Working & the Economy
Support your local cheesemaker
Restaurants are making a slow comeback and grocery store shelves are beginning to fill again, albeit slowly. But there are industries that continue to suffer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, among them: locally made cheese. “It’s been challenging during the pandemic for farms that produce cheese products to move large quantities through grocery and restaurant […]
Tennessee: The faces of DACA
Last week the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration and upheld Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), but program recipients still face many barriers in Tennessee. Katherine Diaz Garcia, 21, was seven years old when she first came to the U.S. from El Salvador and still remembers her home country and the violence her […]
Funds for summer food program not reaching Tennessee families
Summer food programs have become a necessity for families experiencing unemployment under COVID-19, but an emergency program approved for Tennessee families hasn’t reached them yet. Lakeisha Johnson has one of those families. The last few months have been difficult for her and her three children. The single mother from Memphis had to console her youngest […]
Gov. Lee announces stimulus funds for small businesses hurt by pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Nikki Wharton was supportive of safer-at-home orders in Nashville that forced her to close her Donelson neighborhood beauty salon Nicole Marie Nashville on March 19. Like thousands of other small business owners, Wharton has tried to keep her head above water as the shutdown prevented the salon’s small team of […]
Nashville budget chair says lack of body cameras result of poor planning by former mayors
Nashville’s last two mayors hold responsibility for the city’s failure to purchase body cameras for police, a Nashville councilmember said over the weekend. Councilmember at Large Bob Mendes, chair of the Metro Council of Nashville and Davidson County’s budget committee, made the remarks in a Facebook live conversation about the city’s $2.45 billion budget with […]
VUMC, Ryman, CVC launch public health program to help businesses
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Ryman Hospitality and the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. announced on Thursday a new program providing businesses that reopen safely with extra resources and access to public health officials. The program, called Good to Go, will be available to businesses that vow to abide by guidance from the Metro Public Health […]
Advocates worry about youth unemployment this summer amid pandemic
Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk Lonnell Matthews hosted a town hall meeting last week about the importance of summer employment for Nashville’s youth. The online forum was relegated to Facebook Live and a livestream on Zoom because of the pandemic. Matthews worried COVID-19 could do more than change the way he holds community meetings. Statewide […]
Woolworth on 5th and Pemrose sue insurance company over pandemic loss
Two Nashville restaurants sued their insurance company in recent weeks over rejected claims from lost business due to the pandemic. The lawsuits were filed separately by the downtown restaurant Woolworth on 5th and Pemrose, which is in the Gulch against the Cincinnati Insurance Company. The restaurants are both represented by the Frazer Law. Woolworth and […]
Leaders of civic group give detailed economic recommendations to Cooper
Leaders with The Equity Alliance, a statewide non-profit focused on the civic and economic empowerment of the black community have released a detailed set of recommendations for Nashville’s spending of the $121 million of federal CARES Act funding for economic recovery. Charlane Oliver, co-founder and co-executive director of The Equity Alliance is a member of […]
Democrats, Department of Labor disagree on unemployment process
Conflicting pictures of Tennessee’s processing of unemployment claims were laid out Wednesday morning by Democratic state representatives on one side and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development on the other. In a phone call with lawmakers on Wednesday morning, Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Jeff McCord discussed the volume of claims his department […]
Groups call for extension of tenant relief measures
Middle Tennessee Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and its offshoot Red Door Collective (RDC) called on elected officials to extend current economic relief to Nashvillians through temporary suspensions of evictions and utility shutoffs. Metro Nashville Councilmember Sean Parker (District 5), a DSA member, plans to introduce resolutions to address the issues. “It’s absolutely critical that […]
Gov. Lee: TN should focus CARES funds on unemployment insurance, helping businesses
Gov. Bill Lee laid out his priorities on Tuesday for how Tennessee should spend $2.4 billion in federal CARES Act stimulus funds, advocating for investment in the state’s unemployment insurance program and aid to businesses that lost money because of his stay-at-home order in April. Tennessee, like all states, has been navigating how to spend […]