Hi everybody-Kathleen Drevik of Knoxville here. Today, I’m going to stray a bit from talking about technology in Knoxville and switch gears a bit. Many times, since I am a Knoxville native, I get asked where the hidden gems of Knoxville are. You know, places and restaurants that are a bit interesting or off the beaten path. So, if you are coming to Knoxville to visit or knows someone who is, here is a top ten list of some things to seek out:

1. Market Square. Ever since Knoxville was a city Market Square has been a hub of commerce. Originally there was a large market house in the middle of the square for farmers and other vendors to sell their wares. After a fire and falling into disrepair, Market Square was completely redone and is now the center on downtown nightlife and, April through October, there is a farmers’’ market with fresh produce and grass fed beef.







2. Ijams Nature Center. Ijams Nature Center is located on three hundred acres along the Tennessee River. Just minutes from downtown Knoxville, is boasts miles and miles of walking trails, bike trails, a rock quarry that allows canoeing and paddle boarding and some very challenging running and biking trails. It is open dawn to dusk. Their website is here.

















3. Happy Holler. Located on Central Avenue, this up and coming area is the new hipster hangout. The affordable housing stock, eclectic restaurants, and funky performance venues make this one of the most interesting areas in town. Relix Variety Theater hosts all sorts of acts-from music, to spoken word to DJs and performance art. Raven Records provides a great place for vinyl junkies and collectors while Central Flats and Taps serves up craft beer and great food in a fun and lively atmosphere. Add to that a number of second hand shops that offer an interesting array of second hand items and you have the makings of an all day excursion.

Well, that’s about it for this post. This is just part one so stay tuned for part 2coming soon
Kathy Drevik Knoxville, TN
 

TENNESSE RENEWABLE ENERGY

Many people ask me, Katleen Drevik, of Knoxville, TN about the types of renewable energy that we use in East Tenneessee, so here is a quick overview:


The United States Department of Energy chose the city of Knoxville, TN to be a partner in the Solar America Cities program. The Solar American Cities program is designed to speed up the implementation of solar power technologies. This crated the Solar Knoxville initiative that will help raise awareness of solar technology by removing barriers to market and informing the city of Knoxville of the benefits of solar energy.

The Goals of Solar Knoxville Are:
• Citizen Education
• Increasing the demand for solar technology in both business and residential
• Increasing the awareness of Solar
• Changing the way the community thinks about solar power






The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) also has renewable energy programs that helps people partner with TVA to use sustainable energy for their home or business. These programs are:

Green Power Providers. This program puts smaller green power projects closer to the end user. These projects range from low-impact hydrogeneration, solar, biomass, or wind power.

Green Power
This program allows customers on the power grid to specify that a portion of their power come from renewable sources such as biogas, wind and solar. The blocks of power come in very reasonable four-dollar increments.

Solar Solutions Distribution
This program moves small, urban scale solar plants closer to the end user. These projects range in size from five to fifty megawatts.
In addition, TVA has one of the largest hydropower networks in the country. This network consists of twenty-nine dams that generate power via the Tennessee system of rivers and eight dams that belong to the Army Corp of Engineers.

Located on the following rivers: The Cumberland, The Powell, The Cheoah The Pigeon, The Tennessee, The Nolichucky, The Nantahala, The Elk, The Duck, The Little Tennessee and the French Broad, this network not only provides power for the East Tennessee region, it provides a number of recreational and boating and fishing lakes enjoyed by the residents of Tennessee.
 
 

As a follow up to my previous post, I am posting the top twenty employers in the greater Knoxville area. This list is up-to-date as of August 5^th, 2016. So, here we go! The top twenty employers (including number of employees) in order are:

1.  United states DOE Oak Ridge National Laboratory 13,367 employees

2. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville Campus 8,127 employees

3. Knox County Public School System 8,131 employees

4. Covenant Health 9,126 employees

5. Tennova Health Care 8,141 employees

6. The University of Tennessee Medical Center Knoxville 3,225 employees

7. The City of Knoxville, Tennessee 2,832 employees

8. The County of Knox 2,506 employees

9. Clayton Homes, Inc. 2,519 employees

10. Aluminum Company Of America 2,369 employees

12. The Dollywood Amusement Park 2,197 employees 

13. Denso Manufacturing Tennessee 2298 employees

14. Wal-Mart Stores 2,348 employees

15. K-VA-T Food Stores (Parent Company of Food City) 1375 employees

16. Blount Memorial Hospital 1,649 employees

17. U.S. Postal Service 1,614 employees

18. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 1,581 employees

19. DeRoyal Industries (medical supplies) 1,444 employees

20. East Tennessee Children's Hospital 1289 employees

As you can see, there are ample opportunities for the job hunter coming to the East Tennessee area. There are jobs to be found in the areas of  engineering, physics, mathematics, nuclear engineering, civil engineering, construction, medical imaging, and management. Follow the links of the above companies to apply online.

-Kathleen Drevik
 
 
 
 
 

The Greater Knoxville Area has one of the region’s most stable economies and is a hub for a diversified set of industry. The Knoxville economy is very diverse with no single sector of employment accounting for 20% of the total employment of the region. Recently, the greater Knoxville area has seen an increase in the areas of the financial, utility, logistics, and trade sectors.
 
Helped by TVA and The University of Tennessee Knoxville, the Knoxville economy enjoys a synergy with The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (one of the largest Department of Energy sites in the country). The lab brings together multiple disciplines in the areas of science and engineering to advance areas of science and technology, green energy, environmental science, and, of course, national defense. ORNL has spawned numerous business that service this sector along with training and education for local businesses.
 
Only a day’s drive from three quarters of the population of the United States the location of Knoxville also contributes to its success. Location advantages include: Being at the center of the Eastern half of the United States, being at the crossroads of two major Interstates (I-40, an East-West artery, and I-75, a major North-South artery). This one of the major reasons a number of manufacturing companies have expanded or relocated to the area. In the past ten years over forty business have invested over half a billion dollars in the manufacturing sector. Knoxville also benefits from a booming tourism industry.  The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (only 40 minutes away) is the most visited national park in the country with over 10 million visitors each year. Nearby Sevierville (home of Dolly Parton), Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg also add to the number of tourists passing through Knoxville each year.
 
More coming soon on Knoxville’s booming economy.
 
~Kathleen Drevik Knoxville, TN

Hi, I’m Kathy Drevik, Senior Control Systems Engineer in Knoxville, TN. I often get asked about the climate for tech industry jobs here in the Knoxville area. For those in the tech industry looking to make Knoxville their home, East Tennessee is a must-look-at place. There are many thriving companies that could be a good fit.

CTI, Inc was bought by Siemens for one billion dollars in 1995 and continues to thrive as one of Knoxville, TN’s top tech employers. As of July 29, 2016 there were 38 job openings at Siemens facilities in Knoxville and surrounding areas. Two other medical imaging companies are ABT Molecular Imaging and ProNova Solutions. ABT does Biomarker Generator Systems for PET Scans and ProNova makes proton therapy devices. Both of these companies were started by CTI/Seimens alumni. Also, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) employs thousands of tech workers not only through the lab itself, but also through the numerous companies that have sprung up to support the efforts of ORNL.

Examples of companies involved with ORNL are: Siemens Healthcare,  Boston Government Services (Strategic and Technical Solutions for Complex and Highly Regulated Environments),  BES Technologies (respirator and laundry services for the nuclear industry), Smith’s Detection (imaging for food and airline industries), Canberra radiation and detection, and a host of others.

The University of Tenneessee has seen many graduates go on to start successful companies. The companies are too numerous to mention, but if you Google the term “Company started by University of Tennessee Alum” you will be surprised by the number of results.

Finally, a quick search on Monster.com for the term “Jobs in Oak Ridge, TN” yields over one thousand entries-from truck drivers to engineers.

More to come!
-Kathleen Drevik, Knoxville, TN