Not everyone can work from home, and the Times Free Press is recognizing the essential workers who are on the job every day. From grocery stores and fire stations to construction sites and hospitals, our friends and neighbors are making sure the work gets done.

Court has long been a place where people show up, stand up, and work out whatever's at issue in front of a judge or jury. From lawyers and their clients to court clerks and court reporters, it has always been all about being there.

Canceled events, deals months in the making that won't get done, down payments that people want back. The pandemic has snarled business and legal issues in novel ways that make the usual precedents all but useless.

When Gary Behler took over as Hamilton County Juvenile Court Clerk in 2011, his clerks didn't have email and meticulously entered court filings and schedules by hand in large ledger books and files that filled shelves from floor to ceiling in several county buildings.

Their business brought people together to celebrate the art and pleasure of cooking in a shared space where they prepared meals with the help of a professional chef.

Put her there, pal! Give me some skin!

In late January, just weeks after China first acknowledged the growing presence of the coronavirus, J.D. Hickey urged the senior staff at Tennessee's biggest health insurer to begin thinking about how to prepare for a possible pandemic should the virus expand to the United States.

The Tennessee Aquarium turned 28 years old on Friday, May 1, the start of a beautiful weekend in downtown Chattanooga — warm, sunny, breezy. And eerily, utterly empty.

The director of downtown Chattanooga's new Business Improvement District brings experience in such initiatives from Boston, Baltimore, and Santa Monica, California.

This list of the Best Places to Work in Chattanooga was months in the making and came together during two distinct eras: BC-19 (before COVID-19) and AC-19 (after COVID-19). But while this list and these profiles of extraordinary employers were assembled under two distinct realities, the central theme still holds.

Reliance Partners, one of the nation's fastest-growing commercial insurance agencies focused on transportation and logistics, credits its "rock star team" for its ability to grow so quickly.

The teams at Tennessee American Water Company are always aware of the essential nature of their work, but this is a particularly urgent time for the company's mission, says Darlene Williams, president of the company.

The Steam Logistics leadership team had just rolled out a new work-from-home policy, testing the concept at the company, when coronavirus fears all but emptied the office.

The Warren & Griffin law firm makes a keen point that it's "100% Chattanooga based."

In the final weeks before the usual April 15 tax deadline, the top floor offices of the Tallan Office building are usually bustling with Mauldin & Jenkins accountants working long hours to finalize tax returns.

At a time when face-to-face communication has become a rarity in nearly every business, the mission of Text Request has never felt more urgent.

Mitch Patel, the founder and CEO of Vision Hospitality, has seen his share of storms.

Every Friday, Matt Hullander sends a short, informal video to his entire team, calling out successes, updating them on the highlights of the past week, and offering glimpses of what's coming next. On a Friday in late March, as the coronavirus crisis grew, that message had a new tone.

Culture is the key in companies with sustained success, says BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's chief executive.

With 18 offices, the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union (TVFCU) has more branch locations than any credit union in Southeast Tennessee and prides itself on personal service delivered across its 13-county footprint.

Pinnacle Financial Partners is the youngest of Tennessee's biggest banks, but you wouldn't know it by talking with most of its bankers.

Technology launched by an entrepreneurial mental health provider in Chattanooga is making it easier for therapists to become licensed and for people in need to access their services.

In Tennessee, where 13 hospitals have closed in the last decade (the second most of any state), public transportation is limited, chronic disease and poverty rates are high and physicians are in short supply, technology may be a person's best chance of receiving needed care. Neighboring Georgia and Alabama face similar challenges.