Tennessee was listed this week among five states that are leading the way in the use of data to create evidence-based results for citizens, in a report issued by the national nonprofit organization Results for America. Tennessee joined Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota and Washington as states recognized for outstanding performance. The recognition was announced at an event today in Washington hosted by the Natio ...

Pyranha, a maker of roto-molded canoes and kayaks based in the United Kingdom, has announced the relocation of its North American distribution facility to Erwin. Pyranha has led the research and development of composite and polymer kayaks since the early 1970s. The company has chosen a site along the Nolichucky River as a North American distribution center. Headquartered in the United Kingdom near Liverpool ...

Northeast State Community College has named Dr. Sam Rowell vice president for Academic Affairs. Rowell has served as interim vice president for Academic Affairs since January 2017. Prior to that he served as interim dean of the Advanced Technologies division before being named full-time dean of that division in 2012. “I expected this job would be demanding and it has exceeded my expectations,” Rowell said. ...

It was announced on Thursday morning that Covenant Transportation Group has completed its acquisition of Landair Holdings, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, CTG purchased all of Landair’s outstanding stock in exchange for approximately $83 million in cash. Landair was founded in 1981 by Scott Niswonger and Ed Sayler. Presently, Landair operates approximately 430 trucks and 900 trailers and manages 12 d ...

Photo above: Jerry Caldwell, Bob Feathers and Andy Dietrich at the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, June 12. Photo by Scott Robertson By Scott Robertson On June 12, representatives of each of the Chambers of Commerce serving Bristol, Johnson City and Kingsport met at the Kingsport Chamber building with the CEOs of the region’s two multi-county economic development organizations: NETWORKS Sullivan Partnership, ...

Photo above: Alan Levine, photo by Scott Robertson Better bond rating, merger mechanics and timing save Ballad $20 million a year By Jeff Keeling Ballad Health CEO Alan Levine is talking cash flow, and he’s happy. It’s a Wednesday morning and Ballad’s fiscal year-to-date operating numbers look relatively grim. The newly formed health system faces an unprecedented challenge: leading regional population healt ...

East Tennessee State University President Brian Noland and Ballad Health Chairman and CEO Alan Levine have announced a partnership through which ETSU will apply to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to create a new fellowship program in addiction medicine. As part of its commitment to expand education and training in the region, Ballad Health will fund any un-reimbursed costs of the fe ...

Photo above: Russ Hubbard with Per Vivo Labs’ Odor Trace product. By Scott Robertson Russ Hubbard has found a new mission. Hubbard, the owner of Per Vivo Labs in Kingsport and a combat-wounded veteran, is searching for fellow veterans who share his entrepreneurial spirit. “The Department of Defense and related U.S. Government agencies are in great need of commercialization partners,” Hubbard says. The oppor ...

Photo above: Screenshots from NETWORKS Sullivan County “Northeast Tennessee Quality of Life Video” NETWORKS Sullivan Partnership has released a quality-of-life video it plans to offer to companies and organizations free of charge. The near-three-minute video features dozens of short vignettes showcasing locations both inside and out of its own coverage area. NETWORKS is the economic development organization ...

Photo above: (L-R)  Vince Baranauskas, Rick Claus, Dallas McKinney and Jeff Dinger The first in the 2018 series of three “Operation Tomorrow’s Workforce” articles by United Way of Southwest Virginia According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, roughly 3,000 of Southwest Virginia’s youth between the ages of 16 and 19 aren’t in school or working. United Way of Southwest Virginia is developing solutions to addr ...