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Jewelry Television may reach its goal as a $1 billion company by 2010 a bit sooner if the company can get Wall Street’s buy-in when making its initial public offering in two years.

The Knoxville-based “king of bling” has garnered the attention of middle-aged women across the nation with its glitzy products sold by peppy, yet educated, show hosts, resulting in dramatic revenue leaps from $5.2 million in 1997 to $350 million in 2005.

The network saw its largest increase after it fashioned a new corporate identity in 2003, going from America’s Collectibles Network, which offered a smorgasbord of discounted items such as sports cards, coins and knives, to focusing exclusively on its biggest seller—fine jewelry.

“Women have a propensity for watching the ‘pretty’ shows, and the stories of where the stones originate adds appreciation and value,” says Joyce Richman, the company’s vice president of programming. Today, Jewelry Television is one of nation’s fastest-growing networks in the transactional TV retail market with 2,000 employees and viewership of more than 70 million U.S. households on a full- or part-time basis via broadcast, cable and satellite.

As the world’s largest retailer of loose gemstones, all of which are housed onsite, Jewelry Television certainly brings the goods to its growing customer base and can hold its own as one of only three profitable shop-at-home venues (behind QVC with $5.7 billion in sales and Home Shopping Network with $2.4 billion in sales).

But, will its flashy on-screen persona attract investors?

Behind the scenes, Jewelry Television is dressing to impress. The company broke ground on a new, 200,000-square-foot office building and call center with four state-of-the-art, live studios, plus a 100,000-square-foot warehouse at Pellissippi Corporate Center. The $34 million project, to be completed in March 2007, was partially funded by a TVA “Valley Advantage” grant to keep the company in Knox County.

“Jewelry Television has quietly become one of our corporate superstars,” says county mayor Mike Ragsdale. “Their tremendous growth could have easily led them elsewhere.”

Also, the company’s top brass rounded out its corporate ranks by moving co-founder and president Bob Hall to chief executive officer and board chairman and fellow co-founder Bill Kouns from COO to network president. And in a move that implies potential expansion internationally, the company tapped former Adidas and Speedo executive, Joe Fields, as chief operating officer.

As an investors’ one-to-watch, Jewelry Television could very well become Tennessee’s next big hit. feedback: shoemaker@businesstn.com

Miller Petroleum has discovered an untapped source of oil and natural gas after completing a reservoir study in Roane County. The test well is hooked into the Powell-Clinch Utility Pipeline, the well’s end user. Miller Petroleum is a publicly traded, fully integrated, gas and oil exploration and production company with 43,000 leased acres in the Appalachian Basin.

Innovation Valley Partners, a new, $35 million affiliate fund of Battelle Ventures, has joined the $12 million Series C financing of Jackson, Miss.-based wireless company, SmartSynch. This marks the fund’s first new investment since being established in summer 2005. Backed by local business leaders, Innovation Valley participates alongside Battelle Ventures, a $150 million independent fund that invests in early-stage technology companies nationwide, focusing on life sciences, information technology, homeland security, energy and advanced materials/nanotechnology.

North Carolina-based retailer Mast General Store closed on its portion of the 75,000-square-foot property on Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. The deal was made possible in part by a $275,000 grant for facade work by the Central Business Improvement District. Mast’s first Tennessee store plans to open in August 2006 and will offer old-time goods, traditional and outdoor clothing and gear, rugged and casual footwear and more than 500 old-fashioned candies.

National Coal Corp., an Appalachian Region coal producer, reported its third quarter 2005 revenues at $18.3 million based on approximately 335,700 tons of coal sold during the quarter compared to revenues in the third quarter of 2004 at $4.4 million and 93,000 tons of coal sold. Because of its increase in sales, National Coal generated $6.3 million in cash for the first three quarters of 2005. The company caters to six utilities and five industrial customers and has sales commitments for more than 2.5 million tons of coal through 2008. As of Nov. 4, 2005, National Coal’s 52-week stock price reached a high of $16 per share and a low of $5.35 per share.

Regal Entertainment Group reported a 2.8% increase in total revenue for its third quarter to $628.4 million, up from $611.3 million in the third quarter, 2004. Net income was $17.2 million in the third quarter of 2005 compared to $27.8 million in the same period of 2004.

Protein Discovery, a privately held life sciences company, launched its new mass spectrometry tissue imaging service to pharmaceutical and biotech markets offering new tissue imaging and profiling methods without setting up and staffing in-house facilities. The company has funded the startup costs of the new service using proceeds from its recent $2.2 million Series B financing led by the Southern Appalachian Fund, with additional participation by MB Venture Partners, Nashville Capital Network and Vanderbilt University. The investment will be supplemented by additional financial support from the Southern Appalachian Fund’s Operational Assistance program.

TeamHealth, an outsourced physician staffing and administrative services provider, is primed to be acquired by private equity firm, The Blackstone Group. Terms of the agreement were not given, but the transaction should be completed by mid-February. The company will maintain its current management team who will remain significant equity holders.

Bass Pro Shops opened a new, 150,000-square-foot Outdoor World superstore in November at the intersection of I-40 and Highway 66. The store, part of a major development with the City of Sevierville and the Bridgemont Development Group, sits on an 18-acre tract and will employ between 250 to 300 people.

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