Paul Ollis addressed the Union County Business & Professional Association regarding the East Tennessee Military Affairs Council at the May meeting. The council was formed as a nonprofit by the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce to facilitate and coordinate information about services and resources for veterans in the East Tennessee region. The council meets on the first Thursday of each month at 8:30 at the Knoxville Chamber on Market Square. The council offers information from over 50 area organizations that help military families and veterans.

Mayor Jason Bailey enumerated a multitude of projects that are in progress in Union County when he addressed the UC Business & Professional Association in February at the Maynardville City Hall.

Daniel Monday, from Slamdot, addressed the Union County Business & Professional Association on the topic of “Building Your Brand” at the regular September meeting last month. Monday related that the most important aspects of branding a business is reflecting your mission and core values to the target audience. A business needs to choose a strong brand including a logo with color tones that reflect the core values. Repetition and consistency are also key to building the brand.

Union County Business & Professional Association will host the 2024 Scholarship Benefit Golf Classic on Saturday, June 15, at Three Ridges Golf Course, 6101 Wise Springs Road, Knoxville. Tee time is 1 p.m.

Golfers can enjoy a complimentary lunch by Lil Jo's BBQ. The entry fee is $100 per player and there are four golfers to a team. At least one Closest to the Pin and one Longest Drive will be awarded along with door prizes. Team awards are 1st place $500, 2nd place $300, and 3rd place $100.

The Union County Business & Professional Association awarded a total of 10 scholarships for 2024. UCBPA annually awards the Tracy Jeffreys Memorial Academic Scholarship to honor extensive commitment to educational achievement, mentoring of youth and professional ethics, as well as the tremendous amount of service that Marvin and Doris Jeffreys have given to Union County. The scholarship also memorializes Tracy, their deceased daughter.

Union County Mayor Jason Bailey addressed the Union County Business & Professional Association on February 13, at the First Bank Conference Room. He shared information on the more than $20M in active grants that his office has secured mostly in the past three years.
He also noted that his office will be applying for over $2.2M more in grants this year. Part of the grants were gifts from the federal or state government. The majority of the other grants have no local tax money needed to match the grant.

Commissioner Sidney Jessee, Jr., who is chairman of the Union County Jail Committee, spoke to Union County Business & Professional Association at its January meeting on the locations for the new jail and the pros and cons of each location. Locating the jail on the existing middle school football field would possibly cost less.
But citizens have voiced that commission should not take away the field, especially before the new middle school field is available. Also, using the football field would still require prisoners to be transported to the courtroom for trial.

A little over 100 UCBPA members and citizens attended the first annual Light the Night in Wilson Park on December 1. Unfortunately the lights on the Emily Link Gazebo were on for only two seconds before the ground fault interrupter shut off the power.  Martin Shafer and Bill Collins, the county maintenance supervisor, spent much of December 4 correcting the issues and adding timers purchased by Union County Business and Professional Association. Thanks to the cooperation between Union County and UCBPA, the gazebo remained lighted each evening until after the holidays.

The Union County Business & Professional Association named Scott Inklebarger and Tonya Atkins, the Union County Man and Woman of 2023 at its 33rd annual banquet on Friday, November 3. Inklebarger is the manager of Food City and Ms. Atkins is the owner of A&B Bookkeeping. Both were chosen based on their outstanding and continuous community service along with their quality business practices.

Union County Business & Professional Association has enjoyed a variety of speakers at its meetings this spring and summer.
In August, Sharon Hudson, Executive Director of the American Red Cross of East Tennessee, shared the mission and services of the nonprofit. Hudson stated that besides disaster relief, the Red Cross operates an international blood bank that specializes in the storage of rare blood. She noted that the bank has been used in not only recent tornadoes and storms but also in Ukraine.