Jeff Smith Archives - Oak Ridge Today

FAA conditionally approves Oak Ridge Airport

Posted at 5:06 pm July 1, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

This is an aerial image of the current layout plan for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority)

The Federal Aviation Administration provided a conditional approval for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport in a February letter, a consultant said Thursday.

The conditions included in the February 22 letter included the completion of a benefit cost analysis and an environmental assessment for the airport property, project consultant Billy Stair said.

In response to the conditional approval, the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority’s board of directors approved a work authorization for CHA Consulting Inc. during a June 19 meeting. CHA Consulting, which has an office in Louisville, will provide professional services for “qualifications development and agency scoping” for the design, environmental assessment, and benefit cost analysis for the proposed airport.

“This puts in motion the process for undertaking the BCA (benefit cost analysis) and EA (environmental assessment),” Stair said.

[Read more…]

Alexander: Senate confirms Smith of ORNL, three others to TVA Board

Posted at 11:57 am December 22, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Jeff Smith

Note: This story was updated at 5:40 p.m.

Jeff Smith, deputy lab director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been confirmed to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors.

The confirmations—there were a total of four to the TVA Board, including Smith—were announced by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander in a press release Friday.

Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, has said that Smith is an “outstanding choice” to serve on the board of the nation’s largest public utility.

Alexander introduced Smith at his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in November, the press release said. Alexander said that Smith will make an excellent TVA board member because of his “expertise in nuclear energy, his background in management of a large facility, and his understanding of large construction projects.” [Read more…]

Jeff Smith of ORNL nominated to serve on TVA Board

Posted at 12:26 pm September 21, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Jeff Smith

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m.

Jeff Smith, deputy director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been nominated to serve on the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors, officials said Thursday.

The nomination by President Donald Trump was announced by the White House.

U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, supported Smith’s nomination in statements on Thursday. [Read more…]

UT-Battelle fulfills $250,000 pledge to Emory Valley Center campaign

Posted at 5:16 pm January 12, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Emory Valley Center and UT-Battelle Check Jan 2017

On hand for UT-Battelle’s check presentation at the new facility construction site are, from left to right, Shirley Raines, Emory Valley Center board vice president; Dottie Thompson and Gene Caldwell, EVC capital co-chairs; Jennifer Enderson, EVC president; ORNL’s Jeff Smith and Leigha Humphries; Tennessee senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally; and Janet Wood, EVC vice president of community engagement. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

UT-Battelle, the managing contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, made the final installment of a $250,000 pledge by presenting a $50,000 check in late December to the Emory Valley Center, a community facility that serves people with disabilities, a press release said.

UT-Battelle made the pledge in 2011 when the Emory Valley Center, which provides services and support for adults and children with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities, began a building program to replace its aging structure. The center’s new building is now under construction.

ORNL Deputy Director for Operations Jeff Smith and Community Relations Manager Leigha Humphries presented the check to Jennifer Enderson, the center’s president. [Read more…]

Environmental assessment for Oak Ridge airport finds no significant impact

Posted at 2:54 pm March 1, 2016
By John Huotari 3 Comments

The Heritage Center airport development plan is pictured above in a file image from August 2015. (Cropped image from DOE Draft Environmental Assessment)

An environmental assessment has been completed for the transfer of 170 acres at Heritage Center for a general aviation airport in west Oak Ridge, and the assessment found no significant impact, officials said Tuesday.

The assessment was completed by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. The land would be transferred to the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.

In August, officials said conditions are subject to change, but plans then called for starting construction on the airport at the former K-25 site in 2018. An estimate at that time said the airport could cost between $30 million and $40 million.

The airport would have a 5,000-foot runway that would accommodate general aviation aircraft including corporate jets, private airplanes, and emergency medical services aircraft. A development plan shows the airport at the south side of Heritage Center along Oak Ridge Turnpike, or State Route 58. [Read more…]

Airport could cost $30-$40 million, construction could start in 2018

Posted at 1:41 pm August 20, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge resident and pilot Jerry Depew, center, talks to Billy Stair, a consultant for the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, during an information session on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2015, to discuss a proposed property transfer for a general aviation airport at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 4:36 p.m.

Conditions are subject to change, but current plans call for starting construction on a general aviation airport at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, in 2018. The current estimate range says the airport could cost between $30 million and $40 million, officials said Wednesday.

Work on an airport master plan is just starting, and it could take 12 months to complete, said Bill Marrison, president of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority. He said that plan will provide more details on subjects like cost and schedule.

The Oak Ridge airport would the third for the MKAA, which would own the site. The other two are McGhee Tyson in Blount County and Downtown Island in Knoxville.

Marrison said the Oak Ridge airport would be a reliever airport and help relieve congestion at the other two airports. He said McGhee Tyson is at capacity and there is no hangar space available, and Downtown Island has 100 people on its waiting list. [Read more…]

Student at UT’s Bredesen Center wins $50,000 ORNL prize

Posted at 4:18 pm May 2, 2014
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Bredesen Center student Andrew Lepore stands with the $50,000 check he won as part of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Next Big Idea competition. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

KNOXVILLE—With the first set of Bredesen Center graduates at the University of Tennessee set to receive their doctorates next week, students who will be in the next wave of graduates are already finding success.

Andrew Lepore, working out of the Materials Science and Technology Division through the center, recently won a prestigious Oak Ridge National Laboratory-related prize at the Next Big Idea competition. Lepore is on track to receive his doctorate in 2016.

“For him to go in there against some more seasoned researchers, against students who are further along, and come out with one of the three awards speaks highly of him and of the quality of students we have here,” said Bredesen Center Director Lee Riedinger. [Read more…]

Six companies receive ORNL small business awards

Posted at 10:53 am March 17, 2014
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Six East Tennessee companies doing business with Oak Ridge National Laboratory received 2014 ORNL Small Business Impact Awards from the laboratory Friday morning at a meeting of the East Tennessee Economic Council.

“This is the first time the awards have gone exclusively to regional companies,” ORNL Deputy Director for Operations Jeff Smith said. “Recognizing these firms at ETEC highlights their importance to the economic development of the region, as well as their contribution to our laboratory operations.”

The companies were recognized by ORNL’s Small Business Programs Office in categories emphasizing their specific capabilities and contributions. [Read more…]

AMSE’s operating contract with for-profit could be replaced by nonprofit

Posted at 9:27 am December 19, 2013
By John Huotari 1 Comment

The American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

The contract with the for-profit company that runs the American Museum of Science and Energy will change from quarterly to monthly starting Jan. 1, and a museum expert could be hired on an interim basis to assess the museum, its place in the community, and a logical new operating structure.

The museum is now funded by the U.S. Department of Energy at a cost of about $1.5 to $1.6 million per year, said David Keim, communications director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Revenues from the gift shop, admissions, and programs add up to about $300,000 per year.

But officials have long said that the department should not be operating the museum.

“It’s always been a government-funded operation,” Keim said. But, “DOE is not in the museum business.”

In June, a group of museum directors brought to Oak Ridge from around the country recommended that the museum be run by a community-based nonprofit organization—not DOE and not a for-profit company, Keim said. [Read more…]