Cloud computing company Claris Networks is based in Knoxville but is expanding in Chattanooga because of the city's unique fiber optic network.
"We actually see Chattanooga as our largest growth potential," Claris Network Vice President Dave Sagraves said.
At the beginning of the year, Claris had two employees who worked out of a small, single room in a building on Main Street.
Now the business has eight employees working out of an office at The Freight Depot at 1200 Market Street.
"If Knoxville had what Chattanooga has, we'd be investing all those resources in Knoxville. This is the best market for our business to grow," Sagraves said.
Claris provides local businesses "cloud services," which means they host, manage and maintain computer networks for businesses.
The business relies heavily on speedy Internet access and predicts future growth for the Chattanooga business, Sagraves said.
"We are still on the acquisition trail and we expect that we will have between 50 and 100 percent growth from an employee standpoint," he said.
The high speed Internet has benefited other businesses, such as social media start up LifeKraze and Global Green Lighting.
"We switched over after a lot of spotty hours, days and weeks from our previous supplier," Michelle Warren, with LifeKraze, said. "We have had great consistency through EPB."
Global Green Lighting President Don Lepard said the high-speed fiber optic Internet is essential to his business.
"EPB has been my inspiration from day one," he said.
Global Green Lighting develops low-energy lighting control systems, which use the same technology EPB uses with its Smart Meter technology, Lepard said.
The company recently beat out national competition and won a bid to put the lights up across Chattanooga and is currently in the process of generating a contract for the project with the city.
Global Green Lighting has already replaced about 350 street and post lights on the North Shore's Coolidge Park, Frazier Avenue, and on the Walnut Street Bridge, he also said.
An operator can control the lights — which use smart grid and fiber optic technology — via the Internet from up to 35 miles away.
And the company is expanding it's physical presence by taking over the rest of the building and will be making more hires in the next year.
He hopes to grow to 250 employees before the company finishes the project with the city, and he said he expects he will book jobs with other local municipalities, whose leaders have seen what the company has done with lighting in Chattanooga and want that for their city.
2011年12月26日 星期一
2011年12月22日 星期四
Philips goLITE BLU Energy Light Review
You don't have to have been diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) to come down with the winter blues, or indeed to require some help waking up in the morning or keeping momentum during the day. Philips reckons it has the answer in the shape of the goLITE BLU HF3330/HF3332, a portable light lamp that promises to wake you up refreshed, buoy you during the day, and even help you say goodbye to jetlag. Ambitious claims from a box of LEDs: check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
A 14 x 14 x 2.5 cm white plastic box, the goLITE BLU is fronted by a pair of panels: a sizable blue LED array on top, and a smaller, blue-backlit touchscreen underneath showing time, light settings and battery status. The only physical control is a power button on the right side; on the left is a socket for the included AC power adapter. Philips also throws in a set of international plug adapters.
A notch on the lower rear panel holds a metal rod, which can be slotted into a hole to prop the goLITE BLU up. Magnets keep the rod in place in both, and there's a faux-leather slip case for transporting the whole thing. Unfortunately there's only one possible angle at which you can stand the light unit at, rather than an adjustable base.
Setup is straightforward. Tapping the bell button sets the alarm, using the plus and minus buttons to adjust the time; the stopwatch icon sets the length of time the light is on for. Alarms can be either an audible tone or the LED lights, or a combination of both, while anything from 1 minute to an hour – in minute increments – can be set as the duration.
As well as waking up to light, you can trigger an impromptu session manually. Pressing the power button once turns on the touchscreen, and a second press turns on the LEDs; you can adjust the intensity – in 25-percent increments – and the length of time the goLITE BLU is on for.
A temporary pause in a session can be added by pressing the power button briefly, or turning the intensity down to zero, though if you leave it paused and running on battery power for over five minutes, the goLITE BLU will automatically power off.
Philips recommends 15 to 30 minutes of time in front of the light each day, initially starting off at 50-percent brightness and increasing if you don't notice a difference after a week. Rather than sitting directly in front of the LEDs, basking in their glow as you might a tanning lamp, Philips advises putting it off to one side so that it shines tangentially onto your face.
That, along with the limited angle options from the stand, can make finding the best position tricky, though it's easier if you're working at a desk at the time.
Instant results aren't promised, but the idea is that if you invest several weeks you can gain more energy, alleviate your mood or even help bypass jetlag. Using the goLITE BLU in the morning, when you first wake up, is supposed to make it easier to get out of bed, while a quick session in the middle of the day can, so Philips says, top up your energy levels when you more normally might be flagging.
A 14 x 14 x 2.5 cm white plastic box, the goLITE BLU is fronted by a pair of panels: a sizable blue LED array on top, and a smaller, blue-backlit touchscreen underneath showing time, light settings and battery status. The only physical control is a power button on the right side; on the left is a socket for the included AC power adapter. Philips also throws in a set of international plug adapters.
A notch on the lower rear panel holds a metal rod, which can be slotted into a hole to prop the goLITE BLU up. Magnets keep the rod in place in both, and there's a faux-leather slip case for transporting the whole thing. Unfortunately there's only one possible angle at which you can stand the light unit at, rather than an adjustable base.
Setup is straightforward. Tapping the bell button sets the alarm, using the plus and minus buttons to adjust the time; the stopwatch icon sets the length of time the light is on for. Alarms can be either an audible tone or the LED lights, or a combination of both, while anything from 1 minute to an hour – in minute increments – can be set as the duration.
As well as waking up to light, you can trigger an impromptu session manually. Pressing the power button once turns on the touchscreen, and a second press turns on the LEDs; you can adjust the intensity – in 25-percent increments – and the length of time the goLITE BLU is on for.
A temporary pause in a session can be added by pressing the power button briefly, or turning the intensity down to zero, though if you leave it paused and running on battery power for over five minutes, the goLITE BLU will automatically power off.
Philips recommends 15 to 30 minutes of time in front of the light each day, initially starting off at 50-percent brightness and increasing if you don't notice a difference after a week. Rather than sitting directly in front of the LEDs, basking in their glow as you might a tanning lamp, Philips advises putting it off to one side so that it shines tangentially onto your face.
That, along with the limited angle options from the stand, can make finding the best position tricky, though it's easier if you're working at a desk at the time.
Instant results aren't promised, but the idea is that if you invest several weeks you can gain more energy, alleviate your mood or even help bypass jetlag. Using the goLITE BLU in the morning, when you first wake up, is supposed to make it easier to get out of bed, while a quick session in the middle of the day can, so Philips says, top up your energy levels when you more normally might be flagging.
2011年9月27日 星期二
Latest Trends in Hotel Refurbishment
UK hoteliers are looking forward to 2012 with a "cautious optimism" – something that has been distinctly lacking in recent years. Some hotel owners can see the light at the end of the tunnel and many are considering expanding their businesses next year, according to the Frank Knight Hotel Operator Sentiment Survey 2011.
The findings showed that just over 50 per cent of the operators questioned said that they would be spending on refurbishing their existing stock.
Typically, guest room refurbishment can fall into two broad categories, refreshment and re-branding.
Refreshment is commonly required every five to seven years and involves adding new elements to the rooms to ensure that the hotel remains competitive in its target market. This will include redecorating, replacing furniture, fittings, equipment and minor works that improve the ease of operation.
Although Royal Garden Hotel has a rolling refurbishment programme of this kind, May saw the luxury hotel bring its 45 million refurbishment project to a close. The result is an excellent example of a well-executed refurbishment programme that responded to the needs of guests and sharpened the brand's competitive edge on London's luxury hotel scene.
"We implemented the refurbishment in stages," explained deputy general manager, Jonathan Lowrey in a recent interview with hotel-industry. "We have re-fitted guest rooms floor-by-floor and conference and events facilities were refurbished in stages as well. We carefully timed these stages to minimise disruption to our guests and customers."
A photo gallery of the Royal Garden Hotel's refurbishment is also available on hotel-industry.
While the Royal Garden Hotel favoured the partial-closure approach, the Savoy Hotel closed down completely between 2007 and 2010 to conduct one of the most talked about ambitious hotel refurbishment projects of recent times.
The 220 million restoration incorporated the entire building, including its iconic entrance and all 268 guestrooms and suites. Our photo gallery of refurbished Savoy Hotel will guide you around the newly designed property.
Re-branding or re-modelling aims to move the hotel into a different sector and increase room rates. This can involve creating new guest rooms using redundant space, replacing services and bathrooms, changing room and area layouts or introducing new guest facilities, such as IT and in-room entertainment.
When the Grosvenor Hotel, Victoria fell into the safe hands of the Guoman collection, the company set about bringing the property into line with its brand's standards, yet preserving the aesthetic essence of this famous railway hotel. No corner of the property has been left untouched, with all bedrooms, public areas, restaurants, meetings and event spaces refurbished.
The findings showed that just over 50 per cent of the operators questioned said that they would be spending on refurbishing their existing stock.
Typically, guest room refurbishment can fall into two broad categories, refreshment and re-branding.
Refreshment is commonly required every five to seven years and involves adding new elements to the rooms to ensure that the hotel remains competitive in its target market. This will include redecorating, replacing furniture, fittings, equipment and minor works that improve the ease of operation.
Although Royal Garden Hotel has a rolling refurbishment programme of this kind, May saw the luxury hotel bring its 45 million refurbishment project to a close. The result is an excellent example of a well-executed refurbishment programme that responded to the needs of guests and sharpened the brand's competitive edge on London's luxury hotel scene.
"We implemented the refurbishment in stages," explained deputy general manager, Jonathan Lowrey in a recent interview with hotel-industry. "We have re-fitted guest rooms floor-by-floor and conference and events facilities were refurbished in stages as well. We carefully timed these stages to minimise disruption to our guests and customers."
A photo gallery of the Royal Garden Hotel's refurbishment is also available on hotel-industry.
While the Royal Garden Hotel favoured the partial-closure approach, the Savoy Hotel closed down completely between 2007 and 2010 to conduct one of the most talked about ambitious hotel refurbishment projects of recent times.
The 220 million restoration incorporated the entire building, including its iconic entrance and all 268 guestrooms and suites. Our photo gallery of refurbished Savoy Hotel will guide you around the newly designed property.
Re-branding or re-modelling aims to move the hotel into a different sector and increase room rates. This can involve creating new guest rooms using redundant space, replacing services and bathrooms, changing room and area layouts or introducing new guest facilities, such as IT and in-room entertainment.
When the Grosvenor Hotel, Victoria fell into the safe hands of the Guoman collection, the company set about bringing the property into line with its brand's standards, yet preserving the aesthetic essence of this famous railway hotel. No corner of the property has been left untouched, with all bedrooms, public areas, restaurants, meetings and event spaces refurbished.
訂閱：
文章 (Atom)