Business Digest: UBS announces promotions

Friday, January 1, 1904

UBS announces promotions

Three financial advisers, Carla F. Donina, Joel T. Hollis and Kevin T. King in Chattanooga have received a promotion to senior vice president-wealth management at UBS Financial Services, said branch manager Jeff Cronan.

Donina is a financial adviser with The Donina Group at UBS and has more than 33 years of experience in the financial industry.

Hollis is a financial adviser with The Mountain City Financial Group and has more than 32 years of experience in the financial industry.

King is a financial adviser at UBS with more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry.

UBS is a global firm providing wealth management services locally.


Chattanooga firm wins ORNL award

Electronic Workflow and Knowledge Management Network of Chattanooga was recently recognized as the 2012 Small Business Subcontractor of the Year at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. EWKM Networks has helped the Oak Ridge lab take most of its business services to an electronic paperless workflow.

With EWKM's guidance, contracting at ORNL was able to go paperless in 90 days -- three years ahead of schedule. Electronic Workflow Consultant Tom Carson said that nine months into the project, ORNL contracting has over 500,000 pages of PDF documents and can find most anything in these documents -- even ideas -- in two seconds. Contracting is working with PDF files instead of paper documents and expects to pay off for the project in only 10 months.

ORNL payroll, treasury, accounts payable and accounts receivable also are paperless and the lab's property, corporate accounting and benefits are well on their way to be paperless.


Holland joins Miller & Martin

April F. Holland has joined Miller & Martin PLLC's corporate department as an associate.

"Her business experience will greatly complement the depth of expertise of our corporate department," said Ward Nelson, co-chairman of the firm's department.

She earned a bachelor's from the University of Virginia in 2006. She went on to receive a juris doctorate degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 2010.


Mentor program takes applications

Protégé Chattanooga, a team-based mentor program for emerging leaders, is currently accepting applications for its 2013-14 class.

A collaboration between the Young Professionals Association of Chattanooga and the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Protégé Chattanooga is the first program of its kind in Chattanooga.

"The Protégé Chattanooga program is designed to meet the expressed needs of young professionals who are seeking mentor relationships," said Cara Hicks, president of YPAC.

The program will be held within a nine-month period beginning with an orientation in August. Details about the program are available on the YPAC website.

"Protégé Chattanooga has been a highly successful partnership between YPAC and the Chattanooga Chamber," said Rob Bradham, vice president of public strategies for the Chamber.


Metro Services marks milestone

Metro Services Inc. recently reached the milestone installation of solar power systems in the industrial, commercial and residential markets totaling 1 megawatt of power.

Ron Speicher, MSI's president, credited an "outstanding customer base with a passion for the environment as the catalyst for attaining this significant milestone."

"It's very gratifying to be able to educate people, with the same core environment concerns as ourselves, about the virtues and value of solar power," said Bill Norton, MSI's executive vice president.


Carter named at Tranquility

Teresa Davis Carter has been appointed executive director of Tranquility of Dalton, a 34-unit assisted living facility in Dalton, Ga.

The new facility is locally owned and is currently accepting resident applications.

Carter is a graduate of Calhoun High School and attended Floyd College and Oglethorpe University. She is a graduate of Leadership Calhoun Gordon County.

"Our goal is to provide quality care to each individual, as well as being supportive to their families," Carter said.


UTC professor to offer Talk Tips

Vincent Phipps, author of the Leadership Communication book series titled "Talk Tips" and professor of communication at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is hosting a series of seminars this spring and summer to help business managers and groups boost their job performance and communication skills.

"Good listening skills and customer service can mean the difference between gaining repeat customers or losing them to a competitor," said Phipps, founder and CEO of Communication VIP.

The interactive seminars offered are on Public Speaking, Listening & Customer Service and are scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. on May 29, June 26, July 31, Aug 28 and Sept. 25 at the Business Development Center located at 100 Cherokee Blvd. in Chattanooga. Registration is available at www.communicationvip.com or 423-485-3465.


Fisher ranked No. 1 agent

Robert Fisher, managing director of KW Commercial in Chattanooga, the commercial division of the downtown office of Keller Williams Realty, has been ranked the No. 1 commercial agent in Tennessee and the Southeast region. He received the awards at The Family Reunion Keller Williams convention in Dallas.

KW Commercial is the commercial real estate arm of Keller Williams Realty based out of Austin, Texas, with over 675 market centers all over the world.