Business owners, residents happy with Gay Street 100 block renovation

It’s less than two weeks since the 100 block of Gay Street re-opened in downtown Knoxville.

The decades old supports beneath the street got some much needed repair. Utilities also got an upgrade and the city widened the sidewalks for a more pedestrian friendly feel.

All the upgrades have been tough on residents and business owners who had to deal with a lot of dust and noise.

Everyone 6 News spoke with said they are happy with the changes. “Before they redid the street. this side of town felt rundown, kind of neglected, so it’s nice to be revitalized,” said Sean Christman, who’s lived on the 100 block since 2007.

Those who own businesses on this part of Gay Street have seen some positive signs.

Daniel Monday, chief marketing officer for Slamdot, a web design company at 108 Gay Street, says walk-in business has been picking up.

“We’ve already seen it in the last couple of weeks it has been open. A lot of people calling who have come out on the weekends and saw our signs and the called back and scheduled an appointment, so we are very excited about what’s going on so far and what’s to come,” Monday said.

To help celebrate the opening of the 100 block, business owners are planning a big event on October 1.

“They are going to be closing the street from Jackson all the way to Summit Hill,” said Elaine Frank, a web designer with Slamdot. “There is going to be live music. There is going to be a live rock band. There is going to be some dances.”

Everyone who spoke to 6 News said this is a good time to own a business or live in this part of downtown.

“We are more accessible, like when there is family visiting, or going to your car or off loading groceries it is a lot easier,” Christman said.

“The infrastructure of the entire street has been rebuilt, so it’s a lot more sound now, you can feel safe walking down here knowing the infrastructure is up to date,” Monday added.

“I think it looks great,” said Frank. “I think it really ties us in with the rest of downtown.”

However, the construction wasn’t good for everyone. Nama Sushi Bar is moving from the block due partially to the construction.

Source: WATE.com

N.C. gains 9,600 jobs through stimulus

North Carolina ranks No. 19 in the nation for the number of jobs that have been created since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and South Carolina ranks No. 23, according to a report by Onvia.

The Seattle business-consulting firm reports that stimulus-funded projects created 9,617 N.C. jobs and 8,152 in South Carolina.

“While job creation since the Recovery Act’s passage has been slow to take hold on Main Street, job creation in the remainder of 2010 is expected to turn around with lagging states seeing an increase of 50 to 100 percent or more in private-sector job creation,” says Michael Balsam, Onvia chief strategy officer.

The firm predicts North Carolina will lead the nation in growth of stimulus-created jobs for the remainder of the year with a 121.5% increase. South Carolina is expected to see a 13.2% gain for the remainder of 2010.

North Carolina also ranked highly — No. 2 in the nation — for per capita stimulus spending at $960.51. South Carolina ranked No. 33 at $167.66.
To date, one-third of the Recovery Act’s $275 billion for projects to create private-sector jobs has been awarded. In the 18 months since stimulus funds began flowing, Onvia estimates 714,589 jobs have been created nationwide. That figure will grow by 27 percent by year end, it says.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Tennessee State Fair to be held after all

The Tennessee State Fair will be held after all this September, produced by two companies.

The Fair Board announced Tuesday that Nashville-based Rockhouse Partners and Mississippi-based North American Midway Entertainment will produce the fair Sept. 10-Sept. 19.

Mayor Karl Dean, who decided earlier to drop the fair, said in a statement Tuesday there will be no cost to the city this year and therefore is a good use of the site. The city will continue to study longterm options.

Despite its name, the Tennessee State Fair is a regional fair with most attendees from Nashville and surrounding counties.

Source: WATE

Knoxville business donates $2,500 to bring 278th ACR home

Employees from a Knoxville business have donated $2,500 to help bring members of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment home for Christmas.

The donation was made on Wednesday the employees of David’s Abbey Carpet and Floors. Each year they put together a fund to donate to charity. This year they chose to give to the National Guard unit’s transportation fund.

“I just think that’s a great way to help the community,” said David Hayes, owner of David’s Abbey Carpet and Floors. “These young folks are going overseas and will be gone for a year. It is their second trip and I think this is a great opportunity to help them.”

The soldiers left on Sunday and have mobilized at Camp Shelby, Mississippi for two months of training. All the money will go to contracting buses to bring them back to East Tennessee for the holidays before their February deployment to the Middle East.

“We just need to get them home for Christmas so they can spend some quality time with their families before they actually go to Iraq,” said Col. Jeff Archer, rear detachment commander of the 278th.

The 278th ACR still needs to collect $18,000 to $20,000 to bring all its members home for Christmas. You can find out how to donate by calling your local armory or the 278th ACR headquarters in Knoxville at (865) 582-3210.

Source: VolunteerTV.com

Alcoa eyes gas-to-energy facility

Blount County officials feel they can cut costs by capturing unwanted gases at the Alcoa/Maryville/Blount County Landfill.

The decomposition of all the trash creates a lot of methane gas.

“It has to be going up in the air, not good for us breathing it,” said Laura Nease, a Maryville resident who lives near the landfill.

Nease thinks doing something with the gas would be a great idea.

For almost two years, landfill officials have been working on converting the gas into electricity. They’ve just accepted a proposal from a company in North Carolina to start the process.

“In a nutshell, they will be installing collection pipes to pull the methane off the landfill cells,” said Kenny Wiggins, who’s the director of public works and engineering in Alcoa.

The gas will then be cleaned, and transferred to generators that will produce electricity. That electricity will then be sold to TVA, and the profits will be shared.

Blount County wouldn’t be the first landfill to have such a program. Anderson County has had one for a couple of years.

The next step will be negotiations. If a bid is approved soon, electricity could be made by the end of 2010.

Depending on how much methane can be processed, officials say more than $1 million could be made. All that money will stay at the landfill.

It costs more than $3 million to run the landfill each year.

Source: WATE

World’s Largest Solar Thermal Project for Heating and Cooling Announced in Western North Carolina

Appalachian Solar Energy announced today that it has been acquired by Vanir Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Vanir Group of Companies Inc. Vanir Energy will be headquartered in Fletcher and staffed by the former personnel of Appalachian Solar Energy with support from Vanir management in Sacramento, Calif.

The announcement, which was made during the AdvantageWest Annual Banquet at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, was well-received by the federal, state and local leaders in attendance because it means $14 million will be invested in solar thermal technology projects throughout North Carolina in 2009.

Vanir Energy will own and operate the solar thermal systems it installs, allowing its customers to “go solar” without making capital expenditures.

“This represents more great news in our growing environmental enterprises cluster because it means new jobs, an influx of targeted capital and momentum to put Western North Carolina on the map as the sustainability capital of the U.S.A. as we pursue worldwide leadership,” said Dale Carroll, CEO of AdvantageWest, the regional Economic Development Commission based in Asheville. “This announcement is right on track with a major initiative we call ‘AdvantageGreen,’ a green-collar jobs strategy the AdvantageWest board and staff began to devise in 2007 as part of our Vision Plan. Vanir Energy is proof positive that AdvantageGreen is an idea whose time has come.”

Andrew Tate, President and CEO of the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development, said: “We’re tremendously proud that a company with roots in Fletcher has become a national player in the alternative energy revolution.”

With more than 30 years of construction management and development experience, Vanir Energy is well positioned to lead North Carolina and the nation in converting to solar thermal power, said Steve Hunter, COO of Vanir Energy.

“Our immediate focus will be to own and operate $14 million worth of solar installations in North Carolina,” Hunter said.

The world’s largest solar thermal installation for heating and cooling

Executive Vice President Scott Clark said the first Vanir project will be a solar thermal installation at Fletcher Business Park, a 900,000-square-foot facility where the company is headquartered.
“With the Fletcher Business Park project, we’re creating 58 jobs in less than 60 days,” Clark said.

The business park will be the largest installation of solar thermal heating and cooling technology in the world, according to the International Energy Agency.* The 640 panels will produce 1.5 megawatts of power. Vanir Energy will own and operate the system at no capital expenditure to Fletcher Business Park, a model the company plans to repeat across the state.

Hunter told the audience at the AdvantageWest banquet that “the Fletcher Business Park project is the first step in achieving Vanir Energy’s vision to be a worldwide leader in providing cost-effective alternative energy solutions for our clients while providing for the needs of our people and communities in which we work.”

• Note: Fletcher Business Park will be the largest installation of solar thermal heating and cooling technology in the world, according to a database maintained by the Solar Heating and Cooling Program of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

About Vanir Energy
Vanir Energy is a North Carolina-chartered business and a subsidiary of Vanir Group of Companies Inc., a woman- and minority-owned business enterprise (WMBE) with a diversified portfolio of construction, construction management, real estate development and energy service companies. Vanir Group of Companies is headquartered in Sacramento, Calif. with offices located throughout the United States and Dubai.

About AdvantageWest
AdvantageWest Economic Development Group is Western North Carolina’s regional economic development commission. Chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1994, AdvantageWest is a non-profit, public-private partnership whose primary focus is marketing the North Carolina mountains to corporations seeking to relocate or open a new facility, expand an existing business within our region, and those who might otherwise improve the quality of life for citizens within our region through activities such as filmmaking, entrepreneurship and tourism. For more information, visit advantagewest.com.

Taken from PR Web