businessbriefs
• Seasoned healthcare professional Heather Tussing recently was named executive vice president of operations for Morning Pointe Senior Living. Tussing is responsible for operations management of all Morning Pointe communities. With more than a decade of experience in the senior living industry, she will continue Morning Pointe’s tradition of excellence.
• EyeCare Optical recently expanded its reach in the Greater Knoxville area by opening its seventh area office — this one in Oak Ridge — right on the heels of its sixth location opening in Hardin Valley. The expansion is part of a plan to make comprehensive eye care readily available for greater Knoxville residents in their own neighborhoods, a press release stated.
• United Community Bank recently welcomed David Howard to its Eastern Tennessee team as portfolio manager.. Howard will work with the Commercial Lending Group in the market to produce and assist with a variety of loans.
• The National Council of State Boards of Nursing recently released the results of the NCLEX-RN exam showing showed all 70 of Pellissippi State Community College’s spring 2020 nursing graduates passed the exam, which each nurse in the United States and Canada must pass to become a registered nurse.
• Tennessee Board of Regents recently honored Pellissippi State Community College alumnus Randy Martinez for Veterans Day with veteran commendations. Martinez, who graduated from PSCC in 2017, received the Chancellor’s Commendation for Military Veterans, which was accompanied by a Challenge Coin from Chancellor Flora Tydings. The TBR and Tydings established the new commendation as a system-level award to honor the service, bravery and sacrifices of military veterans in the campus communities.
• POWERHOME SOLAR, a solar energy company, is expanding to Knoxville and plans to hire up to 100 news employees with walk-in interviews, which started recently. It is one of the few companies in the renewable energy sector to have experienced both sales and hiring growth throughout the pandemic. The company first expanded to Tennessee in April with a Nashville office, and already has found the need to open another office within the state.
• The University of Tennessee recently formed a Commission for Disabilities and has expanded support and representation for those with disabilities at UT-Knoxville. “UT has made significant advances in promoting disability-inclusive diversity, and the commission will provide a centralized way for those efforts to continue,” said Heather Peters, assistant director of UT-Knoxville News and Information.
• University of Tennessee Medical Center recently earned the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives 2020 CHIME Digital Health Most Wired recognition as a certified Level 8, up from last year’s Level 7. The program conducts an annual survey to assess how effectively health care organizations apply core and advanced technologies into their clinical and business programs to improve health and care of their communities.
