Workplace safety will be a top priority as construction of the new Nissan Stadium begins on the East Bank of the Cumberland River. During the three-year project, it is estimated various contractors and subcontractors will employ 19,000 workers.

With so many individuals needed to complete this project, the Tennessee Builders Alliance looked to the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration to devise a plan that would help keep everyone safe and healthy while working to construct the new Nissan Stadium.

TBA and TOSHA have entered a voluntary partnership that provides consultative services at the construction site when requested by a contractor. TOSHA will also monitor the site’s safety and health program and share best practices to prevent workplace accidents.

The TOSHA Consultative Services Program works with employers and their employees to identify workplace hazards and provides methods to create a safer workplace. During a consultative inspection, TOSHA does not issue fines or citations if the employer corrects any hazards inspectors find. This program is voluntary and comes with no cost.

The Tennessee Builders Alliance is a joint venture of the contractors who are responsible for overseeing the construction of the new Nissan Stadium from groundbreaking to the completion of the project.

The new Nissan Stadium will encompass nearly 1.85 million square feet and have 60,000 seats, with a translucent roof that will allow for Tennessee Titans games and other large-scale events to take place during inclement weather.

THEC says to expect FAFSA records delay

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission reports that students considering college can expect a delay in FAFSA processing.

The U.S. Department of Education has informed stakeholders that records for the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid will not be released to institutions until mid-March.

While the FAFSA typically launches in October on StudentAid.gov, this year the launch was delayed due to program updates to improve online functionality and became operational in January.

Typically, FAFSA records as they are filed starting in October; however, this monthslong delay in opening has resulted in postponement of students’ information delivery to institutions.

This means Tennessee students may receive any financial aid offers from colleges of interest later than expected. While there will be delays, this will not impact the availability of funds for students enrolled in any state program, including Tennessee HOPE Scholarship, Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect.

Last month, THEC announced that the Tennessee Promise FAFSA deadline has officially moved to May 15 to accommodate the late opening and to allow students extra time to complete the form.

As a reminder to students planning to enroll in the fall 2024 semester, the following are the most urgent deadlines:

• April 15: Priority FAFSA Deadline for Tennessee Student Assistance Award (TSAA)

• May 15: FAFSA Deadline for Tennessee Promise Scholarship

• Sept. 1: FAFSA Deadline for Tennessee HOPE Scholarship

State report IDs $68B in infrastructure needs

Tennessee needs at least $68 billion worth of public infrastructure improvements during the five-year period of July 2022 to June 2027 – a $5 billion (9%) increase from the year before – according to a new report by the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

Health, safety and welfare infrastructure needs increased by $2 billion – 37% of the overall increase in the total estimated cost of the inventory. More than half of this increase – $1 billion – is needed for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements, including new projects and increases in existing projects.

The overall increase in water and wastewater needs was offset by $27 million in cost decreases, $324 million in completed projects and $22 million in canceled projects. The largest completed project is a sewer system rehabilitation in Springfield ($63 million).

The percentage of funded infrastructure needs reported at the time the inventory was conducted increased by 1% from 2021 to 2022. Funding is often not identified until a project reaches the construction stage.

Total estimated costs for current infrastructure needs fall into six general categories:

• Transportation and Utilities: $35B

• Education: $17B

• Health, Safety and Welfare: $11B

• Recreation and Culture: $3B

• General Government: $2B

• Economic Development: $239M

Full report

RPM Living expands into Nashville market

RPM Living, the sixth largest apartment manager in the nation, has announced its expansion into two new markets – Nashville and Las Vegas. It has opened corporate offices in both cities to oversee the properties it manages and planned growth in each. In addition, RPM recently relocated its Phoenix and Houston offices to support significant growth in those markets.

RPM has added 29 properties in Nashville, bringing its total managed units here to over 6,000. To service these units, it added a new corporate office in Nashville, which will celebrate its grand opening this spring.

The office is located at 1222 Demonbreun Street, Ste 100 at Gulch Union, Nashville’s newest development, between downtown and Music Row. It is located in a high-rise, class-AA building that is pre-certified LEED Silver with amenities including an indoor-outdoor sky lounge and 48-seat training room.

“Since entering the Tennessee market last year, we have grown rapidly,” says Jason Berkowitz, chief executive officer of RPM Living. “Our strategy moving into 2024 is to continue growing our footprint in Nashville and Memphis, and to break into the Knoxville market. We have an incredible team who have operated in multiple Tennessee markets for many years, so we are well positioned to continue on in the path of making this a fast-growing, high-performing region for RPM.”

Redfin: Pending sales hit biggest decline in 4 months

Pending sales are down 8%, the biggest decline in four months, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

Daily average mortgage rates posted their biggest one-day increase in over a year Feb. 2. The jump came after a hotter-than-expected January jobs report and the Federal Reserve’s confirmation that they’re unlikely to cut interest rates in the next two months, which means mortgage rates will probably remain elevated near their current level for at least that long.

Rising home prices are exacerbating rising rates, with the typical monthly mortgage payment just about $100 shy of October’s all-time high. High housing costs are pricing out many would-be homebuyers.

There are also a few other contributors to sales falling: Harsh winter weather in the first half of January delayed a lot of homebuying deals, and pending sales were improving at this time last year as mortgage rates temporarily dropped.

Still, some house hunters are at least getting a feel for the market. Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index – a seasonally adjusted measure of requests for tours and other buying services from Redfin agents – has steadily risen since mid-January, and a separate measure of home tours shows they’ve increased 16% since the start of the year, compared with a 10% rise at this time last year. Some sellers are jumping in, too, with new listings up 7% year over year.

“We’re seeing a bit of recovery with house hunters touring homes, but even demand at the earliest stages isn’t up as much as we would expect at this time of year,” says Chen Zhao, Redfin’s economic research lead. “That’s because mortgage rates are climbing again and winter weather has been harsher than usual in much of the country, keeping some house hunters at home.”

RBS announces $236M sale to investors, clients

Radiation Business Solutions (RBS) and affiliated companies of RBS Evolution, along with Loop Capital, have consummated a $236 million transaction in the sale of several radiation oncology centers to institutional bond investors and clients of RBS.

The 501c3 structure allows tax-exempt bonds to secure the permanency of care to patients in remote areas while creating succession opportunities and continued autonomy to providers outside typical hospital arrangements.

Global investment firm Loop Capital assisted in the bond placement. “This transaction was unique to the bond community as it was physician-driven, high margin/value, outpatient and asset light,” says Prakash Ramani, Managing Director of Loop Capital’s Investment Banking Division and Head of Healthcare. “Working with RBS as the radiation oncology subject matter experts, we were able to leverage their relationships and, together, design an innovative solution that balanced the needs of the bondholders and sellers.”

RBS, with offices in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Texas, impacts 4,000 cancer patients a day through its strategic consulting, joint ventures, succession models, full-service billing, prior authorizations, Proton appeal/predictive services, payer and case rate negotiations and de novo sites.

CereCore nets high KLAS rating for managed IT

CereCore, a leading provider of health care IT services, announces its achievement in 2024 KLAS ratings for the Managed IT Services segment and received high scores (90+ out of 100) across all customer experience pillars. The company has received an impressive overall KLAS score of 95.4, marking its first-time full rating in this highly competitive category.

KLAS Research, a research organization that helps health care providers make informed technology decisions by offering impartial vendor performance information, recognizes CereCore’s dedication to excellence and innovation in delivering top-notch IT services to health care organizations.

KLAS performance reports provide meticulous analysis of client feedback gathered over the course of a year, assigning weighted numerical values to measure four critical customer experience pillars—Loyalty, Operations, Product and Relationship. Compared to other vendors, CereCore earned the highest score in the Loyalty customer experience pillar.

The Outsourced Managed IT Services category encompasses a diverse set of services and challenges, making CereCore’s high scores in services spanning level 1, level 2 and application IT support noteworthy. This achievement is a testament to the dedication, expertise and innovation demonstrated by the CereCore team in providing top-notch IT services to health care organizations.