The Knoxville Chamber has sent letters to a number of Knoxville-area legislators urging them to vote against Rep. Niceley's amendment, which would have the superintendent voted by the public, rather than appointed by the school board. Here is a copy of the letter, sent from Mike Edwards, which states the Chamber's position:
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To sustain our economy and continue our economic prosperity substantial improvements are necessary in public education. We need to increase academic rigor and improve the skills of high school graduates so students are ready for the workplace or post-secondary training. These improvements will not come easy and will require the focused effort of a strong, professional school superintendent.
The current legislative effort to allow for an elected school superintendent (Amendment 3 to HB 3857) is bad public policy. The Knoxville Chamber is opposed to this legislation and would look at its passage as hostile to public education. I hope you will not allow such a vote to become part of your public record.
Knox County's superintendent of schools needs to have academic improvement and execution of strategies to increase the skills of graduates as his/her singular focus. That professional cannot be distracted by periodic elections.
The School Board is, and ought to continue to be, the place where public policy is set and the public's desires and the electorate's voice is heard. The Board should continue to formulate policies based on public input. But the implementation of those policies should
be left to the professional staff employed by the Board.
I urge you to vote against the amendment offered by Rep. Niceley.
Sincerely,
Michael Edwards
President & CEO, Knoxville Chamber
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Also, the Knoxville News Sentinel had an editorial on the proposed superintendent policy change, which was attached to Edwards' letter.
Note: This notice was sent from LBMC, a Knoxville Chamber member business.
An inside view of how successful organizations throughout the world use proven business strategies to gain a competitive edge while exceeding goals and expectations.
Strategies that will be discussed include:
- Tightened customer focus in a crowded market
- Defined value-added differentiation
- Maximized customer relationships
- Reduced spending using technology
- Expanded geographic distribution that is profitable and permanent
- A culture of sales excellence - close more business in a shorter time frame
- Inspired thinking to make a strategic leap
See how a winning strategy will unify your team and allow them to experience the excitement of contributing to the future of a growing company with a clearly defined direction. This session will be led by Allen Hovious, President of LBMC Planning Services, who has worked with hundreds of clients in over 30 industries to develop winning strategies for their organizations.
Cost: FREE and lunch will be provided.
Date: June 10th, 2008 (12:00-1:30)
Location: Knoxville LBMC Office – 10024 Investment Drive, Suite 200, Knoxville 2nd Floor Training Room
RSVP: Christie Knapper at 865-862-3059 or cknapper@lbmc.com
CPE Credit: (1.5 hrs) available upon request.
Note: This release was sent from the East Tennessee Healthcare Center.
A major medical park, East Tennessee Healthcare Center, will break ground on Wednesday, May 7th at 11:00 a.m. The development is on 12 acres located in Dowell Springs Business Park which is off Middlebrook Pike. Mayor Bill Haslam, Mayor Mike Ragsdale and Mike Edwards, CEO of the Knoxville Chamber, will participate in the ceremony.
“We will break ground on two new buildings that will total 175,000 square feet of medical office and clinical facilities with plans for an additional 75,000 square feet of space as demand grows,” said Terry Douglass, CEO of East Tennessee Healthcare Development, LLC. “We have two anchor tenants, Knoxville Comprehensive Breast Center (KCBC) and Tennessee Cancer Specialists (TCS), who together will utilize approximately 70,000 square feet of space initially. Other physician practice groups and clinical facilities have agreed to lease an additional 30,000 square feet of space to date. Construction is scheduled to start in May, 2008. The architect is The Lewis Group and the contractor is Merit Construction.”
“Knoxville Comprehensive Breast Center has outgrown our current location and is looking forward to expanding the facilities for our patients, physicians and staff,” said Dr. Kamilia Kozlowski, CEO and Medical Director. “We are excited to be affiliated with East Tennessee Healthcare Center and that the groundbreaking will coincide with Knoxville Comprehensive Breast Center’s 25th anniversary.”
East Tennessee Healthcare Center will be a world-class medical park that will seek to serve all patients and physicians in East Tennessee and will be centrally located to all area hospitals. Patients will benefit from multi-specialty physician groups on-site and will enjoy easy access, convenient parking, walking paths, waterfalls and beautiful mountain views. The focus will be on wellness, healthy living, and comprehensive diagnostic and therapy solutions to meet many of the healthcare needs of the East Tennessee community.
“To be able to offer all cancer services including clinic, radiation therapy, imaging, clinical trials, and related services in one location makes it convenient for our patients”, said Dr. Tracy Dobbs, CEO of Tennessee Cancer Specialists.
The $35 million healthcare center will provide comprehensive medical and clinical services including a diagnostic imaging center, a clinical laboratory capability, pathology services, chemotherapy and radiation therapy services, a tumor board, an ambulatory surgery center, physical therapy, alternative medicine, medical spa services, research, and clinical trials. Healthcare support services will include a pharmacy, social services, dietician, weight loss center, massage therapy, plastic surgery, acupuncture and dermatology services.
Current businesses located at Dowell Springs Business Park include: Allergy Specialists, Ascendant Lab, East Tennessee Diagnostic Center, East Tennessee Vein Clinic, Endocrinology Consultants of East Tennessee, LifeCare Partners, Thompson Cancer Survival Center and Weisgarber Eye Center.
For more information, contact Terry Douglass at East Tennessee Healthcare Development at 865-691-8098 or by e-mail at terry@provisionfoundation.org.
NOTE: This release was sent from RM Technologies/Claris Networks, a Knoxville Chamber member business.
RM Technologies is now Claris Networks.
Knoxville’s premier information technology solutions company, serving more than 250 clients, is being renamed as a result of the company’s January purchase by members of its senior management team.
Claris Networks serves clients throughout East Tennessee, including some of the country’s largest specialty medical practices.
"Claris is a variation of the Greek word meaning clear," said Paul Sponcia, chief executive officer of Claris Networks. "We want our name to describe our creativity, efficiency, value and our ability to communicate with our clients."
Claris Networks celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, having been founded in 1998 as RM Technologies. The firm started with Sponcia and two other employees. Today the company numbers 45 employees in Knoxville and recently expanded into Chattanooga. Claris Networks provides managed services and data hosting solutions, network implementation and integration solutions, consulting and strategic advising services, as well as a full assortment of IT support and outsourcing services.
Claris Networks is located in the Offices at Waters Edge, 608 Mabry Hood Road and can be found on the Web at clarisnetworks.com.
Note: This release was sent from First Tennessee Bank, a Knoxville Chamber member business.
First Tennessee Bank recently named Karen Johnson senior corporate real estate and properties manager.
Before joining First Tennessee, Johnson served for five years as a facility manager with CB Richard Ellis and was assigned to the Regions Bank account.
Johnson is a member of the International Facility Management Association, the National Association of Realtors and the Tennessee Association of Realtors. She received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from California Coast University in 2005.
Johnson resides in the Middlebrook Heights community.
Debbie G. Crowder, president, chairman and chief executive officer of SunTrust Bank, East Tennessee, has been nominated by U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., to represent women in Tennessee at the Business and Professional Women’s Leadership Summit.
The summit is a national policy forum to address issues impacting American families and the United States. Government leaders and women from across the country will convene in Washington, D.C., April 29-30. The summit features a discussion of solutions to secure America’s competitiveness in a global economy including: strengthening economic security; lowering the cost of health care while increasing quality; improving educational accountability; and enhancing opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Crowder was selected to participate in the summit along with 349 other women from across the United States. She has more than 23 years of experience at SunTrust .
NOTE: This release was sent from Sandler Training/Herzog & Accociates, a Chamber member.
Sandler Training/Herzog & Associates, the regions leader in Sales and Management Training and Coaching, has hired Charlotte Kabler as its new Director of Business Development. Kabler has over 13 years of sales experience and will be in charge of generating new clients for the firm’s unique sales training programs.
Kabler is a graduate from Sandler’s Corporate Sales Training at an affiliate site in Charlotte N.C. and has lived in Knoxville with her three children for 6 years.
Sandler Training/Herzog & Associates is East TN’s largest Sales and Management training center providing on-going, incremental reinforcement training to the regions foremost companies and professionals. To learn more visit firstinsales.com.
Southern Business & Development Magazine has named Knoxville the fourth best city for manufacturing in the South.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, "The magazine mentioned Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee and the Y-12 National Security Complex as indicators of success in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge region."
The East Tennessee Section of AACE International is offering a 2-day Construction Claims seminar on May 15-16, 2008, in west Knoxville.
Leading the seminar will be Mr. James G. Zack, Jr., Executive Director of Corporate Claims Management for Fluor Corporation.
Full details, and online registration forms are now available on the East Tennessee Section website -- http://www.aace-ets.org/. Class size is limited. Sign up today to ensure your seminar seat.
NOTE: This release was sent from LBMC, a Knoxville Chamber member business.
LBMC Technologies, LLC, a member of the LBMC (Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC) Family of Companies, is pleased to announce that Ani L. Ehlers, Marie Gray and David Ulrich have been added to its Knoxville office.
Ani L. Ehlers will join the Knoxville team as a technical manger. Ani, previously a project manager with Scripps Networks Interactive, earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Toledo. She is an active member of the Society for Technical Communicators, Usability Professionals Association and Content Management Professionals.
Marie Gray, previously owner of and consultant with The Gray Area, will be a business development consultant in the Knoxville office. Marie has earned degrees from both the University of Phoenix and New York University. Marie is an active member and holds a leadership position in many professional organizations including the Help Desk Institute, East Tennessee Technology Council, American Society of Training and Development and Microsoft Organizational Assessment Team. She has also received a number of accolades for her work including the 2006 National Leadership Award from the National Business Advisory Council and the 2006 Congressional Medal of Distinction.
David Ulrich will join the Knoxville team as a Microsoft SharePoint network engineer. David previously worked as a server analyst with Memorial Healthcare System. He earned an associate’s degree in technical programming from The Computer Learning Center. David has extensive experience architecting and implementing enterprise wide Microsoft SharePoint solutions.
LBMC Technologies, LLC, is a leading technology partner which services the Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga and Birmingham, AL areas. LBMC Technologies is a Microsoft-certified Gold Partner, has been a member of the Microsoft President’s Club for nine consecutive years and was recently awarded Microsoft’s elite Strategic Excellence Award. The firm has the only Microsoft Dynamics certified training center in Tennessee. For more information on LBMC Technologies, visit its Web site at lbmctech.com.
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