Commerce - June 2015 by Knoxville Chamber

INSIDE: Pinnacle Award Photos pg. 52 + Monthly Economic Indicators pg. 54

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS TOP ACHIEVERS

3RD PLACE

2ND PLACE TIE

1ST PLACE

Top Achievers are recognized for their countless volunteer hours and dedication to the Ambassador Program’s mission of serving as an active volunteer extension of the Knoxville Chamber to cultivate, promote, and maintain positive relationships between the Knoxville Chamber, its members, and the community.

JILL GREEN BGT RECRUITING & CONSULTING, INC.

MARC ARCHER ARCHER DESIGN & MARKETING

SHERRY MCHAFFIE PINNACLE FINANCIAL PARTNERS

NEW MEMBERS / NEW PREMIER PARTNERS BRONZE PREMIER PARTNERS Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union (865) 544-5400 www.tvacreditunion.com Financial Services: Credit Unions Ruby Tuesday, Inc. (865) 379-5700 www.rubytuesday.com Restaurants

2:45Tech Digital Solutions (865) 465-4040 www.245tech.com Computer & IT Services A-Plus Construction and Restoration (865) 588-1617 www.aplusconstructionandrestoration. com Construction & Contractors Anderson Realty Group, LLC (865) 933-2291 www.andersonrealtygroupinc.com Real Estate

THE KNOXVILLE CHAMBER’S MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

EDITOR | WRITER JENNY WOODBERY DESIGN LADDY FIELDS

CareAll Home Health Care (865) 531-9988 www.careallinc.com Healthcare Providers & Services:Home Health Services City Publications Knoxville (865) 310-7680 www.citypubknoxville.com Business & Professional Services: Advertising Media Drew Griggs State Farm (865) 240-4057 www.drewgriggs.com Insurance: Property & Casualty Gateway Mortgage Group (865) 671-5070 www.gatewayloan.com Real Estate: Mortgage Banking Loudon County Fence, LLC (865) 988-9935 www.LCFence.com Construction & Contractors

Modern Automation (865) 774-9988 www.modernautomation.com Industrial Supplies & Services

Roger Kane Farmer’s Insurance (865) 693-3994 www.farmersagent.com/rkane Insurance: Property & Casualty

Surface Squad, LLC (865) 531-6033 www.surfacesquad.com Construction & Contractors

Movement Mortgage (865) 692-5052 www.movement.com Real Estate: Mortgage Banking

Senior Financial Group (865) 777-0153 www.sfgmedicare.com Insurance

Sweet P’s Barbeque & Soul House (865) 281-1738 www.sweetpbbq.com Restaurants

ORNL Federal Credit Union - Lenoir City (865) 425-3332 Financial Services: Credit Unions

Shred-it (865) 688-7979 www.shredit.com Office Equipment, Supplies, & Services: Document Management

The Mindful Center Knoxville (865) 219-3210 www.themindfulcenter.com Healthcare Providers & Services

Postal Annex + (865) 567-0546 www.annexbrands.com Business & Professional Services:Printers Proton Power, Inc. (865) 376-9002 www.protonpower.com Utilities & Natural Resources Response Team 1 BKA Restoration (865) 288-7464 www.responseteam1.com Construction & Contractors

SignCo, Inc. (865) 947-2086 www.signco-inc.com Business & Professional Services: Signs Spruce Up (585) 967-1510 www.spruceupbranding.com Business & Professional Services: Graphic Designers

CONTACT THE KNOXVILLE CHAMBER (865) 637-4550 www.knoxvillechamber.com

FINANCE & OPERATIONS ljohnson@knoxvillechamber.com

THE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (865) 546-5887

MEMBERSHIP mfield@knoxvillechamber.com

PRESIDENT & CEO MICHAEL EDWARDS

CENTRAL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (865) 246-2654 mhummel@downtownknoxville.org

TENNESSEE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER (865) 246-2663

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT RHONDA RICE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT dlawyer@knoxvillechamber.com

LEADERSHIP KNOXVILLE (865) 523-9137 U.S. DEPT. OF COMMERCE EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTER (865) 545-4637

K N O X V I L L E C H A M B E R | 48

TN Valley Coalition for the Homeless (877) 488-8234 www.tvchomeless.org Business & Professional Services Whole Foods Market Knoxville (865) 291-6400 www.wholefoods.com Shopping: Grocery

Pinnacle Award Winners Discuss Success, Business Wisdom at Annual Roundtable

early 800 members of the business community joined the Knoxville Chamber on May 8 for the 11th Annual Pinnacle Business Awards, presented by FSG Bank. Of 24 finalists, nine walked away winners of the coveted awards. The Chamber invited this year’s recipients to reflect on their success in a roundtable discussion on May 15. Mark Field, the chamber’s senior vice president of membership, led the conversation, which included Neal Green of All Occasion Catering, Eddie Mannis of Prestige Cleaners/ Prestige Tuxedo, Lance Tracy of Radio Systems Corporation, Sam Weaver of Proton Power, and Angie Cannon of Cannon & Cannon. The group discussed business advice and philosophies, as well as what it means to be recognized by your peers for a Pinnacle Business Award. The following is an excerpt of that discussion. To watch a video of the roundtable in its entirety, visit www.youtube.com/knoxvillechamber.

Mark Field: What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve ever received? Angie Cannon: Know your banker. Know them personally. You don’t know when you’re going to need a loan, line of credit, or whatever. You don’t want to be building that relationship when you need something. You want to have that relationship and cultivate that relationship. Eddie Mannis: Take care of your employees. It sounds very simple but so many of us get caught up in the day-to-day functions, and stress of the business, that we forget who makes it possible. The customers make it possible, but without employees we wouldn’t be able to produce the first garment. I really try to focus on taking care of my employees, and I fall short of that sometimes, but I try to get back to that. Field: Eddie, winning the Impact Award, how do you build the culture of what it takes for

K N O X V I L L E C H A M B E R | 49

Prestige to give back? Mannis: It’s just a culture of valuing employees, so they see that they’re valued, but I think everyone has this innate desire to make a difference. All I do, and have done from the beginning, is just give people a way to do that. It’s not just Honor Air, but any project that we do (our employees) just see the value. I try to give them the exposure — I’m fine taking the backseat. I want them out there getting the recognition. I want them to experience firsthand what difference they’re making in people’s lives. They really buy into that. I don’t have to beg them or pay them to do what they do. I think it’s just the culture of the company. Field: Angie, your company won the Women-Owned Business Excellence Award. There are a lot of women in our community

“Roundtable” continued on pg. 50

“Roundtable” continued from pg. 50 who aspire to own their own business or to rise to a leadership position like you have. Give women in business a piece of advice that’s a little bit different than just general business advice. Cannon: Just do what you do, and do it well. Don’t look for excuses. The company is 19 years old, but it was just five years ago that I started getting my certifications, and the reason for that is I didn’t want to be known first as a “woman-owned business.” I just wanted to be known first as the best engineering company. That should be the goal of any woman-owned business. Be the best at what you do. Don’t just go after woman-owned status to get business. Get the business by being the best. Field: Lance, Radio Systems is getting to be the George Strait of the Pinnacle Business Awards. You’ve won four times, and I think he has over 20 Country Music Awards. Talk about what it’s like to compete nationally out of a community like Knoxville. Are there any unique challenges? Or are there any unique advantages of working out of Knoxville? Lance Tracy: I think (being in Knoxville) is an advantage. The workforce is wonderful here. There are only a few gaps that we have to go out and search for nationally. There’s a tradition of creative, marketing and media here, which is awesome. The only disadvantage is not having a lot of direct flights. We end up flying through Atlanta or Chicago to go anywhere. Our sales guys don’t live here, they live Chicago or Denver – anywhere near an airport you can go anywhere. The cost of living here is low and the lifestyle is great. You use those things to our advantage when you’re recruiting talent. Field: Sam, Proton Power provides products and services all over the world. I’m sure at some point someone’s tried to lure you out of the area. Why Innovation Valley? What is it that keeps you here? Sam Weaver: No area is more attractive than Knoxville from my perspective. Tennessee is a great state. There’s a lot of talent, good attorneys and good accounting firms. All my corporations have been incorporated in Tennessee, and a lot of people say, “you need to go to Delaware.” I had a venture group that bought one of my companies and they did that, and I learned what the downsides are. We could go other places, and we do have other states that offer us good incentives, but the main cost and determination of success or failure in a company is not lower taxes, because that’s just a little piece of your operating cost. We love Tennessee because of the tax structure in the state, you can’t go any place better for that. I just haven’t’ seen any place else that offers the kind of things that are important to most of your employees, like lifestyle. It’s a great place to live and raise your family. Field: Neal, you’re in the catering business, and in that business some people might not understand the need for processes and systems. Talk about, as a small business, how important it is to have systems, protocols, and policies in place, and how that’s changed things for you over the years. Neal Green: It changed everything, because you realize really quickly that chaos is not a system. Our system is two-fold. One is for the employees. You realize that if they don’t have a written system, then how can you expect them to read your mind when you are the one that lives and breathes owning a company every day. So this is an ongoing process – systems never end and there’s always a new system to be built, so you continue to put them in place. Then as you experience growth and

double the size of your company you get to what I call phase two of systems. The systems you have in place are no longer efficient for where you’re at and now you have to change and retool the thinking of the people who have been there the whole time because you’ve evolved. Systems have to be in place. I remember being really proud of my team the first time we fed 40,000 people in six days. Field: I’ll open this up to the group. As a Chamber we are incredibly proud of all of you and your accomplishments in the business community. So I’d like to ask, how it feels to win this award?

2015 PINNACLE BUSINESS AWARD WINNERS Impact Award, presented by Publix Prestige Cleaners/Prestige Tuxedo

Innovation Award, presented by UT-Battelle - Proton Power

Small Business Excellence Award, presented by Sword & Shield All Occasion Catering

Minority-Owned Business Excellence Award, presented by Covenant Health - Marc Nelson Denim

Woman-Owned Business Excellence Award, presented by Management Solutions - Cannon & Cannon Inc.

Mid-Sized Business Excellence Award, presented by Coulter & Justus Harper Auto Square

Large Business Excellence

Tracy: We have about Award, presented by ARG - Radio Sys630 employees in around tems Corporation the world, and they’re the people who earned Young Entrepreneur Award, the award. The secret presented by FSG Bank - Eric Barton, is really having the right Vanquish Worldwide people in the right spots. And we try out best to James A. Haslam II Chairman’s let them know they are Leadership Award, presented bythe reason we earned Prestige Cleaners - Dee Bagwell Haslam this award. It’s right in our lobby when you walk in. It’s nice to stop and celebrate. We don’t do it enough. Green: I think it gave us an opportunity to say to our employees that really and truly this is recognizing you as employees for what you’ve done. At work we have a brag board where if a customer emails in that an employee has done well then they get to see their name up there. I told them this is something on a bigger level. We’re proud to be a part of Knoxville and it’s just a real honor. Weaver: We’ve intentionally kept a low profile. Everybody who has tried to do what we’re doing has put up a website, done a lot of press releases, and gone after government contracts. We did the opposite and tried to keep the publicity down while the technology evolved. We still haven’t done a press release. But since we had kept a low profile this was a chance to honor our employees. As for business, it gives us extra credibility to be recognized by a community like Knoxville as a top company.

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Premier Partners Learn About UT’s New Business Model from System President On April 29, Knoxville Chamber Premier Partners gathered for an exclusive event with University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro. The event, sponsored by Kramer Rayson LLC, gave Premier Partners a chance to hear about DiPietro’s new business model for the university system. On average, the university system — which is composed of campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, Memphis, and Tullahoma — graduates around 11,000 students per year, making it the largest higher education institution in the state. As a land-grant institution, the university historically has sought to serve the community and create access to public education. However, with annual tuition hikes to offset state appropriations, DiPietro became concerned that the university might be limiting access to potential students. “I started to think about public education and a land-grant mission that tied us to access, and whether increasing tuition all the time was limiting some people’s access,” DiPietro said. “In reality, across our system, if you look at debt-burdened students it’s the working-class families that struggle the most. Lower socioeconomic families typically have more financial support awarded to their students. So it has disproportionately cost the working class across our state when you look at our models.” DiPietro added: “We had to figure out how to solve this problem. It’s ours and we own it.” To remedy the problem, DiPietro and his team came up with a business model called 3-3-0, which examines the next decade for the university. DiPietro explained that the model looks at the inflation rate being 3 percent or less each year, tuition being held at 3 percent or less each year, and the state appropriation remaining the same amount as it is today. It also factors in how to more competitively compensate staff and addresses deferred maintenance. The result of the model was a $377 million gap in funding 10 years from now. To avoid this, DiPietro has proposed for the next two budget cycles that the system operate to close that gap.

Chamber President and CEO Mike Edwards, William J. Carver of Kramer Rayson LLC, UT President Joe DiPietro, and Chamber Chairman Patrick Birmingham pose for a photo.

“In this business — like every business — you either have to generate revenue or cut costs,” DiPietro said. “So we have to be entrepreneurial, we always have to be more effective and efficient, and drive the place towards excellence. The key issue here is what are the conditions on the limits the chancellors have in running their part of the operation that we call boundaries.” DiPietro said those boundaries involve realigning and consolidating programs; taking a workforce development approach; creating allocation and reallocation plans to deal with capital maintenance; growing stronger programs; and possibly eliminating programs. Visit the Chamber’s YouTube channel to watch the event in its entirety, www.youtube. com/knoxvillechamber.

Sponsored by:

Innovation Valley Releases Third Quarter Stakeholder Update Innovation Valley had an exceptional start to 2015, which was defined by new job creation and large capital investments in the form of four new companies locating to the region, and one existing industry expansion. More than 1,000 new jobs and $300 million in capital investments were created throughout Innovation Valley between Jan. 1 – March 31, 2015. “It is an exciting and busy time in the Innovation Valley region,” said Rhonda Rice, executive administrator for Innovation Valley. “Our economy continues to build momentum, and we continue to surpass our regional economic development goals. We have a great pipeline of projects that we are currently pursuing and I am confident we will end the 2015 fiscal year in June stronger than ever. ” The quarter was headlined by CVMR announcing it would be relocating its global headquarters to Innovation Valley, creating 620 jobs and a $131 million investment. CVMR plans to create the CVMR Centre of Excellence for Innova-

tion in Powder Metallurgy and production facilities for a wide spectrum of advanced metal products. That exciting announcement was followed up by new recruits Hicks Plastics Company, Inc., creating 202 jobs and a $10.4 million investment, Visual Tour with 25 new jobs, and Total Quality Logistics with a $1 million investment and 100 new jobs in Knoxville. Additionally, Forbes magazine ranked Knoxville No. 2 on its 2015 list of America’s Most Affordable Cities. Knoxville gained accolades due to its low cost of living and affordable housing market. “It is great to see national publications, like Forbes, recognize what we already knew close space that Knoxville is the best place to live in America,” said Rice. “We have a cost of living that is almost 12 percent lower than the national average. You combine that with our regions natural amenities, and our quality of life is second to none.” For more information about Innovation Valley, and to view the latest stakeholder update in its entirety, visit www.knoxvilleoakridge.com.

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The Knoxville Chamber hosted 11th annual Pinnacle Business Awards, sponsored by FSG Bank, on May 8. Nearly 800 members of the business community came out to celebrate the award finalists and winners. Photography by Justin Fee, Photograpfee.

FSG Bank Knoxville Market Executive Robert Baird and his wife, Patty, (center) pose with colleagues Tabatha Massengill and Debbie Hinson at the reception of the Pinnacle Business Awards, sponsored by Comcast Business.

Guests at the Pinnacle Business Awards gala were treated to the musical talents of a quartet of students from the University of Tennesseeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Musical Theatre program.

Frank Rothermel of Denark Construction and Mike Parton of Coulter & Justus visit during the reception of the Pinnacle Business Awards on May 8.

Neal Green of All Occasion Catering (center), poses with Karen Massey and Elizabeth Thomas of Kreative Events at the Pinnacle Business Awards. All Occasion Catering received the Small Business Excellence Award at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gala.

Guests browse at a few of the auction items up for bid during the reception of the Pinnacle Business Awards.

Craig Dunn of Proton Power and wife, Lisa, pose for a photo. Proton Power took home this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Innovator Award at the Pinnacle Business Awards.

Kelby Shymlock, Andy Fendley, Keith Phillips and Brandon Jones of Threds pose for a photo during the reception of the Pinnacle Business Awards. Threds was a finalists for the Mid-Size Business Excellence Award.

Dennis Upton and Susan Edwards of the Knoxville Utilities Board visited during the reception and silent auction portion of the Pinnacle Business Awards.

University of Tennessee Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and wife, Ileen, enjoy the reception of the 2015 Pinnacle Business Awards gala on May 8.

Dee Bagwell Haslam was honored at the 2015 Pinnacle Business Awards with the James A. Haslam II Chairmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leadership Award.

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MONTHLY ECONOMIC INDICATORS

(April 2015)

NOTES - - Knoxville MSA includes: Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Grainger, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane & Union Counties.

WORKFORCE

HOUSING MARKET % Change % Change Feb. ’15- March ’14March ‘15 March ‘15

Resident Labor Force

March 2015

Feb. 2015

March 2014

Knox Co. Knoxville MSA Tennessee U.S.

226,390 403,030 3,042,100 156,318,000

225,730 401,870 3,022,500 156,213,000

223,657 398,782 3,026,027 155,627,000

0.3 0.3 0.6 0.1

1.2 1.1 0.5 0.4

380,300 2,835,400

379,300 2,821,700

372,000 2,787,400

0.3 0.5

2.2 1.7

11,680 23,940 197,930

12,830 25,970 212,560

13,910 28,380 236,650

-9.0 -7.8 -6.9

-16.0 -15.6 -16.4

4.7 5.4 5.9 5.6

5.1 5.8 6.4 5.8

5.5 6.3 6.9 6.8

-0.4 -0.4 -0.5 -0.2

-0.8 -0.9 -1.0 -1.2

Non-Ag Employment Knoxville MSA Tennessee

Residential Closings Residential Inventory Median Residential Price

April 2015 1,274 9,991 $150,000

Unemployment Rates Knox Co. Knoxville MSA Tennessee U.S.

Sources: Tennessee Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development/U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

INFLATION RATES March ’14-‘15

Feb. ’14-‘15

March ’13-‘14

-0.6 -0.1

-0.5 0.0

1.4 1.5

*Southeast Region Avg. U.S. Avg. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

% Change March ’13March ‘15

-0.1 -0.1

-2.0 -1.6

Knoxville (City)

Total Single-Family Multi-Family

March 2015* 24 24 0

March 2014 10 10 0

% Change March ’14March ‘15 140.0 140.0 0.0

Knox Co.

Total Single-Family Multi-Family

126 126 0

130 130 0

-3.1 -3.1 0.0

Knoxville MSA

Total Single-Family Multi-Family

207 207 0

164 164 0

26.2 26.2 0.0

Tennessee

Total Single-Family Multi-Family

2,623 1,555 1,068

1,835 1,484 351

42.9 4.8 204.3

Knox Co. Knoxville MSA Tennessee

% Change March ’15April 2014 April ‘15

% Change April ’14April ‘15

April 2015

March 2015

52,366,457 79,227,749 671,195,817

42,404,070 63,951,092 550,199,153

48,322,132 74,402,029 638,403,300

23.5 23.9 22.0

8.4 6.5 5.1

14,232,967 22,070,148

11,461,938 17,871,876

13,411,738 21,126,562

24.2 23.5

6.1 4.5

AIR SERVICE (MCGHEE-TYSON AIRPORT)

Passengers Cargo

March 2015 149,593 6,217,774

Feb. 2015 101,588 5,924,011

March 2014 141,497 6,543,144

% Change Feb. ’15March ‘15 47.3 5.0

% Change March ’14March ‘15 5.7 -5.0

Source: Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority

Local Sales Tax Knox Co. Knoxville MSA

*All 2015 building permit data is preliminary and therefore subject to revision throughout the year. Sources: U.S. Housing & Urban Development – SOCDS – State of the Cities Data Systems; U.S. Census Bureau – Building Permits Survey

*South – City Size Class B/C

SALES TAX REVENUE - STATE & LOCAL ($) State Sales Tax

1,137 10,933 $143,000

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (CPI) - ALL ITEMS % Change Feb. ’14March ‘15

April 2014

% Change April ’14April ‘15 12.0 -8.6 4.9

Source: Knoxville Area Association of Realtors

Available Labor Knox Co. Knoxville MSA Tennessee

March 2015 1,227 9,492 $152,500

% Change March ’15April ‘15 3.8 5.3 -1.6

Source: Tennessee Dept. of Revenue

RETAIL SALES - NATIONAL (IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS) Category Total Retail Sales Building Materials Clothing Stores Electronics & Appliances Food & Beverage Stores Food Svcs & Drinking Places Furniture & Home Furnishings Gasoline Stations General Merchandise Stores Health & Personal Care Stores Miscellaneous Stores Motor Vehicle & Parts Sales Non-store Retailers Sporting Goods/Books/ Hobby/Music

April 2015

March 2015

434,433 31,764 20,368 7,216 54,503 51,819 7,811 36,381 51,997 25,782 9,255 93,238 37,889

441,927 26,559 20,611 8,144 55,425 53,039 8,435 36,021 53,969 26,362 9,337 97,514 39,814

431,335 30,564 20,217 7,512 53,697 47,713 7,705 46,630 52,801 24,658 9,010 88,955 35,719

% Change March ’15April ‘15 -1.7 19.6 -1.2 -11.4 -1.7 -2.3 -7.4 1.0 -3.7 -2.2 -0.9 -4.4 -4.8

6,410

6,697

6,154

-4.3

April 2014

% Change April ’14April ‘15 0.7 3.9 0.7 -3.9 1.5 8.6 1.4 -22.0 -1.5 4.6 2.7 4.8 6.1 4.2

EST. 1869 For more information on research, contact Joe Riley, jriley@knoxvillechamber.com

Source: U.S. Census Bureau – Advance Monthly Retail Trade Report

K N O X V I L L E C H A M B E R | 54

New Horizons, Chamber Offering Office Productivity Series in July The Knoxville Chamber has teamed up with New Horizons Computer Learning Center to offer an office productivity seminar series. The series will be held during lunch each Tuesday of the month of July. “My staff and I are very excited to work directly with the Knoxville Chamber to bring this office productivity series to the Knoxville community,” said Glenn Frazier, owner of New Horizons. “For more than 35 years we’ve had a passion to help people unlock the power of computer applications and to demystify the computer for the ‘non-technical’ majority.” The series, which will be taught by New Horizons instructor Valarie Taylor, will begin on July 7 with “PowerPoint Pixar: Working with Animations & Transitions.” This course will give an overview on how to properly use animations and transitions, as well as some new ways to use them. The next course, “Slaying the Email Dragon: Outlook Best Practices,” will be held on July 14. This course helps overwhelmed and frustrated users of Outlook gain control of their outbox by teaching best practices and tool tips for email. “Exceling at Excel: Using Tips and Tricks to Increase Efficiency,” will be taught on July 21. This session will help even the experienced Excel user increase his or hers efficiencies by teaching new tips and tricks. The series will conclude with “Class It Up: Delivering Great Customer Service!” This course will teach the best practices and proven approaches to excellent customer service, which is essential to building, maintaining, and increasing a loyal customer base. Each course is $25 for Chamber members and $35 for non-mmebers, and will take place at New Horizons’ training center on Sherrill Boulevard from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register at www.knoxvillechamber.com.

Knoxville Chamber Ambassador Program Names Two New Co-Chairs The Knoxville Chamber’s Ambassador program has named two new co-chairs for the 2015-17 term. Marc Archer of Archer Design and Marketing and Sherry McHaffie of Pinnacle Financial Partners will assume their new posts on July 1. As co-chairs, Archer and McHaffie will provide leadership and guidance to the more than 40 Ambassadors in the Chamber’s program. Archer, who runs his own marketing and design company, has been a Chamber Ambassador since 2012. “I appreciate being associated with such an outstanding group of individuals,” Archer said. “(As co-chair) I’d like to work on providing more networking opportunities and perhaps streamline and improve communication within the group.” McHaffie, who is the senior vice president at Pinnacle Financial Partners, has volunteered as an Ambassador since 2010. “The Chamber is focused on membership development and retention plus the recruitment of businesses into the Knoxville area,” McHaffie said. “As Ambassadors, we will need to focus on being visible within the business community, and at Chamber events promoting membership and business introductions. I look forward to mentoring the newer group members; promoting the Ambassadors program at Chamber committees and at events; plus enhancing the level of volunteer support to the Chamber staff.”

PA R T N E R P R O F I L E

Tellico Reservoir Development Agency Tellico Reservoir Development Agency (TRDA) serves as the primary management service for the Tellico Industrial Campuses and is one of eight partner agencies that make up Innovation Valley, the regional economic development initiative managed by the Knoxville Chamber. Located on the shores of picturesque Lake Tellico, TRDA is a one-stop entity for permitting and land use designation. This unique setting creates quality developments of the Tellico Industrial Campuses. Tellico combines low business costs in a scenic rural setting that is only 35 minutes from Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport. “One of the greatest attributes of our unique location is people employed at our industrial properties and living in the Tellico residential areas can be at home, on the golf course, or on their boats within 10 minutes,” said Ron Hammontree, executive director of TRDA. One of TRDA’s primary initiatives is to manage and recruit new businesses to the Tellico West Industrial Properties. With more than 2,000 acres, the Tellico West Industrial Properties have everything a business would need to operate and succeed. It offers high quality infrastructure, heavy freight rail line, an ocean accessible barge port, and an 18,000 square-foot Tennessee Career Center for company employees. “Tellico West is truly unique and offers its occupants and their employees an array amenities such as an occupational medical clinic, fire and rescue facility, children’s care center, a new hotel, restaurants, and jogging trails,” Hammontree said. “This along with its ideal location make it an exceptional place to work and live.” Many of the regions well-known boating manufacturers are located on TRDA Industrial Campuses including Yamaha Jet Boat, Master Craft Boat Company, and Sea Ray Boat Company. Yamaha Jet Boat recently announced an expansion at its Tellico West location, which represented a $17.7 million investment and 150 new jobs for the Innovation Valley region. To learn more about Innovation Valley and its regional partners visit its website at www.knoxvilleoakridge.com. Kayla Witt, marketing coordinator for the Knoxville Chamber, contributed this story.

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Morning Networking Event Draws Large Crowd More than 165 businesspeople filled the banquet hall of All Occasion Catering on April 30 for the Knoxville Chamber’s a.m. Exchange. Along with conversation, guests at the morning networking event enjoyed an array of breakfast foods and coffee. Near the end of the event, Jason Altman of Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon announced the winners of Covenant Health’s 2015 Fittest Company Challenge, which is presented by Humana. The challenge is a friendly competition for area businesses during all the marathon events. Companies receive one point for each mile finished by an employee that finishes one of the various-lengthened races.

The 2015 top finishers included: Large (501+ employees) 1. Clayton Homes 2. Pilot Flying J 3. ORNL

Chamber to Host 7th Annual Shrimp Boil The Knoxville Chamber will host the seventh annual Peelin’, Eatin’, Politickin Shrimp Boil on June 11 at the World’s Fair Park Amphitheater. The casual event – Presented by Verizon and supported by Green Mountain Coffee, AT&T, and All Occasions Party Rentals – gives business and community leaders the chance to enjoy cold drinks, great food, and live music, all while mingling with local and state elected officials. “Shrimp Boil is a fun and laidback event that gives the business community an opportunity to interact and network with local policy makers,” said Mike Edwards, president and CEO of the Knoxville Chamber. This year’s event is expected to draw nearly 300 guests. To register, visit www. knoxvillechamber.com. Admission is $30 for members and $40 for non-members. Complimentary parking will be offered at the University of Tennessee’s 11th Street parking garage.

The 2014 Shrimp Boil drew more than 250 guests to the World’s Fair Amphitheater. The seventh annual Peelin’, Eatin’, Politickin Shrimp Boil will be held on June 11.

PRESENTED BY:

2600.15 points 2000.3 points 1094.65 points

Medium (101-500 employees) 1. ORNL FCU 2. Radio Systems Corp. 3. Bush Bros. & Co.

840.2 points 665.8 points 564.6 points

Small (1-100 employees) 1. AllMeds, Inc. 2. Apple Health & Wellness 3. Pattison Sign Group, Inc.

149.6 points 142.6 points 133.7 points

Tom Heemstra of MACH 5 Leaders, Mike Russell of Steel Plate Fabricators, Jason McCarter of Burkhart & Company, and Darron Kidwell of Edward Jones Financial network at the Knoxville Chamber’s a.m. Exchange at All Occasion Catering on April 30.