News and Events
Mellow Mushroom to open 100th store
Mellow Mushroom, an Atlanta-based pizza chain, said it will open its 100th store
next week, an outlet in Covington, LA.
The first Mellow Mushroom opened in 1974 near Georgia Tech. The original store
was later razed to make way for
Midtown skyscrapers, but the Mellow Mushroom chain continued to spread. It
now has locations in 14 states.
“We opened the first Mellow Mushroom as a funky joint for our friends
to hang out and eat good food,” Mellow
Mushroom founder Marc Weinstein said in a press release to mark the 100th store. “Never
in our wildest dreams
could we have imagined the growth we have experienced and the loyal following
we have created.”
By JOE GUY COLLIER,
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 24, 2009.
Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/business/mellow-mushroom-100165.html
Mellow Raisin Oatmeal Walnut Chew Cookies - from Mellow Mushroom Pizza
Hands on time: 20 minutes Total time: 40 minutes Serves: Makes 24 large cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups soy flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups raisins
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread walnuts and oats on a baking sheet
and cook for 2 minutes. Stir,
and cook 2 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Remove from the oven and pour
into a large mixing bowl.
Set aside. Coat 2 large baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
In the bowl of food processor fitted with a steel blade (or in a mixer), combine
both sugars, margarine,
eggs and vanilla. Process until smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds. In a small
bowl, combine the soy
flour and salt. Spoon the soy flour mixture on top of the batter. Pulse 3 or
4 times to mix.
Scrape the batter into the walnut-oatmeal mixture. Add the raisins and coconut.
Fold the ingredients
together.
Drop the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared sheets, using 2 tablespoons
of dough for each cookie.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are just beginning to brown but the
middles still look a little
soft. Cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes and then transfer to a rack
to cool.
Nutrition:
Per cookie: 275 calories (percent of calories from fat, 50), 6 grams protein,
50 grams carbohydrates, 2
grams fiber, 16 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 18 milligrams cholesterol, 148
milligrams sodium.
Find this article at:
http://projects.eveningedge.com/recipes/mellow-raisin-oatmeal-walnut-chew-cookies-mellow-m
Bayou Boulevard in Pensacola is becoming a bit of a "Restaurant Row."
ABC WEARTV reports three New Restaurants open on Bayou Blvd. - click below to
view the video.
http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wear_vid_2972.shtml
Quick Bites: Bayou Blvd. is getting Mellow
Julio Diaz • jdiaz@pnj.com • May 27, 2009
The popular Mellow Mushroom pizza chain is set to open its first Pensacola
store in August near Ninth Avenue and Bayou Boulevard. You probably are familiar
with the chain from stores in Destin, Panama City Beach, Mobile and Foley,
Ala., among locations in 15 states.
The announcement is generating a lot of excitement on Facebook, where owners
already have 134 fans after posting a profile page less than two weeks ago.
And looking over the menu, which features nearly 50 pizza toppings to choose
from plus a wide variety of salads, sandwiches, calzones and specialty pies,
it's not hard to understand why.
For more information, visit www.mellowmushroom.com, follow the Pensacola location's
Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/MellowPensacola or search "Mellow Mushroom
Pensacola" on Facebook.
 Brass: Solar power plan gets heat
Generation Partners program not as billed, customers say
Larisa Brass • Knoxvillebiz.com • May 19, 2009
Andy Davenport was excited that he could get 15 cents for every kilowatt of
power his newly installed solar panels produced - until he started breaking
down his bill.
The Washington County resident, who set up a three-kilowatt solar system in
his backyard last year, is one of 71 Generation Partners, a mix of residential
and commercial customers that TVA pays through local distributors for the electricity
they generate from renewable sources such as wind and sun. Davenport also is
one of several customers who say the incentive isn't all it's cracked up to
be.
As advertised, the program currently pays 15 cents per kilowatt hour of power
to residential customers and 20 cents per kilowatt hour to commercial customers.
Generation Partners is being revamped to pay the current wholesale rate for
power plus a 12-cent premium for customers with solar systems. (Wind-generated
power receives 3 cents in addition to the local wholesale price.)
Davenport installed his solar system to replace a diesel back-up generator
he used during power outages at his home, which sits on 100 acres he described
as "at the end of the line" for utilities. After installing the system,
he learned about TVA's Generation Partners program and decided to sign up as
a way to help recoup his $20,000-plus investment in the system.
"I looked at the 15-cent-an-hour incentive and thought this might actually
pay for itself," he said.
'Yee haw, what a deal'
But when Davenport broke down the charges on his bill, he discovered that
while he has indeed been getting a 15-cent-per-kilowatt-hour credit for his
solar power, he also has been paying the local wholesale rate for that same
electricity. It is a detail not noted on his Johnson City Power Board bill
nor, he said, was it disclosed when he joined the program.
"Lo and behold, I'm not getting 15 cents; I'm getting 5.7 cents," he
said. "I thought, yee haw, what a deal this is."
The way the program works, Generation Partners customers have two meters -
one connected to the home or business that measures the amount of electricity
used by the customer each month, the other measuring the power produced through
the supplemental system. When Davenport examined his monthly bill, dividing
the amount he was being charged for usage by the kilowatt hours recorded by
the first meter, he discovered the charge exceeded the per-kilowatt-hour rate
for Johnson City Power Board residential customers.
But when he added the kilowatt hours generated by the solar array, he concluded
he was being charged both for the power he used and the power he produced.
TVA's Susan Ross, senior manager for end-use generation and storage, said
the revamp of Generation Partners is designed in part to respond to customer
and distributor concerns regarding the program's payback system. But Ross defended
the policy of charging customers for power they produce because they use the
power as well.
"The customer is still paying for the electricity they would have used
in their home or business, and then they receive this 100 percent payment for
all generation that they are credited on their bill," she said. "Basically,
the customer is charged for all of the energy that is used in their home whether
it is energy from the local power company or energy from their (at-home system)."
When scouring his Generation Partners contract, Davenport found this sentence
describing the billing - which he said was not explained to him when he joined
the program: "I understand that effective with the billing period when
generation from the Qualifying System into Distributor's electric system begins
and for each period thereafter, my power bill will be determined by adding
the net kWh energy measured on the Generation Meter to the net kWh energy measured
on the Billing Meter."
"They're tricky aren't they?" said Scott Mathis, operations manager
for the Mellow Mushroom restaurants in Knoxville. Mathis said he discovered
the same billing issue after the Cumberland Avenue Mellow Mushroom installed
a 5.1-kilowatt solar system in 2007.
"When we signed up we thought we were going to get 20 cents (per kilowatt
hour), and we do," he said. "(But) they read both of our meters,
they add both of them together and we pay them for all of that power. I figure
if KUB had been paying us the 20 cents I thought we were going to get, they
would owe us $487 right now."
Mathis estimates he nets 15 cents to 16 cents per hour after paying for the
power generated by the solar panels, and he doesn't regret investing in the
system - Mellow Mushroom received a state grant to help defer costs and a lot
of publicity for the effort. Still, he said, the program should have been presented
more clearly. And Mathis said he spent six months making the rounds at KUB "trying
to get a straight answer on it."
Revamping the program
Mathis doesn't entirely blame KUB for the problem, noting that KUB runs the
program for TVA.
Recently, Mathis said KUB has improved the information on its Generation Partner
bills. He now receives a spreadsheet with each statement detailing power production
and use with the program.
When asked about issues with the program, KUB spokeswoman Grace Whiteside
said there have been complaints and the utility has worked to improve the communication
process.
"From our perspective, we have worked closely with participating customers
to make sure they understand how the program works and make sure they have
any questions or concerns about their bills," she said. "Calls concerning
billing information have been infrequent but we've received a few over the
years. We have worked with them closely to make sure they understand how the
program works."
TVA's Ross agreed "the billing is quite confusing." But according
to TVA spokesman Jim Allen, the federal utility does not stipulate how distributors
communicate details of the program or itemize billing to potential or current
Generation Partners customers.
"We are communicating clearly and however the distributor chooses to
use that information we can't control," he said.
Ross said the new version of the Generation Partners program will offer distributors
the option of installing a metering system that automatically feeds customer-generated
power back to the grid and pays customers the credit without also charging
them for use of the power.
"The distributors will decide how this works best with their customers," she
said. Which systems are offered "will depend on the local power company
and how they want to do that."
And she said the current dual metering systems are set up to feed power back
to the grid if the customers' systems produce power in excess of what they
need.
For the time being, Davenport is disconnecting his system from the grid. He's
been told by his utility that TVA's new Generation Partners program will go
into effect in July. The higher rates are good news and should provide better
payback opportunities - "I'll probably sign back up for it because it's
an honest 12 cents," he said. But that doesn't make him happy with TVA.
"This whole thing has left a real bitter taste in my mouth," Davenport
said. "If they're really serious about green power, they're going to have
to get really serious about helping to pay for it. And they really aren't."
Larisa Brass is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.
Greening up
Ronda Robinson • Custom Publishing correspondent • Monday, April
20, 2009
Thermocopy of Tennessee Inc. has grown greener since launching an environmental
awareness and action program in 2008. But the East Tennessee business tech-nology
company isn’t alone – the News Sentinel, Scripps Networks, Green
Mountain Coffee, Mellow Mushroom and the Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce are
among the local businesses adopting earth-friendly practices.
“Newsprint is probably our No. 1 consumable, so we’re very conscious
to try to recycle as much of that as we can,” says Mark Beaty, operations
director for the News Sentinel. Newspaper waste and returns from retailers
such as convenience stores go to a local recycling company, which then sells
the material back to a paper mill. In addition, the News Sentinel recycles
aluminum press plates and cardboard, as well as office waste like plastic bottles,
aluminum cans and mixed paper.
“I think there’s heightened awareness. Businesses are understanding
there is really a return on investment for becoming more green,” says
Mark DeNicola, Thermo-copy’s CFO and executive director of sales and
marketing.
Meanwhile, he acknowledges, the recycling market has seen a lower demand level. “We
have had to start paying to have our items recycled. But we have determined
that it is part of our commitment. We accept it as a cost of doing business.”
It’s all part of Thermocopy’s award-winning initiative called
Greenworks, which began in January 2008. By the end of the year, Thermocopy
employees recycled 91,000 pounds of material. The program is designed to help
Thermocopy and its clients become better stewards of the earth’s resources.
Thermocopy also urges customers and the community to “go green and save
green.” It created a Web site called GoGreenET.com in July 2008 as a
free online re-source.
Like Thermocopy, Mellow Mushroom is a strong promoter of recycling. The Cumberland
Avenue eatery brought in a consultant to help expand its recycling efforts
and is taking part in Waste Connections’ RecycleBank program.
Jarratt Light, general manager of Mellow Mushroom, says the restaurant is
looking at ways to limit waste and make Knoxville cleaner, too. “We’re
an organic-healthy restaurant,” Light says. “If people are going
to be healthy, we want the environment to be healthy too.”
Mellow Mushroom was among the first restaurants in the state to install solar
panels. It uses the 30 panels installed in September 2007 for power generation.
The panels provide a portion of the energy the restaurant needs – up
to 5 percent, depending on the season, according to Scott Mathis, Atlanta-based
operations manager.
“Tennessee was progressive as far as grants and tax credits. That’s
why we chose that store to put the panels on,” he explains. The solar
system cost $50,000, 40 percent of which was paid for by a state grant.
To see charts of the solar energy production and savings, visit?www.mellowmushroom.net/solar.
Green efforts also have mushroomed at Scripps Networks. Employees are asked
to conserve resources in simple ways, like using the water cooler instead of
drinking bottled water.
A division of Scripps Networks Interactive, the company that comprises HGTV,
Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living Network and Great American Country is
en-couraging fans to follow suit. A new Web site, www.ecologue.com, offers
a variety of green tips.
In relation to its new building under construction in West Knoxville, Scripps
Networks is following its own advice. It saved several trees to replant once
the building is finished in 2010. Others were chipped and will be used as mulch
on the property.
“We’re dedicated to making sure our community is vibrant, and
one of the ways we can do that is by being environmentally friendly, both in
the way we do business and in our business ourselves,” says Jerilyn Bliss,
vice president of corporate communications.
Also this year, HGTV’s “Dream Home Giveaway” became an eco-friendly “Green
Home Giveaway,” she said.
Green Mountain Coffee also is dedicated to environmental stewardship, according
to its Web site, www.greenmountaincoffee.com.?At its new plant at Forks of
the River Industrial Park, the company is installing a polished concrete floor,
which Steve Kilgore, facilities maintenance supervisor, says is highly durable,
easy to maintain, free of volatile organic compound emissions and more reflective
than a regular floor. It will reduce the amount of lighting needed for daily
operations – thus cutting energy consumption and use of floor-cleaning
chemicals. All custodial cleaning products are Green Seal-certified.
Kilgore says that Green Mountain Coffee also is replacing its light fixtures
and switching throughout the facility, opting for more energy-efficient ones.
In Gatlinburg, the chamber of commerce and local businesses have the same
goals. A recent initiative called “Gatlinburg Goes Green!” is dedicated
to keeping the Smokies town a great place to live, work and visit.
The voluntary program recognizes member businesses that made a commitment
to improving operations and helping the environment. They set goals and take
ac-tions toward environmental, social and economic sustainability.
“I think all businesses in Tennessee want to be here tomorrow and five
years down the road. So sustainability is the operative word,” says Richard
Buggeln, environ-mental program manager for the University of Tennessee Center
for Industrial Services. “I don’t know of any place else in the
country that has anything like this, sur-rounded by a national park.”
Buggeln acts as a consultant to the Gatlinburg project, through funding from
the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation Office of Environmental
Assis-tance, and he is available to help other businesses with audits to reduce
their solid waste. For information, call him at 974-9058 or e-mail?richard.buggeln@tennessee.edu.
To learn more about environmental sustainability in general, visit UT’s
Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment Web site at http://isse.utk.edu.
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