oak Ridge, has provided contact information on its website for job applicants and vendors interested in employment and service opportunities at its Oak Ridge office.

Job applicants can send their resumés to [email protected].

Vendors can send their information to [email protected]. [Read more…]

UT study: Lackluster growth in first quarter, but overall gains expected in 2014

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KNOXVILLE—An abnormally harsh winter led to lackluster economic growth the first quarter of 2014, but a dip in unemployment rates and expected increases in housing investments signal stronger gains for the remainder of the year.

The gross domestic product is expected to increase 2.4 percent this year as a whole, compared to 1.9 percent last year, according to the spring 2014 Tennessee Business and Economic Outlook released Friday at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The national unemployment rate will likely average 6.5 percent this year compared to 7.4 percent last year, the report shows. It is expected to decrease to 6 percent in 2015.

The study, prepared by UT’s Center for Business and Economic Research, predicts the direction of the state and national economies by examining many economic and fiscal factors and trends. [Read more…]

ORAU: Nearly 2/3 of foreign doctorates staying in U.S. 10 years after graduation

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Oak Ridge Associated Universities Building MC-100

The Oak Ridge Associated Universities Building MC-100 is pictured above.

ORISE report suggests foreign doctorate recipients routinely take regular employment in the U.S. after completing postdoctoral appointments

The number of foreign, science, and engineering doctorate students who remain in the United States after graduation has declined slightly during the past five to 10 years, but long-term stay rates indicate that nearly two-thirds of foreign doctorates are continuing to stay in the U.S. These are the latest findings in a series of biennial reports that have been produced by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education and funded by the National Science Foundation since 2000.

The latest report is titled “Stay Rates of Foreign Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities, 2011.” It documents a study in which 2011 tax records—the most recent data currently available for the study—were used to estimate the proportion of foreign doctorate recipients from U.S. universities who stayed in the U.S. after graduation for any reason. The “Survey of Earned Doctorates,” published annually by the NSF, collects information from each graduate school on people completing doctorates each year. The Social Security Administration then calculates the proportion of those graduates with annual earnings of $5,500 or more, and these tabulations are used with appropriate adjustments (e.g., death) to produce the stay rate.

The 2011 stay rate for all foreign doctorate recipients, including those on permanent visas at graduation, was 68 percent for those graduating five years earlier, and 65 percent for those graduating 10 years earlier. [Read more…]

Jail’s workhouse designation allows some inmates to keep jobs

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Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The 212-bed expansion of the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton is pictured above while still under construction in December. The expansion allows the county to declare the jail a workhouse, which lets some qualified low-risk offenders keep their current employment.

CLINTON—Some qualified low-risk inmates will be able to keep their jobs even after sentencing now that the Anderson County jail has been declared a workhouse, officials said Monday.

When a judge agrees, the inmates could continue their current employment, stay at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton when they’re not at work, and pay $15 to $17.50 per day for their jail time.

Female inmates judged to be low-risk offenders might be able to spend a few hours at home with their families and children, Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager said.

The Anderson County Commission unanimously declared the jail a workhouse after a brief discussion during a Monday night meeting. Yeager said the designation has been allowed for some time under Tennessee law, but Anderson County is only able to use it now because the jail is being expanded, giving deputies more room to house and segregate inmates. [Read more…]

ORISE report shows nuclear engineering graduation rates on the rise in 2013

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Number of graduate degrees expected to remain consistent but undergraduate degrees could see decrease starting in 2015; UT among Top 3 degree-granting programs

The number of college students graduating with majors in nuclear engineering continues to increase, according to a report by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, which surveyed 32 U.S. universities with nuclear engineering programs. The report, titled “Nuclear Engineering Enrollments and Degrees Survey, 2013 Data,” includes degrees granted between Sept. 1, 2012, and Aug. 31, 2013.

Graduate, undergraduate nuclear engineering degrees increased from last year [Read more…]

Corker: Y-12 security breach shows need for UPF, shouldn’t hurt employment

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

It was a “major wake-up call,” but last month’s security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex should not hurt employment or work in Oak Ridge, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said Thursday.

He said the intrusion by three anti-nuclear weapons activists into a high-security area at Y-12 actually demonstrates the need for a newer, more secure uranium processing facility, or UPF. There has been some concern in Oak Ridge about how the unprecedented security breach at Y-12 might affect funding or planning for the UPF, which could cost up to $6.5 billion and be the largest construction project in Tennessee history.

But Corker, a Tennessee Republican, said some Congressional representatives might actually want to act quicker now to build the UPF, which would consolidate enriched uranium operations at Y-12, including assembly and dismantlement work.

[Read more…]