It has been short and very sharp, so crude oil’s plummeting price has had little time to impact industries that rely indirectly on the stuff. But surprised as they may have been by the pace and duration of the decline, many analysts now predict a protracted period of cheap oil. The World Bank’s latest forecast predicts years of prices well below the $100-plus per barrel levels that persisted for more ...

By Scott Robertson  When Microsoft announced it would end support for its Windows XP operating system effective April 8, 2014, it caused a flurry of upgrading in the consumer market. Now Microsoft has announced it will end support for its Windows Server 2003 software effective July 14, 2015. The Server 2003 software includes some code that was written as early as 1999. At the time the software was introduce ...

By Scott Robertson Before the Tennessee General Assembly gets down to regular business this year, it will already have debated what is likely to be one of the most contentious issues it will face. Governor Bill Haslam has called a special session during which no other issues may be discussed in order to vote his Insure Tennessee plan up or down. That session is slated to begin at 4 p.m., Feb.2. “If you had ...

Credit union CEO serving on CFPB advisory council By Jeff Keeling ‘From the conservative side, I’m not wild about the big government piece. But seeing the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau from the inside, I’m very impressed with how conscientiously they’re proceeding with their mission.’ Ron Scott A credit union executive based in the Tri-Cities is now serving on the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau adv ...

The Business Journal Q&A: Stewart Taylor By Scott Robertson In all the sound and fury created by the dueling retail developments in Bristol, it’s been easy to forget the development that made them both possible. The original tax incentive plan that was used by Bristol, Tenn., and inspired the plan used by Bristol, Va., was written to help develop what was then called Heritage Point in Kingsport. Develop ...

In the last issue of The Business Journal, we reported on the circulation of at least two different sets of plans for the Cabela’s retail location at The Falls development in Bristol, Va. You may recall that we shared our editorial deadline for that issue with Bristol city leaders but they declined to meet with us on four separate occasions. The questions we wished to ask were germane to the issue of whethe ...

Story and photos by Jeff Keeling Things haven't slowed down at NN Inc. since the global manufacturing company's early July announcement it would stay in Johnson City as it expanded its headquarters to match an aggressive growth plan. As the year draws to a close, local management is preparing to move into the former SunTrust building, and key executives are putting the pieces in place from four acquisitions ...

Accountants had to wait more than 11 months before Washington could agree on its filing rules for 2014 By Scott Robertson As of Dec. 31, 2013, some 55 tax breaks that had been part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 had expired. As of Dec. 1, 2014, Congress had yet to act on whether to retroactively reinstate any or all of them. That news was disappointing, but not necessarily surprising for those ...

By Scott Robertson Where there is no vision, the people perish… - Proverbs 29:18 A little over a year ago, while some were still bemoaning the death of American manufacturing, Gerald O’Connor, founder of Impact Plastics in Unicoi County, Tenn., announced plans to expand his local operations to the tune of $1.3 million. That expansion, O’Connor said at the time, would result in the creation of 83 new jobs an ...

In introducing a new department this month, we decided to hone in on some data that is certain to be in the sights of at least three other entities – the finalists for alignment in Wellmont Health System’s strategic options process. Wellmont leaders have said recently they hope to announce a decision about an alignment by sometime late this year. The system provides quarterly and annual financial informatio ...