Ballad CEO Alan Levine Ballad Health announced plans on Monday to invest $10 million annually to increase the wages of nurses employed by the healthcare provider. The pay increase for existing employees will take effect on June 23, and higher starting rates for new hires will also begin on that date. Ballad CEO Alan Levine announced the move in an internal email on Monday morning, which coincided with the s ...

State Senator Rusty Crowe (above) and State Representative Matthew Hill (below) were instrumental in pushing the Regional Retail Development District Act through Tennessee’s General Assembly last week. As State Senator Rusty Crowe reflected on the passage of a bill that may ignite major development around Exit 17 of Interstate 26, he summed the Regional Retail Development District Act that passed both ...

Above: TRI Executive Director Gene Cossey announces new service to DFW. American Airlines is now selling seats on the recently announced twice-daily flights between Tri-Cities Airport (TRI) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). Those flights begin Sept.4, 2019. The TRI-DFW flights were announced by Gene Cossey, TRI executive director April 11. The airline began booking passage April 15. “Our passengers will now have ...

Above: Carolyn Powers, IPN Packaging; Carol Blankenship, ABB Bland; Christa Glassburn, PBE Group. Back row: Megan Pack, Woodgrain Millworks; Nichole Manz-Young, Northeast State. Photo by Earl Neikirk. By Scott Robertson When the Women in Manufacturing seminar at the Bristol Train Station got underway March 28, one of the first references made by any speaker was to Rosie the Riveter, the World War II era ima ...

By Dave Ongie You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with as much faith in the future as Ballad Health Chief Experience Officer Tom Tull, who served as the keynote speaker of the inaugural Regional Business Excellence Awards luncheon at the Millennium Center. “I’ve never passed up on an opportunity to get excited about something,” said Tull. “It really is a brand new day for our region.” Neil Poland, chair of ...

Above: Ricardo Alvarez and Jim Street at the Anita’s groundbreaking March 29 When the building that currently houses Anita’s Snack Foods in Kingsport opened under the ownership of Pure Foods back in 2015, much was made of the fact that it was built to accommodate expansion easily. Today, Anita’s is putting that feature to good use. The company hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking March 29 to announce its plan ...

Above: Travis Staton United Way of Southwest Virginia CEO Addressing the gap between the worlds of education and employment in Southwest Virginia, the United Way of Southwest Virginia is creating a talent pipeline that prepares the region’s emerging workforce for the jobs of tomorrow through the Ignite Program. Ignite connects area schools and students with local employers by deploying two simple strategies ...

BTES CEO Mike Browder welcomes teachers and employers to the March 25 event. More than 70 teachers from the Bristol Tennessee School System were paired with 21 local industries March 25 to learn the educational requirements for job positions in the community. The all-day event began with a breakfast where Bristol Tennessee Essential Services’ (BTES) CEO Dr. Mike Browder welcomed attendees. “Teacher Industry ...

The University of Virginia at Wise is collaborating with several regional partners to launch a new leadership program in Southwest Virginia. SWVA Rise is designed to elevate leadership capacity in the region by strengthening the skillsets of new and emerging leaders in businesses, non-profits, education governmental agencies, local boards, councils and faith-based initiatives. The program will work to provi ...

Above: (L-R) Signature HealthCARE CEO Joe Steier, Johnson City Vice Mayor Joe Wise and Ballad Health Chairman, President and CEO Alan Levine cut the ribbon at Princeton Transitional Care and Assisted Living. Photo by Bill Derby, publisher. The former Northside Hospital site in Johnson City is once again an active component of the region’s healthcare economy. An assisted living center owned and operated by a ...