HOK Smith Forkner, Fairgrounds Planners and Architects based in Knoxville, Tennessee, recently began the master plan for the relocation and expansion of the Uinta County Fairgrounds Complex located in Evanston, Wyoming.

Shown left to right are Charlie Smith, Principal and Senior Architect with HOK Smith Forkner, Dell Atkinson, Uinta County Director of Economic Development, Wade Lowry, Fairgrounds Supervisor and David Forkner, Principal and Senior Architect of HOK Smith Forkner.

Communications Resources Inc. (CRI), a Chattanooga-based communications infrastructure specialist, is the recipient of the 2008 ShoreTel Circle of Excellence Award. The award recognizes CRI as one of the top ShoreTel channel partners.

CRI received the honor at ShoreTel’s Annual Partner Conference in Las Vegas.

Alan Burdine, vice president of the 28 year-old company, described the conference as having “An amazing atmosphere…the partner appreciation is genuine and the excitement contagious. As a ShoreTel circle of excellence partner we are amongst the top ten of all ShoreTel partners based on customer satisfaction. CRI is passionate about the satisfaction of our customers and we truly appreciate how ShoreTel’s customer service focus parallels our own.”

“This award is a result of the dedication and effort of each and every CRI employee and is attributed to a team who dedicated themselves in reaching this achievement” continued Burdine. “We have the most amazing group of professionals working with us, and one of the proudest moments of my business career was accepting this award on behalf of them. At CRI, team stands for Together Everyone Achieves More and this award proves it.”

Created in 2004, the ShoreTel Circle of Excellence Award is the highest partner award bestowed. ShoreTel has raised the standard in business connectivity and is recognized as a leader with world-class customer satisfaction. Circle of Excellence partners are judged based on delivering this same level of world-class satisfaction as well as achieving strong revenue performance. CRI representatives say they are proud to have received this honor because it is based on some of the core values that CRI fosters.

CRI professionals bring significant experience to their clients in the design, deployment and management of customers’ networks. The company is proud to offer engineering services as well. CRI has capitalized on the challenges of IP platforms, in which ShoreTel is an innovation leader by creating strategic partnerships that reach multiple markets.

In 2006 CRI added the ShoreTel product line as a complement to its current telephony services and product portfolio that includes Adtran, APC, HP, Multitech, Nortel, Polycom and EnGenius Durafon.

“The decision for CRI to adopt the ShoreTel product and solutions set has been a delightfully easy one for me,” said CRI President Phil Burkett. “Our diligence in investigating and analyzing both the products and ShoreTel has revealed nothing but solid performance and commitment to the market needs, and to delivering end-user value. ShoreTel is focused on developing strategic Unified Communications solutions. This is all they do, and they are committed to delivering best-in-class solutions that are easy to manage.”

CRI’s addition of the ShoreTel product line has provided the foundation for a complete portfolio of services that address all of a potential customer’s converged network needs.

“We feel that we now have a cost-effective and easy-to-manage solution for any customer environment.” Burdine said. “The addition of the ShoreTel portfolio and other network support services has already created the need for five additional support engineers” says Burdine. “The total cost of ownership (TCO) of a ShoreTel Unified Communications (UC) system is much lower than many other IP Telephone systems. In an economic climate where customers are constantly looking for ways to save money, we see more and more clients choosing to implement a ShoreTel UC system because of both the short- term and long-term savings."

CRI serves Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. Its headquarters are located in Chattanooga, TN. The company’s growth is rapid, with another office opening in Mobile, AL.

For more information about CRI, call Alan Burdine at 423.899.9350 or visit www.crionline.biz.

Katharine Seaton, a marketing and advertising professional and active community volunteer, recently joined Moxley Carmichael public relations firm as an account executive.

Prior to joining Moxley Carmichael, Seaton had a seven-year career with the News Sentinel, the largest newspaper in East Tennessee. Seaton’s career at the News Sentinel was marked by multiple promotions in recognition of her strong work ethic and accomplishments. Most recently, she served as community relations manager in the marketing department.

“Katharine is a valued addition to our staff because she has handled literally hundreds of special events for the News Sentinel and really knows our community, the media and community leaders,” said Cynthia Moxley, co-president of Moxley Carmichael. “These attributes will be very helpful to Moxley Carmichael and our clients.”

Seaton will be working with Moxley Carmichael clients on a variety of communications activities and projects.

While serving as community relations manager at the News Sentinel, Seaton created partnerships among media, corporations and the community; planned, promoted and implemented major charity campaigns; directed award and educational programs; and developed awareness of the organization’s corporate citizenship.

Seaton is involved in the Knoxville community, serving on the boards of Imagination Library and News Sentinel Charities. She served on the Great Schools Partnership’s Engaged Community Committee, the Buddy’s Race Against Cancer Public Relations Committee, and as a United Way loaned executive. She chaired the Community Outreach Committee and is a charter member of the Young Professionals of Knoxville organization.

A Knoxville native, Seaton graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee Knoxville with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

Located in First Tennessee Plaza, Moxley Carmichael provides public relations expertise to many major East Tennessee businesses and organizations.

NOTE: This release was sent by New Horizons of Knoxville, a Knoxville Chamber member business.

Joanna McCormick has recently joined New Horizons of Knoxville as Instructor, responsible for delivering instructor-led Microsoft and Adobe classroom computer training.

McCormick brings with her more than 5 years of IT experience. Prior to joining New Horizons of Knoxville she was Project Coordinator and Executive Assistant for Healthcare 21 Business Coalition for 3 years, and proved to be a valuable asset. She was responsible for all IT logistics of the organization including hardware and software maintenance, networking, database and website development.

Joanna shares New Horizons of Knoxville's commitment to efficient learning through high technology and stellar customer service," said Glenn Frazier, Owner/GM of New Horizons of Knoxville. She is exactly the type of Instructor we are seeking as we continue to grow the company and increase our presence in the community.

To find out more about the training courses and certifications offered by New Horizons, contact your local New Horizons center or visit us at www.nhknoxville.com.

Since 1979 New Horizons Computer Learning Center has been part of the Knoxville Community helping thousands of people each year start, change to, or enhance their careers in Information Technology. In the past year we conducted over 80,000 training hours for over 4,700 students at New Horizons Knoxville. In addition to working with both traditional and non-traditional students, we serve a diverse roster of corporate and government clients including Sprint, ORNL, University of Tennessee, ORISE, HGTV, Pilot Corporation, Denso, Tennessee State Government, Goody's Family Clothing and Baptist Health System. We work closely with many different educational training programs including the GI Bill, Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and Vocational Rehabilitation. New Horizons is a member of The Knox Area Chamber Partnership and the West Knox Chamber of Commerce.

Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC (LBMC), one of the Southeast’s largest accounting and business consulting firms, has added Holly R. Gibson in its Knoxville office.

Holly R. Gibson joined the accounting firm in an administrative assistant position with LBMC. Holly, previously office manager with Gibson Court Reporting, attended the University of Tennessee Knoxville. In her new role, Holly will be assisting with tax processing and various other tasks related to the administrative needs of the accounting firm. She is a volunteer for the Salvation Army, and enjoys reading, knitting and spending time with her family.

Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC, and The LBMC Family of Companies has more than 400 employees, with offices in Chattanooga, Nashville (Brentwood), and Knoxville, Tenn. Founded in 1984 as a traditional accounting firm, LBMC has expanded its focus to meet a broad range of financial, human resources and technology needs for its diverse client base. Specific services offered by the LBMC “Family of Companies” include: accounting assurance services, business and personal tax consulting, investment advisory services, professional staffing, human resources outsourcing, payroll services, technology solutions, healthcare consulting, planning services, litigation support, business valuations, and mergers and acquisitions. For more information on LBMC, visit its Web site at www.lbmc.com.

LBMC Technologies, LLC, a member of the LBMC (Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC) Family of Companies, is pleased to announce that Stephanie Rathburn has been added to its Knoxville office.

Stephanie Rathburn will be a business systems consultant in the Knoxville office focusing primarily on Microsoft Dynamics GP. A resident of Oak Ridge, Stephanie previously served as purchasing manager for Direct IS. She is an honors graduate of Tusculum College with a bachelor’s degree in organizational management.

LBMC Technologies, LLC, is the Southeast’s leading technology firm, with offices in Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. LBMC Technologies provides a variety of products and services including Network Engineering, Business Systems (Microsoft Dynamics GP and SL,) Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Software Development, Document Management, Business Intelligence, Project Management, Business Analysis Services, and Training. LBMC Technologies is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and has the only Microsoft Dynamics certified training center in Tennessee. For more information on LBMC Technologies, visit our Web site at www.lbmctech.com/ .

NOTE: The following release was sent from Wood Properties, Inc., a Knoxville Chamber member business.

George W. Brown recently joined Wood Properties, Inc.’s commercial brokerage team as an affiliate broker. Mr. Brown, a Maryville native and University of Tennessee graduate, is returning to East Tennessee after spending 5 years in New York City.

In New York, Mr. Brown sold commercial real estate for Massey Knakal Realty Services, the city’s No. 1 building sales firm (by number of transactions). In less than two years with the firm, he closed several deals with an aggregate value exceeding $10 million. Properties sold included development sites, retail properties and warehouse/garage buildings.

Prior to joining Massey Knakal, Mr. Brown was a media relations manager for CB Richard Ellis. Before entering real estate, he was a public relations professional with Dye Van Mol & Lawrence in Nashville and later with Fleishman-Hillard International Communications in New York.

Mr. Brown obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in communications from UT, where he majored in public relations, minored in political science and finished summa cum laude. While at UT, he worked several internships, including those at UT’s Daily Beacon, TVA, former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson’s Knoxville and Washington D.C. offices, and The Ingram Group.

Mr. Brown lives in Farragut with his wife and son.

Since 1976, Wood Properties has been one of the area’s leading providers of commercial real estate services. Wood Properties provides brokerage services, acting as agent for sellers/landlords and buyers/tenants; management services, of both commercial and multi-family properties; and development services.

NOTE: This release was sent from the City of Knoxville.

Groundbreaking for the $29 million Knoxville Station Transit Center took place June 9th and the primary contractor for the transit center, Johnson & Galyon, is wasting no time in alerting interested contractors of bidding opportunities.

Johnson & Galyon and the City of Knoxville will host a networking breakfast at 7:30 a.m., Thursday July 31, at the Associated General Contractors Building at 3309 Ragsdale Avenue.

Johnson & Galyon is encouraging all interested parties to attend including those involved in women and minority-owned businesses.

The new 108,000-square-foot transit center will be located at the corner of Church Avenue and Hall of Fame Blvd. and will feature a bus platform extending across James White Parkway.

The building will be LEED-certified meaning it will use less energy and be constructed using sustainable building practices.

The Knoxville Area Transit System currently carries passengers on roughly 3.6 million trips a year and that number is expected to grow.

Please make plans to attend this event which will offer numerous opportunities to local businesses.

You may RSVP for the breakfast by emailing Joshalyn Hundley at jhundley@cityofknoxville.org or by telephone at 215-3867.

NOTE: This release was sent from the University of Tennessee.

Joe Carcello, the Ernst & Young Professor in Accounting in the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has received Beta Alpha Psi's prestigious Business Professional of the Year award.
Award recipients are selected based on the impact they have on the accounting profession in the areas of education, industry, and government and public accounting. Carcello won for education.
Carcello is the second recipient from UT since the award's inception in 1975; Jan Williams, dean of the College of Business Administration, received the award in 2001.
Carcello is director of research for UT's Corporate Governance Center and is one of two academics appointed to the prestigious 31-member Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Standing Advisory Group, which helps establish auditing and professional practice standards for U.S. public companies. He has been identified numerous times by Business Finance magazine as one of the country's most influential businesspeople.

Beta Alpha Psi is an honorary organization for financial information students and professionals with about 300 active or petitioning chapters and more than 300,000 members.

NOTE: This release was sent by Ivan Allen Workspace, a Knoxville Chamber member business.

As many of you may know, two of the primary furniture lines we represent, ALLSTEEL and HON, are located in Muscatine, Iowa on the banks of the Mississippi River. This is one of the regions that has been, and continues to be, greatly affected by the historic flooding that has occurred over the past month. This got us thinking, how can we help?

We have developed a promotion we feel is a Win-Win Situation for everyone. Starting July 1st through August 31st we are offering great discounts on Allsteel and HON Products. Purchase any Allsteel or HON products at 50% of list price, and Ivan Allen will make a donation to the American Red Cross in your name for 2% of the total list value.
As an example, if you purchase a HON 10500 series “U” Configuration Desk , the list price is $2,552.00, your price is $1,276.00 and a donation of $51.04 will be made to the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund in your name.
How is this a Win-Win?

• You get new furnishings for your office, helping to better your working environment.
• The Economic Stimulus plan passed by congress will allow you to fully depreciate capital improvements made during 2008.
• Your purchase helps support and stimulates our local economy here in Knoxville.
• These items are made in Muscatine, IA helping to support there economy and the overall US economy by purchasing American made products.
• You’re making a direct impact by helping the American Red Cross provide aid where it is needed most.
• Additionally you get quality products and quality service at a great price that you can only get from Ivan Allen Workspace.

The pricing does not include applicable taxes, delivery or installation. Contract discounts are available for larger orders but are not included in this offer.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly at 865.982.3261 ext 7612 or contact your account representative for more information.