NOTE: This release was sent from Coulter & Justus, P.C., a Knoxville Chamber member business.

Sam Coulter, one of the founders and President of Coulter & Justus, P.C., has announced the promotion of Rob Wildi to Audit Principal.

Mr. Wildi serves as the firm’s scheduler for all audit engagements and is responsible for clients from a variety of industries including healthcare, wholesale, restaurants, coal mining and nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Wildi began his accounting career in 1995 after receiving his B.S. degree in Business Administration from West Virginia University. Rob also holds a Masters degree in Professional Accounting from West Virginia University. He joined Coulter & Justus in 1998.

ABOUT COULTER & JUSTUS: The firm that is now Coulter & Justus, P.C. began in the 1930's in Knoxville, Tennessee. From the 1950's to 1993, the firm was the Knoxville office of the international accounting firm of Ernst & Young. In 1993, Ernst & Young partners, Sam Coulter and Ron Justus, acquired the Knoxville practice and changed the name to Coulter & Justus, P.C.

NOTE: This release was sent by LBMC, a Knoxville Chamber member business.

Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC (LBMC), is pleased to announce the following promotions for the firm’s year beginning June 1, 2008 – all are located in the Knoxville office.

Marianne Nichols, CPA has been promoted to a Senior Manager in tax. Marianne was previously a Manager in the division.

Rebecca (Becca) Krumdieck, CPA has been promoted to a Manager in tax. Becca was previously a Supervising Senior in the division.

Kelly Fitzpatrick, CPA has been promoted to a Senior in tax. Kelly was previously a staff accountant in the division.

Jessica Stanford has been promoted to a Senior in audit. Jessica previously held a staff position in the division.

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.

If only this drive to work included a quick opportunity to increase my important network portfolio!

Most members of the Knoxville business community have similarly expressed a similar thought while racing to the office. The Chamber’s a.m. Exchange offers a remedy.

“July’s a.m. Exchange at Rothchild Catering on Kingston Pike is an opportunity for members to get their day started early,” says Mark Field, Vice President of Membership. “The event will occur before business hours and it will allow members a chance to meet area businesspeople. It will give everyone who attends the opportunity to network, to build relationships, and the chance to gain business before the business day begins.”

What’s more, Chamber a.m. Exchange events allow businesspeople the opportunity to build relationships that help fellow businesspeople understand the philosophy of their business. It affords a venue to talk about what’s going on in the areas business community.

“Networking is more than collecting business cards,” says Field. “It’s about meeting people who can help refer your business to others. It’s also about meeting people you can build a trustworthy relationship with. It becomes a huge bonus for companies that have four or five other businesses in their network that continually refer business their way.”

The Chamber hosts a.m. Exchanges throughout the community. The Chamber organizes these events in different areas of Knoxville so that it is more convenient for businesspeople in different parts of the community to attend. Attendees can enjoy a cup of coffee, interact with other members of the business community, and still get to work on time. a.m. Exchanges, held at least every other month, attract an average of 150 local businesspeople per event.

July’s a.m. Exchange will take place at Rothchild Catering and Conference Center, 8807 Kingston Pike, Knoxville. Everyone in the Knoxville business community is invited to attend these fantastic early-morning networking opportunities that are catered specifically for Chamber members. For more information or to register call the events hotline at 246-2622 or visit the Events calendar.

Campbell’s Pool & Spa hosted the Knoxville Chamber’s Business After Hours on May 20th. Over 200 members of the Knoxville business community attended the event, which was a terrific opportunity to meet and mingle with other businesspeople and to develop some new business contacts.

“I think the event went really well,” said Campbell’s Pool & Spa general manager Gin Barringer. “We were pleased with the turnout and we think everyone had a great time, so we’re happy.”

Barringer said the event allowed company employees the opportunity to communicate with the Knoxville business community. She also feels the gathering offered attendees more than just a networking avenue.

“We felt like people were able to explore what they could do with their backyard,” she said. “Attending the event may have given some people new ideas for increasing the look of their property.”

The event’s location proved to be an excellent venue to host the Chamber’s Business After Hours’ reception. The showroom and service center includes several fully functioning pools and whirlpools. Attendees were able to see the products and maybe even image what they might look like in their own backyards.

“The full-size pool and its large veranda provided the perfect opportunity for our members to build relationships,” said Mark Field, Knoxville Chamber Vice President of Membership.

Sheree Slagle, Campbell’s Pool & Spa office administrator, addressed attendees and thanked them for attending. She also offered special discounts on spas for Chamber members.

Door prizes were awarded at the Campbell’s Pool & Spa Business After Hours.

The winners were:
Ralph Grubb, Humana MarketPoint and Brandi Reilly, Around Town – Knoxville Lifestyle Books, courtesy of the Knoxville Chamber
Beverly LeMasurier, Volunteer Princess – Waterproof MP3 Player, courtesy of Campbell’s Pool & Spa

NOTE: This information comes from an advertisement sent by Maaco, a Knoxville Chamber member business.

Maaco Collision Repair and Auto Painting will host a grand opening celebration at their new location at 6130 Western Ave. on Saturday June 21, from 10am to 2pm.

Guests can enter to win a free supreme paint service.

For more information, call 865-212-3299.

NOTE: This release was sent from LBMC, a Knoxville Chamber member business.

LBMC Technologies, LLC, a member of the LBMC (Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC) Family of Companies, is pleased to announce that Ani L. Ehlers, Marie Gray and David Ulrich have been added to its Knoxville office.

Ani L. Ehlers will join the Knoxville team as a technical manger. Ani, previously a project manager with Scripps Networks Interactive, earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Toledo. She is an active member of the Society for Technical Communicators, Usability Professionals Association and Content Management Professionals.

Marie Gray, previously owner of and consultant with The Gray Area, will be a business development consultant in the Knoxville office. Marie has earned degrees from both the University of Phoenix and New York University. Marie is an active member and holds a leadership position in many professional organizations including the Help Desk Institute, East Tennessee Technology Council, American Society of Training and Development and Microsoft Organizational Assessment Team. She has also received a number of accolades for her work including the 2006 National Leadership Award from the National Business Advisory Council and the 2006 Congressional Medal of Distinction.

David Ulrich will join the Knoxville team as a Microsoft SharePoint network engineer. David previously worked as a server analyst with Memorial Healthcare System. He earned an associate’s degree in technical programming from The Computer Learning Center. David has extensive experience architecting and implementing enterprise wide Microsoft SharePoint solutions.
LBMC Technologies, LLC, is a leading technology partner which services the Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga and Birmingham, AL areas. LBMC Technologies is a Microsoft-certified Gold Partner, has been a member of the Microsoft President’s Club for nine consecutive years and was recently awarded Microsoft’s elite Strategic Excellence Award. The firm has the only Microsoft Dynamics certified training center in Tennessee. For more information on LBMC Technologies, visit its Web site at lbmctech.com.

Today the Knoxville Chamber named finalists for the 2008 Pinnacle Business Awards presented by Regions Bank. The Awards gala is the business community’s marquee event and includes a celebration of business accomplishments and the honoring of the 2008 winners. The Pinnacle Business Awards event will be April 25th at the Knoxville Convention Center and will begin with a reception and silent auction at 6:30 p.m. The dinner and awards presentation will begin at 8:00 p.m.

More than 650 businesspeople are expected to attend the gala. Corporate tables and individual tickets are available and can be purchased online at www.knoxvillechamber.com or by contacting the Chamber at 865-637-4550.

Awards are presented in eight categories – six business and two individual categories. Finalists are named in four of those categories – Innovator Award, Small Business Excellence Award, Impact Award, and Minority Business Excellence Award. Winners will be announced in all categories at the Pinnacle Business Awards gala event.

Finalists and award categories are:

Innovator Award – presented by Image Matters, Inc.
This award is given to a business that has developed a new technology, innovative product or service or applied a business system or service in an innovative way.

Finalists:
Advanced Polymer Recycling Inc.
Molecular Pathology Laboratory Network, Inc.
Sunlight Direct, LLC

Small Business Excellence Award – presented by Bank of America
This award is presented to a business with 50 or fewer employees that has consistently grown its workforce and revenue and overcome obstacles including access to capital, operational efficiency, control of expenses, customer loyalty and distribution.

Finalists
AC Entertainment
Junk Bee Gone
Professional Drivers Medical Depots
Studio Four Design

Impact Award – presented by Sperry Van Ness R.M. Moore
This award honors a business that displays a commitment to making East Tennessee a better place to live and work through the development and support of a community project or program.

Finalists
Goody’s Family Clothing, Inc.
Knoxville Comprehensive Breast Center
Shoney’s of Knoxville, Inc.

Minority Business Excellence Award – presented by Covenant Health
This award is presented to a minority business that has produced outstanding business results and growth and overcome the obstacles of race or sex.

Finalists
ES&H, Inc.
GEM Technologies, Inc.
Visionary Solutions LLC

Business Excellence Awards – Mid-Sized Award presented by the Conference Center at Water’s Edge
This award is given to a company headquartered in East Tennessee or a company with a significant presence in East Tennessee that has shown remarkable profitability, growth and stability and is recognized regionally, nationally and/or internationally in their its respective business sector. Both a mid-sized and a large business are selected in this category.

Young Entrepreneur Award – presented by Cariten Healthcare
Presented to a young professional under forty that lives and works in East Tennessee and has achieved success while overcoming obstacles, to become one of tomorrow’s top business leaders. The winner will have started or is at risk in ownership of his/her business.

James A. Haslam, II Leadership Award – presented by Lexus of Knoxville
This award is given to a longtime business leader that exhibits strength in character, resolve and a commitment to the community and exemplary success in the regional business community.

Exedy America Corporation celebrated another expansion of its industrial facility located in the EastBridge Business Park in eastern Knox County on Friday, April 4.

Exedy is a manufacturer of torque converters and supplies its products to automobile manufacturers and the after market. The company’s latest expansion consists of the construction of an aluminum casting plant. The new facility required a $13 million investment and will see the creation of 40 new jobs.

Exedy first located in EastBridge in 1995. Since that time, Exedy has expanded the original plant twice investing well over $150 million. The company currently employs 570 people.

Note: This release was sent from Sandler Training, a Knoxville Chamber member company.

For the seventh consecutive year, Sandler Training, (formerly Sandler Sales Institute) has been ranked No. 1 Training Program category by Entrepreneur’s 29th Annual Franchise 500 Issue for 2008.

Sandler Training is the leading provider of sales and management training and consulting programs for the past 40 years and has approximately 225 licensed franchises in the U.S. and internationally.

Competing companies are judged on the financial strength and stability, growth rate, and size of the system as well as number of years a company has been in business and the length of time it’s been franchising.

The largest Sandler Training center in East Tennessee is owned and operated by Steve Herzog of Herzog & Associates, Inc. Herzog has over 25 years of business sales and management experience and has been providing a full range of sales and management training programs, in Knoxville and surrounding areas for the past 12 years.

Herzog’s firm has helped thousands of professionals and companies learn more effective non-traditional sales and management strategies for their businesses by offering powerful and unique methods in his training.

More recently, Herzog has been recognized in the top ten percent of Sandler’s 225 franchises world wide. To learn more visit firstinsales.com.

This information comes from Fontana Village Resort, a Knoxville Chamber member business.

Fontana Village Resort is hosting a variety of family-friendly activities for Easter weekend, beginning on Friday and extending through Sunday.

On Friday, Fontana will host a flying disc festival, followed by a campfire and marshmallow roast. There will also be an arts and crafts opportunity.

On Saturday, there is a scheduled five-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail, which will go from Fontana Dam to Walker Gap. Easter egg coloring and a scavengar hunt are also scheduled for Saturday.

On Easter Sunday, there will be a buffet dinner.

For more information, please contact Fontana Village Resort at 800-849-2258 or go to fontanavillage.com.