The Tennessee Valley Corridor, a multi-state regional economic development organization, is bringing this year’s National Technology Summit back to Oak Ridge, Tenn. where the first Summit was convened by Congressman Zach Wamp nearly 15 years ago.

 

Taking place on May 27-28 at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s New Hope Center, the major themes of this year’s event will focus on new missions and opportunities for Oak Ridge and the Corridor; energy innovation in areas such as solar, nuclear and fuel cells; and how to best advance entrepreneurship and regional economic development in the region. Complete information about the event can be found online at www.tennvalleycorridor.org.

 

“In 1995 we convened a regional economic development summit in Oak Ridge where a core group of East Tennessee leaders began working together to link and leverage the many science, technology, education and business assets we have in the Tennessee Valley for new regional job creation,” said Congressman Zach Wamp.

 

“What first started as a small regional summit in Oak Ridge has now grown nearly 15 years later to become a national award-winning regional economic development organization uniting 10 congressional districts across five states, all working together to demonstrate ‘national leadership through regional cooperation’ and to create the jobs of the future,” Wamp said. “Now, Congressman Lincoln Davis and I are looking forward to being joined by several of our other Congressional colleagues and hundreds of other top leaders as the 2009 National Summit returns to Oak Ridge for the first time since it all began there in 1995.”

 

The upcoming Summit in Oak Ridge is the 21st in a series of such events that have strategically linked the technology-rich Tennessee Valley Corridor -- from North Alabama through Tennessee into Southwest Virginia, Western North Carolina and Southern and Eastern Kentucky.

 

“New opportunities in energy production and energy conservation are at the forefront of the national debate in Washington, and Oak Ridge and the Tennessee Valley Corridor can play a key role in determining the future,” Congressman Lincoln Davis, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said. “I look forward to participating in this important National Summit with Congressman Wamp and so many others from throughout the Corridor.”

Building on such regional assets as NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal, the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center, the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the National Transportation Research Center, the Center for Rural Development, the National Safe Skies Alliance, several world-class research universities and dozens of corporate leaders in science and technology, the Tennessee Valley Corridor organization has helped showcase the region's superior quality of life and the people, business, natural and scientific resources needed for high-tech research, development, business and investment in the 21st Century.

Previous Corridor Summits and regional Partnership Events have been held in Chattanooga, Kingsport, Knoxville, Johnson City, Nashville, Oak Ridge and Tullahoma, Tenn.; Decatur and Huntsville, Ala.; Somerset, Ky.; Greenville, SC; Asheville, NC and Washington, D.C.

 

In 2004, the Tennessee Valley Corridor was recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce as one of the top two regional economic development organizations in the country.  The Corridor tied with the famed Research Triangle Partnership in North Carolina as the nation’s most outstanding organization’s for enhancing regional competitiveness.

 

For complete information on the Tennessee Valley Corridor or for a draft agenda of the upcoming National Summit please visit www.tennvalleycorridor.org.

The Tennessee Valley Corridor Board of Directors recently announced during their quarterly board meeting at Y-12’s New Hope Center in Oak Ridge, Tenn. that the footprint of the Tennessee Valley Corridor, an award-winning regional economic and technology development organization, will be expanded to include North Carolina’s Eleventh Congressional District.

 

The technology-rich Tennessee Valley Corridor previously included five congressional districts in eastern and southern middle Tennessee, two in northern Alabama, and one in both southwest Virginia and southern and eastern Kentucky.  The addition of North Carolina’s Eleventh District makes a total of ten contiguous congressional districts actively working together for high-tech job creation in the Tennessee Valley Corridor.

 

“I am very pleased to see our Congressional district officially become a part of such a great regional organization,” said Congressman Heath Shuler. “Zach Wamp and I have been working together with our colleagues to get more of our high-tech institutions and assets collaborating, both to serve the national interest and to create more high-tech jobs here in Southern Appalachia.  This recent announcement will help those of us here in the Western North Carolina expand upon and create even more opportunities for collaboration with other in the Tennessee Valley Corridor.”

 

This announcement comes on the heels of a successful Tennessee Valley Corridor Southeast Partnership Event, co-hosted by Congressmen Heath Shuler and Zach Wamp, which took place in Asheville, North Carolina last November. Working with a local Western North Carolina economic development agency, AdvantageWest, the meeting was the first the TVC had conducted in the state and its success helped spur the official partnership announced last week.

 

Other congressional leaders actively involved in the Corridor include Tennessee Congressmen Jimmy Duncan, Bart Gordon, Lincoln Davis, and Phil Roe; Alabama Congressmen Bud Cramer and Robert Aderholt; Kentucky Congressman Hal Rogers; and Virginia Congressman Rick Boucher. In addition, Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, as well as Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, have been particularly active supporters of the effort.

 

“From the great biodiversity and green technology assets to the many other science and technology resources in Western North Carolina, Congressman Shuler’s district is a logical partner for the Corridor,” said Congressman Wamp. “We look forward to working with our new Western North Carolina allies to find even more ways to build strong partnerships and create more high-paying technology jobs throughout the Valley for the benefit of the entire region.”

 

“The goal of the Tennessee Valley Corridor is to link together our technology assets so the Tennessee Valley Corridor is instantly-recognized as one of the premiere science and technology regions in the country,” said Tom Rogers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory who serves as Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Corridor, Inc.  “We welcome Congressman Shuler and his district into this growing effort and are excited to have them joining us.”

 

The Tennessee Valley Corridor (TVC) is a multi-state regional economic development organization dedicated to promoting the Tennessee Valley Corridor as one of the nation's premier science and technology centers, and to leveraging the Valley's abundant research and technology assets and institutions for maximum regional economic development and new job creation.

 

Since 1995 when it was first formed by Congressman Zach Wamp, the Tennessee Valley Corridor has built a strong alliance of community, business, education and government leaders through a series of regular regional and National economic summits led by the Corridor's bipartisan and multi-state Congressional delegation and a blue-ribbon board of regional leaders.

 

Building on such regional assets as NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal, the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center, the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the National Transportation Research Center, the Center for Rural Development, the National Safe Skies Alliance, several world-class research universities and dozens of corporate leaders in science and technology, the Tennessee Valley Corridor organization has helped showcase the region's superior quality of life and the people, business, natural and scientific resources needed for high-tech research, development, business and investment in the 21st Century.

 

For more information on the Tennessee Valley Corridor, please visit www.tennvalleycorridor.org.

Wacker Chemie AG, a German manufacturer of the basic material used in solar-energy cells, will build a $1 billion plant near Cleveland, Tenn., providing an initial 500 to 600 jobs, the company, along with state and local officials, announced on Feb. 26.

 

The company will construct the plant on a site in Bradley County along Lauderdale Memorial Highway just off Exit 33 of Interstate 75, northwest of Cleveland, said Dan Howell, executive assistant to Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis.

 

It's expected to begin producing the material — polycrystalline silicon, also known as polysilicon — sometime in 2012.

 

Howell said the site is about 20 miles north of the Volkswagen auto assembly plant under construction off I-75 in Chattanooga, also a $1 billion facility that will spur job creation at a time of rising unemployment in the state.

 

"This will be our own little VW plant," Howell said. "It won't provide as many jobs, but the investment will be the same."

 

Volkswagen plans to employ about 2,000 workers when that plant opens in early 2011.

 

This will be the second polysilicon factory announced for Tennessee in recent months. Michigan-based Hemlock Semiconductor Corp., one of Wacker's key competitors, said in December that it plans to build a $1.2 billion facility near Clarksville. That project is expected to open in 2012 and create 800 jobs.

 

The planned Wacker and Hemlock plants are part of a fast-moving global expansion of polysilicon production spurred by a shortage of the material earlier this decade and by growing interest in solar-energy products, said Shyam Mehta, a senior analyst who covers the solar-energy industry for Boston-based Greentech Media.

 

"Wacker is one of the biggest polysilicon producers, and they have been looking to expand in the U.S. for some time now," Mehta said. "The solar industry is growing very strong, creating a demand for polysilicon. In response, there have been a lot of announcements by producers about expanding their capacity worldwide."

 

Hemlock and Wacker are among the world's top seven polysilicon producers, he said. The others include Renewable Energy Corp., or REC, of Norway, which is nearing completion of a new plant in Washington State. REC announced late last year that it would build yet another North American plant, in Quebec, Canada.

 

In addition to the new Clarksville plant, Hemlock also is spending $1 billion to expand capacity at its Hemlock, Mich., polysilicon plant, the announcement of which was made the same day as that of the Clarksville plant. Hemlock is a joint venture of Dow Chemical Co. and a Japanese partner.

 

 

Gov. Phil Bredesen, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and state Economic Development Commissioner Matt Kisber will be on hand this morning at Lee University in Cleveland for the Wacker announcement, along with officials of the company.

 

Bradley County has a variety of manufacturing operations, Howell said, including a Whirlpool appliance plant that recently added 400 jobs, as well as factories for Olin Corp. and Rubbermaid.

The county's population is approaching 100,000, and Cleveland has about 40,000 residents, he said. It's also the home to the worldwide headquarters of the Church of God, which also operates the 4,000-student Lee University.

 

Wacker, pronounced "Vokker," has varied U.S. operations under its Wacker Chemical Corp. subsidiary, which is based in Adrian, Mich. Company officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

 

Wacker Chemie's Web site describes the firm as a "worldwide operating company in the chemical business" whose products include silicones, polymer products, polysilicon and silicon wafers for the semiconductor industry.

 

Its biggest plant, with about 10,000 workers, is in Burghausen, Germany, and the company's annual sales for 2008 totaled about 4 billion euros (nearly $5.1 billion), according to the Web site.

 

In a November news release about additions to two of its German plants, the company said that with those projects and "other ongoing expansion measures, Wacker's polysilicon capacity by year-end 2011 will reach 35,500 metric tons annually."

 

"This output expansion will enable Wacker to meet the accelerating global demand it expects for hyper-pure polycrystalline silicon," according to the release. The company said it expects "continued double-digit annual growth in polysilicon demand by the solar industry."

 

The fact that several top polysilicon producers have expanded production — along with the worldwide recession — has depressed prices for the material from a high of about $400 per kilo in early 2008 to about $150 to $200 now, Mehta said.

 

And with new plants under construction or planned in North America and abroad, the market for polysilicon could get even weaker, especially if the recession continues much longer, he said.

"There will be so much product available that the imbalance will allow any buyer to negotiate a good contract," Mehta said. "But Wacker is a go-to company because they have been in the business so many years. And they definitely have contracts lined up for the U.S. plant. I expect them to emerge better than their competitors, but they still will be impacted."

On February 26, U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Congressman Zach Wamp said phase 1 of the new Wacker plant to be built in Charleston, Tenn., will bring a projected $1 billion initial investment and at least 500 to 600 new jobs to the local economy while helping keep Tennessee on the forefront of energy technology.

 

“This announcement is huge for Tennessee and very welcome, good news,” said Senator Alexander. “This new plant will help bring a cleaner future and better jobs for Tennesseans. I congratulate Governor Bredesen and Bradley County and pledge to do everything I can to help this project succeed.”

 

“To be back in Tennessee for the third time in less than a year with an announcement of this magnitude is outstanding and it’s a true testament to the leadership of Governor Bredesen and his economic development team led by Commissioner Kisber. I had a very good feeling about Bradley County’s chances when I met with Wacker officials and local leaders in October, and we should all be incredibly proud of this successful recruiting effort and the leadership in Bradley County,” said Senator Corker at the announcement in Charleston. “The renewable energy industry is growing and will continue to grow for decades, making Tennessee a hub for a flourishing job market that increases our country’s energy security.”

 

“Wacker’s decision to build their only North American facility in Bradley County is another example of how the Tennessee Valley Corridor is a leader in energy technology,” said Congressman Wamp. “Our educated workforce and high quality of life continue to encourage economic development in East Tennessee, even during tough economic times. The leadership of Cleveland and Bradley County should be commended for their excellent work over a long period of time to make this goal a reality.”

 

Wacker Chemie AG, a Munich-based company, announced this morning that it has purchased 550 acres on land in Bradley County to build a plant to produce hyperpure, polycrystalline silicon, the primary component in solar wafers, solar panels, and semi-conductors. Dr. Rudolf Staudigl, President and CEO of Wacker Chemie AG, cited Tennessee’s superior rail, highway and water infrastructure, abundant and accessible energy sources like the Tennessee Valley Authority, and availability of a good, highly-skilled workforce as reasons for choosing the Bradley County site.

 

Today’s announcement marks the official purchase of the land by Wacker. Construction plans for the site have yet to be finalized.

Despite today’s troubling economic times, there is one region of the country that is still on the move attracting big new business investments and creating the jobs of the future.

It’s happening in our very own Tennessee Valley Corridor. And our astounding success did not just happen by accident.

Nearly 15 years ago at a regional economic development summit I convened in Oak Ridge, a core group of East Tennessee leaders began working together to link and leverage the many science, technology, education and business assets we have in the Tennessee Valley for new regional job creation.

Three of our focus areas we identified at that first summit were transportation, energy and next-generation manufacturing. Not only because we already had existing regional assets and a strong workforce we could leverage in those three areas, but also because we recognized that those three business sectors would be so important to America’s economic future.

Now, thanks to that clear vision, the strong partnerships we have put together and the hard work by so many dedicated leaders, our efforts have paid off BIG -- with two new billion dollar business investments in the heart of our high-tech Corridor in just the past few months, even in the midst of a national recession.

Most recently, Wacker Chemie AG, a Munich, Germany-based company, announced in late February that it had purchased 550 acres in Bradley County, Tenn., to build a new plant to produce polycrystalline silicon, the primary component in solar wafers, solar panels and semi-conductors. Phase One of this new Wacker solar energy plant will bring a projected $1 billion capital investment and will create at least 500 to 600 new jobs initially, while also pushing Tennessee to the forefront of the nation’s new solar energy playing field.

Just as noteworthy, this new Wacker plant is only 20 miles to the north of the new $1 billion Volkswagen auto assembly plant that is currently under construction in Chattanooga, which is projected to create thousands of new next-generation manufacturing and supply jobs at a time of rising unemployment across the nation and in too many other parts of our state.

The world’s businesses are, of course, looking to Tennessee for new business investment because our location is good, our workforce is first-rate, and our taxes are low. But they are also looking our way because we are working together to imagine the future -- and then working smarter to make it happen.

What first started as a small regional summit in Oak Ridge has now grown nearly 15 years later to become a national award-winning regional economic development organization uniting 10 congressional districts across five states, all working together to demonstrate “national leadership through regional cooperation” and to create the jobs of the future. Having come full circle, the Tennessee Valley Corridor National Technology Summit will be returning to Oak Ridge this May 27-28 for the first time since it all began there in 1995.

But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. The national economic climate is tough and too many families in our state are still hurting.

Now is the time to double our efforts to grow and attract the jobs of the future, to put more folks back to work, to grow our state economy, to keep our taxes low, to create new opportunities so our kids and grandkids can stay here close to home and to boost family incomes for all Tennesseans.

We cannot overstate the significance of the recent announcements about Wacker Chemie and Hemlock Semiconductor's plans to build billion-dollar polycrystalline silicon manufacturing facilities in Cleveland, Tenn., and Clarksville, Tenn.

 

Our state, soon to be home to two of the world's largest manufacturing facilities of the basic building block of solar panels, is clearly poised to become a major link on the supply chain of one of the world's fastest-growing energy sources.

 

Clean energy industries such as solar have certainly not been insulated from the current economic downturn. These new Tennessee companies are preparing for growth over the long term.

 

Worldwide, economic and environmental factors are going to drive demand for solar energy in the coming years. As is often the case with new technology, solar power is expensive, and up-front costs currently present real financial barriers to consumers.

 

However, as the industry matures and manufacturers benefit from economies of scale, prices will come down. They already have. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that from 1998-2007, the average installed cost of solar PV (photovoltaic) systems declined by 3.5 percent per year. As costs come down and demand goes up, there will be more jobs for those working to produce the panels and those installing them in homes and businesses.

 

Our region was a major center for energy innovation for much of the 20th century. To meet the challenges of the 21st, the U.S. Department of Energy is once again turning to us to push the frontiers of an entirely new energy model. The "Energy Park" concept envisioned by DOE should capture the imagination of scientists and entrepreneurs alike. Gov. Phil Bredesen's proposal for a University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Solar Institute could become a signature piece of this development.

 

Research and development will improve the efficiency of solar PV materials and help integrate them into building materials like roof tiles and window glass. Like computers, solar technology will be getting better for many years to come. However, despite the potential for technological improvement, it makes real economic and environmental sense for the state of Tennessee and the TVA to invest in solar generation today. Solar power is clean, homegrown, and carbon-free, and Tennessee has more sunshine than either Germany or Japan (the two countries with the most solar power installed worldwide). We have plenty of rooftops and an electricity system that is stretched to generate enough power on hot, sunny days.

 

In Knoxville, we are building on our designation as one of the 25 U.S. DOE "Solar America Cities" to play a major role in generating demand for the products of Tennessee's newest industry. We're starting by connecting consumers to basic information: What types of solar energy are available, where to look for information about federal, state and TVA incentives, which Tennessee businesses provide solar installation services, and how to be a smart consumer.

 

More than 70 business people attended our "Solar For Your Business" workshop at the Knoxville Chamber last month, and nearly 60 residents attended "Solar For Your Home" at Ijams Nature Center in December. We have more workshops like these coming up, and we're steadily improving online information.

 

We're organizing a training seminar for city and county building code officials who need to know how to properly inspect and permit solar energy systems. We're working with Pellissippi State Technical Community College to help build their clean energy curriculum. We're installing a high-visibility solar PV system at the new, LEED-certified transit center under construction in downtown Knoxville.

 

Research and development in institutes such as Bredesen and the DOE have proposed, along with deployment programs such as we are pursuing in Knoxville, will lead to better materials, lower prices and new jobs for Tennesseans.

 

Solar technology's success in the marketplace will put Tennesseans to work in manufacturing and research facilities throughout the state. Installation of these products in our homes and businesses will create additional high-skill service sector jobs as well as a cleaner and more robust electricity system.

 

The federal Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with its emphasis on energy conservation and renewable energy, could provide Tennessee with additional resources for strategic investments in solar deployment statewide.

 

Even now, when the daily economic news is decidedly gloomy, the future of solar power offers Tennessee a much-needed glimpse at a silver lining.

 

Bill Haslam is mayor of Knoxville. His e-mail address is mayor@cityofknoxville.org.

Tennessee scored some major new corporate residents in 2008, with a Volkswagen facility announced for the Chattanooga area and Hemlock heading to Clarksville.

 

Yet somewhat overshadowed by the higher-profile announcements is San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp.'s (SAIC) announcement of its intention to establish the international headquarters operations of its Shared Services Division at an existing Oak Ridge office. Transaction-based functions associated with human resources, finance and corporate purchasing were moved from SAIC's McLean, Va., and San Diego offices to the new headquarters.

 

Known for handling military contracts, SAIC provides information technology, systems integration and eSolutions to commercial and government customers. Company officials report annual revenues of $8.9 billion, while SAIC and its subsidiaries have more than 45,000 employees in more than 150 offices worldwide.

 

Oak Ridge government and economic development officials say landing SAIC's Shared Services Division headquarters is a major coup for both the city and Anderson County. They note the initial creation of 150 new jobs (bolstering the previous 650-employee Oak Ridge workforce), an average annual wage twice that of the county average and a $10 million capital investment. Perhaps most importantly, the officials foresee the headquarters as creating strong growth opportunities.

 

"SAIC has a history of IT support for cutting-edge issues like homeland security, energy research and environmental science," says Jim O'Connor, Oak Ridge city manager. "Oak Ridge is fortunate to host several federal facilities (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for example) that attract companies like SAIC."

 

In addition, O'Connor says SAIC has always been a "community-oriented company whose employees invest in civic organizations."

 

"The expansion here is tremendously beneficial for Tennessee and will enhance Oak Ridge's reputation as the heart of the Tennessee Valley Corridor," he adds.

With the division headquarters addition, SAIC will become Oak Ridge's fifth largest employer. Already, SAIC ranks among the city's top 15 property taxpayers and top five local business taxpayers, according to 2008 City of Oak Ridge tax records. The company has maintained a presence in Oak Ridge for more than 30 years.

 

Kim Denton, president of the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, says behind-the-scenes work to lure the SAIC headquarters (code-named Project Alignment) began in February 2008.

 

"Since Oak Ridge is not a typical city of 28,000, I don't think it is unusual for [the city] to be home to a large division of an international company," says Denton, who describes Oak Ridge as an "international city" because of its business climate and high-tech entities.

 

As part of the move, SAIC is renovating its Laboratory Road office building, elevating its space to Class A status. Renovations to Floor 1 (of four) are completed.

 

Denton says both the City of Oak Ridge and Anderson County are prepared to offer a payment-in-lieu-of-tax (PILOT) incentive should SAIC apply. About a dozen companies operating in Anderson County have taken advantage of PILOT, Denton adds.

 

Denton says establishment of the SAIC headquarters "sends a strong message" to other high-profile companies considering either relocating to Tennessee or having a regional/national presence within the state.

 

Laura Luke, SAIC vice president of media relations, declines to say how much the company is spending on the consolidation or how much it expects to save as a result. She says the company likes Oak Ridge because of its "stable work force, modern telecommunications infrastructure and favorable business environment."

While Oak Ridge officials are pleased with the SAIC headquarters, the company's increased presence within Anderson County may come with heightened scrutiny from those critics who contend that SAIC receives preferential federal government treatment and, even worse, that it does unacceptable work.

 

Previous reports from media outlets such as Vanity Fair and National Public Radio have noted conflict-of-interest concerns related to contracts rewarded to SAIC, particularly related to the war in Iraq. The University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy Web site notes in a 2004 story that SAIC, after winning a contract from the Pentagon to oversee Iraq's state-run television station, caught heat from station employees for failure to provide updated equipment. Newsweek, in a Feb. 8, 2006, article on SAIC's work on the National Security Agency's Project Trailblazer, described SAIC as taking a "clunky top-down solution."

 

"The NSA cancelled the project after very strong congressional criticism," says Tim Shorrock, the Washington, D.C.-based author of Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Contracting and an expert on defense and intelligence contracting.

 

The Huntsville metro area saw the state's greatest population surge in 2008 and ranked 27th nationally, up 34 spots from 2007.

 

The metro area, which includes Limestone County, grew by 9,323 people from 2007 to 2008, a 2.4 percent increase according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Wednesday. Those new arrivals brought the population for the Huntsville metro area to 395,645 as of July 1, making it the 127th largest metro area out of 361 in the U.S.

 

"The Census ranking absolutely reflects our job growth here," said Ethan Hadley, vice president for economic development at the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce. "The jobs are the magnet, and we see it only going up. BRAC is happening, we're experiencing growth in our diversified industries and we continue to experience growth from the 1995 BRAC."

 

Huntsville is expected to add some 4,700 direct jobs through the 2005 BRAC, the military Base Realignment and Closure process. Thousands more support jobs are also expected to be created by the transfer of three major military commands to Redstone Arsenal by 2011.

 

The metro areas of Raleigh-Cary, N.C., and Austin-Round Rock, Texas, topped the U.S. population growth list.

 

There was also population growth across every metro area in Alabama, except Montgomery, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs noted. Auburn-Opelika was second to Huntsville, with 1.9 percent growth.

 

"In most situations, growth is a good thing," ADECA spokeswoman Crystal Bonvillain said.

 

"The growth we're seeing in Alabama shows people who are coming here think it's a good place to live. We hope we'll continue to see the growth."

The State Building Commission gave a green light on March 12 to the planned $40 million Volkswagen training center in Chattanooga.

 

It also approved grants continuing to reimburse the city and Hamilton County for local funds already spent on site preparation under agreements with the state.

 

Officials at Volkswagen, despite a record 2008, said on March 12 that vehicle sales, revenues and earnings would fall in 2009 amid the global downturn. But, officials said the company is positioned for a rebound in the market.

 

“We are already looking ahead to the period after the crisis,” said VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn in a statement. “Because one thing is certain: the automotive markets will pick up again. And the Volkswagen Group is preparing very systematically for when this happens.”

 

 

Building Commission members authorized the state to spend $70 million on various infrastructure projects associated with the $1 billion auto assembly plant, which is expected to employ some 2,000 workers and create thousands more among VW suppliers in the area.

 

Commitments also include some $80 million for overall site preparation. The combined total state commitment for site preparation, infrastructure and the training center comes to $190 million, officials said.

 

“This is a further green light in the process, and there will be other approval that will have to be obtained in the future,” said state Treasurer David Lillard, a Building Commission member.

 

He said Building Commission actions included approval of memorandum of understanding agreements the state had entered into for the Volkswagen project as well as the Hemlock Semiconductor LLC project in Clarksville.

 

“We approved the MOUs they (state officials) had originally entered into with VW and Hemlock and the local industrial development boards to do the projects and do the incentives and basically gave the authority to go ahead with those projects,” Mr. Lillard said.

 

Assistant state Economic and Community Development Commissioner Mark Drury said the Building Commission “was giving their blessing for what the money will be spent for. Some of the money has already been spent.”

 

Mr. Drury said about $50 million has been reimbursed to the city and county so far for site prep.

Gov. Phil Bredesen on Tuesday signed a $262 million bond authorization bill that allows the state to use bond proceeds to pay its obligations on both the VW and Hemlock projects.

 

But during Thursday’s Building Commission meeting, Mr. Lillard said he still hopes state commitments can be funded less expensively by using at least some federal stimulus funds. The final decision will come later, he said.

 

The city’s Industrial Development Board ultimately will be reimbursed $80 million for site preparation and $70 million for infrastructure. The Health, Education & Housing Facility Board of the city of Chattanooga eventually will be reimbursed $40 million on the training center for VW workers.

 

VW, despite the dramatic deterioration in its business environment, reported it met unit sales, sales revenue and earnings targets last year and recorded the best figures in its history.

 

Sales revenue grew by 4.5 percent to about $146 billion on the back of a 1.3 percent rise in unit sales to 6.3 million vehicles. At about $8 billion, operating profit was up by 3 percent year-on-year.

 

The Tennessee Valley is reaching out to aerospace workers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida who might find themselves out of a job when the three-decade-old space shuttle program is shut down next year.

 

The space shuttle's main contractor, United Space Alliance, is working with the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce to place skilled workers in jobs being moved here because of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decisions.

 

"We are working with USA directly to assist anybody who might want to relocate here and take employment," said Lucia Cape, chamber work force vice president. "We want to make sure people know of the opportunities that exist here within the federal and contractor work force."

 

Cape said the chamber sends people to career fairs and directly to companies to tout the virtues of Huntsville. A trip to Florida is planned next week.

 

"We've been working with them for some time now," Cape said. "We are also reaching out to other areas of the country looking for talent. There will be jobs here, open and available, when NASA completes the shuttle program."

 

To fill jobs, Cape said, the chamber is also going to Denver, Washington, D.C., and Dayton, Ohio. Denver has a high concentration of aerospace workers, and Dayton is home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is the headquarters for the Air Force Materiel Command.

 

An estimated 18,000 jobs are tied to NASA in Florida. NASA estimates that more than 3,000 aerospace workers could be out of a job when the shuttle program is halted by the end of September 2010. With nine shuttle launches left, NASA has reviewed options to extend the program by one or two missions.

 

There had been speculation that the shuttle could be extended past 2010. But last week President Obama released a 2010 budget outline that committed NASA to keep working on rockets that would return America to the moon. The new Ares rockets are being developed and managed in Huntsville by Marshall Space Flight Center.

 

The goal is to make the rockets more efficient and easier to work on. NASA managers have said the goal is to slash the support work force at Kennedy Space Center, near Melbourne, Fla., by at least half.

“Improving our Environment and Public Health through Smart Choices” is the theme of the eighth annual East Tennessee Environmental Conference, which kicked off on March 10 in Kingsport.

 

Citizens from across the region and beyond gathered at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center for the two-day event, featuring keynote speakers, exhibits and various break-out sessions in health, economics, the environment and industry.

 

Following opening remarks from Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke, the keynote speaker was Susan Whitaker, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.

 

Whitaker spoke about sustainable tourism, which she defined as sustaining the environment, culture and heritage of a region while at the same time sustaining the economic growth of tourism.

 

Whitaker showed film clips of school children from the Knoxville area, who talked about the beauty of the state and how tourism can damage that beauty by causing litter and pollution.

 

“We’re given these incredible resources. They are not to be squandered,” Whitaker said.

“Tourists come because it’s beautiful. If it stops being beautiful, they stop coming.”

 

She noted that the state’s scenic beauty helps in business recruitment and was one of the main reasons why Volkswagen officials decided to build their new plant in Chattanooga.

 

At the same time, tourism means big business for Tennessee. In 2007, tourism generated $14.2 billion across the state, including $1.1 billion in state and local taxes. Tourism ranked No. 1 in providing non-farming jobs.

 

But Whitaker said the state could start losing those economic development benefits if it doesn’t take care of the environment.

 

She said ecotourism is a growing niche, as more and more people are seeking out and paying premium prices to visit places that have taken the time to nurture and care for their environment, culture and heritage.

 

“These are the kind of travelers you want — they come and spend and do no harm to the environment,” Whitaker said.

 

“They really care about this world, and they want to make sure you care.”

 

She said tourism and hospitality businesses such as hotels, restaurants and convention centers can become eco-friendly “without breaking the bank” by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs and water-saving faucets and shower heads.

 

“If we can lower the footprint here, we will have a huge impact in our communities. That’s why we feel this is so important,” Whitaker said.

 

She said the state has established a Web site with ideas on ways businesses and communities can incorporate sustainable tourism measures. It is located at www.tnsustainabletourism.com.

 

Whitaker said the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is holding five workshops this year across the state dedicated to the sustainable tourism movement.

 

“We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is up to us to be good stewards of that,” Whitaker said.

 

The East Tennessee Environment Conference continues Wednesday with a keynote address from Dee Merriam from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The event will close with a joint session Wednesday afternoon featuring Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Public Affairs Director David Owenby and Ed Cole, Tennessee Department of Transportation chief of environmental planning.

 

Fresh off a victory last week in the mayoral election, Mayor Ron Littlefield said on March 9 that guiding the city through the recession is his first concern.

 

“Our revenues are declining,” Mr. Littlefield said. “They aren’t declining like other cities.”

 

The top priority for the administration is to get next fiscal year’s budget prepared and also make sure the city gets as much federal stimulus funding as possible. Longer-term goals include creating an Office of Sustainability to help attain the city’s environmental goals and a fleet of environmentally friendly recycling trucks, Mr. Littlefield said.

 

He also said he wants the board of directors at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Public Library to start turning it into a more user-friendly library rather than a research library.

But Mr. Littlefield said some of his plans will be hampered because of three City Council races that are awaiting an April 14 runoff election.

 

“I can’t take a formal agenda to the council,” Mr. Littlefield said.

 

Councilman Jack Benson, vice chairman of the council, said having Mr. Littlefield back in office should make things run a little smoother, especially since the city might have to look at cuts because of the economy. Mr. Littlefield has ample government experience, Mr. Benson said.

 

“That’s going to be beneficial to the council on establishing priorities,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to agree with him on everything.”

 

Mr. Littlefield said some initiatives such as implementing Green Committee recommendations and addressing the library may take time.

 

“Economic reality is we’ll have to take a measured approach,” he said.

 

Bill Robinson, chairman of the library’s board of directors, said Monday the board would be more than pleased to meet with the mayor and is excited that the library tops his agenda. He said board members met recently and discussed what the next move would be.

 

With gas prices down and federal stimulus money on the way, it looks like it could be a bright summer season for tourist destinations in the Ocoee area.

 

“The Ocoee is a crown jewel of outdoor recreation in the United States, and this is an (economic development) engine for the entire area,” U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said on March 16 during a meeting at the Ocoee Whitewater Center.

 

Officials from the National Forest Service, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Tennessee Overhill Association, and Polk and Bradley counties spoke, along with Ocoee Outfitters Association President Carlo Smith.

 

Cherokee National Forest Supervisor Tom Speaks said stimulus funding will help the National Forest add jobs to “do work we haven’t been able to” complete. He also said the Whitewater Center expansion with a new sandwich shop will allow visitors to stay there longer.

 

Tennessee Overhill Director Linda Caldwell said when gas prices were high last September, ridership dropped sharply on the Old Line Railroad through the Hiwassee Gorge, but they now already are receiving calls about the trips.

 

Lower gas prices also are boosting rafting-trip bookings, and rafting business owners expect a banner year, officials said. Cleanup of the Ocoee River from a silt spill upstream has been finished and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation recently gave an all-clear.

 

At the meeting, TDOT spokesman Wes Hughes said plans for the Corridor K highway through Polk County are going a new direction.

 

A consultant is working with a 14-person steering committee to look at new options to present to TDOT. Members include representatives of trucking firms, the Sierra Club, travel groups, local residents and school board members, he said.

 

“This is a huge project and they will address obstacles as they go along,” he said.

 

Previous ideas were scrapped due to environmental concerns and expenses. Costs for the road were estimated in 2008 at $1.8 billion, but Mr. Hughes said new plans will reduce the price.

 

Also discussed Monday was the idea of a connector for Corridor K and Corridor J, which would mean a highway from North Carolina to Nashville. Beth Jones, executive director of the Southeast Tennessee Development District, said it needs to be more than just a roadway for Polk and Bradley counties but a transportation corridor for the entire state.

 

“At one time, Corridor J and K were connected,” Ms. Jones said. “Now is the time for us to prevail upon Congress to open up the region to get work force flowing,” especially with both Volkswagen and Wacker Chemical Corp. each building $1 billion plants in the region.

In 1982, a Republican governor and a Democratic legislature joined together on a bold effort that some at the time thought impractical.

 

Although the American automotive industry traditionally had been located in the North and on the West Coast, state officials were confident that with a clear strategy and a targeted series of investments they could attract both foreign and domestic automotive manufacturers to Tennessee.

 

Three decades later, dozens of automotive-related plants, with tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, have played a major role in raising the average of income of Tennesseans from 48th to 32nd among the 50 states.

 

Gov. Phil Bredesen believes that the solar industry provides the potential for a similar growth of new factories and jobs in Tennessee over the next several years. The amount of solar energy received at the Earth's surface in one hour is sufficient to supply all of the world's energy for a year.

 

Despite the fact that millions of Americans would like to use pollution-free solar energy for their homes, solar energy today represents less than 1 percent of America's energy production. Solar power is not widely used because its cost remains four to five times higher than electricity generated by coal or nuclear power.

 

Current solar cells are bulky and expensive to manufacture. The key to reducing the cost of solar power is the development of a new generation of "thin-film" solar cells that are thousands of times thinner than a human hair. Governor Bredesen is convinced that Tennessee has a unique collection of resources that gives our state a critical advantage in the race to find the next generation of materials for the solar industry.

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee together have unmatched capabilities needed to reduce the cost of solar power. The Spallation Neutron Source, the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, and the world's most powerful computer combine to give the laboratory a collection of scientific tools unequaled anywhere in the world.

 

Nearby at the University of Tennessee, the construction this summer of the new Joint Institute for Advanced Materials will provide an ideal location to undertake a portion of the task.

 

 

Gov. Bredesen's vision would take these resources and focus them on a scientific goal of developing a new generation of solar technology. All of the needed facilities have already been funded. Money for the research would come from federally administered funds that are limited to energy-related projects.

 

Last fall, one solar company made one of the largest investments in Tennessee history. A second company announced a similar investment last week. They are coming to Tennessee to take advantage of our state's potential. And yet another contact is in the early stages of development and considering Tennessee as a site.

 

If we are able to look over the top of the hill as our predecessors did three decades ago, we will see the opportunity once again to make Tennessee a leader, and in so doing bring thousands of good paying jobs to our communities in the years to come.

 

Nearby at the University of Tennessee, the construction this summer of the new Joint Institute for Advanced Materials will provide an ideal location to undertake a portion of the task.

 

Gov. Bredesen's vision would take these resources and focus them on a scientific goal of developing a new generation of solar technology. All of the needed facilities have already been funded. Money for the research would come from federally administered funds that are limited to energy-related projects.

 

Last fall, one solar company made one of the largest investments in Tennessee history. A second company announced a similar investment last week. They are coming to Tennessee to take advantage of our state's potential. And yet another contact is in the early stages of development and considering Tennessee as a site.

 

If we are able to look over the top of the hill as our predecessors did three decades ago, we will see the opportunity once again to make Tennessee a leader, and in so doing bring thousands of good paying jobs to our communities in the years to come.

 

Efforts to return to the moon are supported by the Obama White House, and NASA will receive $1.4 billion extra next fiscal year for a variety of lunar missions, a preview of the new administration's first federal budget showed.

 

The White House released a bare outline for the $3.55 trillion federal spending plan that includes a recommendation of $18.7 billion for NASA. Combined with recent space agency funding included in the federal stimulus plan, the space agency will receive $2.4 billion more next fiscal year than in the last approved budget for NASA.

 

No details were provided to show exactly where the money would be spent, including how much would go to bolster Marshall Space Flight Center programs, but the budget plans show a direct commitment to supporting NASA's plan to return to the moon by 2020.

 

"The White House clearly recognizes, and members of Congress, that a return to the moon will bolster NASA's standing with the American people and give it a purpose," said Mark McDaniel, a local attorney and space expert who advises members of Congress on space issues. "There is support for the lunar plan and an increase for NASA's budget in Congress.

 

"This is a sound move for NASA."

 

The spending plan, which, with the rest of the proposed 2010 federal budget, is expected to be released in detail in April, also includes support for Earth science, Mars missions and a large space telescope similar to the two-decade-old Hubble Space Telescope.

 

Sen. Richard Shelby, R- Tuscaloosa, said the increase in money would be a benefit for the Marshall-managed Ares I and Ares V rockets, which NASA plans to use to return to the moon.

"While the president released a broad budget proposal for NASA, I am encouraged to see his commitment for space programs through additional funding for NASA," Shelby said in a statement.

 

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, said the money shows a commitment to space exploration from the Obama White House - something in doubt during the 2008 presidential campaign.

 

"I'm encouraged by the $18.7 billion included in President Obama's initial NASA budget, which, taken with the economic stimulus, represents a notable increase in funding," Sessions said.

 

NASA's delayed 2009 budget is still making the rounds of Congress, but it should be voted on by the Senate next week and go to Obama for approval after that vote.

NASA will soon be on the lookout for possible Earths in one faraway corner of the galaxy.

A planet-hunting spacecraft, named Kepler after the German 17th-century astrophysicist, is scheduled to rocket away from Cape Canaveral late on March 6. Excellent launch weather is forecast.

 

Decatur-made rocket

 

The rocket that will take it to space is a 12-story Delta II, made in Decatur at United Launch Alliance.

 

The telescope will spend 31/2 years staring at roughly 100,000 stars, measuring their brightness and any winks in the light that might signify orbiting planets.

 

“We certainly won’t find E.T., but we might find E.T.’s home by looking at all of these stars,” Bill Boruki, Kepler’s principal scientist, said Thursday.

 

Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for science, said Kepler is not just another science mission.

 

“It very possibly could tell us that Earths are very, very common, that we have lots of neighbors out there, or it could tell us that Earths are really, really, really rare,” Weiler said at a press conference.

 

“Perhaps we’re the only Earth. I think that would be a very bad answer because I, for one, don’t want to live in an empty universe where we’re the best there is. That’s a scary thought to many of us.”

 

Goldilocks zone

 

Kepler will be scouting for Earth-size planets circling stars in the so-called habitable or Goldilocks zone. That’s where planets are neither too close nor too far from their star, and where conditions could be ripe for liquid water on the surface. “Planets that are not too hot, not too cold, but just right,” according to Boruki.

 

Once launched, Kepler will trail the Earth in an orbit around the sun. It will peer continuously at a large patch of sky near the Cygnus and Lyra constellations, looking for any winks against the brightness of the stars that could indicate passing planets.

 

The stars to be observed by Kepler are between 600 and 3,000 light years away.

 

Project manager Jim Fanson of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said the level of precision needed to measure those winks is incredibly high.

 

“It’s akin to measuring a flea as it creeps across the headlight of an automobile at night,” Fanson said.

 

Over the past decade and a half, more than 300 planets have been found to be orbiting stars outside our solar system. But these are largely gas giants like Jupiter. Kepler is designed to zero in on smaller, rocky, Earth-like planets.

 

Scientists stress that Kepler — 15 feet high and 9 feet in diameter — will not be looking for life but rather potentially habitable planets. The mission costs $600 million, from start to finish.

 

The launch comes on the heels of a failed flight of a NASA science satellite from California, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, just over a week ago. It used a different rocket than the one for Kepler; nonetheless, engineers pored over every single detail to find any similarities and delayed Kepler’s launch by one day.

A Huntsville-managed laser missile defense program has broken a power barrier for the first time, generating a laser that defense experts predict will pave the way to a new defense against mortar, artillery and rocket attacks.

 

Northrop Grumman announced on March 18 that a test of a 105-kilowatt, electricity-generated laser had been certified as successful by an independent government team of observers. The laser ran for 85 minutes in a California lab experiment, according to a Northrop Grumman news release.

 

The program is being developed by the U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command as a way to counter threats to soldiers.

 

"This is a big deal. When you hit higher than 100-kilowatt, you can really start doing interesting things like shooting down mortars, artillery and rockets," said Noah Sachtman, a defense expert who runs the DangerRoom blog at Wired.com. "Does it mean there will Chewbacca/Star Wars-style lasers in Afghanistan next year? No. But it's a start in that direction."

 

Northrop Grumman Vice President Dan Wildt said the ability to scale a laser's power "will be one of the game-changing features of high-energy lasers because it allows graduated responses by U.S. military services appropriate for whatever level of threat they may face. Threats vary, and so should the response."

 

The Army in Huntsville has developed and managed lasers that have shot down mortars, artillery and rockets in the past, notably the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser. That system, which generated interest by Israel, is considered too bulky and uses chemicals to generate the laser.

 

Sachtman noted that the Pentagon is pouring more time and money into laser development after decades of low-level investment.

 

Last year, the Army gave Boeing a $36 million contract to build a laser-equipped vehicle now being partially developed and tested in Huntsville. Also, Raytheon is working on a laser to be used on a small aircraft.

 

"This is a lab environment," Sachtman said. "There's still a lot of work to develop this."

As it turns out, this may be a great time to be a scientist - especially if you're working at an energy-research laboratory.

 

That wasn't necessarily the case in the latter part of the 20th century, when energy had lost its urgency and the economy directed smart folks in other directions.

 

At the onset of the Obama administration, however, things have turned around.

 

"I think it would be safe to say we're going to have to hire at a greater pace than at any time within the last 35 years," Billy Stair, the communications director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said this week.

 

Jim Roberto, the deputy lab director for science and technology, said ORNL will be looking to beef up its research staff, and he said the lab is ready to compete for some of the best talent available.

 

"We have in the past, and we're expecting to again," Roberto said.

 

A hiring campaign was already in the works at ORNL because of the number of staff members eligible for retirement. The boom in federal funding for energy and science - via the (pending) Omnibus bill for the rest of fiscal 2009 and the economic stimulus package for the next couple of years - has ratcheted up that effort.

 

Stair didn't want to release a figure on how many people the laboratory expects to hire because he said he might have to take it back a month from now, depending on how things work out.

"It would be prudent to assume there's going to be a very large increase in funding over the next two years," he said.

 

Much of what comes to Oak Ridge will depend on how successfully ORNL competes with other labs for a share of the billions of dollars allotted to the Department of Energy for science and energy projects. Big bucks are going to be available for work on climate, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, electricity delivery, fossil fuels, etc.

 

For some researchers in some areas, it's an opportunity of a lifetime.

 

ORNL is girding for that effort, with plans to set up a special office to coordinate and accelerate the lab's work on project proposals.

 

At a normal time, any one of the upcoming proposals might be considered significant, but it now appears that ORNL may be assembling 15-20 major proposals over a two-year time frame and doing each of them under an accelerated schedule, the lab officials said. The situation is beyond the experience of many ORNL managers and staff members.

 

"It's at least been since 1973 that we had a wave of activity that would be comparable," Stair said.

 

Beyond the science R&D, a major cleanup program is supposed to get under way this year at ORNL to tear down old buildings that date back to the World War II Manhattan Project and make way for new facilities. The Oak Ridge lab is expected to get a share of the $6 billion pool in the stimulus package that's dedicated to DOE's environmental cleanup program.

 

"We're going to have to build buildings, tear buildings down, and compete on multiple proposals and develop partnerships and do it all very quickly," Stair said.

 

As part of his message to staff on March 13, ORNL Director Thom Mason announced some management changes as part of a "significant reorganization" to deal with challenges ahead -- including a historic level of new funding.

 

Chief among the changes was naming Thomas Zacharia as the new deputy lab director for science and technology. He also will be UT-Battelle's senior vice president for science and technology.

 

Jim Roberto, the previous deputy lab director for S&T will assume the title of director of strategic capabilities and head the lab's new recruiting strategies. He also will be the principal "point of contact" with the University of Tennessee and head the contractor's preparations to retain the ORNL management contract (likely to comete up for bids in the next year).

 

Here's the full message from Mason:

Director's Message, Friday, March 13, 2009

 

At yesterday's Director's Forum, we discussed the extraordinary opportunities--and responsibilities--that the Laboratory will have over the next 18-24 months. These opportunities are the result of a historic investment of funds for scientific research by the President and the Congress. The recently enacted FY 09 Omnibus Bill and the Stimulus package (officially called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA) together contain more than $2.3 billion in increased spending for Office of Science programs. Perhaps even more significant, these two bills contain approximately $25 billion in increased funds for EERE, Fossil Energy, and Electricity Delivery and Reliability programs.

Nationwide, EM projects received an additional $6 billion in ARRA funding.

We expect that over the next two years the ARRA funds will accelerate construction of new facilities and demolition of legacy infrastructure.

While ARRA funding is accurately described as short term, the FY 2010 budget request suggests that many of the targeted initiatives are clearly among DOE's long-term priorities. In other words, ARRA projects will jump start long-term research activities.

We also know that the Department of Energy will solicit competitive proposals for large portions of the R&D funds over the next 18 months.

While many issues are still being resolved in DOE, two things are certain. First, there will be enormous pressure from the Congress on DOE, and in turn from DOE on the national labs, to implement these new programs quickly and efficiently. Second, how well ORNL responds to this challenge will likely shape the Laboratory's future for decades.

In the midst of this challenge, we must also prepare for the likelihood that next year DOE will compete the management contract for ORNL, which extends through March 2010. The substantial amount of time and human resources required by a contract competition will be in addition to unprecedented levels of resources necessary to prepare multiple program proposals, manage dozens of Stimulus projects, and hire hundreds of new staff. I believe that UT-Battelle's performance over the past nine years in managing the ORNL contract, when combined with unprecedented demands on time and human resources over the next 24 months, makes a strong case for the extension of the current UT-Battelle contract. Nonetheless, we must make every preparation to compete vigorously and win a competition.

The extraordinary performance of our Lab employees in recent years gives me confidence that we are up to this challenge, but only with a significant reorganization of our resources and a commitment to use new strategies in the critical months ahead. I am announcing a number of organizational changes, effective April 1, designed to position us for the pace of the next 24 months and beyond.

Thomas Zacharia will become Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology and UT-Battelle Senior Vice-President for S&T, responsible for coordinating ORNL's major R&D programs. Thomas has done a remarkable job of building ORNL's computational program into one of the world's best. His new role will include leading our response to the opportunities made possible by the Omnibus and ARRA funding and ensuring that our strategy anticipates budget priorities in the years ahead. Jeff Nichols will serve as Interim Associate Laboratory Director for Computing and Computational Sciences while we conduct an international search for a permanent replacement for Thomas.

As Thomas undertakes the task of coordinating our response to the opportunities made possible by the Omnibus and ARRA funding, he will be supported by Debbie Mann, who will be responsible for making sure that these funds are tracked and accounted for during the rapid implementation of new projects and programs and the jobs that come with them. Debbie's role will include working closely with our DOE customer as they coordinate the funding of what is sure to be a large volume of new contracts and reporting requirements.

Jim Roberto will assume the new title of Director of Strategic Capabilities. In this role he will be responsible for developing the scientific and technical recruiting strategy needed to meet the anticipated growth in our research activities. Jim will also serve as the principal point of contact for our numerous interactions with the University of Tennessee. Jim will serve a dual role as UT-Battelle Senior Vice President for Contract Retention, leading our preparation for the competition we anticipate for the Department of Energy's Management and Operations Contract for ORNL.

The other aspect of ORNL's historic recruitment effort will be led by Debbie Stairs, who will assume the role of Human Resources Director.

Over the last three years Debbie has done a great job in developing a process for succession planning that has put us in a stronger position to manage the coming challenges. She will be responsible for identifying and recruiting an estimated one thousand new staff in the next 24 months, likely the largest number since the mid-seventies. At the same time, Debbie will also oversee the cost-effective delivery of Human Resources services to more than 4,400 ORNL staff. Debbie will replace Lori Barreras, who has decided to leave ORNL for personal reasons. Lori came to Oak Ridge from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and has been HR Director during a period of remarkable growth at ORNL. During her tenure our rate of hiring increased from about 100 to more than 400 new staff each year. Lori leaves the HR Directorate well-positioned to take on the challenges that lie ahead, and we wish her the best.

The creation, almost two years ago, of the Global Initiatives Directorate has led to a broader national security customer base for ORNL's scientific and technical capabilities following the successful model employed by the National Security Directorate, particularly in the areas of intelligence and non-proliferation. To coordinate these opportunities across a wide range of national security programs and consolidate operational responsibilities in the MRF, the National Security Directorate and the Global Initiatives Directorate will be combined effective October 1, 2009. I have tasked Global Initiatives Director Mike Rochford to lead a team to plan the transition to the new Global Security Directorate. Mike brings special talents to this new job from his distinguished career with the FBI and experience at ORNL with Counterintelligence and Global Initiatives.

A final thought. Those of us who have worked at ORNL for a number of years understand that change is the norm rather than the exception.

Indeed, much of the success we have enjoyed over the last several years has been due to our willingness to adapt our personnel and our strategies to new opportunities. If we can adapt once again, I am confident we have a future of virtually unlimited opportunity for ORNL.

 

-Thom

The 2009 federal budget was late in arriving, but the Omnibus bill brought some good news to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I had a chance to talk with ORNL Director Thom Mason on March 12, and he was pretty upbeat -- especially about the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

 

The U.S. involvement in ITER got a lift after a huge disappointment at the start of this fiscal year. U.S. ITER, which is headquartered in Oak Ridge, got $124 million in funding for the rest of the year, Mason said, and that's a really big deal for the ITER folks.

 

"Actually, they were running on fumes in the gas tank this last little while," Mason said, referring to the survival-mode operations for early fiscal 2009, when there was no money to spare. "So, this will really help the morale and get people moving."

 

The ITER project was caught in a bad situation with the continuing resolution for '09 because the project had been virtually zeroed out in the previous year, so there wasn't much to carry on with the existing spending level.

 

"It's great news for ITER," Mason said. "Those procurements that have been sort of waiting in the wings can proceed now and, again, because it's in the Omnibus, it's base funding. That's is important because ITER is a multi-year project. Although there might have been a scenario where you could get some Recovery Act funding, that doesn't fix the problem in the out years. So, getting a number like $124M, that's a real start on ITER."

 

In hopes of not wasting any more time in making progress on the international project, the ITER managers had begun the procurement process for a number of components that are part of the U.S. responsibility on the international project. It was a bit risky, in a sense, but it now allows the work to proceed much more quickly than it would have otherwise.

 

Mason said: "You can get the procurements moving, which will have a good economic impact in terms of employment. There'll be companies that get large contracts and so forth. And that's U.S.-based. ITER is not sending money to France (where the fusion reactor will be built). It's building things in the U.S. and shipping the hardware to France. Most of it is domestic U.S. industry. It's actually big metal objects, which is really heavy industry and which I think is one of the areas that I think will benefit from that activity."

 

The Omnibus funding also sends a signal to the international community that the U.S. is really serious about its ITER involvement, Mason said.

 

"It's hard to sustain an argument that you're a committed partner when the funding is almost zeroed out," he said.

 

Because this is base funding, it also helps the ITER project in the event there's another continuing resolution when 2010 arrives.

 

"If there's a CR, it's be based on $124 million instead of $10 million," Mason said.

This funding amount is the right amount, he said.

 

"The original request (for fiscal 2009) was $214 million," Mason said. "We're part way through the year, so the reality is that having lost that time for the first almost six months of the year, we could not have effectively used $214 (million) for the rest of the year. So, $124 million is a very good number."

Oak Ridge Associated Universities recently welcomed Temple University as its 100th sponsoring institution during the 64th annual meeting of the ORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions held in Oak Ridge. Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Texas-Pan American were also accepted as the 15th and 16th associate members.

ORAU has members in 28 states ranging from Puerto Rico to Idaho and Pennsylvania to California, as well the District of Columbia and London. ORAU members award more than 37 percent of the nation's Ph.D.'s in science and engineering and make up 37 of the top 100 research and development universities.

"The admittance of Temple University as our 100th sponsoring institution marks a pivotal milestone in the history of ORAU," said Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Homer Fisher. "It was 63 years ago that ORAU was formed under the auspices of the Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies and consisted of 14 southern schools. Today, our membership is more than seven times that number and it includes major research institutions from across the country and around the globe."

Located in Philadelphia, Pa., Temple University offers 52 doctoral degrees and 25 master's degrees through 17 schools and colleges. Temple falls in the Carnegie Classification of Research University with High Research Activity and ranks 136 out of 630 institutions in R&D expenditures.

Eastern Kentucky University is located in Richmond, Ky., and is accredited through the Southeastern Association of Colleges and Universities. EKU offers baccalaureate degrees in biology, chemistry, computer science, earth science, mathematics and physics.

University of Texas Pan-American is located in Edinburg, Texas, and offers 55 baccalaureate degrees, 53 masters programs and two doctoral programs. UTPA is ranked second in the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics and fifth in the number of masters degrees awarded to Hispanics in the country.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 100 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.

McKee Foods Corp. is looking at turning wasted Little Debbie snacks into ethanol and biodiesel as it eyes an environmentally friendly green strategy.

 

The company is studying the setup of processing stations at each of its three manufacturing plants in the United States, including the Collegedale facility, to turn waste food into fuel.

 

“All the financial analysis in these projects looks good,” said Terry Howell, director of research for the company that employs about 3,000 people as Hamilton County’s largest manufacturer.

 

Mr. Howell said the processing, which could still be a couple of years away, might produce 700,000 gallons of ethanol a year from the Collegedale plant alone.

 

“The other locations could generate similar amounts,” he said about plants in Arkansas and Virginia.

 

In addition, production of biodiesel could amount to 400,000 gallons a year, Mr. Howell told the Chattanooga Engineers Club.

 

“In all our plants, we could generate 1 million gallons a year,” he said.

 

Larry Martin, an engineering group manager for McKee, said fuel costs at McKee are significant.

 

“The cost of fuel has come down but prices are probably going to go up again,” he said. Mr. Martin said the company continues to look at using biodiesel in its shuttle trucks.

 

“It could be a significant saving in our fleet,” Mr. Howell said.

 

Mr. Howell said McKee competitors are making changes to become greener.

 

“We’re trying to match them,” he said.

 

Current food waste amounts to under 10 percent and is sold to an animal feed company, Mr. Howell said.

 

“If they struggle, we’d have a lot of waste to deal with,” he said.

Talk about the green-collar economy.

 

Local battery-charger and technology company Diversified Power International continually works on new methods for energy efficiency improvements in its products. Now, CEO Tony Trigiani is seeking patents on three new technologies that could make waves in the electric car, solar battery and traditional battery markets.

 

His goal? With or without government aid, he wants to refine the technologies in ways that reduce energy consumption, reduce the amount of hazardous batteries going into landfills, and bring new jobs to the area.

 

“I haven’t sat on the sidelines waiting for help,” says Trigiani, who co-founded DPI in 1997 after a research and development stint at Exide Corp.’s Bristol plant. “I’ll be grateful should help come along. It would help the process tremendously, and we’re applying through the energy conservation fund.”

 

At its Piney Flats headquarters, DPI makes “intelligent” battery charging systems for everything from golf cart and mower batteries to those powering electric pallet jacks and hospital robots. The company is preparing to market a high-frequency charger that, at four pounds, will weigh less than one-tenth its current models.

 

Refining the core products

 

One of Trigiani’s new inventions, which he hopes will be on the market by the end of this year, isn’t a big stretch from DPI’s traditional market. And it’s an idea, he says, that will greatly reduce the number of lawn mower, ATV, snowmobile and other batteries that are “cut down in their prime,” as it were, when lights or other parts of the machines are accidentally left on.

 

When that happens and a rechargeable battery runs to zero, it is essentially ruined. Leaving batteries on some sort of maintenance charger prevents that, but since those are typically plugged in to a wall, many equipment owners avoid them for fear of driving off and damaging the equipment.

 

Trigiani’s invention includes a magnetic connection that is clamped to the vehicle or piece of equipment, so that if an accidental drive-off occurs, the two magnets simply pull apart. He believes it could reduce premature battery disposal by a huge percentage, and because battery companies pay so much for warranty claims, he doesn’t think it would hurt their profits, either.

 

“They want their battery to reach its own warranty period,” Trigiani says. “Warranty claims drive costs higher and corporate profits lower.”

 

Most important, perhaps, it would reduce the amount of toxic waste entering landfills.

“Everybody’s concerned about landfills and the toxicity of landfills,” Trigiani says. “The (Environmental Protection Agency) certainly realizes there is a huge problem with lead and similar toxic materials ending up in our landfill via batteries, electronics and so forth.

 

“We feel we have an excellent shot at marketing this device,” says Trigiani, adding that the idea for the magnetic coupling came to him just a couple months ago.

 

 

Trigiani’s fascination with solving problems and how things work extended over the past year into the realm of solar power. Last year, DPI developed a battery-powered gate opener that draws power from a small solar panel.

 

That 50-watt source got Trigiani thinking about other solar applications, and he’s now applied for a patent on a “sun positioning sensor” he believes could help maximize the power that solar panels are able to transfer through batteries to various machines.

 

The idea works kind of like a gyroscope, Trigiani says, and customers in the electric vehicle, irrigation system and campground markets all are working with DPI on possible applications.

“We’re working on a 300-watt solar panel charger for use in electric vehicle applications, but we need more people on staff to complete the development,” he says. If the idea becomes marketable, DPI could either produce or locally source printed circuit board design and manufacture, which would create jobs for both electronic engineers and CAD (computer-aided design) engineers.

 

The main sticking point, Trigiani says, is working capital, something government efforts to fund the green-collar economy could remedy.

 

“Energy conservation projects tend to be expensive, because cutting-edge technology is selected to enhance efficiency to the greatest degree possible.”

 

It’s all about MPC (miles per charge)

 

If mass production of electric cars lies ahead, the performance of those cars’ battery packs will make or break their success, Trigiani says — and that’s where DPI’s expertise may create the company’s biggest breakthrough. Fail as an electric carmaker to make your batteries cost-effective and efficient, and you’re unlikely to succeed.

 

Currently, Trigiani says, electric car batteries use stationary charging systems and “on-the-fly” technology that are inefficient. It all starts with how the battery’s individual cells — 100 of them in a typical 400-volt electric car battery — interact with one another.

 

Those cells become depleted at different rates, but once a small number of them drain below a certain level and reach a minimum voltage point, the battery pack must be turned off, effectively ending the drive-time and requiring a recharge. It’s sort of like one guitar string going out of tune, or one spark plug going out of whack — the guitarist or driver isn’t going to want to continue without fixing the problem even though the majority of strings, or spark plugs (or battery cells) are holding up just fine, thank you.

 

“If you could redistribute the energy from the other cells into the five cells that have now lagged and bring them up, you have a way to maximize the energy from the entire battery pack,” Trigiani says.

 

“We devised a patent pending application that now balances all of the cells within the battery pack, and actually maximizes the battery’s life expectancy and usage.”

 

Likewise, he says, current stationary charging systems direct a charge to all 100 cells even if just a few need that charge. While the laggards are accepting a charge, the other cells actually have to repel the energy coming at them to keep from becoming overcharged.

 

“Removing energy in the form of heat induces inefficiency. What we should be doing is redirecting energy where it’s needed instead of throwing it away to solve the problem. That’s another thing this patent takes care of.”

 

Trigiani says patent searches have revealed no similar proposals, and obviously, if the idea takes form it could have huge ramifications by making electric vehicles more cost-effective.

 

It isn’t the prospect of riches, though, that drives him, Trigiani says. Rather, it’s the thought of reducing pollution, increasing energy efficiency, and perhaps more importantly, providing jobs stateside.

 

“We are proactively seeking ways of returning as much work as possible here. It has been our philosophy from day one. There are products we have designed that cannot be made here, but we have retained as much production as we can if it still produces a profit, regardless of what the profit margin is.

 

“The number of employees this might mean excites me, and the success of this application excites me. I’m more geared to results than I am to a particular lifestyle for myself.”

Alcoa was named a Smart City today by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America following the city’s demonstration of a newly deployed real-time traffic management system designed to reduce intersection wait times, emissions, prevent collisions, and save taxpayers time and money.

 

The new technology is located at the corner of Lincoln Road and Hall Road.

 

“Alcoa is a great example of a city that is leading the way in deploying smart, cost-effective technologies to improve the safety and efficiency of our transportation system,” said Scott F. Belcher, president and CEO of Intelligent Transportation Society.

 

Belcher presented Mayor Donald R. Mull with the Smart City award to recognize Alcoa as “an early adopter of Intelligent Transportation Systems and technology solutions to the challenges facing our transportation system.”

 

“This is an exciting new technology that will pay dividends long into the future. We are pleased to play a small part in its implementation and are proud to help support the process of bringing an Oak Ridge technology to market,” Mull said.

 

The new GridSmart traffic management system, developed by Oak Ridge-based Aldis Inc. provides real-time intersection monitoring and management capability that is critical for improving the timing and efficiency of traffic signals, detecting potential red light runners and holding signals on red to prevent an accident, and eliminating the cost and inconvenience of tearing up pavement to replace broken intersection loop detectors.

 

“Aldis was founded to deliver smart traffic management solutions to communities of all sizes and we are thrilled to be part of a community of progressive thought leaders in Alcoa. We are excited to continue to deliver solutions such as real-time traffic data to Alcoa so they can continue to maximize efficiency and reduce environmental impact,” said Bill Malkes, Aldis chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

A business competition sans cash prize may not seem like the best demonstration of Tennessee’s renewed commitment to high-tech investment, but organizers say the concept being rolled out this year will pull promising startups out of the woodwork and encourage entrepreneurship across the state.

 

Oak Ridge-based Technology 2020 is being tapped to help develop the Tennessee Innovation Competition, as it’s being called. The event is being coordinated by the newly revived Tennessee Technology Development Corp., a state-funded nonprofit organization set up to carry out technology-related economic development activities.

 

The competition is a key component among several efforts to support promising Tennessee startups, said Eric Cromwell, TTDC president and CEO.

 

“An overarching theme of what we’re doing is through a partnership approach,” he said. “We don’t intend to be the customer-facing organization. There are other organizations (across the state) well positioned to serve the regional communities in these areas,” he said.

 

TTDC is using Tech 2020, for example, to develop a curriculum for the business competition. Targeting counties across the state, a regional training workshop will be held to teach local business and community leaders how to identify promising business opportunities and recruit a panel of judges to analyze business plans. Those trainers would then return to their counties prepared to coordinate local entrepreneurship workshops and a local business competition.

 

The best business plans from the local events would then qualify for a regional competition, planned for the third week of November, that would help the most promising companies connect with mentors, potential funding and business services needed to build their companies. Some companies may simply be rough ideas on paper, Cromwell said, but all must have the potential to grow beyond their local communities and must be based on an innovative concept or technology. A final statewide event would likely be held in January 2010.

 

Organizers decided not to lure companies with a cash prize because they wanted to focus on nurturing entrepreneurs long term, not simply baiting them with a one-time check.

 

“The real goal in mind is for the entrepreneur to come together … (and) connect with people that want to invest not necessarily in the business but in them as an entrepreneur,” said Dan Schmisseur, TTDC vice president of operations and strategy.

 

TTDC also is working with Tech 2020 and other organizations across the state to develop a network of entrepreneurship assistance that any startup in the state could access. The hope is that, such services would receive long-term support from state coffers, rather than relying solely on local community resources — which is the case today.

 

Cromwell said about 50 percent of TTDC’s $5 million funding allocation for proof-of-concept initiatives will be invested with partner organizations such as Tech 2020 in program development or demonstration projects. The goal is to have the programs in place by July, leaving enough time to determine their success so that money could be included in future state budgets to continue or expand them, he said.

 

Stay tuned.

Q-Track, a small Huntsville company that's developed wireless tracking technology, is graduating from BizTech, the technology-focused incubator that's been the company's home for the last few years.

 

"It took us about five years to incubate this technology," said Jerry Gabig, Q-Track's president, at a graduation celebration Tuesday at BizTech's offices on Sparkman Drive. "We've proven it, and we've got a lot of customers interested in it."

 

The company installed its first commercial system in February at a nuclear power plant's training facility near Augusta, Ga., for Southern Co.

 

"There's nothing more exciting than birthing a new technology," Gabig said.

 

The Near Field Electromagnetic Ranging technology was invented by Dr. Hans Schantz, Q-Track's chief scientist, and Robert DePierre, the vice president of engineering.

 

Gabig compared the technology to "indoor GPS" with applications for tracking people, such as miners or soldiers underground, and assets, such as pallets in warehouses.

 

"It's an enabling technology," Gabig said. "We're getting phone calls from people with different applications."

 

Q-Track, which has 18 full-time employees, is moving into offices and lab space at design company Inergi's building at 3414 Governors Drive.

 

Q-Track is the 21st graduate of BizTech, a business incubator founded in 1997 by NASA, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the city of Huntsville, the state of Alabama and the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce. It has since established a partnership with the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

 

BizTech, which provides mentoring, office space and access to investors, successful entrepreneurs and business contacts, has 14 clients.

 

Bob Baron, founder and CEO of Baron Services and president of BizTech's board of directors, said Tuesday that BizTech's clients and graduates raised more than $5 million in capital last year.

During the ceremony, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said he's pleased to see yet another home-grown company that's finding success.

 

"We expect big things out of you," he said.

A hybrid car that accelerates to 60 mph within seconds, a face recognition device that makes car renting quick, a game that one can play on a mobile phone with strangers who are also playing nearby.

 

Those are just some examples of ongoing innovative technology projects featured at a March 12 conference at a Franklin hotel put on by the Nashville Technology Council.

 

The event's theme was "Tomorrow's Technologies Today" and showed that innovation isn't dead even during a recession.

 

"The development is still taking place, but if you look around the room, companies are sending their C-level personnel, the decision makers instead of lower-level personnel," said the council's Kevin Bittorie.

 

"Also, companies are looking for technology that will save them time. They're looking for efficiency."

 

Of 150 registered participants, about 100 made it, the organizers said, blaming in part the sleet and rain for some of the absences. Those who did arrive heard presentations on a variety of topics — from virtual data storage rooms to robots and devices that track shipments.

 

Marshall Molen, a professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Mississippi State University, spoke about different models of hybrid cars that he and his students are developing.

 

"The computer at the center of it was designed by a student who's never driven a car," said Molen, referring to a vehicle that uses a small diesel engine and an electric motor and accelerates to 60 mph in about seven seconds.

 

"We're definitely involved in the development of innovation," he said.

Einstein alone showed the world that E=mc2, from the solitude of his patent examiner's office in Berne, Switzerland, but most really good science is done by people working together.

 

Over the years, there have been a few places where a group of scientists have gathered, worked shoulder to shoulder for a time, and achieved remarkable results; results that changed history.

 

The Cavendish lab in England was the birthplace of nuclear physics in the 1920s and 1930s, and produced 29 Nobel Prize winners over the years. The Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton was where even Einstein spent much of his working life. Here in Tennessee, Oak Ridge was conceived in that same lineage — the science was top secret, but a team of remarkable scientists did the wartime work that helped America build the atomic bomb.

 

In the realm of solar energy, I believe there is an opportunity to do this again. By any measure, the development of solar power as an alternative source of energy has a bright future. It is clean and renewable, it doesn't damage our planet, and it is, for all practical purposes, limitless. Today it is still deep in the hobby phase, and there remains a lot of work to be done, both theoretical and applied, to make it practical.

 

I believe that Tennessee could be the place where much of this research happens; I'd like us to spearhead the building of a solar institute that brings together the scientists of our new century to solve this problem.

 

We have unique assets; at Oak Ridge we have the necessary supercomputers and the spallation neutron source that makes us a world leader in materials research. We already have industry with many valuable capabilities: Sharp in Memphis; the multibillion-dollar investment being made by Hemlock in Clarksville; and the billion-dollar facility announced just last week to be built by Wacker Chemie AG in Bradley County near Chattanooga that will make Tennessee now home to two of the world's largest producers of pure polycrystalline silicon, a primary component used in the manufacture of solar panels and semiconductors. Northeast Tennessee is a major outpost for AGC Flat Glass, the world's leading producer of solar glass.

 

I believe we should take a shot at pulling this all together and creating the focused community of scientists that it will take to realize the dream of practical solar energy.

 

Even in our Internet world of instant communication, there is still no substitute for the creative energy that comes from trying out an idea on the spur of the moment on a colleague down the hall, or solving a problem by gathering bright people from different disciplines in a room with a coffeepot.

 

If we succeed in creating such a special place, it will pay Tennessee dividends for decades to come. There will be other Silicon Valleys in the years ahead, and we have an opportunity in solar research that might just be the seed for one of our own.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu sought on March 11 to assure skeptical senators that the Obama administration supports continued development of nuclear energy, even as it backs away from building a nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

 

"Nuclear is going to be part of our energy future. It has to be," Chu told members of the Senate Budget Committee at a hearing in which a half dozen senators, Republicans and Democrats, raised concerns about the administration's support for nuclear power.

 

Chu gave a similar assurance, even as he repeated that the administration intends to pull the plug on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.

 

"You can see the reason for some of the skepticism," Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told Chu.

"I don't want to save Yucca. I accept the fact that may not be viable," said Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the committee's ranking Republican. Gregg said he was concerned about the administration's degree of support for building new reactors.

 

Chu said he is ready to act on loan guarantees for the first group of new reactors and plans on "moving very aggressively to getting the money out the door." Congress in 2005 authorized $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for new reactors. Still, Chu said the administration is determined to move in a new direction on how to deal with the thousands of tons of waste in the form of used reactor fuel now being kept at power plants, including TVA's. Chu said the material can be kept safely "for decades" at reactor sites.

 

He hopes to have a recommendation on alternatives to Yucca Mountain and long-term nuclear waste disposal before the end of the year.

Senator Lamar Alexander said on March 11 that the Department of Energy should focus on developing a way to get rid of carbon pollution from existing coal-fired power plants.

Sen. Alexander told Energy Secretary Steven Chu during a Senate Budget Committee hearing, “It would be a gift to the world to find a way to get rid of carbon – the only remaining pollutant from coal that we don’t know how to control.

"If coal is half of our electricity and it’s American and it’s low-cost and we’ve got more of it than anybody, a mini Manhattan project on carbon capture as the National Institutes of Engineering has recommended would be a terrific goal for the new Secretary of Energy.”

Sen. Alexander also suggested using funds from the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), created by the America COMPETES Act, to tackle our most pressing energy problems.

Sen. Alexander was both Republican manager of Senate debate on the America COMPETES Act and the lead Senate Republican conferee during the final negotiations on the bill with the House of Representatives.

Sen. Alexander said, “I hope you will use the new ARPA-E funding for such things as making solar power cost-competitive, finding ways for carbon capture, advanced bio fuels, and nuclear-waste reprocessing. If you have four mini Manhattan projects to deal with those things in the next five years, it would transform the world’s energy picture.”

He said, “Right now, 70 percent of our carbon-free electricity comes from nuclear power, so it’s almost impossible to think about dealing with climate change without involving nuclear power.”

Last May in Oak Ridge, Sen. Alexander proposed a new Manhattan Project to help America achieve clean-energy independence, outlining several “grand challenges” including carbon capture and storage, making plug-in electric cars and trucks commonplace, safely reprocessing and storing nuclear waste, and making solar power and advanced biofuels cost-competitive.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions has long worried about reductions in military spending, particularly in missile defense programs, and last month sent a letter outlining his concerns to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

 

Sessions said recently that those concerns are increasing amid reports in USA Today and elsewhere indicating Gates will soon announce big cuts to some weapons systems under development, and that plans to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic to protect Europe could be scrapped in exchange for Russian cooperation on Iran's nuclear ambitions.

 

"There is a huge geopolitical danger here," said Sessions, R-Mobile. He points out that U.S. allies stood up to Russian threats in approving the missile defense deployment. Cutting a deal now will be seen as the United States acquiescing to Russia's attempts to control its former satellite nations, he said, and a weakening of U.S. commitment to their independence.

 

Canceling the plans also won't help continued development of U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense programs, which critics consider expensive and unproven, making them high-profile targets for budget cuts.

 

"We've always been concerned about how missile defense is perceived by some members of Congress," said U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville. Earlier this month, he testified before the House Budget Committee, urging it to make missile defense a top spending priority in 2010 and beyond.

 

Griffith and others in the Alabama delegation have a vested interest: The major elements of U.S. missile defense - including the Ground-based Midcourse Defense, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile and other programs - are based in and employ thousands in Huntsville.

 

Jobs aside, Griffith said cuts in missile defense now don't make sense, as more nations develop space programs and represent a growing threat to U.S. security.

 

North Korea has demonstrated its intercontinental missile capability; Chinese astronauts conducted their first space walk a couple of weeks ago; and Iran has launched a satellite - a demonstration that the country has the capability of launching a weapon.

 

"I believe it makes the case even stronger that missile defense and its development in the Fifth District is vital, and no longer an option," Griffith said.

 

"Iran is making it easier for me to tell the story," he said, and to impress on people that he's not simply looking out for dollars in his district.

 

"We're not just concerned about jobs," Griffith said. "We're also concerned about national security."

 

It's a point echoed by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa: "I remain a strong supporter of our nation's missile defense efforts and will do all I can to protect our country and our allies in the wake of increasing threats from rogue nations such as North Korea and Iran.

 

"Both of these hostile nations continue to pursue offensive missile capabilities and I feel it is imperative to enhance our defenses against these threats," Shelby said.

 

Lawmakers agree that, especially now, there is a real need to find places to save money. Griffith thinks more can be done to increase efficiencies of scale and find ways to end cost overruns in weapons programs.

 

Sessions supports efforts to reduce waste and reform the way weapons and other defense programs are designed and purchased.

 

"Secretary Gates is correct, and I believe that we can get more bang for our buck for procurement and we have to do better," Sessions said.

 

But he worries that, in the wake of huge spending on the economic stimulus package and overall federal budget, preparation for crises and conflicts will suffer.

 

President Barack Obama seems to be increasing spending on everything, Sessions said, but is counting on big savings from ending the war in Iraq to pay for growth in military personnel, payroll and equipment.

 

Those numbers don't add up and cuts will have to be made, he said.

 

"So you end up squeezing research and development," Sessions said. "And that is the danger I see."

 

When asked how much his being on the House Science Committee affected a boost in President Obama's NASA budget outline, Congressman Parker Griffith smiled on February 27 and admitted, "Very little."

 

"It is attributable to NASA employees' reputation for excellence," said Griffith, a Democrat who has represented North Alabama's District 5 in Congress for less than two months.

 

Griffith met with Marshall Space Flight Center Director David King to discuss NASA's increased funding, the president's 2010 budget proposal and Obama's stated commitment to return explorers to the moon by 2020.

 

Obama's 2010 budget plan includes $18.7 billion for NASA, an increase of $700 million over last year.

 

"I am pleased that this administration is showing a commitment to the space program in both words and actions," Griffith said. "... and I am very encouraged by the president's goal of returning humans to the moon by 2020.

 

"An $18.7 billion investment is promising, but it is just the first step in many that must take place."

 

King said because of Obama's previously stated support of NASA, he wasn't surprised by the budget outline, "but I was very, very pleased."

 

Combined with recent NASA funding included in the federal stimulus plan, the space agency will receive $2.4 billion more next fiscal year than in the last approved budget for NASA, "and that's a big deal to us," King said. King said he'll have a better idea in April how the money will be spread throughout NASA, and he doesn't know at this point if it will mean more jobs are headed to Huntsville.

 

"More importantly, it means we won't be losing any," Griffith added.

 

During their meeting, Griffith said he told King that the "financial crisis is temporary, but NASA is permanent." The congressman assured him that Alabama's congressional delegation - both Republicans and Democrats - are huge fans of NASA and will do anything to keep it fully funded.

 

"Everyone (in Congress) supports NASA, but they do it to varying degrees," Griffith said. "Some say they don't know if we can afford it right now. But that's not thinking it through.

 

For more than 50 years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been the civilian agency with the most inspiring and, in many cases, the most technologically challenging missions. Space exploration pushes the boundaries of our capabilities and challenges America’s innovative spirit to develop new technologies and reach new frontiers. Sustained, robust federal investments in NASA will support a stronger high-tech industrial base, strengthening our economy and solidifying our position as the world leader in space.

 

Many Americans may be surprised to learn that NASA’s budget is only a fraction of 1 percent of the overall federal budget, currently hovering around 0.6 percent. Arguably, this relatively small investment provides a greater dollar-for-dollar economic and strategic return than any other civilian government program.

 

Strategically, on the international stage, manned spaceflight demonstrates to the world what the U.S. is capable of. Countries recognize the United States as the respected leader in peaceful international cooperation in human and robotic spaceflight capability. However, in recent years, countries like China and India have invested heavily in their respective space programs. I believe it is essential that the U.S. remain a step ahead. 

 

From the early days of Apollo to the newest challenges presented by Constellation, engineers, chemists and physicists have had to solve highly complex problems, commonly resulting in breakthrough technologies. From space-based capabilities like communications, weather monitoring, remote sensing and global positioning system (GPS) navigation to medical devices, treatments and computer enhancements, NASA-developed technologies have infiltrated the market. Former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin recently stated that these technologies contribute an estimated $220 billion per year to the economy. Moreover, according to the Coalition for Space Exploration, NASA programs and the contractors who support them represent approximately a half-million highly skilled and highly paid American jobs.

 

One program that could measurably help our economy and advance NASA’s spaceflight capabilities is the successor to the Space Shuttle. As ranking member of the Science and Technology Committee, I am particularly concerned that NASA is on a path to retire the Space Shuttle without having developed, in a timely manner, the next generation of Constellation launch systems. Without additional funding, Constellation cannot be ready before 2015, at the earliest. During this five-year gap, America will make cash payments to Russia to provide transportation for our astronauts and our partners to the International Space Station. During this workforce transition, we stand to lose thousands of skilled aerospace jobs that will be difficult and costly to replace.

Accelerating development of the Constellation system would keep American tax dollars working for us here at home and have a multiplier effect throughout the economy by stimulating high-tech manufacturing and networks of suppliers around the country. This would expand our economic output and help our industries remain competitive in the global marketplace. By fostering this kind of innovation, the U.S. has earned a leadership role in human spaceflight, the economic benefits of which are far-reaching.

 

Space exploration has inspired generations of students, but we are now falling behind other nations in the number of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates we produce. Congress is working to improve those numbers in a host of ways, but I believe that keeping space exploration a top priority is one of the best motivators we could have. The extra, relatively small investment to fully fund NASA would provide incalculable economic and national security advantages. Today we have a unique opportunity to increase America’s real and perceived leadership among other space-faring nations by ensuring NASA continues to get the funding it deserves. 

 

Hall is the ranking member of the House Science and Technology Committee.

The U.S. Department of Energy laid out plans on March 12 for a regional "energy park" that would be anchored in Oak Ridge and leverage existing assets, including surplus federal properties, research capabilities and a highly trained work force.

 

If successful, the project would clean up the environment, bolster energy security and create jobs in the four-state Tennessee Valley Corridor, and DOE said it could be used as a model for similar ventures elsewhere in the country.

 

DOE did not release any dollar figures for what's being called the Tennessee Valley Energy Enterprise or estimate how many jobs could potentially be generated. But billions of dollars apparently would be invested over time, including federal stimulus money that's dedicated for cleanup and energy development.

 

The concept is to use the available cleanup funds to make more land and facilities available for reuse at Oak Ridge and other sites. That, according to the plans, would set the stage for energy-related projects - ranging from solar/photovoltaic and electrical grid enhancements to clean coal and work on hybrid vehicles - that would attract new business and expand others.

 

"Oak Ridge is a perfect example of how this fits together," said Mark Gilbertson, a deputy assistant secretary from DOE headquarters in Washington, who gave the keynote address at a workshop Thursday at Pollard Auditorium. Gilbertson said the Oak Ridge reindustrialization program at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, is a successful model for how to use cleanup and demolition of old facilities to create valuable space for new opportunities.

 

"You are in a leadership role," he told a couple of hundred people at the workshop.

The Oak Ridge effort would build on work under way at East Tennessee Technology Park, where some companies already lease space on property formerly used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. The site is being converted to private industrial space, and DOE has transferred federal properties there and at other locations on the Oak Ridge reservation to stimulate economic development.

 

Demolition of the K-33 and K-27 buildings in coming years will make another 40 acres available for development, according to Larry Clark of DOE's Oak Ridge office.

 

He said transfer of federal lands would likely continue and accelerate in the future.

 

Meanwhile, Clark said other components of the project would take place at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

A new Science and Technology Park already is taking shape on Bethel Valley Road, adjacent to the historic district of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and that park - where tenants can "rub elbows" with research scientists - will grow as demolition of old buildings picks up over the next couple of years.

 

At Y-12, tearing down the plant's aging steam plant and an abandoned biology complex will make big spaces available for development, Clark said. The DOE official said Y-12 is proposing a metal recycling facility to manufacture rebar and a biofuels plant that would produce methane and ethanol.

 

The impact of the government's stimulus package is starting to take shape in Oak Ridge.

 

Officials said on February 27 that hundreds of millions of stimulus dollars are on the way to bolster environmental cleanup efforts and accelerate the demolition of old buildings at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

 

"We're going to receive over a quarter of a billion dollars of money through the EM (environmental management) program to start and accelerate the cleanup of Y-12," Darrel Kohlhorst, the plant's general manager, told a crowd of business leaders at New Hope Center.

 

It was the first time Oak Ridge officials have gotten specific in addressing funding associated with the stimulus package.

 

Bill Klemm, Y-12's deputy general manager, said the plant is ready to move quickly with the cleanup work and generate hundreds of new jobs.

 

"In the long run here, that number ought to be close to 1,000," Klemm said. "In the very short run, immediately, I would say the number could be as high as 500 within a couple of months."

 

Jeff Smith, ORNL's deputy lab director for operations, said the lab will probably get about $100 million this year to jump-start the demolition work there, although he emphasized that nothing is guaranteed at this point. He declined to estimate the number of jobs attached to the stimulus money for cleanup at ORNL.

 

"I don't want to say that and get expectations up," Smith said. He said he preferred to wait until the Department of Energy gives the go-ahead on reporting job numbers.

 

The stimulus package is considered a godsend by Oak Ridge officials who had proposed a long-term, multibillion-dollar program to demolish hundreds of old, contaminated nuclear facilities at Y-12 and ORNL.

 

"It created a sense of urgency that didn't exist before," Smith said.

 

Klemm said the added money is allowing a large-scale cleanup effort to take place in a reasonable time frame, rather than being stretched out to infinity.

 

"I think that we can expect to see some dramatic changes in the skyline of Y-12 in the next three to four years," he said.

 

Because much of the planning was already under way or completed, the Oak Ridge plants are ready to put the huge infusion of money to use right away.

 

"Frankly, we've got a head start on most of these activities because we have a lot of (contract) vehicles in place with local businesses, and we believe that when they hand us the check, we will begin the process immediately," Klemm said.

 

"We have several really quick kills with some old buildings (that need to be demolished)," the Y-12 executive said. "We'd like to get into that old biology complex immediately."

 

Kohlhorst addressed Y-12's funding situation as he introduced U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., at a ceremony for a new program for military veterans, who get assistance from local companies while pursuing engineering degrees and a guaranteed job when they graduate.

 

The Y-12 leader thanked Wamp for his help in securing money for the Oak Ridge plant in the 2009 budget, which Kohlhorst said is "much, much better than we thought it was going to be."

He also thanked Wamp for the stimulus money, even though the Republican congressman voted against the package.

The University of Tennessee started demolition on March 16 to make way for an interdisciplinary research campus on its former dairy farm, hoping to further solidify its partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and attract private business investment.

 

UT officials say private companies are interested in the Cherokee Farm site and, while they've declined to identify them, they're counting on the multi-million-dollar development to yield big returns for the region.

 

"I think this thing will snowball once we start and have more and more visibility," said David Millhorn, UT's executive vice president and vice president for research.

 

"If you want to develop a technology economy in the Knoxville area, you have to create a place for this to occur - if you want to bring companies in that will bring jobs with them, they have to have space to be recruited to, and they have to have the environment where their company can grow and succeed. If you don't build it, they'll never come."

 

Plans for the 188-acre site along Fort Loudoun Lake across from the Sequoyah Hills neighborhood include 16 buildings, greenways, and possibly a hotel, conference center and restaurants.

 

The state approved $32 million in 2007 for the infrastructure work, including $250,000 for demolition. Construction is to start this fall on the first building - the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials - funded with $20 million in federal funds and $10 million in state funds.

 

It's scheduled to be completed in August 2011 and will include scientists from UT and ORNL "who work on next-generation materials that can be applied to various types of uses, from solar energy to biomedical applications," Millhorn said.

 

The rest of the campus will be built out, using a combination of private and public funds, Millhorn said. Officials said they could not estimate the final cost.

 

Millhorn said there is "growing interest" in the research campus and that negotiations for the second building are under way with a private company.

 

Mike Edwards, CEO and president of the Knoxville Chamber, said a campus focused on cutting-edge research has potential.

 

"We're in an economic downturn, and there are industries that are going to continue to decline and others that will go away," Edwards said. "One industry that will continue to grow is energy efficiency, renewable energy and solar energy. And here we find ourselves for the first time in a position where we are going to be doing that work.

 

"Cherokee Farm allows the university, which is conducting the research, to attract those companies who are going to work with researchers to build both sides of the equation - where the academic research stops and the private sector picks up," he said.

 

"If you look at what's been handed to UT and ORNL - all of this is going to center around a national lab and one or more research universities. What's going on is it's going to happen here," Edwards said.

 

Millhorn said the goal is a campus "populated by world-class scientists who are working on projects of both national and international significance - energy, climate, the environment and many biomedical fields, from cancer to problems related to mental diseases."

 

Infrastructure work, including roads and utilities, is expected to begin in August.

 

UT has faced hurdles in development of the property, including scrutiny of residents across the river, access to the site and remnants of prehistoric American Indian villages.

 

"(The current plan) is a long, long, long way from what was originally proposed for Cherokee Farm, for which we are most appreciative," said Sequoyah Hills resident Tom Midyett, who also is on a steering committee for the project.

 

Two committees made up of community members, faculty, private-industry representatives, UT officials and ORNL and UT Medical Center staff have been involved in the planning of the UT research campus.

 

Archaeologists uncovered evidence of huts dating from the years 1300 to 1600, with some remnants as old as 5000 B.C.

 

Most of the archaeological finds have been found on land closest to the water, Millhorn said, and that land will be preserved.

 

UT Faculty Senate President John Nolt, who is serving on one of the planning committees, said his chief concern is that the campus will be a state-of-the-art sustainable research campus.

 

He is "very pleased" with drafts that include the possibility of geothermal heating and cooling systems and solar panels on the buildings.

Three years after the Tennessee Valley Authority canceled plans to finish its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, the agency has reversed itself and will spend at least $15 million this year to see whether it makes sense to complete the twin-reactor facility.

 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on March 13 that it is reinstating the construction permit for the Bellefonte plant in Hollywood, Ala.

 

TVA Senior Vice President Ashok S. Bhatnagar said the permit clears the way for TVA to begin an assessment this year on whether the utility should finish the original reactors at Bellefonte or build a pair of next-generation reactors at the same site.

 

“Having this permit in place provides us a starting point for evaluating the licensing options for Bellefonte units 1 and 2,” he said.

 

But critics of nuclear power question why TVA is pursuing either new or old reactors at Bellefonte.

 

“Why are we looking at more nuclear power at all when we are wasting so much energy?” asked John McFadden, executive director of the Tennessee Environmental Council. “If we are smarter in how we use energy, we won’t need to build these overly expensive reactors and we won’t have to continue to worry about what we are going to do with the nuclear wastes they generate.”

 

TVA suspended construction at Bellefonte in 1988 when the growth in power demand slowed. The halt came after the agency had invested more than $4 billion in the plant during the 1970s and 1980s.

 

Now TVA estimates the demand for electricity will grow another 20 percent by 2020 and some of the agency’s aging fleet of coal-burning power plants may have to be replaced over time.

Each of the proposed new reactors at Bellefonte are capable of generating 1,200 megawatts of electricity, or enough power to supply the electrical demands of two cities the size of Chattanooga.

 

When the agency last considered completing Bellefonte, officials estimated it would cost more than $3 billion to finish the reactors and decided in 2006 to pursue new reactors rather than finish the older-style incomplete units.

 

The economics of construction shifted after 2006, however, when the price of steel, concrete and other commodities jumped and concerns grew about construction costs and delivery for new reactors, Mr. Bhatnagar said.

 

TVA now projects it will cost from $3.5 billion to $5 billion for the next-generation reactors, although detailed engineering studies have yet to be done.

 

Mr. Bhatnagar said TVA will continue to develop plans to build new Westinghouse AP-1000 reactors at Bellefonte and, in the next couple of years, utility officials will decide which, if either, option makes the most sense to help meet TVA’s growing power load.

 

If TVA completes the original reactors it began building in 1974, Bellefonte likely will be the last of the current generation of reactors to be built in America. If TVA decides to build the AP-1000 units, Bellefonte could be one of the first sites for the next generation of nuclear power.

 

In its announcement in the federal registry Friday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it has restored TVA’s construction permit for the original reactors only as a “terminated” plant. Commission spokesman Roger Hannah said the public will have 60 days to object to the issuance of the permit and the commission must upgrade the status of the permit before any construction may resume.

 

“The commission, after considering the technical, regulatory and legal aspects of TVA’s request, concluded that there is sufficient reason to allow reinstatement of the construction permits, using a conservative sequential approach to ensure the safety of doing so,” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its announcement.

 

The commission initially granted construction permits for Bellefonte’s two pressurized water reactors in 1974. By 1988, when TVA deferred completion of the plant, Unit 1 was about 88 percent complete, and Unit 2 was about 58 percent complete.

 

Currently, Mr. Bhatnagar said the two units are about 50 percent complete since some of the original equipment is outdated or has been removed. In the past three years since TVA gave up its construction permit at Bellefonte, TVA’s interest in finishing the plant has increased as the projected expense of building other new power plants has risen with the increase in commodity prices, Mr. Bhatnagar said.

 

There is no nuclear fuel on the 1,600-acre Bellefonte site, which is located along the Tennessee River.

Wind, solar and biomass could power much of the growing electrical demand in the Tennessee Valley if TVA accepts the renewable generation proposals it received this winter.

 

TVA spokesman Jim Allen said the TVA “is conducting deeper evaluations” of a number of proposals submitted by other power producers to supply electricity to TVA from renewable energy sources. Among more than 60 proposals submitted to TVA, the federal utility now is evaluating ones that collectively could generate more power from the wind, sun and plant life than an entire nuclear reactor may generate, Mr. Allen said.

 

The utility is reviewing plans for up to 1,250 megawatts of power from wind, 25 megawatts from biomass and 10 megawatts from solar, Mr. Allen said.

 

Each of TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Power reactors is capable of generating about 1,200 megawatts of electricity.

 

TVA officials declined to identify any of the power proposals being evaluated or the power prices included in the bids “for competitive reasons,” Mr. Allen said.

 

TVA asked for the renewable power proposals in December as part of its strategic plan to get more than half its power from zero or low carbon-emitting sources by 2020.

 

“This is an important step in helping TVA achieve its goal,” TVA Vice President Van Wardlaw said in a prepared statement.

 

TVA now generates less than 40 megawatts of power from such renewable sources. TVA’s existing power from solar, wind, biomass and geothermal sources is more expensive than that produced by coal, nuclear or hydro dams in most instances. The extra cost for renewable energy is paid for from nearly 13,000 individuals and businesses who voluntarily pay higher electric rates through the Green Power Switch program.

 

Stephen Smith, executive director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said TVA’s request for renewable fuel power generation “is an important first step.”

 

A recent study by the Southern Alliance estimates that TVA and other Southern utilities could get 20 percent of their power from renewable sources such as solar, wind, biomass and geothermal by 2020.

 

Congress is debating proposals to require a renewable portfolio standard of between 12.5 percent and 20 percent of generation by 2020 to help curb global warming and to clean up the air. A similar plan was rejected by the Congress last year, even though public power producers such as TVA would not have had to meet that standard.

 

TVA plans to reduce its carbon emissions and meet its growing energy demands with new nuclear plants, purchased renewable power and energy efficiency, according to TVA’s strategic plan adopted in early 2008.

 

“TVA is being astute in recognizing there is a high probability of a renewable portfolio standard being adopted this year, and they need to be ready,” Mr. Smith said. “TVA has lost its leadership in the Southeast for renewable power generation, and we feel like the TVA board could do far more to encourage renewable generation.”

Tennessee's unusual commitment to cover the cost of any future carbon tax for green companies that make major investments is being credited for luring two big solar-energy developments worth more than $2 billion.

 

The tax break, which the Bredesen administration passed in the Legislature last year with little fanfare, promises that the state will offset increased costs from any future tax on carbon emissions for a select group of companies that make significant investments in the state.

 

The credit would apply to any green-energy supply chain company spending at least $250 million in the state. That includes the $1 billion Wacker Chemie AG plant announced in Bradley County last week and the $1.2 billion Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. plant to be built in Montgomery County.

 

Both plants will make polysilicon, a material used to make solar cells.

 

Not all new investments in the state will benefit, though.

 

Traditional industrial investments, like the $1 billion Volkswagen AG plant under construction in Chattanooga, don't qualify.

 

State Revenue Commissioner Reagan Farr said the credit was enacted to help eliminate uncertainty among investors.

 

"They were worried that Congress or the state would enact a carbon tax that would have to be borne by the company," he said. "So what we did was create a green-energy tax credit, which actually says the state will take that out of the equation."

 

President Barack Obama's budget presented to Congress last week moves to address climate change and shift the nation from reliance on foreign oil to green energy.

 

The proposal would begin auctioning off carbon pollution permits in 2012, but Congress has yet to write a bill that would regulate heat-trapping gases and define how the money would be collected.

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority produces about 60 percent of its power from coal, so investors in the state worry that increased costs from a cap-and-trade system could be passed on to them.

Monique Hanis, spokeswoman for the Solar Energy Industries Association in Washington, said Tennessee is taking a unique approach to the carbon tax question.

 

"It's definitely a new twist, and an interesting hedge for states that are trying to attract manufacturing," she said.

 

Rudolph Staudigl, president and CEO of Munich, Germany-based Wacker, said the credit showed that officials are serious about developing the green-energy sector in Tennessee.

"It's just another demonstration of the fact that the state of Tennessee is really trying to attract the right businesses," Staudigl said.

 

Making polysilicon is an energy-intensive process, but solar panels soon offset the carbon emitted to create them, said Steve Smith, director of the Knoxville-based Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

 

"This is a very innovative and thoughtful way to lure and set a green foundation for the state of Tennessee," he said of the tax credit. "We certainly applaud that and think it's appropriate."

 

Farr said he and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber came up with the tax credit after being charged by Gov. Phil Bredesen with developing a strategy to spur alternative energy projects in the state.

 

"He did not want us to pursue the strategy that a lot of other states have been pursuing, like sales tax holidays for fluorescent light bulbs to encourage consumption," Farr said.

 

The 13 Appalachian states could create thousands of jobs and save billions of dollars in energy costs if they aggressively pursued a strategy of energy efficiency, a report for the Appalachian Regional Commission concludes.

 

"The Appalachian region faces daunting energy challenges and opportunities," said the 233-page report released today titled "Energy Efficiency in Appalachia: How much more is available, at what cost and by when?"

 

Unless bold steps are taken, the report predicts a 28 percent rise in energy consumption by 2030 for the 23.6 million residents of the Appalachian region, which stretches from Mississippi to New York. That consumption rise compares to a national increase of 19 percent.

 

Meeting that kind of demand will require 40 new coal-fired electric power plants and 182 million barrels of oil, according to the report, prepared by the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance.

 

If the states respond with an array of energy saving suggestions — from tougher building codes to incentives to retrofit old heating and cooling systems — they collectively could cut energy consumption by 24 percent by 2030. That means they would actually use less energy in 2030 than in 2006.

 

The path to energy efficiency also could lead to sharp employment gains, from 16,231 net new jobs in 2010 to 77,378 jobs in 2030, the report predicts.

 

At first these would be in the expected areas — more architects and engineers and construction workers to build more efficient buildings and more inspectors to inspect them.

 

Later job gains could be throughout the economy as consumers in a region still considered economically depressed use their savings on utility bills for other purposes, such as food and clothing. The annual savings could reach more than $27 billion by 2030, the report said.

 

"To see it in black and white is very significant," said Anne Pope, federal co-chairman of the commission, a bipartisan group created by Congress in 1965 to help the Appalachian states improve their economies.

 

Pope noted the commission already has begun offering programs linked to energy efficiency — grants programs focusing on energy savings in K-12 schools and energy efficiency certification programs for building trades in post-secondary schools.

 

Report co-author Marilyn Brown, a Georgia Tech professor and visiting scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said national economic stimulus funding could offer more opportunities, saying real change will require "money, incentives and regulation."

 

Talking about the problem alone "is not strong enough." Neither is expecting car makers and the utility industry to take energy efficiency steps on their own. "They say we can’t make such radical shifts so fast. Well, it is just a matter of having the will," Brown said.

 

The report cited one study that found Appalachian residents would need to see electricity bills double before they will make significant reductions in consumption — due in part to the region’s relatively cheap electricity from its abundance of coal. "Strong policy interventions will be needed," the report said.

 

Brown said one place to start is urging each state to adopt the latest energy efficiency building codes. According to the study, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania are the most current among the states, all using a 2006 standard. By comparison, Tennessee has just adopted a 1998 standard.

 

"I define energy efficiency as the productive investments in the energy we don’t use to produce goods and services," said co-author John "Skip" Laitner with the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

 

"It’s an invisible quantity that is hard to realize, hard to see, compared to say a power plant or a transmission line or a pipeline. That is part of why we set out to do this study, to try to figure out ways to bring it forward as an economic development opportunity for the Appalachian region."

 

As it marks its 75th year, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is seeing, for it, a veritable spate of construction activity after going 45 years without a major new building project.

 

The $4.5 million Twin Creeks Science and Education Center near Gatlinburg was completed last year. Soon, ground breaking is expected for the $3 million Oconoluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, N.C.

 

These are the first major new buildings in the park since 1964, when the Sugarlands Visitor Center opened at the park's Gatlinburg entrance.

 

In addition, the park is beginning work on restoring the Elkmont District, the old logging town and resort community tied up in controversy for years. A proposal also has been put in the National Park Service pipeline for a curatorial storage facility to house park artifacts now in storage at an old building in Oak Ridge.

 

The Smokies expects to benefit from the $750 million federal stimulus package approved for the national park system, as well as from stimulus funding for highways, Miller says. Requests are in for funding for water and wastewater improvements, trail work, campground improvements and other infrastructure, he adds.

 

"I guess you could call it a spate," says Bob Miller, the park spokesman. "We don't get many new buildings."

 

With a mission to preserve and protect, the park by its nature isn't focused on new man-made edifices, he noted.

 

In fact, any construction project in modern times is undertaken only after a long and laborious process that gauges its impact on the environment and addresses archaeological concerns.

Getting federal funding for projects is also a long, tedious and difficult process - a bureaucratic tap dance that must consider the interests set forth by environmentalists, preservationists, visitors, surrounding communities, the political landscape and the National Park Service's priorities.

 

While the core funding for the Twin Creeks center came from the National Park Service through support from then-Sens. Fred Thompson and Bill Frist, donations from Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains Association and in-kind support from the City of Gatlinburg were needed to make it happen. The Oconoluftee project is being funded entirely by a commitment of $2.5 million from the association, which operates park bookstores, and $500,000 from the Friends organization, which raises money for the park.

 

Until the new Twin Creeks project became a reality, the last construction spate in the park was part of a nationwide effort known as Mission 66, a program to improve park facilities in conjunction with the National Park Service's 50th anniversary. More than $1 billion was spent on infrastructure from the mid-1950s to the mid-'60s to upgrade park facilities to help meet the boom in post-World War II visitors.

 

In recent years, two dominant trends characterize park building infrastructure.

 

One is to put "infrastructure in things that support the park outside the park in a much less visible location," says Miller. "We are encouraged to try to reduce the footprint of the operation on the real park as much as possible."

 

The other trend is for the park's supporters - primarily the Great Smoky Mountains Association and the Friends of the Smokies - to provide needed funding.

 

After numerous unsuccessful applications for federal funding for the Oconoluftee project, the two groups pledged to provide the entire amount. Donations also have been instrumental in restoring historic structures, renovating campground and picnic facilities and for other smaller projects, not to mention support of programs.

 

The park has 342 maintained structures, including 78 historic structures. This number does not include the Elkmont District, where the announced decision is to restore and maintain 19 of the 74 structures now in various forms of decay. The others would be razed. Funding is expected to come from a combination of public and private sources.

 

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, covering over a half-million acres and seeing 9 million visitors a year, most of any national park, has an operating budget from the federal government of about $18 million, about half of which is used for recurring maintenance. Capital projects such as renovations and minor construction, receive allocations that can range from a $2 million to $4-$5 million. Highway projects come through the Federal Highway Administration. Major capital projects are line-item projects and the Twin Creeks project was the only one recently.

Theodore Fecke, the senior leader for the Propulsion, Engineering Directorate for Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is no stranger to Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC).

 

"I started coming here in 1979," said Fecke, who was recently on base for a test and evaluation meeting hosted at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. "We ran the Aeropropulsion Systems Test Facility (ASTF) through its paces when they first built it, as well as running the development engine through its paces. So, I've been coming here for many years."

When he first came to AEDC, Fecke had recently been an engineering student working a co-op job for a power plant in Dayton, Ohio. 

 

"You'd think I would have understood big things - even at that point," he said, "but when I came here I was just overwhelmed. It's just the physical size and complexity of things that you really can't appreciate until you're here.  When you start thinking, well that's the compressor building and there are the exhausters and they're almost a half a mile away... it's just the size of everything that really caught my attention."

 

After all these years, Fecke said he is still impressed with AEDC, but it is for what the work force is able to accomplish with the world-class complex of ground testing facilities.

 

"I deal with a lot of test communities," he said. "There are a lot of organizations that are big and have a complex infrastructure, but I would say it's what AEDC as an organization can pull off that is something they deserve a big pat on the back for - that and their professionalism."

Fecke gave an example of AEDC's level of commitment to the mission beyond their gate.

/"We had a problem when I had to send an (aircraft) engine to NASA Lewis Research Center," he recalled. "NASA hasn't tested a lot of afterburning engines.  We did some damage to their test cell, an acoustics problem. AEDC, since they run those engines all the time, went up and helped NASA fix that problem.

 

"They could have said no, it's not my problem, but from a national perspective, they said we need to make sure that NASA has the capability to do testing in the future in case something happened here."

 

Fecke credited former center Commander Brig. Gen. David Stringer and the current AEDC Commander, Col. Art Huber, with helping to ensure AEDC is the center of excellence in ground testing by sharing these skills.

 

"They understand what we need to do to get as much of this knowledge as possible to those we do business with throughout the country," Fecke said.

 

Fecke said AEDC is a key player in helping the Air Force to achieve a goal of certifying the 50/50 Fischer-Tropsch (FT) and JP-8 blend for their entire fleet. He also emphasized that this goal's success depends on the collaborative effort between the program offices working through the Fuels Certification Office and Air Force Research Laboratory with the Test Community at Edwards AFB, Fla. and AEDC. 

"We are actually ahead of schedule," he said. "So, we are making great progress - we've had three of the engines come through AEDC.  At this rate, by the end of fiscal year 2010, all Air Force systems will be certified to operate on the 50/50 mixture."

 

Fecke said the Air Force is also looking at bio-fuels as alternatives to petroleum-based fuel sources for the fleet.

 

"The focus is to also go to these bio-fuels," he said. "These can be derived from a whole spectrum of sources, from chicken fat, to saw grass to algae. With bio, there are a lot of ideas; it's trying to figure out which one can provide a large quantity of fuel. The challenge is two-fold, meet the requirements, what are these processes, and which ones can generate three or four hundred million gallons of fuel a year?"

 

Fecke said AEDC is an outstanding national asset, including in his area of expertise, turbine engine ground testing.

 

"This is the only place in the world - certainly in the U.S. - that has full capabilities for us to take an engine and 'fly' the entire envelope," he said. "When you've got single-engine fighters, taking unnecessary risks really becomes unacceptable.  With a development program, 20 percent of the cost is in testing. AEDC is an important player in pulling that off."

 

From a sustainment point of view, 50 percent of our Component Improvement Program (CIP) each year goes to testing. The reason is that as we fix issues, we've got to validate them, and the most effective way to do that is to come to AEDC where you can run an engine at any altitude condition and get that high level of confidence in its operability.

 

If the engine requires it, then you do flight testing, but many parts can be tested on the ground and verified."

 

Fecke said, "AEDC is critical to the success of the Air Force." "In 1973, we had 14 engine-related losses of aircraft," he said." In 2008, we had zero.  I think a large part of that is due to the strong interaction of the propulsion community, but a critical piece of that is the testing that goes on here at AEDC."

 

He said a less dramatic, but no less important part of the picture, falls on the side of aircraft maintenance fighter engine.

 

"In 1970, a maintenance interval, that's when you have to pull the engine out of the aircraft, tear down all of its parts and clean and reassemble them, was at 1,000 hours or 2,000 TAC (total accumulated cycles)," he explained. "TAC is a form of life measurement that major engine components are tracked against.  Now, we do that at 4,000 TAC cycles or 2,000 hours, and we are moving that to six hours. This is a big deal with cost.

 

"So, if I can keep that engine out there longer, it's a major issue," he continued.  

Fecke said, "It sometimes helps to think of an aircraft engine in automotive terms."

 

"If a NASCAR team could say, that engine is going to stay in that car for two years, everybody on the team, from the driver, engine manufacturer, the pit crew to the sponsors, would know they have a winning combination. The bottom line is the safety record will go up and costs will come down."

Fecke said, "AEDC is leading the way on another front as well, the integration of computational modeling and traditional ground testing."

 

"When we first started down this path of modeling versus testing, people thought that modeling was the Holy Grail, and the future was no testing," he said. "We've come back to reality and now what we're doing what was probably the right focus all along, the integration of modeling and testing."

 

Fecke explained an important part of this integration of modeling and testing is the use of the newest generation of non-intrusive measurement systems (NSMS). 

 

An example of an intrusive measurement system would be a strain gauge and associated wiring installed inside an engine to assess turbine blade and vibration. The physical presence of the gauge can contribute errors into the data because it physically can alter the flow of air through the engine turbine's blades. With a NSMS, two or more offset optical probes mounted on the engine casing can unobtrusively and accurately determine the arrival of a blade tip and specific case location.

 

"Where the non-intrusive method becomes critical is when you look at an engine and you take global or local measurements of temperature, pressure or vibration," he explained. "You get better fidelity with a very focused local measurement."

 

Fecke said, "Arnold has taken the lead with NSMS, computational modeling and working with the tools in tandem."

 

"AEDC has the most advanced system called NSMS Generation 4, and they're moving to Generation 5," he said. "It is very critical in its non-intrusive capability - it allows every blade to be monitored and allows us to take high fidelity measurements and remove the boundary condition of a strain gauge.  NSMS still gets that deflection and allows us to better correlate our advanced modeling, and what we're really doing on modeling is integrating computational fluid dynamics with finite elements. Those things are now kind of merging together."

 

Fecke, like other senior members of the Air Force and avionics engineering industry nationwide, realizes a need exists to bring bright and motivated young people into the sciences and the organizations that support the war fighter.

 

"I know Colonel Huber is focused on re-energizing the engineering output of the facility, not just a matter of taking a test article and running tests on it, but to provide engineering insight and guidance at all levels," he said.

 

"I think the biggest issue with replacing our aging workforce - and I'm in that group - is giving the new folks coming in the excitement to want to come and work in a facility like this.  However, they have to be challenged engineering-wise; this can't just be a cookbook kind of approach," Fecke added. "The new folks coming in have to realize, 'You know, I'm going to have to grow and I'm going to be challenged to do things differently.  How do I integrate this CFD model and predict the roughly 2,000 chemical constituents and then measure those in an engine test?'

 

So, we have to challenge them and that can be achieved by us providing further insight into the acquisition community and the war fighter."

John Olshefski is no longer in uniform, but he is still very much in the Army.

 

He retired last year as a colonel after more than 27 years in the service, the last few as Redstone Arsenal's garrison commander.

 

Now, Olshefski reports to an office on the arsenal in civilian clothes as a Department of the Army employee in the Senior Executive Service. He's been hired as an SES "Highly Qualified Expert" to be a kind of point man for the BRAC-mandated move of the giant Army Materiel Command from Ft. Belvoir in Virginia to new headquarters here.

 

"I haven't worked this hard since I was in the war," Olshefski said during a recent drive to the AMC building site on Redstone.

 

There, he and Mike Edwards, the program manager in charge of the project, looked at the ground that has been readied for concrete. Edwards pointed out a pond in front of the building that will both beautify the site and be part of its force-protection measures.

 

Olshefski's new role includes helping shepherd construction of the more than 400,000-square-foot building that will become the new home of the AMC and the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command in mid-2011. Among other things, he is a liaison between Redstone-based personnel and AMC leadership in Virginia, including four-star Commanding Gen. Ann Dunwoody; Lt. Gen. Jim Pillsbury, Olshefski's former chief at Redstone Arsenal; and Kathryn Condon, executive deputy to the commanding general.

 

"The vision has changed considerably," Olshefski said. The building plans have been downsized a bit to save dollars as construction costs have risen and because, as he pointed out, "we are at war."

 

The AMC mission of providing soldiers around the world with everything they need, from boots to bullets to bread, cannot be downsized, he said, or even affected during the move. The same number of jobs - more than 1,350 AMC and 360 USASAC positions - are coming here as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, which is on track despite changes in the economy and Washington.

 

He said there are already 195 USASAC and AMC employees at Redstone in temporary offices, and that number is expected to double by the end of this year.

 

"We're exactly where we thought we were going to be," Olshefski said.

 

On the drive back to his office, he points out other BRAC-related work under way, including the steel skeleton of the Missile Defense Agency's 840,000-square-foot addition to the Von Braun Complex. This "Phase III" will be the largest building in northeast Alabama.

 

Olshefski pointed to the finished Phase II visible behind it, and said, "That building there, now, was on my watch."

 

Meaning his recent watch as Colonel John Olshefski, Redstone's garrison commander, a highly visible job likened to being "mayor" of the post. His conversation is still liberally sprinkled with "Roger" and "Hooah!" and people still routinely call him by the rank he no longer wears.

Is he adjusting to semi-civilian life?

 

"It is different," Olshefski said. For one thing, his focus now is only on AMC matters. Col. Robert Pastorelli - with whom Olshefski says he has a very good relationship - replaced him as garrison commander.

 

And it's different not knowing "what's next," Olshefski said. In the Army, you always were aware of your rank and what the next steps were.

 

But he made the decision to retire from the Army at age 50 after long and prayerful consideration with his wife, Sharon. And he is very happy the AMC opportunity came along.

 

"I didn't want to become a contractor right out of the box," Olshefski said, and the AMC work is a great blend, easing his transition after decades in uniform.

 

Olshefski grew up the son of a Navy man in northern Virginia. He said he can easily make comparisons for the AMC people considering a move between schools there and here.

 

He's a graduate of The Citadel Military College of South Carolina. Initially, he thought the full-time military life wasn't for him, so he joined the National Guard. After he became more familiar with the Army, though, and at the urging of a friend and mentor, he embarked on a new career.

And his wife went with him, even though it certainly wasn't what she expected when they married, he said.

 

"I've been everywhere," Olshefski said. "Seventeen zip codes in 27 years."

 

That includes tours in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, and elsewhere in the Middle East.

 

"She was there when SCUDS were going off," he said.

 

In 2004, while he was serving in Kuwait, Olshefski learned he would get a command at Redstone Arsenal. He didn't know much about the place and wasn't too happy - until colleagues began congratulating him.

 

"They said, 'John! You don't realize you hit a home run!' Well, they were right," Olshefski said. "This is the most phenomenal place I've ever been."

 

So he's glad to be staying in Huntsville and, in a way, in the military, in a role that seems tailor-made.

 

"I like everybody to be happy," Olshefski said. "And I love taking care of people."

With a double-digit unemployment rate, a Depression-era bridge in need of replacement and a water system that leaves out about one-sixth of the county, there's not much doubt that Smith County could use some help.

 

But getting the ear of state government when you represent only 18,000 people is not always easy.

 

"A lot of times, rural counties kind of get left out," Smith County Mayor Michael Nesbitt said. "We don't have a certain number of people, and a lot of times we struggle."

 

As the recession deepens and communities start to jockey for a piece of the $4.5 billion in federal stimulus spending directed at Tennessee, some country lawmakers are pushing an idea that they think could help rural communities like Smith County grab more attention, particularly for economic development projects.

 

Two groups in the state House of Representatives — one on the Democratic side and another among the Republicans — are looking at banding together into rural caucuses that will press issues of interest to people living in Tennessee's vast countryside.

 

Meant as a counterbalance to Tennessee's increasingly powerful cities, these rural caucuses will fight to bring more money back to smaller communities. The groups could also serve as bridges between the two parties to work with opponents on rural causes, organizers say.

 

"Often on the biggest issues, it's not Democrat versus Republican," said Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma. "It's urban versus rural."

 

 

The rural coalitions come as representatives deal with rising partisanship brought on by the one-seat majority held by Republicans in the House. They also come as lawmakers wrestle with a recession that many economists say has hammered the state's rural areas harder than its cities.

 

"I think it's a good idea," said Rep. Glen Casada, chairman of the House Republican Caucus. "Rural Republicans feel they need a place at the table."

 

Layoffs that urban communities have taken in stride, especially in manufacturing, have devastated small towns across the state, shuttering some of their biggest employers.

 

Overall, unemployment is about one-third higher in Tennessee's rural counties than in its urban ones, says the Center for Rural Strategies, an advocacy group. And even that understates the severity of the recession in some parts of the countryside.

 

In Smith County, for instance, unemployment has more than doubled in the last year to nearly 15 percent, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

 

Eleven Tennessee counties — all outside the state's metropolitan areas — have unemployment rates that are still higher.

 

Smith County is working to land state funding for two water projects and to replace a 73-year-old bridge that crosses the Cumberland River in the center of Carthage, the county seat.

 

Projects such as these can have big impacts in rural areas, organizers of the rural caucuses say. But they are often overlooked as urban delegations lobby state officials for big-ticket projects in and around the cities.

 

By banding together, organizers say they can promote worthy efforts in each other's districts and give their tiny towns the same clout as Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis.

 

"We want to make sure we have some additional horsepower," Matheny said. "It's more difficult for us to make our cases as single legislators than it is when you have 25 or 30 legislators on an issue."

 

 

Rural Republicans took the first step toward forming last week, when they held a meeting of about two dozen representatives in the statehouse. The group appointed a task force to speak to lawmakers who live in counties with 125,000 or fewer people to determine how the caucus should be organized.

 

Initially, the group includes only House of Representatives members, but organizers say it could eventually be expanded to cover state senators.

 

Meanwhile, Democrats are expanding their rural caucus, which has been limited to West Tennessee lawmakers, to include other parts of the state.

 

Whether the caucuses prove effective will depend on their ability to build coalitions across party lines, said Bruce Oppenheimer, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. Otherwise, they'll simply be minor constituencies within their own parties, with no more power to influence policy.

 

"Caucuses do not necessarily lead to coordinated responses," he said. "You can divide your clout."

 

Neither party has set an agenda for its rural caucuses. But several members mentioned highways and water projects as high priorities.

 

The state stands to receive $573 million for highway and bridge improvements through the stimulus. Such a large pool of money could help rural districts win funding for long-needed projects to make roads safer and more efficient, lawmakers said.

 

Water use is also a pressing concern for rural lawmakers. The state's farmers suffered greatly in the droughts of the last two summers, but little attention is being paid to how water is distributed through the state over the long term.

 

Members of both parties say the idea of creating groups to work on rural issues has been kicked around for several years. Those efforts have always died in the crunch of business that accompanies the legislative session.

 

But the current recession — and the promise of major spending by the federal government to jump-start the economy — has lifted the importance of rural caucuses. By banding together, members believe they can steer more spending toward their districts.

 

"The stimulus has shown that the real disparity is between urban interests and what rural areas need," said Rep. Phillip Johnson, R-Pegram.

 

 

The caucus is also coming together as Republicans deal with the controversial election of Rep. Kent Williams as speaker of the House. Williams, a Republican from rural Carter County, won his position by breaking with his party and voting for himself along with the chamber's Democratic delegation.

 

The state's Republican leadership, much of which is drawn from urban areas, has responded by trying to expel Williams from the party. Rural Republicans have been less enthusiastic about kicking him out.

 

Caucus organizers, however, say the Williams controversy had nothing to do with the group's coalescence this year.

 

"This is not about creating division," said Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, who has spearheaded the Rural Republican Caucus.

 

Likewise, members of the Rural Democratic Caucus hope to elevate their issues without antagonizing party allies in the cities.

 

David King, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is retiring from the agency to accept a position as executive vice president of Dynetics in Huntsville, effective immediately. Robert M. Lightfoot, Marshall's deputy center director, will serve as acting director until a successor is named.

 

King has been the center director at Marshall since June 2003. His departure ends a 25-year career with NASA that began in 1983 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where he served as director of space shuttle processing and shuttle launch director.

 

"David's expertise and dedication will be sorely missed, not only at Marshall, but across the entire agency," NASA Acting Administrator Chris Scolese said. "As sad as we are to see him leave, we wish him the very best in all of his future endeavors."

 

King described his decision to leave NASA as one of the toughest of his professional career. "The opportunities NASA has given me are something most people only dream about," King said. "It was a privilege to work with some of the smartest people in the world for 25 years. I will miss them greatly."

 

King's acting successor, Lightfoot, has served as Marshall's deputy director since May 2007. A native of Montevallo, Ala., he has shared responsibility for managing Marshall, one of NASA's largest field centers. The center has more than 8,400 civil service and contract employees performing a wide scope of propulsion, scientific and space transportation activities.

 

"Robert's experience and leadership skills are exactly what we need to lead Marshall at this critical time," Scolese said. "I'm certain he will do a terrific job in this role as he has in all of his previous positions at NASA."

 

From 2005 to 2007, Lightfoot served as manager of the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office at Marshall, leading the organization with responsibility for the manufacture, assembly and operation of the primary shuttle propulsion elements: the main engines, external fuel tank, solid rocket boosters and reusable solid rocket motors.

 

For the two years prior to that, Lightfoot was assistant associate administrator for the Space Shuttle Program in the Office of Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. His responsibilities included space shuttle return to flight activities, budget formulation and integration of shuttle infrastructure into the Constellation Program, the new initiative of human exploration of the moon, Mars and beyond.

 

In 2002, Lightfoot was director of the Propulsion Test Directorate at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss. He began his NASA career at Marshall in 1989 as a test engineer and program manager for the space shuttle main engine technology test bed program, and the Russian RD-180 engine testing program for the Atlas launch vehicle program.

 

Lightfoot has received numerous awards during his NASA career, including a NASA Outstanding Leadership medal in 2007 for outstanding and exemplary leadership of the Shuttle Propulsion Office and assuring safety for the shuttle's return to flight. In 2006, he was awarded the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executives -- the highest honor attainable for federal government work.

 

"Robert is a tremendous leader and one of NASA's best," King said. "I leave with full confidence that Marshall will be in great hands."

 

Sergeants leaving the Army may further their education and continue serving their country in defense-related work through a new initiative by the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the Tennessee Valley Corridor organization.

 

The Non-Commissioned Officer Enhanced Workforce in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program should also help fill the shortage of engineers and trained technicians expected to worsen as BRAC brings more jobs to Redstone Arsenal.

 

NEW-STEM targets technically-trained NCOs leaving the Army, Air Force or other services, according to UAH President Dr. David Williams. They will use their GI benefits to pay tuition expenses for course work that has been tailored to their experience and leads to an engineering or technical degree.

 

As students, they will also be in a co-op job program offered by the Department of Defense and Army commands on Redstone Arsenal, including the Missile Defense Agency and the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center.

 

"We have ... worked with our partners to create a specific orientation, curriculum and program to meet the needs of these servicemen and women as well as the needs in the engineering field," Williams said in a statement.

 

"The NEW-STEM program is designed specifically for NCOs, and it will not only help our region bring talented young engineers to our communities to fill jobs that are essential to our success, but it will help our nation as it continues to compete on a global scale," he said.

 

The Army's 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision will result in the move of more than 4,700 jobs to Redstone Arsenal through 2011. But not all those current employees will move to Huntsville.

 

That, along with retirements, expected growth in programs, support jobs and other factors, has some observers predicting as much as a 10,000-person work force shortage for the area when the Army job moves are complete, said Joe Ritch, chairman of the Tennessee Valley BRAC Committee.

 

"The jobs that we are gaining as a result of BRAC will be here within two years, so we don't have time to start from scratch to fill our immediate needs," said Lucia Cape, vice president of Workforce for the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

 

"By accessing the NCOs who are leaving the service, we capture workers who can start in some capacity right now while they complete an engineering program to bring them up to full speed," she said.

 

Officials are working with Department of Defense and the Department of Labor's Transition Office to select 10 candidates for the NEW-STEM pilot program at UAH. The deadline for applications is April 2.

 

Those accepted will begin paid co-op jobs this summer and enter UAH in the fall semester.

 

NEW-STEM could grow to about 30 participants when fully implemented in 2010.

 

"I think that is a great program," Ritch said, adding that in his dealings with NCOs he's found them to be extremely intelligent and capable.

 

Many went into the service straight out of high school, he said. Their background and maturity make them superb college students and employees.

 

Ritch, who is also a University of Alabama System trustee and a UAH graduate, said it will be great to get such good candidates on a local campus.

 

"If we can get them to attend here, they're more likely to stay here," he said. "We have a very large number of UAH graduates working in the local defense industry."

 

NEW-STEM has a counterpart in Oak Ridge, Tenn., called "America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers." It is aimed at attracting veterans from Walter Reed Army Medical Center who are interested in nuclear, chemical, electrical, mechanical or civil engineering.

 

Partial funding for NEW-STEM is through a grant from the Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development program, administered by the Valley Innovation Alliance.

During a ceremony held on February 27 morning in the Y-12 New Hope Center, more than two dozen representatives of participating corporations and area universities took to the stage to support the America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers program.

Local celebrity status aside, the real stars of the ceremony were the representatives of the 844th Engineer Battalion, out of Tennessee, who were visiting Oak Ridge on February 27 and are expected to be deployed to Iraq in a month and a half.

The America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers program provides an opportunity for retiring veterans to complete an engineering degree that will lead to full-time employment at several area technical companies and institutions.

"The program is a result of interactions made possible by regional business, government and education leaders working together through the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit," according to information provided by the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The program matches the military service, discipline and skills of primary noncommissioned officers to help support future regional technical needs. The program offers part-time employment, community sponsors, academic mentors and ultimately matches graduates with engineering and technical jobs.

A class of five students will be selected with the help of the military services and will grow incrementally to 30 participants each year.

"I've heard several people ask, ’Where was this when I was 18?'" keynote speaker Maj. Gen. Mari K. Eder, deputy chief of the Army Reserve, stated during Friday morning's program.

"This is showing us where America is going to build its future," she said. "We need a coalition of the willing … to keep our commitment to this being the best nation in the world."

"Across the board, this is a huge win-win," U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., who also attended Friday's kickoff ceremony, said of the America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers program.

"We are paying this forward."

I was proud to receive an invitation to attend the special event at the New Hope Center on February 27 where the Memorandum of Agreement for the America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers program will be signed. Not only am I extremely proud that the New Hope Center was chosen for this auspicious occasion, but being a Vietnam veteran myself, the heart of this unusual and unique program whereby our veterans are given a most unusual chance to gain an advanced education and a good job here in East Tennessee, makes me even more proud to be included.

The America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers program provides our veterans the opportunity to obtain degrees in the critical engineering fields of nuclear, chemical, mechanical, civil or electrical engineering. Basic requirements are a high school diploma or equivalent and an honorable discharge or serving honorably in the National Guard or Reserves. A "Secret" clearance is desired. Wounded veterans, Purple Heart awardees and other significant award recipients are afforded additional selection weighting.

An insight into the way this program is being received by the veterans can be gained by examining the story of one Purple Heart veteran who withdrew his application because he was returning to Walter Reed Hospital for more surgery. He did not want to be selected and deny another person the chance to participate in the program. He wanted to delay being considered until he recovered from this next round of surgery and could be ready to fully focus on his academics. He hoped to be able to take a course online while he was still convalescing. "This guy will certainly be a keeper for some organization in the future," said Kevin Smith, deputy manager of the Y-12 National Nuclear Security Administration Site Office, who is a champion for this new program.

Something else for which those of us in East Tennessee can take pride is that this new and unusual program is an Oak Ridge and Knoxville area initiative. This is yet another example of the strength of purpose that exists here in our region and also the collaborative nature of our government, educational, and industrial leaders.

Four universities/colleges -- Roane State Community College, Pellissippi State Technical Community College, Tennessee Technological University and the University of Tennessee system -- are working in support of this exciting initiative. They each see the value of attracting veterans and know the quality of individuals they can expect from our men and women returning from military service.

Thirteen Corporations -- B&W Y-12, TVA, GEM Technologies, B&W Clinch River, UT-Battelle, Pro2Serve, Uranium Services Enrichment Corporation, Energy Solutions, Science Applications International Corporation, Bechtel Construction, Information International Associates, EnergX and Tetra Tech -- are supporting the effort. These corporations also see the value of attracting the caliber of individual who comes out of the military and who excels in these areas of engineering.

Fourteen supporting organizations -- National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office, Tennessee Valley Corridor, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, city of Oak Ridge City Council, Knox County, city of Knoxville, Roane County, Anderson County, Akins Crisp Pubic Strategies, East Tennessee Economical Council, Innovation Valley, Inc., Lawler-Wood, LLC Construction and Wackenhut Services, Inc., Oak Ridge Team -- have also indicated their willingness to help.  These organizations realize the value brought to the community when Veterans settle in our midst and gain advanced degrees along with good jobs.

While this program is wholeheartedly supported by the NNSA Deputy Manager, Kevin Smith, himself a veteran of the Air Force where he was a commander of an F-16 fighter squadron, he quickly acknowledges the importance of the whole consortium of Oak Ridge's and Knoxville's technical, engineering and educational organizations.  Together they have succeeded in creating an amazing opportunity for engineering employment and educational opportunities for America's military veterans. 

The program is an excellent example of what is referred to as a Scientific, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program as promoted by the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). This organization is the principal association for state directors of technology and their staff members providing professional development and leadership around the effective use of technology in education to enhance competitiveness in the global workforce.

The need for attention to scientific, technical, engineering and mathematics areas of study in students of all ages is being recognized as a key strategy for the United States to regain leadership in key educational instruction. A report written by SETDA highlights the need for societal changes in America if we are to successfully compete and lead the world in the next generation.

The SETDA report continues by noting that "the United States will not be able to meet its workforce needs as early as 2015 based on the need for 400,000 new graduates in STEM related fields. Yet, today's students continue to pursue degrees in non-STEM careers." The America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers program is an attempt to change that paradigm.

Not only will it address the need for increasing our key engineering graduates, it provides an avenue of hope for our veterans that they might not otherwise realize. It becomes very personal when the veteran becomes a coworker.

Brian Paul is the first America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineer program participant to work at Y-12. Brian describes the program as "an answer to prayer" and is looking forward to a long and interesting career at Y-12. He is a junior in nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee and working part time at Y-12.

Terry Patterson is the second program participant working at Y-12. He has recently returned from Iraq and was given a business card among many other things as he was being discharged. Thinking little of it at the time, the card was placed with other materials Terry received. Later, just for curiosity sake, when he again saw the card he made the phone call and got Kevin Smith. Kevin invited Terry to come for a visit and he saw the program as a good fit. Terry is attending Roane State Community College and majoring in mechanical engineering.

"The societal attitudes and perception of engineering, science, and mathematics careers must change at home and in school," said Mary Ann Wolf, SETDA's executive director. The America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers is certainly an excellent example of changing societal attitudes. We can all be proud of the leaders who did the research to understand how the local organizations could pull together to make this program succeed.

The program has grown out of the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summits championed by U.S. Congressman Zach Wamp. Through the collaborative networking encouraged in this vibrant forum, such program ideas can surface, be cultivated and grow into full-fledged initiatives. America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers continues to evolve and may well develop into a model for the rest of the nation.

A goal of having 30 veterans actively engaged in the program by the fall of 2009 is achievable. There are already five veterans in the program attending classes at the University of Tennessee and Roane State Community College. There are seven more that have been accepted into the program and are now completing their Tennessee college applications. It is worthy of note that approximately half of these veterans have a disability.

Kevin Smith heads up the interim program Steering Committee that is actively seeking to attract veterans into the program. Several avenues are being pursued to get the word out to these veterans. Kevin says that veterans don't always have a broad perspective of the job and educational opportunities available to them. This new program as it becomes more widely known will help the veterans see greater possibilities for their future careers.

The upcoming event on Feb. 27, at the New Hope Center will feature Major General Mari K. Eder, deputy chief, Army Reserve, as the keynote speaker. The celebration of this milestone of creative collaboration and the sincere desires of all participating organizations to truly provide substantial and specific assistance to our nation's soldiers who are now veterans in need of opportunities in education and employment is a remarkable achievement.

The people who have succeeded in making this program a reality are to be congratulated...yet, they are exactly the kind of people who do not seek such recognition, rather they are the kind of leaders who are continually looking for ways to improve their own organizations as well as the communities in which they live. We in Oak Ridge and Knoxville are blessed to have several such individuals in our midst and this time America's veterans are beneficiaries as are the local companies who hire them.

During the 1960s American Motors president George Romney warned Detroit’s automakers, “There is nothing more vulnerable than entrenched success.”

The “Big Three” paid no attention. They were building the best cars in the world – highly profitable, gas guzzling vehicles. Meanwhile, their future Japanese competitors were perfecting smaller, fuel efficient cars. Today, we are bailing out the Detroit companies that didn’t listen.

American higher education would do well to heed Romney’s warning. We have the best colleges in the world. But even brisk competition at home seems to have little effect on rising tuition costs.

Officials from Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations, LLC, gathered at Calvin Donaldson Elementary School on March 20 to announce the launching of a five-year, $5.28 million philanthropic commitment designed to serve as a catalyst for educational enrichment in the state of Tennessee.

The company's "Partners in Education" program will include funding for Fisk University, Hamilton County Public Schools, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tennessee State University (TSU), The University of Memphis (U of M), The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga (UTC) and the University of Tennessee - Knoxville (UTK).

The program will also leverage and support the Volkswagen Group's relationship with Chattanooga State Community College, the lead institution for workforce training at the company's new plant in Chattanooga, officials said.

State and local politicians, who turned out in force for the announcement, were openly delighted by the automaker’s educational initiative in the Volunteer State.

Since Volkswagen announced in July that it had selected Chattanooga as the site of a new plant, Gov. Phil Bredesen told the assembled crowd, “People in this community stood a little bit taller.”

But the state cannot continue to attract companies such as Volkswagen unless it creates the kind of educational system, kindergarten through higher education, that it takes to prepare young people in Tennessee to compete in a world economy, the governor added.

"Today's announcement of 'Partners in Education' demonstrates the willingness of Volkswagen Group of America to partner with K-12 and higher education in Tennessee to help prepare our young people for the highly skilled jobs of the future," Gov. Bredesen said. "We've worked hard to raise academic standards and make education more relevant to the demands of the modern workplace, and this initiative is the type of partnership that is good for business and vital to the future of our state's economy."

Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, assured the crowd that the company is just as committed to building the new plant here today as it was the day the decision was announced.

“We are not moving one inch from this commitment,” he vowed. “Sometimes it is good to have good German stubbornness.”

"This is a truly joyous occasion. We have already made a significant contribution to education in Virginia, our corporate home. Today we're making a significant commitment to education in our new home," said Mr. Jacoby. "We're not just building a plant. We're building a partnership. We're putting down roots in Chattanooga."

Dr. Horst Neumann, a member of the Board of Management Volkswagen AG for Human Resources and Organization; Frank Fischer, CEO and chairman of Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations also were on hand to help unveil the philanthropic initiative.

"We are employers, but we are also neighbors. That means pitching in and doing our part to make life better for the entire community," said Dr. Neumann. "Our corporate philosophy demands that it is not enough to merely have an interest in education. We have an obligation to turn interest into action. If we're going to create first-rate minds, we have to create first-rate schools."

"Our $5.28 million, five-year education program is a comprehensive project that will serve as a catalyst for improvement," said Mr. Fischer. "Our program will benefit students from kindergarten through high school; college undergraduates and graduate students; and scholars and researchers at the state's premier research institutions."

Local officials including Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield and County Mayor Claude Ramsey also helped Volkswagen commemorate the "Partners in Education" program.

"Here in Hamilton County, we share Volkswagen's commitment to preparing young people for high-skill, high-wage jobs," said County Mayor Ramsey. "Thank you for engaging with us to support our public schools just as you are partnering with our whole community to create thousands of new jobs."

"For decades, Chattanoogans have utilized public-private partnerships to transform our community into one of the best mid-sized cities in the country," said Mayor Littlefield. "I'm thankful that Volkswagen is joining that great tradition even before they have finished work on their new auto assembly facility."

Partners in Education Program

Volkswagen Group of America's "Partners in Education" program began with partnerships with Virginia schools and is designed to create a comprehensive education initiative for academic institutions.

With the expansion into Tennessee, the partnership with primary and secondary schools, universities and a leading national laboratory will positively impact students throughout their educational experience and throughout the state.

Hamilton County Public Schools

A multi-year, multi-faceted partnership with Hamilton County Public Schools will support a summer teacher training institute, providing teachers with appropriate training to keep pace with the state's new, more rigorous educational standards.

Additional funds will help Calvin Donaldson Elementary School renovate a building that is currently unusable into working student labs.

Finally, the company will help support preparation for the ACT college exam, helping improve Hamilton County students' performance on standardized college admission exams.

"We appreciate the support and investment Volkswagen is making in Hamilton County Schools. With this investment they are showing the need for an educated workforce and emphasizing that a quality education is necessary for a prosperous future," said Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales. "These grants will focus on training teachers, helping high school students gain the skills needed to succeed in the workforce and college and enhance our environmental science magnet program. All of these programs are integral to our future success, and we thank Volkswagen for their commitment to quality educational programs in Hamilton County."

Chattanooga State

Volkswagen's partnerships with educational institutions began with Chattanooga State Community College, the lead institution for workforce training at the Chattanooga Volkswagen Plant. The training planned for the Volkswagen Training Academy in Chattanooga will consist of standardized global training found in Germany and throughout the Volkswagen Group worldwide; and Chattanooga State will partner with Volkswagen to develop a customized curriculum.

"We are honored to be a trusted partner with Volkswagen in this crucial responsibility of developing a world-class workforce, which will insure Volkswagen's success, and the success of our community," commented Chattanooga State President James L. Catanzaro.

Fisk University

At Fisk University, the partnership will support high-achieving students who are engaged in community service by establishing a Volkswagen fellowship in which students combine elements such as environmental studies, service learning projects and global business projects.

"An education at Fisk emphasizes serving others as well as self-development. This initiative represents a holistic approach to educational enrichment for Tennessee's students. It is fundamentally grounded in our collective interest to develop engaged students with more opportunity across the educational spectrum," said Fisk President Hazel O'Leary.

"This gift will benefit exceptional students, many of whom might not otherwise be able to attend Fisk without this investment. Those students will have an impact on their communities for years to come in the areas of environmental studies, service learning projects, and global business. We are grateful to Volkswagen Group of America for its generosity and look forward to a long and productive relationship with our partner schools."

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory will establish a Volkswagen Scholars Program for upper division and post-graduate students interested in careers in the automotive industry. The program will be run through Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a non-profit organization that works closely with Oak Ridge National Labs in the management of many of its student internship and post-graduate fellowship programs.

"The Volkswagen Scholars Program at ORNL will give students access to some of the finest scientific facilities, equipment, and staff mentors in the world," said ORNL Director Thom Mason. "It will boost these students' career potential and strengthen the automotive industry workforce. We are very pleased to be one of the leaders in this exciting initiative."

Tennessee State University

At Tennessee State University, funds will provide student scholarships and faculty support in the Colleges of Business and Engineering. Also, they will support an endowed chair for Supply Chain Management, student scholarships and K-12 pre-engineering math and science programs.

"Tennessee State University is pleased to partner with Volkswagen Group of America," said President of Tennessee State University Dr. Melvin N. Johnson. "This generous gift will provide funding for scholarships and innovative programs that will help TSU attract talented and motivated students. By partnering with Volkswagen Group of America, TSU will continue its legacy of making success stories possible.

"There is no better way to invest in the state of Tennessee than to provide students with educational opportunities that will not only change their lives but will also change the structure of the communities in which they reside," Dr. Johnson added. "Together, TSU and Volkswagen Group of America will engage in shaping the direction of the next generation of leaders."

University of Memphis

The partnership with the University of Memphis will support an initiative to recruit, retain, and prepare the next generation of specialists in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). This program links schools with local businesses and reaches down to the kindergarten level to encourage interest in STEM subject areas.

"We are very grateful to Volkswagen Group of America for this most generous gift," said Dr. Shirley Raines, president of the University of Memphis. "As the University of Memphis actively promotes mathematics and the physical science, this gift will enable our distinguished professors and researchers to partner with middle and high school teachers to energize a new generation of students.

Dr. Ralph Faudree, provost of the University, said, "The University of Memphis has an active group of faculty that have been involved in providing enhancement opportunities for middle school and high school students interested in STEM careers, and in training teachers in these areas. These funds will allow the faculty expand and enrich the existing programs, to create many new opportunities, and to seek additional local, state, and federal funding for programs to support more students entering STEM careers."

The University of Tennessee – Chattanooga

The partnership with UTC will support the new Volkswagen Competitive Challenge fund, giving financial support to students for team projects, as well as support for faculty research, travel, recruitment and outreach. Funding at UTC will focus particularly on engineering, international studies, and computer and environmental science.

"Our entire community has been energized by the announcement that Volkswagen is coming to Chattanooga, and we at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are proud to have been involved in the recruitment effort," said Roger Brown, Chancellor of UTC. "In the short time since the announcement, Volkswagen has shown a commitment to being a true corporate neighbor and partner in this community. The establishment of the Volkswagen Competitive Challenge Fund at UTC demonstrates Volkswagen's belief in education, and we are very appreciative for this opportunity for our faculty and students."

The University of Tennessee – Knoxville

At the University of Tennessee – Knoxville, the Volkswagen Engagement Endowment Fund will provide student aid and faculty support in several different areas. These categories include supply chain logistics, mechanical engineering and environmental engineering.

"We are excited that Volkswagen has made this investment in higher education, and we look forward to engaging with them," said UT-Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. "From supply chain logistics to mechanical and environmental engineering, our strengths complement Volkswagen's needs. This partnership will benefit UT-Knoxville students and faculty, VW employees and customers, and the citizens of our state."

The Tennessee initiative complements Volkswagen Group of America's $2.1 million pilot "Partners in Education" program in Virginia, which is specifically meant to support schools in the home region of the U.S. corporate headquarters. The donations provide financial, educational and other needed resources to Fairfax County Public Schools, Northern Virginia Community College, the D.C.-based Excel Institute, George Mason University, Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia.

Volkswagen Group of America Inc.

Volkswagen Group of America Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, the world's third largest automaker and the largest carmaker in Europe. It houses the U.S. operations of a worldwide family of distinguished and exciting brands including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen, as well as VW Credit, Inc. Founded in 1955, the company's headquarters are in Herndon, Va.

Volkswagen Group of America brings to the U.S. vehicles that marry the science of engineering and the art of styling, with the goal of offering attractive, safe, and environmentally sound automobiles that are competitive and set world standards in their respective classes.

The company has approximately 2,500 employees in the United States and sells its vehicles through an 800-strong dealer network. With increasing popularity for its brands in the U.S., the company has set the goal of reaching one million car sales in the country by 2018.

 

The Johnson City Press, Jeff Keeling
3/4/2009

Knowing that Bancintranets specializes in “enterprise Web content management application” for the banking industry is probably less important than knowing this: The Johnson City company is growing enough to have recently become the first small business officially to “graduate” from East Tennessee State University’s Innovation Lab.

 

“Our products are about productivity, and allowing the organization to manage their own Intranet, their own Web site, their own director’s portal, and it's really doing more with less,” said Mark Anderson, chief financial officer.

 

It’s a solution that continued to be lapped up by small and mid-sized banks during a 2008 that, frankly, didn’t see a tremendous amount of capital investment or positive industry news. Mark Anderson attributed that to customers’ ability to see a return on their investment “really quickly.”

“Within just a few months, normally, clients see results and are able to defer future hiring by being more productive with their current employees.”

 

Lynette Anderson started developing Bancintranets in 2002, and the first clients came along in 2003. Mark Anderson said his wife’s diverse background includes banking, consulting, Y2K planning and call centers, while for 20 years he ran a data center for a number of commercial banks.

 

If the past year is any trend, that customer base – of banks averaging about $1 billion in assets – should hit triple digits this year.

 

Trade conferences – for software vendors and banking organizations, primarily – are where Bancintranets management team plies its stock in trade. Mark Anderson said the company plans to man a booth at 14 such trade shows this year.

 

It was a model that worked in 2008.

 

“We added almost 30 new clients last year and we’re now at just under 100,” Anderson said. “We had a great year.”

 

Bancintranets’ staff grew with its client base during 2008, with the employee base increasing more than 40 percent, from nine to 13.

 

That allowed the company, an Innovation Lab tenant since 2002, to develop an exit plan, and it recently moved to offices in north Johnson City.

 

“We’re asking for exit plans for some of our more established companies,” said Rayford Johnson, who took the reins as the Innovation Lab's director last August.

 

“We want them to be sustainable over the long term when they leave here – that's the goal,” Johnson said.

 

The lab offers some perks that help higher-risk fledgling businesses succeed, but without turnover through graduation, the doors would eventually shut to new tenants. A few have settled in since Johnson took over, and he said “we have a few that we're interviewing and working with.”

 

Once a client is on-line with Bancintranets, the relationship doesn't wane by any means. The systems that help bring about efficiencies and productivity create an ongoing need for upgrades and training.

 

“Customer support is a very important area for us. We’re constantly adding new modules and features to the product.”

 

The heart of the product, Anderson said, involves breaking down barriers between different areas of the banks organizational structure and “allowing department heads to be able to manage their own electronic content and share it.

 

“We’re managing content from all the different departments within the organization, whether it be HR, retail, compliance, just informing the employees what's going on in the organization, through a Web application.”

 

And again, Anderson said, if it all sounds like so much smoke-blowing, potential customers need merely check with current clients about why they're still on board.

 

“Truly we can quantify that to the bottom line, where their return on assets is greater by utilizing our product – we can mathematically show that.”

Knowing that Bancintranets specializes in “enterprise Web content management application” for the banking industry is probably less important than knowing this: The Johnson City company is growing enough to have recently become the first small business officially to “graduate” from East Tennessee State University’s Innovation Lab.

 

“Our products are about productivity, and allowing the organization to manage their own Intranet, their own Web site, their own director’s portal, and it's really doing more with less,” said Mark Anderson, chief financial officer.

 

It’s a solution that continued to be lapped up by small and mid-sized banks during a 2008 that, frankly, didn’t see a tremendous amount of capital investment or positive industry news. Mark Anderson attributed that to customers’ ability to see a return on their investment “really quickly.”

“Within just a few months, normally, clients see results and are able to defer future hiring by being more productive with their current employees.”

 

Lynette Anderson started developing Bancintranets in 2002, and the first clients came along in 2003. Mark Anderson said his wife’s diverse background includes banking, consulting, Y2K planning and call centers, while for 20 years he ran a data center for a number of commercial banks.

 

If the past year is any trend, that customer base – of banks averaging about $1 billion in assets – should hit triple digits this year.

 

Trade conferences – for software vendors and banking organizations, primarily – are where Bancintranets management team plies its stock in trade. Mark Anderson said the company plans to man a booth at 14 such trade shows this year.

 

It was a model that worked in 2008.

 

“We added almost 30 new clients last year and we’re now at just under 100,” Anderson said. “We had a great year.”

 

Bancintranets’ staff grew with its client base during 2008, with the employee base increasing more than 40 percent, from nine to 13.

 

That allowed the company, an Innovation Lab tenant since 2002, to develop an exit plan, and it recently moved to offices in north Johnson City.

 

“We’re asking for exit plans for some of our more established companies,” said Rayford Johnson, who took the reins as the Innovation Lab's director last August.

 

“We want them to be sustainable over the long term when they leave here – that's the goal,” Johnson said.

 

The lab offers some perks that help higher-risk fledgling businesses succeed, but without turnover through graduation, the doors would eventually shut to new tenants. A few have settled in since Johnson took over, and he said “we have a few that we're interviewing and working with.”

 

Once a client is on-line with Bancintranets, the relationship doesn't wane by any means. The systems that help bring about efficiencies and productivity create an ongoing need for upgrades and training.

 

“Customer support is a very important area for us. We’re constantly adding new modules and features to the product.”

 

The heart of the product, Anderson said, involves breaking down barriers between different areas of the banks organizational structure and “allowing department heads to be able to manage their own electronic content and share it.

 

“We’re managing content from all the different departments within the organization, whether it be HR, retail, compliance, just informing the employees what's going on in the organization, through a Web application.”

 

And again, Anderson said, if it all sounds like so much smoke-blowing, potential customers need merely check with current clients about why they're still on board.

 

“Truly we can quantify that to the bottom line, where their return on assets is greater by utilizing our product – we can mathematically show that.”

A dozen-member space crew spent the last six months on a shuttle mission conducting experiments and learning what life was like in space.

 

"Houston, we have a problem," said one of the shuttle commanders. "I see a broken satellite."

Two mission specialists exited the shuttle to repair the satellite.

 

"All systems prepare for landing," ordered another shuttle commander.

 

It was time for the crew to return home.

 

For a week, students at St. Rose Catholic School blasted off, out of this atmosphere and experienced life in space — sort of. The entire school participated in "Build-a-Shuttle," a program conducted by the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

 

Two rocket center employees worked with the students, teaching them how to build a partial space shuttle, mission control center and do scripted missions. Students also learned about living in space.

 

"We're such a believer in hands-on (learning)," said Stephanie Kinard, a parent who organized the program for St. Rose. "It supplements the book learning."

 

Kinard started working with other parents in October. They donated funds, and the school got sponsors to pay for the program. Kinard said without donations, the school would have had to spend $7,000 to $8,000.

 

"The parent support has been phenomenal," she said.

 

Parents volunteered during the week, helping students construct the shuttle and run the shuttle missions.

 

"The goal is to get the kids interested in space careers," said Linda Taylor, one of the educators from the Huntsville Rocket Center.

 

She said everywhere the group has gone at least one student has pursued a career in space education.

 

Murfreesboro's Rhea Seddon shared her experience as an astronaut with the students on Friday. She has flown on three space missions.

 

She said she fell in love with space in the seventh grade. For a science project, Seddon did a poster about what might happen to people if they went into space.

 

Angi Agle slipped behind the controls of a sleek electric vehicle built by students and was soon tooling down Tulane Avenue at a brisk clip.

 

"This is so cool!" the Oak Ridge school board member enthused after her maiden voyage.

Students and officials in the school system's alternative school observed the wrap-up of the years-long project to build the "Bug-E" with ceremonies Friday.

 

"This is a celebration, the fulfillment of a lot of hours of working together," Principal Roger Robinson said.

 

The ultramodern vehicle was an effort by about 30 students in grades 5-12 who for varying reasons are removed from the mainstream education system.

 

In a bid to boost the school's image, Robinson has changed its name to The ARK (Acquiring Responsibility & Knowledge) Academy.

 

"This is a school that is doing things way outside the box, not the typical things that kids in an alternative school do,'' Robinson said.

 

Math teacher Will Gouge in September 2007 brainstormed the notion of assembling an electric vehicle.

 

"We wanted to show others in the community that what we're doing is worthwhile," Gouge said.

Fundraising for the $7,000 project was most challenging, Gouge said. Students cobbled together donations from local businesses, documented their efforts and learned to work together as a team, he said.

 

School skills were put to real-life use, from figuring out how far the vehicle can travel to understanding batteries to clearly explaining the project.

 

"Every step of the way, there was a problem we encountered that we had to fix," student Lloyd Murray. "We had to hustle to get it done."

 

Accompanied by parents and school staff members, Lloyd and fellow student Reanna Richard are off to Nashville this week to showcase their project at the National Service Learning Conference.

 

Assembling the vehicle on deadline "was frustrating at times, but I loved it," Reanna said.

 

Gouge said the electric vehicle, assembled from a kit, could hit 50 mph for 10 miles before its batteries need recharging. At 30 mph, the 400-pound vehicle can go 30 miles, he said.

 

The vehicle will remain at the school for a while, Gouge said. It will eventually be auctioned off, with proceeds funneled into future ARK Academy projects, he said.

 

"It was a long, eventful project," said student Nick Jenkins. "We put our heads together, used a bit of elbow grease and worked really hard."