Black expo Saturday at Hamilton Place
Hamilton Place is hosting a Black-owned business expo featuring more than 30 vendors Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“This is an excellent opportunity for the Chattanooga community to shop and support local, Black-owned small businesses from Chattanooga and the surrounding area,” the Chattanooga-based mall developer CBL Properties said in an announcement of the all-day expo.
Merchants will offer a wide array of products, including skincare, clothing and accessories, candles and soaps, candy and more.
Additionally, in partnership with RISE Chattanooga, there will be a musical performance by Jermaine Purifory, the “American Idol” Season 9 contestant and longtime member of Lee University’s nationally known acapella group, Voices of Lee. Purifory will take the Center Stage at the mall at 1 p.m.
Vendors will be positioned throughout the lower level of the mall and will include The Adventures in Moneyland (children’s books), Barber Kings Originals (skincare), Callie’s Avenue (mother and baby clothing), Chattanooga Festival of Black Arts & Idea (nonprofit cultural events), Cocoa Asante (food), The Cupcake Club & More, Daddy What You Cooking (cookbook), Desjanay (skincare), Divine Purity (candles and skincare), Jewelz by TraciLynn (fashion accessories), Lipz and Lidz Cosmetics, Melanie Settles Premier Group (real estate), New. Old. Soul (fashion accessories), Pan-Cake Bakery, Paparazzi by Love, Peace & Bling (fashion accessories), Penny’s Lemonade ReBelle Boutique (women’s clothing), Shop Erica Renee (women’s clothing), Simply Props (event planning), Skin Kizzed (skincare), Soul Shower Soap, Sweet Nova Candle Company and The Chattcuterie Chic (food).
Erlanger opens blood platelet donation center
Erlanger Baroness Hospital has partnered with local blood supplier Blood Assurance to open a blood platelet donation center inside the hospital.
Erlanger Health System Chief Operating Officer, Robert J. Maloney Jr. was the first to donate at the new site. Maloney said in statement, “I’m pleased to continue contributing to this life-saving measure through whole-blood and platelet donations. Erlanger has a 130-year history of caring for our community, and this is just another manifestation of that mission. Our community has routinely shown up in droves for those in need during mass casualty incidents, and now we need their help again. During [COVID-19], blood donations have dropped, but the need has only increased. I encourage those who can to help by donating blood today.”
Platelets are needed by patients who experience trauma, bleeding during surgery, patients with aplastic anemia, transplant recipients, patients with leukemia and patients receiving treatment for cancer. People with certain blood disorders may not be able to produce healthy platelets of their own. While chemotherapy kills cancer cells, it also destroys platelets. Platelet donations provide the components many patients depend on for their recovery. Platelet donors can give every seven days up to 24 times per year. A platelet donation is a type of blood donation where the donor gives only a certain blood component instead of whole blood.
The donation center is open Tuesdays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and is on the first floor of Erlanger Baroness Hospital just past the M elevators. To schedule an appointment, visit bloodassurance.org/erlanger-platelets.
Contributed photo by Erlanger Health System / Erlanger Chief Operating Officer Robert Maloney, donates blood platelets at the new blood platelet donation center in Erlanger Baroness Hospital.Millennial buyers make up bigger share in Chattanooga
The share of millennial homebuyers fell nationwide during the first year of the pandemic to less than 30% of all homebuyers, according to a new report from Construction Coverage. But millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) still comprised 31.1% of home purchase loans in Chattanooga in 2020, or 1.4 percentage points above the U.S. average of 29.7%.
Among 96 mid-sized metropolitan cities, Chattanooga ranked 32nd in the share of home purchase loans obtained by millennials in 2020. The comparison is based upon data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.
Jonathan Jones of Construction Coverage said in a statement higher home prices have priced many first-time homebuyers and millennials out of the market.
“Historically low-interest rates, higher family savings and newfound work-from-home opportunities driven by pandemic-related restrictions have combined to stimulate housing demand that raised the median price of existing single-family homes by 39% from 2018 to 2021,” Jones said. “This boom impacted all ages of homebuyers, and was particularly pronounced on millennials, who are now in their prime homebuying years.”
Game development studio to add 108 Tennessee jobs
Iron Galaxy Studios LLC plans to establish a new video game development studio in Nashville.
As part of the company’s $950,00 expansion in Davidson County, Iron Galaxy will create 108 new tech jobs over the next five years.
The Nashville game development studio is the company’s third in the country. Founded in 2008, Iron Galaxy is the second-largest independent video game developer in America with more than 65 shipped titles, over 10 platforms and approximately 20 partners. Today, the company employs more than 250 people across its two offices in Chicago and Orlando.
“We have grown rapidly over the past year as we support partners and in preparation for the launch of Rumbleverse,” Chelsea Blasko, co-CEO for Iron Galaxy Studios, said in an announcement of the Nashville studio. “I couldn’t think of a better city to further expand our footprint.”
– Compiled by Dave Flessner