Hagerty's to-do's

Bill Hagerty, ECD commissioner under Gov. Bill Haslam, has a long and growing economic-development to-do list. Notes here.

VW training abroad

Volkswagen of America has already sent more than 1,000 workers to plants in other nations for training to reach VW's productivity standards. The TFP reports.

$95MM fund created here

Karen Bruton has a passion for international relief efforts, and she plans to use her earnings from a new $95MM investment fund to support Brentwood-based Just Hope International and related works. The story's here.

Angel Cap Group + Screampoint

Nashville-based Angel Capital Group has invested an unspecified amount in a recently reopened C-round raise for Screampoint, a data-visualization software and services provider with offices in Menlo Park and abroad, according to a release. ACG CEO Rachael Qualls told VNC that ACG learned of the opportunity through an ACG angel. Screampoint's C-round remains open and will eventually close with about $3.5MM total, she said. Previous ACG coverage on VNC is here.

Memphis message

Gwyn Fisher, head of MPACT Memphis, is traveling abroad to spread the message of Memphis' allure for young professionals. The MDN reports it.

Louisville globalizes

Louisville has established a new office to help immigrants and to support businesses seeking international trade ties. The LBJ has it here.

Med Trade Center's China ties

Nashville Medical Trade Center developers Market Center Management Company (Crow Holdings) said in a release today Beijing-based Huida Investment Management Company will lead development of a "China pavillion" within the trade center, which MCMC still says will openin 2013, and which is to have 1.5 million square feet of space, eventually. NMTC here. The release will eventually be here.

TN-China trade caution

Speakers during a recent Memphis conference on trade with China spoke of opportunities and business perils. The CA reports it.

President calls for 'Sputnik moment'

President Barack Obama is pressing his case for a jobs and competitiveness agenda, exhorting Americans to treat the challenge from India, China and other rapidly growing economies as something akin to the space race in contest with the then-USSR, in the '50s-'60s. The TFP has the AP story here.

Waddell on global economy, investments, competition

Dave Waddell of Memphis offers an amusing, and possibly insightful view of the cracks in the world economy. The MDN has it.

First Aviation booming

Memphis-based First Aviation Services and its Aerospace Products division seem to be booming, in the wake of acquisitions and investment by an Israeli firm. The CA reports.

FedEx may expand Memphis continental hub

Memphis Daily News reports FedEx may expand its Memphis hub operations further, solidifying its sanding alongside Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris and Guangzhou Baiyun in China.

Luminetx honored by trade group

Luminetx, the VeinViewer folks, will be honored in Memphis, Nov. 13, by the local chamber's International Business Council. The CA reports.

Nashville-Nova Scotia ties

Nova Scotia-based companies are teaming with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Center Nashville and others to hold another get-together, with Nova Scotian business execs, food and music, Nov. 2. For registration, go here. For more background, here.

U.S.-China e-Car forum

The Department of Energy reports on the concluding of the first-ever U.S.-China Electric Vehicle Forum, the latest fruit of a several decades of normalized relations between the two superpowers, which together produce 40 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.

Wright Medical to Oz

Memphis-based Wright Medical announced a new subsidiary based in Australia and a new distribution partner, there. The CA reported it. Here's the company's release.

Bizspeakers' Global views

Chattanooga State Technical Community College is offering a series of ten Wednesday-night lectures on an interesting array of global business issues. Chattanoogan.com reports. The lecture series is supported mainly by the school's business and information technology division (BIT).

BorderJump update

Nashville entrepreneur Bobby Frank (left), who recently made himself a full-time, rather than part-time CEO of BorderJump, says the Latin American market for U.S. retailers is wide open, thanks in part to e-commerce. The City Paper reports. Here is VNC's story on BorderJump's launch.

China Healthcare Corp

Nashville-based China Healthcare Corp. announced today an update on its plans for a hospital in China. Dr. Tommy Frist, a founder of HCA, is one of the China venture's founders. Gresham Smith has been chosen for much of the design work for the 500-bed replacement hospital in Cixi. [Corrected 5:08 p.m. CDST]

Belmont international grant

Belmont University's Dr. Jeff Overby is leading a group that won a $188K Title VI Grant made via the Business and International Education (BIE) Program of the U.S Department of Education. The Belmont proposal, titled "Collaborating to Equip Belmont and Nashville for the Dynamic Global Economy,” received BIE funding over a two-year period, which began August 1. It improves faculty, instruction and international experiences for students. The BU release indicates they believe the grant will stretch pretty far.