Oak Ridge Today

Eighth lane could be added to Oak Ridge rowing course by March

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SIRA-Regatta-April-17-2016-6

Officials and referees used Oak Ridge Rowing Association boats to monitor the races on the seven-lane course at the 2016 SIRA Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge on Sunday, April 17, 2016. The city plans to add an eighth lane by March 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An eighth lane could be added to the Oak Ridge rowing course by March, officials said Tuesday.

The work is made possible with help from a $40,000 state Tourism Enhancement Grant announced Tuesday by Randy Boyd, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. Officials celebrated with a brief ceremony at Calhoun’s Event Center on Melton Lake Peninsula.

The eighth rowing lane has been on the city’s wish list for at least a decade, possibly longer.

Oak Ridge has received a $250,000 state grant for the proposed eighth lane. The city has planned to contribute $150,000, and Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson has solicited more money from other agencies that would benefit from the rowing course improvements, including in Anderson and Knox counties. That meant there was enough money available to fund a project of about $560,000, which is close to a targeted estimate that Watson gave Oak Ridge City Council members in March. [Read more…]

Commissioner Boyd to make tourism grant announcement at Calhoun’s on Tuesday

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Randy Boyd

Randy Boyd

 

Randy Boyd, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, will be in Oak Ridge on Tuesday to make an announcement concerning the state’s Tourism Enhancement Grant program, a tourism official said.

Boyd will be at Calhoun’s Event Center on Melton Lake Peninsula at 4 p.m. Tuesday, said Stephanie Wells, executive director of the Anderson County Tourism Council. [Read more…]

Anderson County gets $40,000 tourism grant

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Bill Haslam during Presidential Visit at Pellissippi State

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is pictured above during a visit by President Barack Obama at Pellissippi State Community College on Friday, January 9. (File photo by Rob Welton)

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd recently announced that 29 communities will receive close to $1 million in Tourism Enhancement Grants to assist communities with tourism infrastructure assets. Anderson County received a $40,000 grant.

“We want to congratulate all 29 communities on receiving Tourism Enhancement Grants,” Haslam said in a press release. “These grants showcase how great the partnership is between tourist development and economic development. With the support of these grants, each community will be better equipped to succeed in our state, and I look forward to seeing these Tennessee communities thrive.”

The grants assist counties and cities in improving local assets to increase the economic impact of tourism.

“I am pleased to announce these 29 communities that have been awarded the Tourism Enhancement Grant,” Boyd said. “It is always exciting when communities choose to invest in economic development initiatives to grow and succeed in our state. Tourism development is economic development, and with the assistance of the Tourism Enhancement Grant and our partnership with Commissioner Kevin Triplett and the Department of Tourist Development, each community will be able to invest in their assets and grow their local economy.” [Read more…]

CVMR still hopes to build $300M metal refinery, but R&D center on hold

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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, 2015, to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 7:05 p.m.

Seeking to clarify its plans, CVMR on Friday said it still hopes to build a metal refining facility in Oak Ridge to produce metal powders and “nano materials.” That investment, to be completed in three phases, could cost more than $300 million in the first phase and eventually employ 1,200 to 1,500 engineers and technicians, the company said Friday.

But they will not establish a Center of Excellence focused on research and development of the application of vapor metallurgy technology to an expanding group of elements, CVMR said in a Friday letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.

The company sought to publicly clarify its position after news stories this week suggested that the CVMR deal was dead. Some officials and developers had pushed back after those stories appeared in several Knoxville media outlets, saying they remained “cautiously optimistic” that the company could still come to Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Dura-Line investing more than $25 million, adding 70 jobs at new manufacturing facility, R&D center

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Dura-Line, a communication and energy infrastructure manufacturer, is opening a new manufacturing facility and research and development center in Clinton, investing more than $25 million and creating 70 new jobs, state officials said Tuesday. The jobs will include engineering, research and development, and manufacturing jobs.

The announcement was made Tuesday by Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd and Dura-Line officials.

The 86,800-square-foot Clinton facility will function as a research and development, or R&D, center for new techniques for making high-density polyethylene, or HDPE, conduit products used by the telecommunications industry to house fiber optic cable. Dura-Line will conduct research and development that will help the company grow its business worldwide and will also manufacture select high-technology products at the Clinton location. [Read more…]

State certifies four new adventure tourism districts in Roane

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Adventure tourism is one of the hottest industries in the country and the world. To capitalize on this growing trend, Tennessee passed the Tennessee Adventure Tourism and Rural Development Act of 2011 in hopes to incentivize adventure tourism businesses to invest and create jobs in districts planned all across the state.

Tennessee’s abundance of natural resources makes it an ideal setting to support this segment of the tourism industry. The act allows qualified businesses that locate within a certified district to earn a jobs tax credit to offset a portion of the business’ Tennessee franchise and excise tax liability. Qualified businesses may include restaurants, hotels, or other tourist related attractions.

“I began the process in February and over the next few months required resolutions from each of the cities where the district resides, as well as the county. They all passed unanimously,” said Pam May, vice president of The Roane Alliance. “Roane County has so many natural resources ideal for adventure tourism—more than 700 miles of shoreline, bluffs, and vistas on the plateau, and a large number of Wildlife Management Areas—just to name a few.” [Read more…]

Registration for Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit closes Monday

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Includes discussion of federal missions in Oak Ridge

Registration for the annual Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit closes Monday. The summit will include a discussion of federal missions in Oak Ridge.

Organizers expect more than 300 national and regionals leaders at the 20th Annual Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit. It’s being held at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City on May 27-28. The Summit will be at the D.P. Culp University Center at ETSU.

“Hundreds of regional leaders will gather in Johnson City to focus on education from the business and industry perspective at the 20th annual Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit,” a press release said. “The sessions at the two-day event will focus on how to ensure tomorrow’s workforce has the skills they need to find quality jobs at home and how the region’s educational institutions can partner with businesses and organizations for better success.” [Read more…]

UT: Expertise in materials science, additive manufacturing helps draw CVMR to Tenn.

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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.

 

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd announced last week that CVMR Corporation is relocating its global headquarters to Oak Ridge from Toronto, Canada. CVMR provides materials for additive manufacturing and announced it will create 620 jobs.

During recruitment of CVMR, University of Tennessee officials assisted the state and hosted the company at UT Knoxville to visit with engineering and chemistry faculty and learn about graduate programs, such as the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education, as well as internships and co-ops for students, a press release said. UT System officials provided information about technology transfer, the UT Research Foundation, and Cherokee Farm Innovation Campus. CVMR also learned more about the University’s role in leading the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, or IACMI, a $259 million partnership announced by President Barack Obama in January. [Read more…]

Metal powder manufacturing company investing $313 million in Oak Ridge, adding 620 jobs

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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 to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12 a.m.

A company that manufactures high-purity metal powders and super alloys is moving its operations to Oak Ridge from Toronto, Canada, and investing $313 million here and creating 620 jobs, officials said Friday.

CVMR, which has operations in 18 countries, will use the former Theragenics building at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge for its headquarters and research and development. The company closed on that building, which is on 21 acres, on Friday, but executives declined to disclose the sale price.

The first employee was hired Thursday, said Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer of CVMR (USA) Incorporated.

The company could expand that 65,000-square-foot building; infrastructure that is already in place allows it to be doubled. The company could put 218 people to work right away in its new headquarters and add 402 high-paying manufacturing jobs later, a state official said.

“I can promise you that this is the start of a wave,” said Randy Boyd, the new commissioner of Tennessee Economic and Community Development. [Read more…]

Gov. Haslam, state to make ‘significant’ economic announcement in OR Friday

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Bill Haslam during Presidential Visit at Pellissippi State

Governor Bill Haslam is pictured above during a visit by President Barack Obama at Pellissippi State Community College on Friday, January 9. (File photo by Rob Welton)

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and the state will make a significant economic development announcement in Oak Ridge on Friday afternoon, officials said.

The announcement—which will also include other federal, state, and local officials—is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, March 13, at the former Theragenics Building at Horizon Center.

Details of the announcement have not been released. [Read more…]

Randy Boyd named state commissioner of economic, community development

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Photo courtesy UT Torchbearer

Photo courtesy UT Torchbearer

East Tennessee businessman Randy Body has been named commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Governor Bill Haslam announced Thursday.

Boyd, 55, is chairman of Radio Systems Corporation, which he started in 1991. Radio Systems is headquartered in Knoxville and has more than 650 associates worldwide with offices in seven countries, a press release said.

Radio Systems is the company that donated $100,000 donation to the PetSafe Dog Park at Big Turtle Park in Oak Ridge.

The press release said Boyd is a successful entrepreneur who served as a full-time, unpaid special adviser to the governor for higher education in 2013, focusing on the “Drive to 55” initiative to bring the percentage of Tennesseans with college degrees or certificates from 32 percent up to 55 percent by the year 2025. Boyd’s work resulted in the Tennessee Promise, a program that provides two years of community college or a college of applied technology free of tuition and fees to graduating Tennessee high school seniors. [Read more…]

AC Chamber Council starts discussions on educational resources, workforce needs

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Randy Boyd

Randy Boyd

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CLINTON—Leaders from business, local, and post-secondary education across Anderson County gathered at the Hollingsworth Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership on Tuesday for an Anderson County Workforce Development Training Resources Luncheon hosted by the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Education and Workforce Development Council. The council plans for this to be the first of a series of in-depth county-wide discussions about how to ensure that our educational resources are focused at meeting the businesses workforce needs in Anderson County.

Randy Boyd, Governor Bill Haslam’s special adviser on higher education, spoke about Tennessee’s “Drive to 55” initiative and the five main aspects to this statewide initiative: get students ready, get them into school, get them out of school, finish what we started with adult students, and tie education directly to workforce needs.

“There are nearly a million Tennesseans that have some college credit but no degree—that’s an untapped pool of people that we can get to complete a certificate or degree,” Boyd said. [Read more…]