For the fiscal year ending in September last year, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development issued a record high 64,300 Work Opportunity Tax Credit certifications to Tennessee employers — a move representing an estimated $232 million in federal income tax savings, according to a department statement.

“The WOTC program is available for use by any for-profit employer, large or small," said Roger Littlejohn state Work Opportunity Tax Credit coordinator. "Some employers are used to thinking they cannot take advantage of the program or that it’s just for larger employers. That is not the case. And a non-profit employer can now take part if the hired employee is from one of five veteran target groups.”

Click here for more information about the target groups, other rules and the application process.

Ground is slated to be broken by late summer on East Side Apartments, to be located at 909 Main St. in East Nashville.

The approximately $7.4 million development, which was announced in late 2012, will feature both a four-story building and for-rent townhomes with their own garages. It will offer 71 units.

Adam Leibowitz, who leads a group of silent investors that created East Side Development Partners LLC for the project, said East Side Apartments (read more here) has remained viable despite rumblings from some that the project had been scrapped.

“After about a six-month delay working through cost constraints, we’re in the process of finalizing our plans and anticipate breaking ground by late summer,” Leibowitz said.

Leibowitz said “site conditions” contributed to the delay. He declined to offer specifics.

“Development takes a long time,” he said. “That’s the nature of this business."

The average per-gallon price of regular gas in Tennessee was $3.26 as of yesterday, once cent more  compared to the figure from the previous week, according to AAA.

In Nashville, the average per-gallon price of regular gas was 3.26 as of Sunday, a once-cent increase compared to the figure from the previous week. (See chart below.)

As of Sunday, the national average price was $3.65, a seven-cent per-gallon increase. More specifically, and to compare to Tennessee, Georgia’s per-gallon average of $3.45 rose one cent.

Similarly, oil prices remained relatively stable nationwide last week, according to AAA The Auto Club Group.

The cost for a barrel of oil closed at $96.02 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, two cents less than the figure from the week prior, AAA reported.

“People who plan to enjoy Memorial Day weekend will likely see stable prices at the pump and shouldn’t expect prices to spike, barring any unforeseen events that endanger fuel supplies," Jessica Brady, AAA spokeswoman, The Auto Club Group, said in a release. “Although gas prices are nearing year-ago levels, they are not expected to deter holiday travelers from enjoying the three-day weekend.”

U.S. output of crude oil rose two weeks ago, pushing supplies to an 82-year high, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

By now, you've likely noticed the Middle Tennessee housing market is going great guns, with sales volume and prices up and inventory down. But locally and nationally, many builders are having a hard time keeping up with demand for new construction. This week's City Paper cover piece by J.R. Lind digs into the finer points of what it takes — and what we don't have right now — to produce another building boom.

To meet the demand Harvard projects for 2013 (1.64 million homes nationwide), more than 2 million more housing-related jobs — in all sectors, including manufacturing of household items like appliances and furniture — will have to be created. They won’t get created overnight.

And that means the people still doing the actual work of building a home can name their price — adding even more to the final price tag of a completed home.

SEE ALSO: Local contractors wrestle with growing worker shortage from last September