BusinessTN

Chattanooga/East
Knoxville/East
Memphis/West
Nashville/Middle

Chattanooga/East
Knoxville/East
Memphis/West
Nashville/Middle

Chattanooga/East

• Chattanooga
  As construction continues on a new, Cameron Hill campus of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the corporation's landmark gold glass headquarters downtown is on the market for $22 million.

  CBL & Associates Properties announced a new partnership with Tenco Realty, a retail owner, operator, and developer based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, for the development, redevelopment and acquisition of shopping center properties in Brazil. CBL will initially invest a total of approximately $15.3 million to acquire a 60% interest in a new retail development in Macaé, Brazil.

  As the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport saw increased boardings over last year, Skybus Airlines announced plans to edge into the Atlanta market via nonstop flights between Columbus, Ohio, and Chattanooga.

  The Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association filed suit against city-owned Electric Power Board hours after EPB approved plans to use fiber-optic technology to offer residential telephone, cable and high-speed Internet service.

  FedEx Ground will consolidate its Chattanooga operations in a new $15 million facility to be built on the city's Southside, at a former landfill for now-defunct Wheland Foundry.

  Tom Decosimo, son of CPA and entrepreneur Joseph Decosimo, has joined with Dewey Hammond, Chris Rowe and Andy Stockett to launch FourBridges Capital Advisors, an independent investment banking group.

  Merastar Insurance Co. said it will increase its sales, claims and service operations, adding least 100 jobs in the Chattanooga area by the end of 2008.

  Petty & Landis merged with Nashville-based Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, Tennessee's largest regional accounting and consulting firm, which now employs 400 in Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga.

  Southern Champion Tray announced it will spend some $10 million to expand its paperboard and packaging manufacturing facility. The investment will create 50 new jobs over the next three years.

• Etowah
  German-owned foundry ThyssenKrupp Waupaca, which manufactures automobile castings, began a $162 million expansion that will double its current space and bring 100 new jobs to McMinn County.
• Fort Payne, Ala.
  Sock manufacturer V.I. Prewett & Son accepted a $125 million buyout from Canada's Gildan Activewear, which outsources some production to Honduras but announced no plans to cut its 1,300-person workforce.

Chattanooga/East
Knoxville/East
Memphis/West
Nashville/Middle

Knoxville/East

• Johnson City
  Oxnard, Calif.-based Borla Performance Industries will close its California and Michigan operations and relocate to a 325,000-square-foot building to manufacture its stainless steel performance exhaust systems. Borla employed 200 workers prior to the move and has added more jobs. The proximity to Bristol Motor Speedway played a factor in Borla's decision.
• Clinton
  Aisin Automotive Casting Tennessee announced a $67 million expansion to its Clinton facility, a move expected to add 160 jobs to its current workforce of 400 employees.
• Knoxville
  Media executive Ross Bagwell Sr. raised $22,000 for the Pellissippi State Foundation by selling his 1991 Mercedes Benz 560SEL•funds that will benefit the new Bagwell Center for Media and Art at Pellissippi State Technical Community College. The center was named in honor of the founder of Bagwell Communications and Cinetel Productions and his family following a $1 million gift from his daughter and son-in-law, Dee and Jimmy Haslam (Pilot Corp.).

  Pilot Travel Centers has partnered with Denny's to open the 24/7 family restaurants within Pilot stores starting in early 2008. Pilot has about 300 travel centers in 40 states.

  Scripps Networks will invest more than $30 million to expand and upgrade its West Knoxville headquarters in a project that will bring all of its divisions into one campus. The media company, which operates lifestyle cable programs HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living and Great American Country, will begin construction later this year on a 150,000-square-foot office building on 11 acres acquired from Parker Properties and the adjacent Dead Horse Lake Golf Club.

  Sea Ray Boats succumbed for the second time in 2007 to sagging boat sales, laying off 185 workers at plants in East Tennessee, Florida and Ohio, with a total of 80 jobs lost at two Knox County operations and one facility in Vonore. (The company cut 90 positions in August.)

  U.T..-Knoxville will build a $40 million "grassoline" plant to create ethanol from switchgrass and other plants in partnership with cellulosic biofuels pioneer Mascoma Corp. in the Niles Ferry Industrial Park in Monroe County. Construction will begin this year and the facility will be operational in 2009.

• Maryville
  Molecular Pathology Laboratory Network spun off its clinical research services division into a new company called Geneuity, headquartered in a 29,000-square-foot facility near McGhee Tyson Airport. Geneuity will have the capacity to serve small to medium-sized clinical trial studies, as well as studies involving tens of thousands of specimens.
• Rockwood
  Toho Tenax America, a subsidiary of Japan-based chemical giant Teijin, will invest $23 million in its Rockwood carbon fiber manufacturing facility•the plant's second major investment since 2004. This location employs 170 workers who supply high-quality carbon fiber to industrial, automotive, aerospace and sporting goods makers.

Chattanooga/East
Knoxville/East
Memphis/West
Nashville/Middle

Memphis/West

• Memphis
  Backyard Burgers dodged a potential class-action lawsuit and was given an extension by the SEC on its acquisition by BBAC LLC. (The extension was granted for an $18.5 million secured revolving credit and term loan from Regions Bank and $7 million in financing from Nashville's Harbert Mezzanine Partners.)

  In September W. P. Carey & Co. and Watermark Capital Partners acquired the Doubletree Hotel Memphis Downtown. The 280-room property is located between the FedExForum, AutoZone Park and the bars of Beale Street. In 2005, the Doubletree underwent an $8 million redevelopment. The joint venture, which retained Dallas-based Prism Hospitality as property manager, plans to continue upgrades on the property which sits across from the city's celebrated Peabody Hotel.

  Medtronic received good and bad news this fall. Experts announced the FDA would approve the company's drug-coated stent clearing its entry into a $2 billion drug-delivering stent market (domestic). Unfortunately, Medtronic, along with another medical-device company, Smith & Nephew, are targeted for an informal inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission over possible unlawful foreign market sales. News of the inquiry followed an announcement that Medtronic is also under investigation by the Senate Finance Committee over alleged kickbacks to doctors. Medtronic, while admitting no fault, paid a $40 million settlement in a federal investigation into those allegations a year ago.

  The Memphis Bioworks Foundation further enriched the city's fertile bio-tech business community forming something akin to a seed-fund company, Innova Inc., with $11.5 million for economic development. As part of the Memphis' business initiative Fast Forward, Innova will fund and mentor prospective entrepreneurs through the early stages of entrepreneurial projects.

  The United Football League, a new outdoor professional league, is eyeing Memphis for a possible franchise. The Commercial Appeal reported that UFL executives approached former Memphis pro football franchise owner Steve Ehrhart to buy into the Friday-night football league—a $30 million investment. Cities should be selected by the end of the month in time to stock rosters for the league's fall 2008 kickoff. (The CA reported executives speculated about playing in the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, which has hosted other Memphis pro teams, including XFL, USFL and Canadian Football League teams.)

• Millington
  Medical supplies distributor American Purchasing Services began construction on its $12.5 million regional headquarters this month on a 50-acre site in the Memphis suburb. Phase one will include a 120,000-square-foot warehouse and office complex, and the Opa-locka, Fla.-based firm plans to build another 100,000-square-foot warehouse in less than two years.

Chattanooga/East
Knoxville/East
Memphis/West
Nashville/Middle

Nashville/Middle

• Brentwood
  Israeli technology company Metrolight, seller of high-efficiency lighting components whose U.S. headquarters are in Brentwood, received $9 million from a group co-led by Sir Richard Branson, head of Virgin Fuels.
• Clarksville
  Rivers and Spires Festival, produced by the Clarksville-Montgomery County Convention & Visitors Bureau, was awarded the International Festivals & Events Association's Gold Grand Pinnacle, the top honor in the festival industry, beating out more than 1,500 entries at the 52nd annual IFEA convention and expo.

  Robert Bosch's Chassis Systems committed to creating around 75 new jobs and to invest over $35 million over the next year. Clarksville's fourth largest employer with around 500 employees, Bosch makes brake systems and other automotive components.

  The MetLife Insurance Independent Distribution Group Hall of Fame inducted Jack B. Turner, president of Jack B. Turner & Associates, at its recent national leadership conference and renamed its annual award recognizing individuals for their community service the Jack Turner Quality of Life Award.

• Fayetteville
  Fushi International, China's leading manufacturer of bimetallic wire, acquired for $22.5 million Copperweld Bimetallics, the leading U.S. manufacturer. A $70 million revenue company, Copperweld has approximately 130 employees.
• Nashville
  Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire donated 60 acres in southwest Oklahoma City next to its now-closed Dayton Tire plant to a local school district. A new elementary school bearing Bridgestone Firestone's name will be built on site. The company closed the plant in December, laying off about 1,400 workers.

  125-employee CHD Meridian Healthcare announced it would relocate from Nashville to nearby Williamson County. A wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded, Pennsylvania-based I-Trax Inc. Health Care Solutions, CHD provides workplace-based health care.

  The New York Giants and Jets professional football teams chose Central Parking to manage eight satellite parking lots during the construction of a new football stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. CPC's client list also includes the Washington Redskins.

  The former Sony Records building on Nashville's Music Row is the new home of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Established in 1970, the Hall has never occupied a physical space. Curb Records founder Mike Curb will lease the Hall space in the building for $1 a year.

• Tullahoma
  Gary Clouse, former president of Stratos Boats, is leading the formation of Tullahoma-based Phoenix Bass Boats, which plans to employ as many as 200 workers within five years. The company will operate out of the former Bumble Bee Boats plant, which closed earlier this year.