Sears Outlet store slated for Concord

A Sears Outlets store is slated to open in Concord in late summer at 545 Concord Parkway North. The store will occupy what had been the grocery section of a Super K store at the site.

The store will be roughly 24,000 square feet and have about 20 employees, says a Sears spokeswoman.

There are about 100 of the stores around the nation. The stores offer discounts on name-brand appliances, tools, fitness equipment, mattress sets, lawn and garden supplies and apparel.

“The Sears Outlet format continues to grow as savvy shoppers look for more ways to hold onto their cash as we strive to offer better deals, more products and superior customer service to set us apart from our competitors,” says Jaime Brooks, president of Sears Outlet.

The stores carry brand names such as Kenmore, Bosch, Whirlpool, Maytag, Samsung, LG and GE, along with Craftsman, NordicTrack and Sealy. The merchandise can be new, out of carton, discontinued, used, reconditioned or scratched and dented.

The stores are operated by Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHLD), the parent of Kmart and Sears, Roebuck & Co. The company is the nation’s fourth-largest broadline retailer with about 3,900 stores in North America.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Lincoln County licorice maker to expand

Lucky Country International, an Australian licorice maker with a plant in Lincoln County Industrial Park, plans a $3 million expansion at the facility that will add three jobs.

In exchange for the expansion, the Lincoln Board of County Commissioners will grant the company about $40,000 in incentives over the next five years.

On average, the new jobs will pay at least $400 per week. Current employment figures for the plant were unavailable. The operation opened in 2005.

The expansion will add a second production line at the plant, says Michael Bratt, controller of the company.

The additional production will support what the company says is a “double-digit” increase in sales over the last four years.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Knoxville business to add 200-250 new jobs

Knoxville-based Cellular Sales is adding 200 to 250 jobs within the next two months, the company said Tuesday.

Cellular Sales, a company providing retail says for Verizon Wireless, will hire the new employees for a national call center on Cross Park Drive in West Knoxville.

Full-time and part-time employees will be hired for management and call center representative positions. Pay will start at $10 per hour.

Cellular Sales says it is the largest authorized retail dealer for Verizon Wireless in the South, Midwest, and Atlantic regions, with a total of 330 stories in the United States.

“I’d be willing to bet that we are growing faster than about every brick and mortar company in this country,” said Cellular Sales Director of Advertising Jay Witherspoon. “I can’t think of another company that has added 30 stores in the last couple of months like we have.”

The call center will be used to evaluate customer satisfaction from retail store shoppers.

Grant Gasper has been working at Cellular Sales after being out of work eight months.

“Before this I just couldn’t have a job,” Gasper said. “It was hard to find one, and then I found this and they welcomed me right in and its awesome. It is great to have this job and I look forward to coming to work everyday.”

Source: Wate.com

Melaleuca opens 222,000 square foot distribution facility in Knox County

Melaleuca, the Wellness Company, opened a new 222,000 square foot distribution facility Monday in Knox County’s Forks of the River Industrial Park.

The center is connected to a 175,000 square foot manufacturing facility.

The new building allows Melaleuca to triple shipments from its Knoxville operations to 300,000 packages per month to locations east of the Mississippi and eastern Canada.

The new facility will be capable of shipping 900,000 packages per month when it’s fully staffed.

The expansion comes on the heels of a similar expansion of company operations at an Idaho Falls, Idaho manufacturing and distribution facility.

Officials said that combined, the Idaho Falls and Knoxville expansions will meet the company’s growth demands for the next 20 years.

The construction costs for both projects totaled $26 million, and the company did not incur any debt.

Melaleuca added a product store, which is located at the front of the distribution center, to the Knoxville facility.

Melaleuca now has 55 product stores worldwide.

Melaleuca develops, manufactures, and sells over 350 of the world’s leading wellness products for the home and family.

Source: WATE.com

At interview, work on standing out from crowd

Are you wondering who you’re up against for that job interview?

Chances are you’re competing with half a dozen other candidates.

A recent telephone survey of advertising and marketing executives found that the employers met with seven applicants on average before filling an open position in their department.

The poll was commissioned by the Creative Group staffing company and conducted by Media, Pa.-based market research firm ICR, surveyed 375 marketing executives from companies with 100 or more employees and 125 with advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.

The Creative Group, a division of staffing firm Robert Half International Inc., offers seven tips for helping job candidates stand out:

• Do your prep work.

• Put your best foot forward from the start.

• Be award of body language.

• Have a good story to tell.

• Come with interesting questions.

• Be yourself.

• Stay positive.

Source: Lansing State Journal

Job chase takes determination

Looking for your first job? Don’t get discouraged.

Even being the person with perhaps the best connections in Leeds and Grenville doesn’t always get you a job interview – or even an acknowledgement of your application.

MPP Steve Clark and two other local leaders, Louise Severson and Janet Eaton, were candid as they discussed their first jobs and the challenges of finding work with students during a workshop held at the Brockville Public Library Friday.

The small group of students who attended listened intently.
Clark’s first job at age 15 was at a dishwasher at a French cuisine restaurant where Bud’s on the Bay now operates. Although it was menial work, he started making connections.

He built a friendship with the owners, Jim and Toula Karidas, and also met some of the patrons, including Bob Runciman, then a city alderman.

At age 19, he worked as a train dispatcher during the summers and king connections; some of his former colleagues even attended his election night celebration this year.

His relationship-building skills helped him land his first real job, at age 22, as mayor of Brockville.

But after his term of office ended, he applied to be chief administrative officer of the city and didn’t get the job.

Much later, when he applied again to be CAO of Brockville, his letter wasn’t even acknowledged.

It’s proof how tough job hunting can be. Despite his strong community connections, as shown in his landslide victory during the March byelection, even Steve Clark sometimes doesn’t get a reply.

Source: The Recorder & Times

Lincoln County licorice maker to expand

Lucky Country International, an Australian licorice maker with a plant in Lincoln County Industrial Park, plans a $3 million expansion at the facility that will add three jobs.

Source: Charlotte Business News – Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal

$30M Credit Union planned

ORNL Federal Credit Union has purchased roughly 38 acres in Horizon Center Business Park in west Oak Ridge for a $30 million corporate headquarters.

The new 120,000-square-foot, three-story facility could be operational by mid-2012, officials said. It will consolidate primary operating departments scattered among six locations in Anderson and Knox counties.

The Credit Union purchased the land from the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board for $949,500, or approximately $25,000 an acre. The sale was announced Thursday morning.

The Credit Union departments that would move to the new headquarters facility, at the front side of Horizon Center along state Highway 95/58, employ 257 people. An additional 100 employees could be added during the next 10 to 15 years, according to a press release.

“It’s a good day,” IDB Chairman William J. Biloski said after a special meeting Thursday afternoon. “This right here will kick start Horizon Center.”

A construction timeline has not been finalized, officials said.

“The way the economy is going now they want to go slow and proceed cautiously,” said Nancy Ballard, ORNL Federal Credit Union public relations director.

The development had been code-named “Project CUC” and had gone through a due-diligence period of almost 90 days.

The land sale is the first under a new partnership between the IDB and the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership.

“I think it could be a catalyst for future development on the west end,” IDB Executive Director Kim Denton said of the sale. Denton is also Economic Partnership president.

Sale proceeds — $867,250 after closing costs — will be split between the IDB and Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, which previously owned the property but transferred roughly 392 acres at Horizon Center to the IDB earlier this year. Under an agreement between the two organizations, CROET will receive $9,500 an acre when land is sold, or 30 percent of the sale.

Biloski said CROET will receive $360,810 from the Credit Union property sale, and the IDB will get $506,440. The board has to use the money for future development on industrial property.

The Credit Union’s new location in the nearly empty Horizon Center Business Park would be seven miles west of its current main office on Rutgers Avenue. The Credit Union plans to maintain that branch office after the corporate headquarters is constructed, the press release said.

Credit Union President and Chief Executive Officer John McKittrick said possible sites were reviewed during the past year, and the Horizon Center site was picked for its strategic location and future potential, considering “road improvements and growth patterns in the region.”

The Credit Union has total assets of $1.3 billion and serves more than 150,000 members with 32 branches in East Tennessee. Branch offices are located in Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Hamblen, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Roane, Sevier and Union counties.

John Huotari can be contacted at (865) 220-5533.

Source: The Oak Ridger Business RSS

Phillips Place gains Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers will relocate its Charlotte store to Phillips Place from SouthPark mall.

Source: Charlotte Business News – Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal

Charlotte grows in first half of year

Charlotte saw 464 firms announce new or expanding operations during the first half of the year, creating 6,759 jobs, according to Charlotte Chamber research.

Source: Charlotte Business News – Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal