Memphis Business Academy Buys Frayser Building for $1M

The Memphis Business Academy has paid close to $1 million for the 86,640-square-foot building at 3306 Overton Crossing St. in Frayser. MBA bought the property from Hanaro LLC, and the sale closed July 24. The building is zoned for a discount store; it previously was home to Frayser Super Mall and before that a Kmart.

The Class C building was completed in 1979 and underwent renovations within the past couple of years. It sits on 7.52 acres on the east side of Overton Crossing Street, just south of the intersection with Frayser Boulevard. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2009 appraisal is $861,300.

MBA took out a $790,000 loan through Regions Bank for the property; Anthony Anderson signed the trust deed as executive director for the organization.

MBA began as a “two-year pilot program to promote the growth of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area,” according to its Web site. The academy runs a middle school and now a high school, which it opened last fall.

A call to MBA for comment on its plans for the property was not immediately returned.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

Smith & Nephew’s Orthopedics Sales Unchanged

Smith & Nephew PLC reported Thursday that its orthopedics sales generated $531 million during the second quarter, an amount that was unchanged from a year ago. The London-based corporation’s Orthopaedic Reconstruction and Trauma division is headquartered in Memphis.

Orthopedic sales grew by 2 percent in the United States and 7 percent in the rest of the world (other than Europe), the company said. Revenue in Europe fell by 8 percent. Smith & Nephew just opened a new orthopedic training center in Shanghai as part of the company’s investment in emerging markets.

Smith & Nephew reported a corporate-wide trading profit, or operating income, of $212 million for the quarter, a 17 percent increase from the $198 million reported for the same quarter a year ago.

Revamped ADA Web Site Offers New Tools for Users

In conjunction with the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the U.S. Department of Labor has renamed and relaunched its Web site for disability information.

Now at www.disability.gov, the site offers information about programs and services to better serve more than 50 million Americans with disabilities, as well as their family members, veterans, employers, educators, caregivers and anyone in need of disability-related information.

The Web site now integrates content from 22 federal agencies and is managed by the Labor Department. The site was revamped to include information about social media tools to encourage feedback and interaction by users and new ways to organize, share and receive information. Users can sign up for news and updates, including a Twitter feed, a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed, a blog and other tools.

The site is organized into 10 subject areas: benefits, civil rights, community life, education, emergency preparedness, employment, health, housing, technology and transportation.

Southland Park Receives Environmental Certification

Southland Park Gaming & Racing has received international

certification that its operations are environmentally friendly from the International Organization for Standardization. The West Memphis racino could be the first U.S. gaming venue to achieve this standard, Southland officials said.

The property prepared for a June audit for more than a year by implementing the GreenPath environmental management system of parent company Delaware North Cos. Southland used sustainable construction practices in a $40 million expansion in 2006. The project was built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s silver Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

RedRover Receives Honor For MED Foundation Campaign

RedRover Sales and Marketing has received the Silver Communicator Award from the International Academy of the Visual Arts for the “Live, Love, Give” advertising and fundraising campaign the company developed for The MED Foundation.

The award recognizes “creative excellence in design and message.” RedRover’s campaign was among thousands of entries for the award.

Members of the international academy include executives from Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, HBO, Monster.com, MTV and elsewhere.

Food-Borne Illness Traced to A&R Restaurant

The Memphis and Shelby County Health Department is conducting an investigation of the A&R Barbecue restaurant at 3721 Hickory Hill Road after diners complained about an apparent food-borne illness.

The complaints stem from food eaten at the restaurant July 10-11. The investigation began July 14.

The Health Department said there is no indication of ongoing transmission. The restaurant voluntarily closed July 25 and remains closed. The source of the illness is still being investigated.

Mobile Health Clinic To Showcase Technology

The UnitedHealth Group will bring its Connected Care telehealth mobile clinic to the Memphis Health Center today.

The demonstration clinic will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to showcase the technology available through the Connected Care telehealth network. The mobile clinic, through audio and video presentations, will explain how telehealth connects patients in rural and urban communities to health clinics, primary care physicians and specialists.

Memphis is the third stop of a statewide tour that is part of a national tour.

The Memphis Health Center is at 360 E. H. Crump Blvd.

Alexander to Back Sotomayor for High Court

The Senate’s No. 3 Republican said Thursday he’d break with the rest of his party’s leaders to support Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who’s in line to become the first Hispanic justice.

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander said he was voting for President Barack Obama’s nominee despite his differences with her, particularly on gun rights.

“Even though Judge Sotomayor’s political and judicial philosophy may be different than mine, especially regarding Second Amendment rights, I will vote to confirm her because she is well qualified by experience, temperament, character and intellect to serve,” Alexander said in a speech on the Senate floor.

Alexander, a conservative, is only the sixth Republican to publicly line up with majority Democrats to back Sotomayor, a native of Bronx, N.Y., and a federal appellate court judge. She’s virtually guaranteed to be confirmed in a vote next week, and is expected to join the Supreme Court in time for an earlier-than-usual meeting in September to hear a campaign finance case.

The other Republicans supporting her include fellow conservative Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and moderate Sens. Dick Lugar of Indiana, Mel Martinez of Florida, and Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.