Business briefs: Cigna Government Services could add jobs, lose others

A Nashville-based company that processes medical claims plans to add 185 jobs here after winning a contract to handle Medicare claims from doctors and hospitals in Kentucky and Ohio.
The contract, awarded to Cigna Government Services after an appeal, is valued at $243 million over five years. It also involves processing home-health and hospice claims from 15 states and the District of Columbia.

But Cigna Government Services also faces the prospect of losing a separate contract to process claims from another region — which could take away other jobs from the Nashville office where an estimated 1,000 people worked last fall. A spokesperson declined to discuss that situation further, citing a pending contract appeal.

— GETAHN WARD

Austin Peay, Ky. school to establish green degree

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky community college and Austin Peay State University have received a $1.2 million grant to assist the two schools in creating a chemical engineering technology degree program focusing on green industries.

The Kentucky New Era reported that the money comes from the Kentucky Work Force Development Board. As part of the grant program, the two colleges signed a dual admissions agreement intended to provide a structured approach for Hopkinsville Community College students who wish to transfer to the Clarksville, Tenn., school.

— ASSOCIATED PRESS

Memphis works to prevent Pinnacle Airlines relocation

MEMPHIS — City leaders are working to keep Pinnacle Airlines Corp. from leaving Memphis by trying to get the company to build a new corporate headquarters.

Pinnacle officials have confirmed that Mississippi officials have made a generous offer for the Memphis-based air passenger carrier to move its offices to Olive Branch. Pinnacle flies more than 740 Delta Connection flights daily to 120 airports, employing more than 4,300 people in the process, according to its website.

— ASSOCIATED PRESS

Owensboro, Ky., seeks ways to lure bluegrass musicians

OWENSBORO, Ky. — The sponsors of a Western Kentucky bluegrass music festival are looking for incentives to prompt musicians to move to Owensboro.

International Bluegrass Music Museum Executive Director Gabrielle Gray and museum board Vice Chairman Terry Woodward told the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer that they are looking at how Paducah brought artists to town as a possible model. The goal, they said, is to create a stable of musicians around the annual River of Music Party. Local officials hope to brand Owensboro as a bluegrass city.

Paducah's Artist Relocation Program offered artists $2,500 plus incentives for moving there to start a business.

— ASSOCIATED PRESS

Home Warranty FAQLaid-off workers lose COBRA health subsidy