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KINGSPORT – November 8, 2010 – In recognition of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce and KOSBE have teamed up to put on the Fall 2010 Small Business Night School, on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 16 & 17, from 5:00 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce in Downtown Kingsport.
Primarily, the Small Business Night School provides free training, peer-to-peer networking, collaborative problem-analysis and problem-solving, and access to financing to small business owners and entrepreneurs.
On Tuesday, November 16th, attendees will learn:
*Networking Skills
*Networking No-Nos
*How to meet new people and expand your network
*How to take the focus off of yourself and put it where it belongs-on other people
*The Secret to Creating Agreement:‚ Using Matching and Mirroring to Build Rapport
*Learn how the principles behind rapport-building helped one small business land the contract of their dreams
*Basic QuickBooks for Small Business
*Why use QuickBooks?
*How to track expenses, create invoices and sales documents, manage your tax-related entries, and pull financial reports
*Get Back on Track:‚ What to Do When the Ship Is Going in the Wrong Direction
*How to stay focused on the things that matter
*How to get outside of your business (its harder to solve your own problem when you are immersed in it)
*Not to underestimate the size of a problem
On the 17th only, registered attendees will have the chance to apply for the SBA Community Express Loan for $5,000 to $25,000, during a group live loan application process facilitated by Sue Malone, the leading SBA Community Express Loan lender in the nation. Before the live loan event begins, attendees will hear from other lenders about other sources of capital for their small business.
Loan applicants must be 18 or older.‚ Loan program presenters will include representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Areawide Development Corporation, the State of Tennessee Economic & Community Developments Business Enterprise Resource Office, Pathway Lending, and Superior Financial.
The Small Business Night School is designed with business owners and entrepreneurs in mind (including home-based), however, upper class high school and college students are encouraged to participate.‚ There is no cost to attend, but seating is limited.‚ Therefore, advanced registration is required.‚ Anyone interested can register online at WWW.KOSBE.ORG or call (423) 392-8811 for more information.‚ A detailed program schedule is available online.
About KOSBE
KOSBE is a nonprofit economic development organization that represents a partnership between the City of Kingsport and the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce, and a proud Strategic Resource Partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
About Global Entrepreneurship Week
For one week, millions of young people around the world join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents come together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. To think big. To turn their ideas into reality. To make their mark.
From November 16 – 22, 2009, Global Entrepreneurship Week connected young people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others participated in a range of activities, from online to face-to-face, and from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings.
Through this initiative, the next generation of entrepreneurs are inspired and can emerge. In doing so, they will begin to acquire the knowledge, skills and networks needed to grow innovative, sustainable enterprises that have a positive impact on their lives, their families and communities.
KINGSPORT – Voices of the Mountains will be performing “The 200-Year Wonders: Chopin, Schumann & Wesley” on Saturday Nov 6, 2010 at 8:00 PM, at theKingsport Renaissance Center Theatre, located at 1200 E. Center St.‚ General admissionis $10.
The Voices of the Mountains will sing a program on Saturday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Center.‚ This November concert has become an annual event for the Voices who will be honoring the 200th birthday of three important musical figures: Frederic Franƒ§ois Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Samuel Sebastian Wesley.‚ All three composers made significant and influential contributions to music during the 19th century.‚ Chopin was most active in France, Schumann in Germany, and Wesley in England.‚ Although they were contemporaries, the music of each is very distinctive.‚ This program will highlight some of their contributions to choral music and will include both sacred and secular selections.‚ The program will also include one choral work from yet another rival composer, Franz Liszt.
The Voices of the Mountains are under the direction of W. Patrick Flannagan, professor of music at King College in Bristol, TN.‚ Flannagan has been on the faculty at King since 1982 and is the founding conductor of the Voices of the Mountains, a chorus that is part of the Symphony of the Mountains organization.‚ ‚ Both the Voices and the Symphony are in preparation for the annual Holiday Concert in December.‚ www.SymphonyoftheMountains.org or www.KingsportARTS.org
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KINGSPORT – The end of daylight-saving time on November 7th can be a life saver. The Kingsport Fire Department reminds you the time change is a convenient reminder to change the batteries in your home smoke alarms. The KFD would also like to remind you that other than home sprinkler system, smoke alarms are one of you best defenses in a home fire.
Over 3,000 people die in house fires in the United States every year. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that nearly half of those deaths occur in the 4 percent of homes that do not have working smoke alarms. The NFPA also says that 20 percent of home smoke alarms do not work because of dead or missing batteries.
The importance of smoke alarms is underscored by a statistic from the Consumer Product Safety Commission: your chance of surviving a house fire doubles if there is working smoke alarms in your home.
Although smoke-alarm batteries might last as long as a year, the experts say they should be changed twice yearly: at the return of standard time on the first Sunday in November, and then again when clocks are changed to daylight-saving time on the second Sunday in March.
Even if your smoke alarms are “hard wired” into your home electrical system, they probably have backup batteries to make sure the alarms work during a power failure. It’s also important to use the right kind of batteries. Ordinarily alkaline or lithium batteries are best. Rechargeable batteries designed for high-tech electronics are not suited for smoke alarms.
Besides changing the batteries twice a year, it’s also important to check smoke alarms monthly by pressing the test button. The NFPA recommends that smoke alarms be replaced every 10 years.
There are two kinds of smoke alarms available for home use: Ionization alarms are more responsive to flaming fires, while photoelectric alarms respond more quickly to smoldering fires. Although either type will eventually react to most fires, the NFPA says it is best to use both types in your home. Some manufacturers offer dual-sensor alarms combining ionization and photoelectric sensors in one unit.
There should be one smoke alarm in every bedroom, along with an alarm outside sleeping areas. Make sure you have at least one alarm on each level of your home. To increase the level of protection, consider installing wireless smoke alarms that are interconnected, so all alarms sound as soon as one detects smoke. Because smoke rises, install smoke alarms high on the wall or on the ceiling.
Smoke Alarm Safety Quick Tips from the KFD and NFPA
1.‚ An ionization smoke alarm is generally more responsive to flaming fires and a photoelectric smoke alarm is generally more responsive to smoldering fires. For the best protection, both types of alarms or combination ionization and photoelectric (dual sensor) alarms are recommended.
2.‚ Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. For the best protection, interconnect (hard wired or wireless connection)‚ all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
3.‚ Test alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button.
4.‚ Smoke rises; install smoke alarms following manufacturers instructions high on a wall or on a ceiling. Save manufacturers instructions for testing and maintenance.
5.‚ Replace batteries in all smoke alarms at least once a year. If an alarm chirps, warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.
6.‚ Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use ten year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they are ten years old or sooner if they do not respond properly when tested.
7.‚ Alarms that are hard-wired (and include battery backup) must be installed by a qualified electrician.
8.‚ If cooking fumes or steam sets off nuisance alarms, replace the alarm with a photoelectric type alarm or an alarm that has a hush button. A hush button will reduce the alarms sensitivity for a short period of time.
9.‚ Smoke alarms are available for people who are deaf. These alarms use strobe lights. Vibration equipment is required with these alarms. This equipment is activated by the sound of the smoke alarm.
10.‚ People with mild to severe hearing loss can use a device that will make a mixed, low-pitched sound. This device is activated by the sound of a traditional smoke alarm.
11.‚ When you do shop for a smoke alarm, look for units with the Underwriters Laboratory label, typically the letters “UL” in a circle.
The US Fire Problem:
In 2009, there were 1,348,500 fires reported in the United States (down 7% from 2008). These fires caused 3,010 civilian deaths, 17,050 civilian injuries, and $12.5 billion in property damage.
•‚ ‚ ‚ 480,500 were structure fires (down 7% from 2008), causing 2,695 civilian deaths, 14,740civilian injuries, and $10.8 billion in property damage.
•‚ ‚ ‚ 219,000 were vehicle fires (down 7% from 2008), causing 280 civilian fire deaths, 1,610 civilian fire injuries, and $1.4 billion in property damage.
•‚ ‚ ‚ 649,000 were outside and other fires (down 7% from 2008), causing 35 civilian fire deaths, 700 civilian fire injuries, and $328 million in property damage.
The 2009 U.S. fire loss clock
•‚ ‚ ‚ A fire department responded to a fire every 23 seconds.
•‚ ‚ ‚ One structure fire was reported every 66 seconds.
•‚ ‚ ‚ One home structure fire was reported every 87 seconds
•‚ ‚ ‚ One civilian fire injury was reported every 31 minutes.
•‚ ‚ ‚ One civilian fire death occurred every 2 hours and 55 minutes.
•‚ ‚ ‚ One outside fire was reported every 49 seconds.
•‚ ‚ ‚ One vehicle fire was reported every 146 seconds.
For more information on home fire safety, or to request assistance with checking smoke alarms and batteries, please contact Barry Brickey Public Education Officer for the Kingsport Fire Department at 423-224-2820 or at brickey@kingsporttn.gov
KINGSPORT – Keep Kingsport Beautiful, along with the City of Kingsport and Hamlett-Dobson Funeral Homes, will host a tree planting on Friday, November 5 from noon to 1:00 p.m. at Borden Park. This planting recognizes those who have been honored or remembered through the Tree Fund. A variety of ten different trees will be planted throughout Borden Park.
There will be a special announcement made during the ceremony regarding Borden Park!
Each spring and fall trees are purchased and planted around Kingsport on public land using donations from those who wish to honor or remember a special individual by contributing to the Tree Fund. Part of the ceremony includes volunteers reading the names of those who are being honored or remembered, as well as the names of contributors.
The Tree Fund began in 1986. Since then, more than 500 trees have been planted within our community, and thousands of people have been recognized through this program. Hamlett-Dobson Funeral Homes sponsors this community event. Their participation allows more trees to be planted each year as a living tribute to those recognized. Keep Kingsport Beautiful coordinates the Tree Fund program, while the City of Kingsport provides the land, labor and mulch.
For more information on how you can honor or remember someone special through the Tree Fund, contact Megan Watson at 392-8814 or visit
www.keepkingsportbeautiful.com
KINGSPORT ‚¬ A segment of Chestnut Ridge Road will closed to thru traffic through Friday, November 5, 2010, between Aberdeen Trail and Old Stage Road to allow for tree removal.‚ Road closures will begin at 11 a.m. and continue until sundown. Motorists are asked to seek alternative routes in the interim.
KINGSPORT ‚¬ Water service will be interrupted to approximately 11 homes on Pendragon Road from Ridgefields Country Club west to the Pendragon cul-de-sac on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to allow for the installation of a new fire hydrant. Water service to the Country Club should not be impacted by the outage.
KINGSPORT ‚¬ The Dobyns-Bennett Counseling Office would like to remind parents that all Dobyns-Bennett High School tenth graders will take the PLAN assessment on November 9, 2010 during Blocks A and B.
The PLAN Assessment is one of the three assessments required by the State of TN to gauge college and workforce readiness. The other related state-required assessments include the Explore test in 8th Grade and ACT test in 11th Grade.
Taking the PLAN Assessment can: | •stimulate thinking and planning for life after high school •assess status of academic preparation for postsecondary education •support meaningful high school course selection for junior and senior years •relate personal characteristics to educational and career options •help focus test preparation to improve ACT scores •provide an estimated ACT Composite score |
The PLAN Assessment consists of:
Students are encouraged to explore the ACT Online Prep site:
https://actonlineprep.act.org/ePrep as a means of preparing for this assessment.
All students received usernames and passwords to this site in homeroom/ advisory period on Sept 29th.
To find out more about the PLAN Assessment go to:
http://www.actstudent.org/plan/
PLAN Sample Questions can be found at:
http://www.act.org/plan/pdf/sample.pdf
Testing room Assignments will be posted outside of the cafeteria several days prior to the assessment.‚ The make-up test date for students absent on test day will be November 10th. Students will complete pre-coding information regarding their interests, current coursework, plans after high school, etc. the week prior to the assessment.
For more information, contact Dobyns-Bennett Graduation Coach/Testing Coordinator Melissa Horner at (423) 378-8400.
-KCS-
Reprinted online from Site Selection Online. For the complete story, please click here.
Tennessee places second in this years ranking it placed fourth in the survey of corporate site selectors. Gov. Phil Bredesen and his Commissioner of Economic Development, Matt Kisber, have built a solid reputation for Tennessee as a pro-business state that has caught the attention of business and industry worldwide.
Tennessees free-enterprise-friendly policies have led to $4 billion in new investment, which will lead to thousands of new jobs, said Margaret Spellings, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerces National Chamber Foundation at a July 2010 regional roundtable event. The 260,000 person upswing in Tennessees population is further proof that people are voting with their feet and choosing Tennessee.
During the event, the U.S. Chamber released an expanded Tennessee profile, an addition to the Enterprising States study released in May 2010, which highlights state and local policies role in creating an environment needed to spur job creation and economic growth.
The studys expanded Tennessee profile looks at how the state has implemented initiatives to streamline red tape and help businesses sort through layers of government regulation. Among its findings are these: Straightforward, understandable taxes have minimized uncertainty and have provided incentive for private sector investors. The profile also highlights how targeted investments in infrastructure projects at the state level can create growth-friendly environments in the state. Science- and technology-based economic development and clean-tech initiatives continue to grow throughout the state. Global exports and strategies for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Tennessee have also made significant headway. Finally, cultivating people through work-force development has allowed for continued economic growth in Tennessee.
“States continue to develop innovative strategies to build their work forces and expand their economic bases, even in tough economic times, and Im pleased this report highlights the success Tennessee and other states have had in creating these jobs, said Gov. Bredesen.