Leighton Hart has had success both as a journalist and a financial advisor before pivoting his career to a path that drew his interest no matter what his job title was - Internet media analytics geek.  Armed with a wealth of curiosity a talent for writing ... and a computer and a couple of microphones ... he launched Johnson City based Market Street Media in 2020 to help business owners first with podcasts, then with social media advertising content that could leverage the sea changes in advertising that have occurred over the past dozen years.  After the conversation, Bill and Fred wax poetic on Fed Chair Jay Powell's comments on slowing the pace of interest rate increases and other economic and market phenomena.  Recorded on December 1, 2022.

After an eight year journey to bring her vision to life, ETSU digital arts guru Cher Cornett prepares to celebrate the opening of the new permanent home of her arts / technology business incubator site in Johnson City, the second of what she hopes to be several more spread across the Appalachian Highlands.  Please note that Create Appalachia will host a free concert at Tennessee Hills Distillery in JC on Saturday, November 19, to celebrate the Center for Technology and Art opening.  After the conversation, Bill and Fred discuss the recent inflation numbers from October.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the president and sole owner of Johnson City's Morris Baker Funeral Home and Cremation Services discusses how the 2020 lockdowns altered his business and his business model, and shares his thoughts on the future of the industry.   Preston also shares his perspective on remaining a local owner in an industry that has seen much consolidation over the past two decades.  Bill shares his opinion on investing in the current bear market, and challenges Fred for a prediction on the possibility of a recession in 2023.

The pandemic related influx of new residents to the Tri-Cities has driven up housing prices and highlighted the demographic disconnect in the skilled building trades.  In an attempt to address the increased need for skilled labor, Heath Guinn of the SyncSpace Entrepreneurial Center has teamed up with publicly traded homebuilder, DR Horton to create a pre-apprenticeship program aimed at filling the gaps in this greying pool of skilled labor.   Heath and DR Horton Vice President of City Operations Barak Saltzman talk about how the building trades labor shortage came to be, and how their new program aims to alleviate the scarcity of workers and project managers.  Recorded on August 25, 2022

Our favorite veteran Bristol based freelance economic journalist joins Fred and Bill to discuss housing trends, improving but still anemic demographics numbers, and the Bristol casino's effect on the economy in the Appalachian Highlands.   The native Texan and former editor at the Kingsport Times-News posts a regular blog on regional economics, focusing on real estate, at his website, http://www.donfenley.com  We recommend it highly.  Recorded 8/18/2022.

Erwin native Cathy Ball spent over 30 years in the Carolinas gaining expertise in the efforts to revitalize the downtowns of Greenville, SC, and Asheville, NC.   She has returned to her East Tennessee roots as the new City Manager for Johnson City, and has spent her first six months learning the lay of JC and its surrounding area,   In this discussion with Bill and Fred, recorded via Zoom on July 11th, Ms. Ball discusses her priorities for the city and her background in both civil engineering and municipal management.   After the conversation, Bill offers advice for surviving the current bear market, and Fred shares some concerning employment data.

Investment veteran of Kingsport's AFI Advisors, Peter Raber, joins our resident advisor, Bill Dunham, and economist Fred Mackara to triangulate what has been happening in the markets and the economy over the past six months, and speculate where we might be headed.   Peter also shares some of the history of his independent practice, and he and Bill find many points of agreement on why the independent model is advantageous to the retail investor.   Recorded on 6-27-22; market data presented in the podcast is as of that day's close. 

Director of the International Sports Management program at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, Dr. Mike White, returns to the program to show off his amazingly accurate crystal ball.   Back in the fall, he speculated that the NCAA would let college athletics programs run wild with their court mandated pivot to compensating student athletes through the "name, image and likeness" program, and then clamp down on abuses as they came to light.    Come to light, they did!  The former Associate Athletic Director for Sports Communication at ETSU and Elizabethton Star sports reporter shares his ideas for cleaning up the mess with Fred and Bill.  (Recorded on Zoom May 12, 2022.)