Bob Gary is a Kentucky native who moved to Chattanooga with his family in 1969. He's a graduate of Hixson High School and Middle Tennessee State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism and wrote sports for the student newspaper. Bob stayed in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, after graduating from MTSU and began his career doing radio play-by-play on high-school sports and Southern League baseball as well as daily sportscasting. He returned to print and Chattanooga in 1984, when he joined the sports staff of the Chattanooga Free Press. When the Free Press merged with the Chattanooga Times at the beginning of 1999, Bob shifted to news coverage. Some of his early assignments included coverage of Chattanooga City Hall and the 2002 U.S. Senate election, in which former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander defeated U.S. Rep. Bob Clement. Bob later joined the Times Free Press business-news staff, where he worked alongside John Vass, Dave Flessner and Mike Pare. Bob left the newspaper at the end of 2006 and spent 13 years as magazine editor at the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association. He returned to the Times Free Press in early 2020 as a contributor and rejoined the staff on a part-time basis in May 2022. He can be reached at bgary@timesfreepress.com and 423.718.5889.
Llew Boyd made a rookie mistake when he got into the hemp farming business in 2018.
by Bob GaryElisha Millan is a self-described "goody-two-shoes."
by Bob GaryChattanoogan Kelly Brock recalls starting a business in 2017 with her sister-in-law, Betsy Scanlan, and David Nicholson with between $1 million and $2 million in seed money.
by Bob Gary* Year established: 1986
by Bob Gary* Year established: 1994
by Bob Gary* Year established: 1986 (as Chattanooga CARES); name changed 2019
by Bob GaryIn a nation of consumers plagued by supply shortages for a wide array of goods and inflation at 40-year highs, Judy Ann Wilson is cutting it close to keep her salon stocked.
by Bob GaryHer business may have a whimsical name, but it was inspired by a deadly serious choice Stacy Martin made in 2019. Martin launched Seahorse Snacks after having her stomach removed to dodge the high probability she would develop a fatal cancer.
by Bob GaryIn March of 2020, Mary Hughes and her husband, Hunter, were ready to close on the purchase of five Great Clips hair shops to add to their portfolio of 29 salons.
by Bob GaryHayden Data was incorporated in 2020, but the idea for Chattanooga-based company began on the other side of the world 13 years ago, with a massive, devastating fire in Australia.
by Bob GaryJason Jones started selling insurance online in April 2020, not because he wanted to, but because he was a restaurateur in the early days of the pandemic.
by Bob GaryOne of the nation's preeminent educators and authors told a Chattanooga audience Friday that love is key to restoring civility to American public discourse.
by Bob GaryJames Story had something very specific in mind when he helped launch Wellview in 2013.
by Bob GaryBusinesses everywhere are having pandemic-driven supply-chain issues, but probably not quite like the recent hiccup for Chattanooga-based Precision Machining Services.
by Bob GaryFrank Hughes has set a pretty high bar for himself and the leadership team at Chattanooga's Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center.
by Bob GaryFour days before Christmas, Kali Lewis already knows she's getting what she most wants.
by Bob GaryEven an Olympic gold medalist can run into hard times.
by Bob GaryIn 2014, Jamie and Cody Wallis found themselves with an apartment full of custom-made cycling gloves and a decision to make about selling them.
by Bob GaryKristi Orick had finally reached the point at which her best just didn't quite get the job done.
by Bob GaryWhen the coronavirus pandemic forced many workers to turn out their office lights and go home 21 months ago, Syssero's workforce was already there.
by Bob Gary