News & Notes | Finalists and awardees
We have news from across the Volunteer State.
From Knoxville:
- Veteran Ventures Capital (VVC) has been named a finalist in the 21st Annual “Corporate Growth Awards” from ACG National Capital. The event, scheduled for June 8, recognizes the companies, executives and deal teams that are responsible for making the National Capital region one of the best in which to do business. There are a dozen categories with three or four finalists in each. VVC is in the “Deal Team: Growth Equity or Venture Capital Firm of the Year” category, competing against Blue Delta Capital Partners and PROOF.
- RegScale has been named as a finalist in the “Best Regulatory Compliance Solution” category of the 2023 edition of the “SC Awards” program. Hosted by SC Media, part of the CyberRisk Alliance family of companies, the competition involves more than 35 cybersecurity and specialty categories with two award types: (1) Trust Awards which recognize outstanding information security products and services; and (2) Excellence Awards that recognize top cybersecurity companies, their leaders, investors and financial partners. RegScale’s continuous compliance automation software is competing against: (1) the IEEE Standards Association; (2) OneTrust’s Privacy & Data Governance Cloud; (3) Proofpoint’s Intelligent Compliance Platform; and (4) Securiti DataControls Cloud.
From Knoxville but with Multi-State Implications:
As the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) kicks-off the process to develop its next Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that broad guidelines for TVA on how to best meet expected energy demand between now and 2050, the public utility is seeking input in a variety of ways. TVA is accepting public comments on the next IRP and the scope of the environmental review through July 3 at this link, by email to IRP@tva.gov and by mail to Kelly Baxter, NEPA Project Manager, 400 W. Summit Hill Drive, WT 11B, Knoxville, Tenn. 37902. TVA is also hosting two virtual webinars – one on May 23 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. EDT and another on June 7 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. EDT – to provide more information and answer questions about the EIS and the IRP process. Those interested can register at the same link cited above.
From Chattanooga:
- More than 150 business that are members of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce were nominated and four of them were recognized for growth and overall performance as they received top honors at last week’s 2023 Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce Awards program. The winners were: (1) Chattanooga Zoo (nonprofit); (2) BNI Southeast Tennessee (20 employees or less); (3) (Be) Caffeinated (21 to 50 employees); and (4) Master Machine Inc. (51 to 300 employees).
- A multi-community effort including Chattanooga and stakeholders in four other U.S. cities earned a “2023 Smart 50 Award” for developing infrastructure to provide neighborhood-level air quality data and increase public understanding
of its effects. The annual awards program is a partnership of Smart Cities Connect and Smart Cities Connect Foundation to recognize global smart city projects, honoring the most impactful and influential community work. The Smart Community Air Quality Monitoring Collaborative — encompassing Chattanooga; Cleveland, OH; Kansas City, MO.; Salt Lake City, UT; and the Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts — was recognized last week at the 2023 awards
ceremony in Denver. Local collaborators included The Enterprise Center, the City of Chattanooga, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Hamilton County Schools, and EPB. - Michael Walton, who has served since early 2014 as Executive Director of green|spaces in Chattanooga, has been named a Partner at Emerald Operating Partners, a global energy transition advisory firm. In an announcement from Emerald, he was described as “an energy transition thought-leader with 18 years of experience as a senior executive, sustainability consultant, and project architect in a wide range of sectors from real estate to manufacturing and from technology to utilities.” Green|spaces is focused on sustainable development that improves economic, social, and environmental resilience throughout the Chattanooga region, with a focus on empowering the most vulnerable communities.
From Cookeville:
The Biz Foundry is holding one of its “Open Mic Pitch Nights” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. CDT May 23 at its offices, 114 N Cedar Avenue. Those interested in pitching should send an email to Tiffany Anton (tiffany@thebizfoundry.org). To register to just attend, click here.
From Memphis:
US Biologic, a leading global entity in the development, commercialization, and distribution of orally delivered vaccines, has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted conditional licensure for the company’s novel oral vaccine against the wildlife spread of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium responsible for Lyme disease, the number one vector-borne disease in the U.S. The only known vector is the blacklegged tick, which is infected primarily by feeding on small wildlife mammals, particularly white-footed mice. The vaccine, called “Borrelia Burgdorferi Bacterin,” is spray-coated onto pellets that the mice consume.
The conditional licensure follows field trials demonstrating real-world impact that have been conducted and co-published by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Centers for Disease Control, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Pennsylvania, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Yale University, and others.
The product meets all Conditional Licensure requirements, including uniquely addressing an emergency condition and demonstrated safety.
