Small business bosses are feeling a little more optimistic than they were a few months ago. But that optimism is accompanied by a deep conservatism toward expansion, and an expectation that it will take time for the economy to recover, a new Network of City Business Journals survey of 776 small business leaders in January [...]
Entries from February 2009
February 11, 2009
Tennessee’s unemployment rate above national average
Tennessee used to be below the national average when it came to unemployment, but that has changed. The state’s unemployment rate is at 7.9 percent, above the national average of 7.2 percent. That means the Tennessee Career Center in Knoxville is often crowded. For all his adult life, Terrell Revels has made a living as [...]
February 11, 2009
GM production resumes at Spring Hill plant
About 2,000 employees at the General Motors plant in Spring Hill are back at work as production of the Chevrolet Traverse resumed Monday after a shutdown of more than a month. Plant spokeswoman Kate Neary says the full contingent of Traverse assembly line employees returned. Neary said about 400 team leaders affected by the shutdown [...]
February 11, 2009
Talbots cuts jobs at Knoxville call center
On Thursday, the women’s retailer Talbots announced that it will cut 370 jobs nationwide. Today, 6 News learned that approximately 50 of those jobs will be lost right here in Knoxville. The cuts will come at the Talbots’ call center that currently employs 340 people. A Talbots spokeswoman says that the laid-off employees will receive [...]
February 11, 2009
Goodrich lands Japanese supply deal
Goodrich Corp. will provide optical subassemblies for a telescope to be used in a Japanese satellite program. The program is dubbed Advanced Satellite with New System Architecture for Observation. Its first mission is designed to produce a high-performance telescope to observe the earth. It is expected to launch in 2011. Goodrich will design, build and [...]
February 11, 2009
Ikea readies for Charlotte opening
Ikea representatives hosted local media Wednesday in anticipation of next week’s opening of the company’s 356,000-square-foot store in Charlotte. The store is slated to open Feb. 18. In other developments, Ikea will install Thursday a fully-furnished room on a corner in uptown Charlotte. The site is meant to give future shoppers an advance look at [...]
February 10, 2009
Will stimulus money help with Charlotte jobs?
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Installing energy efficient lighting in municipal buildings is one way Charlotte plans to stimulate the economy, as long as Congress coughs up the money. City staff put together a wish list of $824,100,000 in projects the city will push to fund from a federal economic stimulus package. “I think we’re being really [...]
February 4, 2009
Charlotte’s Positive Economic Indicators
Economic Development’s Tony Crumbley shares his thoughts on Charlotte’s economy It seems all we hear today is how bad the economy is in Charlotte. The stock market is declining, houses are being foreclosed and banks are laying off workers. Clearly the vast majority of the community is experiencing the “half empty glass” syndrome. We are [...]
February 4, 2009
Tupelo Honey launches online store to help fund health care for workers
Stephen Frabitore wants to recruit and keep the best staff possible for Tupelo Honey Café, his nationally known restaurant in downtown Asheville. That’s why he took a step that’s rare among restaurants and other small businesses: He offered health insurance for his 47 employees. But even though he picked up half the tab for his [...]
February 4, 2009
O’Naturals Café to close Friday
O’Naturals Café on Hendersonville Road is the latest restaurant casualty of the recession. Citing a poor business climate, franchise owner Clary McCall said the café will close Friday. The restaurant, a franchise of the Maine-based O’Naturals, opened in July. The eateries provide “delicious, quick, natural and organic food,” according to its Web site. It has [...]
