Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Council (OAC) is opening its community grant application portal to receive proposals for its first round of funding. The portal will be open for groups to submit proposals through October 9.

The funding available through this grant application process comes from hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds from lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies negotiated by the Tennessee Attorney General.

According to legislation passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, these proceeds are first split with 15% going to the state and 15% going to county governments for any purpose and 70% going to the Opioid Abatement Trust Fund.

The dollars in the trust fund are split again with 35% going directly to the counties for approved opioid abatement activities and 65% going to the council for community grant applications. This last, largest percentage is what agencies are applying for in this grant funding opportunity.

In an Announcement of Funding posted in late July, the OAC outlined the process for application including criteria for constructing grant applications, designing programs, building partnerships, and reporting outcomes.

Proposers must design programs that impact opioid use disorder in their communities in methods contained in the approved remediation list including: Primary Prevention, Harm Reduction, Treatment, Recovery Support, Education/ Training or Research or Evaluation of Abatement Strategy Efficacy.

Applicants interested in submitting proposals to the Opioid Abatement Council can do so through the council’s website at www.TN.gov/oac.

Seattle most desirable U.S. city, Nashville 9th

Americans view Seattle as both the most underrated and the most desirable city in the U.S., according to new research from Home Bay, an online publication owned by Clever Real Estate, and Allied Van Lines, one of the world’s largest moving companies.

Nashville ranks 9th on the most desirable list, and 18th on the most underrated list.

Americans say California (1), Florida (2), and New York (3) are the most desirable states to live in, while Alaska (1), Alabama (2), and California (3) are the least desirable. Tennessee is listed 7th among most desirable states to live and is not ranked among the 10 least desirable states.

According to Allied’s moving data, however, some of the undesirable states experienced positive net migration in the first six months of 2023, while some of the most desirable states had negative net migration.

Between January and June 2023, Illinois had more outbound moves (69%) than any other state, followed by California (61%) and Washington (58%). Meanwhile, South Carolina (66%), Tennessee (61%), and Arizona (60%) had the most inbound moves.

63% of Americans like where they live (down from 80% in 2022), but 67% could be convinced to move elsewhere if they were paid to. Americans would also consider moving for a lower cost of living (46%), better quality of life (44%), or great job opportunity (38%).

The 10 most desirable cities are: Seattle; Tampa, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; New York; Denver; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Orlando, Florida; Nashville and San Diego

Meanwhile, the 10 least desirable cities are: Washington, D.C.: Baltimore; Atlanta; Buffalo; Birmingham; New York; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Tampa and Chicago.

Read the full report at www.homebay.com/where-should-i-move-2023/

Famed Nashville hotels nominated for awards

Two of Nashville’s famed hotel properties, the Hermitage Hotel and the Union Station Nashville Yards, along with Hermitage Hotel managing director Dee Patel, have been named finalists for a Historic Hotels of America Award of Excellence.

The awards recognize and celebrate the world’s finest historic hotels and hoteliers, through categories of excellence such as Historic Hotels of America Best Historic Resort, Historic Hotels of America Sustainability Champion, and Historic Hotels of America Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year.

The Hermitage Hotel was included in the category Best Historic Hotel (76-200 Guestrooms), and Patel was nominated in the Historic Hotelier of the Year category.

The Union Station Nashville Yards made the list of Best City Center Historic Hotel nominees.

Nominee finalists are selected from nominations received from historic hotels, preservation supporters, prior award recipients, community leaders and leadership from Historic Hotels of America.

The 2023 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence Ceremony and Gala will take place at The Wigwam in Litchfield Park, Arizona, on Thursday, Oct. 12.

Southbound Tequila enters spirits market

Southbound Tequila, an all-occasion premium tequila made from 100% blue agave, has launched in Tennessee and Florida and nationwide via e-commerce.

Cofounded by Ivey Childers, Ryan Santi and Austin Sherman, the brand raised $3.3 million in funding ahead of the launch.

Recipe developer, CEO and co-founder Ivey Childers spent 15 years creating tequila-based cocktail recipes, but found the tequila selection process to be complicated. Childers was looking for a well-balanced tequila profile to complement her cocktails, but never landed on the right profile, so she ventured southbound to Jalisco, Mexico, and consulted distillers to rediscover the perfect sip.

“My journey with launching a tequila brand is about rediscovery. A tequila’s flavor profile matters significantly when mixing it in a cocktail,” Childers says. “I grew tired of blindly selecting a tequila, so with Southbound, we’re offering a premium, all-occasion tequila – great for mixing and sipping.”

Southbound is available in three expressions: Blanco (SRP $47.99), Reposado (SRP $52.99) and Añejo (SRP $89.99). The ladder two expressions are both aged in Tennessee Whiskey barrels, which pays tribute to Childers’ roots in Nashville. All expressions can be sipped neat or mixed in a favorite cocktail.

HCA, Google team on generative AI

HCA Healthcare, Inc. and Google Cloud have announced a new collaboration designed to use generative AI technology to improve workflows on time-consuming tasks, such as clinical documentation, so physicians and nurses can focus more on patient care.

This expanded work with Google Cloud is part of a strategic partnership announced in 2021 that includes safeguards to protect patient privacy and the security of data.

HCA Healthcare’s partnership with Google Cloud, as well as its multiyear implementation of MEDITECH Expanse which began in 2022, are key elements of HCA Healthcare’s work to advance its digital transformation.

“We’re on a mission to redesign the way care is delivered, letting clinicians focus on patient care and using technology where it can best support doctors and nurses,” said Michael J. Schlosser, HCA’s senior vice president of care transformation and innovation. “Generative AI and other new technologies are helping us transform the ways teams interact, create better workflows, and have the right team, at the right time, empowered with the information they need for our patients.”

As part of a pilot program that began early this year, approximately 75 emergency room physicians at four HCA Healthcare hospitals started using Google’s AI technology to quickly and more easily document key medical information from conversations during patient visits.

The pilot program is part of a collaboration among HCA Healthcare, Google Cloud, and Augmedix, a health care technology company that specializes in ambient medical documentation.

Marigold earns top marks for Campaign Monitor

Marigold, a global martech leader focused on delivering relationship marketing solutions, announced Campaign Monitor by Marigold has been named the highest-rated email marketing software platform in the latest Data Quadrant Report by SoftwareReviews.

“We are honored by this recognition, which is particularly meaningful since it was determined by our users,” said David Fox, Marigold’s Chief Customer Officer. “Our mission is to help marketers strengthen customer relationships with every interaction, and to provide an unmatched customer experience every time.”

The report recognized Campaign Monitor by Marigold as the top-ranked email marketing platform, and for Best Vendor Experience and Best Product Features, compared to 21 other vendors evaluated.

The company earned high marks for delivering the best usability and intuitiveness, vendor support, and ease of administration and implementation. The report also highlighted Campaign Monitor by Marigold’s award-winning training, ease of customization and data integration, innovation, and breadth of features.

TDOE releases learning camp data

The Tennessee Department of Education released data on third graders who demonstrated adequate growth from their participation in summer learning camps to move on to fourth grade this school year.

As outlined in the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act, a third grade student who scored “approaching” on the English language arts (ELA) portion of the spring Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test or the TCAP retake opportunity may be promoted to fourth grade if the student achieves a 90% attendance rate at summer camp and demonstrates adequate growth on the post-test developed by the department.

Of the 24,907 third grade students who were eligible for the summer camp attendance and adequate growth pathway for promotion to fourth grade, 8,592 students completed the post-test at the conclusion of their summer learning camp and 2,055 of those students demonstrated adequate growth.

Students who demonstrated adequate growth and also met the 90% attendance threshold during their summer camp were promoted to the fourth grade.

“Thousands of third grade students across the state participated in summer learning camps to catch up, accelerate their learning, and benefit from additional academic support over the summer,” says Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education.

Passed in 2021, the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act set forth key academic supports for third grade students who did not score proficient on the ELA portion of their TCAP assessment, and updated requirements for these students to move to the next grade via multiple pathways for fourth grade promotion.