Monday, December 14th

The Cleveland Daily Banner- The Massachusetts developer and manufacturer of a special fleece fabric used in popular outdoors and military winter clothing said Friday that it would close its original factory in Lawrence, MA, and move about 200 jobs to Cleveland, TN. Polartec LLC, formerly known as Malden Mills, purchased the Cleveland-based United Knitting L.P. in late September, and said shortly thereafter that it would be moving some production and equipment here. The Times Free Press- CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A suite of changes for Cleveland’s personnel policies, with special attention to disciplinary matters, is scheduled for a Monday vote by the Cleveland City Council. A key decision to be made Monday will be whether personnel policies will give employees a means to appeal disciplinary actions. One proposed personnel revision calls for the city to continue using a third-party attorney, rather than the city manager, for disciplinary appeals. The council adopted that policy in September. Several current and former employees challenging discipline or termination in court have called the former appeals process improper and a violation of their rights. A recent Chancery Court ruling in a case involving former firefighter Josh Keller essentially stated that the city manager cannot serve both as disciplinarian and hearing officer in a disciplinary appeal. The other proposed appeals-related option calls for eliminating employee appeals altogether. We will keep you updated as more information is released. The Cleveland Daily Banner reports- The Cleveland Bradley Business Incubator has just been given a $25,000 grant. The grant, which was awarded by the George R. Johnson Family Foundation, gave the incubator the last bit of funding needed to pay off one of its buildings. The CBBI is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located on the campus of Cleveland State Community College. It allows small business owners to rent office or industrial space in one of two buildings, taking advantage of support from other business owners and resources like office equipment and Internet service until they are able to “graduate” and make it on their own. Since the incubator opened in July of 2000, it has has 170 business startups, helping create approximately 600 jobs in the process. The incubator also boasts an 86 percent success rate of businesses being able to survive for five years or more. The Times Free Press- When Jordan Smith shows off his impressive vocal range in tonight’s championship round of “The Voice,” it will also be a high note for Lee University. With Smith’s performance, Lee becomes the first university in the nation to land students in the championship rounds of both “American Idol” and “The Voice” — much less in the same year. Clark Beckham was the runner-up in May’s finale of “American Idol,” and Smith is a finalist, and considered the front runner, to win the Season 9 title of “The Voice” on Tuesday night. “We’re a small, Christian liberal arts school in Southeast Tennessee. Schools like Juilliard and Berklee (College of Music) aren’t in the mix,” said Darren Echols, Lee University director of admissions. “It’s crazy for a school like Lee to be so prominent in these national competitions.” “It’s definitely a branding, free publicity on a national level for us. It’s a natural way to get Lee’s name out to the public in a way we typically wouldn’t be able to at the national level,” he said. Lee university has about 5,000 students, is becoming something of a TV talent show factory with the number of successful contestants it has produced from its music department. Phil Stacey placed sixth on Season 6 of “American Idol” in 2007, and the Voices of Lee a cappella ensemble finished third on NBC’s “The Sing Off” in 2009. Candace Whittington, a Voices of Lee alumna, made a second appearance in “The Sing Off” two years later as part of an all-female octet called Delilah.