The Nashville Entrepreneur Center is launching Renew Nashville, a citywide initiative designed to provide small businesses and entrepreneurs negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with expertise and resources aimed at increasing their rate of survival.

Through this programming, Davidson County entrepreneurs and small-business owners can access EC programs, workshops, advisers and business leaders at no cost. Applications are available at https://www.ec.co/renew-nashville.

Examples of the resources and services business owners can access through Renew Nashville include:

• Community workshops

• Networking groups

• Speaker series

• One-on-one advising

• Existing EC programming

Funded by Metro Nashville through the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Renew Nashville was launched in partnership with five local nonprofits working together to help small businesses survive and move beyond current challenges, no matter the industry.

ULI Nashville honors seven Midstate projects

The Urban Land Institute Nashville District Council has awarded seven Middle Tennessee projects with Excellence in Development awards.

The program recognizes excellence in the areas of land use, development, design and construction, and collaboration among development team members.

2020 Excellence in Development winning projects and development teams are:

Large Public Sector

Kirkpatrick Park

Project team: MDHA, Smith Gee Studio, R.G. Anderson Company, Hawkins Partners Inc., Barge Cauthen & Associates, Walker Dunlop, Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., Genesis Engineering Group, Specs + Details, and Wilmot.

Tennessee State Museum

Project team: State of Tennessee Department of General Services, EOA Architects, HGA Architects & Engineers, Turner Construction Co., HDLA, S&ME, EMC, HGA Architects and Engineers, Gallagher & Associates, Shen Milson & Wilke, McCoy Design, Smith Seckman Reid, EMC Structural Engineers P.C., Compass, Pillars Development LLC, and Design and Production Inc.

Large Private Sector

Alloy

Project team: Core Development, EOA Architects, DAAD, Manuel Zeitlin Architects, Carter Group LLC, Champion Commercial Structures, Highland Building Group, Hawkins Partners Inc., CSDG, Franklin Synergy Bank, First Advantage Bank, City Living Group/Village Real Estate, EMC Structural Engineers P.C., R&S Tavares Associates, C&G Engineering Inc., and Power Management Corporation.

Capitol View Blocks D&E

Project team: Boyle Investment Company, Cooper Carry, HOAR Construction, KV+D, Barge Design Solutions, Northwestern Mutual, TTL USA and TVG Environmental LLC.

Small Private Sector

225 Polk Avenue

Project team: Hastings, Carter Group LLC, HDLA, Barge Cauthen & Associates, Pinnacle Financial Partners, Waller, Eakin Partners LLC, EMC Structural Engineers P.C., Volunteer Electric, Charles M. Salter Associates Inc., Sesco Lighting, Cumberland Architectural Millwork Inc., Intrepid Enterprises Inc., Alexander Metals, Rosa Mosaic.

Clementine Hall

Project team: Dragon Park LLC, DAAD, Steelhead Building Group LLC, CSDG, Volunteer State Bank, Edmonds Engineering

L&L Market

Project team: L&L Market, Southeast Venture LLC, Dowdle Construction Group LLC, Al Wilkinson Landscape Architect, Barge Cauthen & Associates, Wilson Bank & Trust

ULI Nashville is a nonprofit organization that provides a forum for exchange of ideas and education about best practices in land use for middle Tennessee’s public, private, educational and nonprofit real estate and land-use community.

Room In The Inn buys downtown property

Room In The Inn has purchased 617 Seventh Ave. South, a 0.29-acre lot with 3 structures totaling over 10,000 square feet adjacent to RITI‘s downtown facility.

The purchase allows RITI to create usable space to provide essential support and shelter to those experiencing homelessness in Nashville. The newly acquired property provides flexibility as RITI plans for the continuation of services in addition to hosting shelter at its campus.

In the long term, RITI plans to use the property to provide permanent housing solutions for Nashville’s most vulnerable population.

VUMC to acquire Midstate hospitals

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has announced plans to purchase Tennova Healthcare-Shelbyville and Tennova Healthcare-Harton (Tullahoma) hospitals from subsidiaries of Community Health Systems, Inc. At the same time, VUMC will acquire 20% ownership in CHS’s Tennova Healthcare-Clarksville hospital.

The partnership between Tennova Healthcare-Clarksville and VUMC is expected to create new opportunities to expand local medical resources for Clarksville, Montgomery County and the surrounding region. Already, Tennova Healthcare-Clarksville and VUMC collaborate on oncology and neonatal intensive care in the community.

Through the acquisition of the hospitals in Shelbyville and Tullahoma, and the partnership with Tennova Healthcare-Clarksville, VUMC significantly increases its presence across Middle Tennessee with facilities and services now located in Bedford, Coffee, Davidson, Montgomery, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson Counites. It is building a 31,000-square-foot facility in Hendersonville that will offer adult outpatient specialty care, along with limited pediatric specialty care.

Titans name sports betting partner

The Tennessee Titans have announced that BetMGM, the joint venture between MGM Resorts International and GVC Holdings, is the team’s first official sports betting partner.

It is the state’s first official partnership between a professional sports team and sports betting platform.

“We are thrilled to bring BetMGM to the state of Tennessee,” says Gil Beverly, Titans Sr. vice president, chief Marketing and revenue officer. “BetMGM will deliver new experiences and levels of engagement to our fans and we’re excited to welcome them in as an official partner.”

As an official sports betting partner, BetMGM will receive brand visibility across multiple Titans digital assets and key in-game moments, such as field goal attempts, video board replays and more. BetMGM will become the exclusive naming rights partner of the Titans’ television studio at Saint Thomas Sports Park, and will be home to Titans All Access, the Coach Mike Vrabel Show and additional content aired throughout the state.

Grand Hyatt opens in Nashville Yards

Hyatt Hotels Corporation is celebrating the opening of the Grand Hyatt Nashville.

The Nashville hotel is a 25-floor, 591-room Grand Hyatt, the first pillar of the highly anticipated 18-acre Nashville Yards development.

The new luxury hotel offers a prime locale, straddling The Gulch and downtown.

The new hotel is home to one of the tallest outdoor rooftop lounges in Nashville, a fifth-floor pool deck overlooking downtown, world-class spa R+R Wellness, and seven culinary experiences – including a new “contemporary renditions of luxury favorites” concept from James Beard Award-Winning chef Sean Brock at the property’s signature restaurant, The Continental.

The hotel also features 77,000 square feet of state-of-the-art event and pre-function space, including a 20,000 square foot grand ballroom.

Renewable natural gas debuts in Nashville

Piedmont Natural Gas officials have announced renewable natural gas is now available at its compressed natural gas fueling station in Nashville.

Renewable natural gas is pipeline-quality biomethane produced from biomass that is fully interchangeable with conventional natural gas and can be used in natural gas vehicles.

By fueling with RNG at Piedmont’s Nashville station, fleets and organizations can further reduce their emissions footprint – helping decarbonize transportation in Tennessee.

“Drivers of CNG vehicles and companies with CNG fleets already have been benefiting from the cost advantages of fueling with abundant, domestic natural gas,” says Phillip Grigsby, Piedmont’s senior vice president of ventures and business development. “But there’s a tremendous environmental benefit as well, since CNG vehicles have lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to diesel-fueled vehicles.

Bluesource, an environmental action partner based in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, will pair RNG available in the pipeline system with Piedmont’s station, bringing the environmental benefits of renewable natural gas to Piedmont’s consumers.