Ride on
Big River Trail, Arkansas’ riverside trail system atop the Mississippi River’s levee system, is expanding by 30 miles from the southern end of the levee trail in Marianna through Downtown Helena and westward to the Arkansas Delta Heritage Trail. The expansion is made possible by a $1.186 million grant provided by the Walton Family Foundation.
In October 2016, the mile-long innovative pedestrian/bike bridge Big River Crossing opened and has since welcomed more than 300,000 bikers and pedestrians from Downtown Memphis to West Memphis, Arkansas. Big River Crossing’s Arkansas trailhead leads to the 70 miles of riverside trails atop the Mississippi’s levee system to Marianna.
The Big River Trail’s new cycling 30-mile route, scheduled to open by end of 2019, will offer camping, hiking, fishing, and dining under the canopy of the Ozark National Forest. The trail addition crosses Crowley’s Ridge and goes through the historic town of Helena-West Helena.
From downtown Helena, the trail turns west through low-use country roads to Highway 300, where it will eventually connect to the Arkansas Delta Heritage Trail, a 100-plus-mile trail, with 29 miles constructed, leading to Arkansas City and managed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
Heading to the Bay Area?
Allegiant is offering new nonstop service from Memphis to the San Francisco Bay Area via Oakland International Airport (OAK) beginning May 30. One-way fares on the new route are as low as $59.
The new seasonal flights will operate twice weekly from Memphis International Airport (MEM) to Oakland International. With this addition, Allegiant will offer nonstop service to nine cities from Memphis. Flight days, times and the lowest fares can be found at Allegiant.com.
Troon takes on Colonial
Troon, the world’s largest golf management company, will manage Memphis’ private Colonial Country Club. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company has more than 270 golf courses in its portfolio. Colonial, established in 1913, hosted the PGA Tour’s Memphis Open (now known as the FedEx St. Jude Classic) from 1958 to 1988.
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., Troon Privé, the private club operations division of Troon, will manage the award-winning 18-hole facility.
Champions who played at Colonial during its PGA tenure included Gary Player, Lee Trevino, and Jack Nicklaus. The club also holds the distinction of being the site of the first sub-60 round in PGA Tour history as Al Geiberger fired a 59 in the second round of the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic in 1977.
Good times in tech
It would seem that 2018 is a great year to work in tech according to survey data collected by recruiting firm Vaco. But the very things that make the industry attractive to employees can make hiring difficult for companies. Survey findings say 83 percent of tech professionals reported feeling “optimistic” or “very optimistic” about the job market this year. Additionally, 74 percent say they are “satisfied” or
“highly satisfied” in their current role, and half say they’re not likely to change jobs in 2018.
“The tech talent pool is generally content. That’s great, but it’s a double-edged sword for companies hiring, especially in areas with lots of competition for employees,” says Kirk Johnston, senior managing partner for Vaco Memphis. “Of course employers want their employees to be inspired
and happy. But it’s difficult if you’re hiring from the relatively small pool of top talent interested in making a move. Other companies are pursuing your top talent, and your options are limited.”
Another contributing factor to the tight market is that companies are getting smarter about their retention programs: 82 percent of survey participants anticipate getting a raise this year with no significant change in their current role.
How ya doin’?
For businesses looking to improve employee performance evaluations, biases and differences across supervisors can be a big hurdle. Employees, of course, want fair evaluations of their performance, but previous research has estimated that differences in employee performance only account for about 20 percent of the variance in ratings, with the rest skewed by unfortunate factors such as bias. Now, a first-of-its-kind study from the University of Missouri has found that calibration committees, which adjust the ratings supervisors give their employees in order to improve consistency, can be useful in mitigating bias and improving fairness.
For three years, Will Demeré and his colleagues collected data on more than 1,300 performance evaluations from a large multinational corporation that used calibration committees. They found that the committees adjusted about 25 percent of the ratings, but decreased the ratings four times as often as they increased them, resulting in a lower average rating. Supervisors also learned from the process, as they responded to these adjustments by changing the ratings they gave the next year. Researchers concluded the data showed a marked decrease in leniency bias, which occurs when one supervisor rates more leniently than other supervisors. They also found that employees perceived the evaluation process to be fair.
The study, forthcoming in Management Science, could help businesses create fairer, more consistent employee performance evaluations.
Power Players
Inside Memphis Business publishes a list of local Power Players every year. These are the movers and shakers in more than 30 categories who get things done in their respective fields. IMB’s next issue in April will have the complete list. We also publish individual categories in other issues throughout the year, and now we’re featuring individual Power Players in our Tip Sheet.
Today’s Power Player in the Hospitality category: Pierre Landaiche
Vice president and general manager, Memphis Management Group, Memphis Cook Convention Center, Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. Board member, Metropolitan Memphis Hotel and Lodging Association, Influence1 Foundation, Bridge Street Newspaper. Past president, Better Business Bureau of the MidSouth, Rotary Club of Memphis. Leadership Memphis Class of 2011. Named to “Top 40 Under 40,” Memphis Business Journal.
