By Jeff Keeling It took a self-effacing grandfather to convey the true import of a drama that’s been unfolding for more than two years now, the results of which could impact every person, community and business in the region for decades. By the time Dick Brownlee stepped to the podium inside a room at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center the evening of Oct. 27, that day’s chapter of the drama had ...

“You are 40 young men and women who are making a difference in your home and your workplace and in your community. You are 40 of the reasons we have a bright future as we look toward a tomorrow that is increasingly interconnected and globally competitive – and for the record, you are 40 people who would all make better presidential candidates than the two we have to choose from.” -  Dr. Bill Greer, Milligan ...

Coming March 2017! The Business Journal of Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia is excited for the opportunity to partner with the City of Kingsport to publish a commemorative edition celebrating Kingsport100, an historical look back at the businesses and people that have made Kingsport a great place to live, work and play for 100 years! The glossy, color, magazine style publication will highlight Kingsport histor ...

By Jeff Keeling Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance’s bid to become a single, $1.9 billion hospital system passed a critical juncture last month. The Sept. 15 Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) decision to deem the systems’ application for a Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) complete – granted seven months after the initial application was submitted – set the clock ticking towa ...

TriSummit CEO Lynn Shipley, left and HomeTrust Chairman and CEO Dana Stonestreet pose in Shipley’s office the day the acquisition was announced. Photo by Scott Robertson By Scott Robertson Last Wednesday afternoon, after issuing a press release announcing the planned purchase of TriSummit Bancorp, Inc. by HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc., HomeTrust CEO Dana Stonestreet and TriSummit CEO Lynn Shipley sat down toge ...

Revised Plan of Separation between Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance Pursuant to Grant of Certificate of Public Advantage By the Tennessee Commissioner of Health This Revised Plan of Separation (“the Revised Plan”) is prepared as part of the application for Certificate of Public Advantage (“COPA”) submitted jointly by Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance (colle ...

By Jeff Keeling In late May, Northeast State Community College announced it was one of 44 higher education institutions selected for a U.S. Department of Education pilot program allowing income-eligible high school students to apply for Federal Pell grants to pay for certain dual enrollment courses. This fall, eligible students in area “career academies” who are gaining college credit at Northeast are filli ...

By Scott Robertson As Alexander Whitaker, King University’s newly minted president, strolls along the oval walkway around which the Bristol campus is built, he points out the newly laid brick and surrounding fresh green grass. Only two weeks before, landscapers had been laying brick and sod, with orange plastic temporary fencing everywhere. “Today it looks beautiful,” he says. All evidence of a sweaty summe ...

By Scott Robertson So one day you’re reading your email at the office when you notice a message at the bottom of the screen saying, “This account is active at another location.” The next screen shows an IP address, which you look up, only to find that someone in Lagos, Nigeria is sending messages from your account. First, change your password. That very second. Next, notify everyone you know that the email ...

By Scott Robertson Hanging on my office wall I have a hodgepodge of mementos, mostly from my time with this publication. The first printer’s proof of our very first glossy color issue is framed there, a gift from former publisher Jeff Schumacher. So too is the first printer’s proof of the first issue of The Journal published under our current ownership, the May 2012 issue. Hanging behind my desk is a blow-u ...