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Volkswagen selects Roane County for distribution center site (Biz Clarksville)
Volkswagen Group of America announced on March 13 that it will invest $40 million to build a warehouse in Roane County for distributing domestic auto parts for the Chattanooga-made Passat. The 400,000-square-foot facility is expected to open by spring 2013 and will employ up to 45 people by 2016. Addressing the need for increased infrastructure, the facility will begin as a redistribution center to service warehouses and will later expand to include a parts distribution center. The redistribution Master Depot will support the US, Canada and Mexico. The parts distribution operation will improve service parts delivery times to over 100 dealers in the surrounding regions. Im grateful Volkswagen is expanding its presence here in the state and bringing new jobs to Roane County because projects such as this bring more direct and indirect investments to Tennessee, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said. http://businessclarksville.com/2012/03/19/volkswagen-selects-roane-county-for-distribution-center-site-40924/
TN education chief urges more classes with technical and career focus (AP)
State Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman said the state needs to provide high school students with better technical and career-oriented classes. The comments, which were reported by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, came at a Friday meeting of education and business leaders in Chattanooga billed as a career-ready summit to align education and business priorities and enhance the workforce. I think we have a real need to revamp some of the course offerings and an opportunity to do that with the encouragement of the business sector, Huffman said. Robert Schwartz, academic dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said students increasingly are told they must get some form of post-secondary education and even a four-year degree, but only about 30 percent of people earn a four-year degree by age 25. Another 10 percent get a two-
year associate degree while about 10 percent more attain a post-secondary certificate. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120319/NEWS04/303190031/TN-education-chief-urges-more-classestechnical-career-focus?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|s
without some sort of nod from the Legislature to continue setting standards for the profession. But the board has become notorious for butting heads with the General Assembly. In the last two years weve been round and round from the abuses of our nurses by that board, period, said bill sponsor Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, who wants to revamp the panel and says some of those issues have been worked out in his bill. Theres absolutely no retaliatory premise in this, he continued. Shipley and Rep. Dale Ford, R-Jonesborough, were the focus of a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe for pressuring the Board of Nursing last year to rescind disciplinary action against three area nurses the board had punished for allegedly over-prescribing medication. http://tnreport.com/blog/2012/03/18/nursing-board-revamp-referred-back-to-committee/
Pro-gun, pro-business GOP stance leads to difficult position with bill (CP/Woods)
With Tennessee Republicans now enjoying the second year of their ascendency, gleeful business leaders expected to spend this legislative session pushing through changes in state law to make their lives easier and less expensive. Among other pro-business goals, they hoped to stamp out living-wage laws once and for all and to make it harder for laid-off workers to collect unemployment checks. Instead, theyve been forced unexpectedly into a prolonged fight to fend off the latest attempt to expand Second Amendment rights in Tennessee legislation to let employees tote any legally possessed firearm into their company parking lots and then leave the guns locked in their cars during their workday. Businesses say the bill tramples their private property rights and threatens the safety of all their employees. Now this seems to be at the top of their list, as opposed to fighting labor unions, living wage, fighting workers compensation issues, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey mused at one of his press availabilities this month. A whos who of the Tennessee business world has paraded to the Capitol to try to persuade lawmakers to buck the National Rifle Association, which is demanding passage of whats become known as the guns-in-parking-lots bill. http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/pro-gun-pro-businessgop-stance-leads-difficult-position-latest-gun-bill-0
procedures could be unintentionally identified under a bill pending in the state legislature. State lawmakers are debating a measure that would require the Department of Health to publish more details about abortions, bringing Tennessee into a roiling, state-by-state battle over how to regulate abortion procedures. Supporters say the bill, scheduled to come up Wednesday in a state House committee, only requires state health officials to post information online that they already collect. But critics say the measure is intended to intimidate women and doctors involved in abortions, even in emergency situations. I think publicizing this information will do nothing but cause serious consequences, said state Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville. This is dangerous. This is a dangerous piece of legislation. Known as the Life Defense Act of 2012, or House Bill 3808, the measure gives Tennessee lawmakers a rare opportunity to tighten regulations on abortion, which the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in 2000 is a right protected by the state constitution. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120319/NEWS0201/303190022/TN-bill-mandates-publication-abortiondata?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
formed in 2001, is a partnership between the city and local businesses to connect ex-offenders willing to work with employers who are willing to hire them. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/mar/19/prisonerprograms-could-unite/ (SUB)
York want to put penalties on the books for the types of digital bullying that led students in several states to commit suicide. Among the victims was Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman who jumped to his death in 2010 after his roommate used a webcam to spy on his gay encounter. The roommate, Dharun Ravi, was convicted Friday on 15 counts in a case that drew national attention. North Carolina passed a law in 2009 to criminalize cyberbullying, making it a misdemeanor for youths under 18. The trend in legislation is "bringing our laws into the digital age and the 21st century," said New York state Sen. Jeffrey Klein, sponsor of a bill to criminalize cyberbullying. "When I was growing up, you had a tangible bully and a fight after school. Now you have hordes of bullies who are terrorizing over the Internet or other forms of social media." Under Klein's proposed law, anyone found guilty of using electronics to stalk or harass someone could face a misdemeanor or felony charge that could carry a prison sentence. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-18/state-cyberbullying-laws/53626736/1
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OPINION Guest columnist: FastTrack expansion would be vital boost for business (Tenn)
Tennessee is in a global competition for jobs. If we want to continue to be successful, we must have an outstanding education system and an attractive quality of life. But we also need to be prepared to use economic development incentives when it can make the difference for a Tennessee company expanding or an out-of-state firm choosing to relocate. The states FastTrack program is a valuable tool used by the Department of Economic and Community Development to provide funding for infrastructure and job training when a private-sector business commits to locate or expand in the state and create or retain jobs. Currently, the General Assembly is considering legislation (SB 2206/HB 2344) that would expand the use of this tool to include relocation expenses, temporary office space and capital improvements. The funds would be distributed in grants to local industrial development boards. These one-time, direct assistance programs allow greater transparency, are often more attractive to companies and can cost governments less than traditional tax credits, which are drawn out over a longer period of time. The proposed FastTrack changes resulted from a yearlong review of state incentive programs with input from companies, site consultants and local economic development officials. The result is legislation that would allow greater flexibility and a higher economic impact, with the same disclosure, transparency and oversight as the current fund. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120319/OPINION03/303190008/FastTrack-expansion-would-vital-boostbusiness?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|p
following them. Another legacy is the increased desire by area residents to do something to help their communities prepare for future outbreaks of severe weather. The SkyWarn program provides that opportunity. SkyWarn is the National Weather Service's volunteer network that trains individuals to identify and describe severe storms in their hometowns. It's a valuable program. Currently there are almost 290,000 trained spotters across the county. The group is an important adjunct of the W eather Service, providing meteorologists there with information that helps the service to issue timely warnings to those in the path of possibly death-dealing weather. There's no doubt the services of the spotters are valuable. Weather Service officials say that the work of the volunteers enables the agency to issue more accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods. Area residents need no reminder that statement is true. Information gathered by storm spotters last spring and earlier this month provided details that allowed the W eather Service to issue detailed warnings that in many cases provided additional minutes needed for those in harm's way to seek life-saving shelter. What better way to assist friends and neighbors? http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/mar/19/dealing-with-severe-weather/? opiniontimes
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