“Our merging firms own two very nice but very different offices,” said Red Chair Architects CEO David Cockrill. “Last month, with our merger launch approaching and needing to establish an address, we initially opted for the Pellissippi Parkway location at 10651 Coward Mill Road. This property was much larger, centrally located from a regional perspective and with parking at the front door.”

According to Cockrill, this decision was intended as an interim location with a near-term goal of returning to Downtown. The Coward Mill office is far larger than Red Chair Architects would ever need, Cockrill said, having also housed an architectural and engineering (AE) firm and general contractor for years. The firm’s strategy was to facilitate a “soft move” to the more spacious and accommodating location for the initial integration of the companies.

“With the Jan. 3 launch, we instantly had many more opinions and factors to consider,” Cockrill said. “In the buzz generated by our announcement, we received many well-wishes as well as regrets that we were leaving Downtown. We also considered that a majority of our newly merged family of employees live within and value the urban core, notwithstanding the spaciousness and convenient access of the Pellissippi location.”

After the launch, the new firm experienced a great deal of real estate “chatter” regarding the Pellissippi property and realized it was looking at the distinct possibility of moving twice within a few months, he said.

“With this fresh perspective, a goal of locating permanently downtown, wanting to avoid an unnecessary move, needing to cohabitate quickly as a new firm and the strong interest in the Coward Mill building, we reversed course and committed to our Fire Street Loft office as the new home of Red Chair Architects,” Cockrill said.

Coward Mill Property for Sale

Completed in 2001, the 10651 Coward Mill Road building is 18,900 square feet and is offered at $3.1 million. The adjacent lot is also available for $285,000. Frank Weiskopf, CCIM, at Realty Executives holds the listing, 865/983-0011; http://www.kaarcie.com/listing/14958343

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The new firm begins as one of the largest and most comprehensive design practices in the region. Both firms have been recognized for excellence in design and planning during their combined 90 years of practice throughout Middle and East Tennessee.

According to David Cockrill, former CEO of Cockrill Design & Planning and now CEO of Red Chair Architects, “Our merger has made us deeper and stronger in the talent and service we offer going forward. We currently are experiencing, I believe, a permanent change in the design profession, and we are being strategically proactive in answering that challenge.

“Don Shell and I sat down more than a year ago and began to discover that we had a lot more in common than we had differences,” Cockrill said. “Our firms shared similar cultures and values. We had complementary skill sets, markets and investments in technology, and considering we had competed head-to-head for years, we had a mutual respect for each other. We’ve become good friends through the process.”

Don Shell, former CEO of Community Tectonics and now chairman of Red Chair Architects, agreed.

“We are very excited about what we have put together and what we can accomplish together,” Shell said. “It just made good sense. Our combined experience and talent make us more competitive and efficient, which we are counting on to make us more profitable as well.”

“We immediately embraced the idea of an icon – the red chair – as a comfortable place of real distinction for our clients as we explore each one’s unique design needs,” said Cockrill. “It symbolizes our focus on the person for whom we design and plan, bringing smart, unique ideas that enrich the experience for each.”

“It’s to convey our sincere mission: ‘great design in friendship with our clients,’” Shell said.

With the merger, Red Chair Architects is well-positioned with a collective depth of award-winning experience in the education design sector while expanding the new firm’s capabilities through a shared portfolio in such areas as healthcare, civic, commercial and planning projects.

Both prior firms were particularly well-established in the pre-K-12 school design and planning market. Cockrill Design & Planning held considerable healthcare and higher education expertise while Community Tectonics held extensive religious and higher education facility design capabilities. Community Tectonics also provided in-house engineering, which will continue under Red Chair Architects. Both firms provided planning, interior and graphic design services.

Community Tectonics was a 61-year-old firm with a long history in the Middle and East Tennessee design community. Principals Don Shell and Bill Vinson, president of Red Chair Architects, began their successful careers with Community Tectonics and will continue in prominent roles with Red Chair Architects.

Cockrill Design & Planning, originally founded as King & Johnson in 1984, had a successful 10-year tenure under its ownership by David Cockrill and business partner Margaret Backhurst, who will serve as Red Chair Architects’ director of design.
Red Chair Architects owns offices in Knoxville’s downtown and on Pellissippi Parkway and will initially consolidate operations at 10651 Coward Mill Road off Pellissippi Parkway, with a near-term goal of returning to Downtown Knoxville.

www.redchairarchitects.com

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RSCI is an Oak Ridge business-education partnership working with middle school teachers in nine East Tennessee school systems to improve students’ STEM skills, based on the new statewide math and science curriculum.

“We welcome teachers, parents and business leaders to discover more about RCSI through the new website and to support this innovative program to achieve real gains in STEM learning for East Tennessee students,” said Gary Goff, president of Roane State Community College and a RCSI co-founder with Barry Stephenson of Oak Ridge-based Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc.

The nine East Tennessee school systems included in the RCSI project are the Anderson, Campbell, Loudon, Morgan, Roane and Scott County school systems and the separate school systems of Lenoir City, Oneida and Clinton.  RCSI is also supported by the East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC).

“The just-launched RCSI website aims to provide a one-stop shop for promoting math and science curricula within these nine rural school systems, and even beyond,” said Goff.

RCSI’s website – written and designed with full in-kind support by Nashville-based Locomotion Creative and Maryville, Tennessee-based Mary Beth West Consulting, LLC – links to the organization’s Facebook page and also provides a blog, media room, partnership opportunities, donor appreciation and teacher testimonials.  

Companies and individuals can participate in an Adopt-a-Classroom program to deliver “Lab-in-a-Box” kits to specific classrooms.  Tax-deductible corporate and individual donations to help fund RCSI can be made through the Roane State Foundation by calling (865) 882-4507. For more information, visit www.ruralstem.org.

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Since joining the world of public relations, I’ve come across some interesting misperceptions about the profession and its practitioners. Oftentimes, I find that those who complain about the field are more than likely the ones who understand it the least.

As the media relations coordinator for our team, I’ve met a few individuals who have thought that public relations is simply an effort to put client-related articles in newspapers, magazines and broadcast outlets.

But simply put, public relations is not the same as media relations.

Is media relations an integral component of a PR campaign or project? Absolutely, but they are not one in the same.

Public relations achieves so much more than a “one-size-fits-all” approach to communications strategies, but my top reason is this: PR builds credibility, ethics and a sense of storytelling. 

When other communications strategies can sometimes seem formulaic and routine, those of us in the PR field are constantly searching for opportunities for our clients to grow – that includes, but is not limited to, the ever-evolving media landscape.

Sure, PR has seen its share of skepticism, but overall the profession is a well-oiled machined primed to thrive and continue to evolve with the times. A reasonable amount spent on PR can not only deliver high ROI, but it can significantly boost the impact of all other marketing and communications strategies.

As a whole, PR is truly the total package.

From my experience, many people have preconceived notions about public relations (PR) and PR professionals; some may be correct, but some may be way off…

According to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” This definition describes PR in a nutshell, but there are many, many elements that go into supporting a true understanding of PR.

Some people base their opinion of PR and PR professionals on past encounters or relationships with other PR people. So, depending on what type of experience you had will dictate what you think about PR.

According to marketing.about.com, one PR myth states “Public Relations is Spin, Slogans and Propaganda.”

In a past life at a former employer, I actually would have employees ask me, “What propaganda are you communicating today?” While I’m sure this cynicism was driven by other factors, the idea of being a propaganda-pusher really offended me as I was communicating pertinent information about the company, which was important for employees to know. More importantly, I was communicating feedback from employees back to management, helping make two-way employee communications a crucial part of the company’s success.

Whether you are communicating with employees or the media, I think ethical behavior plays a key role in how you are viewed. Unfortunately, I know there are some “bad apples” out there practicing PR, and their behaviors tend to hurt the reputation of the larger profession to a very disproportionate degree.

Some journalists have had a bad experience with a PR person, then refuse to work with other PR people. I would venture to say that every PR person knows at least one or two members of the media like this. I really think that this is too bad since the PR and media relationship can be a win-win for all involved.

While unprofessional practices may earn some public relations practitioners their own well-deserved reputations, it’s important to remember that we are all individuals and should be judged on our own merits.

Among the societal curve-balls being thrown nowadays courtesy of our national and global economy is the question of education. 

Yes, in the chaos of today’s headlines, education has actually become a question. 

NBC Nightly News posed it a few weeks ago: “Is a college degree even worth it anymore?”

The issues:

• 250,000 recent college graduates are jobless.
• College tuition has increased 600% more than rising inflation since 1980.
• College loan debt has hit $1 trillion, and for the first time, there is now more student loan debt than credit card debt.
• Two-thirds of college graduates have student loans, with an average debt of $24,000 upon graduation.

Ouch, ouch and double-ouch. 

Despite the pain of it all, the very idea of throwing our hands up and questioning whether education is even worth it creates a tremendous disservice.

The fact is, education – at least the right kind of education – is more essential than ever, but you can’t be stuck in auto-pilot throughout the process of receiving it.  What’s more, institutions of higher learning can’t be auto-piloting the process of providing it. 

Here are some core observations, as I see them:

First, degree programs from “designer” institutions – those that charge tens of thousands in tuition per year at least somewhat predicated on their brand-name – must be aggressive about earning their keep with their students and alumni.

In the good old days, hefty private-institution degrees not only opened entry-level job doors in the most elite organizations, but they also practically paved the commute to work in greenbacks for freshly minted 23-year-olds. 

Now . . . not so much.  More and more stories are emerging of graduates with $100K+ in student loan debt from fairly prestigious schools (a veritable life sentence when melded with car, home and life expenses long-term), scrounging out low-paying whatever-they-can-get and living with Mom.

Secondly, students of whatever means – from affluent to financially challenged – need to take ownership of their learning with a purposeful sense of, “what must I get out of my educational experience, and what do I need to do MYSELF to make sure that happens?”  Take ownership.

This approach requires a fundamental shift away from a passive, osmosis-like assumption that a college campus automatically confers a certain standard of knowledge, to an uber-engaged reality-check:  Quality education is all about knowing what you don’t know and assuming a sizable level of responsibility yourself to fix it. 

Classes, teachers/professors, texts, learning tools and all of those things are merely tools in the process that students themselves need to apply with gusto to take them where they want to go. 

That last part about knowing where you’re going is pretty important, too, particularly in context of the skills that tomorrow’s economy demands and the level of job competition that exists globally.

Translated: that poetry degree might have worked for you 30 years ago to get some job other than teaching, publishing or writing poetry (which is fine if that’s in fact what you want to do), but today, the limitations of non-work-skill-based degrees are overwhelming.  College freshmen:  choose a major wisely.

And as a side note to that point, people who go to school (particularly graduate school) for no compelling reason other than as a job-market avoidance strategy pay for their mistakes – big. 

Finally, high-quality community and technical colleges are becoming the community superstars for thousands of people – young and not young – to hitch their wagons to.  That’s certainly the case in East Tennessee.  These institutions have become dynamic and nimble in creating educational programs that fit the needs of their local job markets, and they are ever-evolving to change as the market changes so that new students and returning students can be prepared. 

Students and the parents who guide them need to be getting good advice.  Education is an investment, rife with risks if decision-making is poor.  The economy has created a situation where customers need to be astute before navigating the educational marketplace. 

We all have dealt with someone who is extremely difficult to get along with, whether in a work setting or on a personal basis.  It can be a nightmare dealing with some people, but how do you manage someone with a difficult personality? 

I would venture to say most organizations have experienced some type of difficult personality in some way in the past, but how you choose to mitigate the issues associated with difficult people is the key in the resolution.  Public Relations is not immune to these issues, either.

According to Psychology for Business, “Most organizations experience problems concerning employee relationships, whether peer-to-peer or manager-to-subordinate.  These types of difficulties are often cross-generational…or simply based on divergent and difficult personality conflicts.  Organizations that downplay or ignore these ‘undercurrents’ often find themselves with significant productivity, morale and even safety and security issues.”

All the research that I have ever read on employee morale shows that a happy employee is indeed a much more productive employee.  So, it is imperative that an organization keep its best assets content, and it will improve the bottom line as well. 

Working with and managing a difficult personality starts with the basics:  communication, communication, and did I say communication?    The issues associated with a difficult personality must be addressed in a professional setting with all involved.  Face-to-face meetings seem to work better, from my experience. 

It is critical that you learn how to deal with conflict since it is a part of everyday life.  Just think how boring life would be without conflict.  Learning how to manage conflict instead of avoiding it is the key in diffusing a difficult personality and situation in the workplace.  

According to HelpGuide.org, “Conflict is a normal and necessary part of healthy relationships…When conflict is mismanaged, it can harm the relationship. But when handled in a respectful and positive way, conflict provides an opportunity for growth, ultimately strengthening the bond between two people. By learning the skills you need for successful conflict resolution, you can face disagreements with confidence and keep your personal and professional relationships strong and growing.”

Visit HelpGuide.org for several conflict resolution tips and an outline of Conflict 101.

Oak Ridge, Tenn. – Three of Oak Ridge and East Tennessee’s most prominent organizations pledged $1 million in support Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011, toward Emory Valley Center’s $4 million capital campaign for a new building to serve some of the region’s most vulnerable citizens.

UT-Battelle and B&W Y-12 each pledged $250,000 and ProVision Health Alliance pledged $500,000 toward the campaign at a press conference held at Emory Valley Center’s sheltered workshop, where many of the Center’s disabled clients were at work on a variety of vocational projects during the event. 

Dr. Thom Mason, director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Darrel Kohlhorst, president and general manager of Y-12 National Security Complex; and Terry Douglass, president and director of ProVision Trust, announced the respective gifts.  UT Senior Vice President Emeritus Homer Fisher served as press conference emcee.

“Our campaign is off to a tremendous start, thanks to these outstanding leadership contributions,” said Dr. Gene Caldwell, co-chair of the campaign, who along with co-chair Dottie Thompson has overseen a total of $1.3 million raised to date for the new Emory Valley Center facility. 

In about three years, the original Emory Valley Road buildings that house the Center’s programs – the 23,000-square-feet of the Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center and the original Emory Valley School building – must be torn down due to structural age and costly maintenance.

In 2008, the Anderson County Commission gave Emory Valley Center $160,000 to buy 1.5 acres of land adjacent to the Center’s administrative offices to construct a new building. 

Fund-raising is now seriously underway for this building, with a capital campaign aimed at a $4 million goal to construct a nearly 30,000-square-foot facility, capable of continuing, enhancing and expanding the Center’s capacity to serve disabled citizens.

“We feel tremendously grateful to ProVision, UT-Battelle and B&W Y-12 for the genuine care and commitment reflected in these gifts,” said Emory Valley Center President Jennifer Enderson.  “We hope other businesses, foundations and individuals will consider the impact of Emory Valley Center toward helping individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and that they will include this campaign in their charitable giving.”

For more event information, visit Emory Valley Center’s website at www.emoryvalleycenter.com. 

Based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., Emory Valley Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, community-based facility that provides rehabilitation, training and support to people with mental and other severe developmental disabilities in Anderson, Knox and other surrounding counties.

The East Coast may have been earthquaking, Libya may have been liberating and the stock market may have been doing whatever it always seems to do these days . . . but the only story yesterday for Tennessee natives and UT alumni worldwide was the health announcement by University of Tennessee Women’s Basketball Coach Pat Summitt.

For those whose home is outside the Volunteer State, there is something that should be known about Coach Summitt: there arguably may be no individual in the state of Tennessee – man or woman; sports, political, business or entertainment figure – who has earned the same universal and unwavering public admiration and respect as this person.

 The most winning NCAA coach in basketball history – men’s or women’s – Coach Summitt is unique.  A complete original.  Pure Tennessee spirit at its most ideal.  And her brand of leadership was on full display yesterday in the face of the most difficult announcement of her career.  The last four sentences of her written statement said it all:

“I love being your coach and the privilege to go to work every day with our outstanding Lady Vol basketball student-athletes. I appreciate the complete support of UT Chancellor Dr. Jimmy Cheek and UT Athletics Director Joan Cronan to continue coaching at the University of Tennessee as long as the good Lord is willing.  I’ve been honest and shared my health concerns with you and now we’ll move forward to the business at hand…coaching a great group of Lady Vols. For the time being, I hope you will respect my privacy regarding this matter.”

The simplicity and clarity of the message was vintage Summitt, loosely translated as, “Yes, I have some issues, but I am moving forward and hope everyone else will choose to do so as well.  Next!”

While Coach Summitt must be acutely aware of the new layer of scrutiny that will now be applied going forward to her job performance, she has this little fact working in her favor: the work product she delivers on her worst day is multiple times better than that of many, many coaches on their best. 

Upon the announcement, Facebook lit up like a Christmas tree with the full gamut of emotional outpourings, some way too post-mortem-ish for my taste (or hers).  Coach Summitt would probably thank them for caring but also advise them to remember themselves: she’s still here.

In an economy and in a world where instability is the order of the day, it’s Coach Pat Summitt who is teaching by example the ultimate playbook in keeping on keeping on, and with not one iota of distraction from the task at hand of rising to every occasion, come what may.  Let us learn.  

Knoxville, Tenn. – Several months since severely damaging wind and hail storms swept through East Tennessee, many homeowners are finally getting their homes – and in some cases, their lives – back to normal. 

However, for one segment of homeowners who are still awaiting full payments from their insurance companies, the process of being made whole continues to linger.

With East Tennessee home-damage claimants numbering in the tens of thousands following the storms, there may be thousands of homeowners who have not reached an appropriate settlement that they believe holds true to their original insurance company contract.

“In my experience, the majority of insurance claims are handled appropriately, but a significant number are not,” said Catastrophic Claims Consultants (CCC), LLC, President David R. Charles, a 32-year veteran of the insurance industry who has worked scores of major disasters in the U.S. since 1977, including the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in California, Hurricanes Andrew, Ike, and Katrina, and the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack.

According to Charles, the company is seeing several areas of Greater Knoxville in particular where some homeowners feel they are not receiving proper insurance settlements.  For example, CCC’s staff often manages client situations where a homeowner only receives an insurance payment to repair part of their roof, when in fact the entire roof was damaged in a storm.

“For homeowners who don’t have a positive experience, they can be left with little recourse to restore their home to its pre-storm condition – which is generally the underlying promise of any homeowner insurance contract,” Charles said. 

Public insurance adjusters negotiate on behalf of homeowners and policyholders to make sure the insurance company fulfills its obligations.

“If we find that a homeowner has not received a fair settlement or if their insurance company is waffling on what they will pay, we aggressively pursue proper compensation – again, in keeping with the insurance contract,” Charles said.  “We also help our clients prepare and protect themselves in the event of future damage or catastrophe.”

According to Charles, there generally is low awareness about the role public adjusters can play to help homeowners negotiate an insurance settlement they are entitled to receive. In addition, the industry also has its share of bad actors. 

“In any local area that has experienced a disaster, we often hear of contractors – primarily roofers – reaching out to homeowners and offering to negotiate with the insurance company on their behalf,” Charles said.  “Not only is this practice unethical but it is also illegal in the state of Tennessee. Homeowners often do not know the illegal nature of this sales pitch when they are confronted with it by contractors and how it can put them at risk.”

Catastrophic Claims Consultants advises Knoxville area property owners to follow several key steps when considering how a public adjuster can help them:

1. Understand the role of a public insurance adjuster before engaging anyone to provide these services on your behalf. 

• Avoid individuals who offer these services when doing so poses any conflict of interest, such as providing the construction services based on their own assessment of damages and negotiations with the insurance company.
• Also, avoid any company that dives right into demanding more money from the insurance company without conducting its own objective assessment of the property damage and whether additional compensation from the insurance company is even merited. 

       2. Check for credentials, such as licensure in the state of Tennessee. 

       3. Beware of firms that demand up-front fees for services, regardless of the outcome they
            negotiate on your behalf with the insurance company.  Public adjusters work purely on a
            contingency basis, ensuring that the homeowner does not pay anything unless he or she
            receives some form of settlement.

       4. Maintain reasonable expectations.  The purpose of a public adjuster is not to turn a 
            previous $200,000 home prior to a disaster into a $300,000 home following a
           disaster.  The focus of both the homeowner and the adjuster should always be on
           restoring property to its pre-storm condition and making sure insurance companies
           follow through with that obligation.

“Professionalism and ethics are key,” Charles said.  “It is important for the public to be informed about how a public adjuster can assist them as well as the qualities of a credible service provider.”

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Catastrophic Claims Consultants, LLC is a public insurance adjuster firm representing policyholders in the insurance claims process.  The firm’s team members have serviced thousands of insurance claims, from individual homeowner claims to $30 million commercial losses resulting from fire, smoke, wind, hail, water, mold, sinkholes, additional living expenses, freezes, vandalisms, falling objects, theft, collapse, lightning, other business interruptions and loss of rents.