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The Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention has called The Old Mill Music Park in Johnson County its home for well over a decade, representing one of the area’s biggest tourism draws.

Music aficionados come from all over the country and overseas for the two-day event that is considered one of the more popular of its kind in part because of the park’s rural, mountainous beauty and its vicinity to surrounding vacation meccas like Boone, N.C., and Damascus, Va.

Attendance at last year’s convention totaled 675, which may not seem like a huge turn-out, except that there aren’t enough hotel rooms in the county of 18,049 to accommodate even such a modest influx of people.

Now, the 8.7-acre venue, which includes a convertible indoor/outdoor performance building, a residential home and the mill itself, is on the market for $425,000. It’s uncertain if potential new owners would maintain the park’s event schedule, including the fiddlers’ convention as well as other fundraisers and get-togethers.

This is not good news for Johnson County native, Tom Payne, a real estate agent and photographer who moonlights as the county’s tourism director. He says the loss of the park means losing significant tourism tax revenues, and, more importantly, could snuff out efforts to boost tourism in general.

For his part, Payne is looking for new arrivals to back his laundry list of moneymaking tourism ideas. To gain even more traction, he will run for county commission this fall. “Change is coming. People are moving up here and buying second homes,” he says. “You’ve got to take advantage of the entrepreneurial opportunity.”

Recently, two out-of-state, private investor groups have purchased a combined $32 million of property atop two different mountains to build upscale, gated residential communities of million dollar homes.

Johnson County mayor Dick Grayson is well aware of Payne’s tourism push but would rather focus on job creation by recruit-ing service-oriented businesses. “Industry is a thing of the past. We need to retrain our thinking toward retail sales,” he says. He is also concerned about the strain on police and fire department services once the flood of “empty nesters” arrives, which better explains his resistance to spending more dollars on tourism. “We’re economically depressed. We’ve got to make every dollar count,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the fate of the Old Mill Music Park remains undecided. Periodically, rumors circulate that Dolly Parton, one of the region’s most powerful real estate and tourism presences, has purchased property in the county. Perhaps the Music Park will catch her eye. It will take more than just rumors to save The Old Mill Music Park and its tax revenue. feedback: shoemaker@businesstn.com

After a three-year federal investigation, King Pharmaceuticals has agreed to resolve its Medicaid pricing issues by paying about $125 million owed to federal and state pricing programs between 1994 and 2002. In other news, King Pharmaceuticals entered into an alliance with Pain Therapeutics to develop and commercialize Remoxy and other abuse-resistant painkillers. King will make an upfront payment of $150 million in cash and is responsible for all R&D expenses related to the alliance, which could total $100 million.

Forward Air Corp. reported record results for its third quarter in 2005, an uninterrupted trend for the past 10 quarters, said Bruce A. Campbell, company president and CEO. Operating revenue increased 17.9% to $84.8 million, up from $71.9 million for the same quarter in 2004. Forward Air was also listed as 132nd in Forbes magazine’s “200 Best Small Companies” in America, the seventh consecutive year Forward Air has made the list.

East Tennessee State University broke ground on a new, 129,000-square-foot, six-floor residence hall complex. Fisher & Associates of Greeneville and McCarty Holsaple McCarty of Knoxville designed the $20 million complex being built by Blaine Construction of Knoxville. The residence building will accommodate 542 students and should open in 2007.

Bearing components manufacturer NN reported a 2.9% increase in net sales for the third quarter of 2005 to $75 million, compared to $72.9 million for the same period of 2004. Chairman and CEO Roderick R. Baty said the company revised its earlier revenues predictions to about $325 million for the year because of lower sales in Europe, translation of currency and an unfavorable tax rate.

Greeneville-based Andrew Johnson Bank opened its sixth branch on Highway 11-E at Headtown Road. The bank’s locations extend from Morristown to Jonesborough along the 11-E corridor. Chartered in 1975 as the City and County Bank of Greene County, Andrew Johnson Bank changed its name in 1981 and has grown to $194 million in assets in 2005.

Eastman Chemical Co. announced record sales revenue of $1.82 billion and earnings of $1.50 per share for third quarter 2005 versus earnings of $0.49 per share for third quarter 2004. Company chairman and CEO Brian Ferguson said his outlook on the rest of 2005 was limited because of how the aftermath of the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast will affect cost and availability of key raw materials and economic growth.

The Kingsport Convention and Visitors Bureau presented regional high school and middle school athletic programs, as well as Hunter Wright Stadium and the Kingsport Parks and Recreation Department, more than $50,000 in proceeds from five national athletic events held during 2005.

Wellmont Health System reported a strong operations gain in fiscal 2005, earning $11.5 million, which represents a dramatic $22 million turnaround from last year’s loss of $10.8 million. A $30.3 million investment and other income propelled the health system to a $41.8 million positive bottom line for 2005 without layoffs or a reduction in services. While Standard & Poor’s analysts issued a short-term revision of Wellmont’s outlook from “stable” to “negative,” Wellmont officials said this was expected since the organization is planning to request significant debt financing.

Hancock County Hospital, a critical-access facility that opened in early 2005, was honored for excel- lence in construction from Associated Builders and Contractors, as well as Southeast Construction magazine. Wellmont Health System and the Hancock County Commission partnered to build the hospital.

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