Mark Costa speaks a the Eastman Leaders Breakfast Feb. 22.  Photo by Gabriel Logan By Scott Robertson Several months ago, Eastman Chairman and CEO Mark Costa quietly convened a meeting of the top executives of several of the region’s major employers, including Alan Levine, (CEO of then-Mountain States Health Alliance, now Ballad Health), Scott Niswonger, executive chairman of Landair Transport, Dr. Brian No ...

Photo above: Preston Conway pitches his business idea, @Home, to the shark tank panel. Photos by Scott Robertson By Scott Robertson More than 300 students from school systems in eight Northeast Tennessee counties took part March 2 in CareerQuest USA Tennessee’s It’s All About Business event at Northeast State Community College. The event is an outgrowth of CareerQuest USA Tennessee, a career fair that last ...

By Scott Robertson A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to sit with a group of ETSU Roan Scholars at a speaking engagement by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. Friedman defies traditional political labels. He is certainly not a conservative. Liberals loved his recent excoriation of the President of the United States’ unwillingness or inability to stand up to Russia. But conservatives can apprecia ...

Download Full Issue Here ...

The tax reform package of 2017 included a program allowing governors to establish areas known as Opportunity Zones in their respective states, as a way to encourage private investment in low-income areas. The program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to investing in census tracts where wages are low, but opportunities ...

Bell Helicopter, the Textron Inc. company and major global aircraft manufacturer operating a facility in Piney Flats, revealed this week it has rebranded to be known as simply “Bell.” The new brand strategy and modernized logo are rooted in the company’s focus on innovation and customer experience. Bell will roll out the rebrand over the next year. “Bell has always been about more than just helicopters. Our ...

A Tennessee General Assembly bill that would limit what information is immediately put into the public record as it is reported to the state’s COPA monitor does not – as currently written – accurately reflect the system’s goals, Ballad’s chairman and CEO, Alan Levine allowed Tuesday. However, Levine said, there is no ill intent on the part of Ballad or of the legislators who are carrying the bills in the st ...

SVN Interstate Brokers, a commercial real estate brokerage firm has announced it will coordinate the relocation of the Greene County Fair in Greeneville. The fair’s board of directors has agreed to list the current fairgrounds property with adjacent parcels to the north and east, which will constitute a 182-acre offering. “This will be a multiyear project,” said lead broker John L. Johnson, CCIM, ALC, manag ...

Download Full Issue Here ...

At Eastman Chemical Company’s (NYSE: EMN) 2018 Innovation Day, senior company executives discussed the company’s focus on innovation to drive growth and strong value creation, then announced a $2 billion.stock buyback. “We have built a compelling, innovation-driven growth model that is unique to Eastman,” said Mark Costa, Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer. “Our model consists of the combination of wor ...