From recognition as one of seven Tennessee companies committed to LGBTQ inclusion to supporting two of Hamilton County's 28 Future Ready Institutes, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee consistently marries beneficial business practices with supporting people in our community.

With the help of Mayor Andy Berke's office, the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, a group of UTC students keeps the legacies of Ed Johnson and Styles L. Hutchins alive. Known as the Styles L. Hutchins Fellows, they've crafted a plan to retain and attract diverse talent.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has been making a difference since the 1930s when the agency began its work to tame a river and spread prosperity to one of the poorest regions in the nation.

Hosted by the Chattanooga Chamber, EXPO Chattanooga is the largest showcase of local products and services and draws hundreds of key business decision-makers and more than 2,000 attendees each year.

Passion for better, more sustainable or more transparent products and processes inspire hard-working Chattanoogans to embrace entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are scrappy, using every resource and spare minute to propel their business forward.

Digital agency Viget has announced Chattanooga and Hamilton County as the company's newest office location, with plans to eventually hire 25 local employees.

The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and a volunteer-led committee recently honored both Chattanooga Whiskey and FreightWaves as 2019 Spirit of Innovation Award recipients, the second tie in the award's nearly 20-year history.

Crisp air conjures sugar plum visions, and you're feeling festive.

Being a small business owner is difficult and rewarding. You are the CEO, the marketing department, the accountant and more. In the midst of your never ending to-do list, you need to hire employees.

Growing up, my family didn't go for beach vacations.

You probably think about Chattanooga as a city of nearly 200,000 people, but did you know that the population of our 16-county region is more than 1 million?

The Chattanooga Chamber's 2019 Aug. 20 Annual Meeting honored local companies over 100 years old (check out the full list at ChattanoogaTrend.com) and presented six awards to local organizations leading in their industries and impacting our community.

La Paz Chattanooga advocates for our city's Latinx population. Since opening more than 15 years ago, La Paz has seen our community flourish and expand with entrepreneurs and professionals who help create a vibrant, diverse business community.

August in Chattanooga means soaring temperatures, melting ice cream and an ever present sun. It's natural to long for days when the sun's glare is a welcome treat warming up icy hands in frigid December air.

Hamilton Place opened in 1987 as our state's largest mall. Some 30 years later, it's still among Tennessee's top five largest malls as a regional hub of fashion, fun and back-to-school and holiday shopping.

"You don't like sports, huh?" I comment upon meeting Jim Vaughn, East Tennessee Region President for SunTrust, in his office.

With support from dynamic organizations from across our region, the Chattanooga Chamber has attracted companies from around the globe and helped create programs to boost talent development in our region — programs like Future Ready Institutes and working with Gestamp, Chattanooga State and Hamilton County Schools to create a work-based learning program for at-risk students to work part-time at Gestamp while earning high school diplomas.

Leadership Chattanooga class members connect with our community while learning about what it means to lead. Through monthly sessions, education-related projects, police ride-alongs and more — participants graduate with a fresh understanding of our community's strengths and challenges, and how we can all be part of solutions.

Join Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce members and guests for Diversify, a half-day summit highlighting diversity, inclusion and the 21st century workplace.

Small businesses are a big deal for the local economy.

STEP-UP Chattanooga offers paid summer internships for Hamilton County high school students who face the greatest barriers to economic and career success.

This month, Trend gets to know members of the local media.

What would you do if you weren't afraid?