Wade Creswell, who was elected Roane County executive this year, will talk to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge on Tuesday.
Creswell’s presentation is scheduled to start at noon Tuesday, November 15, in person at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Church Social Hall. It will also be available on Zoom. A link for Zoom access will be distributed later.
It’s a Lunch with the League hosted by the League of Women Voters.
[Read more…]
The Visitor’s Overlook, part of the Happy Valley property purchased in November 2016, is pictured above across from East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
K-25 Overlook will be ‘bigger and better,’ provide Manhattan Project and recreational information
The K-25 Overlook next to State Route 58 in west Oak Ridge will soon be re-opening as a much larger and nicer visitor center that will also have a new purpose, a press release said.
Owner John McCormick, vice president of Bionomics, purchased the 160-acre property known as Happy Valley through an auction at the end of 2016. The overlook on SR 58 across from the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, was part of the purchase.
But the overlook needed building repairs and updates to the historical information inside, the press release said. In 2017, McCormick partnered with Pam May, vice president of the Roane Alliance, who reached out to local historians, the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Energy, and Explore Oak Ridge to discuss the future of the overlook.
“The idea to expand the overlook into a visitor center and recreational hub came from the National Park Service in one of the early meetings,” May said. “That aligned perfectly with what John had envisioned—to create trails and open spaces that people could enjoy while also learning Happy Valley’s history through its landmarks still evident on the property.” [Read more…]
Pat Postma, left, presents the Postma Young Professional Medal to Wade Creswell, chief executive officer of Roane Alliance, during an East Tennessee Economic Council meeting on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. (DOE photo courtesy Lynn Freeny)
Note: This story was updated at 2:25 p.m.
Wade Creswell, president and chief executive officer of Roane Alliance, is leaving his position to begin work with an area business. His last day at the Alliance will be September 21.
The departure was announced Wednesday by Chris Whaley, chair of the Roane Alliance Board of Directors.
Pam May, Roane Alliance vice president, will serve as interim president and CEO until the board decides on the long-term future of the position, a press release said.
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the great work that Wade has done in his four and a half years leading the Roane Alliance,” Whaley said in a statement sent to the Board of Directors for the Roane Alliance, Chamber of Commerce, and Industrial Development Board. “His passion, vision, and love for Roane County have fueled his tireless work for this county and region, and I sincerely appreciate all he has done.” [Read more…]
An early aerial photo of Happy Valley, a construction camp that was like a small city and used to help build the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. This picture was taken May, 22, 1944, by Ed Westcott, the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during World War II. (Photo courtesy Ed Westcott/Emily Hunnicutt)
It was once home to a large construction camp that was like a small city and housed workers building K-25 during World War II.
Now the 160-acre parcel known as Happy Valley has been sold.
Happy Valley was in west Oak Ridge, across State Route 58 from the K-25 site. One of three major sites in Oak Ridge, K-25 was built to enrich uranium for atomic weapons as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II.
Today, Happy Valley appears to be mostly a rolling tree-covered landscape between Oak Ridge and Kingston along SR 58. To the public, there is little or no obvious evidence of what was once there—homes, a grocery store, schools, a post office, recreation halls, a gas station, and a bowling alley.
But those who have walked the property have seen evidence of the small city that was once there. [Read more…]
Steve Kelley, left, Pam May and Wade Creswell present a $10,000 check from the Roane Alliance to Pat Postma, second from right, for the new Peace Pavilion to house the International Friendship Bell. (Submitted photo)
The Roane Alliance recently contributed $10,000 to the fund supporting a new Peace Pavilion to house the International Friendship Bell in Oak Ridge’s Bissell Park.
Wade Creswell, president of the Roane Alliance; Pam May, Roane Alliance vice president; and Roane County Commissioner Steve Kelley presented the contribution to Pat Postma, co-chair of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee.
Kelley, who represents Roane County Commission District 4 in Oak Ridge, said county officials consider this a tourism contribution that will bring economic benefit to the county.
“The Tourism Committee of Roane County Commission had been looking for ways to help the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park become an economic engine for Roane County,” said Kelley, who chairs the committee. “I suggested a donation through the Roane Alliance to the bell project, to support the Bell and Peace Pavilion as an attraction for national park visitors. We believe it will help increase traffic to the national park and surrounding attractions.” [Read more…]
Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France champion, celebrated the opening of LeMond Composites, a new company he co-founded, during a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 12, 2016, at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The company is expected to make composite bicycles and carbon fiber, and invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A new company co-founded by Greg LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, will make composite bicycles and carbon fiber for other products in Oak Ridge, and the business, called LeMond Composites, will invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs, officials said during a Wednesday afternoon ceremony.
Among the officials celebrating the opening on Wednesday were LeMond, and Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd.
Carbon fiber has advantageous properties, but cost has been a barrier to using it, said Connie Jackson, chief executive officer of LeMond Composites. She said the manufacturing process has been changed to reduce production cost.
“We have overcome a significant part of the cost barrier,” Jackson said.
Carbon fiber is light, stiff, and strong, making it the perfect material for advanced composites in a variety of applications. It can be used to improve efficiency, save energy, and build or repair vehicles and planes, wind turbines and containers, and bridges and tunnels. [Read more…]
A building at the entrance of Heritage Center is pictured above. (Photo by CROET)
Note: This story was updated at 8:45 a.m. Oct. 10.
A Florida newspaper reported on Wednesday that a medical isotope company will build a manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, rather than relocating to a city in north Florida.
Coquí RadioPharmaceutical had planned to build a $250 million manufacturing facility in Alachua, which is near Gainesville, with 164 jobs paying an average of $75,000, the Gainesville Sun reported.
But the company announced Wednesday that it will instead build its facility in Oak Ridge, lured by a gift of 170 acres from the U.S. Department of Energy and the opportunity to work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a DOE lab, the newspaper said.
On Saturday, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said he is aware of the company, and it is working with the state of Tennessee. [Read more…]
Paulette Ray
The Roane County Chamber of Commerce now has two full-time employees, bringing more attention to members and adding member benefits through additional products and programs, a press release said.
Paulette Ray, director of Chamber operations, has returned to the Alliance to work “hand-in-hand with businesses to help them grow and succeed,” the press release said. Ray previously worked as the Chamber membership coordinator from 2007 to 2009 and has continued to work with the Alliance as a volunteer while running her own business, South Eastern Clogging Company, a dance and exercise studio in Kingston, which she owned for 28 years. A graduate of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce Executives, she has also completed her first year of Institute for Organizational Management, and is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Roane County.
Ray is a longtime resident of Roane County, a 1990 graduate of Roane County High School, and she attended Roane State Community College. In her spare time, she continues to teach, judge, and choreograph clogging and is also a ZUMBA fitness instructor in the county. She resides in Kingston with her husband, Daniel, along with four of their five children. Ray also has a married daughter living in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, with her husband who is currently serving in the Army. [Read more…]
Gail Lyke
The Roane County Chamber of Commerce board of directors has a new chair and members.
The board chair for the 2014-2015 year is Gail Lyke, vice president and branch manager at First Bank of Tennessee in Rockwood. Lyke officially took over July 17 from outgoing board chair Chris Ahler of Visionary Horizons Wealth Management at the Chamber’s first board meeting of the new fiscal year. Lyke previously served as the Chamber’s treasurer for the past two years and has served on the board since 2008.
Lyke was named the 2013 Chamber Woman of the Year. She is a graduate of Leadership Roane County and serves on the Leadership Roane County Alumni Association Board, as well as the Roane County Association of Women Executives, where she previously served as past president, and as a member of the Rockwood Civitan Club. Lyke also served on the Rockwood Planning Commission.
Lyke said her focus for the year will be to work with the board of directors and the president to “help facilitate the transition and changes that have been put in place to move the Chamber into a new value-added membership structure, encouraging both membership growth and retention.” [Read more…]
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…]
Submitted
The Roane Chamber of Commerce is providing a special half-day seminar, “Stay out of court: Human Resource Legal Matters Update,” on Tuesday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Roane State Community College.
This is the third year the chamber has teamed with the attorneys at the Wimberly-Lawson law firm to provide this critical human resource learning opportunity for Roane County area businesses.
The seminar will include lunch and provide 4.0 Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) credits to qualified attendees towards PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification. The seminar will also earn Continuing Education Units (CEU) from Roane State Community College. CEUs are important to many individuals to keep their membership or certification current within their profession. Additionally, for someone wanting to earn a degree or certificate, a review of their CEU’s can be evaluated by Roane State Community College to determine if the CEU’s meet the criteria for Prior Learning Assessment (PLA). [Read more…]
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…]
