Business News

Courtyard Grille is celebrating 20 years of serving good food to the people of Blount county. The restaurant turned 20 recently and, to celebrate, the management gave away a dinner for two for a year.
Restaurant regular Larry Sloan from Tellico Plains was the grand-prize winner. After submitting only one ballot, his name was chosen out of 15,000 ballots. While he and his wife often come to the restaurant multiple times in a week, they only came once during anniversary week. Full story »

James W. McBrearty President of McBrearty Capital Management, Inc., Knoxville, was re-elected treasurer of Areawide Development Corporation at its annual meeting Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Egwani Farms Golf Club in Rockford. Full story »

Teri Brahams, Maryville, was re-elected secretary of Areawide Development Corporation at its annual meeting Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Egwani Farms Golf Club in Rockford. Full story »

Health Briefs for Nov. 20, 2008 Full story »

David C. Verble was re-elected president of Areawide Development Corporation at its annual meeting Tuesday, Sept. 18, at Egwani Farms Golf Club in Rockford. Full story »

Although lending has slowed down nationwide, in part due to concerns about the financial industry, The Tennessee District Director of the U. S. Small Business Administration said that SBA lending in Tennessee this year has been on a par with last year. Full story »

Greg Davis, executive vice president and chief lending officer at SmartBank, Pigeon Forge, was elected to the board of directors of Areawide Development Corporation at its annual meeting Tuesday, Sept. 18, at Egwani Farms Golf Club in Rockford. Full story »

Novella Jones recently joined Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and the nation’s number one retail mortgage lender, as Home Mortgage Consultants in its Maryville branch office located at 529 W. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN. Full story »

“It’s great to be a part of a true community bank,” comments Alan Green. “This is a great institution with local people who truly understand the market.” Green recently joined Foothills Bank and Trust, which is headquartered in Maryville. Green will serve as a Senior Vice-President after being with First Virginia Banks, Inc. in Eastern Tennessee, and most recently with People’s Community Bank in the Tri-Cities market Full story »

Debbie Crowder, Chairman, President and CEO, SunTrust Bank, East Tennessee announced today that SunTrust Bank will be the sponsor of the In-School Youth Bank at Alcoa Middle School located at 1325 Springbrook Road, Alcoa, Tennessee. The purpose of the youth bank is to encourage youth to develop a secure financial future by saving money and/or participating in the operations of a bank. Full story »

Last week I discussed that once the market had hit bottom, it was okay to start investing again. As you all know, the bottom is something that is confirmed by the rearview mirror, rather than something that can be known at the time. And to paraphrase Warren Buffett - when others are fearful, it is time to be greedy. This is true, provided you have at least some confidence the American people and leaders can recover from even the toughest recession. Full story »

They came from throughout the area with one goal in mind – a year’s worth of free wings from Alcoa’s newest restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings.

For 100 people, that’s exactly what they got – wings for year. But what they also took home were memories from a night of standing in line and waiting for Hamilton Crossing’s newest restaurant to officially open.

Full story »

There was plenty of delicious food and good fellowship as the Market at Washington and High celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting on Oct. 15 and grand opening events all year long.

The downtown market features five different vendors under one roof selling items such as meats, poultry, fresh fish, specialty dry goods, gourmet deli items and select produce.

Full story »

Great food, great location and a great name, what more could a person want in a restaurant?

Customers should come hungry to Scruffy’s, a new locally owned restaurant. Menu items include handmade and hand-patted hamburgers on toasted buns, cooked to order sandwiches such as fried bologna and BLT, old-fashioned crinkle-cut French fries and onion rings, just to name a few.

Full story »

If you have sold out of the market during this extreme downturn, that most likely means you have taken a loss. It may also mean you are no longer in the market to participate in the recovery, once the markets have reached the bottom. And, if you are still in the market, you have seen a decline in the value of your portfolio. As I have stated before, this financial crisis has left few safe areas to turn. Full story »