News - Friday, August 4, 2017

For as long as he can remember, Scott Shaw wanted to be a lawyer. When other boys dreamed of growing up to be firemen or policemen he imagined himself in the courtroom.

Now, as a partner at Chattanooga’s Evans Harrison Hackett law firm specializing in business-based and property-related litigation, Shaw is firmly enmeshed in the legal communities of the Chattanooga area and northern Georgia.

Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan attorney Marc Harwell has been elected to the board of directors of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC). Founded in 1936, the FDCC is an international organization composed of leaders in the legal community.

No doubt about it, Larson DeFoor is a home-grown woman. She was born and raised in Ooltewah, and her family is deeply embedded in the Chattanooga community as citizens and business leaders.

DeFoor’s father and uncle, Ken and Byron DeFoor, have a long history of real estate development in the region and have had a hand in everything from offices to condos to the Embassy Suites hotel in East Brainerd to the $88 million Westin hotel and condominium project in downtown Chattanooga.

Jeremy Callahan has joined Keller Williams Realty in downtown Chattanooga as its newest real estate agent.

Callahan is a native Chattanoogan and graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he majored in communication and marketing. With eight years of experience in the industry, he has consistently been a multi-million-dollar producing agent who now leads a growing team.

Bryan Rippy, 38, chuckles when he says he’s in the prime of his life. But sharpening his skills is no laughing matter, and he understands the importance of raising his value in the job market.

The line mechanic at Schwan Cosmetics in Murfreesboro is looking to earn a degree at Tennessee College of Applied Technology Murfreesboro/Smyrna to bolster his chances of getting a job at the Nissan powertrain assembly plant in Decherd.

If Larry Ward knew what the coming night would bring, he might have thought twice about granting an interview an hour before the Chattanooga Lookouts’ game this past Saturday.

Ward, still going strong in his 30th season broadcasting every Lookouts game, home and away, would need every syllable his vocal chords could give him on this night. The Lookouts and the visiting Birmingham Barons would shortly begin a game that would take 21 innings to complete. But without a sidekick to share duties, it was up to Ward to detail every hitter, every out, every inning for the next 5 hours, 30 minutes.

How confident are you that your job will still exist in one year? How about five years? Ten years?

While much of the national attention has been on President Trump’s promise to restore some portion of the 22,000 coal jobs lost since 2001, 500,000 department store jobs have been lost during that same period, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show.

Are Tennessee’s shopping destinations, once beacons of consumer demand, doomed to extinction?

One might think so by reading recent reports on traditional retail outlets. The headlines certainly are attention grabbers:

“The Atlantic,’’ refers to the “great retail meltdown of 2017,” while USA Today and other outlets breathlessly report on 43 more Sears/Kmart closings.

Are the robots coming for our jobs? Like anything else in the world of economic and workforce development, the rise of artificial intelligence and the automated workforce is boon to some, bane to others.

For employers, robots mean a 24/7 workforce that doesn’t require benefits or vacation pay. For employees, AI is the creeping end to good jobs and economic security. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Charlize Theron is getting high marks for her work as Lorraine Broughton, MI6 agent, in the action spy thriller “Atomic Blonde.” Some film critics have gone as far as saying Theron’s work in the film elevates her to the top of the list of female action stars. Many are also calling Broughton the female James Bond or John Wick.

Erlanger Health System has announced its new Life Force 6 helicopter that will begin service on Aug. 15.

The new aircraft is a H135 with Instrument Flight Rules and will be based at Western Carolina Regional Airport in Andrews, North Carolina.

Some recently announced lending changes may open more doors to prospective home buyers.

Lending giant Fannie Mae implemented changes to their Desktop Underwriter last weekend that now allows consideration of applicants with a maximum debt-to-income ratio of 50 percent. This increase in DTI will allow new buyers to either enter the market or increase the price of a home they now qualify for.

Like it or not, our physical abilities change as we age. Vision begins to blur and joints begin to ache. Once simple tasks like taking out the garbage, emptying the dishwasher or even taking a shower can become arduous.

However, not everyone living in the same home is likely to have the same needs, especially those in multi-generational households. These are the homes that can benefit the most from universal design.

You have probably heard that diversification is a key to investment success. So, you might think that if diversifying your investments is a good idea, it might also be wise to diversify your investment providers – after all, aren’t two (or more) heads better than one?

The ninth annual National Treasures at Point Park, which will benefit the Friends of Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 24 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The evening will include live music, a buffet dinner and complimentary drinks.