Business Briefs: Jobless benefits could be delayed

Jobless benefits could be delayed

Although Congress agreed to extend federal extended unemployment benefits as part of the tax and spending package adopted New Year's Day, some unemployed Tennesseans may have to wait to get this week's benefits.

Tennessee Labor Commissioner Karla Davis said Thursday her department must still receive federal authorization to pay the extended benefits for those jobless more than 26 weeks.

"While the U.S. Department of Labor expects to have authorizations in place to provide a seamless transition, a delay of a week or more is possible," she said. If a payment is missed, a retroactive payment would then be made to make up for lost weeks before resuming regular weekly payments. The federal program provides jobless benefits in Tennessee of up to $275 a week for about 30,000 Tennesseans.

Banyan moves to Main Street

Banyan, cloud-based control application that caters to the research industry, is relocating to Chattanooga.

The company won Chattanooga's 2012 GigTank competition last summer and secured its first round of funding from the Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, as well as Chattanooga and Silicon Valley angel investors. Banyan CEO Toni Gemayel said the company is moving from Florida into renovated offices on Main Street on Chattanooga's southside.

"Chattanooga's robust startup culture and supportive investment community have played an integral role in Banyan's early success," Gemayel said in a statement Thursday. "We're excited to establish our headquarters here, and we're confident that the city will act as a catalyst for Banyan as we take the company to a new level."

Health unions join forces

WASHINGTON — The 85,000-member California Nurses Association is forging an alliance with the 10,000-member National Union of Healthcare Workers to form a new union made up entirely of health sector workers.

The alliance announced Thursday renews a bitter rivalry between the nurses' union and the powerful 2 million-member Service Employees International Union, the nation's dominant health care union.