Photo above:Washington County Economic Development Council CEO Mitch Miller, right, and NN Inc. President and CEO Richard Holder By Collin Brooks An oversight in a resolution that was passed by the Johnson City Commission in 2014 that allowed the Industrial Development Board of Johnson City to grant tax abates to then “Project Stone” will need to be amended by the city commission in the coming months. Durin ...

By Scott Robertson Congressman Phil Roe is a founding father of the “repeal and replace” movement regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. He wrote the House’s first Obamacare replacement legislation bill four years ago, having been tasked with creating a bill that would increase coverage, decrease costs and not increase entitlements. Now, with President Donald Trum ...

Photo above: Ron Scott, photo courtesy of NeTREP By Scott Robertson Three Northeast Tennessee counties that have traditionally been rivals in everything from high school football to economic development officially set aside the “Friday night football mentality” last month to partner in a new economic development organization. The Northeast Tennessee Regional Economic Partnership (NeTREP) unifies economic de ...

By Scott Roberston Working under the name CareerQuest, the First Tennessee Development District will bring 5,000 students in grades 8-12 from nine Northeast Tennessee counties and Bristol, Va., to a massive career fair March 21-22 in the Minidome on the campus of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. The district’s director of Workforce Initiatives, Lottie Ryans, attended a similar event attended ...

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 ...