Overton Square Marks ‘Billy Joel Day’ Friday

Billy Joel plays FedExForum Friday, March 25. But his music will be heard all over Overton Square Friday on what the entertainment district is calling Billy Joel Day.

Joel’s current concert tour brings him to Memphis for the first time since Lafayette’s Music Room has reopened.

Early in his career, Joel played Lafayette’s in its original 1970s incarnation.

Lafayette’s, 2119 Madison Ave., will feature ticket giveaways to the Friday concert as well as a big screen to show videos of Joel concert footage. Piano players at the Zebra Lounge will take Billy Joel song requests Friday evening and the square’s outdoor sound system will play Joel songs throughout the day.

Joel has been known to take a look around Memphis during his concert stops in the city.

He once followed a concert date at The Pyramid with a jam session on Beale Street.

– Bill Dries

Memphis Bar Opens Summer Law Internships

The Memphis Bar Association is taking applications through Friday, April 1, for its Summer Law Intern Program for minority high school students.

Those selected will shadow attorneys in their workplace from court to depositions for a 60-hour internship from June 6 to July 1. The time will also include group activities among the interns to compare experiences.

Applicants must be minority high school students in good standing and beginning their junior or senior year in August. They must live and attend school in Shelby County. Those who have been interns in the program before are not eligible.

Applications are available for download on the MBA website at memphisbar.org or by contacting the bar association at 901-527-3573, ext. 116.

The deadline to apply is April 1 at 5 p.m.

– Bill Dries

First Tennessee Offering New Business Tech Solutions

First Tennessee Bank is now offering a technology suite of hardware and software offerings to small businesses, aiming to help those businesses capture customer data from sales transactions rather than having to rely on intuition.

The bank is offering Clover hardware and its intelligence software and apps through a new alliance with First Data, a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions. With Clover comes the Clover App Market, one of the fastest-growing point-of-sale app markets, with more than 125 apps designed to help business owners with daily tasks.

First Tennessee West Tennessee president Bruce Hopkins says Clover is essentially like a smartphone for small businesses. That hardware would also replace clunky credit card swipe machines that many businesses use today.

Products in the Clover family First Tennessee will offer include Clover Station, a countertop point-of-sale and business management solution; Clover Mobile, a portable system that enables transactions on the go, whether a business owner is accepting payments tableside or in a register line; Clover Mini, an all-in-one solution to streamline operations; and Clover Go, an EMV card reader for businesses with mobile workforces or entrepreneurs.

– Andy Meek

Boys & Girls Clubs to Host 45th Steak n’ Burger Dinner

The Boys & Girls Clubs Steak n’ Burger Dinner – a tradition that brings Memphis leaders and Boys & Girls Clubs members together for a meal, conversation and inspiration – is returning for its 45th year.

This year’s guest speaker is former NBA star and Memphis Tigers standout Penny Hardaway, who himself is an alumnus of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis. Hardaway attended the Ira Samelson Jr. Club, where, the club points out, “people still remember seeing a sixth-grader in the gym who could dunk on a 10-foot goal.”

The May 3 event begins with VIP reception at 6 p.m. followed by the Steak n’ Burger Dinner at 7 p.m. at Minglewood Hall, 1555 Madison Ave.

Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available at bgcm.org.

– Kate Simone

Commercial Drone Expo at University of Memphis

The University of Memphis and the FedEx Institute of Technology will present a Commercial Drone Expo to be held at the U of M campus on April 9. The event will highlight the commercial applications of drone technology, showcase the uses for the general public and facilitate a dialogue on the positive applications of this emerging technology.

The FedEx Institute of Technology, as a national leader in innovative research and the commercialization of technologies, seeks the best in the industry to participate in the 2016 Drone Expo in an effort to foster the community of UAV commercialization.

The Expo is open to the public and to anyone regardless of their background in the technology.

The event begins at 8:30 a.m. and includes lunch and a keynote address from Dr. Peter Fuhr, Distinguished Scientist of Energy & Environmental Sciences, and Technology Director for the Unmanned Aerial Systems Research Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Registration for the Commercial Drone Expo is $50; students are free. Visit memphis.edu/fedex/droneexpo for more information, including details on becoming a sponsor.

– Don Wade

March for Babies Planned for April 30

March of Dimes kicks off its biggest fundraiser – March for Babies – on Saturday, April 30, at Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Road. Thousands of families and business leaders are expected to join together in the annual event presented by Regional One Health. It is the nation’s oldest walk fundraiser honoring babies born healthy and those who need help to survive and thrive.

Registration begins at 8 a.m., and the walk starts at 9 a.m. March for Babies will include a kids zone, carnival games, refreshments, aerobics and more. To register for the free event, visit www.marchforbabies.org.

Funds raised by March for Babies in Tennessee help support prenatal wellness programs, research grants, neonatal intensive care unit family support programs and advocacy efforts for stronger, healthier babies.

Each week in Tennessee, 240 babies, or 1 in 8, are born prematurely; Memphis has the highest rate of infant mortality in the country; in 2015, Tennessee earned a grade of “D” from its premature birth rate of 12.5 percent; nationally, more than 500,000 babies are born prematurely and 120,000 babies are born with a birth defect each year; birth defect have been the leading cause of infant mortality for the past 20 years, accounting for 1 in 5 infant deaths.

– Don Wade

Southaven Chamber Buys New Headquarters

The Southaven Chamber of Commerce is moving to a new property at 500 Stateline Road.

The Chamber has co-located with the city of Southaven for nearly 20 years and now will own and operate its own building less than a mile away.

Carmen Kyle, executive director for the Southaven Chamber, said that an increase in membership led to a need for larger, more versatile space.

The 3,600-square-foot building will house a renovated conference room, business center and patio.

Jim Brown with Brown Properties represented the chamber in the purchase, and Arthur Malkin of Malkin Management & Investment Co. represented the seller.

F&F Construction is contracted for the building renovations.

The Chamber expects to move by May 23.

– Madeline Faber

Tennessee Takes Steps to Prevent Unemployment Fraud

The Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development believes a recently implemented measure to prevent unemployment-benefits fraud could save the state millions of dollars in the first few months.

The department began using LexisNexis InstantID in its unemployment insurance claims process on Dec. 15. The program uses identity analytics that combine billions of public records and advanced linking technology to generate a knowledge-based quiz, designed so only the true applicant would be able to answer the questions.

In the past three months, more than 75,000 people have gone through the verification process, with 80 percent passing. Of the 20 percent who failed, fewer than half actually made contact with the department to correct any issues.

There’s a possibility, the department asserts, that those failing the verification process but not making contact could could have been attempting to file fraudulent claims. If that is the case, the potential cost savings for Tennessee’s trust fund could be as high as $48.6 million in the first few months of operation.

Unemployment insurance fraud is when individuals knowingly collect benefits based on false information. This may occur when an individual continues to work, but reports they are unemployed, or when someone files a claim using a different identity.

– Kate Simone