Greg Junek: Sunday Briefing

Luminant Academy will have its formal grand opening ceremonies at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Tyler Junior College West Campus.

The Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce will perform a ribbon cutting at the academy.

Last year, the academy, which trains Luminant employees, began interior modifications of the north end of the Skills Training Center. Classes began March 6.

Luminant invested $1.7 million in the academy, expanding its TJC West Campus space to 24,000 square feet with the addition of a second floor.

Students earn continuing education hours for courses or certificates of completion from the college while being trained to work at generation, mining and construction operations for Luminant, which operates power plants in nearby Rusk and Titus counties.

The academy will bring many students to Tyler for training, and they will spend money in Tyler on hotels, food and other amenities.

Dr. Aubrey Sharpe, chamber board chairman, said students participating in an 18-week course will have more than 40 rooms rented at the Holiday Inn Select and the Residence Inn.

Luminant, a subsidiary of Energy Future Holdings Corp., formerly TXU Corp., is a competitive power generation business that includes mining, wholesale marketing and trading, construction and development operations.

The new year is starting strong for new job prospects in the Tyler area.

Tom Mullins, Tyler Economic Development Council president and chief executive officer, said the organization is working with four prospects that could bring about 2,000 jobs, many of them related to technology.

Per standard practice, the companies' identities were kept confidential while negotiations were under way.

A Fortune 100 company that has Tyler on a list of four possible sites visited the city two weeks ago. It could bring about 600 jobs.

Another is a 350-job virtual support center for technology products across the country. Mullins said "virtual" means the company would not lease or construct a building.

It would train employees through Tyler Junior College to work at home, and the jobs would pay well and provide good benefits, he said.

The other two prospects, which could bring about 1,000 more jobs, are local companies centered on technology and engineering.

James S. Hogg Middle School is a step closer to landing a $10,000 grant for a robotics lab.

Goody's Family Clothing in Tyler last week recognized the school as a finalist in its inaugural Good Deeds for Schools grant program. The program is designed to help local schools pay for things they need but cannot afford through regular education funding.

The school's proposal is in the final round of judging at Goody's corporate headquarters. Goody's will present 50 $10,000 grants in April. Recipient schools will also receive volunteer hours from local Goody's store management.

The company received more than 1,000 applications from schools in 20 states. Projects for which they requested assistance included playground needs, technology equipment and updated textbooks and library books.

Goody's will award the grants to K-12 schools in its communities through the program, funded in part by proceeds from the sale of Ashley Judd's new clothing line.

On Oct. 1, 2005, the Tyler Area Builders Association broke a "world's record" in building a 1,637-square-foot house in the Wellington Place community in a little more than two hours.

More than two years later, news about the 2 Hour House is again circulating in the form of a book by local builder and 2005 TABA president Brian Conaway and Jose Feliciano of Feliciano Financial Group.

The new book, "2 Hour House: Leadership from the Ground Up," describes the process of how Conaway and more than 800 volunteers built the house.

It also "serves as a vision-building resource for entrepreneurs and civic leaders and provides tools and support to leaders building their own seemingly impossible visions," according to promotional information for the book.

Construction of the 2-Hour House on Oct. 1 broke a previous record set by a San Diego, Calif., group in 1984. The volunteers honed their skills on a practice home Sept. 17, 2005.

Two weeks later, more than 3,000 spectators witnessed the 2 Hour House's construction, according to TABA information.

The American Red Cross-Smith County Chapter, Azleway Charter School, Bethesda Health Clinic, East Texas Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity of Smith County and People Attempting to Help each received $5,000 from the sale.

Business Editor Greg Junek may be reached at 903-596-6280, or by e-mail at business@tylerpaper.com.

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