New Economy Institute Supports More Math for High School Students
February 01, 2006
With more than thirty percent of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce, soon retiring, the New Economy Institute (NEI) strongly supports the Tennessee State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission’s (THEC) proposal for requiring four math credits for high school graduation.
In an information economy, the majority of jobs, not just those specifically in high tech, will require some grounding in math,” said Dr. Greg Sedrick, Executive Director of NEI. “The education of the workforce starts with K-12. Without a strong background in math, K-12 students will have trouble earning technology degrees and ultimately, technology jobs.”
According to a report released by the American Electronics Association (AEA), 12th graders scored in the bottom percentile in math and science scores compared to international counterparts. The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data shows that 21 percent of 12th graders were proficient in science and math in 1996. By 2000, this number dropped to 18 percent, according to the most recent data available.
This proposal by the State Board of Education and THEC is a good start to preparing Tennessee’s students to enter a global economy,” stated Sedrick. “If America is to remain at a competitive advantage in the 21st century economy, our high school students must be proficient in math. We strongly support this proposal.”
A high skilled workforce is vital to any successful company, industry or national economy,” said Sedrick. “The United States has been a breeding ground for some of the worlds most innovative companies, largely because of our highly educated workers. Our future workforce must be prepared for the new economy and that starts with a strong education.”
NEI, in partnership with Chattanooga State Technical Community College, manages the Workforce Aging Management Program which focuses on ensuring the Tennessee Valley Corridor maintains a readily available technical workforce while contributing to the economic development of the Tennessee Valley.
For more information, please visit www.neiweb.org.
Greenville High School Expansion Planned With Technology in Mind
January 24, 2006
When Greeneville High School underwent a major expansion and renovation that was completed in 2004, the project was planned with technology in mind.
The outdoor courtyard was designed with a goal of providing a place where future GHS students could use laptops in a wireless environment that would provide access to the wide variety of software already being used in the classrooms at GHS.
One of the newest programs is Nova Net, computer software purchased this year and used for the new credit-recovery program that helps students who are falling behind regain their credits toward graduation.
Nova Net also is used for preparation for the Gateway exams, required for graduation, for ACT/SAT exam practice, home-bound coursework, Alternative Learning program class work, and class-specific tutoring.
IMMD Class
Also new is the GHS News, a project of David Pauley’s Interactive Multimedia Design (IMMD) class.
School news, including daily morning announcements and other information, is produced live every morning using the Visual Communicator Studio 2 program.
The students coordinate the prompter, update previous announcements or delete old ones, choose graphics, edit music clips and work the sound, Pauley said.
The class also showcases IMMD
student-produced work like commercials for school events, fundraisers, volunteer projects, special awareness and sports highlights.
The students also can design and produce their own music videos using the Windows Movie Maker program, he noted.
Diversified Tech Lab
GHS has a Diversified Technology Lab with 16 computer modules that train students on real-world applications for such careers as robotics and animation, electronics, biomedical technology, construction technology and digital photography.
Both students and teachers use PowerPoint for presentations in many classes.
Students also use the Tennessee Electronic Library databases for research on the senior theme papers and a variety of other class presentations and projects.
NetTrekker is used for Internet research, and a variety of other computer programs, including Excel, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher are used by both students and teachers.
Student Newspaper
Students use computers to create The Greene and White student newspaper. They write articles, process digital photos and design pages using such programs as QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Macromedia Flash and Paint.
Teachers use United Streaming for on-demand video with classroom presentations.
Computer software also is used for grading, and copies of textbooks are available on CD. Parents can use the school Web site for information and e-mail to correspond with teachers.
“Technology Is Fun”
Spanish teacher Doris Reed’s Web site is interactive with a blog, or Web log, in which she uses a wireless microphone to record class drills.
“I enjoy using technology in my classes,” Reed said. “It is a fun way to practice drills and provide lots of repetition for
any type of student.”
On Reed’s interactive Web site, students can access a class syllabus, curriculum map, daily homework, current vocabulary with electronic flash cards and games, grammar instruction with games, an online textbook and many
other resources.
She said her classes are piloting a program called “Gaggle,” which will allow students to use a controlled e-mail program, which she will monitor, to communicate in Spanish.
Technology Is Everywhere
Alex Reynolds, a senior at GHS, said having all this technology in the classroom is important because, “eventually, everything we do, everything we say will probably include a computer in some form or fashion.”
His father, Mark Reynolds, who is computer network administrator at Jarden Zinc Products Co., agreed, noting that computers are used everywhere today, even at the grocery store.
He said at the Jarden plant here, computers run the equipment and are used for accounting, sales and communications.
He said the sooner students can use computers in school, “the better off they’re going to be.”
Tremendous Advancements
Reynolds said Greeneville City Schools has made “tremendous” advancements in computer technology.
“The school system has come a long way, and they’ve done it very methodically, and they they’ve done it right,” he said.
He added that he is amazed at how quickly students are adapting to the rapid changes in technology and how they are able to immediately use what they have learned in the classroom.
Students can even create their own Web sites, as in the case of Ryan Hoss, a senior. Hoss said when he was in the seventh grade, he created his site – billybobthecactusblob.com – with games and other features.
Ryan Tupps, a junior at GHS, said he “definitely” thinks technology is important. “Technology opens up a whole new realm of information for people,” he said.
Chattanooga Teacher Takes ‘Amazing’ Ride
Students Hear About Weightlessness
The Chattanooga Times Free Press
February 16, 2006
Battle Academy principal Aimee Randolph used the word "amazing" to describe her Wednesday ride on a C-9 NASA aircraft.
"I’m going to try to think of a better word," Ms. Randolph told a group of fifth- and fourth-graders from H.H. Battle Academy of Teaching and Learning via video conference after her ride earlier in the day. "But right now it is amazing to sit here and talk to you about being in space."
Ms. Randolph and fifthgrade teacher Debbie Rosenow were at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to participate in NASA’s reduced gravity flight program.
Both of the educators took experiments designed by Battle students on the aircraft. The experiments tested how different liquids reacted in a reduced-gravity environment.
NASA official Leah Bug-Townsend, who flew with Ms. Randolph, challenged the students to draw conclusions about the experiment from examining the three plastic liquid-filled jars that could be seen on the video conference screen. The students’ experiments went on the aircraft, and maybe one day they will go into space, she said.
"It’s amazing where you can go if you study hard and take lots of math and science," Ms. Bug-Townsend said.
Battle was one of five elementary schools nationwide selected to participate in the experiment, said fifth-grade teacher Jamelie Kangles. The school was picked by NASA through a competitive grant process to be a NASA explorer school, she said. The partnership has been a boost to science education and other areas as well, she said.
Ms. Kangles said instructors from NASA came to the school and conducted experiments.
"Students have learned to ask questions, and they are more interested in learning, not just in science but in all areas," she said.
First-grade teacher Becky Holden said the partnership has improved science educa- tion down through the grades. She said she had her first-graders taking home experiments to conduct with parents.
"I had parents asking me about (the experiments) during parentteacher conferences," Ms. Holden said. "We are getting the parents involved, too."
Students were able to ask questions during the video conference. Students wanted to know how the crew felt before and during the flights and if the experiments were messy.
"We had to make sure our experiments didn’t escape from the jar," Ms. Rosenow told students. "Even one drop could have stopped the flight."
The C-9 is used to train astronauts and was featured in scenes from the movie "Apollo 13." It simulates weightlessness or varying degrees of gravity, Ms. Randolph said.
The educators’ flights were videotaped and will be at the school when Ms. Randolph and Ms. Rosenow return today.
Fifth-grader Madeline Rose, 10, said the experience was exhilarating.
"It was great to know we were one of five schools chosen and to know your teacher is doing this," she said.
She said lessons such as the NASA experiment would help build a pool of students interested in studying math and science.
"A lot of hands-on learning and not just sitting at a desk could make (science and math) more fun and interesting," said Madeline, who said she is thinking about becoming a marine biologist.
Tennessee’s ‘Fast Track’ Teachers Finding Jobs Easily
More than 90% of Professionals in Program are Working in Classrooms
The Knoxville News Sentinel
January 17, 2006
New educators coming out of Tennessee's "fast track" teacher-certification program are having no trouble finding jobs.
Teach Tennessee, a pilot program created by Gov. Phil Bredesen, allows midcareer professionals to bypass traditional training and get into the classroom much quicker.
From the first round of classes, 32 educators out of the total 35 are working in middle and high school classrooms.
The second round of new teachers finished over the holidays and six of those 24 have already secured teaching jobs.
"My work is rewarding," said Debbie Sudduth, a former information technology director who was recently hired to teach eighth grade in Bedford County. "I feel like I'm contributing and it's fun, too."
The program is intended to help schools fill some of the most needy departments such as math, science and foreign languages.
"Teach Tennessee allowed me to get up and running quickly," Sudduth said. "It's a compressed program because it's aimed at people with professional experience. They're able to give us a lot of information in a short amount of time."
Becky Kent, who oversees the program for the state Department of Education, said that the experience and maturity the professionals bring enhances students understanding of how the subjects are applied outside of school.
"The concept is that it's their work experience that makes them a successful teacher," Kent said. "It means something because they've been there, done that."
Often schools are forced to use waivers to hire teachers who aren't trained in the subjects or hire college graduates who aren't trained as educators.
State Education Commissioner Lana Seivers said that 125 waivers or permits were issued in math and 90 in science during the 2004-05 school year.
"Over the next three years, we estimate that we will need 210 additional science teachers and 300 additional math teachers," Seivers said.
Applicants to the program must have at least 24 college hours in the subject they are going to teach. Class sizes are limited to 25-35 enrollees.
"We're very selective," said Kent, who said the state will provide one or two training sessions each year. "These are the people who would not have entered the career of teaching without this opportunity."
Bredeson Want $1 Million High School for ‘Tennessee’s Best’
January 26, 2006
Gov. Phil Bredesen announced Thursday that he wants to put $1 million of this year's state budget toward a residential math and science high school for "Tennessee's best and brightest students."
Bredesen spoke at a joint meeting of the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
"This initiative is just the first to emerge from our discussion about raising the bar when it comes to education and competitiveness in Tennessee," Bredesen said. "There are many other areas we're continuing to explore, and other areas we've already made good progress in."
The governor said he would discuss the school in his State of the State address to the General Assembly, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 6.
He said the money would be used to cover startup costs of the program, which will be housed at the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma. The University of Tennessee and its partners at Oak Ridge National Laboratory would help develop standards for admission and curriculum.
Students would attend during their last two years of high school and Bredesen said he hoped to begin enrollment in the fall of 2007.
"We certainly welcome it and will do whatever we can to help," said K.C. Reddy, acting dean for academic affairs at the Space Institute. "We want to turn out the best of the best."
To do so, Bredesen said the state would also explore ways to recruit highly qualified math and science teachers as well as invest in continuing education for teachers already in Tennessee.
"I don't think it's too much to ask that, if you're a teacher in Tennessee, you should be able to take advantage of professional development courses at our local colleges for free."
While Tennessee is doing a lot of things right, Bredesen said "there's still a lot of room for improvement."
He cited statistics showing that just over 34 percent of first-time freshmen entering Board of Regents' universities last fall needed at least one remedial or developmental math course. At community colleges, it jumped to 64 percent.
"That's unacceptable," Bredesen said. "We must compete for our children's future. Over the next decade, Tennesseans will be competing for jobs and opportunity not only with our border states, but also with once-faraway places like China and India."
THEC Executive Director Richard Rhoda said the governor's initiative would help make Tennessee's students more competitive.
"Excellence begets excellence," Rhoda said. "I think it makes a lot of sense."
Army Vetoes HAAP Retail Development Due to Security Concerns
January 18, 2006
A massive retail development proposed for the Highway 11-W frontage at Holston Army Ammunition Plant has been placed on hold indefinitely due to the Army's decision that the project would create a security risk for the ordnance manufacturing operations at the facility.
BAE Systems, which holds the HAAP lease and oversees the ordnance plant, has been involved in an enormous design and recruitment effort for nearly two years in preparation for launching the project, which had been named "The Shops at Allandale." The project was to encompass about 160 acres of HAAP highway frontage from Kingsport near the National Guard armory, west into Mount Carmel ending approximately at the Englewood Avenue intersection of 11-W.
HAAP spokeswoman Nancy Grey told the Times-News Tuesday the Army decided that placing a massive retail development so close to the ordnance manufacturing operation created security and safety issues.
"The disapproval was due in part to force protection, or security issues, and some other issues that we felt were very critical that I can't comment on," Grey said. "Since 9-11, security has gotten very stringent. When you have a mall you have a lot of people congregated in one place. So, at this time, this particular proposal wasn't really compatible with the Army mission and the operations of the installation right now.
"The Army has to be very careful in assessing these proposals, and one of the main things we are concerned about is the safety and security of the employees, as well as the surrounding community."
The Shops at Allandale project was planned in response to an Army mandate that BAE Systems promote available HAAP territory for private development. BAE Systems has also recruited several private companies into the facility and shepherded the construction of a small business incubator.
In preparation for The Shops at Allandale project, a new security fence perimeter was constructed about 1,000 feet back from the highway, as well as new security installations. Some forest clearing had also been completed.
Grey said the Army still wants to see development at HAAP. Proposals will be considered on a case-by-case basis, she said.
"BAE has been very diligent and done a wonderful job in promoting the development of all the available facilities at Holston, and we're very pleased with all they've done," Grey said. "Of course, we will continue to partner with them and review and assess every proposal that they give us. That particular property is still up for development, and as they come up with proposals we'll be more than happy to look at them because we'd like to see some development going in there too."
Tony Hewitt, BAE Systems director of commercial development and community relations, said the Army decision is a setback. Hewitt said he and his staff will regroup and begin working on other development proposals. Were it not for the Army decision, however, there was a good chance the project was going to succeed, as several retailers and restaurants had expressed interest in participating.
"It's a project we've been working on for a long time, but the Army told us in early December that the proposed project was not approved to move forward at this time," Hewitt said. "Naturally we're disappointed, but we will continue to work with the Army and work with the communities to look at other opportunities that seem more compatible with the Army's mission and requirements at this time. We have some things in the pipeline, and as those materialize, so we will present them to the Army for the Army's blessing.
"If they meet the current criteria that the Army is looking for we'll move forward, and if they don't we'll look for something else."
BAE Systems had absorbed a significant expense in its retail business recruitment and shopping center design efforts for The Shops at Allandale project over the past two years.
"It's called the price of doing business," Hewitt said.
The Shops at Allandale would have meant an economic boost to Kingsport, but the majority of the project would have been inside the Mount Carmel town limits.
Mayor Gary Lawson said news of the project's demise is a terrible blow for his town. He said the potential for sales tax revenue that this project could have generated for Mount Carmel seemed limitless.
"We had hopes and thought maybe things were going to work out, and for it to be dead in the water is just totally unfair," Lawson said. "We're at war right now, and I can understand if our country needs that land. But if they're not using it, and they're commercializing other plants around the country, for them not to commercialize this one doesn't make sense to me."
TVA Plans Bigger Cuts in Its Debt
February 07, 2006
The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to cut its debt by nearly a third over the next decade by holding down operating expenses, boosting power sales and, if necessary, raising electricity rates, utility officials said Monday.
In the federal budget proposal released Monday by the White House, TVA outlined a plan to trim its borrowings by another $7.2 billion by 2016. The long-term debt reduction goal is nearly double what TVA projected in its strategic plan developed only two years ago.
"In looking at our competitive position and what is financially feasible, we determined that we should be more aggressive in reducing our debt," said Chris Mitchell, a TVA vice president who helped prepare the agency’s federal budget proposal.
But the overall federal debt will continue to increase under the spending plan sent to Congress on Monday. The overall $2.77 trillion budget for fiscal 2007 would boost spending on the military, homeland security and the expanded Medicare program, among other government programs.
Despite projections of a record $423 billion budget deficit this year, Bush budget planners said the size of the annual deficit will still be cut in half by 2009. The TVA budget plans were included in the four-volume budget plan the Office of Management and Budget released Monday. TVA no longer receives any direct federal appropriations. But the federal utility must report its spending plans each year as part of the administration’s spending plan.
OMB officials have urged TVA in previous years to do more to cut its $25.6 billion debt. But in the fiscal 2007 blueprint, administration officials noted that TVA has pledged "paying off considerably more off its debt after 2010" under its new debt reduction plan.
By 2016, TVA projects it will cut its debt to $18.4 billion.
Next year, TVA estimates its power sales will grow to more than $9 billion for the first time. But excluding fuel costs, Mr. Mitchell said TVA plans to hold down its operating and maintenance costs at least 0.5 percent below the general inflation rate over the next decade.
TVA, the largest single employer in the Chattanooga area, projects that it will cut its personnel costs slightly in fiscal 2007 after labor costs jumped more than 10 percent this year. In the spring of 2007, TVA plans to complete restart work on its oldest nuclear reactor at the Browns Ferry plant, which should reduce both personnel and fuel costs, TVA spokesman John Moulton said.
But in the meantime, soaring fuel expenses are expected to push up TVA rates this spring for the second time in the current fiscal year. TVA announced Monday that the board will meet next Monday in Knoxville to consider adjusting power rates based upon higher fuel expenses.
The size of any rate increase and the terms of the proposed fuel cost adjustment are not yet finalized, Mr. Moulton said.
In the budget documents published Monday, OMB officials renewed their call for T VA to register debt offerings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. TVA is coming under SEC oversight in its quarterly and annualannual financialf inancial reports, starting this fall. But TVA officials insist that registering debt issues with the SEC would be expensive and time-consuming.
"We think we have adequate disclosure with our financial reports," Mr. Mitchell said.
Vital Step for Chickamauga Lock
February 10, 2006
Tennessee’s Sens. Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander and Reps. Zach Wamp, of Chattanooga, and John J. Duncan Jr., of Knoxville, have done important work in having a $27 million item included in President George W. Bush’s 2007 budget toward replacing the lock at Chickamauga Dam.
This is not "pork." This is a pressing need in the federal responsibility to maintain important navigation on our waterways.
Concrete in the present 60-by-360-foot lock, built in 1940, is seriously deteriorating. The $27 million will be a secondyear step toward a 110-by-600-foot lock to maintain more than 300 miles of river navigation upstream on the Tennessee River. Failure to avoid a river bottleneck would threaten thousands of jobs and put thousands of additional 18-wheelers onto our highways to replace river barge traffic.
We commend our senators and representatives for their effectiveness in working for the urgently needed lock replacement.
This is not "pork." This is a pressing need in the federal responsibility to maintain important navigation on our waterways.
Concrete in the present 60-by-360-foot lock, built in 1940, is seriously deteriorating. The $27 million will be a secondyear step toward a 110-by-600-foot lock to maintain more than 300 miles of river navigation upstream on the Tennessee River. Failure to avoid a river bottleneck would threaten thousands of jobs and put thousands of additional 18-wheelers onto our highways to replace river barge traffic.
We commend our senators and representatives for their effectiveness in working for the urgently needed lock replacement.
New Smokies Building Designed to be Eco-Friendly
Twin Creeks Center to Cater to Scientists
The Knoxville News Sentinel
February 01, 2006
For the first time since the 1960s, Great Smoky Mountains National Park has broken ground on a major new building.
When completed in 2007, the 15,000-square-foot Twin Creeks Science and Education Center will accommodate hundreds of scientists who visit the park each year to work on the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory, a project to identify every living organism inside the park's 520,000-acre boundary.
At a groundbreaking ceremony today at the building site off Cherokee Orchard Road just south of Gatlinburg, park officials will tout some of the environmentally friendly design features that will make the Twin Creeks Science and Education Center a national model for "green" technology.
The building will have ultra-low-flow plumbing fixtures along with waterless urinals. Special windows and the building's orientation toward the sun will reduce the need for artificial lighting, and much of the building materials will come from recycled sources.
Park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said the Twin Creeks Science and Education Center also would include space for classes and seminars so that researchers can share their discoveries with students and teachers of neighboring communities.
"A major component of this facility will be blending science and education," Gray said.
In fiscal year 2005 Congress appropriated $3.9 million for the building project. Due to escalating construction costs, the final price tag turned out to be $4.4 million. To help cover the difference, the Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains Association donated $285,000 each, and the city of Gatlinburg extended its sewer system to the building, saving the park $300,000 in up front construction cost.
The Twin Creeks Science and Education Center will serve as headquarters for science projects in the Smokies. The building will include a working area for visiting scientists, offices for park staff, a chemical laboratory and climate-controlled curatorial space for natural history specimens.
Since 1997 the Smokies All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory has found 3,500 species new to the park, and more than 500 species previously unknown to scientists.
While the Smokies' ATBI may take longer than 15 years as originally projected, the project is having a positive impact on parks throughout country.
About 57 national parks and 113 scenic areas around the country currently are conducting ATBI studies of their own. This includes 15 state parks in Tennessee that have launched ATBI's with help from local colleges and high schools.
As with the Smokies, the purpose of the studies is to provide park managers more complete data for protecting biodiversity.
New Y-12 Building Has Historic Feel
Mimics WWII Manhattan Project Architecture
The Knoxville News Sentinel
February 01, 2006
A new $4.5 million "technical support facility" is open for business at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
The 13,500-square-foot building houses part of the plant's engineering and maintenance organization, Y-12 spokesman Steven Wyatt said Tuesday.
Construction was finished in November, he said.
According to plant officials, the new facility mimics the architectural and construction features of Y-12's "Alpha" and "Beta" buildings that date back to the World War II Manhattan Project.
Wyatt said there were other historical ties to the project. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers that oversaw much of the WWII construction in Oak Ridge, was once again called upon to "procure and manage" construction of the new facility.
The construction was done by STEP Inc., a local minority-owned firm.
Bob Edlund, a federal program official at Y-12, said the project was completed on time and under budget.
He said it was the largest project conducted as part of the plant's small business initiative.
Y-12 is a major part of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. The plant manufactures and dismantles warhead components, specializing in work on so-called secondaries - the second stage of thermonuclear warheads.
Marshall Spared Cuts But Money Still Tight
February 07, 2006
Marshall Space Flight Center likely will keep all of its programs and jobs in the next fiscal year, the center director said Monday.
In the proposed $16.8 billion fiscal 2007 NASA budget, Marshall will receive $2.2 billion for research and development for the new Crew Launch Vehicle rocket, keeping the space shuttle flying and continuing work on the International Space Station, said Marshall Director Dave King.
"This is a good budget for Marshall. This is a very stable budget and it provides for a very stable work force," King told reporters Monday. "It keeps in place our 2,600 civil servants."
The Huntsville space center's budget is actually going up about $100 million over the $2.1 billion approved for 2006. This boost will allow Marshall engineers to begin design work over the next year on key programs for the Crew Launch Vehicle, King said.
King said two crucial areas for 2007 work would be developing a rocket engine (the J-2) for the upper stage of the Crew Launch Vehicle and modifying solid rocket boosters to give more thrust.
"We have lots of flight information on the J-2 engine and lots of data," King said. "We have the best people here at Marshall to do this work, and this budget will allow us to move forward" with NASA's plans to return to the moon.
Overall, the White House request for NASA represents a gain of $400 million over last year's Bush administration proposal for fiscal 2006.
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said the space agency is thankful to get any increase because many federal budgets were being slashed this year to help reduce government spending.
The space agency had to cut some programs, Griffin said.
"One plain fact is NASA simply cannot afford to do everything that our many constituencies would like us to do," Griffin said at a press conference at NASA headquarters in Washington. "We must set priorities, and we must adjust our spending to match those priorities."
An area that will lose money is science, Griffin said. Because of a shortage in space shuttle money, NASA budget managers had to take money from the science and exploration programs to pay for the space shuttle program over the next five years. Griffin said $2 billion came from science programs and $1.5 billion came from the exploration programs, including robot probes.
The decision marks a reversal of 2005 NASA spending policies. Griffin had said during several public appearances last year that the space agency would not take money from science programs to pay for shuttle flights.
"We wish we hadn't had to do it, but that's what we needed to do," Griffin said.
King said Marshall would see a 10 percent drop in science spending during fiscal 2007 because of the NASA-wide cuts. King did not have specific science cuts available Monday, "but this is a very stable budget. We are happy about that," he said.
"People may be leaving some areas to work on other things, but this is very stable."
The space agency is still pursuing a space shuttle launch schedule of 18 flights over the next four years, including next May's mission, NASA officials said during the budget briefing. This includes 17 flights to complete the space station and one flight, now planned for 2008, to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Except for last July's launch, the shuttle has been grounded for the three years since a piece of foam struck the Columbia orbiter, which led to its destruction and the deaths of its seven-member crew.
Copters’ Role Ready to Grow at Arsenal
Army’s $119M Plans for Airfield Area Include New Facilities, Test Upgrades
The Huntsville Times
February 06, 2006
A $119 million Army construction plan will ultimately transform Redstone Arsenal's airfield area into a bustling research, test and development heliport by adding several test areas, research hangars and aircraft to the arsenal by 2010.
Today, the Army Aviation and Missile Command has four helicopters used for a variety of missile and sensor testing, said John Green, a general engineer in Redstone's master planning office. an unmanned aerial vehicle runway away from the main airfield along with a helicopter staging area. The staging area will be used to practice takeoffs and landings and emergency landi
"When these new areas are complete and the test center is on line, there will be 38 (helicopters) on the arsenal," he said.
"The test programs will be different than what we have at Redstone now," Green said. "Today, a lot of the testing of helicopters here on Redstone relates to items like a new radio or sensor and making sure these don't interfere with other electronics onboard the aircraft.
"In the future, testing will be more flight-related and hardware-related. It does mean a lot more helicopter flying."
Currently, a lot of the development testing is performed at Fort Rucker, in South Alabama, where Army helicopter pilots are trained.
The Army plans to spend $67 million to build a Rotary Wing Center on the south end of the airfield, $41 million Military System Test and Integration Facility on the north end, and $11 million to build a Rotary Wing Simulation Center.
Design work on the projects is slated to begin next year, with construction starts staggered over 2008 for the Rotary Wing Center, 2010 for the test facility and 2011 for the simulation center.
The Rotary Wing Center will be a 240-person test area and part of the Aviation Technical Test Center, which is being relocated from Fort Rucker. The move is part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations.
The center will have an eight-aircraft, 161,000-square-foot test hangar, secure storage facility and explosives cargo area.
There will beng procedures.
The Military Systems Test and Integration Facility will provide space for 250-people from Redstone's aviation test and management organizations, including Redstone Technical Test Center, Research Development and Engineering Center and Program Executive Office for Aviation.
This program will consolidate a number of missile and sensor test programs and projects already being performed on the arsenal. It will consist of a 173,000-square-foot research and test hangar and includes labs, flight operations and administrative offices.
Green said the facility would expand airfield space for helicopter and missile work "that came here from St. Louis as part of the 1995 BRAC. That test work has continued to grow and has really outgrown the space that is available for it today."
The programs have grown, Green said, because Redstone program managers continue to use the range and airspace on the arsenal instead of going to places such as Eglin Air Force Base in Florida to test.
Included in the plan is the Rotary Wing Simulation Center which would simulate rough and nighttime environments for helicopters undergoing research and development tests.
"The simulation center would allow tests using a full helicopter in blackout and nighttime conditions," Green said. "That's a capability that doesn't exist on Redstone now."
Oak Ridge Lab Building National Security Work
January 25, 2006
National security in all its various programmatic forms -- homeland security, nuclear nonproliferation, military support, etc. -- is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the workload at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
ORNL Director Jeff Wadsworth said funding for the national security activities this year will be somewhere between $250 million and $280 million -- almost a third of the lab's total budget.
"It's important work, building on the base of the laboratory," Wadsworth said recently, noting that national security touches on many Oak Ridge research areas, such as nanoscience, biology, advanced computing and nuclear energy.
Wadsworth said modernization efforts at the 60-year-old laboratory have helped in multiple ways, from recruiting scientists to competing for research funding in nontraditional areas.
The Spallation Neutron Source, a $1.4 billion research complex that is nearing completion on Chestnut Ridge, has also been responsible for the lab's broader successes.
ORNL's federal customers are very aware that the SNS has been accomplished on schedule, within its budget and without changing its scope in order to make things work, Wadsworth said.
"I think that has brought a very good reputation to the laboratory for delivery of promises," he said. "That leads to repeat customers (who) have confidence that what they're paying for will be delivered."
ORNL was chosen a couple of years ago to lead U.S. efforts to regain world superiority in scientific computing.
The Oak Ridge lab gained that leadership role in part by taking risks and building a new computer center, even before acquiring the programs and machines now housed there.
Wadsworth said ORNL's advantage could become even greater in the future when computers reach the petaflop level -- a thousand trillion (quadrillion) calculations per second.
"If you get up to several petaflops, the power you need to run those kinds of operations will rival the SNS (60 megawatts) and the cooling that goes with it," Wadsworth said.
The lab's Center for Computational Sciences already has an amazing infrastructure, including giant pipes to bring sufficient amount of chilled water into the operations.
But future machines may require their own electric substation and water pipelines that are several feet in diameter, Wadsworth said.
"Thank goodness we have TVA as a friend and colleague to come and help us do that," he said.
As requirements go up, ORNL officials believe that fewer research institutions will be able to propose themselves as hosts for supercomputer centers at the highest level.
"There are very, very few places nationwide that can get in this discussion now," lab communications chief Billy Stair said.
The turnover at ORNL has not been as bad as earlier predictions that indicated up to 30 percent of the staff could retire or otherwise depart over a five- to seven-year period.
"We are not losing people as rapidly (as the worst-case forecast), and we are modifying our planning because of it," Wadsworth said.
Generally speaking, people are working longer than traditional retirement ages, and the ORNL director said he thinks that directly correlates to the enjoyment of the work. "I think the work, when it's exciting, is harder to leave," Wadsworth said.
Nonetheless, the lab is still engaged in a major recruiting campaign, with particular emphasis on about 20 universities.
Dials Named General Manger at Y-12 Plant
Brings Diverse Background to Manage Nuclear Site
The Knoxville News Sentinel
February 07, 2006
George Dials, an executive with broad experience in energy and waste management, has been named general manager at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, effective Feb. 20.
BWXT Y-12, the government's managing contractor, made the announcement Monday. The company employs about 4,700 people here.
Dials, 61, succeeds Steve Liedle, who has been acting general manager at Y-12 since last fall when Dennis Ruddy was relieved of his duties, reportedly because of security-related issues. Liedle will remain at Y-12 as deputy general manager.
"George brings the experience necessary to manage and operate this nuclear weapons complex," John Fees, president and chief operating officer for BWX Technologies, based in Lynchburg, Va., said in a statement released to the news media.
Dials has served as president and chief operating officer at Waste Control Specialists, with experience in developing and operating facilities for treatment or disposal of hazardous wastes.
He was president and chief executive officer of Louisiana Energy Services, a company that a few years ago proposed building a uranium-enrichment plant in Tennessee's Trousdale County. The controversial project was abandoned.
As general manager of TRW Environmental Safety Systems, he was involved in operations at the Yucca Mountain Project, a high-level nuclear waste repository under development in Nevada.
Dials also has worked for the U.S. Department of Energy, managing the DOE office that oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
At Y-12, he will hold the title of president and general manager of BWXT, the contractor that has managed the Oak Ridge nuclear-defense facility for the past five years.
Dials holds a master's degree in nuclear engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also earned an engineering degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
During a 10-year military career, he served in Vietnam, Germany and Korea, and he worked on the Army's nuclear weapons planning and development programs.
OR Fares Well in DOE Budget
February 15, 2006
Gerald Boyd, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office, is pleased with how DOE ORO fared in the department's FY 2007 Budget Request, released Monday by Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman.
"I think
The request for DOE ORO is $1.9 billion for FY 2007, with increased funds for Advanced Scientific Computing ($84 million), international fusion experiment ITER ($60 million), other research ($346 million), the Spallation Neutron Source ($171 million) and nuclear nonproliferation ($190 million). Environmental Management ($509 million), nuclear energy ($38 million) and defense programs ($24 million) funds remain the same as in FY 2006, which Boyd said was expected.
Bodman requests $23.6 billion for the FY 2007 Budget, which is a $124 million increase from FY 2006. The secretary announced the increase was to advance national security, reduce dependence on oil and boost economic competitiveness.
The Office of Science budget requests $4.1 billion, a 14 percent increase over FY 2006. The funding is part of DOE's American Competitiveness Initiative, which is expected to double investment in basic science research over the next 10 years. The Advanced Energy Initiative, which strives to reduce dependence on imported energy sources, is also a large factor in the budget. The FY 2007 request to help meet the initiative's goals is $2.1 billion - an increase of $381 million over FY 2006.
Of the FY 2007 NNSA budget request ($9.3 million), $111.4 million will go towards Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation programs to advance in securing nuclear material in the former
For the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, $632.7 million was requested; the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, $544.5 million; the Office of Environment, Safety and Health, $109.9 million; the Office of Fossil Energy, $648.9 million; the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, $124.9 million; the Office of Legacy Management, $201 million; and the Office of Environmental Management, $5.8 billion.
"I think
The request for DOE ORO is $1.9 billion for FY 2007, with increased funds for Advanced Scientific Computing ($84 million), international fusion experiment ITER ($60 million), other research ($346 million), the Spallation Neutron Source ($171 million) and nuclear nonproliferation ($190 million). Environmental Management ($509 million), nuclear energy ($38 million) and defense programs ($24 million) funds remain the same as in FY 2006, which Boyd said was expected.
Bodman requests $23.6 billion for the FY 2007 Budget, which is a $124 million increase from FY 2006. The secretary announced the increase was to advance national security, reduce dependence on oil and boost economic competitiveness.
The Office of Science budget requests $4.1 billion, a 14 percent increase over FY 2006. The funding is part of DOE's American Competitiveness Initiative, which is expected to double investment in basic science research over the next 10 years. The Advanced Energy Initiative, which strives to reduce dependence on imported energy sources, is also a large factor in the budget. The FY 2007 request to help meet the initiative's goals is $2.1 billion - an increase of $381 million over FY 2006.
Of the FY 2007 NNSA budget request ($9.3 million), $111.4 million will go towards Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation programs to advance in securing nuclear material in the former
For the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, $632.7 million was requested; the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, $544.5 million; the Office of Environment, Safety and Health, $109.9 million; the Office of Fossil Energy, $648.9 million; the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, $124.9 million; the Office of Legacy Management, $201 million; and the Office of Environmental Management, $5.8 billion.
Boyd Says DOE Office Keeps Moving Forward
February 15, 2006
The past 12 months have been successful for the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office, said Gerald Boyd, manager of the Oak Ridge Office.
Some of the highlights include DOE's five-year, $6.3 billion contract extension with UT-Battelle and its new five-year, $1.6 billion contract with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, as well as the on-time and on-budget Spallation Neutron Source project, the newly-completed Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences and the revitalization of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
"They're very good performers for us," Boyd said of UT-Battelle and ORAU. "They run the lab well and they run the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Energy well. The contracts give us good footing to move forward."
Boyd believes the $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source is the biggest success story in
"I think we'll be able to put a big marker down on the project in April," he reported.
The $65 million, 80,000-square foot Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences is the first of its kind to be completed and will help
Another milestone for 2005, Boyd noted, was the completion of cleanup of legacy waste on the Oak Ridge Reservation.
"It's really the first big milestone in our accelerated cleanup program. We also transferred the first set of buildings to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee."
And although Boyd believes 2006 will be as successful as 2005, the new year also brings plenty of challenges.
The department has improved its transportation safety in the past year, with no incidents occurring. However, a Bechtel Jacobs Co. worker's fall at K-25 a month ago has spurred an in-depth investigation.
"We're working hard to find out what happened to make sure it never happens again," Boyd said. "We can't perform DOE programs fully and in an acceptable way without safety."
A report on the incident is expected to be released soon. The worker is at home and expected to recover fully, while his colleagues continue to move forward with the work at K-25.
Other challenges include adequate funding - "we're working hard to make sure we've got the budget to allow us to continue the things that need to be done," Boyd said - and the cleanup of the Melton Valley Watershed, the department's "next big environmental milestone."
DOE is working with the U.S. Enrichment Corp. on uranium enrichment, and Boyd reported that working with ORNL to make sure technology transfer is a success is a big goal for 2006.
The department is also working closely with the City of
"We still have some challenges, but at least we're headed in the right direction," Boyd said.
Some of the highlights include DOE's five-year, $6.3 billion contract extension with UT-Battelle and its new five-year, $1.6 billion contract with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, as well as the on-time and on-budget Spallation Neutron Source project, the newly-completed Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences and the revitalization of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
"They're very good performers for us," Boyd said of UT-Battelle and ORAU. "They run the lab well and they run the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Energy well. The contracts give us good footing to move forward."
Boyd believes the $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source is the biggest success story in
"I think we'll be able to put a big marker down on the project in April," he reported.
The $65 million, 80,000-square foot Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences is the first of its kind to be completed and will help
Another milestone for 2005, Boyd noted, was the completion of cleanup of legacy waste on the Oak Ridge Reservation.
"It's really the first big milestone in our accelerated cleanup program. We also transferred the first set of buildings to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee."
And although Boyd believes 2006 will be as successful as 2005, the new year also brings plenty of challenges.
The department has improved its transportation safety in the past year, with no incidents occurring. However, a Bechtel Jacobs Co. worker's fall at K-25 a month ago has spurred an in-depth investigation.
"We're working hard to find out what happened to make sure it never happens again," Boyd said. "We can't perform DOE programs fully and in an acceptable way without safety."
A report on the incident is expected to be released soon. The worker is at home and expected to recover fully, while his colleagues continue to move forward with the work at K-25.
Other challenges include adequate funding - "we're working hard to make sure we've got the budget to allow us to continue the things that need to be done," Boyd said - and the cleanup of the Melton Valley Watershed, the department's "next big environmental milestone."
DOE is working with the U.S. Enrichment Corp. on uranium enrichment, and Boyd reported that working with ORNL to make sure technology transfer is a success is a big goal for 2006.
The department is also working closely with the City of
"We still have some challenges, but at least we're headed in the right direction," Boyd said.
Davis to Hold Third Annual Federal Funding Seminar
February 06, 2006
U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis will be hosting his annual Federal Funding Seminar March 27th through 28th at the Convention Center in Manchester, Tennessee.
As in years past, the seminar will bring together a litany of Federal agencies, city and county officials, and community organizations from the Fourth Congressional District to discuss federal resources available for economic development purposes.
"From the Tennessee Valley Authority to the Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program, federal partnerships historically have had an impact in rural districts like ours," said Davis. "If I can help make a connection between local, state, and federal agents I am happy to do so."
A special two hour workshop, conducted by the U.S. Fire Administration, will focus on the Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program. The deadline for fire grant submissions is a week after the workshop. The Foundation Center will be leading a grant writing workshop while discussing available grants for non-profits.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, Appalachian Regional Commission, and the U.S. Department's of Homeland Security, Commerce, Education, and Agriculture, among others have participated in prior funding seminars.
For more information on Davis's annual Federal Funding Seminar, please visit http://www.house.gov/lincolndavis/2006_funding_seminar.htm.
Education, Health Care Top Bredesen's Budget Priorities
February 07, 2006
Gov. Phil Bredesen wants to add pre-kindergarten classrooms and increase funding for TennCare's transitional health care programs in next year's $25.6 billion budget.
Bredesen, who delivered his fourth State of the State address to the General Assembly this evening, emphasized education as the state's top priority.
"One important result we need to watch is improving education rates," Bredesen said. "We lag behind the national averages here, and if we don't fix that, the economy of in the years ahead going to pass us by."
Bredesen said the state's goal should be to increase high school graduation rates to 90 percent and college graduation rates to 55 percent within the next six years. In recent years, about a quarter of Tennessee students did not graduate high school.
"These are ambitious goals, but let's agree tonight to work together to make it happen," Bredesen said. "Our children deserve nothing less."
Bredesen, who delivered his fourth State of the State address to the General Assembly this evening, emphasized education as the state's top priority.
"One important result we need to watch is improving education rates," Bredesen said. "We lag behind the national averages here, and if we don't fix that, the economy of in the years ahead going to pass us by."
Bredesen said the state's goal should be to increase high school graduation rates to 90 percent and college graduation rates to 55 percent within the next six years. In recent years, about a quarter of Tennessee students did not graduate high school.
"These are ambitious goals, but let's agree tonight to work together to make it happen," Bredesen said. "Our children deserve nothing less."
The budget priorities for the fiscal year that begins July 1 also may reflect the upcoming election season for Bredesen, all members of the House and half the Senate. The budget raises spending for popular programs, including schools, parks and capital projects, without raising taxes.
The proposal includes $11 million to implement a sales tax holiday proposed by Bredesen and approved by the legislature last year. The money will be used to pay back the local portion of the sales tax that will be lifted on school supplies and clothing for one weekend in August.
The statewide sales tax is 7 percent, with local governments allowed to add up to 2.75 percent for a maximum combined rate of 9.75 percent -- one of the highest in the nation.
Tops among Bredesen budget increases are education improvements totaling nearly $233 million. That includes nearly $90 million to fully fund the state portion of school spending, $42 million for teacher raises of about 2 percent, $20 million to expand pre-K and $20 million for students who speak English as a second language or are at risk of dropping out.
"Boards of education and administrators and testing are all great, I guess, but education our kids will succeed or fail by the teachers we put in the classroom," Bredesen said.
The governor wants to combine $20 million from taxpayer funds with the existing $25 million in lottery funds to add 250 pre-K classrooms to the 300 created last year, said state Education Commissioner Lana Seivers.
"What this will do is take us to almost 14,000 4-year-olds," Seivers said.
A decline of more than a half-billion dollars in federal funds _ largely because of less in Medicare money -- is estimated to cause the state's budget to decrease 2.6 percent from last year, to $25.6 billion.
State revenues, meanwhile, are estimated to increase 3.6 percent to $11.3 billion.
The proposal also calls for nearly $90 million in cost-of-living adjustments and salary increases for state employees.
About 24,000 state employees would become eligible for additional increases to reconcile their income with that of new hires, while an unspecified number of hard-to-recruit positions could see additional salary hikes to make those positions more competitive.
The new budget will be the first since the administration removed about 191,000 people from TennCare and cut benefits for thousands of others. A November poll by Middle Tennessee State University showed the cuts are opposed by about 56 percent of residents.
According to the state Finance Department, the cuts prevented a $647 million jump in TennCare costs -- enough to consume all of last year's $325 million tax revenue growth.
Bredesen's budget proposal calls for a $115 million increase in TennCare funding, bringing the state's contribution to nearly $2.7 billion of the program's $7.5 billion budget.
With the worst of the funding crunch addressed, the state can now plan for modest new enrollment and some broader services.
"By living within our means, we've turned the corner, and we are now able to move forward again," Bredesen said.
Bredesen's State of the State speech was twice postponed because lawmakers were in a special session on ethics reform called after five sitting and former legislators were arrested last year on charges of taking payoffs.
Bredesen has said he will sign the bill that passed both chambers Monday, but did not outline new ethics measures tonight.
Cramer Presses Pentagon on BRAC Funds for Region
February 17, 2006
During a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, raised a few questions about military construction money and Huntsville's need for federal help to take on Base Realignment and Closure Commission decisions.
Cramer asked Phil Grone, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, about the Pentagon's plans to help communities prepare for the expected population growth from the Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, relocations.
"We need to make sure that our needs are met in this process," said Cramer, "and that the full scope of construction projects we will need, including day care and firefighter facilities, will get the right level of funding."
The BRAC Commission recommended relocating significant parts of the Missile Defense Agency, Army Materiel Command, Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Army Security Assistance Command and Aviation Technical Test Center to Redstone Arsenal. The changes are expected to bring a net gain of about 4,000 federal jobs and 5,000 contractor employees; some estimate the area will grow by 30,000 residents.
Cramer said North Alabama needs help improving roads, schools and other public services.
Grone said the Pentagon is seeking $60 million for 2007 to help communities with master plans and adjustments.
Shelby: North Alabama Job Future is Good
Senator Vows to Meet with General About MDA Cuts
The Huntsville Times
February 14, 2006
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby told an audience of about 1,000
Shelby was referring to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's decision to move about 4,700 jobs to Redstone Arsenal over the next several years.
"The future is here,"
That doesn't mean the area "won't get bad news every now and then," he said, referring to last week's reports of job cuts at Redstone.
A reorganization of the ground-based missile defense program will eliminate 415 jobs at the arsenal. Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, said last week that the reorganization comes at a time when the missile defense program is going through a transition phase, from building the system to operating it.
Shelby said Monday he plans to do everything he can to prevent the job cuts. "We're going to do what we can to save jobs,"
Other topics
Energy:
Patriot Act:
Patriot Parkway:
And the war on terror:
Rebuilding
Shelby was referring to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's decision to move about 4,700 jobs to Redstone Arsenal over the next several years.
"The future is here,"
That doesn't mean the area "won't get bad news every now and then," he said, referring to last week's reports of job cuts at Redstone.
A reorganization of the ground-based missile defense program will eliminate 415 jobs at the arsenal. Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, said last week that the reorganization comes at a time when the missile defense program is going through a transition phase, from building the system to operating it.
Shelby said Monday he plans to do everything he can to prevent the job cuts. "We're going to do what we can to save jobs,"
Other topics
Energy:
Patriot Act:
Patriot Parkway:
And the war on terror:
Rebuilding
Alexander's Bill Would Put $9B Yearly Into Science Education
January 26, 2006
A new Senate bill proposes $9 billion a year or more toward new college scholarships, research and extra teacher training to help graduate more experts and teachers in math, science and engineering.
It also would double tax credits for companies doing research and development in scientific innovation of national interest.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee likely would be among national labs and research universities winning a share of the new funds aimed at becoming more competitive with science and technology programs overseas, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Wednesday.
Alexander, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., are leaders of the bill filed Wednesday. Nearly 30 senators so far support it.
The extra spending and tax incentives are vital to creating many more good-paying jobs, Alexander said.
"If we only spend money on war, welfare, Social Security, debt, hurricanes, disasters and flu, we're not going to have an economy strong enough to pay the bills for those urgent needs," Alexander said. "So it's a small price for a high standard of living."
Domenici told reporters that he heard President Bush likely will endorse the bill's goals in his nationally televised State of the Union speech Tuesday.
The bill includes the 20 top actions and strategies recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. Their report was requested by Alexander and Bingaman with the endorsement of U.S. Reps. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., and Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., of the House Committee on Science.
Some key impacts possible if the bill is passed, according to Alexander's office:
About 200 bright Tennessee students per year would be among about 10,000 nationally receiving up to $20,000 in annual scholarships toward bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering or math if they agreed to teach in their fields for several years.
Provide identical scholarships over four years for about 500 high-achieving Tennesseans per year (25,000 students nationally) who earn a bachelor's degree in these fields.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and UT likely would be among designated summer academies offering more training to current regional math and science teachers aimed at inspiring more students to focus on those fields.
Create a new nonprofit to promote more Advanced Placement classes in math and science at high schools with incentives for teachers and students.
Provide internships and other opportunities for middle and high school students at Oak Ridge National Laboratory or other science research facilities.
Change the foreign student visa process to encourage promising students in these fields to work in this country after graduation.
Alexander said the problem is urgent.
"China, India and other countries are competing for our good jobs," he said. "The way to keep our good jobs ... is to keep our brainpower advantage in science and technology. Better schools, better universities, more research, more math and science means better jobs."
Congressman Jenkins Says He Wont Seek Re-Election
February 15, 2006
Congressman Bill Jenkins said today he will not seek re-election.
The press release sent to local media this morning reads:
"Serving in the Congress is a great honor and a great responsibility. Both should be shared.
The year remaining on this term of office will be filled with many challenges and much hard work to be done for our country. This decision will allow me to spend more time with my family and to do some things which we have been too busy to do. I intend to remain active as a volunteer and to use the experience that I have to benefit the people of our state and country.
I sincerely appreciate the tremendous support that I have been given by the people of the First Congressional District and I hope to be able to repay the kindness that I have been shown."
Johnson City Company Receives Nearly $1 Million to Develop New Vitamin Form
February 15, 2006
A local biotechnology company has received nearly $1 million to develop an antioxidant-rich supplement that will be available as a liquid or a soft gel.
Yasoo Health, one of the incubator companies housed in the Innovation Laboratory at East Tennessee State University, will oversee the project that is being supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
“The need exists for a highly absorbable nutritional supplement because there are many patients who have malabsorption problems and are not able to obtain sufficient levels of these fat-soluble vitamins and nutrients, despite having a good diet and taking supplements,” said Dr. Gus Papas, medical director of Yasoo Health and a hospitalist with the ETSU Hospitalist Service.
One common disease closely associated with malabsorption is cystic fibrosis, which is the reason that the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation made the $936,375 investment.
According to Papas, this new vitamin product would contain all the major vitamins and nutrients, including A, B, D, E, K, beta-carotene, coenzyme Q10, selenium, and zinc.
To develop this product, Yasoo will follow the same model that was used to create Aqua-E®, a liquid form of vitamin E. In a study conducted in the Tri-Cities, Papas and Dr. Ricky Mohon, a pediatric pulmonologist with ETSU Physicians and Associates, recruited cystic fibrosis patients and measured how the absorption rates varied between the softgel and Aqua-E®. They found that the absorption rate of Aqua-E® was two to four times greater than the regular capsules.
“So, we know we have something that works,” Papas said. “Our goal now is to use this scientific model and develop a specific product that meets the needs of cystic fibrosis patients.”
“Getting the proper level of these fat-soluble nutrients may have meaningful health benefits for individuals who have CF.”
ORBUS Rocket Motor Undergoes Successful Test Firing at J-6
February 13, 2006
The U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) successfully test-fired an ORBUS 1A rocket motor under simulated high-altitude conditions at the center’s J-6 Large Rocket Motor Test Facility, providing critical support for the second and third stage power plant of the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) missile.
The GBI is the weapon component of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system, and is the long-range interceptor of the overall Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). The BMDS is an integrated, “layered” system for defending the homeland, our deployed forces overseas and our allies from ballistic missiles of all ranges, during any phase of their flight-boost, midcourse and terminal. The BMDS now in development will consist of ground and sea-based interceptors, a directed energy aircraft (Airborne Laser) and numerous radars and sensors integrated with a command, control, battle management and communication infrastructure.
The GBI’s payload will be an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle equipped with a high-sensitivity infrared seeker and an agile-divert system to support the intercepts of threats at very high closing velocities. This is a “hit-to-kill” technology that uses only the force of a direct collision with the target missile warhead, using no explosives. A number of GBI’s are currently deployed in Alaska and California in preparation for beginning defensive operations after on-going training, rules of engagement development and additional testing are complete.
The GBI missile’s second /third stage rocket motor, built by Alliant Techsystems (ATK) in Elkton, Md. , underwent the qualification testing because the company recently took over the production of the upper-stage components of the GBI missile from Pratt & Whitney.
“The ORBUS motor has been around for quite a long time,” explained 2nd Lt. Timothy Higley, a test project manager for the space and missiles division at AEDC. “It’s not a new system; it’s basically being revised and reused for the GBI. Now that they (ATK) are beginning to build these motors, they have to be qualified as a vendor to verify they can reliably produce these motors and meet all the specs.”
He added, “This (rocket motor) is the first one of its type we’ve tested in J-6. Previously, during the 1990s, we had performed qualification testing on an earlier version of this rocket motor in AEDC’s rocket development test cell J-5.”
Lieutenant Higley said the reasoning behind the change of testing location is the system at J-6 is a better facility from both a performance and safety standpoint.
“J-6 is a newer rocket testing facility,” he said. “It’s larger, has a significant blast wall, the increased distance from other buildings at the Center, as well as some improved features inside the test cell, including the ability to pump down the pressure and isolate it from the plant.”
Editorial Note:
Arnold Engineering Development Center is the nation's largest complex of flight simulation test facilities. The center was dedicated in June 1951 by President Harry Truman and named after 5-star General of the Air Force Henry 'Hap' Arnold, visionary leader of the Army Air Forces in World War II and the only airman to hold 5-Star rank. Today, this $7.8 billion complex has some 58 aerospace test facilities located at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., and the center's remote operating location Hypervelocity Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Md. The test facilities simulate flight from subsonic to hypersonic speeds at altitudes from sea level to space. Virtually every high performance flight system in use by the Department of Defense today and all NASA manned spacecraft have been tested in AEDC's facilities. Today the center is testing the next generation of aircraft and space systems. For more information on AEDC visit the center's Web site at www.arnold.af.mil
Delta IV Program Staying Put in Decatur
January 31, 2006
Boeing Co. officials said Monday the company has no plans to discontinue production of the Delta IV rocket in Decatur and knows of no discussions along those lines.
Boeing's comments Monday followed questions raised last week by reporting from an Internet site devoted to space issues, usspacenews.com. The site reported that Boeing would discontinue the Delta IV if a planned joint-venture with Lockheed Martin, called the United Launch Alliance, was approved.
The company is not preparing to end production of the Delta IV in Decatur and shift Decatur's focus to building Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5, Boeing spokesman Robert Villanueva said. The two companies have asked the Pentagon and the Federal Trade Commission to approve a 50-50 split of the space launch business.
The plan was announced last May and calls for Lockheed Martin's rocket production work to be moved to Decatur from Colorado, and related engineering work to move to Lockheed offices around Denver, Colo.
Villanueva confirmed the authenticity of a document posted on the Web site outlining Boeing's willingness to move to one launch vehicle if asked to by the government. But he said the document was simply outlining possible scenarios the company could face, not announcing policy.
The Web site's editor said it is run by people who work in the space business, including for Boeing and Lockheed, and who don't want to be identified.
U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, who championed Boeing's building a plant in Decatur, said he strongly supports the United Launch Alliance, and thinks it will boost the region's space business. Cramer said he has been assured by Boeing officials that the Delta IV will continue to be produced in Decatur.
Boeing is currently operating under conditions set forth by the Bush administration's space transportation plan, the company spokesman said, which calls for two launch systems to ensure reliable access to space.
But the plan also calls for a Department of Defense review, by 2010, to determine if two launch systems are still necessary, Villanueva said.
The companies have estimated the joint venture would save their government customers between $100 million to $150 million per year by improving efficiency and eliminating still unspecified "redundancies."
About 300 of the roughly 660 workers at the Decatur plant have been on strike since Nov. 2. Striking machinists there and in Huntsville are scheduled to vote Wednesday on a revised contract offer from the company.
The strike followed rejection of a new contract from Boeing. Company officials said the offer has been revised, but no new money added.
Fusion Energy Project Office Moving to ORNL
February 06, 2006
The U.S. project office for the world's largest fusion energy project is being moved to Oak Ridge National Laboratory from its current home at Princeton University, officials announced Wednesday.
ORNL and Princeton already were collaborating on the project management and procurement activities for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a multibillion-dollar research effort that's going to be built in France.
The United States is working on ITER along with the European Union, Japan, Korea, China and Russia.
The U.S. project office will be responsible for supporting construction of the reactor facility and coordinating various research activities taking place at the nation's science laboratories and universities.
Ned Sauthoff of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will remain the U.S. project manager for ITER, and Princeton will continue to play a major role in the project, officials said last week.
ORNL, GA Tech to Work on Supercomputing Program
February 15, 2006
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is joining with Georgia Tech on a broad-based supercomputing program. As part of the agreement, some faculty and staff will hold joint appointments at Georgia Tech and ORNL, and there will be an ongoing distribution of computing resources and student researchers.
Georgia Tech also will open a "campus" at
Georgia Tech also will open a "campus" at
DOE's Spallation Neutron Source Reaches Another Milestone With Commission of Accumulator Ring
January 15, 2006
The Department of Energy's Spallation Neutron Source, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has passed another milestone on the way to completion this year - the commissioning of the proton accumulator ring. The accumulator ring is the final step in a proton's journey through the accelerator before it strikes the SNS's mercury target, "spalling" away neutrons to be used for research.
The DOE Office of Science facility will produce the world's most intense neutron beams to probe the molecular structures of materials. As a user facility, the SNS is expected to attract researchers from all over the globe.
"The ring is the last major accelerator element delivered by one of the partner labs in the six-laboratory project," said SNS director Thom Mason. "Its successful operation confirms not just the robustness of the Brookhaven National Laboratory components but also the full integration of accelerator hardware designed and built using expertise throughout the national DOE complex. We are looking forward to the first beam on target later this year."
Brookhaven Lab led the design and construction of the accumulator ring, which will allow an order of magnitude more beam power than any other facility in the world.
In SNS operation, the superconducting linac produces proton pulses traveling at almost 90 percent of the speed of light. In the ring, the protons within a pulse are "accumulated" to increase the intensity 1,000-fold. At that point, this now very intense pulse is extracted and delivered to the mercury target to produce neutrons. This happens 60 times per second.
After only three days of its initial operation, the ring accumulated protons, which were then extracted and sent to a point just short of the target.
"With this extraordinary success, we are definitely on our way to operate the world's highest intensity proton accelerator," said SNS Accelerator Systems Division director Norbert Holtkamp.
"The successful commissioning of the accumulator ring - in record time for this type of device - is a testament to the extraordinary collaboration between Brookhaven and Oak Ridge," said Jie Wei, who led the Brookhaven team.
Because of their lack of charge, neutrons have a superior ability to penetrate materials. Researchers can determine a material's molecular structure by analyzing the way the neutrons scatter after striking atoms within a target material. SNS will direct the spalled neutrons to a host of state-of-the-art instruments.
The SNS will become the world's leading research facility for study of the structure and dynamics of materials using neutrons. It will operate as a user facility that will enable researchers from the United States and abroad to study the science of materials that forms the basis for new technologies in telecommunications, manufacturing, transportation, information technology, biotechnology and health.
SNS will increase the number of neutrons available to researchers nearly tenfold, providing clearer images of molecular structures. Together, ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor and SNS will represent the world's foremost facilities for neutron scattering, a technique pioneered at ORNL shortly after World War II.
Five Department of Energy Office of Science laboratories - Argonne, Berkeley, Brookhaven, Jefferson and Los Alamos - participated with Oak Ridge in the design of the SNS project. The $1.4 billion project has been constructed on time and on budget with a safety record of 4.2 million hours without a lost workday injury.
More information on the SNS is available at http://www.sns.gov.
Making Gas from Grass
Area Researchers Looking for Ways to Produce Energy
The Chattanooga Times Free Press
February 16, 2006
A grassy field is more than stalks and roots to Dr. Mark Downing. It represents energy for cars and homes.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher has spent more than a decade looking at how to raise switch grass, which grows wild across the United States, as an energy crop for fuel.
"We know how to do it, and we have the farming and manufacturing infrastructure in place," said Dr. Downing, who also works with switch grass research at the University of Tennessee. "But cost is the barrier. We need to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency as well."
Researchers at colleges such as UT, the University of Georgia and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are using everything from hydrogen to chicken fat to produce energy.
But the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and high gasoline prices have made the findings more relevant than ever. In his State of the Union speech, President Bush promised more money for clean-energy research, specifically naming switch grass as a method for producing fuel.
On Tuesday night, Gov. Phil Bredesen signed an executive order creating an "alternative fuels working group" with officials from six state agencies to look at developing a strategy for Tennessee.
"Increasing our use of cleaner, renewable energy resources will promote cleaner air and better health for our citizens and create additional economic opportunities for Tennessee farmers," Gov. Bredesen said in a news release.
With stepped-up efforts to improve technology and reduce production costs, researchers estimate their work could be available at the pump in six to eight years. Dr. Downing estimates that the United States has up to 80 million acres of unused land that could be cultivated for energy crops such as switch grass.
Still, much of that hinges on companies opening biorefineries, none of which exist in the United States yet, Dr. Downing said. Canada has one that is used for research and testing, he said.
Already E85, a fuel that is 85 percent ethanol produced from corn, is popular at gas stations throughout the Midwest, but researchers say it’s important to diversify what resources are used to produce the fuel.
HYDROGEN AND SUNLIGHT In addition to biofuel research, universities such as UT and UTC are exploring ways to make the production of hydrogen fuel more affordable. Researchers at the UTC Sim-Center are working on a fuel cell that runs on natural gas and produces electricity and hydrogen. The cell, which is a ceramic machine the size and shape of a loaf of bread, is housed at the SimCenter, an engineering research center on M.L. King Boulevard.
The alternative energy lab that houses the fuel cell will be unveiled officially on Friday, officials said. UTC engineering officials did not return calls seeking comment.
Dr. Jimmy Mays at UT said his lab is looking at more efficient and affordable ways to produce and store hydrogen for fuel. That includes how to make parts of hydrogen fuel cells more durable and how to use less-expensive materials, he said. The country likely will see a big push in coming years for photovoltaic production of electricity, which gathers sunlight into solar panels and turns the beams into power, Dr. Mays said. The key is to use a combination of resources rather than depending on one type of alternative fuel, he said.
"You can’t say there’s one alternative energy source to meet our energy needs," Dr. Mays said.
SOYBEANS AND CHICKEN FAT At UGA, researchers are working on a way to harvest waste from the agricultural industry and turn it into fuel. For example, the state has the largest commercial forest crop in the country, an industry that produces trees as well as brush and bushes.
"Everything ratcheted up after 9-11," said Dr. Tom Adams, director of UGA’s engineering outreach service. "Everybody here feels with every barrel of oil, a portion of what we pay for that oil is going to fund terrorists. We feel it’s absolutely necessary to do this."
Dr. Adams said the trees are harvested but the rest, called the understory, is bulldozed and never used. That’s why UGA researchers are working to design equipment that would harvest the understory and convert it into fuel and fertilizer, he said.
Researchers also are looking at developing byproducts from the bakery industry, sweet potatoes and sorghum into ethanol, which typically has been made from corn. They also are trying to convert soybeans, peanuts and canola oil into biodiesel fuel.
The Rome, Ga.,-based U.S. Biofuels, which UGA researchers helped get off the ground, produces 3 million gallons of biofuels a year from chicken fat. Other biofuel plants are considering locating in Georgia, Dr. Adams said.
The campus is building an ethanol plant that would produce fuel for the university’s vehicles, he said.
"We eventually want to get rid of as much petroleum as possible," he said. "We want to convert biological fuels into heat and hot water for dorms."
Dr. Jonathan Mielenz, the biomass program manager for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said a new study by the lab shows that the country has the potential of up to 1 billion tons of biomass, or plant-derived material, available. Though corn typically is used to make ethanol, there isn’t enough corn in the United States to produce the amount of gasoline needed, he said.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is working on a microorganism that can speed up the process of breaking down plants into ethanol, he said.
"The new organism will make the process go more quickly but also reduce the cost," Dr. Mielenz said.
Kentucky, Tennessee Ally to Seek Disease Laboratory
Homeland Security Plans High-Security Research Site
The Tennessean
February 21, 2006
Political leaders in
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is looking for a location to build the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, which would develop countermeasures to diseases and biological agents that terrorists might use.
U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of a House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, is touting
The three universities have joined a consortium of academic and political leaders who will build a case for constructing the research facility in
About 400 people, half of them scientists researching some of the world's most dangerous diseases, would work in the planned 500,000-square-foot laboratory complex, which would be built on a 150-acre tract about 12 miles northeast of Somerset.
"The competition for this lab will be stiff,"
The Department of Homeland Security is expected to select a site for the lab next year. Construction would take five years, with the laboratory tentatively planned to open in 2012.
The laboratory would have the nation's highest security and would have clearance to study foreign animal diseases, emerging public health threats and "high consequence" pathogens spread by animals.
The lab would replace the aging
Mark Haney, vice president of the Kentucky Farm Bureau, will serve as head of a regional advisory board that will conduct public meetings to address any potential concerns by local residents.
Dr. Michael Blackwell, dean of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, said research into ways to stop microbiological agents from spreading through animals or from animals to people is important to homeland security.
Blackwell said the proposed laboratory would be one of the most secure in the nation. Animal waste, for example, would be sterilized before leaving the compound. Air filters would be installed to make sure no microorganisms escape.
"I would not be afraid if this facility were located in my back yard," Blackwell said. "It will be that safe and secure."
University of
Rogers, who is from
Pulaski County Judge-Executive Darrell Beshears and Somerset Mayor J.P. Wiles said yesterday the project could help bolster the local economy.
"It's our intention to try to sell it to the community because we feel it will be a wonderful thing," Wiles said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is looking for a location to build the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, which would develop countermeasures to diseases and biological agents that terrorists might use.
U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of a House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, is touting
The three universities have joined a consortium of academic and political leaders who will build a case for constructing the research facility in
About 400 people, half of them scientists researching some of the world's most dangerous diseases, would work in the planned 500,000-square-foot laboratory complex, which would be built on a 150-acre tract about 12 miles northeast of Somerset.
"The competition for this lab will be stiff,"
The Department of Homeland Security is expected to select a site for the lab next year. Construction would take five years, with the laboratory tentatively planned to open in 2012.
The laboratory would have the nation's highest security and would have clearance to study foreign animal diseases, emerging public health threats and "high consequence" pathogens spread by animals.
The lab would replace the aging
Mark Haney, vice president of the Kentucky Farm Bureau, will serve as head of a regional advisory board that will conduct public meetings to address any potential concerns by local residents.
Dr. Michael Blackwell, dean of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, said research into ways to stop microbiological agents from spreading through animals or from animals to people is important to homeland security.
Blackwell said the proposed laboratory would be one of the most secure in the nation. Animal waste, for example, would be sterilized before leaving the compound. Air filters would be installed to make sure no microorganisms escape.
"I would not be afraid if this facility were located in my back yard," Blackwell said. "It will be that safe and secure."
University of
Rogers, who is from
Pulaski County Judge-Executive Darrell Beshears and Somerset Mayor J.P. Wiles said yesterday the project could help bolster the local economy.
"It's our intention to try to sell it to the community because we feel it will be a wonderful thing," Wiles said.
ECD Provides Financial Assistance to States Technology Councils
January 18, 2006
As part of the state’s ongoing efforts to create higher skilled, better-paying jobs and support growth in the technology sector, , Commissioner Matthew Kisber today announced that the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development will again award five $25,000 technology sponsorships to five technology councils across the state.
-The East Tennessee Technology Council began the FastTrac curriculum developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The curriculum provides educational and practical, hands-on business development programs and workshops to to early-stage entrepreneurs and newly expanded existing businesses.
-The Chattanooga Technology Council experienced a 25 percent increase in membership, resulting from hiring a full-time marketing representative, improvement in member benefits and exposure from alliances created with other economic development entities. Chattanooga was also awarded the opportunity to host the cre824 Web Design Competition, an international competition in web design, held in November.
-The Northeast Technology Council was recognized for its work in enhancing the technology economy in the Southeast when they received the Regional LINK award from TechLINKS, a Georgia-based technology publication.
The council is also completing the CSPP “Living in the Networked World” community self-assessment, a tool used to examine a community’s preparedness to participate in today’s technologically interconnected society. The council has also launched Project Tech-Fit to provide government leaders with technical knowledge and information for technology recruiting and decision making processes.
“By supporting Tennessee ’s technology councils, we are helping to support technological innovation and technology-based job growth at the grassroots level,” Kisber said. “In order for Tennessee to be competitive in the global economy, we have to continuously build on our foundation as a hub for research and development, and providing assistance to our technology councils is one great way of doing this.”
The five technology councils receiving sponsorships for a second year include the Memphis Technology Council (MTC); Nashville Technology Council (NTC); East Tennessee Technology Council (ETTC); Northeast Tennessee Technology Council (NETTC); and Chattanooga Technology Council (CTC).
The sponsorships will assist with membership recruitment, providing educational opportunities for council members and stimulating collaboration between the councils while reaching out to business leaders in surrounding counties. ECD initiated the financial assistance program in 2004 to focus on empowering technology councils across the state to better implement these key components.
In 2004, state funding was used to help Tennessee ’s technology councils add value through a diverse host of programs. Some of the accomplishments made by the council receiving funding were:
-The Memphis Technology Council re-designed and launched a web site and created an annual marketing publication highlighting innovation efforts of companies from start-ups to major corporations. The council has been involved with its members in recruiting and expanding over 10 technology-intensive company projects that created approximately 2,000 high-wage jobs in the Memphis area.
-The Nashville Technology Council hosted a number of seminars and conferences, including 12 educational tech roundtables attracting more than 900 attendees, including the Technology Nashville conference with 325 attendees and the InfoSec regional conference with over 320 attendees from middle Tennessee and surrounding states.
-The East Tennessee Technology Council began the FastTrac curriculum developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The curriculum provides educational and practical, hands-on business development programs and workshops to to early-stage entrepreneurs and newly expanded existing businesses.
-The Chattanooga Technology Council experienced a 25 percent increase in membership, resulting from hiring a full-time marketing representative, improvement in member benefits and exposure from alliances created with other economic development entities. Chattanooga was also awarded the opportunity to host the cre824 Web Design Competition, an international competition in web design, held in November.
-The Northeast Technology Council was recognized for its work in enhancing the technology economy in the Southeast when they received the Regional LINK award from TechLINKS, a Georgia-based technology publication.
The council is also completing the CSPP “Living in the Networked World” community self-assessment, a tool used to examine a community’s preparedness to participate in today’s technologically interconnected society. The council has also launched Project Tech-Fit to provide government leaders with technical knowledge and information for technology recruiting and decision making processes.
“Technology-based economic development is driven by the expansion of existing companies and the creation of new business ventures. These regional technology councils are well positioned to support ECD’s strategic plan and to create new opportunities for both existing and start-up businesses within the technology sector,” said Eric Cromwell, ECD’s director of technology development. “Moving forward our goal is to increase the state’s focus on technology development by promoting a progressive economic development agenda that benefits all regions of Tennessee .”
The application process for the sponsorship included several stringent requirements, such as submitting a formal report outlining the planned use of the funds, holding semi-annual meetings to share ideas and best practices and participation in the annual Governor’s Conference.
The Technology Development Division within ECD was established in 2003 by Gov. Phil Bredesen and Commissioner Kisber to move forward and support existing and emerging technology resources in Tennessee to create higher paying, better skilled jobs for the future. The division is currently developing new strategies to support entrepreneurial activity in the technology sector and to increase collaborative efforts between organizations.
Business Park in Oak Ridge Considered
February 01, 2006
A new business park for firms using technology spun off from Oak Ridge National Laboratory is under study, officials said Tuesday.
Such a park would be a partnership between ORNL and the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, CROET President Lawrence Young said.
CROET is the regional nonprofit organization that finds new uses for underused Department of Energy properties and buildings on DOE's 33,725-acre Oak Ridge Reservation.
The proposed business park would serve as a "portal'' for the transfer of technology developed at the lab to the private sector, Young said. Officials are talking about a business park close to ORNL if not adjacent to the lab, he said.
The initial phase of such a development would be eight to 20 acres. Long-term, the park wouldn't be more than 100 acres, Young said.
"We're working toward trying to develop it. We don't know exactly where, exactly when, or even if'' such a park is feasible, he said.
The lab and CROET have been in talks about various possible partnerships for years, said Jeff Smith, the lab's deputy director for operations.
"We would like to have a relationship whereby CROET is a valued partner in advancing the lab's mission, part of which is technology transfer,'' Smith said.
Smith characterized talks with CROET about a business park as "ongoing and preliminary in nature.''
CROET board members Tuesday voted to create a new subsidiary corporation, Halcyon LLC, to explore the proposed venture.
Appointed as directors: Young; Smith; Oak Ridge city councilwoman and CROET board member Lou Dunlap; Bill Arant, senior vice president of SunTrust Bank of East Tennessee ; and Tom Rogers, president of Technology 2020, a public-private partnership that helps technology companies grow.
Center at UTC Starts Incubator
January 31, 2006
Chattanooga marked the opening Friday of what UTC’s chancellor termed a "temple of excellence" in developing high-tech businesses.
The Center for Entrepreneurial Growth’s new business incubator-accelerator will speed up development of new companies, said Roger Brown, chancellor at the
CEG started about three years ago with the aim of developing fledgling firms into longterm sustainable companies.
Since that time, CEG has worked with 35 clients representing more than 100 employees with about $5 million annually in revenues, Dr. Brown said.
John Riddell, CEG’s vice president, said the incubator will assist clients rapidly.
He said the incubator plays well into the so-called Tennessee Technology Corridor, which seeks to tie together resources in the
"The corridor has moved from an idea to a bona fide corridor of opportunity," Mr. Riddell said.
Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey said the incubator emphasizes "the jobs of the future."
Mr. Ramsey said the high-tech incubator is an addition to the
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said the incubator merges technology, academics and manufacturing.
Rep. Wamp said he has garnered about $2.24 million for the center and
Richard Casavant, dean of UTC’s
He said he is looking forward to student and faculty members becoming involved with the incubator.
Darrin Wilson, president of www.yourpersonalwaiter.com, said he is bringing his fledgling business to the high-tech incubator because of the services it can provide, including grants and loans.
He said the business will offer people with an online food ordering system.
The Center for Entrepreneurial Growth’s new business incubator-accelerator will speed up development of new companies, said Roger Brown, chancellor at the
CEG started about three years ago with the aim of developing fledgling firms into longterm sustainable companies.
Since that time, CEG has worked with 35 clients representing more than 100 employees with about $5 million annually in revenues, Dr. Brown said.
John Riddell, CEG’s vice president, said the incubator will assist clients rapidly.
He said the incubator plays well into the so-called Tennessee Technology Corridor, which seeks to tie together resources in the
"The corridor has moved from an idea to a bona fide corridor of opportunity," Mr. Riddell said.
Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey said the incubator emphasizes "the jobs of the future."
Mr. Ramsey said the high-tech incubator is an addition to the
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said the incubator merges technology, academics and manufacturing.
Rep. Wamp said he has garnered about $2.24 million for the center and
Richard Casavant, dean of UTC’s
He said he is looking forward to student and faculty members becoming involved with the incubator.
Darrin Wilson, president of www.yourpersonalwaiter.com, said he is bringing his fledgling business to the high-tech incubator because of the services it can provide, including grants and loans.
He said the business will offer people with an online food ordering system.
University of Tennessee to Build Business Incubator
February 15, 2006
UT is scheduled to break ground in the next several weeks on a business incubator sited at the Ag Campus, said Fred Tompkins, executive director at the UT Research Foundation and associate vice president for research. Tompkins projects the UT incubator will open its doors in about a year. He said the facility expects to work with several start-up companies simultaneously.
The University is currently involved with other area incubators, according to Tompkins, such as the
Tompkins said new businesses that rely on knowledge and research, like those available through the UT system and its ties to Oak Ridge National Laboratory through UT-Battelle, are likely to stay in the area where they were incubated. Businesses that utilize the incubator or UT technologies would sign an appropriate licensing agreement, returning a “revenue stream” to the UT Research Foundation.
The University is currently involved with other area incubators, according to Tompkins, such as the
Tompkins said new businesses that rely on knowledge and research, like those available through the UT system and its ties to Oak Ridge National Laboratory through UT-Battelle, are likely to stay in the area where they were incubated. Businesses that utilize the incubator or UT technologies would sign an appropriate licensing agreement, returning a “revenue stream” to the UT Research Foundation.
Big Buildup for Huntsville Biotech Center
Riley Says Institute Marks a Sea Change for Region, Heralds New Economy
The Huntsville Times
February 14, 2006
It is not every day that several hundred people turn out to watch a small pile of dirt being shoveled outdoors in January, but with promises of a new economy, some 900 high-paying jobs and world-class research toward curing disease, the crowd makes sense.
The people were on hand Thursday for the groundbreaking of the Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology, the heart of an effort led by
The Hudson-Alpha Institute was announced in August. Support for the project includes $80 million in private commitments and a $50 million cash pledge from the state.
Gov. Bob Riley was among the featured speakers hailing the "new economy" promised by the first earth-turning on the project, a 260,000-square-foot building in
Riley called the groundbreaking a historic day for
"This marks a sea change," Riley said. "This is a base to grow on for the next generation.
Hudson said along with the research and business spurred by the center, he was working with Columbia High School to develop a biotech program that eventually will be available on the
Construction on the nonprofit institute will formally begin this week, and
Hudson told the enthusiastic crowd that he was "bowled over" by the turnout Thursday. In describing the vision for institute,
"(It is) ...dedicated to scientific discovery,"
Hudson said he and his board of directors believe the institute's discoveries and moving them from research to a patient's bedside could best be accomplished by the private sector.
The public sector also played a huge role in the project, the speakers said Thursday. Riley singled out U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, for his work in the months before the August announcement. The governor said there were times when he thought the project "absolutely would not happen," but Cramer was the "stabilizing influence" that kept the deal together.
State lawmakers including Sens. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, and Tom Butler, D-Madison, were also singled out for their tenacity in supporting the project, as was Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery.
The project was controversial in other parts of the state, given the
"All of this combined will help
The expectation is that
Dr. Danny Lewis, president and chief executive of
Hudson said he hopes to name an institute director, who will lead and direct the research efforts, within six months.
The people were on hand Thursday for the groundbreaking of the Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology, the heart of an effort led by
The Hudson-Alpha Institute was announced in August. Support for the project includes $80 million in private commitments and a $50 million cash pledge from the state.
Gov. Bob Riley was among the featured speakers hailing the "new economy" promised by the first earth-turning on the project, a 260,000-square-foot building in
Riley called the groundbreaking a historic day for
"This marks a sea change," Riley said. "This is a base to grow on for the next generation.
Hudson said along with the research and business spurred by the center, he was working with Columbia High School to develop a biotech program that eventually will be available on the
Construction on the nonprofit institute will formally begin this week, and
Hudson told the enthusiastic crowd that he was "bowled over" by the turnout Thursday. In describing the vision for institute,
"(It is) ...dedicated to scientific discovery,"
Hudson said he and his board of directors believe the institute's discoveries and moving them from research to a patient's bedside could best be accomplished by the private sector.
The public sector also played a huge role in the project, the speakers said Thursday. Riley singled out U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, for his work in the months before the August announcement. The governor said there were times when he thought the project "absolutely would not happen," but Cramer was the "stabilizing influence" that kept the deal together.
State lawmakers including Sens. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, and Tom Butler, D-Madison, were also singled out for their tenacity in supporting the project, as was Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery.
The project was controversial in other parts of the state, given the
"All of this combined will help
The expectation is that
Dr. Danny Lewis, president and chief executive of
Hudson said he hopes to name an institute director, who will lead and direct the research efforts, within six months.
Sikorsky to Add 50 Employees in Huntsville
Expansion will offer technical support for Army's Black Hawks
The Huntsville Times
January 25, 2006
Sikorsky Aircraft plans to add about 50 employees to its operations in
Sikorsky announced the expansion Tuesday of its existing The Sikorsky technical integration center will grow from 10 to 60-plus employees later this year to include engineers, logisticians, and program managers. New positions are to be filled predominantly by new hires from the local area.
"We're in the early phase of the new UH-60M model of the Black Hawk,'' said Ed Steadham, a spokesman for Sikorsky. "In the meantime, there are about 1,600 Army aircraft in the field that need constant support. It makes a lot of sense to be close to the customer, and we know The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command is at Redstone Arsenal.
Sikorsky will initially expand its "Expansion of our Huntsville presence is evidence of our continuing commitment to provide world-class engineering and logistics expertise to support the U.S. Army Aviation warfighter,'' said Mark Miller, Sikorsky vice president for engineering.
Sikorsky also has operations in Since 1978, Sikorsky has manufactured and delivered more than 1,500 H-60 Black Hawk helicopters to the Army. The expanded Sikorsky Huntsville office will support the legacy Black Hawk fleet as well as the latest version of the aircraft, the UH-60M advanced utility helicopter.
EADS Opens Huntsville Office
February 07, 2006
Aerospace, defense firm says presence here is 'paramount'
EADS North America executives say it is vital for the defense and aerospace company to have a presence in
"
Oliver and other EADS officials were in EADS North America is the North American operations of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the world's second-largest aerospace and defense company. The office, in
The "This location is paramount,''
In addition to its work with the Army, the office will also have a support role with several other EADS programs.
Last week, Airbus - which is jointly owned by EADS and BAE Systems - began construction on an engineering center in EADS has operations located in 18 states across the , including a facility in
OR Sees Economy Coming on Strong
Increases in Housing Starts, New Businesses, Development Lead Way
The Knoxville News Sentinel
February 14, 2006
Nearly $30 million in new capital investments in the city occurred during the first six months of its fiscal year, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce reports.
That period, July 1 through year's end 2005, also saw an increase in housing starts and the creation of 44 new jobs.
"This has been an incredibly good six months for Oak Ridge,'' Chamber President Parker Hardy said.
"The capital investment numbers are very impressive, especially when you consider our three-year goal for capital investment was $30 million,'' Hardy said.
The chamber performs economic development duties, including recruiting new industries, through an annual contract it has with Oak Ridge City Council.
As part of that effort, it releases periodic updates on the status of economic goals set for the organization.
The latest report also notes that a 208-unit luxury apartment complex that had at first been sidelined by spiraling hurricane-related construction costs is now back on schedule.
Construction by Nashville's Bristol Development Group of the complex at the intersection of Lafayette Drive and Emory Valley Road is expected to begin soon, officials said.
Also recently announced, according to the report: construction of a Microtel Inn & Suites near the intersection of Tuskegee Drive and Tulsa Road.
The construction value of that 65-room inn is pegged at between $2.7 million and $3 million.
The report notes that "6,000 homes are in the Oak Ridge 10-year pipeline, and additional developments are being considered.''
Still, the report said, "we believe that the rush to attract new developers is over.'' The emphasis now should be on helping those residential developers and attracting new residents, it said.
According to the report, there were 137 housing starts in Oak Ridge last year, compared to 92 starts the previous year.
New plants that announced during the reporting period include Philotechnics, a company that prepares low-level radioactive waste for transport and helps clean up research facilities, which is building a $2.1 million facility in Horizon Center Industrial Park. Noble Metals, a firm that specializes in high-temperature and precious metals, built a $470,000 facility on Belgrade Road.
Knoxville Business Climate Lauded
Magazine Ranks City Ninth in Nation, Up Five Spots from a Year Ago
The Knoxville News Sentinel
January 28, 2006
Knoxville jumped five spots to rank ninth on Expansion Management Magazine's 2006 list of the hottest cities in the country for business expansions and relocations, state and local economic development officials announced Friday.
The metropolitan area was 14th in 2005.
"Our efforts are really starting to pay off. It's good to see us climbing in the rankings," Rhonda Rice, executive vice president of the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership, said Friday.
"The successes we've seen with expansions like the Denso announcement and others is starting to get people's attention," Rice said.
Last month Denso Manufacturing Tennessee announced a $185 million expansion of its Maryville plant. Denso, which makes starters, alternators and related products for the automotive industry, plans to create 500 new jobs. The company already employs nearly 2,500 people.
Expansion Management cited Denso's investment and Newell Rubbermaid's plan to add 200 jobs at its Maryville plant as examples of a "vibrant economy" in Knoxville and statewide.
Four Tennessee cities made the magazine's Top 50. Nashville captured the top spot for the second year in a row. Memphis was No. 7 and Jackson was No. 42 this year.
The magazine surveyed more than 80 site location consultants to determine which of the 362 metro areas in the United States were the best for expansion and relocation.
Consultants considered business climate, work force quality, operating costs, incentive programs and the ease of working with local business and political leaders.
Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale said Jobs Now! has played a major role in the region's growing national profile.
"Knoxville is getting well-deserved attention for being a great place to locate, expand and grow businesses and I believe this is confirmation that economic development strategies - particularly our Jobs Now! initiative - is responsible for that success," Haslam said in a statement.
Ragsdale told the magazine that the No. 9 ranking "clearly shows that we're moving in the right direction, developing a bright future and promoting the Innovation Valley as a region."
Jobs Now!, a five-year economic development campaign funded by local governments and private businesses, markets the Knoxville-Oak Ridge region as Innovation Valley.
Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matthew Kisber said the state's FastTrack Job Training and FastTrack Infrastructure programs have helped "propel Tennessee as a hot spot for business."
The FastTrack programs provide financial incentives to businesses that relocate or expand in Tennessee.
Ranking cities by a variety of criteria has become a cottage industry in recent years, but Expansion Management's list is particularly significant because it surveys site consultants who have considerable influence with corporate decision-makers, Rice said.
"That's why we are going to see the consultants and getting out in the marketplace and marketing the region on a national level," she added.
Eastman Looking to Hire 2,000 New Employees
February 15, 2006
"The Eastman" is hiring again, thanks to a wave of baby boomer retirements.
The catch is at least a two-year college degree is required.
Eastman Chemical Co. hired 250 people in 2005 and will hire more than 2,000 people from 2006 through 2010, company head Brian Ferguson said Tuesday morning.
Ferguson, Eastman's chairman and chief executive officer, told a group of 150 business and local government leaders that the new hires are needed to replace those projected to retire. The company employs about 12,000 worldwide, including 7,500 in Kingsport
.
But Ferguson said Eastman - which traditionally does not promote its hiring or economic impact on the region - needs help from Kingsport, Sullivan County, Bristol and other area communities in educating, attracting and retaining qualified employees.
A minimum of a two-year degree is required for the jobs, he said, whereas 15 years ago the company had higher-paying jobs for high school graduates.
Ferguson said students need to realize good-paying jobs are available at Eastman and other employers if they have the right education and training.
"We really need to start in the eighth grade," Ferguson said after the Regional Leaders' Breakfast Eastman sponsored at MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center.
Eastman had its best-ever revenues last year and its best earnings per share since 1995. Ferguson painted a rosy picture of Eastman's future, saying that its use of the region's abundant coal resources in an environmentally friendly manner and its advanced polyester technology make it profitable in the United States whereas other chemical companies are going to Saudi Arabia or China for low-cost labor and power.
Ferguson said the good news for Kingsport is that Eastman retirees likely will stay in the region, with the new employees also becoming residents if housing is available.
Ferguson also said the city and region need more new homes in the $100,000 to $200,000 range.
A lack of affordable housing, as well as a lack of more upscale housing, has become a focus of the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Kingsport Economic Development Board and NETWORKS – Sullivan Partnership, a joint economic development effort of Sullivan County, Kingsport, Bristol, Tenn., and Bluff City.
Ferguson also called on the region to make improvements in crime, saying that pockets of unsafe areas are unacceptable and that even the perception of a crime problem hurts the recruitment of workers and businesses.
As for the perception of poor air quality because of the industry in Kingsport, a quality-of-life issue, Ferguson said Eastman's Toxic Release Inventory of air emissions reported to the Environmental Protection Agency since 1985 have declined by 86 percent in Kingsport.
All reportable releases in 2004 were up, but less than half of what they were in 2000, he added.
Ferguson said Eastman and other employers also need help on ways to control spiraling health care costs that for Eastman in Kingsport alone cost the company $60 million in 2005.
That was part of $688 million Eastman companywide paid to and for employees last year. In addition, the chemical, fibers and plastics maker paid $29 million in sales, use and property tax.
Of the 2,000 or more jobs, Ferguson said 75 percent to 80 percent will be technical jobs requiring an associate's degree, while the other 20 percent to 25 percent are business and professional positions in things like engineering, business and law that require four-year degrees or more.
He said the pay is about $18 an hour for the technical jobs and much more for the others, depending on the position.
Economic developer John Campbell, CEO of NETWORKS, after the breakfast said the public announcement of Eastman's hiring needs should push along work force development, housing development and other efforts under way to help woo business and industry here.
"That's at least the equivalent of two major industries that are coming into this market," Campbell said of 2,000 new hires, adding that smaller companies also need to replace retiring workers. "I don't know that there's a company I've visited that couldn't use more workers."
Alabama Auto Jobs Continue to Climb
February 18, 2006
Despite industry setbacks, state sees 43.7% boost in '05
Despite an automotive industry that is roiling from job cuts and plant closures, Alabama saw a sharp increase in automotive jobs last year.
In 2005, the state automotive industry employed 44,834 people, up from 31,197 in 2003, an increase of 43.7 percent, according to a survey conducted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville for the Alabama Automotive Manufacturer's Association.
The study, which included results from 263 plants, was released Friday at AAMA's annual meeting in Mobile.
Tuscaloosa is the county with the most automotive jobs, 7,854 in 2005, a 48 percent increase from 2003.
Madison County ranked third, with 4,866 automotive jobs, an increase of 16 percent. Limestone County, which was ranked fifth with 2,812 jobs, saw a 3 percent decline in jobs.
Montgomery County saw the largest increase in the 2005 survey, gaining more than 4,000 jobs when Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama and its suppliers began operations.
The state's three assembly plants, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Mercedes-Benz U.S. and the Hyundai plant, employ 11,000 people and produced 479,000 cars last year. These and other direct industry jobs support another 79,356 jobs as a result of purchases by industry employees and companies, generating a payroll of $4.8 billion in 2005, the survey said.
Ralph Malone, president of AAMA and president of Triana Industries in Madison, said much of the growth has come from existing small plants around the state entering the automotive business. Fifty-two percent of supplier plants in Alabama have less than 50 employees, according to the AAMA.
The survey also reported:
A 73 percent increase in assembly plant jobs.
A 22 percent increase in supplier jobs.
29 companies established new plants during 2004 and 2005.
39 of Alabama's 67 counties have an automotive plant.
10 plants left the state, closed or lost all automotive business.
The growth has come despite flagging company performance among large U.S. automakers, who have struggled to retool their plants to compete with the newer, more nimble factories of foreign competitors.
David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said automotive industry jobs should continue to grow in the Southeast for a while, but will taper off as nearly 45,000 workers retire from U.S. plants during the next several years. U.S. automakers will be looking for younger, tech-savvy talent to replace them.
"One of the things we are hearing is that there are concerns with educational levels and work ethic," he said. "It tends to be little more laid back in the South. And jobs will become more sophisticated ... the lowest level operator will have to have at least a two-year degree from a community college."
Tennessee's Economy on the Grow
Forecast Predicts Higher Wages, Lower Unemployment
The Knoxville News Sentinel
February 09, 2006
Tennessee's economy will continue to expand in 2006 and 2007 after posting modest gains last year, the University of Tennessee's Center for Business and Economic Research reported Wednesday.
Job growth will increase 1.2 percent in 2006 and 1.3 percent in 2007 after a sluggish 1 percent growth rate in 2005, according to the annual CBER economic forecast prepared for Gov. Phil Bredesen.
A growing economy will help lower the unemployment rate and raise wages statewide. Unemployment is expected to hover around 5.3 percent through 2007, down from 5.6 percent in 2005. Average Tennessee nonfarm wages will jump to $40,115 by 2007, up from $37,235 last year.
"Services remain the primary source of job creation for the state economy with employment growth especially strong in the state's metropolitan areas," the report's authors wrote.
Within the services sector, construction, health and education, and leisure and hospitality will be the job growth leaders. Construction jobs are expected to grow more than 2 percent in 2006 and 2007. Education and health services will grow 1.86 percent and 1.89 percent, respectively followed by leisure and hospitality services at 1.66 percent and 1.85 percent.
Metropolitan Knoxville's economy is healthy and continues to grow, fueled by a surge in industrial investment and robust growth in construction and services jobs, said Rhonda Rice, executive vice president of the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership.
"I think what you're seeing in manufacturing is companies that perhaps were a little hesitant the last couple of years are starting to invest in expansions. We're seeing growth from our small manufacturing companies to our large manufacturers and I think we're going to continue to see that in the years ahead," Rice said.
A surge in residential development, suburban office building and hotel construction is helping feed Knoxville-area growth in service jobs, Rice said.
Statewide, manufacturing jobs are expected to increase by a slender 0.2 percent in 2006 - a small but notable gain considering the state has lost manufacturing jobs every year since 1999, UT economist and Center for Business and Economic Research associate director Matthew Murray said in a statement.
Transportation equipment production has been especially good for the state economy since companies such as Nissan and Saturn built plants in Tennessee in the 1980s.
"Those locations continue to pay dividends today," Murray said.
Nissan North America announced in November it would relocate its corporate headquarters and about 1,300 jobs to Franklin, Tenn. In December, Denso Manufacturing, a maker of starters, alternators and related products for the automotive industry, announced a $185 million expansion of its Maryville plant. Denso's investment will generate an estimated 500 new jobs by late 2007.
Despite the growth of transportation equipment production in Tennessee, the CBER report offered a cautionary note.
"The same sector is subject to intense competitive pressures as evidenced by the recent struggles of Ford and GM, both of which recently announced major job cuts," the report said.
But for now, CBER looks for the state economy to continuing growing. And a growing state economy means Tennesseans will see wages and incomes grow.
Per-capita personal income will rise to $29,465 in 2007, up from $27,979 in 2005, the report said.
With more money in their pockets, consumers will spend more, which means state tax revenue also will grow. Taxable sales are projected to rise 5.15 percent in 2006 and 5.33 percent in 2007.
The news isn't so good for Tennessee's agricultural sector. Farm income is expected to fall in 2006 as prices for crops and cattle drop.
"Besides low market prices, rising costs of production are also a significant threat to farm profitability, particularly higher prices for fuel and petroleum-derived fertilizers," the report said.
Science, Technology Initiatives Can Benefit Chattanooga, Wamp Says
February 14, 2006
The Tennessee Valley is positioned to capitalize on the energy and science initiatives outlined in President Bush’s State of the Union address, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., told Chattanooga business leaders Monday.
Chattanooga, located midway between NASA’s Huntsville, Ala., campus and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, can build on its manufacturing tradition along the Tennessee Valley Corridor, Rep. Wamp said. The Enterprise South Industrial Park "is an ideal site" to make and distribute new energy-efficient products and vehicles of the future, he said.
"This region will be critical to the development and deployment of the technology and science initiatives the president spoke about," Rep. Wamp said. "The question is what role Chattanooga is going to play."
For the third time in 11 years, Chattanooga will host a summit meeting this spring for the Tennessee Valley Corridor. Rep. Wamp and organizers of the corridor summit appealed to business leaders Monday to promote and support the event to be held May 31 and June 1. Organizers expect more than 500 business leaders from across the region to attend the two-day conference.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for the Chattanooga metro region to showcase, not only to key corridor leaders but to influential national and global leaders, all that Southeast Tennessee has to offer as a premier place to live, work and do business," said Susan Reid, chairwoman of the Tennessee Valley Corridor Inc.
The nonprofit group has an annual budget of about $400,000 to promote the summit and a number of economic development initiatives, including the New Economy Institute and the Enterprise Center in Chattanooga.
The corridor, which stretches from Huntsville to Southwest Virginia, was created by Rep. Wamp in 1995 to promote the federal research facilities in the region, including NASA, the Department of Energy, the UT Space Institute and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Rep. Wamp said UTC and other universities in the region should help Chattanooga transition its manufacturing base to the high-tech jobs of the future developed at nearby federal labs.
Both Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey and Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield said Enterprise South is ready to handle new manufacturing investments.
"It’s just a matter of time — and not that much time," Mr. Littlefield said.