INSIDE This Edition - Smithville`s Stella Luna gallery closing after 10

OV N
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pa R A
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8
A Voice For Upper Cumberland Businesses
January 2010 | Issue 61
Community scores big with TSSAA BlueCross Bowl
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
From early calculations, it
appears that the Tennessee
Secondary School Athletic
Association (TSSAA) Football
Championships held at
Tennessee Tech University’s
Tucker Stadium Dec. 3 through
5 met or exceeded expectations
of community leaders.
An estimated 5,000 to 8,000
fans were in the stands for
each of the eight games played.
Total paid attendance was
21,305, which was 9.3 percent
higher than the attendance for
the 2008 games played in
Murfreesboro. The
Cookeville-Putnam
County Chamber of
Commerce and TSSAA
are currently working on
tallying the gross
number of attendants,
which is not fully
reflected in the paid
ticket sales number.
The city of Cookeville
received 100 percent of
gate receipts,
concessions, parking and
program sales to offset
the $250,000 guaranteed
amount that the city bid
for the games. It was
reported that proceeds
from ticket sales and
parking covered the bid, as
well as the cost of
upgrades made to Tucker
Stadium to meet the
TSSAA requirements.
“We covered our cost,”
said Misty Pearson,
director of corporate sales
and marketing for Tech
and member of the
steering committee that
brought the games to
Cookeville. “Before we bid
for the games, we looked
at attendance for the last
five years of games to
determine if we thought
we could make money.
Attendance had been on a
steady decline from a high of
25,000 in 2004 to 19,000 last
year. We were able to turn that
around. We absolutely
accomplished what we set out
to do.”
The Highlands region felt the
impact throughout with
dining, retail and lodging
facilities receiving an extra
boost.
According to Karla Clarke,
general manager of Fairfield
Inn & Suites and chair of the
Convention and Visitors
Bureau Steering Committee,
the impact on the hospitality
sector was very good.
See TSSAA pg.15
CBJ 2009 YEAR IN REVIEW
The Top 10 Upper
Cumberland Business
Stories
Photos: Darrell Kerley CBJ
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
#1 TSSAA brings
football title games
to Cookeville
Community leaders in
Cookeville announced in
June that it had captured the
Tennessee Secondary School
Athletic Association’s
(TSSAA) BlueCross Bowl
high school football
championships by
outbidding other regions,
including Murfreesboro,
which had hosted the games
for many years.
Cookeville submitted a
winning bid of $250,000 in
anticipation that the games
would bring more than $1
million in annual revenue to
the region’s economy over a
two-year period.
From Dec. 3 through Dec.
5, the games were held at
Tennessee Tech University’s
Tucker Stadium in front of
an estimated 5,000 to 8,000
fans for each of the eight
games played. Total paid
attendance was 21,305,
which was 9.3 percent
higher than the attendance
for the 2008 games played in
Murfreesboro.
Receipts from ticket sales,
parking, concessions and
program sales covered the
guaranteed amount that the
city bid, according to
officials, as well as the cost
of upgrades to Tucker
Stadium.
The region’s lodging
facilities reported full or
near-full occupancy for at
least two of the three nights
during the games.
Restaurants in the area also
See REVIEW pg.7
StrategicWire plans
150 new jobs for
Warren County
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
StrategicWire LLC, a
Washington, D.C.-based
media monitoring and
publishing company, has
selected the historic Franklin
P. Blue building in downtown
McMinnville for its new
operations center that is slated
to employ 150 customer and
technical service workers within
three years.
The McMinnville-Warren
County Industrial Development
Board (IDB), Warren County
Executive John Pelham,
McMinnville Mayor Norman
Rone and their staffs negotiated
for six months to secure the
deal. Officials attributed the
company’s decision to locate
in McMinnville, in part, to the
city/county’s well-developed
infrastructure.
“The infrastructure was
key,” said IDB Director Jeff
McCormick. “If we had not had
the infrastructure, it wouldn’t
have happened.”
“Thanks to Ben Lomand
See STRATEGICWIRE pg.15
INSIDE This Edition
Foreign Trade Zone...
Executive Profile
Medical Profile
Entrepreneurship
helps Crossville’s Colinx maintain
work force.
Paul Roberts of Hugh Bailey
& Associates.
Dr. Thomas Gannon, Doctor of
Osteopathy with CRMC.
Cynthia Strong of Merle Norman and Beauty
Queens Boutique.
See Profile pg.6
See MEDICAL pg.10
See STRONG pg.11
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705 NORTH DIXIE AVE
COOKEVILLE, TN 38501
See COLINX pg.3
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January 2010
www.ucbjournal.com
Crossville’s Ficosa scores first U.C. VW supplier contract
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
One of Crossville’s largest
employers, Ficosa North America
Corp., is the first company in the
Upper Cumberland region to
successfully secure a contract to
supply parts for Volkswagen
automobiles produced in Volkswagen’s
$1 billion Chattanooga facility.
Ficosa, formerly Delbar Products
Inc., will produce exterior passenger
and driver-side mirror systems for the
new mid-sized sedan that is being
designed exclusively for the North
American market, according to
company officials.
“Nationally, Volkswagen has been a
client of Ficosa for many years, but
this will be the first contract out of
the Crossville facility,” said Bruce
Boyce, director of operations. “We
have previously only worked with the
big three (U.S.) automakers.”
The contract was signed four
months ago and is said to be for a
“significant” amount, though Boyce
was unable to discuss details under
the terms of the agreement.
This is welcome news for the
company, which like so many others
has been affected by the bankruptcies
of Chrysler and General Motors. It is
also great news for Cumberland
County residents who are still
experiencing unemployment at a
double-digit rate.
Earlier this year, German-based
Volkswagen announced plans to build
a 2-million-square-foot facility that is
designed to produce an initial 150,000
cars a year. It has since added 43,000
square feet to the planned assembly
area of 775,000 square feet. The
company had already bolstered the
size of the paint shop. In November,
the company announced it also had
plans to install the equipment
necessary to build Audi models at the
plant.
Rearview mirrors produced by
Ficosa for the automotive industry are
equipped with miniaturized antennae
that integrate radio, digital audio
broadcasting telephone and global
positioning system (GPS) antennae.
Ficosa employs approximately 100
workers at its Crossville plant. It
acquired Delbar Products, which was
formerly headquartered in
Pennsylvania, after the death of
Delbar’s founder. Ficosa International
S.A. is headquartered in Barcelona,
Spain. The company was founded in
1941, and operates production,
engineering and commercial offices in
19 countries in Europe, North
America, South America and Asia.
Cooper Recycling
completes $10 million,
yearlong expansion in
Overton County
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
Cooper Recycling’s $10 million
expansion in Overton County is fully
operational, according to Cindy Cooper,
who is co-owner with husband Steve.
The new facility houses a Metso
Texas Auto Shredder that is capable of
shredding a junk auto in 20 seconds
into palm-sized pieces and can shred
600 to 700 tons in an eight-hour shift.
The shredder and conveyors occupy
two acres of the new 16-acre site in
Monroe.
“We have worked since January 1 of
last year to install the shredder. It is the
only one of this size between Nashville,
Knoxville and Louisville,” said Cooper.
“Because of the size and layout of our
facility, Metso is using us as a model
site to show potential customers the
machine.”
The Metso is powered by two 2,000
horsepower DC motors and has an
SGM Magnetic sorting system that
separates steel from aluminum, copper
and brass, and also filters out trash
from automobile tires and seats. The
remaining top grade metal is then
shipped by truck and rail to steel
mills in several states and to overseas
markets. One worker operates the
Metso using visual and computer-aided
guidance from a control house 50 feet
above the machine.
During the past few months of slower
workload, Cooper used its employees
to assemble the new shredder instead
of hiring outside help. It is also hiring
30 to 40 new employees to staff the
new operations, which does not include
the additional number of workers
who will be needed for trucking and
transportation. This will bring its total
work force to 75 employees.
Only items such as junk cars,
appliances, roofing and light steel are
being accepted at the new recycling
center in Monroe. The Cooper
Recycling facility on Airport Road in
Livingston will remain open and will
continue to accept smaller household
items, in addition to all other larger
items.
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BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
JAY ALBRECHT
Publisher/Editor
Editorial
BEVERLEY NASH
GREG LAPLANT
Advertising
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One of the few companies in the
Upper Cumberland that has been
able to resist laying off full-time,
hourly workers in the past 18 months
is Colinx LLC, a joint venture,
manufacturer-owned company in
Crossville that shares warehousing,
distribution and e-commerce in a
unique foreign trade zone setting.
Colinx employs approximately 500
workers at its Crossville facility, 475
full-time and 25 temporary workers.
Though, like most other companies,
its business dropped by 33 percent in
2008 during the depth of the recession,
the company managed to maintain its
full-time, hourly work force.
“This has by far been the most
painful time during the 33 years
I have worked,” said Don Louis,
president/CEO of Colinx. “We reduced
our temporary work force from 170
to 12 employees, and we reduced
management staff by 20 percent, but
we never had to lay off our full-time,
hourly people.”
At a time when families across the
U.C. and the country were losing their
primary sources of income and health
care benefits, that was good news for
the people of Cumberland County.
“We deliver $20 million in cash flow
per year to the Plateau region in terms
of local spending by our workers,
taxes, payroll and employee benefits,”
he continued. “We provide medical
insurance to 950 people, and fund in
excess of 40 percent of the United Way
contributions for Cumberland County.”
Though business is still not at
previous levels for Colinx, the
company has shown recent signs of
economic turnaround and is hopeful
that this is the beginning of a trend,
according to Louis.
“We have had four consecutive
months of growth,” said Louis,
“though we are still down by more
than 20 percent from 2008 volume.”
Colinx operates in a foreign trade
subzone that is part of the Greater
Knoxville Foreign Trade Zone and
allows the company to delay, and in
some cases, eliminate entirely the
payment of import tariffs for inventory
received from overseas locations. It
is one of only 11 such subzones in
Tennessee that are extensions of six
primary FTZs – two in Memphis, and
one each in Chattanooga, Knoxville,
Nashville and Tri-Cities, all cities with
international airport facilities that
provide ports of entry.
Five manufacturing companies are
part of the joint venture that allows
them to share the cost of logistics
and e-commerce. The companies
are Reliance Electric, SKF USA Inc.,
Schaeffler Group and Timken, all
original members, and Gates Corp,
which joined in 2006.
“We began (discussions of a joint
venture) in 1996 when SKF, one of the
largest bearing manufacturers, and
Reliance Electric, one of the largest
producers of industrial electric motors
and mechanical power transmissions
components, were looking for a way
to deliver industrial products faster,”
explained Louis. “Management for the
two companies met at a conference
and began talks about forming a
distribution network that would
allow them to make daily, next-day
deliveries. Neither company was large
enough to justify daily routes, so they
agreed to combine shipments and
share the cost.”
Both companies were slowly shifting
manufacturing operations south, so
they began looking for a warehouse
that would allow them the best nextday reach while keeping inbound
freight costs low.
“Crossville was selected for several
reasons,” said Louis. “First, its location
was closer to southern manufacturing
facilities where the products were
being produced and also had excellent
access to transportation via the
interstate system. Second was the work
force that was available in the region;
we have always been able to get good
people. Third, the government in
Crossville and Cumberland County
was very accommodating with 10
years of tax abatements that helped
us get started. Also, the quality of life
in Crossville was very good, with the
presence of a large regional hospital
and Tennessee Tech. We were also
looking for a non-union area, since
unions were the reason most of the
partners moved their manufacturing
operations south.”
Colinx officially formed in January
2001, five months after negotiations
began, and brought together the
top industrial bearing and power
transmission brands in the world. It
officially began operations in February
and currently has distribution
facilities in four cities across the U.S.
and two in Canada. Its corporate
offices are in Greenville, S.C.
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January 2010
www.ucbjournal.com
www.crmchealth.org/thefoundation.
Chip Buck earns prestigious
CIC designation
Averitt honors Cookeville area
associates for 25 years of
service
COOKEVILLE – Averitt Express
recently honored Cathy Frizzell, Mike
Gaw and Randy Hammontree, all
of Cookeville and Tom McCulley of
Sparta for 25 years of service. Gaw and
Averitt President/CEO Gary Sasser (middle),
congratulates Mike Gaw (left) and Tom
McCulley (right) for 25 years of service.
Averitt President/CEO Gary Sasser (right),
congratulates Cathy Frizzell (left)
McCulley are with Averitt’s equipment
maintenance team. Frizzell is a finance
team leader and Hammontree is director
of truckload.
All are members of Averitt’s “Over 20
Team,” an exclusive group of more than
475 associates who have worked for the
Averitt President/CEO Gary Sasser (right),
congratulates Randy Hammontree (left) for
25 years of service.
company for 20 or more years.
Established in 1971, Averitt Express
is a leading provider of freight
transportation and supply chain
management with international reach to
more than 100 countries. The company
specializes in delivering customized
solutions with a single source of
accountability for service offerings that
include less-than-truckload, truckload,
expedited, importing/exporting and
supply chain management.
LARCO Medical presents
check to Cookeville Regional
Foundation
COOKEVILLE – LARCO Medical
owner Randy Chaffin presented a check
for $25,000 to Bernie Mattingly, CEO of
Cookeville Regional Medical Center, and
Gary Curto, executive director of The
Foundation at Cookeville Regional, as
part of the company’s $500,000 pledge
to The Foundation.
Chaffin is a member of the Hospital
Foundation Advisory Committee. The
LARCO pledge helped to underwrite the
construction of the new North Patient
Tower lobby.
Formed in 2005, The Foundation has
raised more than $1.6 million in cash
and pledges from almost 1,200 donors
during two years of active fundraising.
Larco owner Randy Chaffin (right)
presents a check to CRMC CEO Bernie
Mattingly (left) and The Foundation
executive director Gary Curto (center).
The purpose of The Foundation is to
support the mission of the hospital
by supporting patient care programs,
providing funds for equipment
and furnishings and developing a
permanent endowment program.
In 2009, The Foundation assisted
more than 550 patients and their
families with more than $200,000
through various patient assistance
programs, including the Cancer Care
and Caring Hands funds. It has plans
to fund other efforts that the hospital
is not able to finance on its own,
including creating a perpetual source
of funding through the development of
an endowment fund for future medical
equipment purchases and facility
expansion and greatly expanding
patient assistance with expenses
not covered by insurance and other
payment sources.
“We see The Foundation as an
organization that has a mission that
is critical to the future of health care
development in the Upper Cumberland,”
said Chaffin. “We have pledged to be a
major donor to the CRMC Foundation.
LARCO is proud to lend our support to
such a worthy cause and to use this as a
vehicle to give back to our community.”
For additional information on The
Foundation, call 931-783-2003 or visit
COOKEVILLE – Chip Buck, agent
with The Rains Agency in Cookeville,
has been named Certified Insurance
Counselor (CIC) following his successful
completion of a rigorous insurance
education program.
Dr. William T. Hold, president of
the Society of Certified Insurance
Counselors, conferred the designation
on Buck in an official ceremony
conducted recently in Nashville.
Buck has
demonstrated
professional
competence through
the successful
completion of the
five CIC Institutes
and comprehensive
written examinations
Chip Buck
focusing on all
major fields of insurance,
insurance management, and agency
operations.
“I’m pleased to announce that one of
our own, Mr. Chip Buck, has earned the
very distinguished Certified Insurance
Counselor designation,” said Steve
Rains, CEO of the Rains Agency. “My
father, Lyndon Rains, was especially
proud of achieving this advanced
designation and displayed his certificate
on his wall throughout his life.” Today
it hangs on the Heritage Wall in the
Progressive Financial Center.
The CIC designation has been a
hallmark of professionalism and
competence in the insurance industry
since its creation in 1969, and the
program celebrates its 40th anniversary
See BIZBUZZ pg.12
January 2010
www.ucbjournal.com
Homebuyer credit extension brings
hope to builders/realtors in the U.C.
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
Congress extended and expanded
the homebuyer tax credit, which began
in January 2009 and was due to lapse
on Dec. 1, 2009, offering relief for
potential buyers and the construction
and real estate markets.
The credit will now be in effect
through the end of June. Homebuyers
must sign a contract before April 30
and close on their loan by June 30 to
take advantage of the benefit.
Congress also raised the income
limits for buyers. Single buyers who
purchase a home after Nov. 6, 2009,
and on or before June 30, 2010, can
qualify with annual incomes up to
$125,000, up from $75,000 from the
original requirements, while married
couples can qualify with incomes up to
$225,000, up from $150,000.
Buyers who have not owned a home
in the past three years can qualify
for up to an $8,000 rebate. Move-up
or repeat buyers can also apply if
they have lived in their current home
for five of the last eight years. For
repeat buyers, the rebate is equal to 10
percent of the home’s purchase price
to a maximum of $6,500. The credit
for both new and repeat owners is
available for homes priced $800,000
or less and does not have to be repaid
unless the home is sold or the buyers
cease to use it as their principal
residence.
“The tax credit for first-time
homebuyers has made a huge
difference in the makeup of our
company’s market,” said Jeff Jones,
sales manager for American Way
Realtors. “The main difference has
been in homes selling in the $80,000
to $140,000 price range. This market
has opened up tremendously with the
tax credit. It has allowed people that
haven’t owned a home in the past three
years to come in to the market and
get a true credit off the bottom line
of their tax return. This actually puts
money back in the pocket of the buyer,
letting them make improvements to
their new home, buy furniture, or
simply put the money back in the
bank. I would venture to say probably
30 percent of our business in 2009 has
come from this price range.
Homebuilders in the Upper
Cumberland are also hopeful that the
program will continue to spur new
home sales. With reports of residential
building rebounding from a six-month
low, builders are hopeful the tax credit
extension will continue the trend.
“The incentive program has been
very successful in the selling of
existing homes and has had some
positive effects on new construction,”
said Mike Phipps, president of the
Home Builders Association of the
Upper Cumberland. “The program
has encouraged and made it possible
in some cases for consumers to build
a new home. We expect and look
forward to a surge of new activity in
March and April when the program is
expected to come to a close.”
Advanced Design Concepts adding
15 to 25 jobs to Hartsville work force
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
Advanced Design Concepts (ADC)
is increasing its work force by 15
to 25 workers to manufacture a
new product line of steel trusses,
according to the ADC President Scott
Melching.
The company has been
We hope this will
benefit both our company and
the residents of Hartville. We
want to affect change in an
area that has experienced
high unemployment over the
past year.
Scott Melching
ADC president
manufacturing steel frames for
commercial buildings for almost
15 years. ADC moved its steel
fabrication operation from Portland,
Tenn., to Hartsville in August 2009,
bringing 30 new jobs to the area.
“We grew out of our previous
location,” said Melching. “The move
allowed us to double the size of our
building in anticipation of the new
line.”
ADC revived an existing
42,000-square-foot facility vacated
earlier by Steel Tek Building
Systems, which “was perfect”
for their operation, according
to Melching. The facility has
an attached office building and
overhead cranes needed to move
heavy steel.
Melching also attributed the
move to Hartsville to significant
incentives offered by the local
government, which were helpful in
“tough economic times.”
“They took over an empty building
in the Hartsville Industrial Park that
had been sitting vacant for a while,”
said Seth Thurman, executive
director of the Hartsville-Trousdale
County Chamber of Commerce. “We
weren’t getting any revenue from the
building, plus ADC brought new jobs
that our county needed.”
The company expects to begin
hiring in January 2010 for the new
line.
“We hope this will benefit both
our company and the residents of
Hartville,” said Melching. “We want
to affect change in an area that has
experienced high unemployment
over the past year.”
Unemployment for Trousdale
County for October 2009, the most
recently published rate, was 10.3
percent, which was down from 12
percent for the previous month,
but up from 7.5 percent for October
2008. Unemployment reached a high
of 12.4 percent for the county in
May 2009.
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6
January 2010
www.ucbjournal.com
Paul Roberts – is all about family, faith and good mentors
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
Accountant Paul Roberts credits his success to the principles
he has developed through his faith, and the mentoring he has
received from his family, his church friends and his business
partners.
Roberts is a partner in the accounting firm of Hugh Bailey &
Associates in Cookeville.
“Short of family and faith as a foundation, the best advice I
could give to someone coming
out of college is to find a good
mentor.
“The values that are taught
in the Bible are the same that
are needed in the accounting
community. People expect
integrity, a relationship and
confidentiality. Because of my
faith, these are a natural part
of who I am.”
Two of Roberts’ early mentors
were his grandparents.
“My grandparents on my
father’s side had a lot to do
with the values I have today,”
said Roberts. “They were saved,
and much of my church
experience was during my
visits in the summers to their
ranch in Arkansas.
“Also, my dad taught me the
value of hard work.
Unfortunately that is
something that I think much of
my generation has lost. I have
clients who tell me it is hard to
find workers who will work a
full day. It seems that my
generation has slipped into an
entitlement mentality.
“My dad taught me to work
hard. He wanted me to work in
high school and help pay my
way through college. By doing
that I learned that hard work promotes opportunity.”
Another one of his mentors is one of the partners who hired
him to work at Hugh Bailey & Associates.
“I interviewed with Garry McNabb,” continued Roberts. “He is
very relaxed, you hardly ever see him in a tie. We hit it off right
away. The Lord was really good to me in opening this door.
Garry allowed me to shadow him, and I benefited from his
experience. When I had a problem, he would say, ‘Years ago I
remember this came up and here’s how we handled it.’ He has
never turned down a request for help. I consider his mentoring a
large part of my success.”
The other partner in the firm is Gary Leftwich, who has been
with the practice since the early 1970s. Hugh Bailey &
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Associates was established in 1966, and is one of the oldest
accounting firms in the Upper Cumberland region.
Roberts’ other mentors are members of his church family.
“I rededicated my life to the Lord when I was a senior in high
school, so when I talk about family, a lot of that is also my
church family. These are the people that I spend time with.
“There are several couples in our church that my wife, Lacey,
and I spend time with, and who are willing to help guide us to
make better decisions and create a brighter future.”
Roberts is also involved in mentoring young boys and passing
along the values of hard work
and caring for each other that
he has learned from his
mentors.
“I help teach a group of
Royal Rangers on Wednesday
nights in my church,”
explained Roberts. “It is a
mentoring program for boys
ages 5 through 12. I do other
things, but this is the most
exciting thing I do. It is pretty
special to have a group of 50
or 60 boys in the room and try
to teach them something use as
they grow up.
“Sometimes in business, if
you are not careful, it is all
about money and not about
people,” said Roberts.
“One of the things that made
an impression on me happened
when I did a college internship
at Service Merchandise in
Nashville. I worked in the
internal audit department, and
it was a great experience. But
two weeks before the
internship was finished, they
called us all into the office and
let everybody go. The company
was going through a rough
time and eventually filed for
Photo: Jesse Kaufman CBJ
bankruptcy. There were 40
people, some who had been
with the company for 20 years, and their jobs were gone.”
As Roberts reflected on his career thus far, there were two
issues that he said stood out among what he has learned.
“First, I have learned in business that an organization will
never exceed the level of its leader. Everything that happens in a
company is a direct reflection of the leader, whether it has to do
with moral character or business decisions. No matter how good
an employee you have, they will never exceed where you are as
a leader.
“And then, the second is personal. It is the truth of the old
adage that givers are the happiest. There is nothing better than
doing something for someone else, especially if you don’t get
recognition.”
B R O U G H T
115 N. Washington Avenue
Cookeville, TN 38501
931-528-5426
800-359-2723
©2007
©2006 UBS Financial Services
Services Inc. All Rights
Rights Reserved.
Reserved. Member SIPC.
T O
Y O U
B Y
U B S
January 2010
7
www.ucbjournal.com
REVIEW
From page 1
reported record crowds.
More than 300 volunteers helped
direct parking, sell programs and
tickets, and pick up trash.
City officials are hopeful that if
TSSAA is happy with the way they
managed the BlueCross Bowl games, it
will also have a shot at capturing the
state’s high school basketball
championships as well.
#2 Volkswagen Chattanooga
plant offers hope for auto
supply chain manufacturers
As 2009 began, Volkswagen broke
ground on the first building – a paint
facility – in its Chattanooga
manufacturing complex that is slated
to begin production in 2011 on a sedan
designed exclusively for the U.S.
market. The $30 million facility was
the first of three primary plant
buildings in what is due to be a $1
billion operation.
It was welcomed news for
automotive supply chain
manufacturers in the Upper
Cumberland region who had been
forced to lay off workers, idle plants
and take other drastic measure
because of the loss of business. The
decline in orders was based in part on
the slowed economy, but more
specifically to the shutdown of
Chrysler and General Motors plants
across the nation.
Ficosa North America Corp. in
Crossville became the first
manufacturer in the region to benefit
from the new Volkswagen plant.
Ficosa represents one of Crossville’s
largest employers, and city officials
were eager to see how much the
contract would help boost employment
for area residents.
Other manufacturers and
community leaders are keeping watch
in anticipation that the new
automotive plant could also turn
around the double-digit unemployment
rates facing all U.C. counties.
additional burden on already
struggling employers.
In the first half of the year, the
Tennessee General Assembly passed an
increase in unemployment insurance
premiums paid by employers. The bill
increased the amount of taxes levied
on businesses by 0.6 percentage points
and increased the amount of taxable
wages from $7,000 to $9,000 per
employee. It also permitted employees
working a minimum of 20 hours per
week to qualify for benefits.
In return for enacting the increase,
Tennessee received $141 million in
federal stimulus dollars to support
unemployment benefits.
The surcharge is due to be repealed
once employment rates decline and the
unemployment trust fund balance
reaches $650 million. It also provides
for the taxable wage base to be
reduced to $8,000 when the fund
balance reaches $900 million and back
to $7,000 when the balance reaches $1
billion.
The American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act made four changes
in COBRA requirements effective in
the first quarter of 2009. It made
employers responsible for 65 percent
of the premium costs, which are now
reimbursable through tax credits.
Also, employers must allow eligible
employees a special election period,
including those who previously
declined coverage or only participated
for a short period. It also allowed
employees to convert to less costly
coverage options if offered by the
company, and prevented pre-existing
conditions and lapses in coverage from
preventing access to COBRA coverage.
#5 Cash for Clunkers
program improved August
auto sales for area dealers
A Cash for Clunkers program
initiated by Congress to increase auto
sales and remove gas guzzling vehicles
from U.S. highways was a rousing
success, at least according to most new
car dealers.
The Car Allowance Rebate System
(CARS) program paid almost $3 billion
in new auto buy rebates to car dealers
that allowed them to pay a higher
premium for trade-ins. Trade-in
amounts ranged from $3,500 to $4,500
per vehicle.
More than 690,000 vehicles were
traded in for newer models, with 84
percent of buyers trading trucks and
59 percent purchasing passenger cars.
An estimated improvement in fuel
economy of 58 percent was reported
from average trade-ins, with 15.8 mpg
ratings replaced with newer models
with an average 24.9 mpg rating.
Nationally, Toyota was the winner in
most popular lines of cars sold at 19.4
percent, followed closely by GM at 17.6
percent, then Ford at 14.4 percent and
Honda at 13 percent.
Following the sell off of new cars,
dealers reopened auto manufacturers’
doors by restocking inventories. Auto
See REVIEW pg.14
Not Just Insurance.
Assurance.
#3 FDIC assessment impacts
area banks
May brought an announcement by
the board of directors of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) of a
special assessment on financial
institutions across the Upper
Cumberland and the nation, aimed at
shoring up the depleted Deposit
Insurance Fund (DIF).
Financial institutions were required
to advance cash to the fund whether or
not they had contributed to the
banking crisis that led to the low
balance. The assessment amounted to
five basis points on each FDIC-insured
depository institution’s assets, minus
its Tier 1 capital, as of June 30, 2009,
and was required to be paid Sept. 30,
2009.
The DIF had become dangerously
depleted due to numerous bank
failures occurring in early 2009. It
was hoped that boosting the fund
would help restore confidence in the
banking system. A second assessment
was anticipated in fourth quarter
2009, but did not materialize.
Area banks commented that it would
negatively impact employee profitsharing bonuses, employee stock
ownership plans and the ability to
provide annual employee raises.
#4 Changes in
unemployment, COBRA
impact UC businesses
Two changes in employee benefits
helped workers but placed an
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January 2010
www.ucbjournal.com
Recent changes enacted in Tennessee Workers’ Compensation law
Several important changes were
enacted by the 106th General Assembly
in regards to the Tennessee Workers’
Compensation Law. This article will
provide an overview of those changes,
most of which were effective July 1,
2009.
Probably the most important change
concerns the new restrictions placed on
an employer’s ability to obtain medical
information from authorized treating
medical providers. In general, these
restrictions on the employer’s ability to
communicate with authorized medical
providers apply with equal force to the
employer’s insurance company, third
party administrator, attorney, or nurse
case manager. Depending on the type
of communication sought with the
medical provider, employers must
follow specific protocols. For instance,
when requesting medical records, such
requests must be in writing and a copy
of the written request must be provided
to the employee and employee’s
attorney. Any other form of written
communication with authorized
treating medical providers must
comply with even stricter
requirements. Specifically, such
communication is prohibited unless the
employee and employee’s attorney are
(1) copied on the written
communication, (2) provided a copy of
any material or information provided
to the medical provider, and (3)
provided a copy of any response from
the medical provider within seven days
of receipt.
With respect to verbal
communication by an employer with
authorized treating medical providers,
this type of communication is
LEGAL FORUM
with Fred Baker
permitted so long as the employer
provides the employee or employee’s
attorney with a written summary of
any opinions or statements of the
medical provider within seven days of
a request from the employee or
employee’s attorney. However, if the
verbal communication with authorized
treating medical providers is being
carried out by the employer’s attorney,
then the communication can only
occur if the employee and employee’s
attorney are given seven days advance
notice of the intended communication,
and a written summary of the medical
provider’s opinions and statements is
provided to the employee and
employee’s attorney within seven days
of the communication.
Another important change enacted
as of July 1, 2009, addresses the
reconsideration of prior awards or
settlements. Under prior case law,
employees were permitted to reconsider
certain prior awards or settlements
when there was a change in ownership
of their pre-injury employer. The new
law provides that where ownership of
the pre-injury employer changes, the
employee will not be permitted to seek
reconsideration provided the injured
employee continues to be employed by
the successor employer at the same or
higher pay, or if the employee declines
an offer of employment with the
successor employer at the same or
higher pay.
The new legislation also addresses
the compensability of injuries
sustained while the employee was
engaged in recreational, social,
athletic, or exercise activities.
According to the new law, the
employer has a defense to the
compensability of such injuries, unless:
(1) participation was required; (2)
participation produced a direct benefit
to the employer beyond improvement
in employee health and morale; (3)
participation was during work hours
and part of work-related duties; or (4)
the injury occurred due to an unsafe
condition which the employer knew
about, but failed to correct.
Another change in the law imposes a
conclusive presumption for the date of
maximum medical improvement (MMI)
for mental injuries. Under the new law,
MMI for such claims will occur at the
earlier of: (1) the date when the
treating psychiatrist declares MMI; (2)
104 weeks after the employee reaches
MMI as a result of the physical injury
which caused the mental injury; or (3)
104 weeks after the date of injury if
there is no underlying physical injury.
The General Assembly also
addressed an employer’s liability for
injuries sustained by illegal immigrant
workers. The new law provides that
when an illegal immigrant worker is
injured, then the maximum that the
employee can receive is 1.5 times the
medical impairment rating, provided
the employer did not knowingly hire
the employee when the employee was
not authorized to work under federal
immigration laws. It shall be presumed
that the employer did not knowingly
hire the unauthorized worker, if the
employer can prove good faith
compliance with federal immigration
laws. However, this presumption may
be rebutted if the employer had actual
knowledge of the employee’s
unauthorized status at the time of hire
or time of injury. If the presumption is
rebutted, then up to five times the
medical impairment shall be paid as
follows: (1) the employee shall receive
1.5 times the rating from the
employer’s insurance carrier; and (2)
an additional sum up to 3.5 times the
rating shall be paid into the uninsured
employer’s fund, and that sum shall be
paid directly by the employer.
Finally, the General Assembly also
addressed the calculation of the
“maximum total benefit.” The new law
states that “maximum total benefit” is
equal to 400 times 100% of the state’s
average weekly wage and, contrary to
prior case law, shall no longer include
temporary total disability benefits.
In sum, this latest round of
legislative changes to the Tennessee
Workers’ Compensation Law are the
most significant in several years.
Accordingly, employers must take great
care to adapt and comply with these
new rules.
Fred Baker is a member in the Cookeville,
Tennessee office of Wimberly Lawson Seale
Wright & Daves, PLLC, which he joined
in 2001. He primarily handles workers’
compensation defense and employment
discrimination defense, in state and federal
Courts and administrative agencies. The
firm represents management exclusively
in labor and employment law issues and
litigation, with offices in Cookeville,
Nashville, Knoxville, and Morristown. He
may be reached at 931-372-9123 or fbaker@
wimberlylawson.com.
2010
The Cumberland Business Journal’s Ovation Awards were created
for one specific reason - recognizing you, our readers, for your
many outstanding efforts in the business community. We at the CBJ
are fortunate to report on a region with such a progressive and
prosperous economic environment and want to reward leaders who
have paved the way.
CATEGORIES:
• Manufacturing
NOMINATE
• Best Tourism-based Economic
Development Planning
Ballots turned in to CBJ by: THURSDAY,
APRIL 15, 2010 - WINNERS TO BE
ANNOUNCED in the July 2010 CBJ
BALLOTS
• Best Individual Corporate
Citizen (Philanthropist)
Email to: [email protected]
or Mail to: Cumberland Business Journal
Attn: Ovation Awards
705 North Dixie Avenue
Cookeville, TN 38501
• Business Leadership
PROVIDE your name and best
contact information.
• Restaurant
PROVIDE name and contact
information for nominee (phone,
address, email, company and title)
• Retail Establishment
• Professional Services
• Government
Awards apply only to businesses/
individuals in the 15 county CBJ
distribution area of Cannon, Clay,
Cumberland, Dekalb, Fentress,
Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett,
Putnam, Smith, Trousdale, Van Buren,
Warren and White counties.
Labor, Employment
& Commercial Law
1420 Neal Street | Suite 201 | PO Box 655
Cookeville, TN 38503 | 931-372-9123 tel
931-372-9181 fax
www.wimberlylawson.com
Cookeville Knoxville Nashville Morristown
January 2010
9
www.ucbjournal.com
Sleep Unlimited brings home-style setting to sleep disorder testing Second-generation
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
Locally owned Sleep Unlimited
recently opened in Cookeville,
providing the comforts of home in the
sleep lab setting for area patients who
are being tested and treated for
sleep-related disorders.
Sleep Unlimited is owned by a
group of Cookeville natives headed by
Eric Allen, director of sales and
marketing for Pre-Pak Systems in
Cookeville. The medical director for
the facility is Dr. Thuy Ngo, a
neurologist who completed an
extended fellowship in sleep medicine
and clinical neurophysiology at Duke
University Medical Center in 1994.
Ngo is board-certified in sleep
medicine and worked as medical
director and sleep consultant at
various accredited sleep centers in the
Southeast prior to his arrival in
Cookeville in 2002. Prior to joining
Sleep Unlimited, he worked as medical
director for the Sleep Disorders Center
at Cookeville Regional Medical Center.
Anna Ealy, who has been a
registered polysomnographic
technologist (RPSGT) since 1995, is
overseeing the local management
team. She and her husband, Scott
Ealy, own four accredited and
customer-focused sleep labs in West
Tennessee and northern Mississippi.
They bring a strong sleep disorder
network to the Cookeville area with
six board-certified sleep physicians
on their staff and years of experience.
The Ealys have taken six other
locations through the accreditation
process with the American Academy
of Sleep Medicine.
company opens in Four
Lake Business
Incubator in Trousdale
behaviors and biologic rhythm
disturbances encountered in certain
psychiatric, neurological and chronic
pain disorders.
“With Anne’s help overseeing
management, we are able to leverage
the strength of a large network of
board-certified sleep doctors and
technicians, which will speed up
turnaround times, increase patient
awareness, and improve customer
satisfaction with our referring
doctors,” said Allen. “We want to
provide an alternative to patients in
the Upper Cumberland who in the past
would have had to travel to a larger
city to find a spa-like facility of this
type that provides diagnosis and
treatment of sleep disorders. When
you have a large and sophisticated
sleep clinic network working closely
with our highly-trained and
experienced sleep expert, Dr. Ngo, all
available locally, it doesn’t make sense
to go anywhere else.”
Sleep Unlimited will be staffed by
local sleep technicians who will
oversee day and night sleep testing.
The office managers will work with
referring doctors for care and patient
follow-up after testing has been
completed.
“Sleep testing involves much more
than what happens in the lab,” said
Ealy. “It requires routine follow-up to
monitor the use of equipment and to
answer the patient’s questions about
their diagnosis, as well as constant
communication with their doctors.”
Sleep Unlimited is located at 1150
Perimeter Park Drive in Cookeville.
For more information, contact them
by phone at 931-525-1160.
Dr. Thuy Ngo
Sleep testing
involves much more than
what happens in the lab.
ANNA EALY
Mgr. Sleep Unlimited
“Testing for sleep disorders can be a
tense experience for patients if the
setting is cold, stuffy and has a clinic
feel,” said Ealy. “At Sleep Unlimited,
we have high-end, comfortable rooms
in a setting much like a patient’s own
bedroom. Each room is equipped with
a queen size bed, a dresser, a
nightstand and a flat screen television
with remote, cable connection and
DVD player.”
According to Allen, Sleep Unlimited
brings the most advanced medical
equipment and networking technology
currently available in major
metropolitan settings to Cookeville.
This will allow sleep specialists to
investigate in-depth and to effectively
treat all aspects of sleep disorders
ranging from sleep apnea to other less
common illnesses such as restless leg
syndrome, narcolepsy, insomnia,
nocturnal epilepsy, abnormal sleep
Volunteer Adhesives Corp. owner
David Miller is opening a secondgeneration manufacturing company
in the Four Lake Business Incubator.
Volunteer Adhesives began in
the incubator in 1999 with three
employees. In 2003, the company
moved to a 30,000-square-foot
facility on 10 acres in Lafayette and
continued to grow. It now employs
15 full-time workers.
The new company – V&C
Manufacturing & Warehousing Corp.
– has opened in the same building
in the Four Lake Incubator. It will
manufacture polyvinylchloride
(PVC) adhesive for the plumbing
and irrigation industry and also
warehouse several products used in
the southeastern region.
“V&C will start with five
employees in the plant and one
office worker,” said Miller. “In the
future, it will potentially employ
10 to 15 full-time plant workers,
salesmen and office staff.
“Neither company would have
been possible without the support
and encouragement of the staff at
Four Lake.”
“This is what we want the
incubator to do,” said Arrington,
assistant director of the Four Lake
Industrial Development Authority,
“to provide an environment for
owners to grow companies that
will move on and continue to be
successful.”
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1459 Interstate Dr, Ste 201
Cookeville TN 38501
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Sparta TN 38583
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10
January 2010
www.ucbjournal.com
m e d i c a l
p r o f i l e
Dr. Thomas Gannon
Osteopathic Medicine
BEVERLEY NASH
Staff Writer
Dr. Thomas Gannon tried several majors
at Tennessee Tech University, but once he
began reading about the benefits of holistic
healing and osteopathic medicine, he never
looked back.
Osteopathy is a form of non-invasive
manual medicine that focuses on total body
health by treating and strengthening the
musculoskeletal framework, including the
joints, muscles and spine. Osteopaths do
not simply concentrate on
treating the problem area,
but use manual techniques
to balance all the systems
of the body.
at UCLA in Berkley, Calif., and is one of
only a few medical doctors in the Upper
Cumberland who is trained and certified to
administer acupuncture.
Acupuncture involves the use of
sharp, thin needles inserted into the body
at very specific points to treat a wide
variety of illnesses and health conditions.
The World Health Organization (WHO)
has recommended acupuncture as an
effective treatment for more than 40
medical problems, including allergies,
respiratory conditions, gastrointestinal
Medical School in Norfolk, Va. He is the
only physiatrist within 50 miles.
“Most practice in larger cities,” said
Gannon. “However, Cookeville Regional
provides treatment for such a large patient
population – more than 350,000 people –
that they are able to support this type of
practice. We actually attract patients from
Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and even
from out of state.”
Gannon is a native of the Upper
Cumberland and credits his going to work
at Cookeville Regional to
“being at the right place at
the right time.”
“We have the best
neurosurgeons here that
I’ve ever worked with, and
also the best orthopedic
physicians,” said Gannon.
“Also, we have great
vascular surgeons and a
tremendous cardiac team.
These are specialties that
you almost never hear
about in areas this size. We
are at a point where we
really don’t have to send
patients outside the region
for treatment for almost
any condition.
Gannon is a licensed
doctor of osteopathy
(DO) with The Physician
Associates of Cookeville
Regional Medical Center,
and he is medical
director of the inpatient
rehabilitation unit.
“I enjoy the holistic
approach to treating
patients,” said Gannon,
“using physical modalities
and manipulation to heal.
I liked the idea of working
on a patent and making
them feel better the same
day.”
Gannon completed
a teaching fellowship
in manipulation, which
involves deep massage,
spinal alignment and joint
manipulation to stimulate
healing. He also uses a
spray and stretch technique
to relax taut areas of
muscles and relieve pain.
Photo: Jesse Kaufman CBJ
“With manipulation therapy, we
are able to identify the trigger points in
muscles (the source of pain) and restore
motion to areas of the body and calm down
hyperactivity.”
“We also perform electromyography
(EMG), which is a nerve conduit study used
to evaluate and record the activation signal
of muscles.”
Gannon attended Medical Acupuncture
for Physicians at Helms Medical Institute
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disorders, gynecological problems, and
nervous conditions, as well as chronic pain
associated with back injuries and arthritis.
“We use acupuncture mostly in treating
chronic pain, and depression associated
with pain,” said Gannon, “and for posttraumatic neuralgia as well as pregnancyinduced nausea.”
Gannon earned a doctor of osteopathy
from West Virginia School of Osteopathic
Medicine in Lewisburg, W.V., and completed
a physiatry residency at Eastern Virginia
P R O F I L E
B R O U G H T
“We have been able to
increase our numbers so
that more than 80 percent
of patients are able to
return home after their stay
here,” continued Gannon.
“Our goal for this year
is to purchase a light gait treadmill system
and bicycles with hand holds. And we want
to replace our group therapy sessions with
one-on-one sessions.”
Gannon also said that they would like
to purchase a large screen television for
recreation for patients who have to stay in
the facility for several weeks.
“We will continue to have Button (the
dog) provide pet therapy,” said Gannon.
“And we are looking for area churches to
visit and provide programs.”
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January 2010
ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT
11
Cynthia ‘BQ’ Strong credits family and faith with her drive for success
BEVERLEY NASH
CBJ Staff
Merle Norman owner Cynthia
Strong knows skin care, cosmetics,
prom, pageants and wedding dresses.
She is known by friends as “BQ”
(beauty queen), and credits her
success not just to her interest in
beauty, but also to a strong belief in
faith and family.
“The things that drive me are my
family, husband, children and my
reliance on the Lord,” said Strong. “I
love the store, and I just know this is
the direction God wanted my life to
take.”
Strong grew up working in the
world of fashion, beauty and
pageants. She began working at Merle
Norman and Village Boutique in
Cookeville while in high school, and
won the local Fairest of the Fair
pageant. For 10 years she was sales
director for BeautiControl, an
international direct sales skin care
and cosmetics company based in
Carrollton, Texas. And she was
crowned Mrs. Tennessee in 1997.
“In 1999, my life changed; my
father died suddenly, I had a new baby
and my family was grieving,” said
Strong. “I prayed to God and asked,
‘What is your plan for me? What do
you want me to do?’
“I heard God say, ‘Buy Merle
Norman,’ and I started laughing. It
was the first time I had really laughed
since my father’s death. I had been
with BeautiControl for 10 years, had a
company car, the jewelry, the trips,
and God said walk away. And I did.”
Strong bought part interest in the
store and became sole owner in 2006.
“The store was in the Cookeville
Mall and had been for 37 years. We
wanted to expand, but there were
very few stores left in the mall, so we
began looking for a new location,”
said Strong. “I really wanted to be
next door to Bath & Body Works [in
Jackson Plaza], but I had another year
on my lease at the Mall. The owners
of Jackson Plaza worked with me and
we were able to move the store.”
“The only products in the store
when I bought it were cosmetics and
skin care,” continued Strong. “We
needed something to attract a younger
crowd.
“Kim Boatman, the previous owner
of Village Boutique, and a couple of
Merle Norman ‘sisters’ in North
Carolina helped me get started buying
formals in markets in Atlanta and
New York. We named the formal part
of our store Beauty Queens Boutique,
or BQB for short. In January, we are
starting Bridal, Prom and Pageant
University. Girls can register at our
Web site www.beautyqueensboutique.
com.
“We are the exclusive dealers of
some of the top lines of prom and
pageant dresses: Lafemme, Tony
Bowls and Sherri Hill.”
This past year she added the top
three lines of wedding gowns to her
collection: Maggie Sottero, Allure
Bridal and Casablanca Bridal.
“We are now a one-stop-shop for
weddings,” said Strong. “We not only
have prom and pageant dresses, but
wedding gowns, mother-of-the-bride
gowns and tuxedo rentals. We have
girls who come from Nashville,
Murfreesboro and Lebanon to shop in
our store.”
Strong credits her daughter Randi
with the success of her line of pageant
dresses, and sees the same
entrepreneurial spirit in her that
drives her mother.
“The second year that I went to
market, I took Randi with me and she
picked the dresses. We sold almost
everything we bought that year. So I
have taken her back every year and
now she is my buyer.”
Randi works at Putnam Showroom
in Atlanta in the summer and fall
selecting Tony Bowls gowns for store
owners who cannot attend market.
She pitched a marketing idea to the
owner of Tony Bowls, and he liked the
campaign so much they are
implementing it and have asked Randi
to intern in their marketing
department.
“We are truly blessed. I have a great
staff and my family works with me in
the store on the weekends. Randi sells
dresses and my son James Thomas
and husband Gary work in the tuxedo
department. And me…I’m selling
lipstick.”
Strong is not only active in the
world of beauty, but she also has a
passion for home health care. She is
on the state board for the Tennessee
Association of Home Care; serves on
the Putnam County Fair Board and
heads Senior Day at the fair; is active
with the Alzheimer’s Association; and
is director of business development for
Quality Home Healthcare in
Jamestown.
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12
January 2010
www.ucbjournal.com
BIZBUZZ
From page 4
this year. By earning this honor, Buck
joins the distinguished ranks of some
previous Rains Agency CICs: Lyndon
Rains (1979), Neil Wells (1982), Jim Buck
(1986), and Darren Gunter (2002).
Buck focuses his attention on all
aspects of commercial insurance
underwriting.
“It’s a credit to Chip’s hard work and
professionalism that he’s had his best
year yet in the tough economy of 2009,”
stated John Cook, president of the Rains
Agency.
The Rains Agency is a full-line
insurance agency that began as a oneman operation in 1927 and now serves
individuals and businesses throughout
the Upper Cumberland. Buck joined the
Rains Agency in May 2002.
The Society of CIC is a key member
of The National Alliance for Insurance
Education & Research, the nation’s
preeminent provider of insurance
and risk management education. The
National Alliance conducts more than
2,500 programs annually, throughout
all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Currently,
more than 29,000 agents and insurance
professionals throughout the country
have received the CIC designation.
Buck’s primary office is at the
Progressive Financial Center at 1080
Interstate Drive in Cookeville or he can
be reached by phone at 931-528-NSUR
(6787).
Gov. Bredesen announces
federal farm assistance for 16
counties
NASHVILLE – Gov. Phil Bredesen
has announced USDA approval of his
request for federal farm assistance for 16
Tennessee counties.
Four Upper Cumberland counties were
designated primary natural disaster areas
due to excessive rain and flooding that
occurred in September and October of
2009: Cumberland, Macon, Smith and
Trousdale.
Farmers in these counties will be
eligible for assistance of emergency
loans and supplemental farm payments,
through their local USDA Farm Service
Agency. Seven additional counties in
the Upper Cumberland qualified as
secondary, adjoining disaster counties:
Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Fentress, Putnam,
Van Buren and White.
Farmers in affected counties have
reported crop losses ranging from 20
to 50 percent for major crops. Some
counties reported record rainfall of 10 to
12 inches during what are normally the
driest months of the year.
State shifts business tax
administration to Department
of Revenue
NASHVILLE – The General Assembly
has enacted Public Chapter 530, shifting
the administration and collection of
business tax from local municipalities
and counties to the Department of
Revenue.
“This undertaking is a true
partnership between state and the local
governments,” said Commissioner Reagan
Farr. “While increasing revenue through
improved tax compliance, we also
plan on simplifying the tax process for
business owners, including developing a
new, simplified tax return and initiating
major education programs.”
Beginning Feb. 28, 2010, all business
tax returns will now be filed with the
Tennessee Department of Revenue.
Businesses will continue to obtain
business licenses from county clerks and/
or municipal officials. More information
is available www.TN.gov/revenue.
Wagner named president-elect
of Cumberland Medical Center
CROSSVILLE – The board of directors
of Cumberland Medical Center named
Dr. Barry Wagner as president-elect,
effective Jan. 1, 2010. Dr. Wagner will
serve with CEO Edwin S. Anderson in
a transition period through July 2010.
Anderson will then become chairman
and Wagner CEO. Wagner will continue
as chief medical officer through the
transition period.
Board Chairman J. W. Brown
announced his plans to relinquish his
role as chairman effective July 2010, and
the Board voted to recognize his lifelong
commitment by naming him chairman
emeritus. Brown has served as chairman
since November 1967.
Wagner joined CMC’s senior
management team as chief medical
officer in April 2008 and has played
an integral role in the development
of the hospitalist program, as well
as implementing the medical student
training program through affiliation
with Lincoln Memorial University’s
DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine.
He has also worked as medical director
of CMC’s emergency department, as
well as president of the medical staff
in addition to multiple other leadership
positions. Wagner received his postgraduate training at Erlanger Hospital in
Chattanooga, and is a diplomat with the
American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Anderson began his career at CMC in
1950 in the laboratory and was named
president of the hospital in 1992, a
position he held until his retirement
in 2001. The board named Anderson
president again in 2008. He has been a
member of the CMC Board since 1992.
“Cumberland Medical Center is very
fortunate to have had talented in-house
candidates from which to choose its
future CEO,” said Anderson. “Having
known and worked with Dr. Wagner
these many years, I am really looking
forward to sharing this transition period
with such an accomplished physician and
administrator.”
“With the selection of Dr. Wagner
as president-elect and Mr. Anderson
as chairman, I am assured that the
medical center’s mission of serving our
community’s health care needs will
continue,” said Brown. “I have been
honored to serve as chairman over the
last 42 years.”
State offers Main Street
assistance to revitalize
downtown commerce
NASHVILLE – Commissioner Matt
Kisber of the Tennessee Department of
Economic and Community Development
has announced the launch of Tennessee
Downtowns, a competitive community
improvement program for communities
seeking to revitalize traditional
commercial districts.
The program is open to cities and
counties with 50-year-old or longer
downtown commercial districts that are
ready for downtown revitalization based
on the successful “Main Street Four-Point
Approach.” Applications are available
online at www.tennesseemainstreet.org,
and must be completed by Feb. 5, 2010.
Tennessee Downtowns is part of
ECD’s Main Street Program that makes
available six innovation project grants.
Successful applicants will also receive
an 18-month program of technical
assistance, which includes training on
downtown revitalization and historic
preservation, an introductory site visit,
attendance at a two-day downtown
revitalization workshop and a grant of up
to $15,000.
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January 2010
13
www.ucbjournal.com
Cookeville Chamber’s priorities still recruitment, retention and education
LAURA CANADA
Cookeville Chamber of Commerce
One key factor essential to job
creation, growth and retention is
having a well-educated and careerready work force. It is actually the
most important factor in a company’s
location decision, and therefore, why
a community needs to have a welldocumented assessment of its work
force.
That is why many of the 2010
top priorities and goals of the
Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber
of Commerce and the Highlands
Initiative focus on business
recruitment, retention and education.
To start the year, the Chamber,
in conjunction with the Highlands
Workforce Development and
Education Committee, is sponsoring
an economic development summit
on Feb. 25 at the Leslie Town Centre
in Cookeville, from 1 to 4 p.m.
The conference, titled “Highlands
Economic Development Summit: It’s
All About Jobs,” will provide insight
into future business development and
employment for the Highlands.
Speakers will include William
Frederick, CEO of Wadley Donovan, a
nationally known site and work force
development consultant, and Brad
Smith, executive director for SCORE
(State Collaborative On Reforming
Education).
Frederick will present results of
the Labor Market Assessment study
completed in October 2009 for the
Highlands counties of Overton,
Putnam and White. It will include
an assessment of labor demand, cost
MONTH
For 12 Months*
and quality, education and training
needs, and the general business
climate in the Highlands. Frederick
will provide an overview of the site
selection decision-making process,
how the region is ruled in or out by
site selectors, and what Chamber
leaders can do to change the game in
their favor.
“Our goal is to provide insight to
business leaders and elected officials
of the local needs to improve and
expand business opportunities
in the region. It is essential that
all stakeholders participate in
the dialogue through businesseducation-community partnerships
to accomplish the goal of creating
The CBJ is launching a series
of articles celebrating the
entrepreneurial spirit of the Upper
Cumberland. If your business or
industry is an example, please
Email [email protected] for a
questionnaire and details.
Reminder: The CBJ is always seeking
news. You are urged to share your
company’s news with the U.C.
Call (931) 528-8852
every month and
lock in your price
for one full year.
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Lillian Hartgrove
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The Chamber and Highlands are dedicated to
maintaining focus on the key areas that will bring greater
success to the region. Through our partnerships with local
government officials, the legislature, the private sector, and
school systems, we can accomplish our goals. We saw what is
possible with the community spirit that came together
to make TSSAA successful.
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SE Av 1
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M S A rso N 38
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a well-educated and career-ready
work force,” said Dr. Susan Elkins,
Highlands Workforce Development
and Education chair and Tennessee
Tech University vice president of
extended programs and regional
development.
“The Chamber and Highlands are
dedicated to maintaining focus on
the key areas that will bring greater
success to the region. Through our
partnerships with local government
officials, the legislature, the private
sector, and school systems, we can
accomplish our goals. We saw what
is possible with the community
spirit that came together to make
TSSAA successful,” said Lillian
Hartgrove, vice president of economic
development for the Highlands. n
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14
January 2010
www.ucbjournal.com
Using recycled materials ‘greens’ up your commercial building
Recycling is good for your
building
Did you know that recycling paper
products reduces air pollutants by 75
percent and water pollutants by 67
percent? A ton of recycled paper
saves 17 trees and three cubic yards
of landfill space. Recycling
aluminum saves 95 percent of the
energy used to produce aluminum
from raw materials.
Buying recycled products is an
essential part of closing the loop on
the recycling process. As builders, we
can play a major role in helping to
reduce waste and promote recycling
by encouraging our customers to ask
for recycled products.
As you consider your next
renovation or new construction
project, you may want to consider
using recycled materials in as many
areas as possible. Using recycled
materials does not provide the quick
return on investment that is
generated by other energy saving
features, but it does provide high
value by limiting the adverse effects
on our environment. And recycling
is a great morale booster for your
employees and community, and
creates positive public image for your
company.
Using recycled materials reduces
the demand for raw materials. By
minimizing what is discarded from
construction materials and business
operations, you are able to maximize
landfills and protect the environment
by removing harmful substances
from the waste stream.
review
From page 7
supply chain manufacturers were
anticipating an improvement in sales
due to the boost in new car sales, but
used car dealers reported a 50 percent
crash in their business during the Cash
for Clunkers program.
#6 La Gardena announces
plans for 1,200-acre resort
complex in Clay County
A group of New York and Chicago
developers announced plans for a
1,200-acre resort complex adjacent to
Dale Hollow Lake in Clay County.
More than $600 million had been
invested in the property as of year’s
end.
According to Roman Veksler, CEO of
La Gardena LLC, owner/developer of
the resort, all permits and approvals
had been received at that time,
including Environmental Protection
Agency approvals.
The owners have had the support
and assistance of the Upper
Cumberland Development District,
Clay County Chamber of Commerce
and are working with the Tennessee
Department of Economic Development
to secure additional assistance.
Plans are to develop the resort in
two phases, with Phase I to include a
luxury hotel and business center, as
well as a nationally branded spa and
small strip-style shopping center.
Phase II will include a signature golf
course and an indoor equestrian
facility, with residential development
surrounding both. The group is
considering either a Tom Fazio or Jack
Nicklaus designed course and has
already secured a letter of intent from
Nicklaus.
More than 500 direct jobs are
GOING GREEN
with Joe Bontrager
LEED Accredited Professional
Here are just a few recycled
building materials that are available
today:
Green Flooring
Look for environmentally friendly
floor coverings. Carpet, linoleum,
vinyl composition tile and even
hardwoods can be environmentally
friendly options.
Carpet tiles are a great choice
because they are manufactured from
90 percent post-consumer waste from
recycled tires. The cost is
approximately 2 percent more than
conventional carpet, however, when
you include the ability to lay carpet
in exact quantities and eliminate
carpet waste from 12-foot-wide rolls,
tiles are less expensive than standard
rolls for many applications. Using
carpet tiles also allows for easy
expected to be generated by Phase I of
the development, according to the
owner, with an additional 2,000 by
Phase II.
#7 CCA buys land in
Trousdale County for 2,040bed correction center
Construction was begun then
temporarily halted on a Corrections
Corporation of America 2,040-bed
corrections center in Trousdale
County. CCA had earlier purchased
108 acres in the county and accepted
delivery of prefabricated jail cells
before the economy took a nosedive
and affected the state budget.
CCA had planned to complete
construction of the facility by
December 2009, which was estimated
to represent $143 million in total
capital investment dollars and pump
$1.5 million annually into the local
economy in the form of much-needed
property taxes and $1.8 million in
annual utility payments to the county.
Federal, state and local agencies,
including the U.S. Department of
Commerce Economic Development
Administration, USDA Rural
Development of Tennessee, the
Tennessee Department of Economic
and Community Development and the
Four Lake Authority, collectively
contributed $11.7 million into the
project toward infrastructure
improvements to ensure its success.
The company subsequently paid a
building permit fee to the county as its
good faith intent to proceed with the
project once the economy improves.
Once operational, the center will
require 350 full-time employees, of
which approximately 85 will be hired
locally.
replacement of areas that become
soiled or damaged with use, rather
than replacing an entire room.
Another environmentally friendly
flooring option is ionized polymeric
flooring. IPF is made from recycled
materials and uses naturally
occurring ionized minerals. These
negatively charged ions attract
positively charged airborne antigens
to the ground. In layman’s terms, the
flooring reduces the number of
germs, odors, volatile organic
compounds (VOC) and other
contaminates floating in the air.
Contaminates are pulled to the
ground by the negative ions and are
removed from the room through
normal floor cleaning and
maintenance.
Green Countertops
Recycled glass and concrete
countertops are another renewable
resource available for your next
building project. The countertops are
LEED certified, highly durable and
#8 Cookeville Regional north
tower/cancer center
expansion opens
Hospital management and
community leaders officially opened
the long-anticipated $85 million North
Patient Tower expansion at Cookeville
Regional Medical Center.
The project was the largest
undertaken in the Upper Cumberland
and was designed to increase
accessibility to quality health care for
area residents and solidify Cookeville
Regional’s position among large
regional providers.
The expansion added six stories and
222,000 square feet of patient care,
testing, surgery and administrative
space. A new cancer center tripled the
size of the previous center, and added
a private patient entrance and healing
garden that is accessible from and can
be see from the chemo lounge.
Most noticeable to visitors is the new
two-story, glass-enclosed atrium
entrance. A new Intensive Care Unit
on the second floor of the tower houses
30 patient rooms and ICU Nursing
Station, as well as conference and
consulting rooms.
An additional 96 private patient
rooms were included, plus cardiac
care, step down, post surgical care,
pediatrics and medical oncology units.
Modern family areas are included on
each patient floor.
#9 Baxter sees two package
liquor stores open following
2008 referendum
After several failed attempts,
residents in Baxter passed a package
liquor store referendum in November
2008. Subsequently, two stores
opened: Crossroads Wine & Spirits and
Midstate Wine & Spirits.
VOC-free. Recycled countertops are
produced in about 30 different colors
and many have a Cradle-to-Cradle
Gold Certification from the U.S.
Green Building Council. That means
they are environmentally safe, the
composite materials are non-toxic
and non-harmful, there is minimal
use of water and energy in
production, they are manufactured
from recycled materials and can be
recycled at the end of their
productive life, and the companies
manufacturing the product use
renewable energy and practice
environmental responsibility.
There are hundreds of other
recycled materials you might
consider in your next building
project that will conserve our natural
resources, reduce the demand for raw
materials and protect the health and
environment from harmful
substances. We encourage you to
look for renewable products and help
keep our air and water free of
pollutants.
Joe Bontrager is a LEED Certified Project
Manager for J&S Construction Company
Inc. in Cookeville, TN. J&S is a locally
owned, full-service construction company
with more than 52 years’ experience
building projects, relationships and trust.
It has completed more than 90,000 square
feet of LEED certified buildings and over
5,000 unique projects with more than a 75
percent repeat customer rate. J&S employs
100 of the finest craftsmen and trade
professionals, including a number of
nationally recognized and award winning
architects and engineers.
Paid advertisement
According to Baxter Mayor Jeff
Wilhite, the community is hopeful of
receiving approximately $200,000 in
tax revenue annually from liquor and
wine sales.
Nearby Gainesboro, however, was
negatively impacted by Baxter’s gain,
with the recent closing of longstanding Country Cabin Liquors.
#10 Starts and stops on
Putnam industrial park site
Development started and stopped
and started again on the planned
Highlands Regional Business Park that
is due to be built west of Cookeville off
Interstate 40 and Mine Lick Creek
Road.
The Putnam County Planning
Commission gave up on including 74
acres of property that was being held
up by legal proceedings brought by its
owners and moved forward with a
reduced 292-acre park.
As of December 2009, the county
was awaiting infrastructure drawings
from Nashville engineering firm
Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon to
restart construction.
Community leaders are eager to
complete the work in order to
capitalize on the success other regions
have seen by attracting global
manufacturing operations to shovelready sites. County and city officials
are hoping to attract some of the Tier 2
suppliers to the $1 billion Volkswagen
facility that is due to begin production
in Chattanooga in 2011.
If your company is one of the
oldest businesses in the U.C.,
email [email protected]
or call
1-800-499-2332
January 2010
15
www.ucbjournal.com
TSSAA
From page 1
“Fairfield was sold out Thursday,
almost sold out on Friday, and about
75 percent on Saturday. All the hotels
are very supportive of the
partnerships with the city, Tech and
the community,” said Clarke.
“December is the start of the slow
season for the hotels, and this
provided that extra boost to benefit
the economy.”
Clarke also mentioned that she
heard many comments about
Cookeville’s hospitality and how
Cookeville was so easy to work with.
The Clarion Hotel, which hosted
TSSAA coaches, reported they were
sold out for two days and at 50
percent for the third day of the games.
Area restaurant owners commented
that it was by far the best boost to
their business that they had
experienced.
More than 300 volunteers took time
out of their busy schedules to make
sure visitors, fans, players, coaches
and media left Cookeville wanting to
come back. Some of them stood
outside for eight to 10 hours directing
parking, selling programs and tickets,
taking up tickets, and picking up
trash. Everyone from the business
community and law enforcement to
city officials and area students were
on hand to make it work.
“It was everybody pitching in. It
didn’t make a difference what their
position was outside this venue,” said
Ottis Phillips, chair of Cookeville’s
BlueCross Bowl Steering Committee.
“They came here to roll up their
sleeves and make it work and that was
so gratifying to see.”
“This event has opened the door for
the community and the region,
showing that we are capable of
hosting an event of this caliber,” said
George Halford, president and CEO of
the Cookeville-Putnam County
Chamber of Commerce. “We hope it
will inspire others to bring their
events to Cookeville.”
Bernard Childress, executive
director for TSSAA, said, “We’ve been
treated so nice here, we may just stay
and be here for next year.”
“The amount of exposure that came
from this event is immeasurable,”
Cookeville Chamber Chairman Dr. Tom
Lawrence said. “People now know, that
may not have before this event, about
our community, Tennessee Tech and
the Highlands region.”
During the games, Tennessee Tech
Vice President of University
Advancement Mark Hutchins
commented, “Our students and faculty
have been so generous with what
they’ve done. Not only in continuing
with their classes, but also in their
support of what’s happening here at
the championships.”
“We learned some lessons on what
works and what doesn’t that we will be
able to implement in planning for next
year’s games,” said Pearson.
Cookeville City Manager Jim
Shipley reportedly heard several
people saying, “Does everyone in
Cookeville smile?”
“I am proud of how the communitywide effort worked to make those
three days a success,” Shipley said.
TSSAA’s BlueCross Bowl in
Cookeville was a combined effort
between the city of Cookeville,
Putnam County, the CookevillePutnam County Chamber of
Commerce, Tennessee Tech University
and the Highlands Initiative. n
STRATEGICWIRE
From page 1
“The partnership we already have
with the city of McMinnville, Warren
County and the IDB is one that should
be mirrored in communities across the
state.”
Siedlecki said the new center will
support StrategicWire’s headquarters
in Washington, as well as sales offices
in Chattanooga, Atlanta, Chicago and
Seattle. The company will post job
opportunities and application forms
on the company’s Web site at www.
strategicwire.com beginning January
2010.
StrategicWire will hold a formal
grand re-opening of the Blue building
for public viewing at a date that will be
announced later.
“Our company is thrilled that the
city and IDB have helped us obtain the
Blue building as our new McMinnville
home. The building’s history and the
opportunities it has for the entire
community is something we look
forward to pursuing in the months and
years to come, and returning the shine
and luster to this beautiful landmark,”
said Siedlecki. n
Telephone Co-op and their support,
we have such an advanced broadband
technology that it allowed us to attract
an operation like StrategicWire. Also,
the company was looking for a large,
historic building, and we had one
available.”
The Blue building was chosen after
a search that included a number of
other sites in cities across Tennessee,
according to company officials.
StrategicWire provides customized
news aggregation, monitoring and
publishing services to businesses
and organizations across the U.S.
The services allow clients to provide
real-time news and information to
employees, customers and others. The
McMinnville operations center will be
the central location for customer and
technical service for StrategicWire’s
clients.
“We are so excited about the future of
our company and the role McMinnville
will play in our company’s growth
over the next few years,” said Mark
Siedlecki, president of StrategicWire.
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January 2010
16
www.ucbjournal.com
#1 Leader in the Employee Assessment Industry Seeks Talented
Executives and Professionals to Become Strategic Business Partners
An economic recession has always
meant two things: the competition for
jobs becomes fierce and the need for
businesses to actively manage their
own survival becomes imperative.
While survival can translate into
slower, smarter growth, it can also
mean cost cutting and downsizing, or
at the very least, rightsizing.
Companies that develop products
and provide services designed to
assist employers as they navigate
such trying times, and especially
those that do it very well, often will
thrive...companies like Integrated
Management Resources Inc., an
affiliate of Profiles International
Inc., owned by Cookeville Chamber
member Greg Maciolek.
Building a Business
Greg Maciolek is founder and CEO
of Integrated Management Resources
Inc. After 26 years of distinguished
service as a commander and fighter
pilot, Greg retired from the Air
National Guard and the U.S. Air Force.
Having served in one of the greatest
bureaucracies, holding senior-level
positions for the last 14 years of his
career, Maciolek was looking for
something to call his own. He became
affiliated with Profiles International
Inc. more than a decade ago.
A Growing Industry
The success of Profiles International
Inc. and Integrated Management
Resources Inc. is due in large part
to its unrivaled, comprehensive
portfolio of computer-based
I live wherever I want. My job is completely flexible.
Ninety percent of all my business is done online. There is a
quality to my life that I never thought possible, and I feel really
good about the fact that I’m providing businesses with
something they really want and need to be successful. I’d like to
make sure other people just like me get the same shot that I did.
GREG MACIOLEK
Integrated Management
employee assessment, retention
and management tools. Developed
in close consult with occupational
psychologists, human resource
executives and a myriad of other
invaluable professionals, the
company’s products are customized to
meet the needs of any employer, big
or small and of any kind. In addition,
programs can be individually tailored
and updated as needed to achieve
any organization’s most pressing
objectives and realize its ultimate,
long-terms goals.
Today, Maciolek sees demand
for the company’s products and
services growing in a number of key
industries, including small banks
and credit unions, government
agencies, health care and even small
non-profits. Employers must be
very methodical and strategic when
it comes to hiring, managing and
retaining their work force.
“Our products are designed to help
them make the smartest decisions
they can under the circumstances, all
of which adds up to incredible savings
in terms of both time and money,”
says Maciolek.
The Right Candidate
According to Maciolek, the
best candidate to become one of
the company’s strategic business
partners doesn’t need any past
Standing on the
principleS of quality
construction, effective
communication, and
distinctive design,
Zurich homes delivers
a seamless, enjoyable
building experience. it is
our goal to leave every
customer with a feeling
of satisfaction and pride
in their home, a large
reason we are frequently
recommended to family
and friends of past
customers.
Fine Homes of Architectural Integrity and Environmental Consideration
Stan and Isaac (of Zurich Homes) were great. Easy to deal with and open to our suggestions and wants.
We thoroughly enjoyed our experience with Stan and Isaac, both were friendly and personable. Isaac
Sid and Marian Nichols - Johnson, Vermont
was just great with his weekly progress reports
www.zurichhomesusa.com | phone: 931.267.8127 | Crossville, TN
sales experience. “I had no sales
background whatsoever. Truly, it’s
not necessary,” he says. “This is
relationship selling. The products are
so well designed that there is no ‘hard
sell’ here.”
According to Maciolek, annual sales
into six figures is not at all unlikely
after the initial start-up phase of 18
months or so. That’s a pretty solid
return on an initial investment of
just $12,000. Start-up fees include
the necessary operating systems,
everything needed to set up 25 new
clients right away, inventory worth
upwards of $35,000, and unlimited
and ongoing training, support and
marketing assistance. The only
additional cost a partner incurs is an
annual Internet site hosting fee of
$1,200.
But perhaps the most rewarding
aspect of being a Profiles
International strategic business
partner can’t really be quantified at
all – it’s priceless. “I live wherever I
want. My job is completely flexible.
Ninety percent of all my business is
done online,” Maciolek says. “There
is a quality to my life that I never
thought possible, and I feel really
good about the fact that I’m providing
businesses with something they really
want and need to be successful. I’d
like to make sure other people just
like me get the same shot that I did.”
If you are interested in learning
more about this opportunity, contact
Greg Maciolek at 865-675-5901 or by
email at [email protected]. n
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