Joseph GrimesTVA appoints Joseph Grimes as chief nuclear officer
The Tennessee Valley Authority has appointed Joseph Grimes as chief nuclear officer.
According to the utility, Grimes will be based in Chattanooga and will be responsible for leading, operating and optimizing TVA's nuclear fleet. Grimes has more than 30 years of experience in operations, maintenance and engineering management and support of nuclear generating stations.
Grimes currently is senior vice president of engineering and technical services for Exelon Nuclear. He will replace Preston Swafford, who is retiring.
VW brand sales up in first half
The Volkswagen brand delivered 2.91 million vehicles globally in the first six months, up 4.4 percent over last year with North American and Asian sales leading the way, the company reported Tuesday.
In North America, VW sales grew 3.9 per cent to 307,000 in the first half of 2013, despite a drop of less than 1 percent in June, reported the German automaker that assembles Passat sedans in Chattanooga.
The brand grew deliveries by 17.3 percent in the Asia-Pacific region in the first half of the year, handing over 1.28 million vehicles to customers there. However, European sales continued to lag as the VW brand delivered 843,600 vehicles, down 7.1 percent.
BlueCross has record donations
A record $10.2 million was contributed by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in 2012 to organizations working to improve the health, quality of life and education of Tennesseans, according to the Chattanooga-based insurer.
BlueCross employees contributed more than 29,000 hours of volunteer work to causes across the state, the company said.
Calvin Anderson, senior vice president of corporate affairs and executive director of BlueCross' Tennessee Health Foundation and Community Trust, said that since 2003, the foundation has awarded more than $40 million in grants to initiatives.