By JAMES CLARK I want to end the 2007 recap with the Comeback Business of the Year Award. After a fire threatened to shut down McMinnville Molding permanently, owners Rickey and Rubie Northcutt made sure that did not happen. Their persistence ‘ sometimes working 20 hours a day ‘ is responsible for getting the business…

By JAMES CLARK It’s not often a start-up local business experiences the overwhelming success of Homeland Community Bank. For those of you counting at home, you better get started now because the bank has $69 million in total assets. In November, Homeland opened its third branch in Warren County, this time targeting the Mt. Leo…

By JAMES CLARK So how long is the old Kmart space going to stay empty? Granted, recruiting retail business is no easy task but this is getting ridiculous. Folks are quick to focus on Target and Roses as potential stores, but a Target official told me five years ago there are absolutely no plans for…

By JAMES CLARK After opening a public golf course in Warren County, Dwight and Hannah O’Neal began building homes at the foot of Harrison Ferry Mountain at their development called The Reserve at Collins River. The dream of turning a nursery field into an upscale residential community is taking shape. The goal is to have…

By JAMES CLARK Here’s another game where the math just doesn’t add up. The old Aquatech building, which once provided jobs for roughly 300 people, was purchased in 2007 by Oster to use as a warehouse. This move was trumpeted by our folks from the economic development department who proudly proclaimed a vacant building had…

By JAMES CLARK It took Scott Garing several years, but it appears he’s finally found his niche with New York Grill as a dinner-only restaurant and nightspot. However, he experienced his growing pains. If you recall, the business started as Garing Country Store located just outside the Warren County line on Sparta Highway. From there,…

By JAMES CLARK What I consider a very marketable building not too far from the interstate has not been filled with an abundance of new jobs. And this is somewhat surprising. I realized it wouldn’t happen overnight, but I did think there would be several hundred jobs at the old Carrier location by now. Thermo…

By JAMES CLARK After buying McMinnville’s same-day surgery center, the owners of River Park Hospital, Capella Healthcare, entered an agreement to purchase nine new hospitals. Sure, this deal won’t create local jobs. It’s not a new factory looking to employ 225 people. But when our hospital’s parent company is going out and buying other medical…

By JAMES CLARK Despite a $5.2 million downtown facelift, the largest building on Main Street remains empty. There is still no meaningful activity at the old Fraley’s building and such dormancy impacts the entire downtown business district. A thriving business at that location could revitalize the entire downtown area. Instead, Main Street has been forced…

By Morton Kondracke Suppose Sen. Barack Obama (Illinois) wins the Democratic nomination and picks Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (Nebraska) or Independent New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as his running mate. Or suppose Sen. John McCain (Arizona) wins the GOP nomination and picks Independent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman (Connecticut) as veep. Suppose even further that, over…