NEWSBITS, Feb. 18, 2010

Gleanings from around the state. Please send newstips to milt@venturenashville.com.

► Tennessee Technology Development Corporation (TTDC) executives are available today to take questions from the public about the organization, beginning at 1 p.m. today in Room 30 of Legislative Plaza. TTDC President Eric Cromwell (at left) is among those speaking during the annual TTDC forum.

► The TNInvestco program managers at Economic and Community Development have changed their website recently, to improve ease-of-navigation and information for the general public, in addition to entrepreneurs and investors. ECD Spokesman Caleb Hemmer says no information has been deleted.

► Health IT: Qsource will receive $7.3MM to open a Nashville regional office for purposes of supporting adoption of electronic medical records in Tennessee. Shared Health, Inc., a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, announced earlier this week its partnership with MEDai, an Elsevier company, to provide a health-information exchange platform for the State of Tennessee. Release here.

► Oft-honored, Angel-backed and Chattanooga-based Tricycle Inc.announced that its Tryk Sustainable Samples technology will be displayed in the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, as for of the National Design Triennial, opening this year. Chattanoogan.com has the release. Angels within Nashville Capital Network have been among Tricycle investors.

► Venture heroes? Time to move on: Mercury Labs Eric Mathews reiterates via the Smart City Memphis blog his oft-voiced message that it's time to "move on from the legendary stories of FedEx, Holiday Inn, and AutoZone -- those entrepreneurial days have long since past. It is time to support our modern day entrepreneurs and bring new stories to light."

Made in Tennessee? State Sen. Mae Beavers (at eft, R-Mt. Juliet) has introduced SB3494, calling for a new logo that could be used by non-agricultural companies to identify their goods having been manufactured in Tennessee. The bill's due for committee hearing Feb. 23. Permission to use the trademark would be controlled by the State ECD Commissioner.

Franklin-based PureSafety, which provides software and solutions to support workplace safety and health, announced it's teamed with EHS Magazine to provide EHS-oriented training materials and mentoring to selected university students. VNC reported PureSafety has a watchful eye out for acquisitions targets.

VU notes: Vanderbilt University's office of technology transfer and enterprise development is using intellectual-property management software provided by Inteum, based in Kirkland, Wash. Adoption of Inteum and particpation in iBridge, an innovation network, are encouraged by the Kauffman Foundation. VU OTTED has also spruced-up its e-Innovations page, which is used to market software, courseware and other specialized products. The OTTED news page includes developments from OTTED portfolio companies. Earlier this week, OTTED held another of its invitation-only entrepreneurship luncheons.

Vanderbilt University computer-science students are turning out more iPhone and Android apps, through a new organization. VU news release here. Earlier, related VNC report here.

Knoxville-based ML Ventures controls nRange Golf GPS, a widely heralded Memphis startup that offers location-aware distance readings for golfers who use Blackberry, Android, Curve and other PDAs. ML Ventures was registered with the state by one Ken Lowery, whom we think is the same fellow (at right) who runs the Memphis office of software/web developer Cadre5, based in Knoxville.

► TVA strategic planners have outlined six scenarios for the business environment TVA will face, depending on how the U.S. economy fares. Compare your six plans with those in this KNS story.

► The Chattanooga Hamilton County Business Development Center is extending access to its seminars and other services to all Hamilton County businesses and not just those located within the BDC. The TFP reports it. ♦