Dave Flessner is the business editor for the Times Free Press. A journalist for 35 years, Dave has been business editor and projects editor for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, city editor for The Chattanooga Times, business and county reporter for the Chattanooga Times, correspondent for the Lansing State Journal and Ingham County News in Michigan, staff writer for the Hastings Daily Tribune in Nebraska, and news director for WCBN-FM in Michigan. Dave, a native of Lansing, Mich., joined the Times Free Press in 1999 after working for 19 years at The Chattanooga Times. He covers energy, business and special projects, including the Tennessee Valley Authority. Dave has previously covered police, county government, politics and education. A 1979 graduate of the University of Michigan, Dave also studied economics at Michigan State University's Graduate School of Business. He has won more than a dozen journalism awards for business, breaking and investigatory reporting, including first place honors for education coverage in 2007 from the Tennessee Press Association, investigative reporting in 2006 and project reporting in 2005 from the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists, deadlline reporting in 2002 from the Georgia Associated Press Association, and health care reporting in 2001 from the Tennessee Hospital Association. Contact Dave at 423-757-6340 or dflessner@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on twitter at twitter.com/chattreporter.
A Florida-based restaurant chain famous for its chicken tender meals is moving into Southeast Tennessee with plans to open five restaurants in Chattanooga, Cleveland and Charleston, Tennessee over the next three to four years.
by Dave FlessnerAlthough Gov. Bill Lee has not imposed a state mask mandate for all of Tennessee, Chattanooga-area business groups are supporting Hamilton County's requirement that all persons wear masks in public spaces until at least early October.
by Dave FlessnerA half century after splitting with Georgia Power and joining the Tennessee Valley Authority, the city of Chickamauga has become the latest local power company to sign a long-term agreement to buy most of its electricity from TVA.
by Dave FlessnerThe number of unemployed workers filing initial claims remained elevated last week even as federal supplements paid to many jobless Tennesseans began to expire.
by Dave FlessnerSewer rates for more than 30,000 homes and businesses outside of Chattanooga in Hamilton County will go up 12% next month to pay for ongoing sewer upgrades needed to meet federal water pollution standards.
by Dave FlessnerAfter suspending any service disconnections for unpaid bills amid the coronavirus pandemic over the past six months, Chattanooga utilities are planning to soon resume cutoffs for electricity, gas and water for those not paying their bills on time.
by Dave FlessnerDespite the economic downturn triggered by the coronavirus, Tennessee business leaders expect the state's economy to improve more quickly than the U.S. as a whole over the next year, according to a new survey of 1,000 business leaders across the state.
by Dave FlessnerMore than a week after a category 4 storm roared ashore in southwest Louisiana, hundreds of relief workers from Tennessee and neighboring states are still working to restore power, rebuild wind-damaged homes and businesses, and aid the storm victims in the path of Hurricane Laura.
by Dave FlessnerA Nashville investor has purchased the home of one of Chattanooga's biggest accounting firms, but the sale will not change the location or growth of the company, officials said Friday.
by Dave FlessnerPresident Donald Trump's payroll tax holiday could provide a temporary wage boost for workers this fall, but most employers are declining to suspend the employees' share of the Social Security tax during the final four months of the year over uncertainties about repaying the money next year.
by Dave FlessnerAs Tennessee began paying federal Lost Wages Assistance to boost jobless benefits for unemployed Tennesseans, initial claims from recently laid-off workers rose in the Volunteer State last week despite a nationwide drop in new jobless claims.
by Associated Press and Dave FlessnerFor the second year in a row, three health insurers offering individual health plans under the Affordable Care Act in Tennessee are planning to cut their premiums next year as the competition among insurers grows with the return of the nation's biggest health insurer into the Tennessee health exchange market.
by Dave FlessnerDespite the economic slowdown triggered by the coronavirus, Hamilton County has maintained its top financial rating among all of Tennessee's 95 counties.
by Dave FlessnerMemphis may be able to get cheaper wholesale electricity if it splits from the Tennessee Valley Authority, but major bond rating agencies warn that Memphis' bond rating could be negatively impacted if Memphis Light Gas & Water leaves TVA and has to borrow more money to build its own transmission and generation assets.
by Dave FlessnerIn its biggest investment yet in the Chattanooga market, a Knoxville-based real estate developer and management firm has acquired the Standifer Place Apartments on Jenkins Road for $35 million, and is rebranding the 22-year-old complex as the Scenic Ridge Apartments.
by Dave FlessnerA list of the largest hospitals in the Chattanooga region.
by Dave FlessnerAs the oldest of five siblings in a relatively poor family in Idaho, Rae Bond learned early about the challenges of health care and its costs when her father had a heart attack when Bond was 11 years old.
by Dave FlessnerChattanooga gas prices jumped last week by the steepest weekly rise so far this year due to the storm-related closure of Gulf Coast refineries and anticipated demand from the Labor Day holiday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 170 local service stations released Monday.
by Dave FlessnerWhen he created the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933 to harness the power of the Tennessee River, Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted the federal agency to be a benchmark for other utilities by offering cheap and abundant electricity.
by Dave FlessnerGrowing up in East Brainerd and attending McCallie School, Michael Mathis developed a love for math, sports and other people.
by Dave Flessner