National Seating buys rehab firm
National Seating & Mobility, a Nashville- based provider of customized wheelchairs and other rehabilitation equipment, has purchased Professional Rehab & Mobility to expand statewide with branches in Chattanooga, Knoxville and Kingsport, Tenn.
"Tennessee is home to both our corporate headquarters in Franklin, and our operations center in Chattanooga, making this acquisition particularly special to NSM," said Bill Mixon, CEO of National Seating & Mobility which converted the new branches on Monday.
Seven assistive technology professionals, and two rehab technology suppliers will stay on to serve clients from branch locations in the Tennessee branch locations.
Professional Respiratory and Rehab was started in Cleveland, Tenn., in 2003 by Theresa Crump and Vickie Jarrell, who are no longer with the company.
NSM began in 1992 and has grown to a nationwide network of 123 branches in 43 states.
REI store opening brings donation
Outdoor co-op REI, which will officially open its Chattanooga store on May 18, is donating $40,000 to four nonprofits.
The groups are the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy, Wild Trails, Lookout Mountain Conservancy and Southeastern Climbers Coalition.
In 2017, REI donated $57,000 to the local outdoor community in Tennessee, including a $12,000 grant to Girls Inc. of Chattanooga through its Force of Nature fund.
The 25,000-square-foot store at 2507 Lifestyle Way will offer an assortment of gear and expertise, as well as a full-service bike shop.
"Chattanooga is a hub for recreation in the southeastern United States, and we are working hard to make sure we show up for this community in a big way," said Jacki Harp, REI Chattanooga store manager.
Tesla's Musk defends his comments
Tesla CEO Elon Musk was on the defensive Friday in a series of tweets, saying the people he shut down during a contentious conference call were analysts who believe investors could profit by betting the company's stock price will fall.
Musk came under scrutiny after the conference call to discuss Tesla's quarterly earnings Wednesday went awry. Musk was criticized for cutting off two analysts who asked about the electric vehicle and solar panel company's cash needs and orders for its Model 3. Musk called the questions "dry" and "not cool," but later said there was more to his complaints than boredom.
On Twitter he said the questions came from "analysts who represent a short seller thesis, not investors." That is, he felt the analysts who questioned him were either betting against Tesla's stock, a claim he didn't present evidence for, or only were thinking about the short term while other investors want Tesla to succeed.
Musk, who owns nearly 20 percent of Tesla, also told his 21.6 million Twitter followers that investors bet against Tesla more than any other company, and he vowed to prove them wrong.