Newbourne to head Covenant Solutions
Paul Newbourne, a trucking industry veteran who most recently served in senior leadership at global third-party logistics provider Armada, has been named chief operating officer at Covenant Transport Solutions, effective Monday.
Newbourne will work alongside the Chattanooga-based Covenant Transport Group in his new role, while lending his decades of institutional knowledge and know-how in freight brokering and movement.
Since Covenant Transport started its Covenant Transport Solutions subsidiary in 2006, the business has grown into a logistics provider for a variety of customers in truckload and less-than-truckload shipping, as well as for partners in transportation, e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail.
“We are coming off of two straight years of record results for Solutions, and adding Paul’s leadership and expertise will continue to propel the logistics services Solutions offers,” said Joey Hogan, president of Covenant Transportation Group – holding company of a group of logistics companies, including Covenant Transport Solutions.
Newbourne previously worked for shippers and carriers like ConAgra Foods, CSX Corp., and Excel Logistics.
Tire Discounters
Tire Discounters opens 4th local store
Tire Discounters, the nation’s eighth-largest independent tire retailer, recently opened its fourth store in the Chattanooga region in Ooltewah.
Located at 6025 Mountain View Drive, the new 7,900-square-foot store includes eight service bays and will employ 15 people. Tire Discounters is celebrating its 40th anniversary and has grown to more than 100 locations across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Georgia. Earlier this year, the company reached a significant milestone when it opened its 100th store in nearby Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
“We take pride in offering the best value to every customer, and do it all with a smile,” said Jamie Ward, Tire Discounters’ president
Janet Roach is the general manager of the new store.
“The reason I chose to come and work for Tire Discounters was their total commitment to making the customer come firs,” she said. “I was born in Fort Oglethorpe and raised in the Chattanooga area, and I want customers for life.”
TVA closes road for dam safety check
The Tennessee Valley Authority will be conducting routine dam safety checks at the Raccoon Mountain reservoir, beginning Monday, and will close a section of Laurel Point Road during the day through Oct. 7 to ensure the safety of the public.
The closure will also restrict access to the Laurel Point parking area, but the main visitor center will remain open during its normal business hours.
Dam safety checks are part of TVA’s routine inspection of its dams and earthen embankments. Those visiting the Raccoon Mountain reservoir area each weekend during the project may see ongoing work, including core drilling operations.
Americans net worth rises 1.2 percent as housing recovers
The Fed’s quarterly report on household wealth showed that Americans’ net worth climbed 1.2 percent during the April-June quarter, to $89.1 trillion.
Stock and mutual fund portfolios increased 2.3 percent to $21.2 trillion. Housing wealth rose 1.9 percent to $25.6 trillion. The value of checking and savings accounts, as well as pension entitlements, also climbed. Mortgage debt rose 2.5 percent in the second quarter at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, the biggest quarterly gain in more than eight years.
Household wealth, or net worth, reflects the value of homes, stocks and other assets minus mortgages, credit card debt and other borrowing.
Sit-down chains suffer as diners want convenience
Customers have been walking away from sit-down chains as convenience and affordability take precedence.
Ruby Tuesday said this week that its CEO is resigning, and the chain forecast another quarter of lower sales as it closes locations. It’s the latest of several established restaurant players that are retrenching, changing management or scrambling to adapt as people have more food choices all around them.
Those suffering the most appear to be the ones where people sit down for waiter service and pay more.
J&J to buy eye unit for $4.3 billion
Johnson & Johnson says it is paying more than $4.3 billion in cash to buy the eye health unit of Abbott Laboratories to boost its vision business.
The unit, called Abbott Medical Optics, makes lasers and other equipment used for cataract surgery and laser vision correction procedures. It also makes eye drops and contact lens cleaners.
Johnson & Johnson says the purchase will enter it into the cataracts surgery market. The New Brunswick, New Jersey, company says the deal will also help its vision business, which includes Acuvue contact lenses.
House panel to probe Wells Fargo scandal
WASHINGTON – A House panel is starting an investigation of Wells Fargo amid a growing scandal over its opening of millions of unauthorized accounts.
The House Financial Services Committee on Friday announced an investigation of the allegedly illegal activity by Wells Fargo employees to meet aggressive sales goals as well as the role of federal regulators in the debacle.
California and U.S. regulators fined San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. a combined $185 million last Thursday. The bank says it has refunded to customers $2.6 million in fees charged for products that were sold without authorization.
Consumer prices ticked up 0.2 percent in August
U.S. consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent in August as a surge in medical care offset flat readings for food and energy.
Core inflation, which excludes the volatile categories of food and energy, rose 0.3 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. It was the biggest monthly increase since February. The climb in core inflation was led by a record jump in drug prices and the biggest rise in doctor and hospital charges in a quarter-century.