Business Plus: Pure Foods Opens for the Changing Face of Health Care: Business in Kingsport What Virginia and Tennessee Want from Mountain States and Wellmont
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Purely Business Plus: Pure Foods opens for The Changing Face of Health Care: business in Kingsport What Virginia and Tennessee want from Mountain States and Wellmont Pure Foods President John Frostad Photo by Tara Hodges and The octogenarian on the line FEBRUARY 2016 $3.00 Volume 28 Number 4 Online at bjournal.com February 2016 | The Business Journal of Tri-Cities TN/VA 1 “When it comes to BETTER THAN EVER! $10 Million your heart Extraordinary dividEnd to our loyal members in early 2016 for a total of almost $80 million dollars since 1998. At Eastman Credit Union, we do business a little differently from the other guy. And, our members tend to agree, the stronger your relationship is with us, the greater the rewards. the best defense is ” – Carl Torbush Head Coach, ETSU Football NOW, THAT’S EXTRAORDINARY! Learn your heart’s age at MountainStatesHeartAge com Start your MountainStatesHeartAge.com. There, you’ll answer some basic health and lifestyle relationship today! your actual age. Will your heart’s age be the same or younger than the rest of you? People. Trust. Experience. Or will it be older? And what then? 800.999.2328 www.ecu.org Your savings federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and 2 The Business Journal of Tri-Cities TN/VA | February 2016 Online at bjournal.com credit of the National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government Agency. BETTER THAN EVER! $10 Million Extraordinary dividEnd to our loyal members in early 2016 for a total of almost $80 million dollars since 1998. At Eastman Credit Union, we do business a little differently from the other guy. And, our members tend to agree, the stronger your relationship is with us, the greater the rewards. NOW, THAT’S EXTRAORDINARY! Start your relationship today! 800.999.2328 www.ecu.org Your savings federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and Online at bjournal.com credit of the National Credit UnionFebruary Administration, 2016 | The Business a U.S. JournalGovernment of Tri-Cities Agency. TN/VA 3 | INSIDE THIS EDITION BusinessThe | COVER STORY Journal of Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virgina 8 Purely Business Office 423.854.0140 Pure Foods opens for business in Kingsport: an economic development Publisher William R. Derby success story that’s good for you. [email protected] 423.979.1300 Co-Publisher Cover photo: John Frostad of Pure Foods. Jeff Derby Photo by Tara Hodges, Sweet Snaps Photography. [email protected] 423.306.0104 Managing Editor Scott Robertson [email protected] 423.767.4904 | FEATURES Associate Editor Jeff Keeling [email protected] 14 The Changing Face of Health Care 423.773.6438 What the states of Tennessee and Virginia are calling on Mountain States and Staff Writer Wellmont to reveal in their COPA applications. Sarah Colson [email protected] 423.854.0140 Director of Business NETWORKS networks Development and Marketing 16 Jeff Williams NETWORKS Sullivan County, the economic development organization, [email protected] is living up to its name in 2016. 423.202.2240 Sales & Marketing Beth Collier [email protected] 18 BMS to host second football game 423.470.2009 East Tennessee State University and Western North Carolina will play the second Robin Williams football game at the last great colosseum. [email protected] 423.794.6938 Creative Derby Publishing, LLC 20 The octogenarian on the assembly line Graphics Director / Judd Shaw For Charles Bowers, a little thing like turning 85 years old was no reason to stop working. [email protected] 423.833.2726 23 Broadcast News SO long, ABC 19, hello ABC 11.2. It’s a whole new world for broadcasting, albeit The Business Journal of with some familiar faces returning. Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia is published monthly by Derby Publishing, LLC 1114 Sunset Drive, Suite 2 Johnson City, TN 37604 Phone: 423.854.0140 ©2016 | DEPARTMENTS Periodicals postage paid at Johnson City, Tenn. and additional offices. 5 From the Editor 24 On the Move 30 The Last Word ISSN#10406360 6 Trends 26 Awards & Achievements POSTMASTER: Please send addresses to 7 FYI 27 Med Briefs Business Journal of Tri-Cities, TN/VA 1114 Sunset Drive, Suite 2 Johnson City, TN 37604 Subscription per year $35. 4 The Business Journal of Tri-Cities TN/VA | February 2016 Online at bjournal.com | FROM THE EDITOR The State of Tennessee overnor Bill Haslam see. He could have Gdelivered his annual used his leadership State of the State address to pass a health care the evening of Feb. 1 in plan that would have Nashville. It was an upbeat saved lives and created message with the theme, opportunity. Instead, he “unique opportunity.” caved to the extremists in his Of more substance was party.” the inclusion of details I agree with Mancini’s desire to have regarding the governor’s Tennessee accept the federal Medicaid dollars that are flowing proposed budget. now to other states. The notion that Tennessee is somehow doing Conservatives love something noble by not accepting those particular federal dollars the fact that the governor is, at best, hollow, considering Tennessee has the third largest is putting $100 million percentage of its total revenues from the federal government of into the state’s Rainy Day any state in the union (39.5 percent, according to the Washing- Fund. That fund will end ton Post article, “Some of the most conservative states rely most the fiscal year at just over on federal government aid” by Niraj Choksi, Jan. 6, 2016). two-thirds of a billion dollars. It’s important because Tennessee’s The simple fact of the matter is Tennessee’s legislators constitution mandates a balanced state budget. In lean years, have no stomach for accepting federal dollars in a high profile Rainy Day dollars are used to prevent tax hikes. way, such as voting for something that smacks of Obamacare. State employees love the fact that the governor is including But they’ll take the dollars that are flowing into the state from almost $100 million in wage increases for them, with almost 40 Washington already, because they don’t have to take public percent of that earmarked for those rank-and-file workers who responsibility for those. make less than $50,000 annually. So Mancini’s desire to have Haslam bring Insure Tennessee The central focus of Haslam’s budget is education. He makes back to the legislature again in 2016 is tilting at windmills. She the largest contribution to K-12 history in Tennessee history would have the governor waste everyone’s time with a doomed (without a tax increase). The budget further funds Haslam’s Drive effort. That’s not efficient government. to 55 plan, including: Just so, legislators reportedly told the governor before • $50 million for the Complete College funding formula for the legislative session began they would not fund increases in higher education; highway spending until his administration had made a good • $20 million for the Drive to 55 Capacity Fund to help com- faith effort to pay back into the highway fund the dollars that munity and technical colleges meet the growing demand for were taken from it to pad the general fund during leaner times. degrees and certificates; and Haslam’s currently proposed budget puts $130 million back. • $10 million for the Labor Education Alignment Program Now that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the $6 billion (LEAP) helping communities align degree and course offerings in projects awaiting funding. But Haslam is playing ball with the with the needs of the local workforce. legislature, trusting they’ll give highway funding a fair shake next In addition, the governor is proposing more than a half year. If they don’t, that’s won’t be Haslam’s fault, though Mancini billion dollars to fund new buildings at UT-Memphis, UT- may well skewer him for it anyway. Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State. Haslam is right in saying the state is in far better shape The response from the state Democratic Party leadership, such financially than it has been in several years. And his pro- as it is, gave little in the way of specific rebuttal to the governor’s education stance is not just welcome, it’s necessary, given the gap remarks about what’s happening in Tennessee, instead focusing on between Tennessee and competing states in workforce readiness. something that is not happening, Insure Tennessee. Tennessee is going in the right direction. Hopefully the governor “Governor Haslam has such pretty plans for the year. Sadly, has the fortitude to stay the course and not be bogged down by though, our Republican Governor is not a leader,” said Mary Man- nuisance-creating extremists on either side of the aisle. cini, chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party. “Just look at Insure Tennessee, the health care plan he designed to attract Republican votes. Yet, even with a Republican supermajority in the House and Senate he couldn’t get it out of committee.” “Even worse,” Mancini continued, “when the going gets tough, he gave up. He could have brought back Insure Tennes- Online at bjournal.com February 2016 | The Business Journal of Tri-Cities TN/VA 5 | TRENDS December home sales cap boom of 2015 December homes sales surged topping off a record year for the housing market in the 11-county area monitored by the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors’ Trends Report. There were 444 closings on existing home sales. That’s a 19.4 percent improvement from December 2014. The annual total was 5,287, up 9.6 percent from 2014. December’s average home sales price was $159,445, up 7.5 percent from the same month last year.