About Us
Blount County Business News is Blount County’s dedicated source for local business journalism — covering the people, companies, and economic forces shaping life in Maryville, Alcoa, Townsend, Greenback, Louisville, Rockford, and every community in between.
We launched with a simple belief: Blount County’s business community deserves more than passing mentions in regional papers. The entrepreneurs opening new storefronts, the leaders driving economic development, the data behind real estate and retail trends, the rising stars building the next generation of local enterprise — these stories matter, and they deserve to be told with depth, accuracy, and context.
What We Cover
From featured investigations and leader profiles to quick-hit news briefs and by-the-numbers data, we track the full spectrum of business activity across Blount County. Our sections include:
- Featured — In-depth reporting on the issues and trends defining our local economy
- Making Moves — Updates on expansions, openings, closings, and shifts in the business landscape
- Leader Profiles — Conversations with the men and women building Blount County’s future
- Rising Stars — Spotlighting the next generation of local business talent
- Opportunity Files — Resources, grants, and openings for entrepreneurs and investors
- By the Numbers — Data-driven coverage of real estate, permits, new business filings, and economic indicators
- State Government — Tracking legislation and policy that affects Blount County businesses
Locally Owned. Locally Accountable.
BC Business News is published by Open Roads Media LLC, based at 512 W. Broadway Ave. in Maryville. We are independently owned with no outside corporate interests — just a commitment to serving the people and businesses of Blount County with honest, thorough reporting.
We hold ourselves to a published Code of Ethics because we believe local journalism only works when readers trust it. If you have a news tip, a story idea, or a concern about our coverage, we want to hear from you.
The Team
Robert Berlin
Editor/Publisher
My journey in the news business started back in 1987 at the Knoxville News Sentinel while I was still a student at Heritage High School. From there, I continued through UT’s Journalism program, working as a reporter and photojournalist for The Daily Beacon. Those early experiences set the stage for an adventurous career that’s taken me from the Pacific islands to Central America, Alaska, Montana, Missouri back to Tennessee — working as a photojournalist, reporter, editor, and publisher in both military and civilian settings.
After all these years, one thing has remained clear to me: newspapers matter. Our community is stronger when people have access to accurate, verified information — and that’s exactly what we aim to deliver.
At Blount County Business News, our promise is simple. We’ll work hard to serve this community we love. We’ll chase down the facts, double-check them, and present them honestly — so you can form your own opinions based on truth, not noise. We’ll go deeper than anyone else to tell the stories that shape our local economy and daily lives.
We may be a young publication, but our commitment runs deep. Thank you for joining us on this mission to keep Blount County informed, connected, and growing
Mathäus Schwarzen
Reporter
As a three-time Tennessee Press Association honoree, I’ve spent years reporting on Blount County with a focus on clear facts, steady sourcing and the stories that shape everyday life. I’m equally at home with a notebook or a camera, and I try to bring the same straightforward approach to every assignment.
I spent my childhood in the Seattle area and started in journalism in 2019, writing for my college paper in Dayton, Tennessee, where I covered the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students. Since then, I’ve covered several beats in the Blount County area, writing about first responders, courts, businesses and governments at The Daily Times.
I’ve covered developing stories like the 2024 hunt for Deputy Greg McCowan’s killer as well as deep looks at the local justice system and even little-known medical issues affecting families right here in Blount County.
I see journalism as a public service. I ask precise questions, verify the record and make complex issues understandable. At Blount County Business News, my goal is to provide timely, useful coverage — informing you on the businesses and community institutions that keep this county moving.
Kacey Myers
Website Developer
Kacey brings a deep, specialized skillset to ZC: he is a WordPress developer with professional certifications in Search Engine Optimization and Google Ads. Educated in both information technology and web design and development through dual associate degrees, he has spent more than five years building and maintaining high-traffic client websites.
Prior to joining ZC in May 2026, Kacey served as Web Designer and SEO Engineer at Maryville’s Allevia Technology, where he managed a portfolio of more than 75 client websites and personally led the design and build of sites for clients including the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Homegrown National Park, Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church, and others. That experience gave him fluency not just in building beautiful websites, but in maintaining them at scale — handling change requests, performance optimization, and the day-to-day care that keeps a site working as a living asset.
