Community Heroes: Tamayo finds balance between success and satisfied employees
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Jenna Tamayo is celebrating after her business, Appalachian Maid Services, was recognized as the Small Business Administration's Best in State Woman-Owned Small Business.
It's not just her success, but how she works with her employees that makes her stand out.
'It was just supposed to be a career stop until I could figure out what I was going to do,' Tamayo said.
But she figured out that she had a recipe for success when her business grew quickly and solidly.
'We have grown so much, I think because of the culture that we really try to instill,' she said. 'We try to keep our family culture as much as possible. Our average tech has been here about two and a half years.'
Tamayo also cares about the community. She started the 'AMS Cares' program that sponsors non-profit organizations.
'So I diverted the advertising over to our nonprofits, and they each get a $1,000 check. They get sponsored on our Facebook, our social media, every month there's a new one. So that way, they each have their turn. We also put their logos on the backs of our shirt. So as we're cleaning through our homes and we're traveling throughout the city, we see the look that our clients can see the logos on their backs, and then they know who they're supporting, helping to support in the community.'
'And that's something that I think it's just exponential, the amount of goodwill that we've gotten back just by doing that, and hopefully other small businesses will be like, 'Yeah, you know, maybe we can diversify, our advertising doesn't always have to be with the big businesses. It can be within our community.''
Officer Manager Barbara Hendren said she has felt the impact of Tamayo's philosophy.
'I have never had an employer care so much about me and my family,' she told News Channel 11.
It's a successful business model that keeps employees happy in their positions. A philosophy that benefits people, not just the bottom line.
'We try to take care of our people as much as we can. So I think providing these really good, stable jobs in the community, that would be amazing if we could do that.'
And Tamayo said stability is only possible through comfort in one's job.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Loeffler appeared on Newsmax at least five times in a two-month span, between March and May this year—but at no time in these interviews did Newsmax or Loeffler discuss or disclose a matter effectively unknown to the public: Loeffler has a large, personal investment in the network. Loeffler affirmed in an April 1 filing with the Office of Government Ethics that she and her husband owned a 'preferred stock convertible note' in Newsmax, which they exchanged on March 29 for 'restricted class B common stock.' Loeffler did not name her Newsmax investment among planned divestitures as listed in a signed government ethics agreement from January 24. Nor did she divest it, as she did other investments, per a March 24 certificate of divestiture. Since then, she has not disclosed selling off any other personal investments, including her Newsmax stock. Newsmax stock has generally traded between $22 and $26 per share during May, before sliding below $20 throughout June. On March 3, Loeffler appeared on Newsmax's 'Rob Schmitt Tonight' show to trash Biden-era business policies. On March 12, Loeffler told Newsmax's 'America Agenda' show that 'people love seeing 'Made in America' back on all of our critical, essential goods, and I'm just thrilled to continue to push this across the country for President Trump's America First agenda.' On March 25, Loeffler again joined 'Rob Schmitt Tonight' to promote the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency. 'Thank God for Elon Musk and his DOGE effort. I mean, this is a patriot who is working hard for the American taxpayer,' Loeffler declared on the show. On April 30, Loeffler told Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren there's 'no bigger fan of small business than Donald Trump.' On May 6, Loeffler appeared on Newsmax's 'Carl Higbie Frontline' show to tout the Trump administration's commitment to domestic manufacturing. In a statement to Fortune, Small Business Administration spokesperson Caitlin O'Dea said: 'Administrator Loeffler maintains full compliance with the ethics agreement executed prior to her confirmation and fully complies with every request from the SBA Office of Ethics and the U.S. Office of Government Ethics—who reviewed all of her financial holdings, including Newsmax, prior to finalizing the ethics agreement. She will proudly continue to exercise her First Amendment right as the Cabinet-level voice for America's 34 million small businesses, while upholding all ethics rules and requirements.' Newsmax did not respond to inquiries. The Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics advises news organizations 'avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived' and 'disclose unavoidable conflicts.' 'You have a responsibility to both be ethical and to appear to be ethical,' said Peter Loge, Director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. 'Newsmax, Loeffler — they should just disclose it. There should be a note somewhere' during the interviews. As a senator, the Senate Ethics Committee investigated and subsequently cleared Loeffler of wrongdoing after she sold large amounts of stock in 2020 following her attendance at a closed-doors Senate briefing on the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, a Loeffler spokesperson said the then-senator, who would lose election in early 2021, 'did absolutely nothing wrong and has been completely exonerated.' Loeffler is not alone among notable Trump administration officials in maintaining financial investments that could pose conflicts of interest with their official duties, according to a Fortune review of government documents. Secretary Pete Hegseth's wife Jennifer has cut an outsized profile during her husband's turbulent Pentagon tenure—reportedly participating in a high-level government Signal chat, accompanying Hegseth to meetings with senators and directing agency social-media decisions despite holding no official role. But following her husband's January 24 nomination, Jennifer Hegseth maintained personal stock investments in more than a dozen companies with current or recent federal contracts with the Department of Defense. While she may have only held onto the stocks for a period of two weeks to two months after her husband's confirmation, the contracts held by companies in which Jennifer Hegseth invested are collectively worth billions of dollars, a Fortune review of government documents indicates. In an ethics agreement he signed in January, Pete Hegseth did not list Jennifer Hegseth's defense-contractor stocks among personal assets the couple agreed to divest in order to avoid conflicts of interest. But on Monday, the federal Office of Government Ethics released a document revealing that Jennifer Hegseth had divested from all of her defense-contractor holdings between early February and late March, just before Trump declared a spate of 'Liberation Day' tariffs that ultimately tanked the stock market. The sales were first reported by NOTUS. The Hegseths first disclosed the existence of the defense-contractor investments to the White House in January and December. The Office of Government Ethics did not officially certify the sales were 'in compliance with applicable laws and regulations' until June 6. Fortune first inquired about the status of the Hegseths' personal finances in March and made repeated inquiries in recent weeks. Had Jennifer Hegseth continued holding her defense-contractor investments, they would have posed a significant conflict of interest for Pete Hegseth, particularly given her apparent hands-on involvement with Pentagon matters, ethics watchdogs told Fortune. Jennifer Hegseth's now-jettisoned stock holdings included shares of core military weapon and defense systems companies, including Northrop Grumman Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Honeywell International, according to a federal disclosure filed with the Office of Government Ethics. They also include shares of several computing, technology and telecommunications companies, such as Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon Web Services, IBM, T-Mobile, Google parent Alphabet and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Taken together, Jennifer Hegseth's defense-contractor stock investments were worth between $71,015 and $365,000 as of January, documents filed with the federal Office of Government Ethics indicate. (Appointees are only required by law to disclose their family assets in broad ranges.) The sales come at a time when Trump himself has personally set a laissez-faire standard for financial conflicts, with neither he nor his appointees in acute fear of scrutiny from federal authorities or ethics regulators. Several other high-profile Trump appointees actively hold personal investments that could pose conflicts of interest with their public service. The disclosure of Jennifer Hegseth's defense-contractor stocks also represents a reversal of what the Hegseths had previously indicated about their investments. A three-page ethics agreement signed in January by Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News television host nominated by Trump to lead the DoD, stated he will not 'participate personally and substantially in any particular matter in which I know that I have a financial interest' unless he first obtains a written waiver or exemption. This expressly includes financial interests 'imputed' to him, including 'any spouse or minor child of mine,' according to the agreement. 'It is my responsibility to understand and comply with commitments outlined in this agreement,' Pete Hegseth stated. But Hegseth's ethics agreement did not indicate his wife, Jennifer, would sell or otherwise alter the status of her defense-contractor stocks. Following Pete Hegseth's narrow confirmation on January 24, the newly minted defense secretary offered further indication that Jennifer Hegseth would retain her defense contractor stocks, checking 'N/A' for 'not applicable' on an ethics agreement compliance certification document asking whether he had 'completed all of the divestitures indicated in my ethics agreement within the time period specified.' It's unclear whether Jennifer Hegseth's defense-contractor stock holdings put Pete Hegseth in conflict with existing federal-ethics law, which provides a 'de minimis exemption' for 'disqualifying' spousal stock holdings that together do not exceed $50,000. A 2023 advisory from the Department of Defense's Standards of Conduct Office acknowledges this exemption while advising all agency personnel 'must continuously monitor for and prevent conflicts of interest between their official duties and their personal financial interests.' Jennifer Hegseth could not be reached for comment. Prior to confirmation Monday of Jennifer Hegseth's stock sales, two Pentagon spokespeople declined to answer a series of specific questions posed by Fortune about Pete Hegseth's ethics agreement, Jennifer Hegseth's stock investments, and the couple's future financial plans. They likewise declined to answer questions about Jennifer Hegseth's role advising her husband in his work as defense secretary. 'Secretary Hegseth's wife is an incredibly accomplished woman and leader. She is an asset to her husband and an advocate for military families,' Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Fortune in a written statement. 'The secretary fully complies with all financial disclosure requirements and ethics regulations,' chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell also said in a statement. In response to questions Monday about Jennifer Hegseth's stock sales, the Pentagon's press office wrote: 'Beyond the previous statements provided, we have nothing additional to share.' Legal or not, the Hegseths' ownership of defense-contractor stocks would have been ethically problematic, said Scott Amey, general counsel for the nonpartisan watchdog organization Project on Government Oversight. 'Public service is public trust, and it's important that anyone going into government service is representing the interest of the public and not their own personal and financial interests or the interests of former or future employers or clients,' Amey said. 'The public deserves to have trust in their government leaders that they're there for the right purposes and not there to line their own pockets.' He added: 'There's a simple way to handle this: Sell these interests and remove any questioning of the government service you're providing.' The Hegseths' personal finances were briefly raised at Pete Hegseth's January confirmation hearing, an animated proceeding dominated by accusations—and rebuttals—of Hegseth's alleged marital infidelity, domestic violence, excessive drinking, and nonprofit-business mismanagement. Hegseth has denied wrongdoing. But none of these concerns, mostly articulated by Democrats, were enough to derail Hegseth's nomination, which was approved when Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of Hegseth. And Hegseth's financial interests—he earned a salary of $4,602,340 from Fox News prior to his appointment, according to a financial disclosure—have received little scrutiny since. 'I have failed in things in my life, and thankfully, I'm redeemed by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,' Hegseth said at his hearing. For Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who grilled Hegseth at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there was only one financial choice for him to make. 'It's an egregious and unethical conflict of interest for Defense Secretary Hegseth's wife to own defense industry stocks while participating in Pentagon meetings and Signal war chats. The Hegseth family must divest,' Warren said in an email to Fortune immediately prior to confirmation of Jennifer Hegseth's stock sale. 'No one should have to wonder whether military decisions are made based on the national interest or boosting their own stock portfolio.' The Hegseths' personal finances illustrate differences in how Trump and President Joe Biden grappled with ethical standards affecting their key administration appointees. On Biden's first day in office on Jan. 20, 2021, he signed an executive order that in part required appointees to 'commit to decision-making on the merits and exclusively in the public interest, without regard to private gain or personal benefit.' Biden's 'ethics pledge' went beyond existing federal law in order to 'restore and maintain public trust in government.' Among the Biden officials affected was Lloyd Austin, who served as defense secretary for the duration of Biden's four-year term. Austin acknowledged owning a six- to seven-figures worth of stock in defense contractor [hotlink]Raytheon Technologies[/hotlink], now known as RTX. Austin served on Raytheon's corporate board until January 2021, resigning upon Biden nominating him. In his January 2021 ethics agreement with the federal government, Austin—unlike Hegseth—agreed to divest from Raytheon stock to 'avoid any actual or apparent conflict of interest.' By early March 2021, Austin had sold his Raytheon stock shares, valued at between $501,002 and $1,015,000, according to a transaction document filed with the Office of Government Ethics. A later filing indicated Austin received a cash payout of $739,726 related to the sale of his Raytheon stock. Subsequent ethics disclosures indicate Austin and his wife only invested in broad-based mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), not individual stocks. Biden's administration wasn't trouble-free, either. For one, the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General found that Biden-era EPA Assistant Administrator Joseph Goffman 'failed to meet his ethical obligations under the federal financial conflicts-of-interest prohibition'—an allegation he denied. Trump—like Biden, or any U.S. president—is not subject to the same ethics and conflicts-of-interest laws that apply to presidential administration appointees, or many ethics laws at all. Even President Jimmy Carter, who put his peanut farm in a blind trust to avoid the spectre of financial conflict, did so voluntarily, not because of a legal mandate. And while presidents, including Trump, are required by law to file an annual disclosure detailing aspects of their personal finances, such as assets and liabilities, Trump is unlike any previous president for obliterating lines between his presidential public service and personal business interests. This is illustrated by his recent dealings with Middle Eastern nations and pursuit of cryptocurrency riches at a time when his administration is advancing pro-industry crypto policies and creating a strategic cryptocurrency reserve. Trump has promised to make the United States the 'crypto capital of the world' and 'global leader in cryptocurrency.' Trump has issued no Biden-esque 'ethics pledge' executive order during his second term. Kari Lake, U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Trump empowered Lake—a former journalist and failed U.S. Senate and Arizona gubernatorial candidate—to gut the government's international broadcasting agency, which includes the flagship Voice of America. In March, Lake disclosed a stock investment of up to $15,000 in Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Trump's Truth Social media platform. Trump used Truth Social to announce his appointment of Lake. She also disclosed investments in about two dozen different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Etherium, Stellar, Hedera, and Dogecoin. Lake has not signed an ethics agreement with the government, or otherwise indicated she has sold, or plans to sell, these financial interests. Occasionally, the White House will grant limited-scope ethics waivers to government officials for financial reasons. It gave Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. one for four family investment funds among his many assets. It also gave one to Energy Secretary Chris Wright for energy-related investments he hadn't yet sold before speaking in March at global energy conference CERAWeek. There is no evidence of Lake receiving such a waiver. 'We can confirm that no additional documents exist at this time,' the U.S. Agency for Global Media's Ethics Office wrote in an email to Fortune on May 30. Representatives for Lake did not respond to questions. In a May 28 post to X, Lake wrote: 'My top priority as the Trump Administration's Senior Advisor to the agency that oversees VOA and its Grantees is to effectuate President Trump's Executive Order to reduce the federal bureaucracy and push forward his America First Agenda that will protect the American taxpayer.' Lake's crypto and Trump Media holdings underscore an inconsistent approach among Trump officials to avoid real or perceived financial conflicts. For example, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard committed in an ethics agreement from January 15 to sell several of her four- or five-figure cryptocurrency holdings, including Bitcoin, Cronos, Solana, and Ethereum, as well as an investment in the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust. She likewise agreed to sell her shares of stock in Tesla and conservative media platform Rumble Inc., each of which she valued at between $100,001 and $250,000. But like Lake, Hegseth, the defense secretary, made no such ethics pledge to sell his own investment in Bitcoin, which he valued in January at between $15,001 and $50,000. And unlike Lake, one top Trump official sold off a Trump-related investment in the name of avoiding conflicts. 'I will divest my interests in Trump Media & Technology Group, as soon as practicable but not later than 90 days after my confirmation,' now-Attorney General Pam Bondi affirmed in an ethics agreement dated January 14. In early May, Bondi made good on her pledge, divesting between $1 million and $5 million worth of Trump Media & Technology Group stock on April 2, according to a transaction filing. But Secretary of Education Linda McMahon's investment in Trump Media & Technology Group—she is a former member of the company's board of directors—is less straightforward. McMahon states in a February 5 ethics agreement she is entitled 'unvested' restricted stock units that 'will vest in nine substantially equal installments beginning March 25, 2025 through March 25, 2027.' McMahon also states she 'will divest the resulting stock from my vested RSUs as soon as practicable but not later than 90 days after my confirmation.' The Department of Education did not respond to Fortune questions about this arrangement, including whether McMahon will receive vested stock in Trump Media & Technology Group at various times through 2027, then proceed to sell it as she receives it. Dave Levinthal is a Washington, D.C.-based investigative journalist. Dave previously worked as editor-in-chief of Raw Story, deputy editor at Business Insider, and as an editor or reporter at the Center for Public Integrity, Politico, OpenSecrets and the Dallas Morning News. He has also written for The Atlantic, TIME, Rolling Stone, the Daily Beast, NOTUS and The Ankler. 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FoundersForge to partner with United Way to help flood-impacted small business
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The United Way in East Tennessee has announced a partnership with FoundersForge to support small businesses impacted by Hurricane Helene. Executive Director David Nelson joined First at 4 to describe how the cooperation will help small businesses throughout the region. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Deputy Governor, TDOT Commissioner steps away after seven years
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Governor Bill Lee announced Friday that Deputy Governor and Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Butch Eley is stepping away from his role in the third quarter of 2025 after nearly seven years of leadership. Eley has been a key figure in advancing infrastructure, financial stewardship and government modernization across the state, according to a news release. 'It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve Governor Lee and the people of Tennessee,' Eley said in the release. 'From building long-term systems that better serve Tennesseans, to navigating some of our state's toughest challenges, I'm deeply proud of what we've accomplished. This moment marks not an end, but a pause—a chance to ensure a smooth transition and reflect on how I can continue to make an impact in new ways.' Local agencies warn of DMV text message scam Eley described the decision as a transition to step away from government to spend more time with his family. Under his role as TDOT Commissioner, Eley reportedly launched the following initiatives: Introduced Tennessee's first Public-Private Partnership (P3) initiatives to modernize project delivery and increase innovation by engaging the private sector. Pioneered alternative delivery models to improve project speed and efficiency, improving service for taxpayers. Created the first-ever fiscally constrained 10-year project plan, bringing unprecedented transparency and accountability to state transportation investments. Secured dedicated, recurring General Fund dollars for transportation for the first time in TDOT's history to ensure an additional and sustainable revenue stream to help meet Tennessee's infrastructure needs in the decades to come. Led the single-largest infrastructure investment in state history with the I-55 bridge over the Mississippi replacement project. Commenced the state's first performance-based maintenance contract, engaging the private sector with outlined metrics to establish clear and objective standards for how our roads should look to motorists. 'Since I decided to run for Governor, Deputy Governor Eley has served as one of my most trusted advisors,' Governor Bill Lee said in the release. 'I turned to him to manage our state departments as chief operating officer after my first inauguration, and then to steward our state's finances as finance and administration commissioner during the worst global economic decline since the Great Depression. In my second term, Butch stepped into a new role to prepare Tennessee's infrastructure for generations to come, ensuring we continue to accommodate our state's extraordinary economic growth. I've entrusted him with some of the most difficult challenges facing our state, and he has consistently overachieved. Butch has served the people of Tennessee with the highest level of excellence, and God has blessed Maria and me with a lifelong friend. I thank him for his unwavering leadership.' 'None of this work has been mine alone,' Eley said in the release. 'It's been the result of an extraordinary Governor, supportive and engaged teams, and a shared commitment to making government work better for the people we serve. Leadership is about stewardship—and I believe the systems, improvements, and processes we've built are strong enough to thrive for years to come.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
