business briefs

• Weichert, Realtors - Advantage Plus in Knoxville recently announced Elizabeth McDaniel, Adam Hatmaker, Michael Wood, Kim Ailor and Tracy Laudermilk have been named the top agents in the office for April. McDaniel earned the overall Top Agent Award; Hatmaker and Wood were named the Top Selling Agents, and Ailor and Laudermilk the Top Listing Agents.

• Mona Blanton-Kitts, McNabb Center senior regional vice president, recently was promoted to president of the center. Blanton-Kitts recently celebrated 35 years with McNabb Center. She has been recognized by Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations with the Dorothea Dix Professional Service Award for her career accomplishments. During the course of her career with the center, she has overseen an expansive array of services and clinics across 29 East Tennessee counties. Her entrepreneurial approach has been a catalyst for much of the center’s growth.

• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe recently announced Lending Solutions Inc. will establish new operations in Knoxville. LSI will invest $2 million and create 265 new jobs to open a call center, which will operate primarily as a training center for new employees. Once trained, the new employees will be approved to work from home. LSI is a provider of lending center services and consulting programs for financial institutions across North America.

• UScellular recently donated $30,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley to provide educational opportunities and experiences to local youth. UScellular’s investment supports kindergarten through 12th-grade science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and academic enrichment programs for club members.

• Brad Bales and Jaden Goodman are the first graduates of Pellissippi State Community College’s original Water Quality Technology program, “the only one of its kind in Tennessee,” a PSCC press release stated. They started the program with five other students in fall 2019, four of whom are still on track to graduate.