Pictured above, Mitch Miller (left) and Clay Walker The economic development organization threw out a collaborative document a year in the making in favor of its own brand new plan. Reactions ran the gamut from disappointed to delighted. By Scott Robertson Three meetings this week revealed a new level of clarity regarding the positions of major players for and against efforts to create a regional economic d ...

Tri-Cities Airport (TRI) Executive Director Gene Cossey took the occasion of a Tuesday morning Legislator’s Breakfast to make it known that the airport will likely be able to bring tenants to Aerospace Park sooner if it has funds on-hand so it can offer to erect a building as an incentive. Gene Cossey “This is by no means to negate all the money and all the work that was put into making this facility in the ...

The First Tennessee Development District (FTDD) has been awarded nearly $1.3 million from the U.S. Department of Labor through its Workforce Opportunities in Rural Communities (WORC) grant to fund the Caring Workplace Initiative. Lottie Ryans According to Lottie Ryans, Director of Workforce & Literacy Initiatives for the FTDD, “Our region has had various programs working to assist people in recovery and ...

U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-9) was on hand this week to cut the ribbon for a new Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) facility in Lebanon, Va. HUD’s EnVision Centers are tasked with offering support for assisted families to help them achieve self-sufficiency and, thereby, make limited federal resources available to others awaiting assistance. The centers are premised on the idea that f ...

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the state's Financial Stimulus Accountability Group (FSAG) today announced an initial $50 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Funds for the new Supplemental Employer Recovery Grant (SERG) program to provide additional relief to small businesses suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. This new wave of funding includes specific support for minority-owned, women-owned and vete ...

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A regional business leader who helped grow the aerospace sector in the Tri-Cities before his untimely passing has been posthumously honored by the state and his company. Wysong Enterprises Tuesday joined with State Representative Timothy Hill for a brief ceremony to rename a half-mile section of State Road 75 near the Tri-Cities Airport as the Rodney Wysong Memorial Highway. Also in attendance were State Se ...

The phenomenon that is #2020 continues unabated. Massive unemployment. Trillions of dollars of new debt. A pandemic. Racial strife. Murder hornets. Fire tornadoes. Zoom meetings. Zoom dating. That tiger thing on Netflix. Everybody trying to make sourdough bread for some reason. And, of course, a presidential election campaign that makes one remember fondly the sound, sober and sensible candidacy of Ross Per ...

Over the course of a century, Eastman has been led by men whose focus ranged from visionary to operationally-focused on a granular level. Perley Wilcox, who negotiated the purchase of the original Kingsport site for a reported $205,000, became the first general manager of the Tennessee Eastman Corp., and led the company through its historical role in World War II. Wilcox’s successor, James C. White was a hi ...

Above: Ernie Rumsby, right, during a 2018 presidential visit to Johnson City. The man who has, for most of the last decade, served as the face and voice of veterans in the Tri-Cities business community has passed away. Ernie Rumsby, founding president of the Tri-Cities Military Affairs Council died this week. His passing was announced by T-C MAC via the organization’s social media accounts. “I always apprec ...