Pulp Nonfiction In August 2005, International Paper’s shareholders were suspended in what might best be described as an investor’s Purgatory following a six-year growth drought. To fix the problem, the largest forest products manufacturer on Earth and among the 100 largest public companies in America, undertook a radical restructuring, shucking off $11 billion of its $27 billion worth of assets, including a couple of corporate heirlooms. “They had to do it,” says Steven Chercover, an analyst with D.A.… More...
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Quiet Inspiration Located in Smithville near Center Hill Lake, a little over an hour drive from Nashville and two hours or less from both Knoxville and Chattanooga, Evins Mill is ideal for executives for whom getting away means ...
A Shift in Collar It’s no secret Rutherford County is growing. Each year, the county just southeast of Nashville makes its mark on a slew of rankings related to job, real estate or population growth. Most recently, Rutherford was named the 20th fastest-growing county in the...
The Hush-Hush Effect When an internal report at the nation’s premiere nuclear weapons plant says that “activity is already underway between buildings 9201-1 and 9204-1,” it could mean so many things. But one should not be afraid to ask—it’s not 1943 anymore. For an institution that for decades was steeped in top-level secrecy, the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is quite ...
Steady as She Rises Nashville’s “Bun Lady” is at it again. Cordia Harrington, CEO of The Bun Co.—a multi-million dollar enterprise that includes the world’s fastest automated bakery, a trucking line and a cold storage facility—recently inked a deal to ...
An induction ceremony for Tennessee’s greatest business leaders Who are Tennessee’s greatest business people, living and dead? It’s a question we put before our readership a few months back. Their input served as a starting point in selecting the first-ever inductees into BTN Hall of Fame of business leadership. ...
Final Exit Strategy Planning for the disposition of one’s estate can be a complicated process, requiring expert advice and careful planning. But when one’s estate also includes ownership in a business—be it sole proprietorship, partnership or the family business—the stakes are even higher. After all, this is ...
Selling Points All good things must come to an end, and when it comes to a business, the end usually comes in one of two forms. “You either sell it, or you close it,” says Bren Letson, a Nashville-based broker with VR Business Brokers. Sometimes closing a business is ...
Cocke Fight In May, local business owner Greg Fodness won a two-year legal battle with the Newport/Cocke County Economic Development Commission over the availability of that agency’s records. Fodness’ simple request for historical documents regarding a ...
Evading the Law “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” was the message UT-Knoxville MBA graduate Bill Best encountered upon arriving at Georgia’s Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in late 2004 to head aircraft production of the U.S. Air Force’s massive C-5 transport planes. But Best had other plans. With his ...
Safe at Home To gauge RemagenSafeRooms’ market potential, first disregard its profitability. Since the Monteagle business began selling above-ground modular shelters in 1999, it has moved about 200 units—not enough to recoup investment costs, says owner Jim Waller. Consider instead some different numbers: A year ago, 2.5 million Houston residents ran from ...
Growth Factor In the last year, BioMimetic won the biotech version of the daily double. Last fall, the small Franklin-based biotech firm managed to shepherd its bone-regenerating product through the torturous approval requirements of the FDA, and this past spring, the company made its initial ...
Under the Microscope Robert Webster may be the man standing between us and the chilling scenario of influenza onslaught the likes of which the world has not seen for nearly a hundred years. Few viral outbreaks rival the devastating 1918 pandemic of “Spanish influenza” that killed an estimated ...
