News Roundup: ECO recap, painting the city, and volunteer opportunities
The Weekend News Roundup features stories related to local business, entrepreneurship, economy, and events.
Economic Conditions Outlook (ECO)
The Knoxville Chamber releases a quarterly report examining the economic conditions of the greater Knoxville area. The goal is that ECO, which is financed by First Horizon Bank will help the regional business community make more informed decisions as they run their businesses.
In the manufacturing space, most business owners say their operations have ‘stayed the same’ or ‘improved’ in Quarter three of this year. The six-month outlook in Quarter three anticipates “increases” in production, capacity utilization, volume of new orders, growth rate of orders, volume of shipments, finished goods inventories, wages and benefits, and number of employees.
However, compared to manufacturing, retail isn’t doing quite as well. Knoxville area retailers indicated in the Quarter 3 survey that their evaluation of the level of general business activity and company outlooks have mostly ‘worsened’ from previous quarters. Meaning, that input prices have mostly ‘increased’ while net sales revenue, internet sales, and selling prices are mostly split between a ‘decrease’ or ‘no changes.’
The Knoxville MSA’s unemployment rate in June was 3.4 percent (up from 2.6 percent in May and down from 3.6 percent in June 2023.) Knox County’s unemployment rate in June was 3.2 percent (up from 2.4 percent in May and down from 3.3 percent in June 2023.)
New Mural in Downtown Knoxville
The Knoxville News Sentinel shared a story about a collection of murals by local artists at Emory Place off North Central Street.
According to their reporting, artists are completing a large-scale mural project that will soon cover more than 7,000 square feet of wall just north of downtown Knoxville. The project is just one of several by an initiative called “KnoxWalls – Art in Public Places,” which seeks to paint the bare walls of buildings across Scruffy City. The goal is to put Knoxville on the map for public art, similar to its neighbors – Asheville and Nashville.
KnoxWalls will open to the public October 4.
Remote Area Medical Comes to Clinton
Remote Area Medical (RAM) is a national nonprofit provider of pop-up clinics delivering free, quality dental, vision, and medical care to those in need. The upcoming RAM clinic in Clinton is seeking volunteer medical, dental, and vision professionals, as well as general support staff for its Nov. 2-3 clinic.
The two-day clinic is to be held at First Baptist Church, located at 225 N. Main Street, Clinton, TN 37716. RAM is also in need of general support volunteers to help set up on Friday, Nov. 1, and take down on Sunday,
Nov. 3. Overnight parking volunteers to greet patients are also needed, and interpreters can volunteer to aid patients through the process, either in the parking lot or during clinic operations. Individuals do not need to
work in the medical field to volunteer as general support.
Sign up to volunteer today through the website, or call the RAM line at 865-579-1530.
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