Local firm creates lawyer network
How many in-house corporate lawyers does it take to keep Chattanooga-area companies on the right track?
About 90, and local law firm Miller & Martin is trying to bring them together to network and learn from other industry pros.
Roughly 25 of what Miller & Martin estimates are 90 local corporate lawyers attended the Chattanooga Corporate Counsel Network's second meeting Thursday.
"This is our one opportunity to get together and network with our peers," said group member Greg Madson, general counsel for Jones Management Services. "It's already paying off."
Madson said he's already asked for advice from contacts he made at June's first meeting, and he expects the group will become increasingly useful as more people get involved.
To find out more, visit www.ChattanoogaCounsel.com or email info@chattanoogacounsel.com.
Shaw Industries wins safety honor
The labor news of late has been grim for the carpet industry in Dalton, Ga., which has already announced plans this month to trim more than 600 jobs. But Dalton's biggest employer, Shaw Industries, did achieve a top honor last week from the Georgia Department of Labor.
Shaw was recognized with the Commissioner's Cup Award for its workplace safety. Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the annual honor was given to Shaw based upon its success in mastering a behavior-based safety plan, which includes participation by 17,000 employees in Georgia.
The program is credited with a 63 percent reduction in recordable injuries. Last year, Shaw had 18 work sites with no injuries and two that completed more than 1 million work-hours with no accidents.
Is Green energy also patriotic?
Tennessee state Sen. Andy Berke hosted a clean-energy forum Friday to highlight what he said is Tennessee's leading role in developing new and greener energy sources.
"Clean energy is a growth market for us, and we need to make sure we're training Tennesseans for those jobs," he said.
With businesses investing more in ways to conserve or generate greener energy in the Tennessee Valley, Berke said, alternative energy sources to burning gasoline help America become more energy independent.
"Every time I fill up my gas tank, I feel a little less patriotic," Berke said. "I've got to find ways to enhance my patriotism and make sure I participate in the clean energy economy."
Atlanta Fed chief urges independence
The Federal Reserve Board is under attack for its recent monetary actions from both ends of the political spectrum.
Liberals organized around Occupy Wall Street accuse the Fed of bailing out banks at the expense of the middle class, while Republican presidential candidates want Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke replaced for adopting a monetary policy they say risks a resurgence of inflation.
During an address to the CFA Society of East Tennessee last week in Chattanooga, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said he understands the heightened frustration during tough economic times and said the Fed is trying to be more transparent about its actions.
"But the formulation of monetary policy should not be subject to the swings of short-term influence or swings of political sentiment," he said. "It's terribly important that the Fed be able to operate independently and that the public generally believes that that is how the country is run as well."
Lockhart said congressional interference could undermine the independence of the central bank which, he said, "is a core principle of running a country well."
"It would not be good for the country to have short-term politics dictate decisions on monetary policy and I think you would see world capital markets react very negatively if that were to happen," he said.
Congress could direct the Fed to abandon its dual goals of price stability and economic growth to return to its original focus strictly on fighting inflation. Lockhart said he opposes such a move.
But with inflation running within the Fed's target of 2 percent but unemployment still "unacceptably too high" at 9.1 percent, he concedes the Fed isn't meeting the dual mandate now anyway.