Shaw Industries names new CEO and other business news

Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.
·3 min read

Mar. 16—Baucom to head Shaw Industries

Tim Baucom, who has risen through the ranks of Shaw Industries Group Inc., since joining the company in 1992, will become CEO of the carpet manufacturer next month.

Shaw, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., said Vance Bell is stepping down as CEO and will serve as executive chairman of the company, effective April 5. After nine to 12 months as executive chairman, Bell will move to non-executive chairman of the company.

"After 45 years as part of the Shaw organization and 15 years as CEO, it is time to provide room for another generation of leadership,"Bell said. "I'm pleased that Tim Baucom will become our new president and CEO. Tim has the character, experience and leadership skills to be an outstanding chief executive for Shaw."

Baucom joined Shaw nearly three decades ago after spending the first 11 years of his career with DuPont, where he held positions in engineering, manufacturing, planning, sales and marketing. At Shaw, Baucom has led residential and commercial sales and marketing, as well as the company's Spectra organization.

Echelon building studio in Miami

Echelon Fitness Multimedia is opening a 10,000-square-foot fitness studio in Miami this spring that will feature state-of-the-art bike and treadmill studios with live classes for local members.

Also, nine additional filming studios will record Echelon-trainer led classes for rowing, Echelon's Reflect Mirror, and other types of fitness including boxing, yoga, core, palates, Zumba and more, according to the Chattanooga-based company.

Class filming will take part around the Boulevard 57 roof-top pool, the company said, and it will provide Echelon-provided bikes, rowers and treadmills for a gym on the top floor of the Boulevard 57 residence.

Echelon Fitness, which has climbed from a startup venture to become a major player in the exercise space, revealed late last year that it was moving its Chattanooga headquarters into Liberty Tower downtown.

Nokian Tyres still hiring in Dayton

Nokian Tyres is seeking about 80 more workers to complete a hiring phase it launched in January, and the company says it remains on track with a timeline the Dayton, Tennessee, tire-maker had earlier set.

Nokian Tyres has hired more than 50 workers at its factory since beginning its latest hiring push. The company is currently hiring nearly 150 workers in the first half of 2021. Nokian expects to have about 300 employees when the current round of hiring is complete. When full production is reached, the plant is to employ about 400 people.

The new workers will enable Nokian Tyres to add third and fourth shifts to help meet growing demand for its products in the North American market, the company said.

Interested candidates can visit NokianTires.com/DaytonFactory to apply.

Facebook labels vaccine accuracy

Facebook is adding informational labels to posts about vaccines as it expands efforts to counter COVID-19-related misinformation flourishing on its platforms.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post Monday that labels will contain "credible information" about the vaccines from the World Health Organization. The social network is also adding a tool to help get users vaccinated by connecting them to information about where and when they can get their shot.

Facebook and Instagram have been criticized for allowing anti-vaccination propaganda to spread and for being woefully slow in weeding out the misinformation, often with fact-checks, labels and other restrained measures.

Stripe adds investors, valued at $95 billion

The online payment company Stripe continues to attract investors, raising $600 million in funding to reach a whopping company valuation of $95 billion.

Stripe is by far the most valuable private fintech company in the world. Robinhood, the trading platform recently making headlines, just raised $3 billion to reach a valuation of around $11.2 billion.

The company which makes software that allows companies to accept online or in person card payments said it will use the capital in the latest round of funding to invest in its European operations, particularly its Dublin headquarters. Stripe has two headquarters, the other location is in San Francisco.