By Scott Robertson  This month saw the release of the national construction cost reports. Cost levels in the U.S. remained stable, a trend that has been in place for some time. “What I see nationally, I can usually see here too,” said Jim Street, founder of JA Street and Associates in Blountville. “Inflation nationally has been at about 2 percent and material prices have been flat. The increases have been m ...

By Scott Robertson Mark Costa, CEO of Eastman Chemical Co., gave a Trumped-up introduction to the annual Eastman Regional Leaders Breakfast (long-informally dubbed the  “State of the Eastman”) address March 3. “I was thinking about what we’d talk about today and we created a bunch of slides that go into detail, and then I thought, I don’t need to do that. All I need to do is say, ‘It’s gonna be yuge! It’s a ...

By Jeff Keeling If the legal community’s blogosphere is close to being on target, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could exert significant influence as Tennessee and Virginia officials consider the proposed Wellmont Health System-Mountain States Health Alliance merger. Tennessee’s Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) law and its Virginia counterpart are intended to shield the states from federal antitru ...

By Scott Robertson  One of the most basic ideas of a capitalist economy is that individuals’ income will come from wages and salaries, paid by employers based on the value of the work the employees do, as determined by the marketplace. In Southwest Virginia today, that capitalist ideal is far from the only reality. In fact, in a region that has lost one of its primary economic drivers, tobacco, and is losin ...

By Jeff Keeling Brian Noland wants you. East Tennessee State University’s peripatetic president has preached the gospel of community partnerships since he set foot on campus four years ago. For most of that time, the youthful leader has been weaving a subtext into that gospel: public higher education is changing, radically, and institutions and their surrounding communities must change with it or risk stagn ...

Systems' leaders say decision shouldn't impact merger Alice Pope, Wellmont Health System’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, will become the new chief financial officer for HonorHealth in Scottsdale, Arizona. Pope will continue serving in her Wellmont leadership position, which she has held for 3 ½ years, for the next 60 days and will assist in a smooth transition. She has worked for Wel ...