Tag: Chamber of Commerce

This feature is a question-and-answer session with a new Blount County Chamber member. So, here we go with our 218th installment visiting with Francis O’Hara, Owner/Operator of Big Orange Vending which works with businesses and schools to place vending machines stocked with healthier food options right where they are needed. The machines are 100% free to the business or school and are stocked regularly by myself to ensure the freshest options are always available.

Tell me more about this venture. I am in Healthy Vending to provide Better for You choices that are quick and convenient wherever you are. Healthier foods fuel our bodies in a more sustainable way that help to increase focus and productivity as well as create a healthier school or workplace culture. Customized options and promotions are also available to create a winning solution for everyone.

How did you get started? Vending was something that had always caught my eye. I loved the convenience of getting snacks when I wanted them and a cold drink without having to worry about bringing it myself. One thing that I always saw as an opportunity was the lack of diversity in the snacks offered. They were always Coke or Pepsi and Frito Lays and candy bars. That is why Healthy Vending caught my attention because it provided a focus on better for you products and as a hiker this was the type of food I know that can fuel someone to success,

What is your background? I have been working in the hospitality industry for my entire life starting with restaurants and hotels. Most recently I transitioned to management consulting with a focus on providing clients with plans for healthier campuses of the future. Things like making sure good food was available near employees and students as well as designing campus layouts to promote walkability and community interaction. After hiking the Appalachian Trail twice, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail I wanted to find a way I could still be engaged in this type of work but have the flexibility to explore the outdoors, especially here in East Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Describe your customers? Anyone! I primarily work directly with businesses to place the machines initially but really anyone that can walk up to the machine is one of my customers. This may be the team at an office or a manufacturing building to students at a local high school.

What impacts your business environment? It is a known trend that people are looking for convenient healthier options to eat every day and at an appropriate price point. This has been helping drive the growth in healthier for you vending. A lot of the products that I can offer are also sustainable and don’t contain harmful additives or GMOs that many people try to avoid every day. The machines are designed to be accessible to everyone and can be programmed to save energy during the night or periods that they are not accessible. Of course pricing is subject to the realities of the larger supply market, inflation, and the sales taxes that are imposed by local government.

What do you enjoy most about this business? Getting to set my own schedule and provide people with products that I truly believe will be a benefit to them and hopefully help them live longer healthier lives.

This feature is a question-and-answer session with a new Blount County Chamber member. So, here we go with our 217th installment visiting with Leslie McInturff, an administrator with MorningView Village Senior Living community which has been serving Blount County for more than 20 years by offering independent living for those looking to downsize and assisted living for seniors looking for independence.

Tell me more about MorningView. MorningView Village offers maintenance-free living with no long-term lease in a setting that offers 24/7 onsite emergency assistance as well as a memory care setting for those needing a more structured and supportive assisted living environment.

What is your role and what have you learned working in this field? I started as a recreational therapist and worked up to an administrator position. I’ve learned to slow down, you can only do so many things at once. Things that you’ve worried so much about usually work themselves out and finally, be kind.

What do you enjoy most about where you work? I enjoy meeting senior citizens and hearing their stories. They have lived some of the most amazing lives…surviving in the ocean for days when their ship was bombed, winning their states beauty pageant and the grand prize was a plane ride! They’re some of the toughest people I’ve met.

Click to view the online version of the Blount Partnership weekly newsletter for September 23, 2024.

This feature is a question-and-answer session with a new Blount County Chamber member. So, here we go with our 216th installment visiting with CEO & Co-Founder of Forecastle Financial Sara Hobbs whose passion is financial literacy and she provides a service that is very much anchored in her desire to help her clients be good financial stewards.

Describe your business: Our focus is to help clients preserve their wealth, save time and be empowered to make informed and intentional financial decisions with confidence. We accomplish that by offering consistent, accurate and in-depth personal cash flow management solutions. A partnership with Forecastle Financial creates visibility in our clients’ numbers and enables them to reclaim their time and pursue their passions.

How did you begin? At the time my company was founded, I was a commercial lender at a local credit union. I had more than twenty years’ experience in banking and had no intention of leaving. I enjoyed helping business owners solve problems, create efficiencies in their businesses and realize their growth plans. I was more than content in my career. But, in July 2021, something sparked in me, and that spark grew to an all-consuming fire. I knew it was time for me to take my skills and expertise elsewhere, and the forerunner to Forecastle Financial was born.

What is your background? My banking background was diverse but consistently centered on helping customers make wise financial decisions. For fourteen years, I served in various branch banking roles, each role allowing me an opportunity to help individuals, families and small businesses with their banking and borrowing needs. I spent the last seven years as a commercial lender, assisting business owners acquire capital to grow their business operations. During my lengthy banking career, I gained the expertise I need to help simplify complex financials for my clients, replacing mystery and uncertainty with clarity in their numbers.

Describe your customers: My clients are serial entrepreneurs, business owners and affluent households with complicated personal financials that have a lot of moving parts. They have multiple revenue streams, significant expenses, several properties and household staff. Their personal cash flow is like a 1,000 piece puzzle, a jumbled picture that becomes clear when all the pieces are in place. None of them have the time to sit down and put together a 1,000 piece puzzle, so they call on me for help.

Maryville, Tenn. – On a late summer’s eve, an eager crowd gathered to enjoy some of the best food in Blount County as a record 32 area restaurants, food trucks and caterers participated in the 22nd annual Taste of Blount hosted by the Blount Partnership at the Theater in the Park in Maryville, Tenn.

The crowd was treated with the appearance of celebrity chef Christian Gill  who has parlayed his success in the restaurant business into becoming one of the fiercest competitors on Food Network. He’s beaten Bobby Flay, taken top prize on Guy’s Grocery Summer Games and been crowned champion on Giada’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge.

“Community events like this, along with the support of local sponsors, are essential to showing the vibrancy of this area,” said Blount Partnership President Bryan Daniels. “The friendly competition among the vendors is great and Taste of Blount shows off the wide variety of places we have to eat here.”

Attendees voted for winners in seven categories while culinary experts handed out the Culinary Excellence Awards.

Taking home top honors in the People’s Choice division for best sandwich for the sixth consecutive year was REO Cheesewagon. Doubling up for best beverage and presentation was Sugar Mama Cotton Candy Co. and Single Barrel Events. The Abbey took home the best main course award while Between the Slices won best dessert for the second straight year. Pellissippi State Culinary Institute won best overall for the second straight year.

The Culinary Excellence Awards were judged by six culinary experts – celebrity chef Christian Gill, Kaysey Sanford, Sherri McCall, Ed Mitchell, and Mandee & Eric McNew – who put their professional taste buds to the test and anointed winners in five categories. Vendors were asked to submit one food item for the judges to determine which topped their chart.

Winning best sandwich for the second straight year was Waterfront Bar & Grill. A&R Texas BBQ won for top appetizer and newcomer Yassin’s Falafel House took the honor for best main course. Between the Slices won best dessert and for the second consecutive year, Sugar Mama Cotton Candy Co. and Single Barrel Events took home the best beverage award.

The event was sponsored by HDI, UT Federal Credit Union, Nemec Abbott Foundation, Sunbelt Rentals, ICC International, Tennessee Orthodontic Studios, Hilton, Harvest Thyme, Simmons Bank, Newell Brands, CBBC Bank, Vulcan Materials, RT Lodge, Peaceful Side Brewery, Senior Care Partners of East Tennessee, Coca-Cola and Green Meadow Wine & Spirits.

2024 Taste of Blount People’s Choice Winners

Best Appetizer: Blackhorse Pub and Brewery

Best Sandwich: REO Cheesewagon

Best Beverage: Sugar Mama Cotton Candy Co. and Single Barrel Events

Best Main Course: The Abbey

Best Dessert: Between the Slices

Best Presentation: Sugar Mama Cotton Candy Co. and Single Barrel Events

Best Overall: Pellissippi State Culinary Institute

2024 Taste of Blount Culinary Excellence Award Winners

Best Appetizer: A&R Texas BBQ

Best Sandwich: Waterfront Bar & Grill

Best Beverage: Sugar Mama Cotton Candy Co. and Single Barrel Events

Best Main Course: Yassin’s Falafel House

Best Dessert: Between the Slices

Click to view the online version of the Blount Partnership weekly newsletter for September 9, 2024.

Click to view the online version of the Blount Partnership weekly newsletter for September 2, 2024.

Click to view the online version of the Blount Partnership weekly newsletter for August 26, 2024.