Pilot, Covenant, Roadside Medical venture partners

Tennessee-based Pilot Travel Centers and Covenant Transportation are among latest partners of Las Vegas-based Roadside Medical LLC, which provides healthcare and limited pharmacy services for truckers in transit. The TFP has a story on the Covenant wellness program. Roadside's site notes their alliance with Pilot. A Knoxville roadside service is open, now.

Trahern now GM Great American Country

Nashvillian Sarah Trahern (left) has been named general manager and SVP of Great American Country, a Scripps Networks property. Trahern worked for TNN and C-Span prior to Scripps, and earned degrees at Georgetown University and Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management. The Scripps release is here.

Anthem Healthcare Intelligence in pact

Franklin-based Anthem Healthcare Intelligence announced it'll partner with Louisville-based Alliant Management Services to provide business-intelligence services. The release is here.

Scripps Networks consolidates in Knoxville

Scripps Networks Interactive, home of HGTV, Great American Country, The Food Network and other offerings, announced 28 October it's consolidating its headquarters in Knoxville, moving from Cincinnati. The release is here.

B'ham Vivo BioScience in Roche-ACEA pact

Birmingham Vivo Bioscience announced entering an R&D collaboration for development of cell-based assays for the xCELLigence System, co-developed by Roche-ACEA and marketed by Roche Applied Science. Details here. The B'ham BJ says the deal is worth about $2MM now for Vivo.

DJ Venture Index debuts

Dow Jones Venture Capital Indexes debuted yesterday, providing continual reporting of the value of VC funds' portfolio companies, weighted by capital invested and other factors, and derived largely from reports from Down Jones VentureSource. The Oct. 28 release is here.

TelaPoint supply-chain SW provider grows

The Louisville BJ says TelaPoint, a supply-chain software provider now owned by Maine-based Wright Express, will expand its presence in Louisville.

Comment: Knoxville competition for investment

KNS business columnist Roger Harris notes speculation about major companies considering investment in the Knoxville area, with the recurring theme of land scarcity being a hurdle Knox must meet.

Enernex CTO lauded for Smart Grid acumen

Erich Gunther (left), chairman and CTO of Knoxville-based EnerNex, has been cited for industry leadership in advancing smart-grid collaboration and technology. Enernex provides engineering and consulting services, plus software and solutions to the electric power industry. The release is here.

Chinese best ORNL's Jaguar supercomputer

The New York Times reports Chinese are unveiling a new supercomputing system with 1.4X the power of top-ranked computers now at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The NYT's story is here. The Telegraph confirms the machine will unseat Jaguar at ORNL.

CEO for Health Info Partnership TN

HIP-TN has operated for some time through a contract with C3 Consulting, where Vicki Estrin is managing consultant. HIP-TN has now has retained the Buffkin Group to recruit a CEO for the organization. Here's the CEO Job Description. Here's a HIP-TN overview (PPT). Here's our earlier story on the interrelationship between the TN Office of E-Health, run by Will Rice, and HIP-TN.

BMG names Creative chief

BMG, owned by Bertelsman and private-equity player KKR, named Richard Blackstone (left), former Warner and Zomba/Nashville chief, to be its NYC-based chief creative officer. The release is here. Blackstone, who holds a law degree, has mastered social media and other development and marketing domains.

Wunderlich adds to tech coverage

Memphis-based Wunderlich Securities added Brian Freed as SVP and tech analyst, covering the Enterprise Infrastructure sector with a focus on storage and security, according to a release. Freed was with Morgan Keegan.

edo Interactive names Whitson CFO

edo Interactive, the early-stage stored-value and gift-card provider, recently named Clay Whitson, formerly of iPayment, its chief financial officer.

Chattanooga manufacturers go 'regional'

The Chattanooga Manufacturers Association is now the Chattanooga REGIONAL Manufacturers Association, with members up into Middle Tennessee and North Georgia. The TFP reports. Earlier, the TFP reported a Georgia gubernatorial candidate vowed not to lose another VW to Tennessee.

GTx in $40MM stock offering

GTx, the Memphis pharma company, has filed for a $40MM gross proceeds offering, the MBJ has it.

PivotHealth signs Providence Medical Institute

PivotHealth, the Brentwood practice-management consultant to physician groups, has signed Providence Medical Institute in California.

Pathway's new small-biz loans Updated

Pathway Lending, the Nashville-based lender formerly Southeast Community Capital (our earlier story here) announced another small-business loan program this morning, in conjunction with the State ECD and the Tennessee Bankers Associaton. The anchor grant came from the state and PL CEO Clint Gwin hopes to raise another $15mil or so, to bring the program to $25mil.

Software pro's coming to Nashville

The Software Test Professionals Association announced they'll have their 2011 annual meeting in Nashville, in March.

Chattanooga jobs growth sets pace

Chattanooga's metro area beat Nashville and Knoxville in the latest jobs growth rankings, The TFP reports. Education and Healthcare will be jobs-growth sectors in Tennessee, the AP reports via the Tennessean. Chattanoogan.com's story here. The state's report. Chattanooga unveils new jobs-growth initiative, the TFP reports.

AutoZone adopts DST technology

Memphis-based AutoZone adopted Distribution Service Technologies (DST) software for e-commerce with AZ's commercial customers. The CA has it.

HummingbirdBikes pedals e-power

The KNS reports on HummingbirdBike's launch of battery-powered bikes in Knoxville.

MasterIT recognized among data MSPs

Memphis-based MasterIT won plaudits from CRN magazine for innovativeness among IT multiservice providers. MDN has it.

The FT: VU, UT exec MBAs among world's best

According to a study by the Financial Times, executive MBA programs at Vanderbilt University (72) and the University of Tennessee (98) are among the top 100 in the world, a league in which only US programs associated with Kellogg, U. Chicago, Duke, Columbia made the top 10.

Innova venture pitch session Nov. 17

INNOVA, led by Ken Woody (left), will hold an entrepreneurs pitch session Nov. 17, in which veteran entrepreneurs will give advice and feedback to entrepreneurs with startups. They're calling it the "Catfish Tank," instead of "Shark Tank." The CA has it.

TVA cites potential TN data-center sites

TVA retained Deloitte to help the power producer identify sites in Tennessee for future data centers, which could operate using the cost-advantaged TVA power grid. Details are here.

Lexmark needs app developers

Louisville-based Lexmark is looking for developers with Flash experience to develop apps for the company's Web-enabled all-in-one printers. Details here.

Aegis Sciences majority interest sold Metalmark

Nashville-based Aegis Sciences today announced the sale of majority ownership in the company to Metalmark Capital. Our earlier story on Aegis is here. By now, the company's revenue's probably north of $40m. The company made its name in drug-testing for athletes in baseball, NASCAR and other sports.

Emma, Parental Health founders speak

Digital Nashville's CEO series in coming weeks features Emma founder Clint Smith, Nov. 2; and, Parental Health founder Scotte Hudsmith (left), Dec. 7th. Registrations details are here.

Martin Cos. backs Care Team HIT

Skokie, Ill.-based CareTeam (formerly RemCare) announced Nashville-based The Martin Companies led the company's $2.7m A-round. Care Team says it provides tech platforms that help connect providers, patients and others in the continuum of care. MartinCos founder Charlie Martin (left) is perhaps better known, at the moment, as founder, chairman and CEO of Vanguard Health Systems, the Blackstone- and Morgan Stanley-backed company rumored to be considering an IPO.

UT Solar Institute funds flow

The UT-based Tennessee Solar Institute is looking at another series of grants to create jobs in Solar, and has already awarded millions. The KNS story's here.

Anderson's new-media channels

Charlie Anderson controls Magazines.com, Liquid Digital Media and other properties, and Amy Nolan of Knoxville News Sentinel provides a comprehensive profile whose family business was sold-off after a bruising face-off with publishers, in the face of changing media economics. Following an Anderson donation, UT launched the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Musculoskeletal Ventures: This week

MB Ventures and Memphis Bioworks collaborate for the Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference, beginning tomorrow.

Chattanooga: Capitalizing on G-bit speed

The Intelligent Community Forum says Chattanooga, thanks to the fiber-optic network from EPB, is one of Earth's 21 most intelligent communities. TFP has it. The TFP reported earlier on Chattanooga market competition among EPB, Comcast and AT&T. And, the TFP reported on Chattanooga's Lyndhurst Foundation's funding study of ways to capitalize on the River City's newfound technology advantage.

Luken's Chattanooga b'cast networks

A partnership with Seals Entertainment, content licenses bought from Equity Entertainment, and Chattanooga-based Henry Luken seems on his way to creating 10 US television networks, providing content for over-the-air broadcasters. He's buying-up LPTV slots, as well. Times Free Press reports.

VU nanoscience clean room upgraded

If you're working with nanoparticles, you want the air really, really clean and you want to be able to detect leaks of dangerous gases, quickly. The VUMC Reporter tells of an upgrade in the VINSE nanotech facility.

Mentor: Knoxville's Tom Boyd

From electrifying garbage cans, to investing in biotechnology, Tom Boyd's come a long way, and spawned a new generation of entrepreneurs. The KNS Business Journal has it.