Without Nashville, there would be no Trump Tower

Nashville has a special place in the heart — and the $4 billion net worth — of real estate magnate Donald Trump.

Trump told me one of the best deals he’s ever done happened because of Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO), a specialty retailer headquartered in Nashville.

We’re not talking about property Trump bought in Nashville, but instead, property that Genesco owned nearly 900 miles away, in New York City.

In the late 1970s, Trump bought an 11-story building on Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan. Today, it’s…

Pierre Omidyar's Ulupono Initiative, Blue Planet's Henk Rogers invest in Honolulu tech startup

Ulupono Initiative, the Honolulu-based impact investment firm backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, and Hawaii serial entrepreneur Henk Rogers, have recently invested a combined total of $400,000 into Ibis Networks, a Honolulu startup that sells plug-in products and services to help customers manage energy use.

The funding will be used to help Ibis Networks expand the commercial footprint of its flagship InteliNetwork platform, which was launched in October, the startup said.

“Information is…

Judge orders open hearing on Duke Energy’s sealed motion to delay coal-ash sentencing

A federal judge has set an open hearing in Raleigh on Tuesday on Duke Energy’s sealed motion to delay its sentencing hearing in the criminal case involving last year’s coal-ash spill on the Dan River.

U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm Howell had initially set a closed hearing on the motion. But on Friday, he issued a new notice that says, “at the joint request of the parties, the hearing on pending motion(s) shall be in OPEN COURT.”

But the motion itself remained sealed Friday afternoon.

The…

American Transmission plans $25M Franklin-to-Mukwonago power line project

American Transmission Co. plans to spend $25 million rebuilding a 14-mile electric transmission line that runs between Franklin and Mukwonago.

Pewaukee-based American Transmission said Thursday it expects regulatory approval of the project by this fall. Construction would begin in mid-2017 and the lines would be in-service by 2018.

The company said it intends to complete the portion between Big Bend and Mukwonago in early 2018, and the portion between Big Bend and Franklin in late spring 2018.

American…

Blackboard acquires UK-based education company

Just weeks after completing its acquisition of educational content management company Schoolwires, District-based Blackboard Inc. has acquired Remote-Learner UK, an online educational hosting and consulting company based in London.

It is Blackboard’s latest investment in open-source solutions since it acquired Moodlerooms and NetSpot in 2012.

Remote-Learner’s customers are mostly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It offers enrollment management tools, notifications, reports and analytics,…