By Scott Robertson If you’ve recently received a box of chocolates with a company or organization logo in full color on every individual truffle, it probably came from the kitchen of Bellafina Chocolates in Kingsport. The small business founded by Brenda Barnicki has been putting out corporate-gift quality chocolates for just over six years now with an all-volunteer workforce and a policy of giving 100 perc ...

By Scott Roberston Last year, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam dipped a toe in the water to see whether he could gain any traction on the idea of a gas tax hike to pay for highway fund increases. Tennessee’s highways have for the last couple of decades been among America’s best, and they are built and maintained on a pay-as-you-go basis, rather than through issuance of debt. But prices of labor and materials ...

By Jeff Keeling Dr. John Dreyzehner’s role in the Mountain States Health Alliance-Wellmont Health System merger application process emerged front and center Jan. 13. Someday, history will judge the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) commissioner’s involvement. I hope when that day comes, Dreyzehner won’t have just cause to channel another Dr. John (musician “Dr. John” Rebennack) and say, “I been in the ri ...

  By Scott Robertson When Fred Coeburn got into flying model airplanes as a hobby, he had no idea it would lead to an opportunity to bring an entire industry cluster to a region desperately in need of economic diversity. Yet somehow that’s what has happened. Coeburn teaches a course listed in the Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) catalogue as AVI-195, Introduction to Unmanned Aerial Systems. In ...

By Scott Robertson I rarely take this space to preview the content of a given issue. After all, the Table of Contents was published just three pages ago. But this issue’s primary focus, I think, warrants an overture. The dawning of 2017 marks a time of increased optimism in Southwest Virginia, where the near-decade-long decline of the coal industry has negatively affected virtually every aspect of the regio ...

Photo above: Virginia is divided into nine regions, with 13 Southwest Virginia counties designated as Region 1.  Source: U.S. Census, VA PDC By Scott Robertson Southwest Virginia’s economic woes are undeniable, yet the region is not so much worse off than the rest of the Commonwealth in some respects. That fact has spawned the creation of an effort formally known as “Go Virginia, the Virginia Initiative for ...

Photo above: A marketing map of Aerospace Park made when TCA was still TCRA By Scott Robertson When Tri-Cities Airport (TCA) Executive Director Patrick Wilson finished showcasing the facility’s new electric-powered tug and baggage conveyor Dec. 20, he was wrapping up a busy year. Only days before, Wilson had hosted a news conference announcing the rebranding of what had, since 1937, been the Tri-Cities Regi ...

Photo above: Alan Levine, Mountain States Health Alliance CEO and Bart Hove, Wellmont Health System CEO File Photo By Jeff Keeling The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) is in the process of a thought experiment as it stares down a deadline to rule on Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System’s application for merger approval. It’s an experiment that has been keeping lawyers plenty busy u ...

By Collin Brooks Perhaps the biggest structure — and biggest eyesore — in downtown Johnson City will likely become a model once again. The principals of Summers Taylor Inc., Rab and Grant Summers, recently closed on the purchase of the old Model Mill Property. The 40,000-square-foot building will become the headquarters for Summers Taylor and will also have room to house various other offices, according to ...

Photo above: Honorees at the 2016 KOSBE Awards include (L-R) Donny Reeves, Luci Tate, Annisa Kittrell, Julia Johnson, Jenny Vicars, Amy Jackson, Jay Jackson, Brittany Jorgenson, Diane Vogt, Marshall Begley, Sarah Begley, Brenda Barnicki, Sandra Brown, Michelle Cunningham, Keith Cunningham, Keddrain Bowen, Dan Ragan, Angela Vachon and John Vachon. Photo courtesy KOSBE. By Scott Robertson The Kingsport Office ...