Business

After increases in the first two months of summer, Roane County’s unemployment rate dropped in August to 7.8 percent.

That’s 0.5 percent lower than the July rate of 8.3 percent, according to statistics released late last week from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The state’s figures indicate the county’s rate for July was 8.3 percent, an increase of 0.1 over June’s 8.2 percent.

The number was higher last August, when the state recorded Roane County’s jobless rate at 8.2 percent.

Joseph Eskridge of Harriman is the first of six Roane County residents to receive an entrepreneurial grant to start a new business.

Eskridge’s $1,000 grant will enable him to work toward opening a recording studio and eventually a radio station.

The grant was presented by Mel Clemmons during a Roane County entrepreneur workshop and motivational seminar at the Princess Theatre in Harriman.

Clemmons led the free workshop and launched his Superheroes Foundation, which is giving out the six business grants.

Tennessee employers will pay unemployment insurance premiums at a lower rate for the first time in more than three years.

Unemployment insurance premium rates for state employers decreased because the balance of Tennessee’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund on June 30 was more than $568 million, triggering new premium rates.

The latest store to open under the cheerful red awning on Rockwood’s South Front Avenue carries an array of products for health and well being.

Ross and Linda Cole, of Cole's Health Essentials at 119 S. Front Ave., have a variety of health foods and other products. They range from gluten-free foods, protein and energy bars, vitamins and minerals to soy candles.

The focus is particularly on alternative medicine.