Memphis Magazine - April 2020 by Contemporary Media

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3/19/20 7:04 AM

Transforming the standard in health care education.

Utilizing state-of-the-art technology, innovation is at the forefront of our mission to transform health care, education, research, clinical care, and public service.

uthsc.edu

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3/16/20 1:19 PM

WESTIN MEMPHIS BEALE STREET RENOVATION IS NOW COMPLETE

ENHANCEMENTS INCLUDE TECHNOLOGY, MEMPHIS-CENTRIC DESIGN ELEMENTS

estin Memphis Beale Street is proud to announce the completion of a $5 million modernization of the property’s shared and private spaces. From the time guests enter until they leave, they will experience a space reimagined with contemporary elegance and subtle hints of Memphis style. During your visit, you may notice the following changes including updated accommodations in our 203 Guest Rooms with new furniture, vinyl, carpeting and drapes. We have added mobile check-in and card touch technology to guest room doors for convenience. Our Lobby/Bar is now adorned with elevated design including a more open ﬂoorpan with new furniture, art and drumstick chandeliers. For those musically inclined guests, we offer a unique form of room service that allows our guests an electric Gibson guitar, amp and headphones to “rock out” in the privacy of their room. Jay Etkin of of Etkin Gallery lead the charge of commissioning local artists artists Pam Cobb and Nathan Yoakam to complete works for the property to reinforce ties to Memphis music and history.

“We began updating our property with Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood Hotels in September 2016, integrating Marriott’s technologies.” Says Westin Memphis Beale Street co-owner Glenn Malone. “Once completed, we were able to focus on refreshing the design and functionality of our shared and individual spaces. Design and functionality were the driving forces in these plans.” continues co-owner Glenn Malone. “Garrett Mathieu of Senate Hospitality and his team developed an unrivaled practical contemporary design and elevated it with a Memphis-centric style. Memphis is a unique city and our music is our second language!”

co-working space in the lobby, complete with available wired and wireless connection, desktop computers, charging stations and additional wall outlets. If you haven’t been in a while, see what we’ve done. Whether a leisure traveler, business traveler or convention guest, we encourage you to book your next meeting or overnight stay NOW and come take a peek at the newly renovated Westin Memphis Beale Street for yourself.

To further enhance our guests’ experiences, we have refreshed our meeting rooms overlooking Downtown Memphis and our ballrooms, which can accommodate up to 300 guests, each with new vinyl, carpeting and furniture. Our workout room touts updated wallpaper, more free weights and new, state-ofthe-art equipment. We have created a

The Westin Memphis Beale Street • 170 Lt. George W. Lee Ave., Memphis, TN 38103 • Marriott.com/memwi

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3/19/20 10:50 AM

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3/12/20 12:32 PM

WINDYKE COUNTRY CLUB

Family. Friends. Memories.

GOLF • TENNIS • SWIMMING • DINING 8535 Winchester Road

(901)754-1888 | windyke.com

Call today to arrange a private tour of your new club.

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T:8"

T:9.875"

Make today “the day.” 4

MODELS

STARTING UNDER

37,000*

Mercedes-Benz of Collierville 4651 S. Houston Levee Road, Collierville, TN (901) 316-3535 www.mbcollierville.com

Mercedes-Benz of Memphis 5389 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN (901) 345-6211 www.mbofmemphis.com

2020 GLA 250 shown in Jupiter Red paint, MY20 GLB 250 shown in Mountain Grey metallic paint, MY20 A 220 shown in Polar White paint and MY20 CLA 250 shown in Sun Yellow paint. Optional equipment shown. *Starting MSRP $32,800 for a 2020 A 220 Sedan, $36,650 for a 2020 CLA 250 Coupe, $34,250 for a 2020 GLA 250 SUV, $36,600 for a 2020 GLB 250 SUV. MSRP excludes taxes, license, title, registration fees, transportation charge and dealer prep. Options, model availability and actual dealer price may vary. See dealer for details about costs and terms. ©2020 Authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealers For more information, call 1-800-FOR-MERCEDES, or visit MBUSA.com.

HEADLINE: 32 pt.

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200 Varick St. New York, NY 10014 : Phone 212-805-7500

3/12/20 12:36 PM

W E L C O M E

T O . . .

G E R M A N T O W N ’ S

N E W E S T

G A T E D

C O M M U N I T Y

Allelon (pronounced al-lay’-lone) is nestled behind the forest at McVay and Messick and combines a natural secluded setting with a perfect Germantown/East Memphis location. Behind the gates, in the shade of old growth canopy, fifty exquisitely crafted homes will line winding, selfcontained streets. The setting feels rustic, but owners in Allelon are only minutes away from upscale shopping, numerous corporate headquarters, healthcare and schools. Germantown’s award-winning schools and the area’s most prestigious private schools – including MUS, Hutchison, Lausanne – are all just around the corner. Family-sized lots begin below $200,000 in Germantown.

FIND YOUR FAMILY’S SPOT IN THIS NEW GATED COMMUNITY – ALLELON - AT THE HEART OF IT ALL. MM_FullPage_TrimSize_9x25_11x125.indd 1

Gary Thompson (901)-766-4246 garyt@boyle.com

3/18/20 2:19 PM

V O L X LV N O 1 | APRIL 2020

Features

18 IRIS: An Orchestra in Full Bloom

38 Up Front 10 12 14 17

Let’s Stay Together

38 Making His Mark

The murals of Michael “Birdcap” Roy reflect a highly personal world.

~ by maya smith

43 901 HEALTH

Joint Effort

CITY BEAT

Improvements in knee replacement procedures mean faster recovery and better results. ~ by julia baker

49 48

STAYCATION

INTROSPECTIVE

Special Sections FAITH AND WORSHIP GUIDE

Memphis (ISSN 1622-820x) is published monthly for $18 per year by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 © 2020. Telephone: 901-521-9000. For subscription info, please call 901-521-9000. Subscription customer service mailing address is Memphis magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. All rights reserved. • Periodicals Postage Paid at Memphis, TN. Postmasters: send address changes to Memphis, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Two new boutique hotels energize South Main Street for locals and visitors alike. ~ by pamela denney

IN THE BEGINNING WE SAW YOU

Under the direction of maestro Michael Stern, Germantown’s Iris Orchestra looks forward to its next 20 years. ~ by alex greene

on the cover: Downtown Memphis as seen from above South Main Street.

113

LOCAL TREASURES

Larry Dodson

Funkmaster on the move. ~ by anthony hicks GARDEN VARIETY

Stuck at Home? Time to Garden. A continuation of last month’s column, “Selecting Plants for Wet Shade.” ~ by john a. jennings

116 ASK VANCE

Three Sisters Our trivia expert solves local mysteries of who, what, when, where, why, and why not. ~ by vance lauderdale

118 CITY DINING

The city’s most extensive dining listings.

128 LAST STAND

History Unfolding Before Our Eyes A Rhodes College senior shares his thoughts about his last days on the campus. ~ by matthew harris

59 POWER PLAYERS 105 SOCIETY OF ENTREPRENEURS

110 THE OFFICE

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105

110

APRIL 2020 • MEMPHISMAGA ZINE.COM • 7

3/20/20 6:04 PM

Memphis THE CI T Y M AGAZI N E

General Excellence Grand Award Winner City and Regional Magazine Association 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014

CEO AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF anna traverse fogle EXECUTIVE EDITOR michael finger MANAGING EDITOR frank murtaugh SENIOR EDITORS shara clark, jon w. sparks ASSOCIATE EDITOR samuel x. cicci ARTS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR anne cunningham o’neill FOOD EDITOR pamela denney CONTRIBUTING EDITORS jesse davis, michael donahue,

vance lauderdale, maya smith EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS tyra bridges, alex greene,

matthew j. harris, anthony hicks, john a. jennings, chris mccoy EDITORIAL ASSISTANT julia baker CALENDAR EDITOR julie ray EDITORIAL INTERN matthew j. harris

EDITOR jon w. sparks ASSOCIATE EDITOR samuel x. cicci EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS tom jones, andy meek,

emily keplinger, david waddell

CREATIVE DIRECTOR brian groppe PRODUCTION OPERATIONS DIRECTOR margie neal SENIOR ART DIRECTOR carrie beasley ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR christopher myers GRAPHIC DESIGNERS rachel li, bryan rollins PHOTOGRAPHERS lisa buser, brandon dill, justin fox

burks, michael donahue, karen pulfer focht, anna traverse fogle, jamie harmon, larry kuzniewski, annie martin, david mcgee, bryan rollins, michael roy, maya smith, andrea zucker

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE sloane patteson taylor ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES kelli dewitt, chip googe,

michelle musolf, christine palm, tabitha wadkins, jacob woloshin CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING MANAGER deshaune mcghee ADVERTISING COORDINATOR jasmine garner SALES/MARKETING INTERN kaylee buscher

published by contemporary media, inc. memphis, tennessee

THE EMBASSY APARTMENTS A

DAT T E L

R E A LT Y

PROPERTY

“Luxury and Location”

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CONTROLLER ashley haeger CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER jeffrey a. goldberg DIGITAL SERVICES DIRECTOR kristin pawlowski CIRCULATION & ACCOUNTING MANAGER lynn sparagowski MARKETING & CIRCULATION COORDINATOR kalena mckinney SPECIAL EVENTS DIRECTOR molly willmott EVENTS COORDINATOR tabitha wadkins

4 &7

PUBLISHER EMERITUS kenneth neill

april 2020

member: City and Regional Magazine Association member: Circulation Verification Council

8 • MEMPHISMAGA ZINE.COM • APRIL 2020

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3/20/20 6:04 PM

See Where It Takes You

stlouisunionstation.com

Discover the St. Louis Aquarium, Ropes Course, Carousel and more when you stay at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel.

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3/19/20 7:05 AM

IN THE BEGINNING | by anna traverse fogle

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his letter will be obsolete by the time you read it. I’m coming to you from the distant past, otherwise known as March 20, 2020. As of today, 30 cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in the Memphis area. More are sure to come, and soon, now that we are seeing community transmission. Most months, I turn over this letter to our art department for design with days to spare before our deadline. This time around, I’ve waited until the last possible moment: We ship files to the printer today. I was hoping that, by now, some clarity might have arrived about where we are, collectively, and where we’re going. To the extent any clarity has emerged, all it’s revealed in the gathering darkness is how little we know. When will we find ourselves on the other side of all this social distancing, economic cratering; all this fear and anxiety; all this uncertainty? Who knows. I used to tell a story about myself that I was comfortable living in uncertain, ambiguous, liminal spaces. Intellectually, I suppose that might have been true. But not like this. I’m not that advanced. A few days ago, in the late afternoon, my husband, stepson, dog, and I — in need of fresh air and a break from the house — drove to see the cherry trees in bloom on Cherry Road, next to the Memphis Botanic Garden. A perfect early spring day, all light breezes and fresh scents and clear light. A perfect early spring day, but I have never been so uneasy taking a little stroll beneath cherry blossoms. We veered away from golfers on the cart path across the way; turned in our tracks when we saw another family coming in our direction; waited for several long minutes for an older man to pull his set of clubs from the trunk of his car, which he’d had the audacity to park but a few feet from ours. None of us knows when, but we will emerge from this moment, or this long string of moments. We’ll be different. Anxiety will linger, for some. For many, things we took for granted — movies, theater, dining out, buying toilet paper — will seem newly luxurious. Newly lucky. We’ll have to get used to each other again. For everyone working remotely, as our team is now, it will be an adjustment to get up, put on our shoes, and drive to the office. For the kids, it will be an adjustment to walk through school doors again, sit in little desks, and

focus for precise periods of time. I know we will adjust, gratefully. Students may never have realized, until these last few weeks, just how much they actually do like going to school. Colleagues who ordinarily annoy each other suddenly miss each other, like relatives in faraway cities. I suspect there will be moments of hesitation, too — we won’t soon unlearn the habit of keeping six feet apart. Memphis is a monthly magazine, so our content is planned far in advance. April happens to be billed as our “staycation” issue. This now feels terribly ironic and just a little bit perfect. When we initially realized that COVID-19 was on its way, we thought, well, hmm, that might just work — people won’t want to travel, but they’ll be looking for a few things to do here at home. Even that has changed. Effective the day I am writing this, Mayor Jim Strickland has mandated that all area restaurants close their dining rooms, moving to carry-out and delivery services only. Museums have closed their doors, encouraging would-be visitors to tour their galleries virtually (#museumathome). Memphians won’t be seeing any movies or live theater or live music for a while. Not much is normal. But there will be another side to all this. That I know for certain. I can’t tell you when it will come, or what will have changed by the time we get there. But there will come a day when you can, once again, take a seat in a downtown restaurant and enjoy a perfect brasserie meal (p. 26), or go bowling (p. 34), or gawk at the weirdness of chicken $#!+ bingo (p. 36). It will happen. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy this magazine for the vision of Memphis it offers, and for the ideas it sparks in you for how to enjoy this city once we climb out of this strange springtime hibernation. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and the people you love. We’re in this together. – Anna Traverse Fogle CEO and Editor-in-Chief

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNA TRAVERSE FOGLE

Ask Questions. Get Answers!

A Strange Springtime Hibernation

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Chapter eight of a book you can’t put down. Eight generations in, the story of the 911 is as compelling as ever. With 443-horsepower and 8-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung transmission working in tandem to accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. A modern, muscular take on the iconic 911 silhouette. It’s a story that won’t end anytime soon, and rest assured you’ll never want it to.

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3/16/20 1:28 PM

WE SAW YOU

Bishop Grand Opening c e n t r a l s tat ion ho t e l | f e b rua ry 2 2, 2 0 2 0

with michael donahue

ishop, the new restaurant from Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, held its grand opening with masks, face painting, a stilt walker, a burlesque show, and a fire breather. The restaurant, a 3,500-square-foot space in the Central Station Hotel on the corner of South Main and G.E. Patterson, was named after the late Church of God in Christ Bishop G.E. Patterson. It serves French brasserie-style food in an upscale environment. Ticer and Hudman shed their chef’s jackets and wore tuxedos as they mingled with their wives, Karie Ticer and Katie Hudman, at the party, which was held in the restaurant as well as the Central Station Hotel ballroom. The event, which drew 300 people, was a fundraiser for Southern Foodways Alliance. The event also included Opera Memphis performances. One of those performers, Jake Stamatis, delivered dramatic selections from Puccini and Bizet.

1 Ali and Brian Manning 2 Katie and Michael Hudman 3 Andy and Karie Ticer 4 Chris Gordon and Wilda Jeans 5 Taylor and Deanna Collumns 6 Tate and Webb Wilson 7 Jake Stamatis 8 Nick Talarico 9 Ryan Jenniges and Hannah Shettles 10 Lacey and Richard Hudman 11 Sarah and David Thompson

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3/20/20 10:52 AM

Youth Villages Soup Sunday f e de x f oru m | f e b rua ry 23 , 2 0 2 0

with michael donahue

oup’s on” in a big way at Youth Villages Soup Sunday. This year’s event, the 31st, was no exception.. About 3,000 people attended the event, where guests got a chance to sample soup as well as bread, desserts, and other delights from more than 50 restaurants and caterers. “Youth Villages raised over $65,000 this year benefiting our Chris Crye Mentoring Program,” says Katie Jones, Youth Villages director of West Tennessee development. “This program means so much to our youth. It provides them with the kind of guidance, care, and support that all young people need.” Youth Villages CEO Patrick Lawler kicked off the festivities by ringing a dinner bell at 11 a.m. The VIP Souper Party in the Forum’s Pinnacle level featured exclusive specialty items and adult beverages. The event also included live music, face painting, inflatables, and appearances by local team mascots.

1 Richard Shaw, Jimmy Lackie, and Fred Burns 2 Jay Johnson and Necia Caldwell 3 Trileka and Marcus Askew, Bobby Smith and Shalonda Adams 4 Jessie, Dalton, and Brian Maxwell 5 Maggie Esnard, Emily Weatherly, Kristen Waddell, Patrick Horne, and Michelle Pao-Levine 6 DJ Naylor, John Taylor Hood, and Valerie Hawkes 7 Brandon Herbers 8 Meredith Fentress Charleston and Audrey Edinbourgh 9 Patrick Lawler and Allison Nolan 10 Shirley Yancey and Deborah Durham 11 Wanda Clayborn and Lexi Milton

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INTROSPECTIV E

Our Pivot Point The world won’t be the same after the current pandemic. Neither will we.

PHOTOGRAPH BY NASA

by frank murtaugh

orld-changing events are rare, to say the least. But when we experience them — when we live them — the world-changing nature of the event is overwhelming. I count four of these events over my 51 years, “game changers” that took place before the current pandemic that has, indeed, altered our world. I’ve found myself measuring what’s to come by, in part, reflecting on how mankind reacted to the other pivot points of my lifetime. I barely arrived in time for the Apollo 11 moon landing (July 20, 1969). But I grew up in a world — on a planet — that was merely part of something larger, and reachable by mankind. My parents shared children’s books about astronauts. The textbooks

I read included Neil Armstrong among history’s most famous Americans. When the first Space Shuttle took flight (in 1981), the news entered my young mind, but didn’t force me to pause from that afternoon’s baseball practice. Humans fly in outer

space. It’s what we do. When the Challenger exploded (in 1986), it sure as hell made me pause. Because the “custom” of space flight is never easy, never entirely safe, no matter how normal it might feel. Watergate changed everything between American government and the media, and thus it changed the way the world interpreted the U.S. mission, the grand experiment of democracy (in the form of a republic). I learned about U.S. presidents with Richard Nixon’s resignation as the floor for standards. Eight presidents had died in office (four of them assassinated), but only Nixon’s forced departure exposed

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our country’s highest office to be one in which misbehavior would be held accountable. The Oval Office is no throne and a president’s decisions — to say nothing of his or her actions — must adhere to the larger mission of this country . . . or things fracture. Witness the current presidency. I was a junior in college when the Berlin Wall crumbled, the literal destruction starting in the fall of 1989. I’ve always credited West Germany as much as Ronald Reagan or Mikhail Gorbachev for the fall of communism. The allure of choices, freedom, even luxury are too strong in the human psyche for a communist state to survive. Russia and China today are fascist states using a communist playbook. Communism is as dead as Norma Bates.

You find the house, we’ll help make it your home.

I barely arrived in time for the Apollo 11 moon landing (July 20, 1969). But I grew up in a world — on a planet — that was merely part of something larger, and reachable by mankind. The fourth pivot point in my lifetime was the concerted terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The United States — the idea, as much as the geographic region — became a target, and one susceptible to large-scale violence. No trenches to dig, no conventional bombs necessary. Those determined to kill in the name of a higher calling (however defined) live among us. Air travel will never feel as comfortable as it did on September 10, 2001. And “making the world safe against terrorism” has become somewhat of an oxymoron. Which brings us to 2020, a year that may be remembered for other happenings, but will be known for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, the pandemic that brought the concept of human extinction way too close to our front doorstep. Surely we’ll find a way to prevail as a species, but how significantly will our “herd” be thinned? How will “normal” be defined if we return to a version, any version? The most human act of compassion — a hug — may now be considered . . . dangerous? It’s too much to consider, at least now with social distancing part of our world’s cure. We are living a pivot point, the fifth of my lifetime. We’ll remember it, however many days we have left. Be smart, be safe. Be both patient and determined. Most importantly, empathize. When the world changes, we all change together.

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901.682.1868 www.Marx-Bensdorf.com A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • 15

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A3 million miles away5

Give mom a Gould’s Staycation.

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3/19/20 2:07 PM

CITY BEAT

A Walking Miracle Autism is no barrier to achievement.

photograph by karen pulfer focht

April is Autism Awareness Month, which seems like the right time to salute Jayden Hardaway. The University of Memphis basketball player — and son of Penny Hardaway — struggled as a child with autism, but has emerged as an active member of one of the most visible enterprises in the Bluff City. Jayden’s lone start last season came on February 1st at FedExForum, the Tigers’ “Autism Speaks” game against Connecticut. Jayden’s father described him as “a walking miracle.”

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3/12/20 12:14 PM

IRIS AN ORCHESTRA IN FULL BLOOM

Conrad Tao performs the debut of “Spoonful,” a work commissioned by Iris Orchestra for Memphis’ bicentennial last year. 18 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • A P R I L 2 0 2 0

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UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MAESTRO MICHAEL STERN, GERMANTOWN’S I R I S O R C H E S T R A LOOKS FORWARD TO ITS NEXT 20 YEARS.

a l e x

g r e e n e

ith so many events celebrating the Bluff City’s bicentennial centered on the month of May 2019, from exhibits to parades and beyond, one might be forgiven for missing one especially artful tribute to the occasion that came as late as January of this year, and lasted less than 14 minutes. It didn’t technically occur in Memphis at all, but at the Germantown Performing Arts Center, is a testament to both cities’ affinities. The fact that this work of music was chief ly inspired by a Mississippi blues singer made it somehow even more Memphian. The Mississippi Delta, they say, begins in the lobby of The Peabody, and that same fanciful geography could apply to our shared music as much as anything: Outside the Peabody’s back door, all alleys lead to Beale Street. And thus this new work, inspired by Charlie Patton’s 1929 recording of “A Spoonful Blues,” resonated deeply with local history. First heard by an audience at the dawn of Memphis’ 201st year, “Spoonful,” by composer and pianist Conrad Tao, was commissioned and premiered by Iris Orchestra specifically in honor of the city’s bicentennial. The work was a remarkable use of orchestral textures in unorthodox ways, as waves of harmony faded in and out into silence, only to be punctuated by sudden timpani hits, whimsical stray notes, or Tao’s inventive pianistic excursions, at times creating a kind of abstracted barrelhouse version of the original Patton song. That the city’s early history was so bound up with the spoonsful of cocaine and other sins mentioned in the song put Tao’s piece on the cutting

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

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edge of both musical and historical imagination, a truly world class synthesis of inf luences. Indeed, this can be said of Iris Orchestra itself. The enthusiasm and alacrity with which the Iris players threw themselves into the composition, not to mention the Haydn symphony and Brahms piano concerto that bookended it that night, spoke to a collective love of Memphis made all the more remarkable by the fact that almost none of the musicians live here. Rather, Tao’s music, as performed by Iris, presented a vision of Memphis as others see it.

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IRIS

for how the group was assembled from a global roster of players. nd that, in a sense, is Our membership is from all over the what Iris has always been United States,” says Stern, “and some about. As the city was people who have been playing with us for celebrating its 200th year, the 15 or 20 years are even living in Europe, orchestra was celebrating its 20th. time their vacations so they’ll be free Like Memphis, the orchestra’s “One of the most striking aspects and to come back and play with us. That kind achievement has been greater than of loyalty and dedication is pretty impressimply thriving for a set number of is Beethoven’s use of silence. sive, and it shows. Because there’s camayears; it has been championing inraderie among the players that’s unusual. novation throughout that time. For His pauses are among the most You could say we fly them in from all over, GPAC’s resident group was itself but it’s not a pick-up group. It’s a central an innovation. pregnant voids in the universe; family, a pool of players, from which we Michael Stern, son of iconcontinually draw, all of whom have estabic violinist Isaac Stern and Iris’ like the emptiness of space, lished ties to Memphis.” conductor, puts it this way: “Orplayers’ ties to Memphis are ganizationally, there’s really no fi lled with the power of magnetic yetThe another innovation which sets Iris orchestra like it. We started as the For every concert weekend of only municipally funded orchestensions, set up in like manner by apart. the season, the musicians f ly in from tra in the United States. That was far and wide, but hotel rooms are neialready groundbreaking. And I give the mass of each heavenly body.” ther provided nor expected. Instead, huge credit to the Germantown a collection of host families welcomes Board of Aldermen and GPAC and — y e h u di m e n u h i n them into their homes. These families, Patrick Lawton, for having taken a as music lovers par excellence, thrive chance on starting such a thing and on the encounters, as do the musicians. maintaining it.” Carlos Rubio, who teaches violin at West Chester University outside PhiladelIt seemed like an improbable proposition when phia and plays with the Dali Quartet there, has traveled to join ensembles elseit all began. At the time, Stern explains, “I was not where, but finds the Iris experience especially rewarding. “Usually, if you do an orlooking for anything. I was the music director of an chestra performance, it’s a little bit more like a business,” he says. “There’s nothing orchestra in Germany, and just by happenstance, wrong with that. You go, you rehearse, you play, thank you very much, and you get I was engaged as a guest conductor for this gala the check a week later. It can be an amazing experience, too, but ...” that the then-director of GPAC, Albert Pertalion, His thoughts are immediately taken up by Julie Schap, who, with husband had organized, with Yo-Yo Ma as a soloist. I didn’t Keith, has played host to Iris musicans for years. “It’s much more personal,” she know anything about Tennessee, Memphis, Gersays. “When Carlos comes back to our place from an Iris rehearsal, he will tell mantown, GPAC, nothing. And Albert then said he us a little bit about what happened, and get us very excited about the upcoming had the idea of having some kind of resident group concert: what the music is like, the composition, the programming. Then, immein the building. And I said, ‘Yeah, sure, like that’s diately after the concert, he wants to know what we thought about it. And we talk going to happen.’” so much about it the next day. The main thing is, we never want Iris to stop.” That it did indeed happen is all the more remarkSchap knows the value of such exchanges better than anyone, given the impact able not only for its provenance and organization, but

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makes a difference, I think.” visiting musicians like Rubio have had on the life and career of her son. “When Iris cross-pollination — is evident in its boldly Iris first came in being, it was a real surprise. Even people that play in the Meminnovative programming, of which Stern is justifiably phis Symphony didn’t know Iris was going to be launched in 2000,” she says. “That proud. “A lot of American composers have written for was the amazing thing. Sold out seasons year after year after year. And my son us really successfully,” he says. “It’s really gratifying was about to be a sophomore in high school. The only way we could see Iris was to to look back and see how many contemporary comgo to the dress rehearsals. And he now is a college professor in music. And so that posers we’ve either commissioned or programmed. mattered, hearing the Iris Orchestra.” And, I have to say, our list of soloists is surpassed by The host families inspire the musicians as well. Cellist Jesus Morales, a colnobody.” Conrad Tao, only recently hitting his quarleague of Rubio’s at West Chester, has also stayed with the Schaps when visiting ter-century mark, combines the two, being both a for Iris. “Having a home completely changes your perspective,” he says. “Because it virtuoso pianist (and violinist) and one of the convendoesn’t feel as cold, where you just come in to a hotel room and go back and forth. tion defying composers featured by Iris. We actually stay with a family. We meet new people, and I can’t wait to come back He’s in good company. None other than the legendevery time, because I just want to see them. And that makes the musical experiary violinist Yehudi Menuhin has commented about ence even more exciting.” another composer featured by Iris this year (whose Beyond these very personal encounters, the Iris musicians give back to the youthful works have also gained acclaim), describing community in more structured ways as well. As Stern puts it, “We have kept true the artist as “an explorer in search of first causes.... to our mission, re-thinking how an orchestra could engage with the community. One of the most striking aspects is his use of silence. Certainly over the years, with all the outreach engagement that we’ve done in the His pauses are among the most pregnant voids in the community, the number of master classes, the level of soloists that we brought, universe; like the emptiness of space, they are filled and now of course our Iris Artist Fellows program, we just wanted to make the with the power of magnetic tensions, case for music and the arts, especially set up in like manner by the mass of for young people, in Germantown and “I think especially in this day each heavenly body.” the Mid-South.” Since those groundbreaking early Rubio notes that “the orchestra reand age, more and more we need works, the young man has come to hearses from Thursday through Saturbe respected more and more widely. day. But prior to that, there is a lot of to be advocates for those things Perhaps you have heard of Ludwig education. We go to schools and nursing van Beethoven. From 2019-2020, homes. We do a lot of other activities.” that we believe are important, ensembles and soloists the world over have been saluting the anniversary of ll of the above, it would and for arts and music there has his birth, 250 years ago this year. It’s seem, makes for a dynamic among a span of centuries, yet they seem to the players that is unique in the never been a more urgent time melt away when it comes to the powclassical world. Stern emphasizes that er and relevance of Beethoven. And “it’s a completely democratic experiwhen advocacy and activism on Iris has joined the global celebrations ence. The person playing concertmaster wholeheartedly. One weekend of in one concert might play in the back all levels is important.” concerts last December, featuring of the second violin in the next. The the Zukerman Trio, was devoted person playing second oboe on the first exclusively to the composer’s works. half will play first oboe on the second — m ich a e l st e r n The weekend with Tao was no difhalf, and so forth. So there’s no comferent, with the regular Sunday conpetitiveness. There’s just this feeling of cert series of chamber music, Iris at coming together and making the best the Brooks, bringing works by both music possible.” Tao and Beethoven to Midtown. For Marcia Kaufmann, the nonprofit’s Morales, who performed Beethoven’s executive director, notes that “unlike Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major with most orchestras, the audition process is Tao that day, the continuity from overseen by the players, not by Michael. one youthful maverick to the next For the most part it’s an ensemble-led was of a piece with Iris’ commitment project. But it’s not just talent and the to innovation. music that you hear onstage, it’s these “Both Conrad and I are amazed connections and these projects that at the fact that this piece is so early. everybody’s involved in, and the cross 1796,” he says. “He was 26 years old. pollination, and staying current with He was still quite young, about the the music scene around the country. It

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IRIS

chestra, ever morphing while staying true same age as Conrad is now. And to its vision, moves on. Acclaimed violinist the other compositions coming out Anne-Akiko Meyers will join the group in at that time were nowhere near or March, and in May the orchestra will feaeven similar to what Beethoven did. ture violinist Nancy Zhou, who, like Tao, is Right now we’re enjoying this piece, still in her twenties. It’s all in keeping with but if you heard three other pieces Iris’ commitment to both the history and of that time period and then heard the youth of classical music. this, then you could really hear how The latter concert will also feature a this cello sonata is out of this world. new work, Jonathan Leshnoff ’s “Score,” Nothing that he did was expected. commissioned by Iris, for Iris, in honor of He broke every single rule. And to its own 20th anniversary. “We have a rathme, he still feels like he’s new.” er happy confluence of anniversaries,” says This was especially apparent Stern, and there’s an even more personal when Tao continued the Brooks aspect to it than one might suppose. Museum of Art concert with a solo “We have kept true to our mission, “Aside from our anniversary, there’s also work of his own, “All I had forgotthe anniversary of my father, Isaac Stern, ten or tried to,” a wide-ranging, re-thinking how an orchestra who would have been 100,” he says. “He dynamic piece that saw him reachwas a towering figure in American musical ing into the piano’s guts to pluck could engage with the community and cultural life. I like the idea of being a the strings at times, then segued good son and honoring my dad, but it’s not without pause into Beethoven’s with all the outreach engagement about that. It goes beyond that. With his Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, aka bully pulpit, he really put his money where “The Tempest.” that we’ve done in the community. his mouth was, and stood up for music and As Tao noted in his comments for the arts in a very impactful way. Aside to the audience, juxtaposing the We just wanted to make the case from saving Carnegie Hall, which he’s old and new “has been a pet trick very well known for, he helped convince in my program for a while now. I for music and the arts, especially the powers that be to form the National love programming. I think that it’s Endowment for the Arts. He advocated for like a kind of composition, where for young people, in Germantown music in public school systems all the time. you get to stitch together a kind of He tirelessly worked for higher music edstructure, you get to imply connecand the Mid-South.” ucation across the board, not just specialtions without really having to force ized professional education. He mentored them. In this case, I think my piece — m ich a e l st e r n some of the greatest young players of his is playing a lot with resonance and time. And he was always advocating the space, and the first movement of idea of the primacy of art and music in our lives as Americans. I think that legacy the ‘Tempest’ is really all about that. It’s constantly is real and important and deserves to be remembered. veering between these almost frenetic bursts of “What we are trying to do is salute, in our twentieth year, the various ways we motion and these eerie moments of stillness. One real have been meaningful to the community,” Stern continues. “I think especially in hope is that, by juxtaposing old and new works, we this day and age, more and more we need to be advocates for those things that we listen for the experimental spirit in Beethoven. Some believe are important, and for arts and music there has never been a more urgent of the sounds in the Beethoven piece, some of the time when advocacy and activism on all levels is important.” pedal stuff in the first movement, might sound exotic Such sentiments express perfectly the paradox of Iris, an ensemble of non-Memand strange. But I promise you, it’s all in the score.” phians devoted to Memphis, an organism fed by roots reaching around the planet, connecting the local to the global in thousands of unforeseen networks, yet built t’s but a moment in the two decades on the simple charms of hospitality found in the hearths and homes of the Midworth of innovation that Iris represents, and South. That the inspiration has worked both ways, feeding the talents and minds then, before you know it, it is over, living on only of both local youth and world-class musicians alike, is an encouraging sign that in the hearts and minds of listeners. And yet the acts of wonder and good faith, constantly reinvented, have a place in this world. living, breathing organism we know as the Iris Or-

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3/19/20 10:39 AM

y a St s Let ’ r e h t e Tog

Two new boutique hotels

energize South Main Street

for locals and visitors alike.

by pamela denney | photographs by justin fox burks

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E D I T O R’S N O T E : As we go to press with our Staycation package, there are an unprecedented number of closings due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We encourage everyone to be safe and take every necessary precaution. When the time comes to get out and enjoy the city again, please call locations to confirm their hours of operation. Thank you.

CENTRAL STATION HOTEL

Revives Downtown’s heartbeat with music, cocktails, and French food.

o experience the full impact of the beautifully renovated Central Station, start at the hotel’s entrance, located on the elevated track where Amtrak’s City of New Orleans passenger train stops every day. The train that connects Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans — all significant music cities — is a reminder of the building’s storied past when more than 50 trains arrived and departed from the Illinois Central Railroad headquarters. Enter the building, constructed in 1914, and historic reminders like original terrazzo, terracotta trim, stone colonnades, and heavy oak benches burnished by age mix seamlessly with the contemporary trappings of a boutique

hotel, open since October. Musical references abound, as well, thanks in large part to Memphis native McLean Wilson, a principal of the hotel’s Kemmons Wilson development company, who insisted on highlighting the city’s music heritage. Along with decorative tie-ins like music books and vintage speakers, the hotel’s customized sound system, designed locally by Jim Thompson at EgglestonWorks, is key. So is a collection of 4,000 vinyl records — all Memphis-centric — used for hotel playlists and local and national DJs, explains Chad Weekley, the hotel’s music curator. “There are lots of six degrees of separation in the record collection,” he says, “but the music is all connected to Memphis, some way, somehow.”

Along with a lounge and live DJ spinning Memphis-centric music, Eight & Sand inside the Central Station Hotel offers a private listening room tucked behind the bar. “The room features a pair of $40,000 speakers from EgglestonWorks and is open to everyone,” says music curator Chad Weekley.

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French classics with contemporary updates, such as beef tartare and the Grand Aioli crudité plate served by Allison Hultman, shape the dinner and lunch menus at Bishop, the only French restaurant in downtown Memphis. Floor sommelier Mary Phan, pictured below, can suggest a wine pairing.

At Bishop, chefs Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman redefine traditional French food.

he menu at Bishop may seem familiar at first, particularly to eaters of a certain age. Dishes reminiscent of mid-century America’s French food heyday are a comforting reminder of the era’s elegant fare: escargots, beef tartare, and salad Lyonnaise with a perfect poached egg. But don’t get too comfortable with your memories as you settle into one of the restaurant’s cushy curved banquettes. The food at Bishop is not the coq au vin your mother made for special birthday dinners. Consider, for example, the grand aioli, the first item on Bishop’s menu of appetizers (country terrine!), tinned seafood (sardines in lemon!), garnishes (lentils!), small plates (fluke quenelle!), and large plates (Bishop burger!). I expect a simple crudité. Instead, I am served a platter with a boiled egg, thick slices of tenderloin, and a wreath of spring’s most colorful bounty: pickled fennel; crunchy leaf lettuce; French breakfast radishes; baby heirloom carrots in purple, yellow, and gold; and fingerling potatoes, lightly blanched and sliced in half. In the middle of the plate sits a bowl of lemon

mousseline dusted with dill powder, a softer version of aioli thanks to the addition of whipped cream. “We wanted to keep some classic French dishes, but do them with our own twist,” explains Ryan Jenniges, executive chef for the AM Enjoy restaurant group headed by chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman. For Ticer and Hudman, whose Italian cooking traditions ground their other Memphis restaurants, Bishop is an opportunity to return to culinary fundamentals and the four years they spent cooking with Chef José Gutierrez, the former chef at The Peabody’s Chez Philippe. “Andy and Mike always talked about doing a French restaurant, and this was the right opportunity,” Jenniges says. After eating at Bishop half-a-dozen times, I can say with certainty that this modern brassiere inside Central Station Hotel exudes both taste and exceptional good looks. The meandering corner space painted deep carillion blue is chameleon-like, morphing from a boisterous dining room with views of Earnestine and Hazel’s to a lounge sitting on the restaurant’s other side. In the restaurant’s center, a 12-seat bar and row of booths built for two look out on the iconic Arcade Restaurant, a longtime anchor of South Main.

I discover the booths (a charming place to rendezvous) when I stop by with my husband for late-night bowls of French onion soup, house-made sourdough from pastry chef Kayla Palmer, and escargot, the dish I ate to celebrate my 18th birthday. Bishop’s version is served traditionally in a stoneware plate, but when I scope up an escargot from its buttery persillade, it tastes unique. Later, Jenniges explains why. The texture, or crunch on top, comes from ground ham and chicken gizzards fried crispy and tossed together. “The country ham and gizzards is our Southern play on the dish,” he says. We skip the menu’s potatoes prepared in four decadent and buttery ways to focus our calories on beverage director Nick Talarico’s stylish list, which moves

from sparkling cocktails to a boozy Vesper rendition called Fools Mate. Overall, Talarico designed softer cocktails for Bishop with a European ﬂare using base spirits like brandies and cognacs instead of more familiar bourbons and mescals. In the Fool’s Mate, for instance, there is no vodka, a typical spirit in a Vesper cocktail along with gin. “Instead, we use an immature brandy, so you get something a little more elegant and fun,” Talarico says. (Pro-hint: Only drink one.) (LOCATED INSIDE THE CENTRAL STATION HOTEL. 901-896-0228. OPEN MONDAYSUNDAY FROM 11 A.M. TO 10 P.M.)

BEST BETS FRENCH ONION SOUP AT BISHOP:

BEEF TARTARE AT BISHOP: Diced

“I worked on that recipe for four months,” says Chef Michael Hudman about Bishop’s must-have soup built with long-simmered beef bone stock, Gruyere and Compte cheese, and sourdough croutons tossed in butter and caramelized onion powder.

beef instead of ground, a mayonnaise base, and an adorable dollop of sous vide egg yolk shape a magniﬁcent new turn on a longtime French favorite. So. Good.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY REMUSM | DREAMSTIME

PUT (MY MONEY) IN, COACH. SPORTS BETTING HAS ARRIVED IN THE MID-SOUTH

our team is going to win. Wanna bet? Now you can, closer to Memphis than ever before. Sports betting arrived in the Mid-South in August 2018. That’s when sports books ofﬁcially opened in Mississippi. Since then, sports fans have laid down their bread on their best bets at Hollywood Casino Tunica, Gold Strike, and Horseshoe Tunica. In December 2019 alone, more than $12.4 million in bets were placed in the northern region of the state in basketball, football, and cards, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission. In January, sports book opened across the M at Southland Casino Racing at teller windows and kiosks. Sports betting was approved in Tennessee last year, though the apparatus to make it happen has not yet been set up. So, how is it done? “Trying to understand sports betting without doing it is like trying to understand food without tasting it,” John Branston wrote in Memphis magazine in 2018. But here are a few basic ways to bet on sports, according to the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau. POINT SPREADS: On a sports book board, you might see a New England Patriots-Buffalo Bills NFL game listed with a +3.5 next to Buffalo. That means the Patriots are favored, and if you bet on them, they must win by more than 3.5 points for you to win the bet. If you bet on the Bills, you win if either they win the game or lose by less than 3.5 points. OVER/UNDER: This is a bet on the total points scored by two teams. If the over/under number on that Bills-Patriots game was set at 40.5, then over-bettors would need the two teams to total 41 points or more, and under-bettors would need 40 points or fewer. MONEY LINE: This is a bet on who will win the game, with no point spreads involved. You’ll see two numbers on the board, a negative number next to the favorite and a positive number next to the underdog. In our Patriots-Bills game, you might see -140 next to the Patriots and +120 next to the Bills. Those represent payoff odds. To win $100 on the Patriots, you must bet $100, but if you bet $100 on the Bills, you can win $120. — by Toby Sells

At Eight & Sand, classic cocktails play alongside vinyl and snacks.

otel staff refer to the Central Station Hotel lounge, Eight & Sand, as the neighborhood’s living room. Indeed, it has all the accoutrements of a well-appointed millennial apartment: vintage furniture, Jaipur rugs, top-notch sound-system, and classic cocktails like Sazeracs made with absinthe, Prichard’s rum, and Cooper & Kings brandy. But unlike a family room at home, this charming hangout has no TV. Instead, if you are lucky on a Wednesday night, you’ll ﬁnd local DJs like Kerri Mahoney-Bomar, a graphic designer for music and ﬁlm, spinning Mem-

phis-centric music you may not know. On a recent night, Bomar trotted up and down a staircase to the bar’s second-story record library, toting back albums from performers like the late Bobby Marchon, a colorful R&B singer who signed at one time with Stax Records. “We also play the hits, but we do want to help guests learn things about Memphis music they might not already know,” says the hotel’s music curator, Chad Weekley. “When I play Booker T. and the MG’s cover of the Beatles, people think it’s amazing.” The bar, named after a railroad term for safe and speedy journey, is located downstairs from the hotel lobby. (Follow the train station’s early neon sign that

THE BIRDIE AT EIGHT & SAND:

Although Hog & Hominy is closed for now, its fried chicken sandwich, brined in pickle juice and muchloved by me, reappears as The Birdie with spicy Calabrian honey and dill mayo cabbage slaw on a brioche bun.

reads Lower Concourse to Trains 7•8•9•10.) Cocktails like a Paloma or Old Fashioned, along with seasonal riffs on other classics, make sense for the space, says beverage director Nick Talarico. “By highlighting the classics, with a little tweaking here and there, we are able to heighten up technique and craft,” he says. “We also wanted a completely different drinking experience than downstairs at Bishop.” The bar’s eight snacks, served from 4 to 9 p.m., move from nibbles to hearty fare in more adventuresome ways. Try a plate of Gougeres, a baked French pastry that looks like a Snickerdoodle with a luscious three-cheese ﬁlling or a plate of drummies and hot wings dusted with dehydrated celery and served with blue cheese ranch.

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ARRIVE MEMPHIS

Embraces South Main with a lively lobby for coffee, cocktails, pastry, and toast.

rom the oversized windows on the fifth floor of Arrive Memphis, the city’s redeveloped south side spreads out beneath a glorious winter sunset. There’s the distinctive smokestack at the Malco Powerhouse Cinema, block after block of stylish apartments, and expansive lofts inside once-forgotten factories near the Mississippi River. The hotel room’s boho décor and contemporary underpinnings — Apple TVs, Egyptian cotton linens, and chilled glasses in the mini-fridge — are equally appealing. But at Arrive Memphis, where my husband and I spend an overnight getaway, we don’t linger too long in room 508. The hotel’s charming lobby beckons. With its vibrant collection of people, pets, and curios, the first-floor corner space reminds me of a Wes Anderson film, only

here we can eat, drink, and plug in. At the hotel’s check-in desk, baristas from local roaster Vice & Virtue pour lattes with the options of whole, oat, or hemp milk. More elaborate drinks are available, too, like Blue Note Bourbon barrel-aged espresso mixed with house-made cocoa and steamed milk. But now it’s after 5 p.m., so we skip coffee and head to the lobby bar, where cocktails from beverage director Erik Hmiel are inventive and Instagramable. Along with our cocktails, we order a small plate from the Hustle & Dough café menu, served in the lobby all day. The menu’s offerings move from savory scones and hand pies filled with fruit to grilled cheese and dill on Texas toast. We share a cured fish plate with pickles, labneh, and dark rye toast before heading around the corner to the hotel’s restaurant for sausages, beer, and a spirited game of shuffleboard.

BEST BETS ALMOND BUTTER TOAST AT HUSTLE & DOUGH: Almond butter, a forgotten but favorite hippie food, gets an upscale makeover with sea salt, maple date syrup, and a thick slice of Chef Ali Rohrbacher’s porridge sourdough bread.

PIGS IN A BLANKET AT LONGSHOT:

Forget the crescent rolls. Instead, Chef David Todd stuffs lumpia, or Pilipino spring rolls, with house-made sausage and garnishes the skinny fried rolls with green leaf lettuce wraps and nouc cham, a Vietnamese dipping sauce.

SPICY MASALA CHICKEN WINGS AT LONGSHOT: Grab several nap-

From the eclectic lobby of Arrive Memphis on South Main Street, guests can see the iconic sign of the Lorraine Motel, watch the city’s trolley roll by, or feast on a café menu built around sourdough bread.

kins because these plump chicken wings get the attention they deserve. Consider the ingredients: coriander, cilantro, green onion, toasted mustard seeds, and raita, a yogurt-based condiment, to cool down the heat.

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“My food is thought out, and my ﬂavors are bold and interesting, but at the end of the day, we are at a bar, so let’s have a little fun,” says Chef David Todd about Longshot’s menu of house-made sausages inﬂuenced by global cuisines.

With a big flavor bar menu at Longshot, Chef David Todd does it his way.

hef David Todd’s culinary journey has been a circuitous one. He’s cooked at bars and country clubs, high-end restaurants like Interim, and short-lived but trendy ones like Cooper-Young’s Grace au Vin. Formerly part of the opening kitchen team at Acre, he calls the experience life-changing. Todd, a Memphis native, has faced tough times, too. He left Memphis, shouldered through rehab, and came back to recommit himself to professional cooking. But through it all, he never considered working in a hotel kitchen until bumping into James Siao, the

managing director of Arrive Memphis, at a soccer game last year. “This job is something I’ve been meandering to for a long time. I just didn’t realize it,” Todd says. “I love bar food, but I also love big technique and bold, interesting ﬂavors. I like moving between the two different worlds.” At Longshot, the hotel’s restaurant, Todd’s energy seems ideally matched with the space. The restaurant’s entrance is located at the dip of a cobblestone incline on East Butler Avenue, so it feels a little like a family basement rec room, only updated. Booths run along the north wall, so customers can see passersby through street-level windows. Shufﬂeboard tables run down the restaurant’s center aisle, a nod to the game’s renewed popularity and the building’s history. Near the turn of the last century, a

Memphis doctor named Albert Schuffel opened a leading alley manufacturer called Alleyworks in the ArriveMemphis building. A new game called “Schuffel Board” evolved when workers from a rivet producer next door noticed how easily the rivets they made slid across Alleyworks’ scrap planks. Or so the story goes. Longshot’s sausage-centric menu is another fun companion with the space, but still chef-driven. Think bar food, but gussied up. Seven different sausages, all house-made, build the menu’s core. Each sandwich — served on baker Ali Rorhbacher’s remarkable milk bread buns — pays homage to a different world cuisine. For Todd, everything is fair game. The Al Pastor, for instance, celebrates Mexican street food with a seasoned sausage (cumin, oregano, and guajillo

chili) topped with onion, cilantro, charred pineapple, and salsa verde made with roasted tomatillo and avocado. The Korean BBQ sausage is topped with kimchi, toasted sesame seed, and a daikon-cucumber salad, while the Vietnamese sausage (my favorite) is seasoned with ginger, chili, and lime and garnished with fresh cilantro, pepper sauce, and sticky rice. Todd likes to think of each sausage as an entrée compressed into a bun. He explains his creative process like this: “I remove the traditional boxes of an entrée — throw the plate out, throw the presentation out — and then work with the same flavors and components into a different package.” Case in point: Longshot’s Frito Pie. Customers will recognize the familiar crunch from Frito-Lay, but the pie’s filling — berbere-spiced lamb chili, mint oil, and cilantro — is inspired by Ethiopian flavors. Rotating entree specials like Moroccan barbecue lamb ribs with shredded red cabbage slaw illustrate a similar spirited approach. “They are fun and something new to put out into the world on social media,” Todd says. “And it helps set the tone for people who are curious about what’s coming up next.” (477 S. MAIN. 901-896-0228. OPEN 4 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.)

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“I’m all in or I don’t go,” says baker Ali Rohrbacher about her spirited approach to baking.

Chef Ali Rohrbacher’s passion for sourdough builds a cafe menu around bread.

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y her own admission, chef Ali Rohrbacher is obsessive by nature. She played competitive sports growing up and, later as an adult, exercised as a form of self-competition. When she decided to teach herself how to make sourdough bread, she also hit it hard, ﬁrst as a hobbyist with a dedicated Instagram following and later as a professional baker at The Liquor Store on Broad Avenue and at the now closed Crosstown Café. Mastering sourdough — the building block of her bakery and café called Hustle & Dough — was both complicated and challenging. “It was a tactile and experimental kind of project that met the parameter of trying to do better every time I baked,” she recalls. Made with fermented dough, the bread depends on a live starter called levain, a delicate ecosystem impacted by temperature, environment, and handling. It is a complicated dance, but one Rohrbacher embraces for a bread program that includes baguettes, Japanese-style milk bread and buns, and three kinds of sourdough: country, multigrain porridge, and dark rye. “When you bake sourdough, you are trying to control and manipulate nature,” she says. “To get to harness that to make a beautiful loaf of bread that someone can enjoy is as close to magic as I’ll ever get.” At Hustle & Dough, located inside the lobby of Arrive Memphis, Rohrbacher and her six-person team turn out bread and pastries for retail, along with a menu structured around sweet or savory toast. Rohrbacher insists on top-quality ingredients such as Valrhona dark chocolate from France, Wuthrich European butter (it’s 83 percent butterfat!), and heirloom grains, some of which she grinds in-house. Cut into thick slices, the breads are the foundation for a dozen or so dishes, including rye bread granola in whipped yogurt bowls, mushroom toast with basil pesto and ricotta, avocado toast with fermented jalapeño, and delicious tamago egg sandwiches fashioned after grab-ngo varieties ubiquitous to Japan. Pastry selections add more variety to the hotel menu and to the bakery’s retail case. Try savory scones stuffed with mushrooms and shallots, sourdough pretzels baked fresh every day, or dark chocolate chip cookies with ﬂake salt on top. “They are my nod to the American pastry tradition of making insanely large cookies,” Rohrbacher says with a laugh. “I wanted both a crunchy exterior, a chewier soft middle, and salt with every bite.”

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t’s simple, really; all you need to have a good time in town is a ball, a lane, and a set of ten pins. Luckily, staycationers have a bevvy of themed bowling alleys to sate the competitive spirit, so round up some pals and hit the town. For starters, one of Memphis’ oldest alleys is connected to bowling royalty. Billy Hardwick’s, named for the late proprietor and professional who amassed 18 PBA titles during an illustrious career, offers plenty of in-city escapism. Located in the shopping center at Quince and White Station, the alley offers a break from the tedium of daily life and a chance to tap into the childhood joy once reserved for family weekend outings and birthday parties. Some evenings, bowlers can blast off far into the galaxy with star-spangled cosmic bowling (but no bumpers; that’s cheating!). After (or during) the game, for something to take the edge off, just pop over to the bar for a specialty Hardwick’s cocktail. Up for a more maritime excursion? Don your captain’s hat, as the glistening stainless-steel and glass Bass Pro Pyramid welcomes all comers to the lanes conveniently situated adjacent to Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl & Grill. There are no standard lanes here; a full aquatic experience awaits all comers, and there’s no looking left or right without casting a glance over some manner of sea creature. Lanes are modeled after docks and piers (with sharks and squids splaced at each one), while balls take on the likeness of turtles, stingrays, or even the scaly yellow eye of a mysterious deepwater beast. If that’s too much nautical nonsense, pop over to the bar for a specialty Bass Pro cocktail. (Are you starting to sense a theme, here?) Farther out of town, Main Event (7219 Appling Farms Parkway) has a sleek, if standard, set of lanes accompanied by myriad other activities to distract the kids when it’s time for the parents to play. Meanwhile, Andy B’s in Bartlett (6276 Stage Road) pairs its main activity with a full-blown arcade. It may be tough to pin down which alley is the best, so why not tour them all? — Samuel X. Cicci

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBINDODDPHOTO | DREAMSTIME

HIT THE LANES AT BASS PRO AND BILLY HARDWICK’S, AMONG OTHERS AROUND TOWN.

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CHICKEN $#!+ BINGO

’ve driven out to 3210 Old Hernando Road, just off Brooks Road, and arrived at Hernando’s HideA-Way just in time. Dale Watson is holding court on stage with his Lone Star Band and guest artist James Intveld. And it’s time for Chicken S#!+ Bingo! (Yes, that’s how they spell it.) “Form a line, single file!” Dale calls out. “One ticket per person. We want you to win and nobody else! Single file. A poultry two-dollar donation!” A massive line forms instantly along the wall and around the corner. For this is the Mother of All Chicken S#!+ Bingos, held during the weekend of the Ameripolitan Music Awards. The club is packed. So is the chicken in the coop outside, we hope. We each buy a ticket with a number between 1 and 54, corresponding to the randomized grid of numbers on the floor of a chicken pen, right there by the stage. After the tickets are sold, the chicken is placed in the pen until it does its doodie. Dale calls for the number, and the band chimes in, “Number ... number ... number!” in perfect harmony. The winning ticket is announced, and Dale leads the band in an improvised singalong, “Fifty-four, fifty-four, fifty-four!” When the winner emerges, a fellow named Chris, Dale offers him a deal: “Chris, I start the day with money in all my pockets. Now, your winnings are $108. Guaranteed! But I’d like to trade you that money for the money that’s in one of my pockets. Let me give you some Chicken Sh-t History. I’ve been doing this for 20 years. And in all that time, the most I’ve had in my pocket, so far, is $4000. Now it could be more! Now, the least I’ve had in my pocket, so far: 26 cents. Now, it could be even less than that! What should he do, folks? Keep the money or go with my pockets?” The crowd goes wild! But it would spoil everything if I said what he chose. You’ll just have to go see for yourself ... and trust in the fowl finger of fate. — Alex Greene

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Master Weaver Ali Taghavi Restoring a antique Persian Farahan rug.

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s i H g n i k a M As part of our “Staycation” package this month, readers may enjoy an up-close and personal look at the Birdcap murals featured on these pages. His creations aren’t hard to find; the ones you see here, and others, are located behind Eclectic Eye (242 South Cooper), the Art Center (1636 Union), Barbaro Alley downtown, Crosstown Arts, and the Oaks at La Paloma (2009 Lamar). There are many others around town, but these will introduce you to his remarkable work. above: Muralist Michael “Birdcap” Roy. Roy used to draw characters with little hats that resembled the Egyptian god Horus. He called the hats “birdcaps.” He also wanted a catchy, two-word handle in honor of the person who ﬁrst showed him how to paint, a Korean artist named Junkhouse. opposite page: “Bait” behind Eclectic Eye. 38 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • A P R I L 2 0 2 0

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k r a M

The murals of Michael Birdcap Roy

V A

nyone who ventures down the right streets in Memphis and comes across enough art-adorned walls and buildings is likely to see the work of Michael Roy, more commonly known as Birdcap. Roy is a mainstay in the Memphis mural scene. People recognize his work when they see it. Rife with larger-than-life creatures and abstract nature scenes, Roy’s work is distinctly lively and interactive with a personality all its own. “I’m making the shapes up in my head so I’m the only one who knows how it’s supposed to look,” he says. “That leaves a lot of room for creativity.” Roy’s eyes light up when he talks about his work. His black T-shirt and jeans are splotched with paint. He holds an iPad in his lap, occasionally sketching on the screen as he talks. Behind him stretches a nearly 50-foot-long mural boasting a collage of creatures in a world created somewhere in his mind.

personal world. by maya smith

The colorful piece, a freestyle collaboration between Roy and an artist named Rich T., is displayed at Crosstown Arts. Roy, who prefers to plan out and sketch his pieces before putting any paint on the wall, says he was terrified going into the project, but “I was able to grow and step out of my comfort zone.”

Getting Started

oy created his first mural in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. He painted it on a wall near his hometown of Escatawpa, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast. When his family home was destroyed, Roy says he wanted to use his art to create a tribute honoring the lives that were lost and the damage done by the hurricane. That same year, he began attending the Memphis College of Art, where he studied oil painting and printmaking. He wasn’t thinking much at the time about becoming a professional muralist. “I’m from a tiny town in Mississippi,” he says. “I didn’t have a big vision of what I could do. Memphis seemed forever away. It was like what someone who lives here might think about New York. ” He says he’s always been into art, recalling how he didn’t have art classes in grade school and how he doodled his way through most of his classes. “I think drawing is something every kid does to a certain extent,” he says, “but like me, some people don’t grow

BIRDCAP PHOTOGRAPH BY BRYAN ROLLINS / MURAL PHOTOGRAPHS: OPPOSITE PAGE INSET COURTESY BIRDCAP, ABOVE BY MAYA SMITH

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reflect a highly

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up — and they keep doing it and somehow figure out how to pay taxes.” But after college, Roy says he gave up painting murals for a while and instead focused on graffiti and illustration. “It used to be, like, no jobs; you would have to beg someone to come and let you paint their walls,” Roy says. “Now, everyone wants a mural. It’s very trendy now and I’m not sure how I feel about that.” Post college, Roy moved to Korea in 2009 where he worked as a teacher and an illustrator. There, he says his interest for street art was piqued when he noticed paintings on soon-to-be demolished buildings during walks through the city. After four years, Roy returned to the States and made Memphis his home. “My relationship with the city didn’t really begin in earnest until I came back from Korea,” he says. “That’s when I started to think of Memphis as something breathing with its own personality.” Roy has been a professional full-time muralist for about seven years now. One of the first murals he was commissioned to do in Memphis lives on the walls behind Eclectic Eye in Midtown. “I have a soft spot for the piece behind Eclectic Eye,” he says. “It was one of the first murals I ever got paid for. That one was really important to me because it solidified my thoughts that this could be something that pays bills and keeps me fed.” One wall of the folklore-inspired two-wall mural features a large-eyed creature submerged underwater with an alligator’s head rising above the surface of the water. The other wall portrays an alligator wrapped in a rope with cartoonish characters looking on.

mythological and religious themes that tend to bleed into his work. Almost resembling robots or video game subjects, the playful characters often seen in his work are loosely based on cartoon characters from his youth. His style is meant to embrace those viewing his art, playfully pulling them into deeper subject matters. “I watched cartoons obsessively on Saturday mornings as a kid,” he says. “I like using a cartoonish style because it allows me to talk about things that are traumatic, or on the high-end spectrum of emotions without it feeling as over-dramatic so people don’t tune out.” Roy says all of his murals have an underlying — often personal — message or theme. “I draw habitually,” he says. “I’m always drawing. I think my work reflects me and what’s on my mind. It’s almost journal-based. It leans toward the narrative of my life. There’s a certain level of selfishness that hopefully connects with people.” Roy is currently working on a memorial piece about his mom, who recently passed away. “She died really suddenly and I can talk about that through my art. If it’s in this style it’s not as hard or embarrassing. With a silly style, you can talk about really big things for you.” The artist wants the piece honoring his mom to illustrate her relationship with him and the important role she played in his life. “I just want her to know how proud I am of her,” he says. “I wish I had gotten the chance to say that to her. It’s too late, but I’m going to tell the whole world now.”

Playful Style

n first glance one might not automatically associate the six-story mural adorning the side of a South Main parking garage with the style of Roy.

oy says his unique style is influenced by graffiti from the 1990s and 2000s. He’s also inspired by

No Metaphors

bottom right: A collaboration with muralist Nosey42. top right: A Sasquatchthemed mural at The Oaks at La Paloma Treatment Center. opposite page top: A freestyle mural at Crosstown Arts, a collaboration between Birdcap and Rich T. 40 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • A P R I L 2 0 2 0

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MURAL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY BIRDCAP

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But in 2016 he worked with artist Derrick Dent to create the mural, which depicts black people and civil rights events with ties to Downtown Memphis. Roy says he mostly collaborated with Dent, who developed the concept for the piece. The mural, a part of the Memphis Heritage Trail, features a timeline of nine different scenes beginning with slave refugee camps on Presidents Island during the Civil War to a modern-day black family. Roy says it’s meant to activate the mural and the person looking at it. “That was Derrick’s idea and I liked it a lot.” The piece was a challenge to complete, though. “It was possibly the most challenging mural I’ve done,” Roy says. “It was physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding. It was hellacious. It was like 100 degrees and I was on a window scaffolding that broke a couple of times. It was really stressful.” Once the mural was complete, Roy says he received criticism he wasn’t used to getting. “Usually my work is less confrontational, but doing the civil rights piece, I got some feedback I didn’t like.” Though the mural has nearly been painted over or modified a couple of times, those efforts have failed and Roy is pleased. “We were taking on a real topic in a direct way,” Roy says. “I wasn’t hiding behind the metaphors or cartoon characters I usually get to. I’m glad I did it. I learned a lot.”

Leaving a Mark

oy says he enjoys making murals because it reminds him of his roots in street art and graffiti. More importantly, it’s because of the community aspect of the work. “I like the culture and community of it,” Roy says. “It’s different from painting on a canvas, because a canvas has no real relationship to the community. There’s not a real chance for interaction.” He also enjoys the relationships he’s able to form with other muralists in the

city and beyond. “I wouldn’t have a career right now if it weren’t for the kindness of artists in other communities inviting me out and finding me spaces to paint,” he says. “It feels important for me to pay that forward and keep the community watered.” One way Roy pays it forward is through curating the Moonpie Project, a rotating series of murals at Crosstown Concourse. For the project, he invites artists from both Memphis and out of town to create pieces around Crosstown’s campus “with no themes and no rules. I invite the artists out and they do whatever they want.” The project was started in memory of Roy’s friend and well-known Nashville muralist Brad Wells, who passed away in 2015. With every mural Roy paints, he aims to paint a picture of his thoughts and emotions, while telling a story he hopes others can relate to. At the end of the day, Roy says he appreciates the opportunity to leave his mark. “It’s something mesmerizing about being able to leave a mark so quickly,” he says. “If I have the right tools, I can make a hand bigger than me in half an hour.” A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • 41

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JOINT EFFORT Improvements in knee replacement procedures mean faster recovery and better results.

Knee problems almost sidelined Gerald Osborne’s career as a competitive water skier. New procedures in joint surgery put him back on the water.

by julia baker

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY GERALD OSBORNE

n 2005, Gerald Osborne was a competitive water skier, winning top placement in regional categories for his skills on the water. Accomplishing these feats at 55 years old was already impressive, even more so considering the torn cartilage resulting from osteoarthritis in the knee. “For 12 years, I put up with a lot of pain in my knee,” says Osborne. “When I skied, it was like somebody was stabbing a knife in me every time I went back and forth behind the boat.” Osborne says he developed a high tolerance for the pain during ski sessions, but at bedtime, he could barely stand the pain, and he had to sleep with a pillow between his legs. “I called going to bed ‘going to chase the pillow,’” he says. “I couldn’t stand for anything to touch the inside of my leg.” With encouragement from his wife, Osborne had his knee examined by an orthopedic surgeon in Memphis, who conducted a knee arthroscopy — a procedure that inserts a tiny camera, called an arthroscope, into the joint to diagnose the problem and repair ligaments. A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • 43

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901 HE A LTH

Osborne returned to skiing after that, but he still had pain. In 2003, he decided he’d ask another doctor, Dr. Owen Tabor of OrthoSouth, for a second look. After a second arthroscopy Tabor told Osborne that he would need a partial knee replacement, or joint resurfacing, due to a hole in the cartilage causing bone-to-bone damage. “But I didn’t want to do a knee replacement,” says Osborne. “I had some kind of problem in my head about having something taken out of my body and having something metal put in place of it. Just something about that I didn’t like. I figured with all of this technology coming out, somebody could find some way to make cartilage and put it in my knee. But most places I talked to said that they don’t do that for people my age.” But when his knee locked up at a Father’s Day dinner, he knew he had to act on it. He consulted with a third doctor, who agreed that he would need a knee replacement, so Osborne went back to Tabor to schedule the surgery. “Ski season was already on me,” says Osborne. “I just thought, you know what, I’m

“If anybody gets to a point where they need knee surgery, they need to get it done. Don’t be stupid like me and wait 12 years with that pain, because it’s ridiculous. Get it over with, get about your life, and take care of it when you get it done. Rehab it well, and stay active afterwards.”

Dr. Owen Tabor with OrthoSouth.

going to ski this season, because maybe I won’t get to ski anymore after this. I don’t know.” Osborne had his surgery in September 2005, and for four weeks, he wasn’t able to put any weight on his knee. But with the help of an intensive rehabilitation program three days a week, supplemented by three separate days in the gym, Osborne was prepared to ski during the following season. “I was kind of putting a lot more into it, I guess, than the average person was,” he says. Osborne was back on the water in April, and at first, he was worried about putting more strain on his knee than he needed to. “The first time you go out there to ski, you get it in your mind, have I done enough work to do this?” says Osborne. “There’s a lot of pressure on your body when you water ski. And it takes a lot of strength. But I go out and I pop right up, and that thought goes away. I start running through the course. And after about a couple of sessions of days of skiing, it went out of my mind, and I never think about it anymore.”

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY DR. OWEN TABOR

— Gerald Osborne

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901 HE A LTH

His new knee held him up through a Tennessee State Championship in his division, where he won tenth place in his region. Now, at 69 years old, Osborne says he’s still skiing and has great mobility in his knee, aside from some difficulty straightening and bending his knee all the way. “That’s just because of some of the previous work,” says Osborne. “So there was some ground I was having to make up for not rehabbing it right.” To prevent further damage to his knee, Osborne alternates skiing and going to the gym depending on the time of year, staying out of the gym during ski season, and going to the gym during winter months. “During ski season, I really don’t go to the gym because I get enough exercise [and vice versa],” he says. “I went to the gym yesterday, and I burned around 1,068 calories. There’s no way you can go out there and do what I do and not be in shape. I can burn almost 1,000 calories in one ski set.” Osborne says that he hopes his story will encourage others with knee problems to bite the bullet and get a knee replacement. “If anybody gets to a point where they need knee surgery, they need to get it done,” says Osborne. “Don’t be stupid like me and wait 12 years with that pain, because it’s ridiculous. Get it over with, get about your life, and take care of it when you get it done. Rehab it well, and stay active afterwards.”

ADDRESSING FEARS

r. Tabor understands that it’s natural for patients like Osborne to be hesitant about getting a knee replacement or joint resurfacing procedure, and he has advice for those who want to wait. “I will generally tell people anything that you can do that allows you to have a good quality of life and not have surgery, you should do that,” he says. Osborne advises patients not to fall into taking narcotic medications to deal with the pain and lists alternatives: taking over-thecounter painkillers like Advil and Aleve, wearing a brace, getting cortisone shots, getting acupuncture, and taking supplements. “But most people who are starting to think about joint replacement surgery have tried all of that, and their joint pain is the biggest problem that they’ve got, and their quality of life is pretty bad,” says Tabor.

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nce patients feel they are ready for surgery, Tabor assures them that the risks are minimal. “Every time in life, every time you do anything, there are some risks,” he says. “I tell my patients that there are certain risks they are taking driving home.” Tabor says that the success rate within

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the first 10 years after surgery is around 90 percent and 80 percent after 20 years. “In general, the success rate means that 10 years down the road, more than 90 percent of people who have a knee replacement will be functioning well,” he says. “That trend tends to go as far in the future as we’re aware. So in 20 years, the failure rate is maybe about 1 percent per year.” Risks can include: ◗◗ Infection could affect 1 percent of patients. ◗◗ The need for a blood transfusion due to blood loss during surgery could happen in 2-3 percent of patients. ◗◗ Blood clots could happen to 1 percent of patients. The good news is, according to Tabor, that there are protocols in place to deal with these issues, including procedures that can clean infected joints and medications that can lessen the risk of blood clots and blood loss. Despite these nominal risks, Tabor knows when his patients are ready for surgery. “When they come to the day of surgery, there’s a subset of them who are scared, and there’s the bigger subset of people who have been hurting for so long that they’re like, ‘I have been looking forward to today for weeks.’”

“In general, the success rate means that 10 years down the road, more than 90 percent of people who have a knee replacement will be functioning well. That trend tends to go as far in the future as we’re aware. ”

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RECOVERY

fter surgery, Tabor says recovery time can vary, but patients are usually ready to resume normal activities about a month into recovery. “Everybody’s a little different,” he says. “But before you get back to normal life and normal work and social life patterns, it’s usually about a month. And then even after that, you’re kind of stiff and swollen for up to a year.” Patients who have received total knee replacements are referred to physical therapy to keep the knee flexible. Tabor usually recommends that these patients attend physical therapy three to four times a week for four to eight weeks. Once patients are able to bend their knees and get around without a walker, Tabor says patients can easily stop therapy and pursue a self-directed home exercise program.

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Partial knee replacements, however, don’t typically require a referral to physical therapy. “Every once in a while, I’ll have to refer someone to physical therapy after a partial,” says Tabor. “But usually, I tell them to take it easy for a week to 10 days, and get on a stationary bike. And that’s usually more than enough for people with a partial knee replacement.”

TOTAL VERSUS PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENTS

abor says that the difference in ability after surgery depends on the kind of knee replacement procedure. Patients who have worn their entire knee out may require a total knee replacement, which requires resurfacing the end of the shin bone, the end of the thigh bones, and underside of the kneecap, and the removal of some ligaments. “If Gerald had needed a total knee replacement, he would not have been able to return to the level of waterskiing that he did before,” says Tabor. “The knees don’t bend as far as you need them to bend to do what he does. They bend well, but not like a normal knee.” A partial knee replacement, however, which is what Osborne received, involves no removal of ligaments, allowing for more mobility. “It will bend as far as your natural anatomy will allow you to bend,” says Tabor.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

ccording to Tabor, patients can take steps to avoid the possibility of needing knee replacement surgery. ◗◗ Maintain weight: “Keeping your weight to a reasonable number is a huge deal,” says Tabor. “Knee arthritis is a lot more common in people who are significantly overweight.” ◗◗ Low-impact exercise: “Exercise is great for your knee joints,” says Tabor. However, exercise should be limited to low-impact physical activities, like swimming, yoga, and bicycling.

BENEFITS

abor says that the number-one benefit to getting knee replacement surgery is the ability to resume normal, daily activities. “Once you get over it, your knee doesn’t hurt, at least not much, and you can get back to your normal quality of life,” he says. “You can walk without a limp, you can rise up out of a chair without grimacing, you can go up and down stairs, you can go to New Orleans with your family and walk around the French Quarter. A lot of these folks, when they get arthritis, they quit going to church, and they quit going to Tiger games, and they quit playing golf, and they quit working in the garden. So the upside is that they can get their life back.”

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LARRY DODSON

Funkmaster on the Move

by anthony hicks

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRANDON DILL

arry Dodson is animated. Sitting on the edge of his seat in the living room of his Whitehaven home, casual in a Bar-Kays Foundation imprinted white polo shirt, silver jogging pants, and white running shoes, he has been talking almost nonstop for nearly a half-hour, excited and impassioned. He’s not regaling about the successes of the legendary funk, soul, and R&B band he fronted for decades or about his new career trajectory. What ignited this funkateer soliloquy was his awe at the resiliency, accomplishments, and abilities of his daughter, Precious, and other individuals with special needs. Dodson circa 2020 is an artist in the vanguard of funk music driven by faith, family, and community, with God at the apex of his life. “My relationship with God supersedes anything I do,” he says. “I know that if I have a good relationship with God, God will take care of my family. It wasn’t always that way,

but it certainly has been over the last 20 years.” He credits his wife, Marie, with encouraging him to become involved in church, changing his life. The couple will celebrate 50 years of marriage in August. Propelled with the Bar-Kays by the Stax label, the last five decades have been stratospheric for a kid from the Riverside neighborhood growing up listening to his father’s jazz records. He formed a successful group in high school called The Temprees, which took him from appearing at age 22 before a crowd of 100,000 concertgoers with the Bar-Kays at the historic Los Angeles Wattstax festival to

entertaining troops in Iraq. In his 50th year of performing, at age 69, Dodson has taken on a new career challenge as a solo artist backed by his own band. He now performs as Larry D, formerly of the Bar-Kays. His experiences as a husband, father, grandfather, and advocate for education, disability rights, and other causes shape him today as much as his years as a trailblazing funk-band front man. “James and I were truly trying to do something revolutionary,” Dodson says, referring to Bar-Kays bassist James Alexander and their Stax years.

THE BAR-KAYS YEARS

odson joined the Bar-Kays in March 1970, about two years and four months after the 1967 Beechcraft crash in Wisconsin’s Lake Monona that claimed Otis Redding in his prime, along A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • 49

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY LARRY DODSON COLLECTION

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with four members of the band and one other individual. David Porter remarks that after the plane crash, it would have been easy to assume the band was over. “Larry, along with Allen Jones [their producer], was the complete reason that was not the case,” says Porter, prolific Stax songwriter and producer, Songwriters Hall of Fame member, and more recently CEO and founder of Made in Memphis Entertainment studio. “A new identity, powerful creativity, and total work ethic established what is now one of the longest band legacies in the music industry. The band, which was once an instrumental group, became, because of Larry Dodson, a singing band with an accepted impact.” In the aftermath of the crash, months later Alexander was sent by Jones to the Club Showcase at Park and Airways to recruit Dodson from The Temprees to join the Bar-Kays. Dodson started The Temprees at Carver High School. Jones died in 1987. David Porter recognized Dodson’s talent early: “Larry has, since the first time I saw and heard him, always strived to show the individuality of a star. He succeeded because in his performances he was believable with every appearance. He had the skill of a star, which is to keep your attention.” With Dodson at center stage, the previously instrumental Bar-Kays forged ahead in a

THE SOLO YEARS

The Bar-Kays in the 1980s.

new direction, fulfilling the vision of manager Allen Jones that would result in the sales of millions of records. Those included five certified gold and one platinum million-seller, “Freak Show on the Dance Floor.” The Bar-Kays reached an inflection point in 2017 when Dodson and his bandmates began a national search for a new lead singer. He was adamant about finding a lead vocalist replacement before he went solo.

odson officially returned to the stage in April 2019 on a Tom Joyner Foundation Fantastic Voyage concert cruise benefitting one of Dodson’s favorite causes, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). His stellar solo start was on a bill that included Janet Jackson and Charlie Wilson, the former Gap Band lead singer and multiple Grammy nominee. Wilson and Dodson are friends and fellow funkateers gone solo. He advised Dodson that going on his own would be like starting his career over, but not to be dismayed. Deanie Parker, recognized for her Soulsville and Memphis in May leadership, was a Stax publicist. She was also a vocal artist on the Volt Records label, a subsidiary of Stax. She says Dodson is “extremely talented” and a “natural entertainer.” “In the music industry, never say never,” Parker says. “If the stars are aligned, he can be as successful as any popular act out there today. If he keeps it real, I am sure his solo career will feature genuine music, which is more than I can say for a lot of the noise I hear today.” Porter, her fellow Stax alum, says: “I believe that Larry, based totally on his commitment and work ethic, can and will be successful in whatever he decides to do. A solo career does not change that opinion.”

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Leaving the group he had been with since a teenager was not a totally seamless transition Come VisitLife or Spend the Rest of Your Life infor Beautiful Dodson. Finding a new lead singer wasn’t Visit or Spend the Restfor of aYour in Beautiful his only calculation. Come VisitLife or Spend the Rest of Your Life in Beautiful Visit or Spend the Restfor of aYour in Beautiful “I had been lead singer of the band for almost 50 years,” Dodson says. “At the same time, my wife had been on her job for over 45 years. We both planned to retire together. That was the plan.” Retirement was alluring, . . but the stage had its own pull. The search for assisted living . . “I wanted to be sure I could really do this. Plus much more Plus muchcare more feels better and memory I thought I could retire and leave it there,” he Plus much more Plus much more when you talk to someone says. He had notions of writing follow-ups to Annual Festivals Annual Festivals his 2017 autobiography And the Band Plays On. who understands. Fish Bike Boat Swim Hunt Fish Bike Boat Swim HuntAnnual Annual Festivals Festivals There were even plans for him and his wife Canoe Climb Hike Canoe Climb Hike Ski Ski Fish Camp Bike Boat Swim Hunt Fish Camp Bike Boat Swim Hunt to live part of the year in Florida. Get the answers and& support Shop or Retire ReShop or Retire Re- Rappel Rappel Camp Climb&Hike Ski Canoe Canoe Camp Climb Hike Ski “I thought I would have something to fill need. & Re- Rappel Shoplax lax that void,” Dodson says. But as it turned out or !Retire & Reor !Retire Rappel Shopyou after about a year and a half, he was “more Call us at lax ! ! lax901-979-8776. You’re always close to something fun toYou’re always close to something fun to than eager” to be back on stage. Some do! do! friends and fans didn’t make it easy for him You’re always close to something fun toYou’re always close to something fun to to stop performing. 1645 West do! do! Massey Road

Come for a Come forTishomingo a TheCounty care begins Tishomingo Mississippi

County Mississippi Tishomingo Tishomingo County Mississippi County Mississippi you Our Trash &call. Treasures (TTTT) Trash & Treasureswhen (TTTT) 50 plus miles of yard sales50is plus miles of yard sales is Our Trash & Treasures (TTTT) 50is plus Trash & Treasures 50 plus miles scheduled for sales October 2-3,miles 2020of yard sales is scheduled(TTTT) for October 2-3, 2020of yard for October 2-3, 2020 scheduled for October 2-3,scheduled 2020

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Come VisitLife or Spend the Rest of Your Life in Beautiful Come for a Visit or Spend the Restfor of aYour in Beautiful Come aYour VisitLife or Spend the Rest of Your Life in Beautiful Come forTishomingo a Visit or SpendCounty the Restfor of in Beautiful Larry Dodson at Minglewood Hall in 2013. Tishomingo County Mississippi Come for a Visit or Spend the Rest of Your Life inMississippi Beautiful

Tishomingo County Mississippi Tishomingo County Mississippi RETURN OF THEisFUNKATEER FRONTMAN Tishomingo County Mississippi Our Trash & Treasures (TTTT) yard sales Trash & Treasures (TTTT) 50 plus miles of yard sales50is plus miles of THE ne thing that really struck Our Trash & Treasures (TTTT) miles sales Trash & Treasures (TTTT) 50 plus miles yard sales is plus saysis Dodson, “was when a guy Our Trash &October Treasures (TTTT) miles of50 yard sales is of scheduled for October 2-3, 2020 . yard me,” scheduled for 2-3, 202050of . plus said to me, ‘Larry, you know you’re scheduled for October 2020. scheduled for October 2-3, 2020. a funkateer. Rick [James] is gone, Prince is . 2-3, scheduled for October 2-3, 2020 Plus much more Plus much more

gone, George Clinton is thinking about retiring. Do you know there’s not going to be but a couple of you guys?’” Absorbing that epiphany behind his desk in his home office provoked contemplation on funk music mainstays and his future in music. “Sugarfoot [Larry Bonner of the Ohio Players] is dead. Sly Stone doesn’t do this anymore. We’re all in the same circles as funkateers. do! do! So, that stuck with me. That got me out of You’re always close to something fun toYou’re always close to something fun to my chair and starting a new band.” He says do! do! he thought the transition would be easier than it turned out to be. It was largely not as easy because people weren’t familiar with his Plus much moreIuka, Tishomingo County Tourism Council MS 38852 omingo County Tourism Council 1001 Battleground Dr. MS 1001 38852Battleground Dr. Iuka, new stage name. 662-423-0051 ~ info@tishomingo.org ~ www.tishomingofunhere.org 23-0051 ~ info@tishomingo.org ~ www.tishomingofunhere.org Festivals • Hunt FishIuka, Bike Swim Tishomingo County Tourism Council 1001 Battleground Dr. Iuka, MS 38852 omingo County TourismAnnual Council 1001 Battleground Dr. MSBoat 38852 He sees his planned new single release 662-423-0051 ~ info@tishomingo.org ~ www.tishomingofunhere.org 23-0051 ~ info@tishomingo.org ~ www.tishomingofunhere.org Ski Canoe Camp Climb Hike as a “missing piece” that he is correcting, along with a new recording contract in the Rappel Shop or Retire & Relax! works. Dodson says he is “going through new You’re always close to something fun to do! music being sent to him from writers and producers around the country.” Of his solo Tishomingo County Tourism Council 1001 Battleground Dr. Iuka, MS 38852 debut record he says: “I am 90 percent sure it 662-423-0051 • info@tishomingo.org • www.tishomingofunhere.org will be a ballad.”

Plus much more Plus much more Annual Festivals Annual Festivals Fish Bike Boat Swim Hunt Fish Bike Boat Swim HuntAnnual Annual Festivals Festivals Canoe Climb Hike Canoe Climb Hike Ski Ski Hunt Fish Camp Bike Boat Swim Hunt Fish Camp Bike Boat Swim Shop or Retire & ReRappel Shop or Retire & ReRappel Canoe Camp Climb Hike Ski Ski Canoe Camp Climb Hike ! lax ! lax Rappel Shop or Retire & Re- Rappel Shop or Retire & Relax ! lax ! You’re always close to something fun toYou’re always close to something fun to

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next level senior living

Dodson performing at the 2016 New Year’s Eve concert on Beale Street.

Dodson’s new band performs a heavy repertoire of Bar-Kays music. “It’s 90 percent all the songs of the Bar-Kays,” he says. “I do some other songs, and I have talented background singers. I let them do some songs.” Dodson doesn’t hesitate to please fans. “When somebody is hollering ‘Anticipation’ or for “Holy Ghost’ I just go ahead and do it,” he says. He also owns a branded concert tour called Masters of Funk that has included performances with other funk favorites, including The Dazz Band, Brick, and ConFunkShun.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

odson’s son, Larry Jr., says the funk music genre is being channeled by a generation of younger performers. An example he cited is the 2014 hybrid funk hit “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Parts of the song were recorded and written in Memphis at Royal Studios. “‘Uptown Funk’ tapped into the sound and feel of an older generation of music, married with twenty-first century production,” Dodson Jr. says. The younger Dodson now works with his parents in their entertainment booking agency, LaMarie’s Entertainment Complex, and supports charitable causes. The Dodsons’ daughter, Precious, was born in 1971, a year after the couple married. Larry Jr. was born a few years later. Precious was born with Down syndrome. At age 9 she had a rare dislocated vertebrae repaired. At age 15 she had heart surgery. The vertebrae repair required a week in traction and a halo brace attached to her head. “She has made my walk with God much, much stronger,” Dodson says. “When she was born, we didn’t know anything about her condition.” As early Saturday afternoon sunlight cascades over tall plants lining an expansive window, Marie Dodson enters her family room. She graciously responds to questions about 50 years of marriage and a book in progress

about raising her daughter. “It’s important to me because when Precious was born it was very difficult to find direction so we would know what to do,” she says. “We don’t want that to be a problem for others who have children with Down syndrome because it’s an experience, a loving experience, and she [Precious] is a loving person, and we want others to have direction.” Marie said as a parent of a child with special needs, she soon learned, “It’s not a problem at all. It’s an adventure.” Her advice is, “Don’t be afraid. When Precious was born, I was afraid and I felt alone, but you’re not alone. Believe that with your support that child will grow and do well.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, there are 6,000 Down syndrome births annually in the nation. Her husband recalls the dire medical warning: “We were nervous because the doctor told us don’t get too attached, she’s not going to live that long. That was a lot on young parents.” There was reason for concern. African-American infants with Down syndrome have a lower probability of first-year survival with the chromosomal disorder contrasted with white infants with the condition, the CDC cites. Dodson says Precious, who will turn 49 this year, has made him understand that “God has a plan for me through all of this.” For years Precious has worked on a job she loves, but maybe not as much as she loves her father’s music. He says she starts every day listening to his records. Marie Dodson has a simple calculus for a 50-year union with an entertainer who traveled regularly on national concert tours as she pursued her own career in legal services. “We’ve maintained our bond to trust,” she says. “Put God first always and believe we can live independently away from one another and maintain. We’ve survived, and it’s been a wonderful ride.”

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“MY GIFT TO GOD”

odson and his wife are both former Down Syndrome Association board members. He was on the association’s Memphis board, and she was on its statewide board. For 10 years he mentored young participants in the Step Up For Down Syndrome Awareness Walk and Family Festival by helping them prepare to sing the national anthem. He is equally proud of his work with LeMoyne-Owen College. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the college in 2019 in recognition of his contributions to music and HBCUs. Since its start in 1996, the Bar-Kays Foundation, which is being restructured, has funded 41 scholarships for graduating high school seniors who attend Shelby County Schools high schools planning to attend LeMoyne-Owen. The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis houses the scholarship. In 2019, three students each were awarded $2,500. There is pride in his voice when he recalls how the Allen Jones/ Marjorie Barringer/Bar-Kays Scholarship was started. Mrs. Barringer was the mother of Allen Jones. “One day we were driving in front of LeMoyne, with my wife and Mrs. Barringer,” Dodson says. “At that time there was a housing project across the street from the school and Mrs. Barringer said these people are poor and will never have an opportunity to go to the college across the street. She said we should do something.” Dodson’s desire to help people doesn’t surprise Porter. “Larry is one of the kindest persons you could ever meet, who passionately cares about people and charitable causes,” he says. “He doesn’t seek publicity in what he does in that regard. He also is a tremendous family man in a business where the rigors of the business, for most, fight against that.” Accepting the challenge to help students attend college and following through on the commitment represent values Dodson says were instilled in him by his parents and reflect his faith. “Life is God’s gift to me. What I do with my life is my gift to God,” he explains. “It’s as simple as that. I can’t sit back if I can help it. We’ve worked with causes all our lives.” As Dodson pursues the next phase of his performing and recording life, he may be sharing the spotlight. He has secured a talent agent for his 9-year-old budding actress granddaughter Larie, who gets immediate raves for her emerging acting chops from her grandfather. Anthony Hicks is a Memphis public relations professional and former newspaper reporter.

Love a little, die a little and break the law. Trey Milligan did all three in the summer before his 14th birthday. From Sartoris Literary Group, the debut novel by Frank Murtaugh. Available NOW at Amazon.com. Paperback ($19.95) and eBook ($8.95). Also available at Burke’s Book Store (936 S. Cooper) and Novel (387 Perkins Extd).

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Biz 901

/ EXIT INTERVIEW

Power Players 2020

/ TA BLE OF CON T EN TS

Business Hall of Fame 59 Architecture 60 Arts & Entertainment 60 Auto Dealers 64 Banking: Administration 64 Banking: Commercial Lending 66 Bioscience 68 Business Organizations 70 CEOs and Leaders 72 Certified Public Accounting 74 CFOs 76 Commercial Insurance 76 Commercial Real Estate 78 Construction 80 Employee Benefits 80 Engineering 82 Financial Planning 82

Higher Education 84 Hospitality 84 Independent Schools 86 Information Technology 87 Insiders 88 Investment Brokers 88 Law: Business Litigation 89 Law: Employment 90 Logistics 92 Manufacturing 92 Marketing / PR 94 Medical: Group Practice Administration 96 Medical: Hospital Administration 96 Philanthropy 98 Public Service 98 Security 101 Staffing 103

elcome to the 2020 edition of Inside Memphis Business’ Power Players. These are the people who get things done in and around Memphis, from top executives to specialists in a variety of areas required to keep our economy healthy. This year we’ve done some things a bit differently, all to the good. We have more than 500 Power Players, more than in last year’s list. Also, we’re now in Memphis magazine, which this year has become the new home for IMB. We’ve streamlined the look, keeping the essential information on the listed movers and shakers while making the presentation more dynamic graphically. In addition, we’ve added a graphic soe for those Power Players who are also members of the Society of Entrepreneurs. Enjoy this essential reference to an important cast of characters who are shaping commerce in the Mid-South, and who work every day to make this place the City of Good Abode. — Jon W. Sparks, Editor

Keeping You Covered Since 1971

901-372-8400

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6263 Poplar Towers Memphis, TN 110,000 sf Office - Renovation

100 Peabody Place, Memphis, TN 38103 • 901.260.7370 • www.belzdesignbuild.com

©Jeffrey Jacobs Photography

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Power Players 2020 Carolyn Chism Hardy soe President,

Rudi E. Scheidt soe Former chairman,

CEO, Chism Hardy Investments. Entrepreneurial ventures include Hardy Bottling Co., Henderson Worldwide Investments. Past chair, Greater Memphis Chamber.

Hohenberg Brothers Co. Helped initiate cotton trade with China, Eastern Europe. Governor’s Award for Arts Leadership, State of Tennessee. Contributions to U of M led to Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music being named in his honor.

O. Mason Hawkins soe Chairman,

BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

he achievements of the city’s top Power Players continue to change the face and the economy of Memphis and the Mid-South.

Jack Belz soe Chairman and CEO, Belz Enterprises. Factory-outlet mall pioneer. Developed The Peabody and Peabody Place. Master Entrepreneur, SOE, Junior Achievement; Lifetime Achievement Award, DMC. Founder, Belz Museum of Asian & Judaic Art.

George Cates soe Founder, former chairman, CEO, Mid-America Apartment Communities. Started company as Cates Company in 1977. MAA on New York Stock Exchange.

Karen Blockman Carrier soe Founder, Another Roadside Attraction Catering, Bar DKDC, The Beauty Shop, Mollie Fontaine Lounge. Restaurateur of the Year award, MRA.

William B. Dunavant Jr. soe Founder, former CEO, Dunavant Enterprises. Cotton, commodities trader with global holdings. Futures Industry Association Hall of Fame. Founder, Racquet Club of Memphis; brought major-league tennis to Memphis.

Avron Fogelman Chairman, Fogelman Properties. Owner, Memphis Chicks, Rogues, Tams. First chairman, Memphis/ Shelby County Sports Authority. Won World Series as owner of MLB’s Kansas City Royals.

Art Gilliam soe Chairman, president, Gilliam Communications, Inc. Founded WLOK, ﬁrst black-owned radio station in Memphis. Frequently #1 Gospel Station in nation, Religion & Media Quarterly. Sponsor WLOK Stone Soul Picnic. 2011 Visionary Award, DMC.

CEO, Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. Operates one of the world’s most successful mutual-fund families. Seeks highly competitive businesses. Played key role in the Grizzlies’ move to Memphis.

J.R. “Pitt” Hyde III soe President, Hyde Family Foundations. Founded AutoZone. Automotive Hall of Fame. Helped found Memphis Bioworks Foundation, Memphis Tomorrow, National Civil Rights Museum. Helped bring Grizzlies to Memphis.

John R. Malmo soe Chairman emeritus, Archer Malmo, Inc.; principal, John Malmo Marketing Consulting. Former president, Memphis Advertising Federation, former director, American Assn. of Advertising Agencies. American Advertising Federation Silver Medal.

Brad Martin soe Chairman, RBM Venture Co. Former chairman and CEO, Saks Inc. Former interim president, U of M. Grew Saks revenue from $70 million to $7 billion. Author, Five Stones: Conquering Your Giants; Myles’ Pesky Friends (a children’s book).

Jim McGehee Former chairman, Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority. Secured Northwest Airlines hub status for Memphis and inauguration of transatlantic service. Director, Financial Strategy Group Investment Management and Pinnacle Airlines.

Allen B. Morgan Jr. soe Co-founder, chairman emeritus, Regions Morgan Keegan, Inc. Launched Morgan Keegan as leading investment ﬁrm. Merged with Regions Bank; acquired by Raymond James. Entrepreneur of the Year, SOE 1994.

David Porter Founder, president, Consortium MMT. Songwriter, singer, producer. Part of Stax Studio success in 1960s-’70s. Wrote classics including more than 100 Billboard hits. Songwriters Hall of Fame. Involved in Memphis small-business enterprises.

Leigh Shockey CEO, Drexel Chemical Co.; manufacturer and formulator of agricultural, ornamental, and turf chemical since 1972. More than $100 million in sales annually. Chair, West Tennessee District Export Council, Greater Memphis Chamber.

Frederick W. Smith soe Founder, chairman, CEO, FedEx Corp. Launched Federal Express, which became a Memphis institution and a global powerhouse. First implementer of airport-hub concept and pioneer of the “Just In Time” inventory concept.

Pat Kerr Tigrett soe Chairman and CEO, Pat Kerr, Inc. Fashion designer specializing in bridal couture; ofﬁces in London, New York, Memphis. Inﬂuential in city’s music and cultural scene. Founded the Blues Ball, Moonshine Ball, Jingle Bell Ball.

Henry Turley soe Founder, Henry Turley Company. Real estate developer and New Urbanism. Created mixed-use Harbor Town community and similar developments at South Bluffs and Uptown Memphis. Founding Member of SOE.

Jesse Turner Jr. President, chairman, Tri-State Bank of Memphis. Succeeded his father at the bank in 1990. Bank, founded to serve African-American community, was integral in civil rights struggles. Operates own CPA ﬁrm. Treasurer, NAACP National Board of Directors.

IN MEMORIAM Ira A. Lipman (1940-2019) soe Founder, Guardsmark in 1963. Wharton School Board of Overseers, Dean’s Medal. American Business Ethics Award; Stanley C. Pace Leadership in Ethics Award, Committee for Economic Development. Corporate Citizenship Award.

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Power Players 2020

/ A RCHIT ECT URE — A RTS & EN T ERTA INMEN T

ARCHITECTURE

rchitects speak to purpose and culture in a variety of structures, public and private. These Power Players are among the best.

Rebecca Conrad Principal, ANF Architects. Clients include U of M, Crosstown HS, I-40 Solar Farm, Pink Palace, CBU, FedEx, Trezevant Manor, The Village at Germantown.

Metcalf Crump Chairman and CEO, The Crump Firm. Clients include FedEx, Smith & Nephew, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, International Paper, Orpheum Theatre, Highwoods Properties, CBRE Memphis, Commercial Advisors.

Dianne Dixon Founding Partner, Clark/ Dixon Architects. Projects include SCSO Firing Range, Cancer Survivors Park, Raymond Skinner Center for the Disabled, and the library at the Metal Museum. AIA Memphis Merit Award and Award of Excellence, AIA Tennessee.

E. Scott Fleming President, Fleming Architects, PC. Projects include U of M Law School, Kroc Center, St. Mary’s School, New Collierville HS, Bellevue Baptist Church, St. Agnes Academy, Hope Presbyterian Church, Christ Community Health Services, Signature at Schilling Farms, CBU Living Learning Center, CBHS.

Rick Gardner Principal and Practice Leader, HBG Design. Practice ranked 4th nationally in hospitality, entertainment architecture, interior design; nine national and local “Best Workplaces” awards. Clients include Elvis Presley Enterprises, Carlisle Corporation, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, International Paper, FedEx Express.

Timothy N. Garrett Director of Architecture, Belz Enterprises/Belz Architecture. Clients include Poplar Tower, Onyx Medical, UTMP Expansion, Horizon Surgery Center, Crone Law Firm.

Susan Golden Founding partner, pres-

Jimmie Tucker Founding Principal, Self +

ident, & healthcare practice leader, brg3s architects. Clients include Youth Villages, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Shelby County, Regional One Health, West Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Shelby County Health Department.

Tucker Architects with Juan Self. Projects include Universal Life Insurance Building Revitalization, Cleaborn Pointe at Heritage Landing, Hattiloo Theatre, STAX Museum, Memphis Business Academy.

Joseph Hagan Principal and co-found-

with Todd Walker. Projects include Ballet Memphis, CBU, U of M, City Leadership, GPAC, FedEx, Hattiloo Theatre, Christ Community Health Services, Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Orion FCU, Youth Villages, Regional One Health, City of Memphis, Meritan, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

er, Architecture, Incorporated. Projects include University Place, East High School, Legends Park, ODEN Marketing Communications, Memphis in May, and 100 North Main, LLC.

Reb Haizlip Principal, Haizlip Studio.

Barry Yoakum Co-principal, archimania

Practice specializes in education, museums, nonproﬁts. Projects include U of M Pedestrian Bridge, U of M Student Center, Dixon Gallery and Gardens.

Carter Hord Principal, Hord Architects. Specializes in master planning, architecture, interior design for nonproﬁt and institutional clients, particularly churches and Christian schools. Projects include churches in multiple states. AIA 150 Design Award of Merit.

Tom McConnell Principal/lead architect, Pickering Firm. Projects include FedEx Ground Sort Hubs, Smith & Nephew, Kroger stores, Nike-Northridge expansion, Wright Medical HQ, TBC Distribution Center, Volvo Distribution Center, Memphis Union Mission.

Frank Ricks Founding Principal, Looney Ricks Kiss/LRK. Projects include Crosstown Concourse, Renasant Convention Center, Union Row, FedEx Logistics HQ, Orion HQ, Artspace Lofts, Chisca Hotel, AutoZone Park, FedExFamilyHouse, Stax Museum, Old Dominick Distillery, Tennessee Brewery, Pinch District Plan.

Stewart A. Smith Senior Architect, A2H, Inc. Projects include Riverdale Elementary, Memphis Health, Lakeland Middle, U of M-Lambuth upgrades, St. Francis Hospital-Bartlett Women’s Center, Baptist Medical Group clinics. Specializes in architecture, interior design, engineering, planning, landscape architecture, surveying.

Michael Terry Senior vice president and partner, the Renaissance Group Architecture and Engineering. Architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, civil engineering, and electrical engineering design services for industries from automotive to retail.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

reatives in Memphis have a robust community thanks to the Power Players who nurture the culture as business that elevates us all.

Tony Alexander President and managing director, Made in Memphis Entertainment. Subsidiaries include 4U Recording, Beatroot, Heavy Hitters Music, RoyaltyClaim. Entrepreneur, intellectual property attorney, law professor. Label artists include Porcelan, Jessica Ray, Brandon Lewis.

Ward Archer Owner and founder, Archer Records and Music+Arts Studio. Manager, Blue Barrel Records. Work includes John Kilzer’s album Scars with Matt Ross-Spang, Summer Avenue’s Some Kind of Color, blues artist Mathis Haug, Watermelon Slim, Blind Mississippi Morris, Bruce Newman, Eric Lewis, Amy LaVere. Film sound projects include Lights May Flicker, Solus, Dean’s List, The One You Never Forget, Dolemite is My Name.

Ekundayo Bandele Founder and CEO, Hattiloo Theatre. Spearheaded $4.3 million and a later $1 million capital campaign for a theater and development center that opened, debt-free, in June 2014. United Way of the Mid-South award, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis award, Congressional Certiﬁcate of Honor, IMB Innovation Award.

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Power Players 2020

/ A RTS & EN T ERTA INMEN T

Brett Batterson President & CEO,

Jim Green Founder and owner, Green

Sherry May Co-director, Live at the

Orpheum Theatre Group. Oversees the Orpheum and Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education. Brought Hamilton in 2019. Theatre won fourth Tony in 2018 for Best Musical for The Band’s Visit. Presenter of the Year in 2017 by North American Performing Arts Manager and Agents.

Machine Concerts. General Manager, BankPlus Amphitheater, Snowden Grove. Co-founder, TCB Concerts. National Tour Promoter. Former producer, IEBA Conference; Bikes, Blues and BBQ; Stax 50th Anniversary Concert. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ.

Garden summer concert series at Memphis Botanic Garden. With co-director Jamison Totten, has made the series a premier regional outdoor entertainment venue with an annual attendance of more than 33,000 people.

Michael Bollinger Artistic director,

Jon Hornyak Senior executive director, Memphis Chapter, Recording Academy. U of M College of Communication and Fine Arts Distinguished Achievement Award. Executive producer of over 50 video interviews for GRAMMY Museum’s Living Histories archives. Executive producer, Sounds of Memphis documentary. Multiple Mid-South Regional Emmy nominations.

artistic director, Tennessee Shakespeare Company, the ﬁrst and only professional classical theatre in the Mid-South creating 35,000 points of contact annually through performances, education, outreach, and training. 2009 Distinguished Arts & Humanities Medal for Germantown Performing Arts.

Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center. Launched Arts In Ed and Music by the Lake series, growing live theatre program. Former director of theatres in Missouri, Virginia, and New York City. Missouri Arts Award.

Scott Bomar Musician, Emmy Awardwinning ﬁlm/TV composer, producer. Projects include Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan, Soul Men, Dolemite is My Name. Produced, engineered Cyndi Lauper’s Grammy-nominated album Memphis Blues. Songwriter, William Bell’s 2017 Grammy-winning album, “This is Where I Live.”

Ned Canty General director, Opera Memphis. Directed at Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Israeli Vocal Arts Institute, Shanghai Conservatory. Created annual 30 Days of Opera program, now replicated in 17 other states. 2017 CEO of the Year, IMB.

Paul Chandler Executive director,

Carissa Hussong Executive director, Metal Museum, only U.S. organization dedicated to art and craft of ﬁne metalwork. Whitney Museum of American Art Curatorial Fellow. One of “25 Who Shaped Memphis: 1989-2014,” Memphis Flyer. Ellida Fri Leadership Award, 50 Women Who Make A Difference, Memphis Center City Commission Vision Award.

Marcia Kaufmann Executive director, Iris Orchestra. Was executive director, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival. Co-founder and artistic director, Icicle Creek Music Center. Member, numerous chamber ensembles and chamber orchestras.

Preston Lamm CEO, River City

Germantown Performing Arts Center. 25-year veteran in entertainment, production, fundraising and venue management. Oversees programming in Duncan Williams Performance Hall and Watkins Studio Theater. Created outdoor venue The Grove. Responsible for development of public art in Germantown.

Management (Rum Boogie Cafe, King’s Palace Cafe, Pig on Beale, Mesquite Chop House, Spindini). Pioneer Award, 2004, Memphis Restaurant Association, for redeveloping restaurant business on Beale Street. Finalist, 2013 CEO of the Year award, IMB.

Trey DeHart Owner, Minglewood Hall

International Records, Merless Publishing, LLC. Member, NARAS, Jazz Journalist Association. Keeping the Blues Alive award, Blues Foundation. Former partner, Memphis International Records.

and 1884 Lounge. Full event booking, production, planning, promotion. Concerts include Huey Lewis & the News, Megadeth, Eric Church, B52’s, Florida Georgia Line, Vince Gill, Elvis Costello, Alabama Shakes, Deftones.

Michael Detroit Executive producer, Playhouse on the Square. Oversees $15 million in assets and $2.7 million annual budget producing 18 shows on three stages and 13 education outreach programs. 100+ professional stage credits, 100s of TV commercial, industrial, and voice-over credits, appeared in nine ﬁlms.

David Less Co-founder, Memphis

Debbie Litch Executive producer, Theatre Memphis. Memphis Symphony Orchestra Hebe and Amphion Awards; Germantown Arts Alliance Arts and Humanities Award; American Association of Community Theatre’s Twink Lynch Award; Gyneka Award from Women’s Theatre Festival of Memphis; “Janie McCrary Putting It Together” Ostrander; American Association of Community Theatre’s Distinguished Merit Award.

Dan McCleary Founder and producing

Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell Chief manager/engineer, Royal Studios. Chapter governor, Memphis Chapter, Recording Academy. Producer, Take Me to the River documentary. NARAS awards for Grammy award-winning and nominated projects. Clients include Al Green, Bruno Mars, North Mississippi All-Stars, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Boz Scaggs, Wu-Tang Clan, John Mayer. 2016 Record of the Year Grammy, Uptown Funk. 2019 Memphian of the Year, Memphis magazine.

Robert Moody Music director, Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Guest conducted Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. International work includes Slovenian Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Work is on several commercial audio recordings.

Emily Ballew Neff Executive director, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Largest encyclopedic art museum in the region with core mission of education and public service that celebrated 100 years in 2016. First curator of American painting and sculpture at Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts, with expertise in American art, eighteenth-century art, and photography.

Tommy Peters President, B.B. King’s Blues Club. Owner, Itta Bena, Lafayette’s Music Room on Overton Square, Moondance Grill in Germantown. Operates B.B. King’s in Memphis, Nashville, Orlando, Montgomery, New Orleans, and nine cruise ships.

Dorothy Gunther Pugh Founding artistic director, Ballet Memphis. Leader in movement to diversify American ballet. Company tours internationally. Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis Legends Award, Women of Achievement Award for Initiative, Thomas W. Briggs Foundation Award for Community Service, Gordon Holl Outstanding Arts Administrator Award. 2017 Memphian of the Year, Memphis magazine.

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Power Players 2020

/ A RTS & EN T ERTA INMEN T — AU TO DE A LERS — BA NKING -A DMINIST R AT ION

Kevin Sharp Linda W. and S. Herbert Rhea Director, Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Leads museum and public garden with diverse exhibition and education programs. Expanded audience, membership, donor base, income yearly since 2007. Led major renovation of the museum in 2015. Oversaw construction of the Farnsworth Education Building in 2018-2019.

Katie Smythe Founder, CEO, and artistic director, New Ballet Ensemble and School. Performed with State of Tennessee Ballet Company, only non-professional artist selected by Director Norbert Vesak of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Past member, Loyce Houlton’s Minnesota Dance Theater.

Howard Stovall Managing partner, Resource Entertainment. With Rollin Riggs, co-founded company. Provides private, corporate, festival, casino clients with production services and entertainment, including regional party bands, touring acts, national headliners. Manages rental venues including The Columns.

Natalie Wilson Executive director, Levitt Shell at Overton Park. Former director of visitor experience, Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, where she was key in re-development of the park.

Bruce Kent Ritchey Sr. soe

Mark Goodfellow Owner, It’s All Good Auto Sales. “Favorite Used Car Dealership,” The Commercial Appeal, Memphis Most. Four-star athlete at Marion High School in Arkansas in basketball, baseball, football, tennis. With Devin Donaldson, won 2010 United States Tennis Association’s 7.0 Mixed Doubles National Championships in Arizona.

Al Gossett President, CEO, owner, Gossett Motor Cars. Largest privately owned automotive group in the MidSouth. Manufacturers include Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Kia, Hyundai, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Fiat. Member, Memphis Grizzlies ownership group.

President, Landers Auto Group with locations in Memphis, Southaven, and Jackson, Mississippi. Franchises include: Ford, Nissan, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Buick, GMC, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Cadillac, Volkswagen. President, Greater Memphis Auto Dealers Association.

Joseph H. Schaeffer III Owner, Wolfchase Honda and Wolfchase Nissan. Member, Honda Market Advisors Board, Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South, Greater Memphis Automobile Dealers Association, National Automobile Dealers Association, and Tennessee Automotive Association.

Stefan Smith President, Lexus of

Russell Gwatney President, Gwatney Mazda of Germantown, Gwatney Saab of Memphis, and Gwatney Mazda of Jackson. Finalist, 2005 Time Quality Dealer of the Year. Andrew Jackson Award, 2000 Tennessee Volunteer of the Year, Tennessee Society of Economic Development.

Trudy Higginbotham Moody Owner, Mercedes-Benz of Collierville and Mercedes-Benz and Porsche of Jackson, Mississippi. “Best Mercedes-Benz Dealership to Work For” in nation, Mercedes-Benz “Best of the Best” Dealer, Porsche “Premier Dealer.”

Memphis. Co-owner with son Bryan, who serves as vice president and general manager. Family owned dealership. Past president, Lexus National Dealer Council.

Farrar Vaughan President, Jaguar Land Rover Bluff City. One of six female Jaguar dealers of more than 170 nationwide. Appointed by former Governor Bill Haslam to be Commissioner to the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission representing 9th Congressional District.

Rob Walker Executive manager and founding general sales manager, Inﬁniti of Memphis. In 30th year with family-owned company.

Henry A. Hutton President/dealer, Chuck Hutton Chevrolet, Chuck Hutton Toyota, Chuck Hutton Co. Graduate, Tennessee Banking School at Vanderbilt, Banking School of the South at LSU.

James J. Keras President, Jim Keras

AUTO DEALERS

f you want to get to where you’re going, you may want to check out one of these Power Players who can get your engine started.

David S. Andrews soe Founder and CEO, City Enterprises, LLC, holding company for City Auto, Dealers Auto Auction Group, City Auto Finance, City Leasing, Pace Finance, City Construction and Development, Cadillac of Jackson, Auto Simple Chattanooga. Operations in 4 states and 12 cities; employs over 800.

Automotive Group. Family-owned business. Became dealer principal in 1978. Circle of Excellence, General Motors Select Dealer, and Mark of Excellence awards.

Karen Lombardo General manager, Roadshow BMW/MINI franchise. Previously in ﬁnancial services and marketing roles for BMW in Ohio, New Jersey, and Louisiana. 2018 Automotive News Top 40 Under 40. National Automobile Dealers Association NextGen Leadership Club.

Ernie Norcross Owner/general manager, Volvo Cars of Memphis. Past president, Greater Memphis Automobile Dealers Association. Volvo Retailer Advisory Board and Volvo Product Advisory Board.

BANKING - ADMINISTRATION

unning a bank means these Power Players not only must tend to dollars and cents, but to changing regulations, technology, and looking after customers.

Kirk Bailey Chairman, Memphis, Pinnacle Financial Partners. Leader in local banks since 1980. Founded Magna Bank 1999. PMD degree, Harvard Business School. Active in industry, community affairs.

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Watkins Uiberall, PLLC Certified Public Accountants Memphis • Tupelo 901.761.2720 • 662.269.4014 www.wucpas.com

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Power Players 2020

/ BA NKING -A DMINIST R AT ION — BA NKING - COMMERCIA L LENDING

Tara Burton President and CEO, FedEx Employees Credit Association. NAFCU Certiﬁed Compliance Ofﬁcer. 2017 Super Women in Business Award, MBJ. Honoree, 2016 Women to Watch, Credit Union Times.

Harold Byrd President, Bank of Bartlett. Co-founder, Bank of Bartlett, Bartlett Mortgage, Bartlett Travel. Former Tennessee State Representative. Former special assistant to U.S. Senator Jim Sasser. President, Memphis Rebounders. Partner in Education Award, SCS, Distinguished Alumni Award, U of M.

William J. Chase Jr. Founding president, CEO and board member, Triumph Bank. Graduate, Vanderbilt, National Commercial Lending School of American Bankers Association. Founded Triumph in 2006, specializing in commercial and retail banking. Former member, Community Bankers Council Division (ABA). 2020 recipient of IMB’s CEO of the Year Award.

Frank Cianciola Board chairman, president, and CEO, Bank3. Former CEO, Victory Bank & Trust; founder, CEO, and chairman, Renasant Bank. Was chairman and vice chairman, Metropolitan Bank.

W. Craig Esrael President and CEO, First South Financial. Executive of the Year, MBJ. Entrepreneur of the Year, Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce. CEO of the Year, IMB. One of Fittest CEOs in America, Fortune. Tennessee Volunteer Commendation Award by Governor of Tennessee.

James P. “Jake” Farrell Chairman, president, CEO, Landmark Community Bank. Former trustee and vice chair, St. George’s Independent School. Co-chair, Dishes-For-Wishes. Supports Holy Apostles Episcopal Church. Member of Parent’s Council, Rhodes College.

Mott Ford Chairman and CEO, Commercial Bank and Trust Company, an $800 million institution with statewide ofﬁces in Memphis, Paris, Jackson, and Union City.

Gene Henson President, Memphis & North Mississippi Region, Trustmark National Bank. Board Member, Tennessee Bankers Association and past chairman, Government Relations Committee. Past member, Government Relations Council Administrative Committee, American Bankers Association.

David C. May Market executive and Regional Commercial Banking Executive for Tennessee and Kentucky, Regions Bank. Co-Chair of Greater Memphis Chamber’s Chairman’s Circle and on Board of United Way of the Mid-South.

Johnny B. Moore Mid-West Tennessee Regional president, Truist. Former president and CEO, SunTrust Bank. SunTrust merged with BB&T at the end of 2019. Daniel Reid President, West Tennessee Banking Group, Renasant Bank. Focus on commercial banking practices and an emphasis on training opportunities for leadership, lending, and productivity.

Jim Rout President and CEO, BankTennessee. Former Shelby County Mayor and Shelby County Commissioner. 2009 Optimist Citizen of Year from the Memphis and Shelby County Respect for Law Committee, Optimist International. Distinguished Alumni Award, U of M.

Robert S. Shaw, Jr. Co-founder and CEO, Paragon Bank. Graduate, American Bankers Association National Commercial Lending School.

Greg Smithers Regional president of Tennessee and Arkansas, IberiaBank. Manages associates in Tennessee and Arkansas areas and continues growth in the markets. Previously was market manager.

W. Scott Stafford President, CEO, director, Evolve Bank & Trust. 2015 IMB CEO of the Year. Evolve a sponsor of Halloran Centre Music Series, River Arts Fest, Levitt Shell and Cooper-Young Festival.

Chip Dudley soe and Susan S. Stephenson soe Co-founders and co-chairs, Independent Bank. Before founding i-bank, Dudley was Chairman, President and CEO of Boatmen’s Bank of Arkansas and Stephenson was Chairman, President and CEO of Boatmen’s Bank of Tennessee. Both have led and served on numerous civic organizations. Bank is recognized as a top community bank in the nation.

William R. Tayloe President, Financial Federal Bank. Financial Federal Board of Directors. Responsible for oversight and management. Active in business development, risk management, strategic planning.

BANKING-COMMERCIAL LENDING

nowing when and how to mind your business is the art and science of lending, skills possessed by these deft Power Players.

Rebecca Bowers Vice president, Private Banking, Evolve Bank & Trust. 26 years in banking in Memphis, last 7 with Evolve. Former positions with First Capital Bank and Bank of Bartlett. Mentor, HopeWorks of Memphis.

Jeff Camp Executive vice president/senior lender, First Alliance Bank. Locally owned, state-chartered, opened in Cordova in 1999. Former leadership positions at M&F Bank, Deposit Guaranty National Bank, Union Planters National Bank.

Wright Cox Community president, BankTennessee. LSU Graduate School of Banking. 35 years in banking. Graduate, Rhodes College Executive Leadership Program. C.H. Harrell Education Award.

Blake Elliot Senior vice president, commercial banking executive, Regions Bank. 24 years commercial banking. Specialties include healthcare, transportation, logistics, technology, food and beverage, government and institutional banking, capital markets.

Duncan Galbreath Senior vice president, Mid-South Commercial Banking Manager, First Horizon National Corp. Two decades of commercial banking with focus on lending, depository, and cash management needs.

Andrea Gladney Community president, Commercial Bank and Trust Company, Memphis. Former treasurer, House of Grace. Life member of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries.

Rick Hall Executive vice president and senior commercial lender, Renasant Bank. Almost four decades in banking. Member, Lambda Alpha International, Economic Club of Memphis. Founder and former chairman, Westminster Academy.

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Power Players 2020

/ BANKING-COMMERCIAL LENDING — BIOSCIENCE

Steve Hawkins Director of specialty

Frank A. McGrew III Director of

banking, First Horizon National Corp. With bank for 38 years, current position since 2012. Wholesale line of business director for all commercial loan and treasury activities, including commercial, corporate, specialized lending, and deposit relationships.

cardiovascular research and clinical cardiologist, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation. Certiﬁed in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease, American Board of Internal Medicine. Assistant Clinical Professor of medicine to Duke University certiﬁed in Advanced Heart Failure and transplant cardiology.

Phillip May Memphis market president, Pinnacle Financial Partners. Commercial and corporate lending since 1994. Former corporate executive, SunTrust and Regions Bank. Founded Metropolitan Bank in 2007, grew assets to $700 million before merging with Renasant.

Robert Morehead Senior vice presi-

Robert Palmisano President and CEO,

BIOSCIENCE

nowing what makes us tick — and how to fix us when there’s trouble — is where these Power Players put their minds to work.

Bob Bean CEO, YX Genomics Holding Corp.

dent, Memphis Market, BancorpSouth. In banking for more than 30 years. Responsible for all commercial operations in the Memphis market. Works with the Greater Memphis Chamber, Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Memphis East.

and subsidiaries TransnetYX, YX Services, RobotYX. Provides outsourced genetic services, cloud-based management software, and laboratory consulting. 2012 CEO of the Year, IMB.

William H. Posey III CEO and execu-

James Beaty Pediatric orthopedic sur-

tive vice president, Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc. Responsible for Greystone’s Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae DUS Lending Platform, including affordable, seniors, small balance multifamily lending. Former chairman and CEO, Univest Financial Services.

Frank Stallworth Executive vice president of commercial real estate, Orion FCU. Former senior vice president of commercial and multifamily ﬁnancing at Pinnacle Bank responsible for all commercial and multifamily real estate lending activities, including placement of income property loans with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Tom Stephenson Executive vice president and chief credit ofﬁcer, Independent Bank. More than 40 years’ experience, last 12 years at Independent Bank. Former president, American Cancer Society.

Richard T. Wood III Executive vice president and manager of Commercial/ Multifamily Division, Financial Federal Bank. Involved in commercial lending more than 40 years. 2014 Lifetime Achievement “Titan” Award, 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. Regional CCIM Chapter. Leads mortgage banking team in Memphis, Atlanta, Nashville ofﬁces.

geon, Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics. Board certiﬁed, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Former chief of staff, Campbell Clinic; former director, Pediatric Orthopaedic Fellowship. President, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, Mid-America Orthopaedic Association.

Kevin Foley Chairman and director of complex spine surgery, Semmes-Murphey Clinic. Director, Spine Fellowship Program, Department of Neurosurgery; Professor of Neurosurgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Biomedical Engineering, UTHSC. Medical director and chairman, Medical Education & Research Institute.

Richard Magid Vice president and director of technology transfer, UT Research Foundation. Led out-licensing of UTHSC inventions and discoveries, including launch of Tennessee-based startups. Creator and teacher, “Entrepreneurship for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences,” UTHSC. U.S. patent agent.

Wright Medical Group. Former president and CEO, ev3, endovascular device ﬁrm. Former president and CEO, IntraLase, MacroChem, Summit Technology.

Mary V. Relling Chair, Pharmaceutical Department, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Institute of Medicine of National Academy of Sciences. Pediatric Cancer Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology; Team Science Prize, American Association of Cancer Research. Co-leader, NIH-funded Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium.

Isaac Rodriguez Co-founder, chief science ofﬁcer, SweetBio Inc. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ. Innovation Award winner, IMB. Top 10 Alumni, VCU. Keynote speaker, NASA Langley’s Hispanic Heritage Month.

Gary Stevenson Managing partner and co-founder, MB Venture Partners. CPA, Chartered Financial Analyst. Invested in more than 40 medical-device and biotech startups, 18 in Shelby County. Participated in ﬁnancing GTx and BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc.

Robert Williams Professor and chair of the Department of Genetics, UTHSC; UT-ORNL governor’s chair in Genomics; Developer of open access web sites for scientiﬁc discovery since 1994, including GeneNetwork, and new experimental methods and models to test predictions of disease risk using genetic data.

Geoffrey S. Martha President and CEO,

Ken Woody President, Innova

Medtronic, leader in medical technology, services, and solutions. Was executive VP of company’s restorative therapies group. Oversees operating groups and regions.

Memphis, which invests in and mentors early-stage medical device companies, biosciences, and technology companies.

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port of our p su e th e g d le w ckno We gratefully a ner Sponsors in D l a u n n A th 28 0 August 29, 202

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Power Players 2020

/ BUSINESS ORG A NIZ AT IONS

Anna Mullins Ellis President and CEO, New Memphis, which attracts, develops, activates, and retains diverse talent for a vital and prosperous Memphis. Former publisher, High Ground News. Director, TEDx-Memphis. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ; 20<30, Memphis Flyer.

Gwyn R. Fisher Greater Memphis

BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

he business of business is where these Power Players exercise their expertise and help keep companies up and running.

Jozelle Luster Booker President and CEO, The MMBC Continuum. Operates MBDA Business Center for U.S. Department of Commerce with national network of scalable minority suppliers to meet needs of corporate America. Economic accelerator for minority- and women-owned businesses in the Mid-South.

Jan Bouten Partner, Innova Memphis. Investor in early stage startup companies, leader in Memphis entrepreneurial ecosystem, recognized as a Wall Street Journal Startup Guru. More than 20 years of international business and investment experience.

Scott A. Brockman President and CEO, Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority. Oversees airport’s modernization plan. Accredited Airport Executive. AAAE Distinguished Service Award. SEC AAAE Airport Professional of the Year, 2010 & 2012.

Pearson Crutcher Executive director, The Society of Entrepreneurs. Educates and encourages businesspeople with the Entrepreneurs Roundtable, Insights Group and Annual Dinner and Awards Banquet. Top 40 Under 40, Superwoman of Business MBJ. St. Agnes Academy Hall of Fame.

Janie Day President and CEO, Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce. Previously elected executive director. Creates vibrant environment in Germantown through business, government, community partnerships.

Reid Dulberger President and CEO, Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County. Develops ﬁnancing programs and tax incentive programs such as FTZ-77, PILOTs, TIFs; along with Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce and the International Port of Memphis.

regional director of Tennessee’s Department of Economic and Community Development. Founder and CEO, Revolution Strategy. Former Executive Director of MPACT Memphis. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ.

Don Glays President, Tennessee Builders Education Foundation. Former executive director, West Tennessee Home Builders Association. Provides career development, training, placement in building industry.

John E. Gnuschke Director, Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Center for Manpower Studies. Professor, Economics, U of M. Director, Applied Information Technology Center. Co-director, Center for Real Estate Research.

Mark Heuberger President, CEO, Collierville Chamber of Commerce. Provides services, resources, opportunities to help Collierville businesses. Members receive business advocacy, promotion, legislation representation, and B2B relationships.

Randy Hutchinson President and CEO, Better Business Bureau of the MidSouth, with 4,100 BBB Accredited members. Provides more than 1.2 million reports on Mid-South businesses annually to consumers. Educates consumers on how to avoid scams.

Kannette Keough Executive director, West Tennessee Home Builders Association. Hosts VESTA Home Shows. Largest local home builders’ association in Tennessee with a network of home construction, remodeling, contractor, supplier services.

Carmen Kyle Executive director, Southaven Chamber of Commerce. Promotes commerce and a strong economy in Southaven, works to improve quality of life through safe neighborhoods, community support, and ethical business practices.

Eric Mathews Founder and CEO, Start Co., venture development for high-tech and high impact organizations. Advocate and builder of high-growth potential businesses and diverse founders. Pioneer of systemic early stage startup investing in Memphis.

Tommy Pacello President, Memphis Medical District Collaborative. Directs strategy, development, activation of MMDC with healthcare, research and educational anchor institutions. Top 40 Real Estate Professionals under the age of 40, Urban Land magazine.

Jeremy C. Park CEO, cityCURRENT, focused on philanthropy, positive media, free community events; member Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance LLC. Author of Giving for Growth; producer/host of The SPARK and SPARK Awards on WKNO-TV, and cityCURRENT radio show.

Beverly Robertson President, Greater Memphis Chamber. Former president, National Civil Rights Museum. Principal, TRUST Marketing (accounts include Promus Companies, Holiday Inn Worldwide, Midas International, Merrill Lynch). 30 years+ in public/community relations, communications, strategic planning, research.

Linn Sitler Runs Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission, helping secure the multi-million dollar NBC-Universal TV series Bluff City Law, plus Hallmark and Netflix productions, and dozens of film/tv/digital productions in 2019. Co-created first cash refund production incentive for Memphis filmmakers. Instrumental in Memphis being named several times as a “Top Movie City,” MovieMaker magazine.

Leslie Lynn Smith President and CEO, Epicenter, regional entrepreneurship hub. Drives strategy and measures impact among a partner network, connects entrepreneurs to resources to create an inclusive, growing economy. National entrepreneurial ecosystem thought leader.

Blair Taylor President, Memphis Tomorrow. Directs strategic, collective action by CEOs of Memphis’ largest enterprises to promote opportunity and quality of life for Memphians. Founder and Chair, Tennesseans for Quality Early Education.

John Threadgill President, Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce. Sustains Bartlett economy and community, implements programs for member businesses, assists with growth for current businesses, markets assets to attract new investment.

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Memphis Area Master Gardeners Memphis Area Master Gardeners - Present - Present -

“Through Our Garden Gates” “Through Our Garden Gates” Saturday June 6 from 9 AM – 4 PM. Saturday June 6 from 9 AM – 4 PM. To be held rain or shine. To be held rain or shine.

• Free tour - open to the public, all ages welcome.  Free tour - open to tour. the public, ages welcome. • This is the “DIY” All six all wonderful gardens, differing in design, style, size and  Thisfeatures, is the “DYI” tour. All sixby wonderful differing in design, style, sizeofand were designed the homegardens, gardener who also did the majority the installation will not be intimidated but will inspiredoftothe know features, were themselves. designed by You the home gardener who also did thebemajority you can create your own installation themselves. Yougarden will notoasis. be intimidated but will be inspired to know • Plant lists, labeled plants, educational you can create your own garden oasis. displays and garden docents will enhance your visit.  Plant lists, labeled plants, educational displays and garden docents will enhance • Garden experts on hand to answer any gardening question. your visit. • Plein Air artists creating original works of art in each garden.  Garden experts on hand to answer any gardening question.  Plein Air artists creating original works of art in each garden.

For more information, including directions, visit For more information, including directions, visit memphisareamastergardeners.org memphisareamastergardeners.org 901-752-1207 901-752-1207

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Power Players 2020

/ BUSINESS ORG A NIZ AT IONS — CEOS , COOS , & LE A DERS

Laurie Tucker Executive director, Economic Club of Memphis. Co-Founded Calade Partners, a strategy and marketing consultancy. Former senior vice president of marketing, FedEx Services, where she led rebranding initiatives and go-to-market strategies.

David Williams President and CEO, Leadership Memphis, with Executive Program for senior leaders, FastTrack for emerging leaders. Leads Volunteer Memphis. Events include MLK Days of Service, 9/11 Day of Service, Volunteer Memphis Awards.

Roby S. Williams CEO, Black Business Association of Memphis. Assists minority and women business owners. Formerly employed in Branch Division, Commercial and Retail Lending, and Marketing Division, First Tennessee Bank.

Kennard Brown Executive vice chancellor and COO, UTHSC. Assistant professor, College of Pharmacy; Department of Surgery, College of Medicine; chief administrative officer, UTHSC campus. Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives. Previous director, Office of Equity and Diversity, Office of Employee Relations, Center on Health Disparities.

Robert B. Carter Executive vice president and chief information ofﬁcer, FedEx Information Services; chief information ofﬁcer, FedEx Corp. Member of executive committee that plans and executes strategic business activities. Sets technology direction of FedEx applications, infrastructure, networks, data centers providing global support for products.

Andy Cates Founder, general partner, and CEO, RVC Outdoor Destinations, country’s leading provider of high-quality outdoor vacation properties. Founding partner, Viceroy Investments, LLC in Dallas; Value Acquisition Fund in Memphis. Project developer and board chairman, Soulsville Revitalization Project. Member of original Grizzlies ownership group. Gregory Christopher Chairman and

CEOS, COOS, & LEADERS

he art of leadership is embodied in these Power Players who nurture the enterprising spirit for employees, stockholders, and customers.

Ron Beal Chairman, president, CEO, Orgill, Inc. Former U.S. Army Field Artillery Ofﬁcer. Joined Orgill in 1985 as general manager of the Hardware Division. Became president and CEO in 2005; elected chairman 2013.

H. Eric Bolton, Jr. Chairman and CEO, MAA, a real estate investment trust focused on acquisition, development, redevelopment, and management of multifamily homes. 2007 Distinguished Alumni, U of M Fogelman College of Business & Economics, 2001 Multifamily Executive of the Year.

CEO, Mueller Industries, Inc., multinational manufacturer, distributor, seller of copper, brass, and other metal products for a variety of industries. Became CEO in 2008 and chairman of the board in 2016. Copper Club Ankh Award.

Paul DePriest Executive VP and COO, Baptist Memorial Health Care. Completed residency in obstetrics and gynecology, fellowship in gynecological oncology at University of Kentucky Medical Center. Top Doctors for Women in the South, Women’s Health.

Steve Ehrhart Executive director, AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Managed Liberty Bowl Football Classic since 1994, one of the oldest annual postseason games and highest-rated telecasts originating from Memphis. Former executive director, USFL; president/GM, Memphis Showboats; president, Colorado Rockies.

Naren Gursahaney Interim CEO and board chair, ServiceMaster. Former president and chief executive ofﬁcer of ADT Corp. Extensive experience with operations, strategic planning and leadership in large, global, residential, and commercial services.

Mark Halperin Executive VP and COO, Boyle Investment Co. Appointee, EDGE for Memphis and Shelby County. 2008 Commercial Broker of the Year, Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Council; 2012 Outstanding Recipient, 2008 Realtors Commercial Alliance National Award, National Association of Realtors, Commercial Division.

Bryan Jordan Chairman, president, CEO, First Horizon National Corp. Sets strategy for 4,300-employee company founded in 1864 with 14th oldest national bank charter. Company named a top employer by American Banker and Working Mother. Chairman, American Bankers Council, Memphis Tomorrow, Youth Villages.

Stacy McCall President, CEO, ServiceMaster by Stratos. Graduate, Mississippi State University. Former petroleum engineer. President of NAWBO Memphis, member of Boy Scouts of America Chickasaw Council and Le Bonheur National Leadership Council. IMB CEO of the Year. Marion E. Wade Award in 2019.

Richard W. McDuffie COO, Dunavant Global Logistics Group. Logistics and supply chain experience in automotive, specialty retail, consumer products, agricultural commodities. Built Dunavant’s logistics division into a recognized global logistics service provider.

Billy Orgel soe Founder, president, CEO, Tower Ventures, a national provider of wireless communications structures. Member of Grizzlies ownership group. Organizer and director, First Capital Bank. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ. Completed new construction of commercial spaces and 500 apartments, and preserved seven historic buildings in Downtown Memphis.

David T. Popwell President of banking, First Horizon National Corp. Former chairman, president, CEO, SunTrust in Memphis; executive VP, National Commerce Financial Corp.; shareholder, responsible for mergers and acquisitions practice group, Baker Donelson.

Bill Rhodes Chairman, president, and CEO, Customer Satisfaction, AutoZone. Leads Fortune 500 company with 96,000 employees and net sales of $12 billion in 2019. In 2005, became the youngest Fortune 500 CEO at age 39.

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Power Players 2020

CEOS, COOS, & LEADERS — CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING

Christine D. “Chris” Richards

Jason Wexler President of business/ basketball operations, Memphis Grizzlies. Overseeing transition from the “Grit and Grind” era to a younger squad led by young stars Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.

Executive VP and COO, EdR Collegiate Housing. Oversees operations of owned and joint-venture collegiate housing portfolio and directs management services division. Former VP operations, regional director, EdR.

Raj Subramaniam President and COO, FedEx; president and CEO, FedEx Express; Co-president and Co-CEO, FedEx Services. Oversees FedEx portfolio of operating companies and more than 450,000 team members. Member of executive committee that plans and executes FedEx’s strategic business activities.

Mark Sutton Chairman and CEO, International Paper, one of the world’s leading producers of packaging, pulp, and paper. Started at IP in 1984 as an engineer at the Pineville, LA mill. Prior to becoming CEO, gained leadership experience as president and COO.

Kevin Woods Market president, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee. Former executive director, Memphis’ Workforce Investment Network. Leadership Memphis Executive Class of 2014; Leadership Tennessee class of 2017. 40 Under 40, MBJ.

J.T. Young President and CEO, MLGW. Joined in 2018 and is the 11th president to lead the utility. Experience in engineering, customer service, marketing, sales, risk management, information technology, ﬁnance, and supply chain management.

David Tsai President & COO, Gold Strike Casino Resort. Leads daily operations and manages strategic direction and leadership for the casino. Former senior VP and CFO, Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, where he oversaw a $550 million upgrade to luxury hotels Park MGM and NoMad Las Vegas.

Jeffrey Warne President and CEO, Perkins & Marie Callendar’s, LLC. Former chief executive, O’Charley’s Inc.; president and COO, Pick Up Stix; executive VP and COO, TGI Friday’s International; CFO, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide.

Daniel Weickenand CEO, Orion Federal Credit Union. Joined in 2010; revitalized business into a community-focused enterprise with more than 75,000 members and close to $1 billion in assets. Moved to new headquarters last year. 2018 CEO of the Year, IMB.

director & shareholder, CBIZ & Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. Transforms accounting, tax and advisory services into creative solutions. CPA licensed in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

David L. Cuicchi Managing director and tax director, Cannon & Company CPAs, P.C. CPA. Accounting, tax, consulting services to individuals and businesses. Treasurer, World Cataract Foundation.

Vince DeGutis Ofﬁce managing partner and Tennessee tax managing partner, Deloitte LLP. 33 years in professional services. Tax or advisory partner for publicly held, privately owned, domestic, international companies. Member, American Institute of CPAs, Tennessee, Massachusetts Society of CPAs.

David L. DelBrocco Owner, DelBrocco & Associates CPAs. Member, Tennessee. Business consulting, audit, tax services to privately held family businesses in manufacturing, distribution, real estate, services and nonproﬁts throughout the Mid-South since 1990.

Paulo Teixeira Global CEO, The Juice Plus+ Company. Former CFO, The Bryce Company. Born, raised, educated in Sao Paulo, Brazil as a chemical engineer. Moved to Memphis in 1989 and describes himself as a “Memphian born somewhere else.”

J. Eustis Corrigan, Jr. Senior managing

Randal L. Gregory Managing Partner,

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING

hoever’s in charge of the numbers has considerable clout and that’s why smart businesses go to these Power Players.

Gregory E. Barnes Managing partner,

Fouts & Morgan, CPAs. Serving clients in construction, home building, nonproﬁts, professional service businesses. Tax and audit, partner in charge of marketing. Oversees staff of 30+ professionals, paraprofessionals, support personnel. CPAmerica International.

John M. Griesbeck Managing member,

Memphis ofﬁce, KPMG, LLP. Graduate, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business Executive Development Program. CPA, Chartered Financial Analyst.

Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck PLC. Audit, tax and advisory services to private companies in Mid-South including ﬁnancial institutions, manufacturing and distribution, real estate, dealerships, nonproﬁts.

Jud Cannon CEO, Cannon Wright Blount.

John D. Ivy Jr. Managing member, Frazee

Started company with Doug Wright and Richard Blount offering business, software, outsourcing solutions for clients beyond general accounting services. Tax and audit services, technology, accounting, consulting solutions.

P. Anthony Clark Market managing partner, Memphis/Dallas-Fort Worth, DHG. Industry leader for Hospitality and Resorts practice. Clients in construction, manufacturing, wholesale, distribution. American Institute of CPAs, Tennessee, Florida Society of CPAs.

Ivy Davis, PLC. Serves owner-managed enterprises, nonproﬁts, individuals. Volunteer board and committee service to Trezevant Manor, Second Presbyterian Church Foundation, EDGE for Memphis and Shelby County.

J. Kenneth (Chip) Marston, Jr. Founder and CEO, The Marston Group, PLC. Advisory, tax and ﬁnancial reporting. Entrepreneurial ventures and advisor to companies, families, trusts, foundations.

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REFERENCES: 1. Fight Colorectal Cancer. About Colorectal Cancer. Facts and Stats. https://fightcolorectalcancer.org/prevent/about-colorectal-cancer/facts-stats. Accessed July 27, 2018. 2. American Cancer Society. Survival Rates for Colorectal Cancer, by Stage. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival-rates.html. Accessed July 27, 2018. 3. BĂŠnard F, Barkun AN, Martel M, von Renteln D. Systematic review of colorectal cancer screening guidelines for average-risk adults: Summarizing the current global recommendations. World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2018;24(1):124-138. http://dx.doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v24.i1.124. 4. Williams, R., White, P., Nieto, J., Vieira, D., Francois, F., & Hamilton, F. (2016). Colorectal Cancer in African Americans: An Update: Prepared by the Committee on Minority Affairs and Cultural Diversity, American College of Gastroenterology. Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology, 7(7), e185. http://doi.org/10.1038/ctg.2016.36. 5. American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Media backgrounder on Colorectal Cancer Screening. https://www.asge.org/home/about-asge/newsroom/media-backgrounders-detail/colorectal-cancerscreening. Accessed July 27, 2018. 6. American Cancer Society. American Cancer Society Updates Colorectal Cancer Screening. http://pressroom.cancer.org/releases?item=770. Accessed July 27, 2018. 7. Pan J, Xin L, Ma Y-F, Hu L-H, Li Z-S. Colonoscopy Reduces Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Patients With Non-Malignant Findings: A Meta-Analysis. The American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2016;111(3):355-365. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fajg.2015.418.

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Power Players 2020

/ CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING — CFOs — COMMERCIAL INSURANCE

Bill Griffin Executive VP and CFO, Kevin McAdams Office managing shareholder, Memphis Office, Elliott Davis Decosimo. Administration, daily operations, organization of office. Firm founded in 1925. 750+ professionals in four states. A Top 30 accounting, tax, consulting firm in the country.

B. Robert Payne President and managing partner, Brundige, Payne & Company, PC. Provides accounting, tax, consultation services. American Institute of CPAs. Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.

Mike Skinner Partner-in-Charge, HORNE Cyber. Information technology audit, regulatory compliance, information security consulting, internal control consulting, business solutions. AICPA’s 40 Under 40.

Jeffrey L. Thomason Chief Manager - Watkins Uiberall. Guides strategic direction of the firm. 75+ employees in Memphis and Tupelo offices. Largest locally owned CPA firm in Memphis.

Richard Wright Managing Partner – Memphis, Ernst & Young. Audit and other services to clients in manufacturing, distribution, retail, transportation. Member, American Institute of CPAs. Manages EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year program in the Memphis market.

Baptist Memorial Health Care. CPA; chartered global management accountant. Fellow, Healthcare Financial Management Association; HFMAcertiﬁed healthcare ﬁnancial professional.

Glenn R. Landau Senior VP and CFO, International Paper. At the company since 1991, holding positions with increasing responsibility within the U.S. container and European container business.

William C. Losch III Executive VP and CFO, First Horizon National Corp. Leads corporation’s ﬁnancial activities including treasury, accounting, controls, tax, ﬁnancial planning, strategic planning.

Ashley McAdams CFO, Orion Federal Credit Union. Former partner and director of financial institution practices, HORNE LLP. More than 15 years in financial industry helping communitybased financial institutions grow.

Chris McLean Executive VP of ﬁnance, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare since 2001. Began Methodist career in corporate ﬁnance. Worked for several health systems in East Tennessee. Was VP of Methodist’s Mississippi division.

Jeffrey Pearson CFO, ALSAC, fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. CPA. With ALSAC for 22 years; in current position since 2006. Finalist, 2010 CFO of the Year, MBJ.

Frank Reid CFO, Duncan-Williams Inc.

CFOs

dependable Chief Financial Officer is the cornerstone of any organization, and these Power Players prove the rule.

William (Bill) T. Giles CFO and executive VP, Finance, Information Technology, ALLDATA, Customer Satisfaction, AutoZone. A top 25 CFO of public companies in U.S. in 2012, The Wall Street Journal; 2010 CFO of the Year, MBJ. CPA.

Alan B. Graf Jr. Executive VP and CFO, FedEx Corp. Handles all aspects of FedEx’s global ﬁnancial functions, including planning, treasury, tax, accounting and controls, internal audit, investor relations, and corporate development. Trustee, University of Memphis.

CPA. Oversaw transition to the Pershing system while maintaining independence as a fully computing FINRA member. Created an in-house, self-directed 401(k) plan for employees with no outside administration costs.

Rick Wagers Senior executive VP and CFO, Regional One. Oversees ﬁnance, materials management, security, engineering, facilities development, safety, revenue cycle. Leadership Memphis. 2012 CFO of the Year, MBJ. 2015 Senior Executive Meritorious Service Award, Tennessee Hospital Association.

Jimmie D. Williams CFO and senior vice president, Belz Enterprises, one of largest commercial and industrial developers in the South. U.S. Army Ofﬁcer Training School, Finance Corps. Chairman, Mid-America Student Housing, Inc.

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE

arge and small companies need protection from the hazards of business. These Power Players can bring peace of mind.

J. Dale Crow Counsel, Professional Services Group of Risk Strategies Company. 60+ offices nationally, including Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham, and Atlanta. Professional liability and property and casualty insurance solutions for architectural and engineering firms, law firms, accounting firms.

Larry E. Crum President, Larry E. Crum & Associates LLC. 52 years as award winning Nationwide Insurance Agency. Hall of Fame inductee. Independent Agent with 42 staff and licensed associates in 9 ofﬁces serving customers in English, Vietnamese and Spanish. Serves 37 states from New York to California.

Cindi Gresham President, Boyle Insurance Agency, Inc., providing for all lines of personal and business needs including industry programs for senior care, professional liability, contractors, apartments/condominiums, nonproﬁts. Certiﬁed Insurance Counselor. Tennessee National Director of the IIABA.

Jeffrey S. Hall President/principal, Insight Risk Management. Handles large commercial and group employee beneﬁts with a focus on warehousing, contracting, transportation. Provides business/commercial and personal insurance, bonds, health and life insurance. Former president, Insurors of Memphis.

Mark E. Harris Principal, Harris, Madden, Powell, Stallings & Brown, Inc. Heavy casualty, construction, surety, management liability, logistics, manufacturing risk. Develops alternative risk solutions including captives shared risk programs. Former president, West Tennessee Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, Collierville Chamber of Commerce.

W. Joseph Lammel Principal, Lammel & Associates. Transportation, construction, surety, ﬁnancial risk. Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation, American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.

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Power Players 2020

/ COMMERCIA L INSUR A NCE — COMMERCIA L RE A L ESTAT E

S. Eugene Mathis, Jr. Executive VP Mathis & Company dba Mathis, Tibbets & Massey, Inc. Surety bonding, contractors’ insurance, workers compensation, general liability, employee beneﬁts, inland marine coverages. Commercial Lines Coverage Specialist.

Jeff Michael VP, Clay & Land Insurance,

Dave Thomas CEO, Kemmons Wilson Insurance Group. Founded in 1952 and remains family owned. Offices in Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis, Little Rock, Birmingham, Jackson and Destin. Risk mitigation expertise in commercial, nonprofit, hospitality, private client, aviation, employee benefit sectors. Licensed in all 50 states.

Inc. Joined father, Mike Michael, at Michael Insurance Agency in 1975. Merged with Clay & Land in 1982. Full-service, independent, family-owned agency providing all lines of insurance. Professional liability, property, general liability.

Paul Woods Managing director and client executive, Marsh USA, Inc. Member of ﬁrm’s Southeastern Partnership Management team. Transportation/logistics and wholesale/retail segments.

Dale Morris Owner and principal, Morris & Associates. Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter and past president, Memphis CPCU Chapter. Associate in Risk Management. Past chairman, Memphis and Shelby County Insurance Advisory Committee, Greater Memphis Insurance Council.

Kenneth David Paylor CEO and president, USI of Tennessee, Inc. Executive management and large risk management programs. 200+ offices in the U.S. Certified Insurance Counselor, Associate in Risk Management. Certificate of Achievement for Advanced Consultancy Practice I.

John Robert Pitts Co-CEO, Lipscomb and Pitts Insurance, LLC. With partner Mat Lipscomb III, majority owner of largest locally owned insurance agency in the Mid-South. President’s Club member, University of Tennessee.

Kirk Riggins Partner, Page, Chafﬁn & Riggins Insurance. Hands-on in mainly with Main Street America business. Licensed in multiple states. Certiﬁed Insurance Counselor Designation. Insurors of Tennessee.

Brad V. Smith President, Smith-Berclair Insurance. Former president, Cecil Smith Insurance. Purchased Berclair Insurance Center and merged companies into SmithBerclair Insurance. NCAA Division I college football ofﬁcial. Former president, Insurors of Memphis, Insurors of Tennessee.

Brokerage Services, Colliers International in Memphis. Colliers Everest Award and numerous Memphis Area Association of Realtors Pinnacle Awards. SIOR Memphis Chapter President, 2013.

Darrell T. Cobbins President and principal broker, Universal Commercial Real Estate, LLC. 2011 Agent of Change Award, MULYP, 2012 African American Male Image Award for Business, Hobson-Goodlow Foundation. Appointed by Governor Haslam to Tennessee’s State Board of Education.

Thomas Farnsworth Partner,

Stephen L. Oseman President and owner, Oseman Insurance Agency. One of largest independent agencies in Tennessee. Ofﬁces in Memphis and Jackson, Mississippi, specializing in automotive industry, healthcare P&C, education, social services, entertainment, transportation.

Andy Cates CEO and President of

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

emphis is undergoing a rapid pace of commercial development and it’s Power Players like these who are leading the way.

Ronald “Ron” Belz President and CEO, Belz Enterprises. One of largest commercial and industrial developers in the South. Developed more than 25 million square feet of property, including Shelby Oaks, Goodlett Farms, Appling Farms, The Peabody, Peabody Place. Development and management of industrial, retail, ofﬁce, and residential properties nationwide.

Paul Boyle President, Boyle Investment Co. Specializes in Memphis and Nashville real estate. Properties include Schilling Farms, Regalia Shopping Center, Ridgeway Center, The Pinnacle of Germantown.

Danny Buring Managing partner, Memphis ofﬁce, The Shopping Center Group, LLC. Clients include Fresh Market, Dick’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, Panera Bread, Chipotle, LA Fitness, Fleming’s Steakhouse. 2004 Pinnacle Award for Commercial Broker of the Year.

Chance Carlisle CEO, Carlisle Corporation. Manages aviation, real estate development, Wendy’s franchise departments. Development portfolio includes the One Beale Project, and $30 million Chisca Hotel renovation.

Farnsworth Investment Co. and Holdings. Society of Ofﬁce and Industrial Realtors. Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Broker Lifetime Achievement Award, Lambda Alpha International Excellence in Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award, Carnival Memphis Cook Halle Award.

Rick Fogelman CEO, Fogelman Properties. Establishes and implements business strategies. Owns/ operates 90 multifamily communities of over 28,000 apartment homes throughout the country. Licensed real estate broker in Tennessee.

Lawrence “Larry” Jensen President and CEO, Cushman & Wakeﬁeld. Clients: Smith & Nephew, Campbell Clinic, AutoZone. 2005 Commercial Broker of the Year, 2008 Ofﬁce Broker of the Year.

Carma C. Jude Portfolio manager, Healthcare Realty. Certiﬁed Commercial Investment Member. Company owns seven properties totaling 516,000 square feet.

Michael A. Lightman Owner, Michael Lightman Realty Co., a regional leader in commercial property brokerage and land investment. Developed Shelby Business Park, Germantown’s Exeter Village, Centennial Place, South Lake Centre in Southaven, and multiscreen movie complexes for Malco Theatres. Commercial Hall of Fame, Memphis Area Association of Realtors.

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Power Players 2020

/ COMMERCIA L RE A L ESTAT E — CONST RUCT ION — EMPLOY EE BENEFITS

Robert “Bob” Loeb soe President, LPI

Phases 2, 3, & 4, Fieldstone Apartments Phases 2-8, Memphis Cotton Exchange.

Memphis. Projects in Memphis include the redevelopment of Overton Square Theatre District, Broad Avenue Arts District, and University District revitalization. Trustee, Memphis University School and Memphis College of Art.

Joe T. Savage Owner and CEO, Metro Construction. Commercial renovation and new construction of cold chain, education, historic, hotel & condo, industrial, ofﬁce, religious, restaurant, retail projects. Projects include Oxford Toyota (LEED), LEO Events, Brookhaven Pub & Grille, Eversauna Cold Chain.

G. Treat Macdonald Principal broker and partner, Crump Commercial. Six top industrial transaction awards from CORFAC International. Clients include Durham School Bus Services and Shearer Supply.

Hank Martin Vice President/Broker Manager, NAI Saig Company, a full-service industrial, retail, and office brokerage firm. Responsible for sale, lease, and/or disposition of over 50,000,000 square feet of industrial and office facilities in the Mid-South. MAAR Pinnacle Award Top Producers Club, 2013-2018.

Lewis K. McKee, Jr. Partner and broker, McKee and McFarland, Inc. Full-service real estate ﬁrm in acquisition, development, management, and marketing of commercial and industrial properties. Licensed Real Estate Broker in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri.

Jeff Morris President, Morris Auction Group and Morris Realty Group in Memphis; Luxury Estates Auction Group in Destin, Florida. CAI, AARE certiﬁed. Tennessee Auctioneer Commission.

Josh Poag President and CEO, Poag Shopping Centers. Management, leasing, development, acquisition of lifestyle centers. Clients include Tanger Outlets Southaven, Highland Row, Carriage Crossing, and Graceland. ISCSC and ULI certifed.

Gary Prosterman President and CEO, Development Services Group, Inc. Projects include: adaptive reuse of historic ofﬁce building in Fort Worth into boutique hotel; adaptive reuse of the Candler Curio Hotel in Atlanta; mixed use redevelopment of 11 acres in Memphis’ Edge District including ofﬁces, apartments, retail and the Ravine, linking downtown Memphis to the Medical District.

Frank Quinn Managing director, CBRE. Market leader of the CBRE operations in Memphis and Jackson, Mississippi, overseeing leasing, sales, and management efforts for industrial, ofﬁce, and retail brokerage.

Joseph Steffner Senior vice president, Newmark Knight Frank. SIOR, CCIM and CPM designations. Pinnacle Awards – 2015 Commercial Broker of the Year. Greater Memphis Chamber Chairman’s Circle.

CONSTRUCTION

Allen Wagner President, Wagner General Contractors, Inc. a commercial general contractor licensed in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Diamond Level certiﬁed in the ABC Safety Training and Evaluation Process.

hen you need it put together on time and on budget, you need a firm with building in its blood. These are those Power Players.

Jack Bearden Vice president, Belz Construction LLC. Design, design-build, general contracting. Focuses on healthcare, industrial, ofﬁce, retail, government, education construction. Clients include Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, St. Jude, Nike, Saint Francis Healthcare, Campbell Clinic. LEED Accredited Professional.

Fred Grinder President, Grinder Taber and

Tim Weatherford President, Southeast Region, Flintco, LLC. Specializes in construction management projects for healthcare, education, hospitality, corporate clients. Cients include St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, ServiceMaster, University of Memphis, Campbell Clinic, Collierville Schools.

Grinder, Inc. General contracting, design/ Chris L. Woods soe President, Chris build, construction management, LEEDWoods Construction Co., Inc. Projects include certiﬁed projects. Projects include Crosstown FedEx, Memphis Shelby County Airport Concourse, Rhodes College, Christian Brothers Authority, Main Event Entertainment, TAG, University, Ballet Memphis. Multiple AIA Awards for Carvana. Multiple Excellence in Construction Excellence, American Architecture Award. LEED Platinum Awards, Associated Builders and Contractors. status for Crosstown Concourse.

Rusty Linkous soe President, Linkous Construction Co. General contracting, construction management, consulting. Projects include Malco Theatres, Michael Lightman Realty, CBHS, University of Memphis Men’s Basketball Facility, St Mary’s School, Sedgwick HQ, Boyle Investment Company, St Jude.

H. Montgomery Martin Founder & CEO, Montgomery Martin Contractors. Retail, ofﬁce, healthcare, multi-family, hospitality, urban redevelopment, institutional. Clients include Shelby Farms Park, Rael Development, Highwoods Properties, Henry Turley Company, AutoZone Park, Kroger, CBU, Regional One Health, Dixon Gallery and Gardens.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

hese human resources Power Players broker high-quality benefits and balance the needs of employers and employees alike.

Austin Baker President, HRO Partners, an

Chris McDermott Owner, Grinder Haizlip Construction. Commercial and industrial construction. Clients include FedEx, Gossett Motors, Mellow Mushroom, Valero, Keras Automotive, Cargill, Sunrise Motors, Chemours, AutoNation.

Clyde L. Patton Jr. President, Patton & Taylor Construction Co. General construction, construction management, value engineering. Projects include Harbor Town Landing, The Carrington at Schilling Farms, Civic Center Apartments, 88 Union Center, Centennial Garden Apartments

HR consulting and outsourcing ﬁrm representing private sector and public sector municipal and governmental entities with more than 45,000 employees and retirees. Top 40 under 40, MBJ.

Ed Barnett Founder and president, The Barnett Group, Division of HUB International. American Association of Life Underwriters. Top of the Table Award. 2013 Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Living Award for Inspiration in Faith and Health.

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Robert “Bob” Brown Founder and Partner, UCL Financial Group, LLC. Chartered Life Underwriter. Numerous industry awards, Tennessee Insurance Professional of the Year (2000), Lester A. Rosen Humanitarian and Achievement Award, Ameritas Hall of Fame, 2013 Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame, MTSU.

Karen W. Buckner Partner and office leader, Mercer, an HR consulting firm and subsidiary of Marsh and McLennan Companies. Consulting actuary for large retirement plans. Enrolled actuary for DOL and IRS. Largest employee benefits firm in Memphis.

REDEFINING OUR CITY

Shannon Dyson Vice President, Shoemaker Financial. Group Benefit operations in Memphis and Nashville with a focus on Group Health, Life, and Disability benefits plans. Creative plan design and long-term benefits planning help employers provide value using sometimes unconventional products and services.

Todd Dyson President, Clay and Land Insurance, Inc., founded in 1968. Started with company in 1989. Employee beneﬁts consulting, administration. Multiple broker advisory committees. Multi-year Leaders Club qualiﬁer.

Kelly O. Finnell President and founder, Executive Financial Services, Inc., national consultancy has done ESOP transactions in 20 cities nationwide. Author, The ESOP Coach: Using ESOPs in Ownership Succession Planning; several articles in professional journals.

Timothy J. Finnell Founder and Managing Partner, Group Benefits LLC. Provides strategic planning for companies seeking employee benefits solutions. Speaker/author on healthcare and benefits. Interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney. Executive of the Year; 2015 and 2016 Pacesetters Award Honoree, MBJ. Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist.

Mark Forrester CEO, Regions Insurance of Tennessee. Responsible for company operations in Memphis, Nashville. Focus on property, casualty, employee beneﬁts, executive life, HR, risk management consulting. Senior vice president, Regions Insurance Group.

Keith A. James President, CEO, chief manager, The James Group, LLC, national employee beneﬁts consulting ﬁrm. Lifetime member, National Association of Health Underwriters Leading Producers Round Table. Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives.

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Power Players 2020

/ EMPLOYEE BENEFITS — ENGINEERING — FINANCIAL PLANNING

James “Jay” F. Keegan Jr. Chairman and founder, Bodock, Inc. President and CEO, Adams Keegan, national HR and employer services ﬁrm. Founder and CEO, Staff Line, a national ﬁrm. Co-founder, The James Group, a national life and health insurance agency.

David Klevan Principal, Corporate Benefits Management Group. 40+ years in insurance, employee benefits, financial services industries. Sam Walton Small Business Award in 1999; Home Town Hero award, City of Germantown, 2000, 2008 Small Business of the Year, Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce.

Wm. Ashley Pace Producer partner, Lockton Companies. Beneﬁt plan design, risk management strategy, compensation, retirement strategies for organizations to reduce insurance costs and increase productivity. Recipient, Presidents Club Award.

Charles Sims Jr. President and CEO, the Sims Financial Group, Inc. Certiﬁed Financial Planner, Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow, Certiﬁed Mutual Funds Manager. National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Life and qualifying member, Million Dollar Round Table. First African-American member of John Hancock’s Hall of Fame.

Richad C. Bursi President and CEO, OGCB, Inc. Mechanical and Electrical Consulting Engineers. Work includes Rhodes College, U of M Law School, Crosstown Concourse, and University of the South. TSPE Outstanding Engineer of the Year, 2016.

James F. Collins Principal, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Projects include Memphis Innovation Corridor Bus Rapid Transit System, Elvis Presley Boulevard improvements, Union Row, I-240/Airways interchange, Memphis/Shelby County trafﬁc signal improvements, Parkside, Carrefour at the Gateway, redesign of Tom Lee Park.

Phillip G. Coop soe Chairman and co-founder, EnSafe, Inc., provides national environmental consulting, engineering, industry safety, hygiene consulting, geographic information services. White House Advisory Panel on Sustainability. Hazardous Materials Control Institute. Herff Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Engineering.

Greg Dotson Client service leader, Barge Design Solutions. Professional Engineer in several Southern states. West Tennessee STEM HUB Steering Committee, Leadership Memphis. Experience includes trafﬁc and transportation infrastructure projects in the Memphis area.

Harry Pratt President and civil engineer, Allen & Hoshall. Registered Professional Engineer in six states. Served as project manager for 65 FedEx projects. Technical project manager for Memphis Main Street to Main Street Intermodal Connector Project which included the Big River Crossing.

Matthew D. Wolfe President, ETI Corporation. Detailed design of civil engineering and land development projects, (roadways, hydrology, industrial/commercial site development). Projects include City of Memphis, State of Tennessee, several municipal airports.

James H. Toles Principal, Toles & Associates, Inc. Former structural technician and structural design engineer, Pickering. Former project manager and administrator, MLGW. Former project manager, FedEx. Registered Professional Engineer in ﬁve states.

J. Wesley Woolridge Civil department manager, Renaissance Group, Inc. Professional Civil Engineer. Certiﬁed Arborist. Site planning and engineering, state and municipal permit compliance. Clients include Shelby County Schools, Collierville School System, FedEx, MPD, Vita Property Management Group.

Joel T. Johnson President, Burr & Cole Consulting Engineers, Inc. Professional Engineer in several states in the region. Projects includes State of Tennessee, U of M, Lausanne Collegiate School, Rhodes College, Shelby County, Coca-Cola.

Larkin Myers President and civil engi-

ENGINEERING

hese are the geniuses who know how things work and how to make them work, the Power Players who build what is meant to last.

Jeff L. Arnold President and CEO, Fisher Arnold, Inc. Leading architecture, engineering, and consulting ﬁrm. Registered Professional Engineer. Projects include I-69, SR-385, U of M University Center.

Scott Barry Senior principal, Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. Certiﬁed in Plumbing Design and LEED AP. Leader in comprehensive engineering design and facility consulting services. Projects include City Of Memphis Fleet Maintenance Facility, Renasant Convention Center, St. Jude Expansion, Lamar Avenue Improvements, Wolf River Greenway Trail and State Route 14.

neer, Tioga Environmental Consultants. Licensed professional engineer in 3 states. Certiﬁcations in Level 1 and 2 Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control and LEED AP. Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers.

Michael Pohlman, PE President/CEO, Pickering Firm, Inc. Engineering & Architectural Design Professionals. Served on MLGW Board of Commissioners since 2017.

Nisha Powers President, Powers Hill Design, LLC. Projects include Overton Square Garage Detention Basin, Main to Main (Big River Crossing), Zoo & Overton Park parking solution. Super Woman in Business, Top 40 Under 40, MBJ. Ruby R. Wharton Outstanding Community Service Award. Appointed to state Aeronautics Commission by Governor Bill Haslam.

FINANCIAL PLANNING

t’s not enough to have money, you’ve got to know what to do with it now and in the future. These Power Players have a plan just for you.

Chirag Chauhan Founding member and partner, Bluff City Advisory Group. CFP. FINRA Dispute Resolution Arbitrator. Accredited Investment Fiduciary. 2011 to 2019 Centurion Producer Award and Hallmark I Award, AXA Advisors. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ.

Brian Douglas Principal, Guidingpoint Financial Group. Works with those approaching and in retirement on income strategies and intergenerational planning. Accredited Domestic Partnership Advisor working with non-traditional families, single parents, LGBTQ individuals and couples on ﬁnancial planning.

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Kathleen Fish President and founder, Fish + Associates Financial Services. CFP, Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor. Member, Financial Planning Association, Society of Entrepreneurs Insight Group. Founding partner, Fusion Advisor Network.

Jim Isaacs President and CEO, Legacy Wealth Management. CFP, M.B.A. Finance. Legacy consistently named in AdvisoryHQ’s annual objective review as top rated Wealth Manager in Tennessee.

Marty Kelman Chairman and co-founder, Kelman-Lazarov Inc. CFP. Former president, Memphis Chapter, International Association of Financial Planning. National Leadership Council of Facing History and Ourselves; past president, Memphis Chapter.

Karen M. Kruse Chief Compliance Officer, First Horizon Advisors. 28+ years in financial planning, investment and trust services. Team works on goals-based financial planning and investing. CFP, Accredited Investment Fiduciary.

John N. Laughlin Principal and senior VP, Summit Asset Management, LLC. Client service, portfolio management, business development, strategic planning. Chair, Summit’s Financial Advisory Committee.

Charles R. (Mack) McKinney Financial Advisor & Manager, Waddell & Reed, Inc. 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019 Waddell & Reed Circle of Champions, 2012 Advisor Medalist Program.

Jim E. Meeks Jr. Managing partner, Northwestern Mutual of Memphis. Investment strategies and products, life insurance, employee and executive beneﬁt programs, education funding, estate analysis, retirement analysis. Million Dollar Round Table.

John Phillips V Founding member and chief investment ofﬁcer, Red Door Wealth Management. Comprehensive asset management for personal advising, retirement plans, family ofﬁce and business owners. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ. CFP, Chartered Financial Analyst.

David Pickler President and CEO, Pickler Wealth Advisors. Senior partner, The Pickler Law Firm and Pickler Accounting Advisors, Collierville. Financial Times 400 Top Financial Advisors list, 2015; top advisor in Tennessee, Barron’s. Altruism Award, Registered Rep magazine, 2011.

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Power Players 2020

/ FIN A NCIA L PL A NNING — HIG HER EDUCAT ION — HOSPITA LIT Y

David Waddell CEO, Waddell & Associates. CFP. Contributor: The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg, Nikkei CNBC Japan, Yahoo! Finance. Featured expert: Barron’s, IMB, Daily Memphian, Commercial Appeal, Forbes. Top 40 Under 40, Small Business Awards Finalist, Executive of the Year, MBJ.

Don W. Jones Assistant vice president, Enrollment and Student Services, Belhaven University. Co-author of two textbooks. White House Volunteer Service Award, University of Phoenix Service Award, Mississippi Emergency Service Medal. Commander, 210th MP Battalion for the Mississippi State Guard.

Betty Sue McGarvey President, Baptist College of Health Sciences. Distinguished Alumni Award, UTHSC School of Nursing, U of M Lowenberg School of Nursing, Baptist College of Health Sciences.

Skip Redmond President, Moore Tech.

HIGHER EDUCATION

he Power Players in charge of higher education institutions have been entrusted with the very future of our society.

Robin Colwell Campus director, Memphis Campus, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide. Specializes in aerospace and aviation courses. 2012 Top 40 Under 40, MBJ.

Carol Johnson Dean Interim president, LeMoyne-Owen College. Superintendent of schools in Memphis, Minneapolis, and St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Was executive director of New Leaders-South Region, and Executive Director of Large District Support for Tennessee Department of Education.

Dr. Tracy D. Hall President, Southwest Tennessee Community College. Former vice president of academic affairs, St. Louis Community College-Forest Park. American Association of Community Colleges Commission on Economic and Workforce Development.

Marjorie Hass President, Rhodes College. School a “Best Value College,” Princeton Review; top 10 instution for producing Fulbright scholars, U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural affairs. One of 2018’s Tennesseans to Watch, USA Today. Former president, Austin College in Sherman, Texas.

Jody Hill President, Memphis Theological Seminary. Veteran pastor in the Cumberland Presbyterian and Presbyterian USA churches. Former vice president for community relations, Blue Mountain College. Author, 38: The Chucky Mullins Effect.

Supported legislative effort to have Moore Tech granted use of Tennessee Promise grants; works with lawmakers to provide more post-graduate options to students.

Lewis Reich President, Southern College of Optometry. Optometrist. Residency in low vision rehabilitation. Chair, Memphis Medical District Collaborative. Fellow, American Academy of Optometry. Research funded by National Eye Institute, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

M. David Rudd President, U of M. Raised $200 million+ in six years. Improved retention, graduation rates. Top tier public university, U.S. News & World Report. $123 million in research expenditures over the last two years. Pursuing Carnegie Tier 1 status.

Steve J. Schwab Chancellor, UTHSC. Internationally recognized physician, researcher in kidney disease. School a top healthcare provider and state’s largest healthcare educator. Campus and practice locations in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville.

Jack Shannon President, Christian Brothers University. Experience in higher education and urban and economic development. Former president and CEO, East Baltimore Development, Inc. 2020 Top 25 Best Southern Universities, US News & World Report.

Ken Steorts President/founder, Visible Music College. Founder, Grammy nominated band Skillet. President, Madison Line Records, Visible Community Music School. Dove Award nominee. DMC Vision Award, 2013; Thomas W. Briggs Community Service Award, 2016.

HOSPITALITY

hese Power Players who run hotels and attractions and coordinate events are crucial to the economic health and image of the Bluff City.

Cindy Brewer Principal and co-founder, LEO Events. Events include MLK50, Le Bonheur grand opening, AutoZone national sales meeting. New Memphis 2010 LDI program. Top 40 Under 40; Smart Women in Meetings Entrepreneur Award, MBJ; BizBash Top People in Events.

Douglas Browne General manager, The Peabody Memphis. President, Peabody Hotels & Resorts. Peabody Hotel Group’s General Manager of the Year and award from Metropolitan Memphis Hotel and Lodging Association, Tennessee Hospitality Association. Recipient, Spirit of Memphis Award, Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Pace Cooper President and CEO, Cooper Hotels. Developer of the Year Award, Hilton Worldwide, Hotel Owner of the Year Award, HotelWorld Network. Tennessee, American Hotel and Lodging Associations. Chairman, Multi Franchise Organization.

Phil Cordell Global head, New Brand Development, Hilton. Inception and development of new Hilton brands, including Tempo by Hilton. Cultivation and enhancement of existing brands in development.

Bill Duncan Global head, Suites and Focused Service categories, Hilton; oversees Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites, Home2 Suites by Hilton, Hampton by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn and Tru by Hilton. Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association’s Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing.

Karl Friedrich General manager, River Inn of Harbor Town. Oversees hotel and restaurants, including overall performance of property. Former general manager, small luxury hotel in Pawley’s Island, SC. Former president, International Hospitality Management.

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Matt Huss General manager, Sheraton Memphis Downtown Hotel. Employee Satisfaction Hotel of the Year (Davidson Hotels) 2006, 2012, 2013; director of meeting/convention services of the year, Wyndham International; Agoura Hills Business of the year.

Thomas B. Johnson Managing director, Wilson Conference Center Group, Holiday Inn U of M, Fogelman Executive Conference Center. Eight Torchbearer Awards from InterContinental Hotels Group. Member, Metropolitan Memphis Hotel and Lodging Association, International Association of Conference Centers.

Kevin Kane President and CEO, Memphis Tourism. President of its subsidiary, Memphis Management Group LLC. Responsible for economic growth in Memphis through events, conventions, and visitors. Overseeing renovation/expansion of Renasant Convention Center.

Craig Marshall General manager, Westin Hotels & Resorts. 12th associate of Charter Group of Hampton Brand at inception. Ownership of a Hampton, GM of 8 hotels with progressive size and scope, exec of a 700 room resort, hotel manager of a 560 key convention hotel, marketing consultant (IHG) for 35 hotels in 5 states.

Jeremy Sadler General manager, Central Station, a Curio by Hilton. 123room hotel in South Main district. Redesigned 105-year-old transportation building into eight-story, music-based luxury hotel.

James Siao Managing director, Arrive Hotel. Hospitality experience as general manager and executive chef. Boutique hotel has 62 rooms and dining options: Longshot, Hustle & Dough, Vintage & Vice, Bar Hustle.

Jack Soden soe CEO, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. since 1982. Oversaw opening of The Guest House at Graceland ($92 million resort hotel) and Elvis Presley’s Memphis (multi-gallery entertainment complex near the mansion) in 2016.

With ten locations across the Memphis area, Healthcare Realty is the go-to source for on Baptist Memorial Hospital campuses. A variety of locations and levels of build-out provide move-in ready suites, time-share space and the ability to build to suit. It’s your move.

Dianna Vaughan Global head, All Suites brands, Hilton; former global head, DoubleTree by Hilton. Experience with food and beverage, ﬁnance, sales and marketing, general manager. Former VP of marketing for Hilton’s portfolio of brands; created the global Hilton Honors marketing promotions team.

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Power Players 2020

/ S HOSPITA LIT Y — INDEPENDEN T SCHOOLS — INFORM AT ION T ECHNOLOGY

Wayne Tabor President and CEO, Metropolitan Memphis Hotel and Lodging Association. Holiday Inn University General Manager’s School. Billy Hicks Award, Memphis CVB; Fiduciary Responsibility Award, Hospitality Management Advisors. MMHLA Award.

Timothy Gibson Interim head of school,

Adam Moore Head of school, Woodland

St. George’s Independent School. Counselor That Changes Lives award, 2013. Helps frame students’ search beyond ratings and rankings to ﬁnd a college that provides the foundation for a successful and fulﬁlling life.

Presbyterian School. Former president, Memphis Association of Independent Schools. 5-time winner of Top Workplace and multi-year winner of Memphis Parent, Best Private School. Fosters individual growth of intellectual, spiritual, creative, physical, social, emotional roots.

Nail Task General manager, Big Cypress

Steven Hancock Headmaster,

Lodge, Bass Pro Shops Hospitality Division in Memphis Pyramid. Previous positions include Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa Valley and Titanic Deluxe Resort in Turkey.

Presbyterian Day School, Christian school for boys age 2 through grade 6. Educates boys from all walks of life. Alumni include Fred Smith, PItt Hyde, Paul Tudor Jones.

Thomas Hood President, St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School. Founded on Dominican Pillars of Study, Prayer, Community and Service. St. Agnes for girls and St. Dominic for boys build a nurturing community of learning and faith where each student can achieve in the classroom and beyond.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

f you get called before one of these headmasters, at least you’re meeting with a Power Player who has devoted their life to education.

Braxton Brady Head of School, Evangelical Christian School. Was chaplain and director of Building Boys, Making Men at Presbyterian Day School; director of player relations, U of M football team; family ministries pastor, Harvest Church.

Alicia Brown Principal, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School. School partnered with Project Lead the Way to inspire K-8 students with hands-on, transformative learning. PLUS program offers traditional campus experience to students with learning disabilities.

McKenzie Cohen Head of The Collegiate School of Memphis. Private, college prep school provides middle and high school scholars with highest quality education in a disciplined and caring environment.

Jim Ferguson President and head of school, Northpoint Christian School, Christcentered, college prep. #5 Best Private K-12 School in Mississippi, #2 Best Christian High School in Mississippi, niche.com. #3 in enrollment of private schools in Memphis MSA, MBJ.

Ralph Janikowsky Headmaster, Westminster Academy. Communicates the vision of classical Christian education to churches in Memphis and the greater Memphis community. Completed new playground, implemented after-school care program. Best Places to Work, 2016-18, Commercial Appeal. Thor Kvande Headmaster, Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal School. Former dean of middle school, promoted to headmaster in 2011. Former positions at St. John’s Episcopal School (MD), The Independence School (DE), Woodland Country Day School (NJ).

Ann M. Laury Head of school, Christ the King Lutheran School. Background in Memphis, Mississippi, and Nashville public schools. Teacher and early childhood director at Christ the King before becoming head of school in 2016. Cummins business award.

Stuart McCathie Headmaster, Lausanne Collegiate School. Experience in UK, Bahamas, U.S. Former dean of students, Indian Mountain School (CT). Former headmaster, the Oakwood School (NC).

Mark Merrill President, Briarcrest Christian School, college-prep Christian education. Increased market share over past decade. Briarcrest a Best Christian Workplace, 2007-2016, 2018. Top-ranked school by Memphis Parent, Commercial Appeal, MBJ.

David Poos President, Christian Brothers High School. Bishop Kelley Hall of Fame. Guiding Star Award, De La Salle Middle School, St. Louis. Kristen Ring Head of school, Hutchison School. Experience as senior administrator, teacher, coach in private schools in AL, NC. Waddill Excellence in Teaching Award for exemplary classroom instruction. Division 1 Field Hockey Atlantic Coast Conference scholar athlete.

Bryan Sanders Head of School, First Assembly Christian School. Legal and legislative counsel, ACTS. Co-educational, multi-denominational, Cognia-accredited PreK-12 school; strong academic and career preparation in the context of Biblical Worldview, and extracurricular development through ﬁne arts and athletics.

Pete Sanders Headmaster, Memphis University School, college-prep school for boys grades 7-12. Experience in independent school education and administration. Previous leadership roles at Collegiate School (VA), Brunswick School (CT), University School (FL), Christ Church Episcopal School (SC).

Albert Throckmorton Head of school, St. Mary’s Episcopal School since 2012. Superior educational experience for girls to encourage and enable them to reach their individual potential. President, MAIS.

Bryan Williams Head of school, Christ Methodist Day School. Devoted to exceptional Christian elementary education for boys and girls. STEAM initiative combines academic elements with a hands-on, inquiry-based curriculum. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ.

Trent Williamson Head of School, Harding Academy. Teaches students to love others as Christ loves them, to think creatively and learn with open minds, and to live courageously to the glory of God.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

hen the computer melts down and the hackers are trying to break in, you need these Power Players to keep it running smoothly.

Gary Bellanti Owner and president, Open Road Technologies. Was national business development manager with Vanstar/Apple. Partners with major tech vendors to provide services to SMB, education, government markets.

Wayne Cook Chairman, founder, and CEO, Cook Systems International Inc. Three decades+ of IT leadership and service. Company has exceptional talent and tech to deliver the most successful IT solutions to Fortune 1000 clients and government entities.

Nick Gant President and founder, Gant Systems. Actively managing clients in six states. Managed IT services, cloud, backup, disaster recovery solutions. Since 2007, has grown to perennially recognized high performing small business. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ.

Mark Pryor Chairman and CEO, The Seam, commodity trading and agriculture tech company. Previously was vice president at The Seam and global head of information tech at Noble Group/Noble Agri. Founder, Cotton Technology Alliance.

Sylvester Tate President and CEO, Tate Computer Systems, Apple Authorized Reseller/Repair. Executive Management Institute, CBU. Minority Business of the Year Award, Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum. Alumnus of the Year, STCC.

Paul Tomes President and CEO, WorldSpice Technologies. Manages strategic direction of the company, which provides Data Center Co-Location, Cloud/Virtual computing, Integrated Voice/Data (VOIP) systems, high speed internet, Wide Area Network services.

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Power Players 2020

/ INFORM AT ION T ECHNOLOGY — INSIDERS — IN V EST MEN T BROKERS —

Adam Underwood Partner and president, Mellon Consulting Group, LLC. Custom designed medical software, database integration, website development and marketing, disaster recovery solutions.

Jim Van de Vuurst Principal owner,

Justin Entzminger Executive director, Innovate Memphis. Experienced strategy and growth consultant for nonproﬁts, start-ups, and for-proﬁt businesses. Develops tools to measure blight and impact of mitigation strategies.

Eric Gottlieb Associate professor,

Vanick Digital. Web-based software, websites, mobile application development services, SAP consulting services.

Dan Weddle CEO, ProTech Services Group, Inc., top tech and talent solutions company with largest local IT workforce. Tech and consulting, managed services, cloud services, outsourcing, talent acquisition and security services. 25 years+ of leadership experience.

Gary Wiseman President and chief

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Rhodes College. Cofounder, Overton Park Alliance. Former ﬁrst VP, Evergreen Historic District Association.

Tom Jones Principal, Smart City Consulting. Primary writer and editor of Smart City Memphis blog, author of Smart City column in Inside Memphis Business magazine, and author of Shelby Farms Park: Elevating a City.

technology ofﬁcer, MasterIT, a VC3 company. Designs, delivers, evolves masterIT’s solutions to small and medium businesses. Former founder, president, and CEO, Wisetech. 40 Most Innovative MSP’s in North America, CRN.

Josh Lipman Former chairman, Guardsmark. Family business advisor. CEO, executive coach. Former chair, Vistage Worldwide, Inc.; senior vice president, Peoplemark.

Katie Midgley Director of research and evaluation, Plough Foundation. Formerly with U of M, The Urban Child Institute. 20 Under 30, Memphis Flyer. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ. Best Individual: Adult, Spark Awards.

Eric Robertson President and CEO,

INSIDERS

hese Power Players are plugged in more than most, with connections, expertise, and influence going well beyond the workplace.

Roshun Austin President/CEO, The Works, Inc. Affordable housing development and community development ﬁnance. Works with Community Redevelopment Agency and Memphis Landmarks Commission.

Steve Barlow President, Neighborhood Preservation, Inc. Collaboratively develops practical, sustainable resolutions to blighted properties and systems leading to neglect, vacancy, and abandoned real estate.

Community LIFT & River City Capital Investment Corp. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ; 50 Men of Excellence Award, Tri-State Defender; Outstanding Alumni Award, U of M College of Arts & Sciences.

Susan Adler Thorp Owner, Susan Adler Thorp Communications. Former political columnist, The Commercial Appeal and political/government analyst for local media.

Mark Yates Chief visionary ofﬁcer, Black Business Association of Memphis. Founder, Memphis Youth Summer Business Experience, The Enlightenment Center, LES mental health outpatient care for children and families. Founder, Voices for Memphis’ Children. Former chief of staff and faculty, LeMoyne Owen College; chief of staff, U.S. House of Representatives.

INVESTMENT BROKERS

anaging assets is a challenge in this complex, roller-coaster world. Fortunately, these Power Players have the skills to navigate the way.

Joseph R. Heinz Executive director, UBS Financial Services Inc. Tailored investment service including asset management and estate planning. Wealth management and ﬁnancial planning. CFP. Wealth Management Executive Education Certiﬁcate, Directors Council, UBS Financial Services.

Lance Hollingsworth Principal, senior VP, and chief investment ofﬁcer, Summit Asset Management LLC. CFP. Portfolio management, investment research and development, trading, and operations. Oversees Summit’s technology implementation.

Michael E. Kisber President, FHN Financial. Oversees capital markets division, a core business line of First Horizon National Corp., which provides ﬁxed-income products and services for the investment and banking community. Colonel Aide de Camp, highest honor to a Tennessee citizen for outstanding achievement and civic contribution in 2013.

Mark A. Medford President and CEO, Vining Sparks. CPA accredited by American Institute of CPAs. Former president and CEO, FTN Financial. Former managing partner, National REIT Leader, National Bank and Thrift Tax Leader. Served on Southeast’s Merger and Acquisition Team, National Securitization Team with KPMG.

David Rains Branch manager, managing director, Raymond James & Associates. Growth and income from investable assets. Was branch manager and assistant manager at Legg Mason and J.B. Bradford.

Duncan F. Williams soe President and CEO, Duncan-Williams, Inc. Founded in 1969, the family and employee-owned full-service broker-dealer has branches in Boulder, Colorado; Jackson, Mississippi; and Tampa, Florida.

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L AW-BUSINESS LIT IG AT ION

Every

HERO needs a

mentor, every mentor needs a GUIDE.

Steven Wishnia CEO, Highland Capital Management, LLC. Registered Investment Adviser, managing equity, fixed-income, short-term cash portfolios for endowments and foundations, institutions, municipalities, high net worth clients and 401K plans.

Philip Zanone CEO, B. Riley Wealth Management. Joined Wunderlich in 1997 as head of the private client group and became president in 1999. Began in 1991 at Morgan Keegan and continues to serve clients as a financial advisor in addition to overseeing the firm’s sales, trading, and operations units.

LAW - BUSINESS LITIGATION

he best intentioned agreements would fall apart without these Power Players enforcing the integrity of the legal system.

Leo Bearman, Jr. Senior counsel, Baker,

TV Shows • Columns • Radio Show • Books • Podcasts

Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. Litigator of the Year, Tennessee Bar Association; The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, Mid-South Super Lawyers. Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers. Recipient, Pillars of Excellence Award, U of M Alumni Association.

Nathan Bicks Member, Burch, Porter & Johnson, PLLC. Complex litigation with emphasis on white-collar crime, healthcare fraud, class-action matters. One of 150 Best Lawyers in Tennessee, BusinessTN. Town attorney for Collierville. 2019 CEO of the Year, IMB.

Richard Glassman Senior shareholder and president, Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox, PC. Business and professional liability/ malpractice litigation. Certified Civil Trial Specialist, Civil Pretrial Practice Advocate. 2012 Distinguished Alumnus Award, U of M; Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Pillar of Excellence 2019.

Albert C. Harvey Partner, Lewis

Visit us today at memphisparent.com

Thomason. Business and commercial, construction, healthcare, intellectual property, product and professional liability. Lawyers’ Lawyer Award, Memphis Bar Association. U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Major General, retired.

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Power Players 2020

/ L AW-BUSINESS LIT IG AT ION — L AW-EMPLOY MEN T

John J. Heflin III Member, Bourland, Heﬂin, Alvarez, Minor & Matthews, PLC. Complex commercial litigation, breach of contract, fraud, insurance, intellectual property, securities, construction. Chair, ﬁrm’s litigation practice. AV Preeminent Rating, MartindaleHubbell. The Best Lawyers in America, Mid-South Super Lawyers.

Michele Howard-Flynn Managing partner, HF Law Group, PLLC. Business litigation, estate planning, probate and estate administration in state and federal courts of western and middle Tennessee.

Michael G. McLaren Member, Black

Former President, Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers.

Glen G. Reid Senior counsel, Wyatt Tarrant & Combs. Intellectual Property Protection and Litigation Service Team. Banking litigation, commercial litigation, products liability litigation, white collar criminal defense.

John C. Speer Member, Bass, Berry & Sims. Business litigation. Represents ﬁnancial institutions in disputes involving commercial loan and public bond defaults and federal and state laws and regulations. Represents companies in critical business disputes.

McLaren Jones Ryland & Griffee, PC. Federal and state litigation, commercial litigation, professional liability, insurance coverage, environmental law, construction law, ﬁdelity and surety law. Former VP and general counsel, Wright Medical Technology. Mid-South Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America.

David Wade Director and shareholder,

John McQuiston II soe Shareholder, Evans Petree, PC. Experience in banking, construction, securities, fraud, antitrust, breach of ﬁduciary duties, e-commerce. One of top 100 lawyers in Tennessee, top 50 lawyers in Mid-South, top 15 lawyers in Memphis.

Randall D. Noel Partner, Butler Snow, LLP. Business litigation, data security, products defense. Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America, Lawdragon, Super Lawyers. Former president, Tennessee Bar Association, American Counsel Association, Tennessee Legal Community Foundation.

Lucian T. Pera Partner, Adams and Reese, LLP. Commercial litigation, media law, legal ethics. The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers, and BusinessTN. American Law Institute. Former President, Tennessee Bar Association. Former Treasurer, American Bar Association.

Donald Donati Founding attorney, Donati Law PLLC. Employment law, personal injury, veterans’ beneﬁts. Began with Memphis Area Legal Services, providing legal counsel to disadvantaged individuals. Tennessee Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, 150 Best Lawyers in Tennessee, BusinessTN, Lawyers USA.

Eugene S. Forrester Member, Farris Bobango. Employment, workers’ compensation, civil litigation. Tennessee, Arkansas, Memphis Bar Associations. MBA 1994 Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. Licensed in Tennessee, Arkansas.

George Wheeler Member, Harris Shelton

Deborah Godwin Partner, Godwin, Morris, Laurenzi &

Hanover Walsh, PLLC. Business and corporate law, healthcare, intellectual property, personal injury. The Best Lawyers in America, Mid-South Super Lawyers.

Bloomﬁeld, P.C. ERISA, labor and employment, civil rights, personal injury. Director, ﬁrm’s ERISA Law Section. The Best Lawyers in America; Top 50 Women Attorneys, Mid-South Super Lawyers. AV-rated, Martindale-Hubble.

Myra Hamilton General counsel, Hamilton Entertainment Employment Law, LLC. Employment and labor, HR and corporate compliance, business contracts. Top 100, The National Black Lawyers. 2017 Women of Excellence; 2020 Best Attorney, Best in Black Awards, New Tristate Defender; 2020 BEST of the BAR, MBJ.

Bobango, PLC. General civil litigation, commercial litigation, railroad litigation, construction litigation, bankruptcy law, insurance defense litigation. Memphis, Tennessee, American Bar Associations. Honored in MidSouth Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America.

Brown. Litigation, real estate, public law, governmental relations. Memphis Bar Association. Experience in legal work for non-proﬁts. Former city attorney for Oakland and Gallway, Tennessee.

Crone Law Firm, PLC. Licensed in Tennessee, Arkansas. Represents executives, employees, entrepreneurs in employment and commercial litigation including wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, partnership, contractual disputes.

Martin Tate Morrow & Marston, PC. Civil and criminal litigation, land use, administrative law. Mediator for state, federal cases. Top 100, Tennessee Superlawyers.

Robert F. Miller Member, Farris

Richard J. Myers Member, Glankler

Alan Crone Attorney and founder, The

Charles Hill Member, Glankler Brown,

LAW - EMPLOYMENT

he evolving complexities of employment law could bedevil a busy CEO were it not for a gifted Power Player to sort out the particulars.

W. Kerby Bowling Shareholder, Evans Petree, PC. Co-leader of Labor and Employment Law Practice Group. At Kellogg as union laborer before campaigning against organized labor. Assists clients in remaining non-union and avoiding employment litigation. AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Seven consecutive years, The Best Lawyers in America.

Craig A. Cowart Ofﬁce managing principal, Jackson Lewis, Memphis ofﬁce. Employment law, management-side labor, collective actions, multi-party lawsuits. Best Lawyers 2020; 2019 Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters.

PLLC. Employment law, broker/dealer litigation, contracts, commercial litigation. Experience in litigation over restrictive covenants, covenants against disclosure of proprietary information, protection of trade secrets, creating social media policies. The Best Lawyers in America.

David Jaqua Labor and Employment Group, Butler Snow LLP. Employment litigation (defense), arbitration and mediation, NLRB hearings, labor negotiations, representation campaigns, management counseling and training. The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, Mid-South Super Lawyers.

Lisa Krupicka Member, Burch, Porter & Johnson, PLLC. Employment litigation and business advising. Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. The Best Lawyers in America; “Top 100 Lawyers in Tennessee,” Mid-South Super Lawyers; America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA.

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Dan Norwood Partner, Norwood & Atchley. Represents clients involved in discrimination, retaliatory discharge for whistleblowing, workers’ compensation claims, breach of contract. The Best Lawyers in America, Mid-South Super Lawyers.

Robin H. Rasmussen Founding member, Dinkelspiel Rasmussen & Mink, PLLC. Employment law, workers’ compensation, civil litigation. Firm founded in 2010. American Jurisprudence Award in Real Estate Transactions.

Stephen L. Shields Founding partner, Jackson Shields Yeiser & Holt. Represents employers in private and public sectors. Author, Alternative Dispute Resolutions in Tennessee; Alternative Dispute Resolution: Staying in Business and Out of Court.

Bruce M. Smith Member, Apperson Crump PLC. Former general counsel, Memphis Area Transit Authority. Employment law, litigation, transit law. Lecturer on public transit system labor and regulatory issues, ADA regulations, legal ethics. Best Lawyers In America.

Jeffrey C. Smith Partner, Waller Lansden Dortsch & Davis. Employment law, commercial construction litigation, counsel in construction, equipment distribution, franchise, healthcare industries. Defended employers against discrimination claims, unfair competition, wrongful termination.

Tanja Thompson Ofﬁce managing

could talk

THEY WOULDN’T P R I VAT E

DINING

shareholder, Littler. Represents companies in traditional labor law, focusing on manufacturing healthcare for union and nonunion clients. 2020 Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America.

Jeff Weintraub Partner, Memphis ofﬁce of national management-side labor and employment law ﬁrm, Fisher Phillips. Represents employers in jury trials in employment lawsuits, FLSA collective actions, labor cases. Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, MidSouth Super Lawyers, and World’s Leading Labour & Employment Lawyers (UK).

Murray B. Wells Partner, Wells & Associates. Civil rights litigation, federal criminal defense, catastrophic injury. Top 100 Lawyers – Civil Plaintiff. Admitted to practice in California, Tennessee, federal districts of California, Western and Middle Tennessee, Sixth Circuit Court of appeals, all state courts.

Ba rt l e t t Performing

rts

& conference center

WE’LL MAKE YOUR EVENT A SUCCESS Conferences. Meetings. Performances. Receptions. BPACC.org / 901.385.6440 A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • I N S I D E M E M P H I S B U S I N E S S • 91

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Power Players 2020

/ LAW-EMPLOYMENT — LOGISTICS — MANUFACTURING

Ed Young Shareholder, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz. Represents employers before NLRB in employment litigation, collective bargaining, labor arbitration. Achieved landmark judgment against the EEOC for $750,000. Led efforts for a food manufacturer in Ohio in a union campaign that involved 600 voters and communications in multiple languages.

Mark H. George Chairman, IMC Companies. Founded Intermodal Cartage Company in 1982. Nation’s largest marine drayage provider with 2,300+ employees. Chairman and one of 12 founding members, North American Chassis Pool Cooperative.

Rick Rodell Founder, chairman, Cornerstone Systems, employee-owned multimillion-dollar ﬁrm and leader in transportation industry. The Global Leaders. Employees stay partners after selling private stock. Mentors new directors of charities.

Ken Hazen President and CEO, CTSIGlobal. Formed transportation consulting company Multi-Modes before purchasing Continental Trafﬁc Service. Co-author, The Role of Transportation in the Supply Chain; The Role of Freight Bill Payment and Transportation Information in the Supply Chain Industry.

Rick Hechinger President, Blue Sky

LOGISTICS

ogistics is the heart and soul of Memphis commerce and these Power Players know how to get things moving.

Charlie Andrews COO, Nickey Warehouses, Inc. Warehousing, order fulﬁllment, reverse logistics, international shipping, transportation management. With company for more than 10 years.

Lanny Chalk Terminal manager, Fullen Dock and Warehouse, LLC. 30+ years in freight, distribution, warehousing. Fullservice, intermodal river terminal and warehousing. Clients include barge brokers, freight forwarders, manufacturers requiring barge, harbor, and tug services, transshipment, trucking, storage.

William B. Dunavant III CEO, President, Dunavant Enterprises, Inc. Global logistics, development company, capital management with 50+ years experience. Logistics divisions in truck brokerage, intermodal and container operations, Global 3PL, Warehousing, Custom brokerage, & Leasing. Henderson Resort, Destin, Florida.

Buzz Fly Vice President Patterson Warehouses, Inc. 33+ years in transportation and warehousing. Two million square feet of food-grade space, distribution services and ecommerce fulﬁllment for 19 accounts. Kitting and display builds, intermodal drayage, retail freight consolidation.

Couriers since 2004. 23+ years experience in transportation industry. Package deliveries, warehousing, medical specimens, freight delivery. Blue Sky has operations in Memphis, Chattanooga, Cape Girardeau, St. Louis.

Glenn Lacy Regional service center manager, YRC Freight. Long-haul transportation services for industrial, commercial, and retail customers in North America. Employs about 750 in Memphis.

Stuart Leslie Director, Vaco’s Memphisbased Logistics practice. Mentors transportation fellows through U of M. Places logistics professionals across multiple industry verticals. Southeast Transportation Workforce Center Move the Needle award in 2018.

Clifford F. Lynch Principal, C.F. Lynch & Associates. Recipient, CSCMP Distinguished Service Award, Salzberg Medallion. Supply Chain Executive in Residence, Epicenter. Author, ﬁve books on logistics. Adjunct Professor, Supply Chain Management, U of M.

MANUFACTURING

aking products is very much alive and well in Memphis, and these Power Players have the skills to keep production rolling.

Tommy Blaylock Plant Manager, Memphis Cellulose LLC, Georgia-Paciﬁc Cellulose operations in Memphis. Plant in business locally for 100 years. Pulp used in specialized applications including LED Displays, technical papers, paints, currency papers, ﬁltration, and other products.

Kathy Buckman Gibson CEO, KBG Technologies. Former president and COO, Buckman Laboratories International, Inc. Formed KBG to diversify chemistry-supply industry with a woman-led business.

Michael Kelly Senior vice president, Sharp Manufacturing Co. of America. Oversees Sharp facility in Memphis, which produces microwave drawer, in addition to other Sharp and OEM cook-

W. Neely Mallory III President, Mallory Alexander International Logistics, one of largest third–party logistics organizations in U.S. Oversaw company’s growth from cotton forwarding to ocean and air transportation, intermodal trucking, warehousing and distribution, and consulting. President’s E Star Award for Excellence in Exporting, Governor’s GATE Award.

Pat Nelson President, Lehman-Roberts Co. Highway paving, construction, asphalt, aggregate industry services. Chairman of the Board, Lehman-Roberts Co. and Memphis Stone & Gravel Co.

ing products.

Mike McCarty President and CEO, Helena Chemical Company, an agronomic solutions provider, specializing in seed and seed treatments, fertilizer and application services, crop protectants, ﬁnancial services and precision ag services. Manufactures own line of adjuvants, crop protection products, fertilizers, crop production products, and seed treatments.

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Congratulations!

Collierville Chamber of Commerce’s 2019 Excellence In Business Award Recipients

Cotton Law Firm, Rehab Etc., Collierville Arts Council, Baptist Centers for Good Grief and Maureen Fraser Take Top Honors at Collierville Chamber’s Excellence in Business Awards. These Five honorees celebrated with over 375 Collierville Chamber members and guests who attended the “Excellence in Business Awards 2019” at the Hilton Hotel on Thursday, January 23. The awards recognized organizations and individuals who make Collierville a special place to live, work and do business.

Person of the Year Maureen Fraser

Entrepreneur of the Year Ashley Bradford, Rehab ETC

Non-Profit of the Year Collierville Arts Council

Spirit of Collierville Cotton Law Firm

Health Care Provider Baptist Centers for Good Grief

Collierville Chamber of Commerce 485 Halle Park Drive, Collierville, TN 38017 (901) 853-1949 | colliervillechamber.com

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Power Players 2020

/ MANUFACTURING — MARKETING / PR

Kevin Ohneck Vice president and plant manager, Hino Motors Manufacturing in Marion, Arkansas. Supplies rear driving axles and rear suspension components for light trucks, SUVs. Clients include Toyota and Hino trucks.

Allen W. Pierce Sr. General Manager, Manufacturing, New and ReCon Parts, Cummins Inc. Leadership Memphis, class of 2000. Member, Finance Committee chair, LeMoyne-Owen College. ODI Certiﬁed Facilitator. Jack Sammons President, Ampro Industries. Manufactures personal care products. President, River City Laboratories. Former chairman, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority. National president, Ethnic Product Manufacturers Association.

Karl Schledwitz Co-founder, chairman, and CEO, Monogram Foods, a leading manufacturer and marketer of ready-toeat further processed meats including jerky, corn dogs, precooked bacon, appetizers, sandwiches, and smoked sausage. Operates nine plants in seven states with over 3,000 employees.

Jerry Ehrlich President/Founder, The Brand Squad. Focuses on launching brands, products, special initiatives, and revitalizing under-performing brands. Clients in hospitality, medical, manufacturing, nonproﬁt, agriculture, technology, automotive aftermarket, government, and ﬁnancial services. Former Memphis Advertising Federation President of the Year.

Courney Ellett Founder and owner, Obsidian Public Relations. 2013 Small Business of the Year, MBJ. PR Director of the Year, Memphis Advertising Federation. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ; 50 Women Who Make A Difference, Memphis Woman. Recipient, six Silver VOX Awards; Addy Awards’ Best of Show. 2013 CEO of the Year, IMB. 2014 Executive of the Year, MBJ.

Susan Ewing Founder, Chief Navigator, Ewing Marketing Partners. Boutique marketing ﬁrm helps organizations grow through effective strategies. “Ad Woman of the Year” and “Account Executive of the Year,” AAF Memphis.

Charles T. Gaushell Principal/founder, Paradigm Marketing & Creative. Branding, marketing, creative, advertising, digital agency. Clients include Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Buff City Soap, Pyros Fire Fresh Pizza, Semmes Murphey, Boyle, Memphis Symphony, Allure Bridal, Hookpoint Brewing, The Citizen Apartments.

Trace Hallowell Founder and manag-

MARKETING / PR

mage and perception are key to the success of a business, and these Power Players have the necessary vision to pull it all together.

Bill Carkeet CEO and co-owner, Oden, a 49-year-old B2B marketing & branding agency. Management team chair. Leads shaping ﬁrm’s future, opportunity assessment, and service offering. Board member, ArtsMemphis and Banc3 Holdings, Inc.

Doug Carpenter Principal, DCA, creative communications consulting ﬁrm. Provided business-based communications solutions for public and private sector clients for over 30 years. Instrumental in instituting and reimagining ways to advance the momentum of Memphis, including Mighty Lights, Explore Bike Share, Memphis Greenspace, Big River Crossing, Tennessee Brewery.

ing partner, Tactical Magic. With more than 30 years in the business, his work is in numerous books, magazines and college textbooks. lnternational honors for advertising, branding and creativity. Clients include CGHP, Eventive, Malasri Engineering, Maximum Hospitality, Soundways, Sowell Realtors, Trousseau.

Mark Henry President and CoFounder, Signature Advertising. Numerous Addys, MarComs, Tellys, and The Wall Street Journal “Best Of” awards. Pro bono services to many nonproﬁts. Helped create a mentorship program for U of M’s Department of Journalism. 2013 recipient, University of Memphis Charles E. Thornton Outstanding Journalism Alumni Award.

Christi Kelley President and CEO, Kelley & Associates Advertising, Inc. Clients in the medical, agricultural, industrial, non-proﬁt, ﬁnancial, retail, B2B industries. Numerous awards including Addy, Telly, SIAA, MIRM, NAMA, PIAS Graphic, MarCom, International Communicator Awards.

Jerry Klein Owner, President, Kossman/ Klein & Co. Clients include John J. Campbell Company, DroneScape, Bluff City Jaguar Land Rover. Founder and ﬁrst president, Germantown Rotary Club. Dean Campbell Award, Germantown Rotary; U of M Herbert Lee Williams Outstanding Career Accomplishment award.

Deidre Malone Founder, President, CEO, The Carter Malone Group LLC. Integrated marketing communications strategies. Ofﬁces in Memphis, Jackson, Mississippi. Founding member, Tennessee Public Relations Alliance. Immediate Past President, NAACP Memphis Branch.

Valerie Morris President, CEO, Morris Marketing Group. Senior strategy and implementation of holistic marketing and PR campaigns in different business sectors. One of Top 10 Companies to Watch in 2018. Recognized in Super Women in Business, Women with Drive, Top 40 under 40.

Howard Robertson Jr. Principal and CEO, TRUST Marketing & Communications, Inc. Oldest African American-owned marketing ﬁrm in region. Clients include City of Memphis, Methodist-LeBonheur Healthcare, Durham School Services, Shelby County Government, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority.

Cynthia H. Saatkamp Owner, Cofounder, Hemline, tailoring brand strategies for clients for 16 years, including Hilton Worldwide, Baptist Memorial Health Care, LEO Events, MIFA. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ. Marketing Professional of the Year, Communications Firm of the Year, AAF.

Tim Sellers Co-founder, partner and director of operations for inferno. Strategic counsel and marketing communications solutions to clients in bioscience, healthcare, logistics, ﬁnancial services. Advertising CEO of the Year, Ad Man of the Year, AAF Memphis

Sheperd Simmons Founder and president, Counterpart Communication Design. Specializes in message strategy. Ofﬁces in Memphis, Dallas, Philadelphia, Winston-Salem, Fort Myers. Clients include AARP, P&G, Progressive Insurance, FedEx, Hilton. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ.

Brian Sullivan Principal and CEO, Sullivan Branding. Develops brands and creates award-winning advertising campaigns, internal communications, company culture and training programs for clients in diverse categories such as hospitality, healthcare, entertainment, professional sports, tourism, and education.

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WE COULD USE YOUR HELP. The Memphis Flyer is here for you in the best times, and in the most uncertain times. Friends, these are uncertain times — but we’re certain about a few things. We’re always independent. We’re always free. And we strive to keep you informed about and connected to our city. We’re asking for you to kick a little support toward the Flyer’s work. Even a little helps a lot.

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Power Players 2020

/ M A R K E T I N G / P R — M E D I C A L — G R O U P P R A C T I C E A D M I N . — M E D I C A L — H O S P I TA L A D M I N .

Elizabeth Tate Chairman and CEO, Signet, Inc. WBENC certiﬁed company. Clients include International Paper, FedEx, ServiceMaster, TruGreen, Terminix, First Horizon, Genie. Founding member, PeerNet industry consortium. Distinguished Friend of the Fogelman College of Business at U of M, Fogelman Hall of Fame.

Lori Turner-Wilson CEO and founder, RedRover Sales & Marketing Strategy. 2018 Vistage Impact Award winner. Syndicated columnist. Author of WOOF — Why Ordinary Organizations Fail. Contributing ghostwriter to the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Guerrilla Marketing.

Ceil T. Walker CEO, president, Walker + Associates. Telly, Addy, Vox, MarCom awards for clients including ARRIVE Hotels, Green Dot Schools, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Higher Education Commission, McDonald’s, Thomas & Betts, Lucite International.

Becky Jones West President and founder, WestRogers Strategic Communications, LLC. Media planning and buying, political and public affairs, crisis communications, brand development. Planned and bought media for Ted Cruz for President.

Martin Williford Founder and executive creative director, Red Deluxe Brand Management. 25 years+ experience with brands like HGTV, FedEx, and Bass Pro. Focus has turned to campaigns for national nonproﬁts. Recipient, numerous Gold ADDY awards.

Russ Williams CEO, Archer Malmo, integrated agency founded 1952. 25-year veteran of strategic action. Supporter of Downtown creatives. Memphis American Advertising Federation 2016 Silver Medal Award, IMB 2016 CEO of the Year. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ.

Pam Alexander President and CEO, MidSouth Healthcare Management. Provides practice management services to include oversight management, accounts payables and monthly ﬁnancials, human resources, billing and collection services. Certiﬁed Medical Coder.

Kim W. Avery CEO and General Counsel,

George Hernandez CEO, Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics, a national leader in sports medicine, pediatric orthopaedics, joint replacement, orthopedic oncology, physical medicine/rehabilitation, surgery. Executive director, Campbell Foundation. 2012 Large Business of the Year, Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce. 2020 CEO of the Year, IMB.

Kimble Jenkins CEO, OrthoSouth.

Mid-South Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists, P.C. One of largest privately owned pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine practices in Southeast with 25 physician providers and 10 acute care practitioners.

Orthopedic care in eight Mid-South locations. Surgical and non-surgical treatment for general orthopedics, sports medicine, shoulder, back, neck, spine, hand.

Drew Botschner CEO, University Clinical Health. Private practice arm of UT College of Medicine. Clinical practices in dermatology, family medicine, nephrology, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, neonatology, dermapathology, neurology, minimally invasive surgery, pathology, hematology.

John A. Lewis CEO, Semmes-Murphey Clinic. Neurosurgery, neurology, physiatry, pain management. CPA, CITP, Certiﬁed IT Project Manager; fellow, American College of Medical Practice Executives. Tennessee Association of CPAs, American Institute of CPAs, Medical Group Management Association.

Debbie Eddlestone CEO, Stern

Rola Obaji CEO, McDonald + Murrmann

Cardiovascular Foundation. Comprehensive approach to wellness and preventive medicine with 11 Mid-South locations. Partnered with Baptist Memorial Health Care in 2011; 2012 merged with Memphis Heart Clinic. MBJ’s Superwomen in Business. 2017 CEO of the Year, IMB.

Joy Golden CEO, managing director, Lakeside Behavioral Health System. 40 years+ experience. 345-bed, 37-acre campus has behavioral health care and addiction treatment for adolescents to adults.

Center for Wellness and Health. Provides obstetrics, gynecology, wellness treatments. Also skin & laser center and female rejuvenation.

Mark Swanson CEO, Baptist Medical Group, the 500-member multispecialty physician group. VP of physician enterprise, Baptist Memorial Health Care. Fellowship training in anesthesia and critical care at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Mitch Graves CEO, West Cancer Center. 30+ years experience in leadership with Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Former CEO of HealthChoice managing over $750 million in medical spend while improving quality of patients’ healthcare and experience.

John Gross Practice administrator, Shea Clinic. ENT medical practice and surgery center specializing in treatment of chronic hearing and balance disorders. Leadership Council, Association of Otolaryngology Administrators. Starkey Foundation 2018 Director’s Award.

David Harano CEO, Gastro One. Treats

MEDICAL-GROUP PRACTICE ADMIN.

ealthcare is crucial to our well being and these Power Players manage the organizations dedicated to making us better.

patients with digestive disease symptoms and gastrointestinal disorders. Former chair, Medical Group Management Association’s Gastroenterology Administration Assembly.

MEDICAL- HOSPITAL ADMIN.

unning a hospital is an increasingly complex job and these Power Players are making the most of providing top healthcare in Memphis.

Reginald Coopwood President, CEO, Regional One Health. General surgeon before roles as CMO and CEO in health systems. 2014 CEO of the Year, IMB; 2011 CEO Meritorious Service Award, 2013 Diversity Champion, 2016 President’s Award from the Tennessee Hospital Association.

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Power Players 2020

/ MEDICA L - HOSPITA L A DMIN . — PHIL A N T HROPY — PUBLIC SERV ICE

Sally Deitch Group president and CEO of Mid-South Group, market CEO for Saint Francis Healthcare and CEO for Saint Francis-Memphis. “10 Women Leaders to Watch,” Modern Healthcare. Corris Boyd Leadership Award, American Federation of Hospitals.

James R. Downing President, CEO, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Architect of six-year strategic plan to expand St. Jude clinical care and research programs in Memphis and around the globe. Instrumental in launching Pediatric Cancer Genome Project.

Jason Little President, CEO, Baptist Memorial Health Care. Former executive VP and COO, Baptist; CEO Baptist Memphis, Baptist Golden Triangle, Baptist Collierville. Early Career Healthcare Executive Award, American College of Healthcare Executives.

Michael O. Ugwueke President, CEO, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Modern Healthcare Up and Comer, 2012; 2018 Modern Healthcare Top 25 Minority Executive in the country. Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives. Previously served as COO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

Michael Wiggins President, Methodist Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. Was senior VP of clinical operations and administrator for Children’s Medical Center in Plano, Texas. Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives.

Mauricio Calvo Executive director, Latino Memphis. Aids and supports local Latino community, such as assistance in health care, college advice, immigration services. Top 10 Young Professionals, The Memphis Chamber. 12 Who Made a Difference in 2012, The Commercial Appeal. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ, 2014.

Bob Fockler President, Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. Leads the largest charitable grantmaker in the Mid-South, with grants of more than $147 million last year. Manages nearly 1,200 charitable funds for individuals, families, and organizations throughout the region.

J.R. Hyde III Family Foundation and J.R. Hyde Sr. Foundation. Dedicated to improving quality of life in the Memphis area. Public education reform, including KIPP Academy, Teach for America, New Leaders. Top 100 Most Powerful People in Tennessee, BusinessTN, 2004.

Charles Burkett Chairman, First Tennessee Foundation. Invests towards vital aspects of community including arts and culture, education and leadership, environment, ﬁnancial literacy, health and human services. Contributed more than $90 million to strengthen communities since 1993.

Elizabeth Rouse President, CEO, ArtsMemphis. Oversees support of the local arts community. Was Chief Development Ofﬁcer and COO. ArtsMemphis invested $2.5 million in 72 local arts groups last year thanks to 1,300+ local donors.

Jan Young Executive director, Assisi Foundation of Memphis. Outstanding Alumni Awards from U of M and UT. Awarded grants of more than $240 million since 1994. Initiatives include Transition to Success, Bridges Out of Poverty, and Ethical Fitness.

Laura K. Linder President, CEO, Jewish Community Partners. Executive director, Memphis Jewish Federation. Certiﬁed Fundraising Executive. Top 40 under 40, MBJ. Emerging Young Leaders Award, National Council of Jewish Women, Milwaukee.

Justin W. Miller Co-Founder and CEO, Slingshot Memphis, Inc. TedX Memphis presenter and represented Memphis as the only U.S.-based nonproﬁt at the 2019 Paris Peace Forum. Fixed Income Capital Markets President’s Club, 2013 & 2014.

Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation. Baptist Heart Institute, Kemmons Wilson Family Center for Good Grief, Baptist Reynolds Hospice House, scholarships for students, and others. 50 Women Who Make a Difference, 2005.

emphis is one of the most giving cities in the country and these Power Players are key to making the most of philanthropic efforts.

Foundation. CEO and founder, EVS Corporation. 100 most powerful people, BusinessTN. 2012 CEO of the Year, IMB. Changing Face of Philanthropy Award, International Women’s Funding Network. Women of Achievement Award, Leadership Memphis Change Makers Award 2019.

Barbara Rosser Hyde Chair and CEO,

Jenny Nevels Executive director,

PHILANTHROPY

Gayle S. Rose Chairman, Rose Family

Maureen O’Connor VP of Institutional Advancement, Le Bonheur. Leads efforts of the Le Bonheur Foundation, Marketing, Public Policy, Trauma Administration, and Injury Prevention teams.

Tammie Ritchey Executive director, Regional One Health Foundation. Chief development ofﬁcer, Regional One Health. Relationship manager connecting philanthropists to programs, causes, and clinical leaders. Certiﬁed Fundraising Executive.

PUBLIC SERVICE

onprofits serve a vital function in the community and these Power Players insure the public welfare on many levels.

Jen Andrews Executive Director, Shelby Farms Park Conservancy. Oversees services, amenities, and operations at Shelby Farms Park and Shelby Farms Greenline, including implementation of Master Plan. Former Director of Development and Communications with the Conservancy. Memphis Flyer, Top 20 under 30.

Eric Ballentine Executive director, Streets Ministries. Innovative programming and community partnerships. Founder, The Ark community outreach organization in Riverview Kansas community.

Ruby Bright Executive director, chief administrative ofﬁcer, Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis. Foundation of the Year, MPACT Memphis. Henry Logan Starks Award, Memphis Theological Seminary; Changing Face of Philanthropy Award, Women’s Funding Network; Kate Gooch Award, Leadership Memphis; J.A. McDaniel Award, Urban League;

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Ruby R. Wharton Award for Community Service; Women of Achievement Vision Award; Evie Horton Award. 2014 MBJ Super Women in Business.

John Butler President, Agricenter International. Oversees daily operations of Agricenter, education, agribusiness, research, and agricultural hub of the Mid-South, and creation and implementation of Master Plan. Former owner of Jones Creek Farm.

Kevin Dean CEO, Momentum Nonprofit Partners. Creates momentum in nonprofit sector to enact equitable, measurable, and lasting change. 2013 Ruth J. Colvin and Frank C. Laubach Award for Excellence in Community-Based Adult Literacy from ProLiteracy in Washington, D.C.; 2015 Innovation Awards, IMB.

J. Daniel Garrick Manager,

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Southeast Region, Vitalant (formerly Lifeblood). National organization provides expertise in blood collection, testing, logistics, distribution, special services and research.

Sally Jones Heinz Executive director, MIFA. Joined as VP of Development. Former director of development, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Former director of marketing and vice president of publications, Robert F. Sharpe Company, Inc.

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Melanie Ann Keller President, CEO, Meritan, Inc. Nonprofit health and social services agency that provides home healthcare, homemaker service, private duty nursing, and other nursing services to individuals with disabilities, senior employment services, and foster care services in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Georgia.

Patrick Lawler sOe CEO, Youth Villages. Youth Villages helps more than 30,000 children and families nationwide annually with 3,000 staff in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Master Entrepreneur, SOE. America’s Best Leaders, U.S. News and World Report, 2006.

Shantelle Leatherwood CEO, Christ Community Health Services. Faith-based, multi-site organization serving underresourced communities in Memphis. Services include primary care, behavioral health, dental work, surgery, and pharmaceuticals.

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Power Players 2020 /

PUBLIC SERVICE — SECURITY

Anton Mack Executive director, Explore Bike Share. Nonprofit shared mobility system that operates 600 bikes, 200 seated OjO scooters, and 90 docking stations around the city’s core. Former presence in administrative departments for legal and academic fields.

Tony Martini President and CEO, Memphis Goodwill Industries. Provides employment and life skills assistance to persons with significant work barriers. Contract services through government partnerships. 2014 Executive of the Year, MBJ.

Charles McVean sOe Chairman and

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founder, Peer Power Foundation. Tutors more than 1,000 schoolchildren in schools in Tennessee and Mississippi, combining performance-based compensation with effects of peer groups. Chairman and CEO, McVean Trading & Investments. Key to creating Big River Crossing. Master Entrepreneur, SOE. 2013 and 2017 Innovation Awards, IMB.

G. Scott Morris sOe Founder, CEO, Church Health Center. Honorary Doctor of Letters, 2015, U of M. Master Entrepreneur, SOE. Memphis Theological Seminary President’s Humanitarian Award, 2010. The Kindness Revolution’s Spirit of Kindness Award, 2010.

Cathy Pope President and CEO, Mid-

President & CEO,

South Food Bank. Organization serves needy in 31 counties through 274 charitable feeding programs. Former president and CEO, Feeding the Gulf Coast food bank.

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare FedEx Juice Plus+ Company

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Adam Putnam CEO, Ducks Unlimited, a world leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation. Former commissioner of agriculture, Florida, where he managed 1.3 million acres of state forest. Was youngest elected member of Congress.

Kenneth Robinson President and CEO, FOLLOW US FOR UPDATES ON:

/HeartMidSouth

@HeartMidSouth

United Way of the Mid-South. Past Tennessee Commissioner of Health, served as Health Program and Policy Consultant and County Health officer to mayor of

@HeartMidSouth

Shelby County.

Richard C. Shadyac, Jr. Leads ALSAC, fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. More than 31,000 fundraising activities annually, including FedEx St. Jude Classic and St. Jude Memphis Marathon. ALSAC is the top healthcare charity in the United States. 2016 CEO of the Year, IMB.

Gary Shorb sOe

CEO, The Urban Child Institute. Led expansion of Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown and Le Bonheur hospital. Corporation of the Year, Memphis Business Development Corporation, and best hospital in Memphis, U.S. News & World Report. 100 • I N S I D E M E M P H I S B U S I N E S S • A P R I L 2 0 2 0

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Casey Kaufman Tansey President and CEO, Make-A-Wish Mid-South since 2017. With the organization since 2003. Creates life-changing wishes for children between 2 and 18 with critical illnesses in region.

Vickie Terry Executive director, Memphis Branch NAACP. Ensure political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens. Memphis Branch is second largest in the U.S.

Van Turner Director, president, Memphis Greenspace. Partner, Bruce Turner, PLLC. Chairman and Commissioner, Shelby County District 12. Responsible for removal of confederate statues from Memphis public parks. Top 40 Under 40, MBJ. Mid-South Rising Stars 2010-2016, Super Lawyers.

Dana Wilson President and CEO, BRIDGES. Joined BRIDGES in 2008 as program coordinator; first employee to be promoted to the president and CEO positions. Developed curriculum and evaluation for the expanded Bridge Builders program.

SECURITY

e all want peace of mind. With these Power Players in the business, you can lock it in.

Chris Bird sOe President, The Dillard Companies. Security installation and services for government facilities, manufacturing plants, warehouses, office buildings, apartment buildings, retail stores, parking garages, churches, schools.

E. Winslow “Buddy” Chapman Executive director, Crimestoppers of Memphis and Shelby County. Former manager of business development, Guardsmark; VP and director of personnel administration, Dobbs International; director, Memphis Police Department, 1976-83.

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Power Players 2020 /

SECURIT Y — STA FFING

Jonathan Frase President, Frase Protection, Home security and security camera systems for homes and small businesses. Joined firm after a successful career as a commercial airline pilot and instructor.

Kim Heathcott sOe Founder, CEO, Clarion Security LLC. Largest woman-owned business in Memphis and last five years on Inc 5000 list of fastest growing companies. Uniformed, armed, and unarmed security officers, security patrols, and alarm response. 2018 CEO of the Year, Inside Memphis Business.

Barry Marshall President and Partner, Security One, Inc. 35 years+ experience in public, private sectors. Firm founded by his father in 1973. Joined Shelby County Sheriff’s Department in 1977 and is reserve instructor with the Memphis Police Department.

Patti Phelps Owner and CEO, Phelps Security, Inc. founded in 1953. 39 years+ experience managing and operating one of Memphis’ oldest security companies. Nationally certified, Woman-Owned Business. Co-founder, B.I.G. for Memphis. Fallen Officer Memorial Committee, Neighborhood Watch Grant Committee.

Alfred Washington Owner, CEO, Top

DO GOOD. BETTER.

Notch Security, Inc. In seven states with 300+ employees. Government, commercial, industry facilities, international executive protection, vulnerability assessments, disaster response. MBJ Top 40 under 40. SBDC Rising Star; African American male image award; MDBA Business of the Year; Robert R Church award; Benny Award.

Craig Weiss Co-founder, CEO, Central Defense Security. Helped firm become a top security provider in region. Started Central Defense Staffing 2013. Principal and EVP for Carrier Leasing at Tower Ventures, the largest wireless infrastructure company in the Mid-South.

Stanley Zitron Founder, CFO, Avision Inc. Founded in 1995, providing innovative surveillance and perimeter protection using megapixel cameras and wireless technology. Specializing in corporate, industrial, medical, retail, educational security.

901.726.5725 momentumnonprofit.org We help Mid-South nonprofits succeed. 102 • I N S I D E M E M P H I S B U S I N E S S • A P R I L 2 0 2 0

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THINK BLUE SKY

BLUESKYCOURIERS.COM

STAFFING

hen you’re looking for talent for your business, you go to these Power Players who know who to reach out to.

Dotty Summerfield Giusti Founder, Summerfield Associates, Consulting & Recruiting Services. Contract, contract to hire, and direct hire placements in human resources and information technology fields. Super Woman in Business, 2016.

Garen Haddad President, CEO, Gateway Group Personnel. Accounting, finance, operations, engineering, technology, HR, administrative disciplines. Pinnacle Society, nation’s premier consortium of top recruiters within executive search industry.

DE LI V E RI NG M E M PH I S

FOR 2 0 Y E A RS

Kirk Johnston Senior managing partner, Vaco Memphis. Consulting, contract, and direct hire placements. Corporate Volunteer of the Year 2017, 2018. National company named to Inc. 5000 “Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies” for 13 consecutive years.

Denise Burnett Stewart sOe President/CEO, OR Nurses Nationwide, Inc., Travel Nurses, Inc. Provides temporary and permanent healthcare staffing to healthcare facilities locally, regionally, and nationally. Largest Women Owned Business from 2006-2010. Best Place to Work, MBJ.

Dinah Terry CEO, President, Omni Staffing Plus, Inc. Provides testing, training, and placement. Former owner/operator of OmniAdult Training Center, providing training and placement for medical transcription and terminology.

Have the latest features sent straight to your inbox. VISIT MEMPHISMAGAZINE.COM AND SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE WEEKLY EMAIL NEWSLETTERS TODAY! A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • I N S I D E M E M P H I S B U S I N E S S • 103

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2020 Inductees BY JON W. SPARKS | PHOTOGRAPHS BY LISA BUSER

he Society of Entrepreneurs is inducting four new members into the organization in 2020. Film producer/director Craig Brewer; Edith Kelly-Green, partner in The KGR Group; Chris Woods, founder and president of Chris Woods Construction Co.; and Kent Wunderlich, CEO and board chairman of Financial Federal Bank, were chosen to join the organization that was founded in 1991. In addition, SOE member Charles McVean has been selected as a Master Entrepreneur, which indicates particular excellence in the entrepreneurial spirit as well as being an exemplar of giving back to the community. For several years, Inside Memphis Business has profiled the honorees and this year’s group is on the following pages. Membership in the society is of Mid-South business owners, presidents, and other key executives. New members are mature entrepreneurs chosen annually by their peers. The 28th Annual Dinner and Awards Banquet, originally set for April, has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 29, 2020, at the Holiday Inn at the University of Memphis.

MASTER ENTREPRENEUR

Charles McVean B

McVean Trading & Investments, LLC

y any measure Charles McVean is an asset to the city. His entrepreneurial instincts have made McVean Trading & Investments, LLC, a great success. But that’s only a portion of what he’s done to make a difference. Two very different civic initiatives of his have had a remarkable impact in the region. What’s similar with his business and his civic endeavors is that McVean observed opportunities to change things and then went after them with a passion. Early in his commodities work, he noticed something about the cattle futures market: “I said, we just got a bunch of gunslingers and cowboys trading these cattle. I think I can apply some of the more advanced statistical techniques learned [from] the grain trade and beat these guys.” And he did. That foresight, plus McVean’s personal leadership, provides a powerful engine for the firm. John Haase, director of client development at McVean, says, “You’re first attracted to Charlie by his intellect, and then his passion, and that ignites passion in you. That attracts like-minded and like-driven individuals, so you build a unique organization if you have that type of leader.” McVean’s zeal to improve society is as fierce as his competitiveness in business. He loves Memphis but he’s concerned where it’s falling short and one area in particular is education opportunities for the less fortunate. His contribution is Peer Power, a student-to-student tutoring program that, while innovative, is really based on the old one-room schoolhouse. “The better, older kids teach, help the teacher tutor, and teach the younger and less advanced students,” McVean

says. Peer Power gets students from the University of Memphis to work with students in Shelby County Schools — what’s called a win-win. Dr. Thomas Nenon, provost at the U of M, is an enthusiastic backer of Peer Power. He notes that “the main thing is the outcomes with the students in the schools and that improves all the other things.” Those additional benefits for university students include teacher retention, tutors becoming more interested in teaching as a career, and student teachers improving their own skills. Another significant civic contribution of McVean is what has become the Big River Crossing, the country’s longest active rail/bicycle/pedestrian bridge. It’s a popular destination for locals and tourists that connects to parks and trails on either side of the river. The path to building it, however, required unyielding persistence on McVean’s part. His son, Dow McVean, illustrates: “Dad’s a pretty persistent guy as he mentioned through the cattle industry. He had connections in Nebraska where the Union Pacific is headquartered. He took two airplanes of people from Memphis to meet with the chairman of the railroad and was quite persuasive. And [local attorney] Charlie Newman found deeds to old roadbeds where the title work was never cleaned up, so that helped make the case with the railroad. Then by tying the Big River Crossing to the Main to Main project, which linked downtown Memphis to downtown West Memphis, that helped secure the federal TIGER grant without which the project never would have happened.” In all, exactly the sort of thing a Master Entrepreneur would do. A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • I N S I D E M E M P H I S B U S I N E S S • 105

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2020 INDUCTEE

Craig Brewer T

o tell Craig Brewer’s story is to start with his grandfather, Marvelous Marv Throneberry. That’s right, the fan favorite baseball player who gained fame with the Yankees and the Mets, known for his spectacularly good and bad playing. You might suppose that Brewer would be destined for a major league career but, unfortunately, “I was never good at anything athletic.” So that’s the prologue — and here’s where Act 1 begins: Brewer was, however, destined for major success in Hollywood, and that is thanks in large part to his father, Walter D. Brewer. All through school, Craig loved theater and movies and threw himself into singing and dancing and plays. Out of high school, he wanted to direct and produce plays he’d written. Enter Mr. Brewer: “My dad, a businessman in the shipping industry, was where he shined. He loved to break down what exactly it would take to produce a play. So how much would the theater cost? That means I’ve got to sell this many tickets to get this much money to make what the theater costs. Then it was, no, actually there’s more costs because we’ve got to build a set. We’ve got to get a light designer.” So the businessman who had never been in professional theater partnered with his son who was grounded in community theater. “Suddenly we were trying to make money — or at least break even — so we could produce a play,” he says, “and we did two plays that way.” His father’s support was more than practical. It was inspirational. When the younger Brewer decided to get into filmmaking, the road was bumpy. A first effort failed dismally. That led to introspection and visits to Midtown’s P & H Café, where he was enamored with the people and, well, the entire mise en scène. From that came 2000’s The Poor & Hungry, Hungry which would launch the young filmmaker’s career. But putting it together, Brewer was still unsure and reached out to his father. “I sent the script off to my dad and he called me, really excited about it,” Brewer says. “He inspired me on a business level, first of all, saying he was worried that I’d overproduce it and spend too much money on that when really the movie is about people who don’t have any money. He said I should try to make the movie feel like that and then just keep costs down.” It was a time when digital technology was taking off and Brewer knew he could edit it. That conversation with his father had clarified so much for him and he was pumped and eager to continue. “But later in the day I got a phone call from his work that he’d suffered a

heart attack and died. The last thing my dad and I ever talked about was him inspiring me to go out and make this movie.” It was shattering, but Brewer couldn’t possibly set the project aside. “I kept his business mindset in my head when I was making it, about keeping costs down and really putting the work up on the screen. I always felt like my dad was making it with me.” The Poor & Hungry was recognized at the Hollywood Film Festival, which led to the making of Hustle & Flow. That film earned a spate of awards and allowed Brewer to do his next project, Black Snake Moan. Brewer’s continuing successes included directing on television, documentary work, and last year’s release of Dolemite is My Name with Eddie Murphy. This year will see the release of another Murphy project, Coming 2 America. But he couldn’t do any of it without his cards. That’s right, the big-time director, deft at handling big egos, skilled at making elevator pitches, savvy about the peculiarities of Hollywood — he’s nothing without his note cards, clear tacks, and two cork boards. “Everything I have to tackle in my life, I try to tackle it on those cards,” Brewer says. “I have gone into so many different Office Maxes around this country because I have to fix something or come up with an idea or figure it out.” It is a lesson for any potential entrepreneur who struggles with getting organized. “I have a very specific process where I start writing a script. You need to dream a little bit. You need to figure out a way to make it quick and functional so you don’t just live in that dream space forever, but you start seeing ideas.” He breaks down his script story using those cards, but it’s also an exercise for other movies. “I’ll say we’re going to watch Get Out and I’m going to card it. You kind of see other ways that people attacked the narrative or tried to get your attention.” And what is the best advice Brewer’s ever been given? It came from director John Singleton, who produced Hustle & Flow. Flow “He said, ‘Shoot the meat,’ meaning get to a scene, make that first wide shot so good that if lightning struck the cameras and you couldn’t shoot any more, it would still work. In other words get into the hard stuff right up top.” And, as the saying goes, That’s Entertainment.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JON SPARKS

Film Producer / Director

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2020 INDUCTEE

Edith Kelly-Green The KGR Group

dith Kelly-Green’s story is inspirational. She grew up materially poor but lived with a grandmother who wanted her to get an education. This grandmother, with only a sixthgrade education, worked as a maid at the University of Mississippi and would take the very young Edith with her to work. “She wanted me to be a teacher,” Kelly-Green says, “which was the only thing that an African-American woman could do that she knew of.” Maybe teaching math, since the girl had an affinity for numbers. But it would go well beyond that. She would go to Ole Miss and really get into numbers, despite the fact that, as she puts it, “I knew nothing about being a CPA. I knew nothing about accounting. I could not spell CPA.” But for Kelly-Green, her entrepreneurial journey was already underway. College was the way to the degree, but the fundamentals of work were already in place. “I grew up in an environment where working hard was always what was expected,” she says. “That’s a key to success whether you’re working for someone else or working for yourself. I was a hard worker. I was there early. I was there late.” That persistence, and the status of being one of the first in her family to have gotten a college degree, propelled her to excel in mastering accounting and to become a CPA. With her new degree, she landed a prized position in Deloitte, one of the big-eight accounting firms of the day. Fellow Mississippian Rex Deloach was a partner at the Deloitte Memphis office and brought her on board. “He was the first African American on the professional staff in the Memphis office and took a chance on hiring me,” she says. Kelly-Green would rise to become a senior auditor. But in the mid-1970s, an opportunity arose. “Someone told me about this little company that shipped boxes out at the airport. I went for an interview.” It was the beginning of a 25year career with FedEx that had the feel of being entrepreneurial. “We got exposed to a lot of different things that were new and we were receptive to doing things that had never been done before for the betterment of the company, the community, the city, the world.” FedEx was good at moving boxes, but she found she could be especially effective in making sure the numbers and ledgers were correct, which eventually led to her being named vice president for internal audit. During her tenure at FedEx, she got breast cancer and is today a breast cancer survivor. “That makes you start thinking about life in

a different way. I started thinking about not working all my life in corporate America.” She’s also been good about holding on to what she was making. “Whatever assets I obtained from FedEx, I saved and used for the future. I’ve always believed that I’m just a moment away from being back in Oxford, growing up in a house that I could tell you the weather because I could see through the thin walls.” She took a buyout from FedEx after 25 years at age 50 and with no thought of going into business. “I really planned to sit at Starbucks and watch other people go to work.” It was not to be. Her daughter Jayna Kelly was going to Rhodes College at the time and enjoyed eating at Lenny’s Sub Shop near campus. “It’s a great sandwich,” she told her mother, talking about more than the food. “We ought to get involved.” Kelly-Green may not have wanted to go into business, but she was also driven by wanting to have a legacy for her family, “so that no one in my family would ever have to worry about not getting an education because they didn’t have the money to do so.” Meanwhile, her son James Kelly was getting his master’s degree and wanted to be an entrepreneur. He was brought into the business and now runs The KGR Group. Kelly-Green has bought and sold several of the franchises and seen revenues increase over tenfold annually for several years. She has an entrepreneur’s sense of who makes a good employee. “We hire people that aren’t necessarily the cream of the crop in terms of setting goals,” she says. “I don’t think people have given a lot of thought to it. And a lot of them are young people who don’t get encouragement at home, so we try to provide that to them and make it possible for them to move into management.” She says that hiring someone who has been turned down elsewhere can be risky. “Sometimes we’ve been bitten by that. And other times it’s worked out fantastically — you’ve found a jewel in someone who just needed a chance.” Her own upbringing and business experience have all played into who she is, determined to give people a chance. And it’s why Kelly-Green has also moved purposefully into philanthropy as one of the organizers of Philanthropic Black Women of Memphis. She’s also endowed scholarships at Ole Miss for African-American females in accounting, and has been honored by, among others, the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis. A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • I N S I D E M E M P H I S B U S I N E S S • 107

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2020 INDUCTEE

Chris Woods Chris Woods Construction Co.

hris Woods tried to say no. Twice. Turns out it was a good thing that he was overruled. Today he owns his own successful construction company, but early in his life he was compelled to pivot a couple of times. Those redirections were providential. The first time was when he was just out of college when his father was working to sell farmettes in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Woods says, “He told me, ‘You know, you need to come out and help me sell.’ And I said, ‘Dad, I don’t like dealing with the public.’ He said, ‘Well, you’re going to. I’m helping support you so you’re going to come out here and sell.’ I went out there and one weekend I made $800 and I told myself, boy, this is the life for me.” That motivated Woods to get into the real estate program at the University of Memphis where he took some accounting classes. He started working as a bookkeeper for David Goodman, a homebuilder. Woods says, “David kept me in the office until one day he said, ‘You need to get out in the field and build houses.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to do that.’ And he said, ‘Well, you’re going to.’ So I started building houses.” He did that for a while, hit and miss he says, subject to the whims of the economy. In 1980 he was approached by a friend to build a metal building for a plant in Nashville. “I liked it,” Woods says. “We started doing industrial work for several companies in Memphis and it started flourishing.” Many of those projects were out of town and he did a lot of traveling from Slidell, Louisiana, to St. Louis, to Nashville, and back to Memphis. “I was getting tired of all the running up and down the road,” he says, “and we started doing more commercial work in Memphis.” It was small buildings at first and eventually grew into more customers and larger structures. “We’re just been very blessed to be where we are,” he says. “My two sons got into business in 2000 and 2005 and we’ve got a great group of employees.” Today, the company’s projects range from $5,000 to $45 million. “We do probably 20 projects a year and we’re proud of every project we do.” It is Woods’ attention to the work and to his customers that has made the difference. “It doesn’t matter how large or small it is,” he says, “it’s always a sense of accomplishment, which is so important.” The work has given Woods crucial knowledge on how to be successful. He says, “The best advice you can give to somebody is to be true to yourself, believe in yourself. Know that you really have to take care of your customers. You work for them, you don’t work for

yourself. Make sure they’re always satisfied and then everything else will take care of itself.” The other part of the equation is his team. “We keep our people mainly because we treat them right,” he says. “We let them participate. We have a good year, they have a good year. We take care of them — I mean, they’re family, 36 employees. I know every one of them.” In fact, if he could do anything over again, it would be to have hired his team 20 years earlier. “You try to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you and know more than you,” Woods says. “I think I’ve done a pretty good job. And fortunately, I’ve got two sons that are both a lot smarter than me and they always tell me when I’m wrong,” This comment brings easy laughter, and it’s clear that this touch of self-deprecating humor is part of what makes Chris Woods tick. He says his mother and grandmother taught him to be true to himself, and that’s in everything he does. And it’s more than just submitting the lowest bid. The core of Woods’ life is trust. “If you’re competitive, and if people trust you and people like you, then you’re going to get the job,” he says. A prime example of that is what happens when things go too well for him at the expense of the customer. “Sometimes we miss it on an estimate,” he says. “When we find out we’re making a lot more than we expected to on a job, we have a policy to refund part of that money to the customer. A friend of mine told me that you can shear sheep many times, but you can only butcher him once. We believe in that.” Woods cites the Golden Rule and it’s evident how that applies in all aspects of his life. He values his integrity and his friendships. And he loves his community. “We believe in helping the less fortunate,” Woods says. “Every Christmas we dole out several thousand dollars to different churches that have programs for disadvantaged children. Meritan is another organization we support. Three years ago I lost my grandson and we formed the Chris Wood’s scholarship program — that’s named after him, not me. There’s St. Mary’s soup kitchen. And we maintain a learning center at St. Francis of Assisi school. We just believe in giving back to communities, supporting our community.”

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2020 INDUCTEE

Kent Wunderlich Financial Federal Bank

ent Wunderlich stares at the sleek, silent television on the wall in his office. Someone had asked what he watched on it. “You know,” he says, “I’m not sure I’ve ever had that TV on. I don’t know how to work it.” He would later admit that he might have seen the Masters Tournament on it, but the point was made: Wunderlich puts his heart and soul into being CEO and chairman of the board of Financial Federal Bank, and when he’s not doing that, he’s devoted to the community (nonprofit housing projects, education, civics). After that he loves being outdoors, particularly if it involves fishing or duck hunting. TV programming doesn’t really make the cut. He’s got something of a gift for running a bank, and he likes how his bank is different from most others. For one thing, there are no branches. “We don’t like leasing buildings,” he says. “We have no branches and we don’t handle cash and won’t accept cash.” What Financial Federal will do is offer a high degree of customer service and point with some pride to its high standards. For example, it never took TARP money from the federal government during the subprime mortgage crisis. That pool of money was used by the Treasury Department to buy “troubled assets” from banks around the county to stabilize the economy. “No, thanks,” said Financial Federal. Wunderlich is typically measured when discussing his company. Looking back, he says that the bank could have grown a little bit if it had gone to some other cities. “We could have done it then, but we did not. But you know, we still had grown significantly and are really kind of satisfied with what we’ve done.” The numbers tell the tale. Federal Financial is now around $650 million in assets, and when Wunderlich started with it in 1987, it was at $30 million. Duncan F. Williams is the President of Duncan-Williams, Inc., a member of the Society of Entrepreneurs, and an admirer of Wunderlich. “He has a great business sense, that can’t be argued,” Williams says. “Not taking the rescue TARP money was a big deal. That tells you how solid Financial Federal is. He manages risk better than most. All that needs to be said about his management style is he’s smart, he’s efficient, he takes risks — but he takes good risks.” Williams says another significant thing about Wunderlich is how dedicated he is to the city. “What he’s done out at

Shelby Farms and those types of things are hugely important. But he’s humble. He doesn’t look for admiration or praise about what he’s done business-wise and city-wise.” Wunderlich has been active on the board of Shelby Farms as it has gone through its transformation into a top urban park. He’s also committed to other avenues for improving the city and makes sure the bank is involved. “I like getting involved in housing projects, most of them with nonprofits. I’ve been on some boards where we built houses for low and moderate income folks and we need that in Memphis.” He’s also active with the Greater Memphis Chamber, has been involved with Memphis University School, and is well-versed in municipal issues. So much so that he says one thing that really upsets him is when he asks a Memphian who their city council representative is and they don’t know. Wunderlich is a lifelong Memphian whose father, Alvin William Wunderlich Jr., was a community stalwart and an entrepreneur involved with the Memphis Funeral Home and several insurance companies. Kent went to law school and worked at the insurance companies, but they were sold soon after graduation. Lewis Donelson convinced him to come to the Baker Donelson law firm and young Wunderlich worked there for a while. But the law was not his calling. In the mid-1980s, he became an owner of the bank, not necessarily intending to become a banker, but his expertise in real estate made the transition fairly easy. (He still tells people that today he’s a reformed lawyer.) Considering what it takes to be an entrepreneur, Wunderlich says, “I just think being fair and hiring good people is the same thing. If you’ve got good people, you’re going to be successful. And that’s what we’ve done here.” To that end, he encourages the bank’s corporate culture that is far from buttoned-up. “We’re pretty informal,” he says. “You have different personalities in any business and we care for our people. I can’t tell you how many people that have taken leaves of absences or been sick and we pay them right through. We try to help people along if they need help. Everybody pitches in.” “He’s the kind of leader we all wish we could be,” Williams says. “For him, it’s truly about the love of the city, the support of his family, of his friends, of his stockholders, of his clients. But Kent will always make it about everybody else, never about him. And I think as a leader, you’ve got to admire somebody like that.” A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • I N S I D E M E M P H I S B U S I N E S S • 109

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Biz 901

/ THE OFFICE

Gayle Rose

FOU N DER A N D CEO, E VS COR POR AT ION

Running a computer services company is just the latest step in a remarkably diverse career.

hen a company is called Electronic Vaulting Services, providing data storage and emergency backup for companies across America, visitors probably expect to find offices filled with high-tech hardware and computer equipment. Oh sure, desktop computers are here and there, but the most high-tech device in founder and CEO Gayle Rose’s office in the i-Bank Tower may be the squeaky voice box inside the “sales monkey” perched on her bookcase.

T HAN KS TO T H E S P O N S O R O F THE OFFICE

N O VAT E C H . C O M

“Whenever we made a sale,” says Rose, laughing, “we put this in a slingshot and would fire the monkey down the hallway, just for fun.” The little toy monkey (right) hasn’t taken flight lately. “We spun off most of our clients — FedEx and First Tennessee, for example — in 2016 and reduced our staff,” she says.

left: Gayle Rose in her office at EVS with a Burton Callicott rainbow painting, the first piece she collected by the well-known Memphis artist.

above: A Nancy Cheairs painting depicts Rose mourning the death of her son, Max (represented by the tiny feather floating down from the sky).

“I’m looking at our succession plan right now, considering who might take over this business when I retire.” Gayle Rose, involved in so many civic endeavors — the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis, Rose Family Foundations, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Team Max come to mind, just for starters — retired? That move is still “five or six years” away, she says, but she’s making plans because, she says, “I never do anything in a casual way.” The hardware that is the heart of EVS is located in Memphis and Washington,

D.C. The company headquarters occupy a suite of offices at 5050 Poplar. “I keep the financial engines going, and the staff does the monitoring,” Rose says. “The automatic backup comes up on the computer dashboard, telling us everything has been copied,” she explains, “but we get calls from clients telling us they need a file restored.” As an example, she mentions an attorney going to court who couldn’t retrieve critical files. “They were just — poof — gone. We were able to restore everything within an hour and get him to the courthouse in time.” A room at EVS displays accolades Rose has earned over the years. Among them are awards

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

BY MICHAEL FINGER

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left: ”Stairway to Heaven,” inspired by the Led Zeppelin song, was one of the last paintings made by son, Max.

below left: The small bronze by Memphian Roy Tamboli, one of Rose’s favorite artists, was a model for a larger piece.

above: Her family means everything to Rose: her sons Morgan, Max, and Mike.

above: A T-shirt signed by all musicians with the Memphis Symphony while Rose was chair of the board. left: Rose was featured in a Northwestern Mutual ad series which honored philanthropic Memphians.

naming her one of Business Tennessee’s ’s “100 Most Powerful People, “Humanitarian of the Year” by Diversity Memphis, “Woman of the Year” by Girls, Inc., “CEO of the Year” by Inside Memphis Business — the list goes on. Even so, she admits, “it was important for me to be perceived as a successful businesswoman.” When the opportunity to build EVS came up, she says, “I always have to connect with a mission, and I decided the mission here was to keep our community stable. If we suffered a major loss, we could help businesses recover their

data and keep running.” Another mission, it seems, was to turn the EVS headquarters into a personal art gallery. By her desk is an oil by former Memphis College of Art master Burton Callicott, depicting the arc of a rainbow. “This was the first Callicott piece I collected,” she says. “He studied light, and sometimes this work is stressful, so I wanted the ambience of peace and beauty that real art can provide.” A painting by Memphis artist Nancy Cheairs was commissioned after Gayle’s middle son, Max Rose, died in a car accident in 2009.

“That’s me,” indicating a woman standing alone in a field, “and then a feather coming down from the sky represents Max,” she says. “I asked her to convey what it was like to lose a child. There’s this dark moody storm to one side, but then the light comes in. She nailed it.” Behind her desk is a painting her son created shortly before his death. Rose had been designing the program for Max’s funeral service. “Going through the mail, I found an envelope from his art teacher with a CD inside,” she says. “It contained works I had never seen before, and we put this on the cover.” Hallways at EVS serve as displays for other prominent art-

ists, such as Ted Faiers, perhaps best known for the First Tennessee Heritage Mural in the downtown lobby of First Horizon Bank, and a photograph by Annie Leibovitz, nationally renowned for her work with Vanity Fair. Rose admits she never imagined she would be involved with EVS this long. “I thought I was going to do this until I knew it was rocking and rolling,” she says. “But then I discovered I really liked managing engineers. They’re a different breed, you know, and they reminded me of musicians. Let’s just say they get along with machines better than people. So it’s been fun, and I’m really proud of it.”

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GARDEN VARIETY

Stuck at Home? Time to Garden. A continuation of last month’s column, “Selecting Plants for Wet Shade”

by john a. jennings

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID MCGEE

n the late fall of 2018, I visited a 10-acre property in Eads with a beautiful French Tudor home constructed at the highest point. But there was a lovely field in a low spot next to Raleigh-Lagrange Road where all the rain collected. Some of the water percolated into the large flat area of about 2,500 square feet, sitting in the natural indentations. Much of it flowed under the road through a large concrete pipe. Three Betula nigra (River Birch trees) in a triangular formation shaded part of the low area. A large Nyssa sylvatica, one of my favorite trees, a tree native to the swamps of Mississippi, shaded the rest of it. Earlier owners had built a small guest house overlooking this area. Deer, rabbit, and many birds frequent the area. The animals could be seen congregating sometimes from the large picture window of the somewhat dilapidated but soon to be repaired guest house. The owners had other landscapers plant things like Camellia japonica, hybrids of Rhododendron indica, Hosta, and other standard shade plants. All these failed. They did not necessarily die completely but those that lived failed to grow much, had yellowing leaves, and seemed to struggle with pest problems. The owners even had part of the area sodded in Zoysia turf grass three times, reasoning that it was a shade grass. The last landscaper, bizarrely, recommended they try a newer hybrid of Zoysia called Palisades, because it needs less light than the older Zoysia Meyers. Of course, the irony of this is that Palisades is also more prone to root rot in excess moisture. Thus, it failed even more quickly than the Zoysia Meyers turfgrass had. So, the core issue is simply that they had been considering light conditions in the selection of plants, but they had not been considering soil moisture level as a limiting factor. Some plant species evolved to resist root rot and other problems associated with wetter soils better. These are known among horticulturalists as “plants that tolerate wet feet well.” 2-A Last month, I introduced the topic of wet shade. I promised to discuss some of the plants that do well despite these two limiting factors of low light and excess moisture. Accordingly, here are six of the many I used in my successful design for these clients, plants that are now thriving in the area I described.

2-B

2-C

Acorus gramineus ‘Hakuronishiki’ (Dwarf Golden Sweet Flag)

There are several cultivars of Acorus gramineus in the nursery trade. I am particularly partial to ‘Hakuro-nishiki’ also called ‘Minimus aureus’. It is reliably evergreen in Memphis. This plant is not native to the United States.

Distylium

Distylium is a genus that includes multiple species, all of which have done well for me in part shade with chronically moist soil. Dr. Michael Dirr, a horticulture professor at the University of Georgia, professional plant explorer, and professional plant breeder, has brought a variety of cultivars and hybrids from this genus to the market in the past few years. This evergreen is a relative newcomer to the nursery trade. Cultivars of Distylium that have served me well in designs include 2-A ‘Cinnamon Girl’, 2-B ‘‘Emerald Heights’, 2-C ‘Blue Cascade’, ‘Coppertone’, Vintage Jade’, and ‘Linebacker’. These cultivars vary in height, leaf size and shape, and leaf color. Members of this genus A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • 113

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often, though not reliably, produce small red flowers in winter. This plant is not native to the United States.

Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)

Cardinal flower is an herbaceous perennial, meaning that it dies to the ground in winter and re-emerges in the summer. It has beautiful red blooms. This plant is native to the United States.

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These plants are best known for their incredibly unique flowers, white covered in purple spots. They are herbaceous perennials good for part shade or deep shade. While Japanese Toad Lily handles moist soil well, it probably could not handle as much constant moisture as a plant like sweet f lag. So, it might not be the right plant where there is standing water for long periods of time or water-logged silt so dense that it has become anerobic. This plant is not native to the United States.

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Hibiscus coccineus (Scarlet Rose

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Mallow, Swamp Hibiscus)

If you want to add a bit of red pizazz to a part-shade area from the middle to the end of summer, this is the plant! It can handle the wettest soil and even f looding for brief

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periods. It grows 3-6 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. This plant is native to the United States.

Illicium parviflorum (Small Anise Tree, Yellow Anise, Hardy Anise)

This large evergreen shrub handles very wet conditions in part shade to full shade (full shade is less than 4 hours of sunlight) perfectly. Though it blooms early to mid-summer, I primarily include it in landscape designs for its foliage. It has beautiful yellow tinted leaves that smell a bit like licorice when crushed. It matures at a height of ten to fifteen feet and a width of six to ten feet. Hardy Anise is native to Florida.

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There are many more plants for wet shade. If you are looking for a plant recommendation for particular site conditions, email me. You might also join the Facebook group “Mid-South Gardening in USDA Zones 6, 7, & 8.” The administrator of the site keeps downloadable lists in Excel format of plants for various site conditions.

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John A. Jennings is an experienced garden designer, garden writer, and nursery manager. He also has degrees from the University of Richmond and the University of Memphis. Email him at gardener@ memphismagazine.com.

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PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UNIVERSIT Y OF MEMPHIS LIBRARIES (LEFT) AND MEMPHIS & SHELBY COUNT Y ROOM, BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY (RIGHT)

Three Sisters

in 1925 Farnsworth decided to embark on a massive building project, one of the largest Main Street had seen in many years. He enlisted two of the top architects of the day, Nowland Van Powell and E.L. Harrison, to Our trivia expert solves local mysteries of who, what, construct a 14-story office building at 69 South Main. when, where, why, and why not. Well, sometimes. Years later, this same team would design Fairview Junior High School, one of our city’s most stunning Art by vance lauderdale Deco structures, so they knew what they were doing. The Farnsworth Building opened in 1927. The authors of Memphis: An Architectural Guide described it as a “subtle building that achieves its sense of height by stepbacks in wall planes, by setbacks in the massing on top, and by using bricks that grow lighter in color as they rise from bottom to top.” I’m still not sure what is so “subtle” about the design. Among other details, they note that “the Art Deco stonework drips down the walls like angular icing.” Colorful tiles decorate the top of the building, barely visible from the street below. While still maintaining his firm’s offices on Union, Farnsworth operated a management company on the seventh floor of his new building. Those other floors quickly filled with tenants, including the Elite Beauty Shop, Gilbertson Construction Company, Thayer Optometry, Western Union Telegraph, National Life Insurance, Campbell Advertising Art, and Miller-Hawkins Secretarial School, along with offices for doctors, dentists, accountants, attorneys, and other professionals. A Walgreens drug store occupied most of the ground floor. In 1938, a major change took place when Three Sisters moved into the bottom two floors. The store added their hard-to-miss signage across the façade, doors, windows, and even the awnings. The structure thus became popularly known as the Three Sisters Building, even though they were just tenants. To make sure everybody remembered who actually owned the place, Sidney Farnsworth added giant rooftop lettering shown DEAR VANCE: My mother DEAR E.C.: This was certainly a popular store. Mother here (opposite page), spelling out FARNSWORTH used to shop Downtown Lauderdale shopped there, spending hours browsing BLDG. in neon, and topped that with a huge sign for at a women’s clothing through its various departments spread out over six Colonial Bread (“It’s Good Bread”). I’m not sure if bread store called the Three floors, while I waited out front, entertaining Main was available at Three Sisters, but the store offered Sisters. Who were the Street pedestrians by playing the oboe and handing out plenty of other merchandise. According to an early three sisters? Were they dimes. Pretty much as I do today, when I’m in the mood. advertisement, the high-class establishment sold “ladies members of a promiYou asked me a really good question. I’m sorry to say and misses ready-to-wear, dresses, coats, suits, hosiery, nent Memphis family? I don’t have a good answer, but that building has such furs, millinery, shoes, and furnishing goods.” a long and interesting history that But Three Sisters was not a Mem— e.c., memphis. “The structure is the most I thought I’d share what I do know phis company, and the “three sisters” about it. You might as well read somewere certainly not Memphians. Inintricate Art Deco building thing, after turning to these pages. stead, the store was a national chain, In the early 1920s, a row of in town and as interesting a part of a retail conglomerate, the three-story brick buildings occupied renovation as anything I’ve Miller-Wohl Company, based in Sethe northwest corner of Main and caucus, New Jersey. At the time, this worked on down here.” Union, home to such establishments company owned more than 50 retail as Rex Billiards, Golden Eagle Clothstores across the country, over the — Henry Turley ing, the Emerson Shoe Store, and the years expanding to some 400 estabNational Shirt Shop. Those buildings would probably be lishments. Most of them were called Miller-Wohl, but above: In 1949, Three Sisters standing today, except for one thing. Sidney Farnsworth others were named Jean Nichol, Lizzie B, Anita, and was one of the most popular worked across the street, in offices at 77 Union, and he Three Sisters. Despite long minutes of research, I was women’s clothing stores had more ambitious plans for that site. unable to determine the origin of the rather unusual in Memphis, occupying Farnsworth is often identified as a banker, but the “Three Sisters” name. Perhaps the marketing folks at city directories list him as a cotton merchant, the presMiller-Wohl thought it had a nice ring to it, or maybe the ground floors of the ident of Farnsworth, Smithwick & Company. For reathey hoped — as you did, E.C., — that customers would Farnsworth Building at the sons I can’t explain, since I wasn’t around at the time, feel the store was indeed owned and operated by three corner of Main and Union. 116 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • A P R I L 2 0 2 0

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women, who would come to their service, helping them to try on shoes and dresses, if needed. By the mid-1950s, Three Sisters expanded here, filling the first six floors of the building on South Main, and opening two other locations in Memphis, on Jackson and in the Northgate Shopping Center. My pal Wayne Dowdy, manager of the history department at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, turned up a 1960 Commercial Appeal article reporting that Three Sisters even planned to move its national headquarters to Memphis. But for some reason that never happened. “When this plan was abandoned,” the newspaper reported, “the building was renamed the Sixty-Three South Main Building.” Oh, really? Well, tell that to all the Memphians who continue to call it the Three Sisters Building. In 1960 — the same year Three Sisters canceled plans to move to Memphis — Farnsworth sold the property to the Belz family for $850,000. According to The Commercial Appeal, this purchase “will give the Belz family control of four Downtown office buildings,” including the D.T. Porter Building, the Randolph Building, and 81 Madison. Years later, of course, the Belz family purchased and renovated The Peabody. Major changes took place in 1986 when the Memphis Business Journal, operating out of cramped offices on Poplar since it was founded in 1979, relocated to Main and Union. By this time, Three Sisters was occupying only the lower two floors of the Farnsworth Building, and the store was politely asked to leave. This probably didn’t come as a shock. The company had been closing most of its locations around the country. An internet search for “Three Sisters” mainly turns up posts of abandoned stores, many with their elaborate signage intact, in Baton Rouge, Chicago, Mobile, Minneapolis, and even Texarkana, Arkansas. To accommodate the MBJ, developer Henry Turley, working with architect Tony Bologna, embarked on a complete upgrade of the structure, top to bottom, though still managing to keep its historic Art Deco elements. Inside, the ground and second floors were linked with an open staircase. The plan also added a “New Orleans-style courtyard” and merged three separate buildings along Union. On the roof, a red neon sign announcing “Memphis Business Journal” replaced the old Farnsworth banner, visible for miles. “This is a knockout development,” Turley told the MBJ. “The structure is the most intricate Art Deco building in town and as interesting a renovation as anything I’ve worked on down here.” Talking about the move to the new location, MBJ editor Barney DuBois told readers, “Tony Bologna’s preliminary design work is impressive. The only thing missing will be Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing up and down the steps. I’m sure our reporters will be tempted to wear fedoras with press cards tucked into their brims.” Some plans for the building never left the drawing board, however, including apartments on the top floors, a drive-through teller for a ground-floor bank (now Regions), and a “sky bridge” that would link the Memphis Business Journal Building (as most people now called it) with the Parking Can Be Fun garage across Union.

These brave visitors tested their nature skills by reaching inside the Pink Palace’s “mystery log” and trying to guess the objects concealed inside.

I wonder if any Memphis building has changed names so many times? It has certainly kept the sign companies busy. When the MBJ moved its offices east, other firms moved in. Since 2002, yet another rooftop sign has advertised Lokion, the full-service interactive agency that fills several floors of the old building. The technology Lokion uses to assist its clients is complicated and impressive. The tenants of 88 Union Center — yes, that’s what the building is called now — have come a long way from the days when all it took was a big sign proclaiming “Colonial Is Good Bread.”

above: This view shows the Farnsworth Building in 1940. Note the smaller Three Sisters signs at street level, and the giant Colonial Bread sign mounted on the roof.

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Tidbits: Amy and Justin’s Healthy Hundred Local cookbook authors’ new plant-based compendium showcases delicious, easy-to-make recipes. by pamela denney

hen I meet Memphis cookbook authors Amy Lawrence and Justin Fox Burks at their Downtown photography studio on South Front Street, Sunday brunch is under way. Both Lawrence and Burks are experienced cooks, known for the Chubby Vegetarian cookbook and their blog of the same name. Their excellence shines through in the dishes we share: sausage-spiced portobellos, warm asparagus and egg salad, cheddar-thyme biscuits and apricot jam, and for dessert, matcha chia pudding parfait with a dollop of yogurt atop deep purple berry compote. While the apricot jam is thick and sweet — the meal’s only concession to traditional fare — the rest of the food is made with recipes from the authors’ recently published Low-Carb Vegetarian Cookbook. The book is the couple’s third collaboration and represents their changing personal and environmental concerns. “Our hook used to be, here are vegetarian recipes that still taste really good,” Lawrence says. “But now that we are older, we want recipes that taste great, but that also help people eat more sensibly and feel better.” To that end, most of the cookbook’s 100 recipes can be made in 10 steps or fewer using readily available ingredients. The book offers low-carb eating and cooking tips as well and during our brunch together, I learn how the authors make desserts (monk fruit sweetener is key), cook zucchini noodles (spiralize them, toss with a little olive oil, and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes), and what to do with coconut oil (add it to curries, muffins, and cookies). Here’s more of what they had to say: IF YOU WERE TO SUGGEST TWO OR THREE RECIPES FROM THE BOOK TO SOMEONE WHO IS HESITANT ABOUT LOW-CARB COOKING, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO ENTICE THEM?

burks: One of my favorite recipes is the larb in lettuce wraps. We make it with eggplant and serve it with a peanut sauce. You’ve got that meaty flavor of the shiitake mushrooms and the eggplant, plus spicy jalapeños and lemongrass. They are like little tacos. lawrence: I like the cauliflower cheese grits, and the bibimbap pictured on the book’s cover. The vegan cheeseburger salad is pretty darn good, too. We were inspired by the burger salad at Huey’s. SPEAKING OF CAULIFLOWER, WHEN I MAKE ANYTHING WITH PURÉED CAULIFLOWER, IT TURNS INTO A WATERY MESS.

I NOTICED A NUMBER OF NODS IN THE COOKBOOK TO WELL-KNOWN MEMPHIS CHEFS.

lawrence: We had so many people help us and contribute. Terrance Whitley at Inspire Community Café told me all his secrets for making chia pudding. burks: Ryan Trimm [Sweet Grass, 3rd & Court] has a recipe in the book. Kelly English [Restaurant Iris, The Second Line] gave us the chimichurri recipe for the grilled cauliflower steak, Andrew Adams at Acre helped us with yakitori sauce for our king oyster mushroom scallops, and we modified just slightly two recipes from Ben Smith of Tsunami: the warm red cabbage salad and the hoisinglazed tofu steak with vegetables. I WAS ALSO INTRIGUED BY THE ONE-SKILLET TACO RECIPE WITH REFRIED PUMPKIN, THE GREEN LASAGNA, AND JACKFRUIT NACHOS.

In their third cookbook, authors Amy Lawrence and Justin Fox Burks delve into low-carb cooking with such recipes as warm asparagus and egg salad, eggplant larb lettuce wraps, and matcha chia pudding parfait, all pictured above.

burks: You picked recipes that are things every American household puts on their table or orders to-go every week. We definitely wanted to give people recipes that they can put on their table easily and that are familiar to them. If people can make even a few tweaks to how they eat, they are going to be better off. (Editor’s note: For additional comments and sample recipes from the book, check out memphismagazine.com/food. Low-Carb Vegetarian Cookbook, published by Rockridge Press, is available at local retailers and at amazon.com.)

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN FOX BURKS | BOOK COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNIE MARTIN

burks: You are right. There’s a lot of water in vegetables, and that’s why a sheet pan is your best friend. With a sheet pan, the moisture in the vegetable can evaporate, so you get a better texture. If there’s one takeaway we’ve learned: Concentrate the flavor in the vegetable, and you’ll enjoy it more.

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the MEMPHIS DINING guide

FLYING FISH—Serves up fried and grilled versions of shrimp, crab, oysters, fish tacos, and catfish; also chicken and burgers. 105 S. Second. 522-8228. L, D, X, $-$$ THE GRAY CANARY—The sixth restaurant from chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, offering small plates and entrees cooked on an open flame. Oysters, emphis magazine offers this curated restaurant listing as a octopus, and hearty steaks are among the menu options at this service to our readers. Broken down alphabetically by neighborhoods, this directoeatery in Old Dominick Distillery. Closed Mon. 301 S. Front. 466ry does not list every restaurant in town. It does, however, include the magazine’s 6324. D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ GRECIAN GOURMET TAVERNA—Serves traditional “Top 50” choices of must-try restaurants in Memphis, a group that is updated every August. favorites like spanakopita, pastitso, moussaka, and hand-rolled Establishments open less than a year are not eligible for “Top 50” but are noted as “New.” This dolmathes, as well as lamb sliders and pita nachos. Closed Mon. guide also includes a representative sampling of other Bluff City eating establishments. No 412 S. Main. 249-6626. L, D, X, $ fast-food facilities or cafeterias are listed. Restaurants are included regardless of whether they GUS’S WORLD FAMOUS FRIED CHICKEN—Serves chicken with signature spicy batter, advertise in Memphis magazine; those that operate in multiple locations are listed under the along with homemade beans, slaw, and pies. 310 S. neighborhood of their original location. This guide is updated regularly, but we recommend Front. 527-4877; 215 S. Center St. (Collierville). 853-6005; 2965 N. that you call ahead to check on hours, prices, and other details. Suggestions from readers are Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 373-9111; 730 S. Mendenhall. 767welcome; please contact us at dining@memphismagazine.com. 2323; 505 Highway 70 W., Mason, TN. 901-294-2028. L, D, X, MRA, $ HAPPY MEXICAN—Serves quesadillas, burritos, chimichangas, vegetable and seafood dishes, and more. 385 S. Second. 529-9991; 6080 Primacy Pkwy. 683-0000; 7935 Winchester. pasta, and several Northern Italian specialties. 149 Union, The 751-5353. L, D, X, $ Peabody. 529-4199. B, L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$$ CENTER CITY HU. DINER—An extension of Hu. Hotel, diner serves such CAROLINA WATERSHED—This indoor/outdoor eatery, 117 PRIME—Restaurateurs Craig Blondis and Roger Sapp dishes as country-fried cauliflower, cornflake-fried chicken, set around silos, features reimagined down-home classics, teamed up with Chef Ryan Trimm to recreate the traditional and octopus and grits. 3 S. Main. 333including fried green tomatoes with American steakhouse. Serving oysters on the half shell and a 1224. L, D, X, $-$$ DINING SYMBOLS smoked catfish, a buttermilk fried variety of surf and turf options. 117 Union. 433-9851. L, D, WB, HU. ROOF—Rooftop cocktail bar with chicken sandwich, burgers, and more. X, $-$$$ B — breakfast superb city views serves toasts with a Closed Mon.-Thurs. 141 E. Carolina. 3RD & COURT—The latest from Ryan Trimm and variety of toppings including beef tartare 321-5553. L, D, WB, $-$$ L — lunch Across the Board Hospitality is a retro diner with an with cured egg, cognac, and capers CATHERINE & D — dinner upscale twist. Includes a three-meat meatloaf and or riced cauliflower with yellow curry, MARY’S—A variety of pasSB — Sunday brunch pound cake French toast. 24 N. B.B. King. 290-8484. B, L, D, X, currants, and almonds. Also salads, fish tas, grilled quail, pâté, razor WB — weekend brunch WB, $-$$ tacos, and boiled peanut hummus. 79 clams, and monkfish are among the X— wheelchair accessible ALDO’S PIZZA PIES—Serving gourmet pizzas Madison. 333-1229. D, $ dishes served at this Italian restaurant in MRA — member, Memphis — including Mr. T Rex — salads, and more. Also 30 HUEY’S—This family-friendly the Chisca. 272 S. Main. 254-8600. D, SB, beers, bottled or on tap. 100 S. Main. 577-7743; 752 S. Restaurant Association restaurant offers 13 different X, MRA, $-$$$ Cooper. 725-7437. L, D, X, $-$$ burgers, a variety of sandwiches, $ — under $15 per person without CHEF TAM’S THE ARCADE—Possibly Memphis’ oldest cafe. and delicious soups and salads. 1927 UNDERGROUND CAFE—Serves drinks or desserts Specialties include sweet potato pancakes, a fried Madison. 726-4372; 1771 N. Germantown Southern staples with a Cajun twist. $$ — under $25 peanut butter and banana sandwich, and breakfast Pkwy. (Cordova). 754-3885; 77 S. Second. Menu items include totchoes, jerk $$$ — $26-$50 served all day. 540 S. Main. 526-5757. B, L, D (Thurs.-Sat.), X, 527-2700; 2130 W. Poplar (Collierville). wings, fried chicken, and “muddy” mac $$$$ — over $50 MRA, $ 854-4455; 7090 Malco Blvd. (Southaven). and cheese. Closed Sun. and Mon. 668 AUTOMATIC SLIM’S—Longtime downtown favorite 662-349-7097; 7825 Winchester. 624-8911; Union Ave. 207-6182. L, D, $ specializes in contemporary American cuisine emphasizing local 4872 Poplar. 682-7729; 7677 Farmington Blvd. (Germantown). CHEZ PHILIPPE—Classical/contemporary French ingredients; also extensive martini list. 83 S. Second. 525-7948. 318-3030; 8570 Highway 51 N. (Millington). 873-5025. L, D, cuisine presented in a luxurious atmosphere with a L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ X, MRA, $ seasonal menu focused on local/regional cuisine. The BARDOG TAVERN—Classic American grill with Italian HUSTLE & DOUGH BAKERY & CAFE—Flaky, crown jewel of The Peabody for 35 years. Afternoon tea served influence, Bardog offers pasta specialties such as Grandma’s baked breakfast goodness every day with fresh pastries, Wed.-Sat., 1-3:30 p.m. (reservations required). Closed Sun.NJ Meatballs, as well as salads, sliders, sandwiches, and daily sandwiches, and more at Arrive Hotel. 477 S. Main St., Tues. The Peabody, 149 Union. 529-4188. D, X, MRA, $$$$ specials. 73 Monroe. 275-8752. B (Mon.-Fri.), L, D, WB, X, MRA, 701-7577. B, L, X, $ COZY CORNER—Serving up ribs, pork sand$-$$ ITTA BENA—Southern and Cajun-American cuisine served wiches, chicken, spaghetti, and more; also homemade BEDROCK EATS & SWEETS—Memphis’ only Paleohere; specialties are duck and waffles and shrimp and grits, along banana pudding. Closed Mon. 745 N. Parkway and centric restaurant offering such dishes as pot roast, waffles, with steaks, chops, seafood, and pasta. 145 Beale St. 578-3031. D, Manassas. 527-9158. L, D, $ enchiladas, chicken salad, omelets, and more. Closed for dinner X, MRA, $$-$$$ DIRTY CROW INN—Serving elevated bar food, including Sun. 327 S. Main. 409-6433. B, L, D, X, $-$$ KOOKY CANUCK—Offers prime rib, catfish, and burgers, poutine fries, fried catfish, and the Chicken Debris, a sandwich BELLE TAVERN—Serving elevated bar food, including a including the 4-lb. “Kookamonga”; also late-night menu. 87 S. with smoked chicken, melted cheddar, and gravy. 855 butcher board with a variety of meats and cheeses, as well as Second. 578-9800; 1250 N. Germantown Pkwy. 1-800-2453 L, D, Kentucky. 207-5111. L, D, MRA, $ daily specials. 117 Barboro Alley. 249-6580. L (Sun.), D, MRA, $ X, MRA, $-$$$ EVELYN & OLIVE—Jamaican/Southern fusion cuisine BISHOP—Ticer and Hudman’s newest venture at the THE LITTLE TEA SHOP—Downtown institution includes such dishes as Kingston stew fish, Rasta Pasta, and Central Station Hotel features upscale dishes in a French serves up Southern comfort cooking, including meatloaf jerk rib-eye. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun.-Mon. 630 brasserie style. 545 S. Main St., 524-5247. L, D, X, $$-$$$ and such veggies as turnip greens, yams, okra, and tomaMadison. 748-5422. L, D, X, $ toes. Closed Sat.-Sun. 69 Monroe. 525-6000, L, X, $ BLEU—This eclectic restaurant features American food with FAM—Casual Asian restaurant serves sushi rice bowls, noodle global influences and local ingredients. Among the specialties LOCAL—Entrees with a focus on locally sourced products include bowls, sushi rolls, and spring rolls. Closed Sun. 149 Madison; 521 are a 14-oz. bone-in rib-eye and several seafood dishes. 221 S. lobster mac-and-cheese and ribeye patty melt; menu differs by S. Highland. 701-6666. L, D, X, $ Third, in the Westin Memphis Beale St. Hotel. 334-5950. B, L, D, location. 95 S. Main. 473-9573; 2126 Madison. 725-1845. L, D, WB, FELICIA SUZANNE’S—Southern cuisine with WB, X, MRA, $$-$$$ X, $-$$ low-country, Creole, and Delta influences, using BLUEFIN RESTAURANT & SUSHI LOUNGE— LOFLIN YARD—Beer garden and restaurant serves vegetarian regional fresh seafood, local beef, and locally grown Serves Japanese fusion cuisine featuring seafood and steak, fare and smoked-meat dishes, including beef brisket and pork foods. Entrees include shrimp and grits. Closed Sun. and Mon. A with seasonally changing menu; also a sushi bar. 135 S. Main. tenderloin, cooked on a custom-made grill. Closed Mon.-Tues. 7 W. downtown staple at Brinkley Plaza, 80 Monroe, Suite L1. 523528-1010. L, D, X, $-$$ Carolina. 249-3046. L (Sat. and Sun.), D, MRA, $-$$ 0877. L (Fri. only), D, X, MRA, $$-$$$ BRASS DOOR IRISH PUB—Irish and New-American THE LOOKOUT AT THE PYRAMID—Serves seafood and FERRARO’S PIZZERIA & PUB—Rigatoni and cuisine includes such entrees as fish and chips, burgers, Southern fare, including cornmeal-fried oysters, sweet tea brined tortellini are among the pasta entrees here, along with pizzas shepherd’s pie, all-day Irish breakfast, and more. 152 Madison. chicken, and elk chops. 1 Bass Pro Dr. 620-4600/291-8200. L, D, X, (whole or by the slice) with a variety of toppings. 111 Jackson. 572-1813. L, D, SB, $-$$ $-$$$ 522-2033. L, D, X, $ CAFE KEOUGH—European-style cafe serving quiche, LUNA RESTAURANT & LOUNGE—Serving a limited FLIGHT RESTAURANT & WINE BAR— paninis, salads, and more. 12 S. Main. 509-2469. B, L, D, X, $ menu of breakfast and lunch items. Dinner entrees include Citrus Serves steaks and seafood, along with such specialties Glaze Salmon and Cajun Stuffed Chicken. 179 Madison (Hotel CAPRICCIO GRILL ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE—Offers as bison ribeye and Muscovy duck, all matched with Napoleon). 526-0002. B, D (Mon.-Sat.), X, $-$$$ prime steaks, fresh seafood (lobster tails, grouper, mahi mahi), appropriate wines. 39 S. Main. 521-8005. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

a cur ated guide to eating out

We celebrate our city’s community table and the people who grow, cook, and eat the best Memphis food at M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M / F O O D (This guide, compiled by our editors, includes editorial picks and advertisers.)

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FACE OF

PIZZA

MACIEL’S—Entrees include tortas, fried taco plates, quesadillas, chorizo and pastor soft tacos, salads, and more. Downtown closed Sun. 45 S. Main. 526-0037, X, MRA, $  THE MAJESTIC GRILLE—Housed in a former silent-picture house, features aged steaks, fresh seafood, and such specialties as roasted chicken and grilled pork tenderloin; offers a pre-theatre menu and classic cocktails. Wellstocked bar. 145 S. Main. 522-8555. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ McEWEN’S—Southern/American cuisine with international flavors; specialties include steak and seafood, sweet potato-crusted catfish with macaroni and cheese, and more. Closed Sun., Monroe location. 120 Monroe. 527-7085; 1110 Van Buren (Oxford). 662-234-7003. L, D, SB (Oxford only), X, MRA, $$-$$$ MESQUITE CHOP HOUSE—The focus here is on steaks, including prime fillet, rib-eyes, and prime-aged New York strip; also, some seafood options. 5960 Getwell (Southaven). 662-8902467; 88 Union. 527-5337; 3165 Forest Hill-Irene (Germantown). 249-5661. D, SB (Germantown), X, $$-$$$ MOLLIE FONTAINE LOUNGE—Specializes in tapas (small plates) featuring global cuisine. Closed Sun.-Tues. 679 Adams Ave. 524-1886. D, X, MRA, $ THE NINE THAI & SUSHI—Serving authentic Thai dishes, including curries, as well as a variety of sushi rolls. Closed for lunch Sat. and Sun. 121 Union. 208-8347. L, D, X, $-$$ PAULETTE’S—Presents fine dining with a Continental flair, including such entrees as filet Paulette with butter cream sauce and crabmeat and spinach crepes; also changing daily specials and great views. River Inn. 50 Harbor Town Square. 260-3300. B, L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ PEARL’S OYSTER HOUSE—Downtown eatery serving seafood, including oysters, crawfish, and stuffed butterfly shrimp, as well as beef, chicken, and pasta dishes. 299 S. Main. 522-9070; 8106 Cordova Center Dr. (Cordova). 425-4797. L, D, SB, X, $-$$$ PONTOTOC LOUNGE—Upscale restaurant and jazz bar serves such starters as alligator filet fritters; entrees include Mississippi pot roast with jalapeño cornbread and tagliatelle with braised beef. 314 S. Main. 207-7576. D, X, $-$$ PUCK FOOD HALL—Food hall featuring a variety of vendors serving everything from bagels and beer to comfort food and healthy cuisine. 409 S. Main. 341-3838. $-$$ REGINA’S—New Orleans-inspired eatery offering po’boys, Cajun nachos topped with crawfish tails, catfish platters, oysters, and more. Closed Mon. 60 N. Main. 730-0384. B, L, D, SB, X, $-$$ RENDEZVOUS, CHARLES VERGOS’—Menu items include barbecued ribs, cheese plates, skillet shrimp, red beans and rice, and Greek salads. Closed Sun.-Mon. 52 S. Second. 523-2746. L (Fri.-Sat.), D, X, $-$$ RIZZO’S DINER—Chorizo meatloaf, lobster pronto puff, and lamb belly tacos are menu items at this upscale diner. Michael Patrick is among the city’s best chefs. 492 S. Main. 304-6985. L (Fri.-Sat.), D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$ SABOR CARIBE—Serving up “Caribbean flavors” with dishes from Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Closed Sunday. 662 Madison. 949-8100. L, D, X, $ SAGE—Restaurant and lounge features daily lunch specials and tapas with such dishes as braised short ribs, teriyaki pulled pork, and the Sage burger made with Angus beef, avocado mash, fried egg, and flash-fried sage. 94 S. Main. 672-7902. L, D, WB, X, $-$$ SLEEP OUT LOUIE’S—Oyster bar with such specialties as char-grilled Roquefort oysters and gulf oysters on the half shell with Prosecco mignonette; also serves flatbread pizzas and a variety of sandwiches. 150 Peabody Place, Suite 111. 707-7180. L, D, X, $ SOUTH MAIN SUSHI & GRILL—Serving sushi, nigiri, and more. 520 S. Main. 249-2194. L, D, X, $ SPINDINI—Italian fusion cuisine with such entrees as woodfired pizzas, Gorgonzola-stuffed filet, and fresh seafood; large domestic whiskey selection. 383 S. Main. 578-2767. D, X, $$-$$$ SUNRISE MEMPHIS—From owners of Sweet Grass and Central BBQ. Serves breakfast all day, including house-made biscuits, frittatas, kielbasa or boudin plates, and breakfast platters. 670 Jefferson. 552-3144. B, L, X, MRA, $ TERRACE—Creative American and Continental cuisine includes such dishes as filet mignon, beef or lamb sliders, chicken satay, and mushroom pizzetta. Rooftop, River Inn of Harbor Town, 50 Harbor Town Square. 260-3366. D, X, MRA, $$ TEXAS DE BRAZIL—Serves beef, pork, lamb, and chicken dishes, and Brazilian sausage; also a salad bar with extensive

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toppings. 150 Peabody Place, Suite 103. 526-7600. L (Wed.-Fri.), D, SB, X, $$-$$$ UNCLE BUCK’S FISHBOWL & GRILL—Burgers, pizza, fish dishes, sandwiches, and more served in a unique “underwater” setting. Bass Pro, Bass Pro Drive, 291-8200. B, L, D, X, $-$$ THE VAULT—Oysters, shrimp beignets, flatbreads, stuffed cornish hen, and Smash Burger featured on “Late Nite Eats” are among the dishes offered at this Creole/Italian fusion eatery. 124 G.E. Patterson. 591-8000. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$ WESTY’S—Extensive menu includes a variety of wild rice dishes, sandwiches, plate lunches, and hot fudge pie. 346 N. Main. 543-3278.L, D, X, $

COLLIERVILLE CAFE EUROPE—From Italian chef Michele D’oto, the French, Spanish, and Italian fusion cuisine includes a variety of dishes like Rosette al Forno, fish ceviche, and sole meuniere. Closed Sun. 4610 Merchants Park Circle, Suite 571. 286-4199. L, D, X, $$-$$$$ CAFE PIAZZA BY PAT LUCCHESI—Specializes in gourmet pizzas (including create-your-own), panini sandwiches, and pasta. Closed Sun. 139 S. Rowlett St. 861-1999. L, D, X, $-$$ CIAO BABY—Specializing in Neapolitan-style pizza made in a wood-fired oven. Also serves house-made mozzarella, pasta, appetizers, and salads. 890 W. Poplar, Suite 1. 457-7457. L, D, X, $ COLLIERVILLE COMMISSARY—Serves barbecue sandwiches, sliders, ribs, shrimp, and nachos, as well as smoked barbecued bologna sandwiches. 3573 S. Houston Levee Rd. 979-5540. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ DAVID GRISANTI’S—Serving Northern Italian cuisine and traditional family recipes, like the Elfo Special, shrimp sauteed in garlic and butter, tossed with white button mushrooms and white pepper, and served over vermicelli with ParmigianoReggiano. Closed Sun. 684 W. Poplar (Sheffield Antiques Mall). 861-1777. L, D (Thurs.-Sat.), X, $-$$$ EL MEZCAL—Serves burritos, chimichangas, fajitas, and other Mexican cuisine, as well as shrimp dinners and steak. 9947 Wolf River, 853-7922; 402 Perkins Extd. 761-7710; 694 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 755-1447; 1492 Union. 274-4264; 11615 Airline Rd. (Arlington). 867-1883; 9045 Highway 64 (Lakeland). 383-4219; 7164 Hacks Cross Rd. (Olive Branch). 662890-3337; 8834 Hwy. 51 N. (Millington). 872-3220; 7424 Highway 64 (Bartlett). 417-6026. L, D, X, $ EMERALD THAI RESTAURANT—Spicy shrimp, pad khing, lemongrass chicken, and several noodle, rice, and vegetarian dishes are offered at this family restaurant. Closed Sunday. 8950 Highway 64 (Lakeland, TN). 384-0540. L, D, X, $-$$ FIREBIRDS—Specialties are hand-cut steaks, slow-roasted prime rib, and wood-grilled salmon and other seafood, as well as seasonal entrees. 4600 Merchants Circle, Carriage Crossing. 850-1637; 8470 Highway 64 (Bartlett). 379-1300. L, D, X, $-$$$ JIM’S PLACE GRILLE—Features American, Greek, and Continental cuisine with such entrees as pork tenderloin, several seafood specialties, and hand-cut charcoal-grilled steaks. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. 3660 Houston Levee. 861-5000. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$$ MULAN ASIAN BISTRO—Hunan Chicken, tofu dishes, and orange beef served here; sushi and Thai food, too. 2059 Houston Levee. 850-5288; 2149 Young. 347-3965; 4698 Spottswood. 609-8680. L, D, X, $-$$  OSAKA JAPANESE CUISINE—Featuring an extensive sushi menu as well as traditional Japanese and hibachi dining. Hours vary for lunch; call. 3670 Houston Levee. 861-4309; 3402 Poplar. 249-4690; 7164 Hacks Cross (Olive Branch). 662-8909312; 2200 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 425-4901. L, D, X, $-$$$ RAVEN & LILY—Eatery offers innovative Southern-inspired cuisine with such dishes as crispy shrimp and cauliflower salad, spiced lamb sausage and parmesan risotto, and bananas foster pain perdu. Closed Monday. 120 E. Mulberry. 286-4575. L, D, SB, X, $-$$ SEAR SHACK BURGERS & FRIES—Serving Angus burgers, fries, and hand-spun milkshakes. Closed Mon. 875 W. Poplar, Suite 6. 861-4100; 5101 Sanderlin, Suite 103. 567-4909 ; 7424 Stage Road, Suite 121 (Bartlett). 382-3083; 6518 Goodman

(Olive Branch). 662-408-4932; 427 E. Commerce (Hernando). 662-469-4114. L, D, X, $ STIX—Hibachi steakhouse with Asian cuisine features steak, chicken, and a fillet and lobster combination, also sushi. A specialty is Dynamite Chicken with fried rice. 4680 Merchants Park Circle, Avenue Carriage Crossing. 854-3399. L, D, X, $-$$ ZOPITA’S ON THE SQUARE—Cafe offers sandwiches, including smoked salmon and pork tenderloin, as well as salads and desserts. Closed Sun. 114 N. Main. 457-7526. L, D, X, $

CORDOVA BOMBAY HOUSE—Indian fare includes lamb korma and chicken tikka; also, a daily luncheon buffet. 1727 N. Germantown Pkwy. 755-4114. L, D, X, $-$$ THE BUTCHER SHOP—Serves steaks ranging from 8-oz. filets to a 20-oz. porterhouse; also chicken, pork chops, fresh seafood. 107 S. Germantown Rd. 757-4244. L (Fri. and Sun.), D, X, $$-$$$ COASTAL FISH COMPANY—Upscale offerings of international fish varieties utilizing styles ranging from Carribbean, East Coast, West Coast, Chinese, to Filipino, and more. 415 Great View Dr. E., Suite 101. 266-9000. D, X, $$-$$$ GREEN BAMBOO—Pineapple tilapia, pork vermicelli, and the soft egg noodle combo are Vietnamese specialties here. 990 N. Germantown Parkway #104. 753-5488. L, D, $-$$ KING JERRY LAWLER’S MEMPHIS BBQ COMPANY—Offers a variety of barbecue dishes, including brisket, ribs, nachos topped with smoked pork, and a selection of barbecue “Slamwiches.” 465 N. Germantown Pkwy. #116. 509-2360. L, D, X, $ JIM ’N NICK’S BAR-B-Q—Serves barbecued pork, ribs, chicken, brisket, and fish, along with other homemade Southern specialties. 2359 N. Germantown Pkwy. 388-0998. L, D, X, $-$$ EL MERO TACO—This food truck turned restaurant serves up Mexican and Southern-style fusion dishes, including fried chicken tacos, chorizo con papas tacos, and brisket quesadillas. 8100 Macon Station, Suite 102. 308-1661. Closed Sun.-Mon. L, D, WB, X, $ MISTER B’S—Features New Orleans-style seafood and steaks. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. and Mon. 6655 Poplar #107. 751-5262. L, D, X, $-$$$ PEI WEI ASIAN DINER—Serves a variety of Pan-Asian cuisine, including Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai. Noodle and rice bowls are specialties; a small plates menu also offered. 2257 N. Germantown Pkwy. 382-1822. L, D, X, $-$$ SHOGUN JAPANESE RESTAURANT—Entrees include tempura, teriyaki, and sushi, as well as grilled fish and chicken entrees. 2324 N. Germantown Pkwy. 384-4122. L, D, X, $-$$ TANNOOR GRILL—Brazilian-style steakhouse with skewers served tableside, along with Middle Eastern specialties; vegetarian options also available. 830 N. Germantown Pkwy. 443-5222. L, D, X, $-$$$

EAST MEMPHIS

(INCLUDES POPLAR/ I-240) ACRE—Features seasonal modern American cuisine in an avante-garde setting using locally sourced products; also small plates and enclosed garden patio. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. 690 S. Perkins. 818-2273. L, D, X, $$-$$$ AGAVOS COCINA & TEQUILA—Camaron de Tequila, tamales, kabobs, and burgers made with a blend of beef and chorizo are among the offerings at this tequila-centric restaurant and bar. 2924 Walnut Grove. 433-9345. L, D, X, $-$$ AMERIGO—Traditional and contemporary Italian cuisine includes pasta, wood-fired pizza, steaks, and cedarwood-roasted fish. 1239 Ridgeway, Park Place Mall. 761-4000. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$ ANDREW MICHAEL ITALIAN KITCHEN— Traditional Italian cuisine with a menu from two of the city’s top chefs that changes seasonally with such entrees as Maw Maw’s ravioli. Closed Sun.-Mon. 712 W. Brookhaven Cl. 347-3569. D, X, MRA, $$-$$$ ANOTHER BROKEN EGG CAFE—Offering several varieties of eggs Benedict, waffles, omelets, pancakes, beignets, and other breakfast fare; also burgers, sandwiches, and salads. 6063 Park Ave. 729-7020; 65 S. Highland. 623-7122. B, L, WB, X, $

BANGKOK ALLEY—Thai fusion cuisine includes noodle and curry dishes, chef-specialty sushi rolls, coconut soup, and duck and seafood entrees. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. at Brookhaven location; call for hours. 715 W. Brookhaven Cl. 590-2585; 2150 W. Poplar at Houston Levee (Collierville). 854-8748. L, D, X, $-$$ BENIHANA—This Japanese steakhouse serves beef, chicken, and seafood grilled at the table; some menu items change monthly; sushi bar also featured. 912 Ridge Lake Blvd. 767-8980. L, D, X, $$-$$$ BLUE PLATE CAFÉ—For breakfast, the café’s serves old-fashioned buttermilk pancakes (it’s a secret recipe!), country ham and eggs, and waffles with fresh strawberries and cream. For lunch, the café specializes in country cooking. 5469 Poplar. 761-9696; 113 S. Court. 523-2050. B, L, X, $ BROOKLYN BRIDGE ITALIAN RESTAURANT— Specializing in such homemade entrees as spinach lasagna and lobster ravioli; a seafood specialty is horseradish-crusted salmon. Closed Sun. 1779 Kirby Pkwy. 755-7413. D, X, $-$$$ BRYANT’S BREAKFAST—Three-egg omelets, pancakes, and The Sampler Platter are among the popular entrees here. Possibly the best biscuits in town. Closed Mon. and Tues. 3965 Summer. 324-7494. B, L, X, $ BUCKLEY’S FINE FILET GRILL—Specializes in steaks, seafood, and pasta. (Lunchbox serves entree salads, burgers, and more.) 5355 Poplar. 683-4538; 919 S. Yates (Buckley’s Lunchbox), 682-0570. L (Yates only, M-F), D, X, $-$$ CAPITAL GRILLE—Known for its dry-aged, hand-carved steaks; among the specialties are bone-in sirloin, and porcini-rubbed Delmonico; also seafood entrees and seasonal lunch plates. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. Crescent Center, 6065 Poplar. 683-9291. L, D, X, $$$-$$$$ CASABLANCA—Lamb shawarma is one of the fresh, homemade specialties served at this Mediterranean/Moroccan restaurant; fish entrees and vegetarian options also available. 5030 Poplar. 725-8557 ; 7609 Poplar Pike (Germantown). 4255908; 1707 Madison. 421-6949. L, D, X, $-$$ CIAO BELLA—Among the Italian and Greek specialties are lasagna, seafood pasta, gourmet pizzas, and vegetarian options. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. 565 Erin Dr., Erin Way Shopping Center. 205-2500. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$$ CITY SILO TABLE + PANTRY—With a focus on clean eating, this establishment offers fresh juices, as well as comfort foods re-imagined with wholesome ingredients. 5101 Sanderlin. 729-7687. B, L, D, X, $ CORKY’S—Popular barbecue emporium offers both wet and dry ribs, plus a full menu of other barbecue entrees. Wed. lunch buffets, Cordova and Collierville. 5259 Poplar. 685-9744; 1740 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 737-1911; 743 W. Poplar (Collierville). 405-4999; 6434 Goodman Rd., Olive Branch. 662893-3663. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ ERLING JENSEN—For over 20 years, has presented “globally inspired” cuisine to die for. Specialties are rack of lamb, big game entrees, and fresh fish dishes. 1044 S. Yates. 763-3700. D, X, MRA, $$-$$$ FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE—Serves wetaged and dry-aged steaks, prime beef, chops, and seafood, including salmon, Australian lobster tails, and a catch of the day. 6245 Poplar. 761-6200. D, X, MRA, $$$-$$$$ FOLK’S FOLLY ORIGINAL PRIME STEAK HOUSE—Specializes in prime steaks, as well as lobster, grilled Scottish salmon, Alaskan king crab legs, rack of lamb, and weekly specials. 551 S. Mendenhall. 762-8200. D, X, MRA, $$$-$$$$ FORMOSA—Offers Mandarin cuisine, including broccoli beef, hot-and-sour soup, and spring rolls. Closed Monday. 6685 Quince. 753-9898. L, D, X, $-$$ FOX RIDGE PIZZA & GRILL—Pizzas, calzones, sub sandwiches, burgers, and meat-and-two plate lunches are among the dishes served at this eatery, which opened in 1979. 1769 N. Germantown Pkwy. 7586500. L, D, X, $ FRATELLI’S—Serves hot and cold sandwiches, salads, soups, and desserts, all with an Italian/Mediterranean flair. Closed Sunday. 750 Cherry Rd., Memphis Botanic Garden. 766-9900. L, X, $ FRANK GRISANTI’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT— Northern Italian favorites include pasta with jumbo shrimp and mushrooms; also seafood, filet mignon, and daily lunch specials.

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Russian Masters Cellist Leonardo Altino and pianist Victor Asunçion they have planned a concert of Russian masterworks: Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, Prokoﬁev’s great C Major Sonata, and the famous, well-beloved Rachmaninoﬀ Sonata. JOIN US SUNDAY MAY 10, 2020

3:00PM at

621 S. WILLETT STREET MEMPHIS, TN, 38104

FOR TICKET INFORMATION AND

901.758.0150 MEMPHISCHAMBERMUSIC.ORG

DIRECTIONS CALL

Closed for lunch Sunday. Embassy Suites Hotel, 1022 S. Shady Grove. 761-9462. L, D, X, $-$$$ THE GROVE GRILL—Offers steaks, chops, seafood, and other American cuisine with Southern and global influences; entrees include crab cakes, and shrimp and grits, also dinner specials. Founder Jeff Dunham’s son Chip is now chef de cuisine. 4550 Poplar. 818-9951. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $$-$$$ HALF SHELL—Specializes in seafood, such as king crab legs; also serves steaks, chicken, pastas, salads, sandwiches, a ”voodoo menu”; oyster bar at Winchester location. 688 S. Mendenhall. 682-3966; 7825 Winchester. 737-6755. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ HIGH POINT PIZZA—Serves a variety of pizzas, subs, salads, and sides. Closed Monday. A neighborhood fixture. 477 High Point Terrace. 452-3339. L, D, X, $-$$ HOUSTON’S—Serves steaks, seafood, pork chops, chicken dishes, sandwiches, salads, and Chicago-style spinach dip. Farmous for first-class service. 5000 Poplar. 683-0915. L, D, X $-$$$ INTERIM—Offers American-seasonal cuisine with emphasis on local foods and fresh fish; daily chef specials. Closed for lunch Sat. 5040 Sanderlin, Suite 105. 818-0821. L, D, SB, X, $-$$$ LA BAGUETTE—An almond croissant and chicken salad are among specialties at this French-style bistro. Closed for dinner Sun. 3088 Poplar. 458-0900. B, L, D (closes at 7), X, MRA, $ LAS DELICIAS—Popular for its guacamole, house-made tortilla chips, and margaritas, this restaurant draws diners with its chicken enchiladas, meat-stuffed flautas, and Cuban torta with spicy pork. Closed Sunday. 4002 Park Ave. 458-9264; 5689 Quince. 800-2873. L, D, X, $ LIBRO AT LAURELWOOD—Bookstore eatery features a variety of sandwiches, salads, and homemade pasta dishes, with Italian-inspired options such as carbonara and potato gnocchi. Closed for dinner Sun. 387 Perkins Ext. (Novel). 8002656. B, L, D, SB, X, $-$$ LISA’S LUNCHBOX—Serving bagels, sandwiches, salads, and wraps. 5885 Ridgeway Center Pkwy. 767-6465; 2650 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite 1200; 730-0064; 6070 Poplar. 2335875; 50 N. Front. 574-0468. B, L, $ LOST PIZZA—Offering pizzas (with dough made from scratch), pasta, salads, sandwiches, tamales, and more. 2855 Poplar. 572-1803; 5960 Getwell (Southaven). 662-892-8684. L, D, X, $-$$ LYNCHBURG LEGENDS—This restaurant with a Jack Daniels’ theme and Southern cuisine serves such entrees as Bourbon Street salmon, buttermilk-fried chicken, and grilled steak and wild mushroom salad. DoubleTree Hotel, 5069 Sanderlin. 969-7777. B, L, D, X, $-$$$ MAHOGANY MEMPHIS—Upscale Southern restaurant offers such dishes as coffee-rubbed lamb chops and baked Cajun Cornish hen. Closed for dinner Sun. and all day Mon.-Tues. 3092 Poplar, Suite 11. 623-7977. L, D, SB, X, $-$$$ MARCIANO MEDITERRANEAN AND ITALIAN CUISINE—Veal Saltimbocca with angel-hair pasta and white wine sauce is among the entrees; also steaks, seafood, and gourmet pizza. 780 Brookhaven Cl. 682-1660. D, X, $-$$  DAN MCGUINNESS PUB—Serves fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, burgers, and other Irish and American fare; also lunch and dinner specials. 4694 Spottswood. 761-3711; 3964 Goodman Rd. 662-890-7611. L, D, X, $ MAYURI INDIAN CUISINE—Serves tandoori chicken, masala dosa, tikka masala, as well as lamb and shrimp entrees; also a daily lunch buffet, and dinner buffet on Fri.-Sat. 6524 Quince Rd. 753-8755. L, D, X, $-$$ MELLOW MUSHROOM—Large menu includes assortment of pizzas, salads, calzones, hoagies, vegetarian options, and 50 beers on tap. 5138 Park Ave. 562-1211; 9155 Poplar, Shops of Forest Hill (Germantown). 907-0243. L, D, X, $-$$ MOSA ASIAN BISTRO—Specialties include sesame chicken, Thai calamari, rainbow panang curry with grouper fish, and other Pan Asian/fusion entrees. Closed Mon. 850 S. White Station Rd. 683-8889. L, D, X, MRA, $ NAM KING—Offers luncheon and dinner buffets, dim sum, and such specialties as fried dumplings, pepper steak, and orange chicken. 4594 Yale. 373-4411. L, D, X, $  NAPA CAFE—Among the specialties are miso-marinated salmon over black rice with garlic spinach and shiitake

mushrooms. Closed Sun. 5101 Sanderlin, Suite 122. 683-0441. L, D, X, MRA, $$-$$$ NEW HUNAN—Chinese eatery with more than 80 entrees; also lunch/dinner buffets. 5052 Park. 766-1622. L, D, X, $ ONE & ONLY BBQ—On the menu are pork barbecue sandwiches, platters, wet and dry ribs, smoked chicken and turkey platters, a smoked meat salad, barbecue quesadillas, Brunswick Stew, and Millie’s homemade desserts. 1779 Kirby Pkwy. 751-3615; 567 Perkins Extd. 249-4227. L, D, X, $ ONO POKÉ—This eatery specializes in poké — a Hawaiian dish of fresh fish salad served over rice. Menu includes a variety of poké bowls, like the Kimchi Tuna bowl, or customers can build their own by choosing a base, protein, veggies, and toppings. 3145 Poplar. 618-2955. L, D, X, $ OWEN BRENNAN’S—New Orleans-style menu of beef, chicken, pasta, and seafood; jambalaya, shrimp and grits, and crawfish etouffee are specialties. Closed for dinner Sunday. The Regalia, 6150 Poplar. 761-0990. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$ PARK + CHERRY—The Dixon offers casual dining within the museum. Seasonal menu features sandwiches, like rustic chicken salad on croissant, as well as salads, snacks, and sweets. Closed for breakfast Sun. and all day Mon. 4339 Park (Dixon Gallery). 761-5250. L, X, $ PATRICK’S—Serves barbecue nachos, burgers, and entrees such as fish and chips; also plate lunches and daily specials. 4972 Park. 682-2852. L, D, X, MRA, $ PETE & SAM’S—Serving Memphis for 60-plus years; offers steaks, seafood, and traditional Italian dishes, including homemade ravioli, lasagna, and chicken marsala. 3886 Park. 458-0694. D, X, $-$$$ PF CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO—Specialties are orange peel shrimp, Mongolian beef, and chicken in lettuce wraps; also vegetarian dishes, including spicy eggplant. 1181 Ridgeway Rd., Park Place Centre. 818-3889. L, D, X, $-$$ PHO SAIGON—Vietnamese fare includes beef teriyaki, roasted quail, curry ginger chicken, vegetarian options, and a variety of soups. 2946 Poplar. 458-1644. L, D, $ PYRO’S FIRE-FRESH PIZZA—Serving gourmet pizzas cooked in an open-fire oven; wide choice of toppings; large local and craft beer selection. 1199 Ridgeway. 379-8294; 2035 Union Ave. 208-8857; 2286 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 207-1198; 3592 S. Houston Levee (Collierville). 221-8109. L, D, X, MRA, $ RED HOOK CAJUN SEAFOOD & BAR—Cajunstyle array of seafood including shrimp, mussels, clams, crawfish, and oysters. 3295 Poplar. 207-1960. L, D, X, $-$$ RIVER OAKS—Chef Jose Gutierrez’s French-style bistro serves seafood and steaks, with an emphasis on fresh local ingredients. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. 5871 Poplar Ave. 683-9305. L, D, X, $$$ RONNIE GRISANTI’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT— This Memphis institution serves some family classics such as Elfo’s Special and handmade ravioli, along with house-made pizza and fresh oysters. Closed Sun. 6150 Poplar #122. 850-0191. D, X, $-$$$ RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE—Offers prime steaks cut and aged in-house, as well as lamb, chicken, and fresh seafood, including lobster. 6120 Poplar. 761-0055. D, X, $$$-$$$$ SALSA—Mexican-Southern California specialties include carnitas, enchiladas verde, and fajitas; also Southwestern seafood dishes such as snapper verde. Closed Sun. Regalia Shopping Center, 6150 Poplar, Suite 129. 683-6325. L, D, X, $-$$ SEASONS 52—This elegant fresh grill and wine bar offers a seasonally changing menu using fresh ingredients, wood-fire grilling, and brick-oven cooking; also a large international wine list and nightly piano bar. Crescent Center, 6085 Poplar. 682-9952. L, D, X, $$-$$$ STAKS—Offering pancakes, including birthday cake and lemon ricotta. Menu includes other breakfast items such as beignets and French toast, as well as soups and sandwiches for lunch. 4615 Poplar. 509-2367; 7704 Poplar (Germantown). 800-1951. B, L, WB, X, $ STRANO BY CHEF JOSH—Presenting a Sicilian/ Mediterranean mix of Arab, Spanish, Greek, and North African fare, Strano serves hand-tossed pizzas, wood-grilled fish, and such entrees as Chicken Under the Earth, cooked under a Himalayan salt block over a seasoned white oak wood-fired grill. 518 Perkins Extd. 275-8986. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ SUSHI JIMMI—This food truck turned restaurant serves a variety of sushi rolls, fusion dishes — such as kimchi fries — and

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sushi burritos. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Mon. 2895 Poplar. 729-6985. L, D, X, $ SWANKY’S TACO SHOP—Taco-centric eatery offers tortas, flatbreads, quesadillas, chimichangas, burgers, and more. 4770 Poplar. 730-0763; 6641 Poplar (Germantown). 7372088; 272 S. Main. 779-3499. L, D, X, $ THREE LITTLE PIGS—Pork-shoulder-style barbecue with tangy mild or hot sauce, freshly made coleslaw, and baked beans. 5145 Quince Rd. 685-7094. B, L, D, X, $ TOPS BAR-B-Q—Specializes in pork barbecue sandwiches and sandwich plates with beans and slaw; also serves ribs, beef brisket, and burgers. 1286 Union. 725-7527; 4183 Summer. 3244325; 5391 Winchester. 794-7936; 3970 Rhodes. 323-9865; 6130 Macon. 371-0580. For more locations, go online. L, D, X, $ VENICE KITCHEN—Specializes in “eclectic Italian” and Southern Creole, from pastas, including the “Godfather,” to hand-tossed pizzas, including the “John Wayne”; choose from 50 toppings. 368 Perkins Ext. 767-6872. L, D, SB, X, $-$$ WANG’S MANDARIN HOUSE—Offers Mandarin, Cantonese, Szechuan, and spicy Hunan entrees, including the golden-sesame chicken; next door is East Tapas, serving small plates with an Asian twist. 6065 Park Ave., Park Place Mall. 763-0676. L, D, X, $-$$ WASABI—Serving traditional Japanese offerings, hibachi, sashimi, and sushi. The Sweet Heart roll, wrapped — in the shape of a heart — with tuna and filled with spicy salmon, yellowtail, and avocado, is a specialty. 5101 Sanderlin Rd., Suite 105. 421-6399. L, D, X, $-$$ WOMAN’S EXCHANGE TEA ROOM—Chicken-salad plate, beef tenderloin, soups-and-sandwiches, and vegetable plates are specialties; meal includes drink and dessert. Closed Sat.-Sun. 88 Racine. 327-5681. L, X, $ ZAKA BOWL—This vegan-friendly restaurant serves buildyour-own vegetable bowls featuring ingredients such as agave Brussels sprouts and roasted beets. Also serves tuna poke and herbed chicken bowls. 575 Erin. 509-3105. L, D, $

GERMANTOWN BLUE HONEY BISTRO—Entrees at this upscale eatery include brown butter scallops served with Mississippi blue rice and herb-crusted beef tenderloin with vegetables and truffle butter. Closed Sun. 9155 Poplar, Suite 17. 552-3041. D, X, $-$$$ FARM & FRIES—A burger-centric menu features 100 percent grass-fed and finished beef served in creative combinations like roasted portobellos and Swiss cheese. Try the Brussels with cheddar, bacon, and quick-fried sprout leaves on fries, house-cut with dipping sauces. Closed Sun. 7724 Poplar Pike. 791-2328. L, D, X, $ FOREST HILL GRILL—A variety of standard pub fare and a selection of mac-and-cheese dishes are featured on the menu. Specialties include Chicken Newport and a barbecue salmon BLT. 9102 Poplar Pike. 624-6001. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$ GERMANTOWN COMMISSARY—Serves barbecue sandwiches, sliders, ribs, shrimp, and nachos, as well as smoked barbecued bologna sandwiches; Mon.-night all-you-can-eat ribs. 2290 S. Germantown Rd. S. 754-5540. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ KOHESIAN SOKO STYLE EATERY—KoreanAmerican eatery serves up fusion-style dishes like bibimbap burgers or gochujang marinated loaded spicy pork nachos. 1730 S. Germantown Rd. 308-0223. L, D, X, $$ LAS TORTUGAS DELI MEXICANA— Authentic Mexican food prepared from local food sources; specializes in tortugas — grilled bread scooped out to hold such powerfully popular fillings as brisket, pork, and shrimp; also tingas, tostados. Closed Sunday. 1215 S. Germantown Rd. 751-1200; 6300 Poplar. 623-3882. L, D, X, $-$$ MISTER B’S—Features New Orleans-style seafood and steaks. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. and Mon. 6655 Poplar #107. 751-5262. L, D, X, $-$$$ MOONDANCE GRILL—From the owners of Itta Bena and Lafayette’s. Serves steak cooked sous vide and seafood dishes including Abita-barbecued shrimp and pan-seared sand dab, in addition to an extensive wine and cocktail list. 1730 S. Germantown Road, Suite 117. 755-1471. L, D, X, $$-$$$ NOODLES ASIAN BISTRO—Serves a variety of traditional Asian cuisine, with emphasis on noodle dishes, such as

Singapore Street Noodles and Hong Kong Chow Fun. 7850 Poplar #12. 755-1117. L, D, X, $ PETRA CAFÉ—Serves Greek, Italian, and Middle Eastern sandwiches, gyros, and entrees. Hours vary; call. 6641 Poplar. 754-4440; 547 S. Highland. 323-3050. L, D, X, $-$$ PIMENTO’S KITCHEN + MARKET—Fresh sandwiches, soups, salads, and plenty of pimento cheese at this family-owned restaurant. 6540 Poplar Ave. 602-5488 [Collierville: 3751 S. Houston Levee. 453-6283]. L, D, X, $ RAW GIRLS / CITY & STATE POP-UP— Hannah and Amy Pickle offer plant-based dishes and cold-pressed juices alongside Lisa and Luis Toro’s coffee bar. Hours vary. 2055 W. Germantown. L, X, $ RED KOI—Classic Japanese cuisine offered at this family-run restaurant; hibachi steaks, sushi, seafood, chicken, and vegetables. 5847 Poplar. 767-3456. L, D, X $-$$ ROCK’N DOUGH PIZZA CO.—Specialty and custom pizzas made from fresh ingredients; wide variety of toppings. 7850 Poplar #6. 779-2008. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $$ ROYAL PANDA—Hunan fish, Peking duck, Royal Panda chicken and shrimp, and a seafood combo are among the specialties. 3120 Village Shops Dr. 756-9697. L, D, X, $-$$ RUSSO’S NEW YORK PIZZERIA AND WINE BAR—Serves gourmet pizzas, calzones, and pasta, including lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo, scampi, and more. 9087 Poplar, Suite 111. 755-0092. L, D, WB, X, $-$$ SAKURA—Sushi, tempura, and teriyaki are Japanese specialties here. 2060 West St. 758-8181; 4840 Poplar. 572-1002. L, D, X, $-$$ SOUTHERN SOCIAL—Shrimp and grits, stuffed quail, and Aunt Thelma’s Fried Chicken are among the dishes served at this upscale Southern establishment. 2285 S. Germantown Rd. 754-5555. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$ WEST STREET DINER—This home-style eatery offers breakfast, burgers, po’boys, and more. 2076 West St. 757-2191. B, L, D (Mon.-Fri.), X, $ WOLF RIVER BRISKET CO.—From the owners of Pyro’s Fire Fresh Pizza, highlights include house-smoked meats: prime beef brisket, chicken, and salmon. Closed Sun. 9947 Wolf River Boulevard, Suite 101. 316-5590. L, D, X, $-$

MIDTOWN (INCLUDES THE MEDICAL CENTER) ABYSSINIA RESTAURANT—Ethiopian/Mediterranean menu includes beef, chicken, lamb, fish entrees, and vegetarian dishes; also a lunch buffet. 2600 Poplar. 321-0082. L, D, X, $-$$ ALCHEMY—Southern fusion, locally grown cuisine features small and large plates; among the offerings are pan-seared hanger steak, quail, and lamb chops; also handcrafted cocktails and local craft beers. 940 S. Cooper. 726-4444. D, SB, X, $-$$ ART BAR—Inventive cocktails feature locally foraged ingredients; snacks include house-cured salt & vinegar potato chips and herb-roasted olives. Closed Mon. 1350 Concourse Avenue #280. 507-8030. D, X, $ BABALU TACOS & TAPAS—This eatery dishes up Spanish-style tapas with Southern flair; also taco and enchilada of the day; specials change daily. 2115 Madison. 274-0100; 6450 Poplar, 410-8909. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$ BACK DO / MI YARD—A revamped patio space behind The Beauty Shop features rotisserie meats and fishes via Brazilian-style outdoor grill. Dinner Wednesday-Saturday, weather permitting. 966 S. Cooper, 2727111. D, X, $$ BAR DKDC—Features an ever-changing menu of international “street food,” from Thai to Mexican, Israeli to Indian, along with specialty cocktails. 964 S. Cooper. 272-0830. D, X, MRA, $ BAR KEOUGH—It’s old school eats and cocktails at the new Cooper-Young neighborhood corner bar by Kevin Keough. 247 Cooper St. D, X, $ BAR-B-Q SHOP—Dishes up barbecued ribs, spaghetti, bologna; also pulled pork shoulder, Texas toast barbecue sandwich, chicken sandwich, and salads. Closed Sun. 1782 Madison. 272-1277. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ BARI RISTORANTE ENOTECA—Authentic Southeastern Italian cuisine (Puglia) emphasizes lighter entrees. Serves fresh fish and beef dishes and a homemade soup of the day. 22 S. Cooper. 722-2244. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

BARKSDALE RESTAURANT—Old-school diner serving breakfast and Southern plate lunches. 237 S. Cooper. 722-2193. B, L, D, X, $ BAYOU BAR & GRILL—New Orleans fare at this Overton Square eatery includes jambalaya, gumbo, catfish Acadian, shrimp dishes, red beans and rice, and muffalettas. 2094 Madison. 278-8626. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$ BEAUTY SHOP—Modern American cuisine with international flair served in a former beauty shop. Serves steaks, salads, pasta, and seafood, including pecan-crusted golden sea bass. Perennial “Best Brunch” winner. Closed for dinner Sunday. 966 S. Cooper. 272-7111. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$ BELLY ACRES—At this festive Overton Square eatery, milkshakes, floats, and burgers rule. Burgers are updated with contemporary toppings like grilled leeks, braised tomatoes, and sourdough or brioche buns. 2102 Trimble Pl. 529-7017. L, D, X, $ BHAN THAI—Authentic Thai cuisine includes curries, pad Thai noodles, and vegetarian dishes, as well as seafood, pork, and duck entrees. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. and all day Mon. 1324 Peabody. 272-1538. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ BLUE NILE ETHIOPIAN—Kabobs, flavorful chicken and lamb stew, and injera (flatbread) are traditional items on the menu, along with vegetarian options. 1788 Madison. 474-7214. L, D, X, $-$$ BOSCOS—Tennessee’s first craft brewery serves a variety of freshly brewed beers as well as wood-fired oven pizzas, pasta, seafood, steaks, and sandwiches. 2120 Madison. 432-2222. L, D, SB (with live jazz), X, MRA, $-$$ BOUNTY ON BROAD—Offering family-style dining, Bounty serves small plates and family-sized platters, with such specialties as chicken fried quail and braised pork shank. 2519 Broad. 410-8131. L (Sat. and Sun.), D (Mon.-Sat.), SB, X, MRA, $-$$$ BROADWAY PIZZA—Serving a variety of pizzas, including the Broadway Special, as well as sandwiches, salads, wings, and soulfood specials. 2581 Broad. 454-7930; 627 S. Mendenhall. 207-1546. L, D, X, $-$$ CAFE 1912—French/American bistro owned by culinary pioneer Glenn Hays serving such seafood entrees as seared sea scallops with charred cauliflower purée and chorizo cumin sauce; also crepes, salads, and onion soup gratinée. 243 S. Cooper. 722-2700. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$ CAFE BROOKS BY CITY & STATE—Serving grab-and-go pastries, as well as lunch items. Menu includes soups, salads, and sandwiches, such as the Modern Reuben and Grown-Up Grilled Cheese. 1934 Poplar (Memphis Brooks Museum of Art). 544-6200. B, L, X, $ CAFE ECLECTIC—Omelets and chicken and waffles are among menu items, along with quesadillas, sandwiches, wraps, and burgers. Menu varies by location. 603 N. McLean. 725-1718; 111 Harbor Town Square. 590-4645. B, L, D, SB, X, MRA, $ CAFE OLÉ—This eatery specializes in authentic Mexican cuisine; one specialty is the build-your-own quesadilla. 959 S. Cooper. 3430103. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$ CAFE PALLADIO—Serves gourmet salads, soups, sandwiches, and desserts in a tea room inside the antiques shop. Closed Sun. 2169 Central. 278-0129. L, X, $ CAFE SOCIETY—With Belgian and classic French influences, serves Wagyu beef, chicken, and seafood dishes, including baconwrapped shrimp, along with daily specials and vegetarian entrees. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. 212 N. Evergreen. 722-2177. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ CARITAS CAFE—Community deli serves Southerninspired gourmet-style farm-to-table food using locally grown produce and ingredients. Open for lunch Mon-Sat. Closed Sunday. 2509 Harvard Ave. 327-5246. L, X, $ CELTIC CROSSING—Specializes in Irish and American pub fare. Entrees include shepherd’s pie, shrimp and sausage coddle, and fish and chips. 903 S. Cooper. 274-5151. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$ CENTRAL BBQ—Serves ribs, smoked hot wings, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken, turkey, nachos, and portobello sandwiches. Offers both pork and beef barbecue. 2249 Central Ave. 272-9377; 4375 Summer Ave. 767-4672; 147 E. Butler. 6727760 ; 6201 Poplar. 417-7962. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ THE COVE—Nautical-themed restaurant and bar serving oysters, pizzas, and more. The Stoner Pie, with tamales and fritos, is a popular dish. 2559 Broad. 730-0719. L, D, $ THE CRAZY NOODLE—Korean noodle dishes range from bibam beef noodle with cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables, to curry chicken noodle; also rice cakes served in a flavorful sauce. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. 2015 Madison. 272-0928. L, D, X, $

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THE DOGHOUZZ—It’s both bark and bite at the Doghouzz, which pairs a variety of gourmet hot dogs alongside local craft beer and one of the city’s most extensive whiskey selections. Open for lunch, dinner, and late-night. Closed Sunday. 1349 Autumn Ave. 207-7770. L, D, X, $ ECCO—Mediterranean-inspired specialties range from rib-eye steak to seared scallops to housemade pastas and a grilled vegetable plate; also a Saturday brunch. Closed Sun.-Mon. 1585 Overton Park. 410-8200. L, D, X, $-$$ FARM BURGER—Serves grass-fed, freshly ground, locally sourced burgers; also available with chicken, pork, or veggie quinoa patties, with such toppings as aged white cheddar, kale coleslaw, and roasted beets. 1350 Concourse Avenue #175. 800-1851. L, D, X, $ FINO’S ITALIAN DELI & CATERING—The newly revived Fino’s offers the old favorites such as the Acquisto as well as a new breakfast menu. 1853 Madison. 272-FINO. B, L, D, X, $ FRIDA’S—Mexican cuisine and Tex-Mex standards, including chimichangas, enchiladas, and fajitas; seafood includes shrimp and tilapia. 1718 Madison. 244-6196. L, D, X, $-$$ GLOBAL CAFE—This international food hall hosts three immigrant/refugee food entrepreneurs serving Venezuelan, Sudanese, and Syrian cuisines. Samosas, shawarma, and kabobs are among the menu items. Closed Mon. 1350 Concourse Avenue #157. L, D, X, MRA, $ GOLDEN INDIA—Northern Indian specialties include tandoori chicken as well as lamb, beef, shrimp, and vegetarian dishes. 2097 Madison. 728-5111. L, D, X, $-$$ GROWLERS—Sports bar and eatery serves standard bar fare in addition to a pasta, tacos, chicken and waffles, and light options. 1911 Poplar. 244-7904. L, D, X, $-$$ HATTIE B’S—Fried chicken spot features “hot chicken” with a variety of heat levels; from no heat to “shut the cluck up” sauce. Sides include greens, pimento mac-and-cheese, and black-eyed pea salad. 596 S. Cooper. 424-5900. L, D, X, $ HM DESSERT LOUNGE—Serving cake, pie, and other desserts, as well as a selection of savory dishes, including meatloaf and mashed potato “cupcakes.” Closed Monday. 1586 Madison. 290-2099. L, D, X, $ HOPDODDY BURGER BAR—Focus is on locally sourced ingredients, with freshly baked buns and meat butchered and ground in-house. Patty options include Angus or Kobe beef, bison, chicken, and more; also vegetarian/vegan. 6 S. Cooper. 654-5100; 4585 Poplar. 683-0700. L, D, X, $ IMAGINE VEGAN CAFE—Dishes at this fully vegan restaurant range from salads and sandwiches to full dinners, including eggplant parmesan and “beef” tips and rice; breakfast all day Sat. and Sun. 2158 Young. 654-3455. L, D, WB, X, $ INDIA PALACE—Tandoori chicken, lamb shish kabobs, and chicken tikka masala are among the entrees; also, vegetarian options and a daily all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. 1720 Poplar. 278-1199. L, D, X, $-$$ INSPIRE COMMUNITY CAFE—Serving breakfast all day, in addition to quesadillas, rice bowls, and more for lunch and dinner. 510 Tillman, Suite 110. 509-8640. B, L, D, X, $ LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM—Serves such Southern cuisine as po’boys, shrimp and grits, and wood-fired pizzas. 2119 Madison. 207-5097. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$ LBOE—Gourmet burger joint serves locally sourced ground beef burgers, with options like the Mac-N-Cheese Burger and Caprese. Black bean and turkey patties available. 2021 Madison. 725-0770. L, D, X, $ THE LIQUOR STORE—Renovated liquor store turned diner serves all-day breakfast, sandwiches, and entrees such as Salisbury steak and smothered pork chops. Closed for dinner Sun.-Mon. 2655 Broad. 405-5477. B, L, D, X, $-$$ LITTLE ITALY—Serving New York-style pizza as well as subs and pasta dishes. 1495 Union. 725-0280; L, D, X, $-$$ LUCKY CAT RAMEN—Specializes in gourmet ramen bowls, with such ingredients as braised pork belly and housemade blackened garlic, made with rich broth. Bao, steamed buns filled with various meats and veggies, also grace the menu. Closed Sun. 2583 Broad. 208-8145. L, D, X, $-$$ MARDI GRAS MEMPHIS—Fast-casual establishment serving Cajun fare, including an etouffee-stuffed po’boy. Closed Mon.-Tues. 496 N. Watkins. 530-6767. L, D, X, $-$$ MAXIMO’S ON BROAD—Serving a tapas menu that features creative fusion cuisine; entrees include veggie paella and fish of the day. Closed Mon. 2617 Broad Ave. 452-1111. D, SB, X, $-$$ MEMPHIS PIZZA CAFE—Homemade pizzas are specialties; also serves sandwiches, calzones, and salads. 2087 Madison. 7265343; 5061 Park Ave. 684-1306; 7604 W. Farmington (Germantown).

753-2218; 797 W. Poplar (Collierville). 861-7800; 5627 Getwell (Southaven). 662-536-1364. L, D, X, $-$$ MIDPOINTE FROM EDGE ALLEY—Edge Alley’s sister cafe at the Ballet Memphis headquarters focuses on freshness for its breakfast, lunch, and happy hour tapas. Closed Sunday-Monday. 2144 Madison Ave. 4252605. B, L, X, $ MOLLY’S LA CASITA—Homemade tamales, fish tacos, a vegetarian combo, and bacon-wrapped shrimp are a few of the specialties. 2006 Madison. 726-1873. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ NEXT DOOR AMERICAN EATERY—Serves dishes sourced from American farms. Menu features chorizo bacon dates, spicy gulf shrimp, and dry-aged beef burgers. 1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 165. 779-1512. L, D, X, $ ONIX RESTAURANT—Serves seafood dishes, including barbecued shrimp and pecan-crusted trout, and a variety of salads and sandwiches. Closed Sun. 1680 Madison. 552-4609. L, D, X, $-$$ PAYNE’S BAR-B-QUE—Opened in 1972, this family-owned barbecue joint serves ribs, smoked sausage, and chopped pork sandwiches with a standout mustard slaw and homemade sauce. About as down-toearth as it gets. 1762 Lamar. 272-1523. L, D, $-$$ PHO BINH—Vietnamese, vegetarian, and Cantonese specialties include lemon tofu and spring rolls. Closed Sunday. 1615 Madison. 276-0006. L, D, $ RAILGARTEN—Located in a former rail station space, this eatery offers breakfast items, a variety of salads and sandwiches, and such entrees as short rib mac-and-cheese and fish tacos. Also serves shakes, malts, floats, and cream sodas. 2166 Central. 231-5043. B, L, D, $-$$ RED FISH ASIAN BISTRO—In the former Nineteenth Century Club building, serves sushi, teriyaki, and hibachi. Specialties include yuzu filet mignon and Chilean sea bass. 1433 Union. 454-3926; 9915 Highway 64 (Lakeland). 729-7581; 6518 Goodman (Olive Branch). 662-874-5254. L, D, X, $-$$$ RESTAURANT IRIS—French Creole-inspired classics, such as Gulf shrimp and rice grits congee served with lap chong sausage and boiled peanuts, are served at this newly remodeled restaurant owned by Chef Kelly English, a Food and Wine “Top Ten.” 2146 Monroe. 590-2828. D, X, $$-$$$ ROBATA RAMEN & YAKITORI BAR—Serves ramen noodle bowls and Yakitori skewers as well as rice and noodle dishes. 2116 Madison. 410-8290. L, D, X, $ SABROSURA—Serves Mexican and Cuban fare, including arroz tapada de pollo and steak Mexican. Closed Sun. 782 Washington. 421-8180. L, D, X, $-$$ SALTWATER CRAB—Offers an array of seafood dishes including boils with blue crab, crab legs, lobster tails, and more, and specialty sushi like the Dynamite or Royal King rolls, in addition to signature sangrias and cocktails. 2059 Madison Ave. 922-5202. L, D, X, $$ SAUCY CHICKEN—Specializes in antibiotic-free chicken dishes with locally sourced ingredients, with such items as hot wings and the Crosstown Chicken Sandwich, and a variety of house-made dipping sauces; also, seafood, salads, and daily specials. 1350 Concourse, Suite 137. 203-3838. L, D (Mon.-Fri.), $ THE SECOND LINE—Kelly English brings “relaxed Creole cuisine” to his newest eatery; serves a variety of po’boys and such specialties as barbecue shrimp, andouille shrimp, and pimento cheese fries. 2144 Monroe. 590-2829. L, D, WB, X, $-$$ SEKISUI—Japanese fusion cuisine, fresh sushi bar, grilled meats and seafood, California rolls, and vegetarian entrees. Poplar/Perkins location’s emphasis is on Pacific Rim cuisine. Menu and hours vary at each location. 25 Belvedere. 725-0005; 1884 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 309-8800; 4724 Poplar. 767-7770; 2130 W. Poplar (Collierville). 854-0622; 2990 Kirby-Whitten (Bartlett). 377-2727; 6696 Poplar. 747-0001. L, D, X, $-$$$ STONE SOUP CAFE—Cooper-Young eatery serving soups, salads, quiche, meat-and-two specials; and daily specials such as Italian roast beef. Closed Monday. 993 S. Cooper. 922-5314. B, L, SB, X, $ SOUL FISH CAFE—Serving Southern-style soul food, tacos, and po’boys, including catfish, crawfish, oyster, shrimp, chicken, and smoked pork tenderloin. 862 S. Cooper. 725-0722; 3160 Village Shops Dr. (Germantown). 755-6988; 4720 Poplar. 590-0323. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

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SWEET GRASS—Chef Ryan Trimm takes Southern cuisine to a new level. Low-country coastal cuisine includes such specialties as shrimp and grits. Closed Mon. Restaurant’s “sister,” Sweet Grass Next Door, open nightly, serves lunch Sat.-Sun. 937 S. Cooper. 278-0278. D, SB, X, $-$$$ TAMBOLI’S PASTA & PIZZA—Pasta Maker Josh Tamboli whips up Italian soul food with seasonal menus featuring dishes like crispy fried chicken or creamy bucatini with pecorino cheese. Serves dinner Tuesday-Saturday. Pizza only menu after 9pm. 1761 Madison. 410-8866. D, X, $-$$ TAKASHI BISTRO—Fusion restaurant with an open kitchen that lets customers watch chefs prepare a variety of Japanese and Thai cuisine. 1680 Union Ave. Ste. 109. 800-2936. L, D, $-$$. TSUNAMI—Features Pacific Rim cuisine (Asia, Australia, South Pacific, etc.); also a changing “small plate” menu. Chef Ben Smith is a Cooper-Young pioneer. Specialties include Asian nachos and roasted sea bass. Closed Sunday. 928 S. Cooper. 274-2556. D, X, MRA, $$-$$$ ZINNIE’S—Dive bar classic reopens with a makeover and signature Zinnaloni sandwich. 1688 Madison. 7265004. L, D, X, $

SOUTH MEMPHIS (INCLUDES

PARKWAY VILLAGE, FOX MEADOWS, SOUTH MEMPHIS, WINCHESTER, AND WHITEHAVEN)

COLETTA’S—Longtime eatery serves such specialties as homemade ravioli, lasagna, and pizza with barbecue or traditional toppings. 1063 S. Parkway E. 948-7652; 2850 Appling Rd. (Bartlett). 383-1122. L, D, X, $-$$ CURRY BOWL—Specializes in Southern Indian cuisine, serving Tandoori chicken, biryani, tikka masala, and more. Weekend buffet. 4141 Hacks Cross Rd. 207-6051. L, D, $ DELTA’S KITCHEN—The premier restaurant at The Guest House at Graceland serves Elvis-inspired dishes — like Nutella and Peanut Butter Crepes for breakfast — and upscale Southern cuisine — including lamb chops and shrimp and grits — for dinner. 3600 Elvis Presley Blvd. 443-3000. B, D, X, $-$$$ DWJ KOREAN BARBECUE—This authentic Korean eatery serves kimbap, barbecued beef short ribs, rice and noodles dishes, and hot pots and stews. 3750 Hacks Cross Rd., Suite 101. 746-8057; 2156 Young. 207-6204. L, D, $-$$ THE FOUR WAY—Legendary soul-food establishment dishing up such entrees as fried and baked catfish, chicken, and turkey and dressing, along with a host of vegetables and desserts. Around the corner from the legendary Stax Studio. Closed Monday. 998 Mississippi Blvd. 507-1519. L, D, $ HERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY—Hernando’s Hideaway–No one cares how late it gets; not at Hernando’s Hideaway. Live music, killer happy hour, and plenty of bar fare at this South Memphis hang. 3210 Old Hernando Rd. 917-982-1829. L, D, $ INTERSTATE BAR-B-Q—Specialties include chopped pork-shoulder sandwiches, ribs, hot wings, spaghetti, chicken, and turkey. 2265 S. Third. 775-2304; 150 W. Stateline Rd. (Southaven). 662-393-5699. L, D, X, $-$$ LEONARD’S—Serves wet and dry ribs, barbecue sandwiches, spaghetti, catfish, homemade onion rings, and lemon icebox pie; also a lunch buffet. 5465 Fox Plaza. 360-1963. L, X, $-$$ MARLOWE’S—In addition to its signature barbecue and ribs, Marlowe’s serves Southern-style steaks, chops, lasagne, and more. 4381 Elvis Presley Blvd. 332-4159. D, X, MRA, $-$$ UNCLE LOU’S FRIED CHICKEN—Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives for good reason: fried chicken (mild, hot, or home-style); jumbo burgers four patties high; strawberry shortcake, and assorted fruit pies. 3633 Millbranch. 332-2367. L, D, X, MRA, $

SUMMER/BERCLAIR/ RALEIGH/BARTLETT ASIAN PALACE—Chinese eatery serves seafood, vegetarian items, dim sum, and more. 5266 Summer Ave. 766-0831. L, D, X, $-$$ ELWOOD’S SHACK—Casual comfort food includes tacos, pizza and sandwiches. Specialties include meats smoked in-house (chicken, turkey, brisket, pork), barbecue pizza, and steelhead trout tacos. 4523 Summer. 761-9898. B, L, D, X, $

EXLINES’ BEST PIZZA—Serves pizza, Italian dinners, sandwiches, and salads. 6250 Stage Rd. 382-3433; 2935 Austin Peay. 388-4711; 2801 Kirby Parkway. 754-0202; 7730 Wolf River Blvd. (Germantown). 753-4545; 531 W. Stateline Rd. 662-3424544 (check online for additional locations). L, D, X, MRA, $ GRIDLEY’S—Offers barbecued ribs, shrimp, pork plate, chicken, and hot tamales; also daily lunch specials. Closed Tues. 6842 Stage Rd. 377-8055. L, D, X, $-$$ LA TAQUERIA GUADALUPANA—Fajitas and quesadillas are just a few of the authentic Mexican entrees offered here. A bona-fide Memphis institution. 4818 Summer. 685-6857; 5848 Winchester. 365-4992. L, D, $ LOTUS—Authentic Vietnamese-Asian fare, including lemon-grass chicken and shrimp, egg rolls, Pho soup, and spicy Vietnamese vermicelli. 4970 Summer. 682-1151. D, X, $ MORTIMER’S—Contemporary American entrees include trout almondine, chicken dishes, and hand-cut steaks; also sandwiches, salads, and daily/nightly specials. A Memphis landmark since the Knickerbocker closed. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. 590 N. Perkins. 761-9321. L, D, X, $-$$ NAGASAKI INN—Chicken, steak, and lobster are among the main courses; meal is cooked at your table. 3951 Summer. 454-0320. D, X, $$ PANDA GARDEN—Sesame chicken and broccoli beef are among the Mandarin and Cantonese entrees; also seafood specials and fried rice. Closed for lunch Saturday. 3735 Summer. 323-4819. L, D, X, $-$$ QUEEN OF SHEBA—Featuring Middle Eastern favorites and Yemeni dishes such as lamb haneeth and saltah. 4792 Summer. 207-4174. L, D, $ SIDE PORCH STEAK HOUSE—In addition to steak, the menu includes chicken, pork chops, and fish entrees; homemade rolls are a specialty. Closed Sun.-Mon. 5689 Stage Rd. 377-2484. D, X, $-$$

UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOOD DISTRICT (INCLUDES CHICKASAW GARDENS AND HIGHLAND STRIP)

A-TAN—Serves Chinese and Japanese hibachi cuisine, complete with sushi bar. A specialty is Four Treasures with garlic sauce. 3445 Poplar, Suite 17, University Center. 452-4477. L, D, X, $-$$$ THE BLUFF—New Orleans-inspired menu includes alligator bites, nachos topped with crawfish and andouille, gumbo, po’boys, and fried seafood platters. 535 S. Highland. 454-7771. L, D, X, $-$$ BROTHER JUNIPER’S—This little cottage is a breakfast mecca, offering specialty omelets, including the open-faced San Diegan omelet; also daily specials, and homemade breads and pastries. Closed Mon. 3519 Walker. 324-0144. B, X, $ CHAR RESTAURANT—Specializing in modern Southern cuisine, this eatery offers homestyle sides, char-broiled steaks, and fresh seafood. 431 S. Highland #120. 249-3533. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ DERAE RESTAURANT—Ethiopian and Mediterranean fare includes fuul, or fava beans in spices and yogurt, goat meat and rice, and garlic chicken over basmati rice with cilantro chutney; also salmon and tilapia. Closed Monday. 923 S. Highland. 552-3992. B, L, D, $-$$ EL PORTON—Fajitas, quesadillas, and steak ranchero are just a few of the menu items. 2095 Merchants Row (Germantown). 754-4268; 8361 Highway 64. 380-7877; 3448 Poplar (Poplar Plaza). 452-7330; 1805 N. Germantown Parkway (Cordova). 624-9358; 1016 W. Poplar (Collierville). 854-5770. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ JOES’ ON HIGHLAND—Specializes in fried chicken and comfort sides such as warm okra/green tomato salad and turnip greens. Entrees include salmon patties and chicken-fried steak. Closed Mon. 262 S. Highland. 337-7003. L, D, X, $ MEDALLION—Offers steaks, seafood, chicken, and pasta entrees. Closed for dinner Sunday. 3700 Central, Holiday Inn (Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality). 678-1030. B, L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$ OPEN FLAME—This authentic Persian and Mediterranean eatery specializes in shish kebabs as well as kosher and halal fare. 3445 Poplar. 207-4995. L, D, X, $

OUT-OF-TOWN BOZO’S HOT PIT BAR-B-Q—Barbecue, burgers, sandwiches, and subs. 342 Hwy 70 (Mason, TN). 901-294-3400. L, D, $-$$ CATFISH BLUES—Serving Delta-raised catfish and Cajun- and Southern-inspired dishes, including gumbo and fried green tomatoes. 210 E. Commerce (Hernando, MS). 662-298-3814. L, D, $ CITY GROCERY—Southern eclectic cuisine; shrimp and grits is a specialty. Closed for dinner Sunday. 152 Courthouse Square (Oxford, MS). 662-232-8080. L, D, SB, X, $$-$$$ COMO STEAKHOUSE—Steaks cooked on a hickory charcoal grill are a specialty here. Upstairs is an oyster bar. Closed Sun. 203 Main St. (Como, MS). 662-526-9529. D, X, $-$$$ LONG ROAD CIDER CO.—Specializes in hard apple ciders made with traditional methods. Cafe-style entrees include black-eyed peas with cornbread and greens, chicken Gorgonzola pockets, cider-steamed sausage, and housemade ice creams. Closed Sun.-Wed. 9053 Barret Road. (Barretville, TN). 352-0962. D, X, $ MANILA FILIPINO RESTAURANT—Entrees include pork belly cutlet with lechon sauce, and shrimp and vegetables in tamarind broth; also daily combos, rice dishes, and chef specials. Closed Sun.-Mon. 7849 Rockford (Millington, TN). 209-8525. L, D, X, $

CASINO TABLES BOURBON STREET STEAKHOUSE & GRILL AT SOUTHLAND CASINO RACING—1550 Ingram Blvd., West Memphis, AR, 1-800-467-6182 CHICAGO STEAKHOUSE AT THE GOLDSTRIKE—1010 Casino Center Dr., Robinsonville, MS, 1-888-24KSTAY /662-357-1225 FAIRBANKS AT THE HOLLYWOOD—1150 Casino Strip Blvd., Robinsonville, MS, 1-800-871-0711 JACK BINION’S STEAK HOUSE AT HORSESHOE—1021 Casino Center Drive, Robinsonville, MS, 1-800-303-SHOE LUCKY 8 ASIAN BISTRO AT HORSESHOE—1021 Casino Center Drive, Robinsonville, MS, 1-800-303-SHOE THE STEAKHOUSE AT THE FITZ—711 Lucky Ln., Robinsonville, MS, 1-888-766-LUCK, ext 8213 MARSHALL STEAKHOUSE—Rustic steakhouse serves premium Angus beef steaks, seafood dishes, rack of lamb, and more. Breakfast menu features griddle cakes, and lunch offerings include hamburger steak and oyster po’ boys. 2379 Highway 178 (Holly Springs, MS). 628-3556. B, L, D, X, $-$$$ MEMPHIS BARBECUE COMPANY—Offers spare ribs, baby backs, and pulled pork and brisket, along with such sides as mac-and-cheese, grits, and red beans. 709 Desoto Cove (Horn Lake, MS). 662-536-3762. L, D, X, $-$$ NAGOYA—Offers traditional Japanese cuisine and sushi bar; specialties are teriyaki and tempura dishes. 7075 Malco Blvd., Suite 101 (Southaven, MS). 662-349-8788. L, D, X, $-$$$  PANCHO’S—Serves up a variety of Mexican standards, including tacos, enchiladas, and mix-and-match platters; also lunch specials. 3600 E. Broadway (West Memphis, AR). 870-735-6466. 717 N. White Station. 685-5404. L, D, X, MRA, $ PIG-N-WHISTLE—Offers pork shoulder sandwiches, wet and dry ribs, catfish, nachos, and stuffed barbecue potatoes. 6084 Kerr-Rosemark Rd. (Millington, TN). 872-2455. L, D, X, $ RAVINE—Serves contemporary Southern cuisine with an emphasis on fresh, locally grown foods and a menu that changes weekly. Closed Mon.-Tues. 53 Pea Ridge/County Rd. 321 (Oxford, MS). 662-234-4555. D, SB, X, $$-$$$ SAINT LEO’S—Offering sophisticated pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, and salads. A James Beard nominee for Best New Restaurant in 2017. 1101 Jackson (Oxford, MS). 662-234-4555. D, L, WB, $-$$ SNACKBAR—Billed as an intriguing mix of “French Bistro with North Mississippi Cafe.” Serving a confit duck Croque Monsieur, watermelon-cucumber chaat, pan-fried quail, plus a daily plate special and a raw bar. Chef Vishesh Bhatt was named as Best Chef South by the James Beard Foundation in 2019. 721 N. Lamar (Oxford, MS). 662-236-6363. D, $-$$$ WILSON CAFE—Serving elevated home-cooking, with such dishes as deviled eggs with cilantro and jalapeño, scampi and grits, and doughnut bread pudding. 2 N. Jefferson (Wilson, AR). 870-6550222. L, D (Wed. through Sat. only), X, $-$$$

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LAST STAND

A Rhodes College senior shares his thoughts about his last days on the campus.

Matthew Harris

by matthew harris

n March 11th, Rhodes College followed the lead of other institutions nationwide and made the decision to switch to online classes following an extended spring break. Though this was expected, it’s still crazy to me how quickly things have moved. The days are painfully long without classes. For three-and-a-half years my daily routine had been to wake up and go to class, eat lunch with friends, go to work at my on-campus job, then come home. I never thought about the impact that the cancellation of classes would have on my life until I had been sitting at home for three days. My days now consist of waking up at noon, wandering around the house looking for something to clean, maybe watching some Netflix, and then going to bed. I don’t think I realized that when I stepped off campus for spring break it would be the last time

that I would see some of my friends. Over the past few days, I have said too many premature goodbyes and shed too many tears. I’m a ng r y but w it hout direction. The night after the announcement I found myself

sitting on my front porch and inter that, I will be like many other graduating millennials who will voluntarily shaking my fist at the find themselves without jobs. night sky. For many of us, the loss of power is the most devastatDespite the warnings from ing. My generation marches. We family and friends, I took a trip speak our minds and make sure to Kroger the night after the that we are heard when we feel federal government declared a the sting of inequality. But we state of emergency to attempt to cannot stop what is happening buy some Sour Gummy Worms, now, at least not in our accusmy choice comfort food. I was tomed ways. There is no street lucky enough to grow up with that we can march down, no orthe veneer of luxury and quantity, so I wasn’t prepared to see ganization to protest, and no politician to oust. COVID-19 does shelves picked clean and people not care about gender, race, or fighting over pallets of bottled water. I don’t know what to do sexual orientation. if I run out of food. No one ever Online classes start after spring break. It will not be the taught me how to handle that same. Not at all. Though Rhodes’ and I’m scared to think of what to do if, or when, that situation commencement remains up in comes. the air, there will be no regaining the feeling that we would have I’m scared for my grandparents shared leading up to May. who both are too stubborn to go The memories that we wantto the doctor if they get sick. ed to make with our friends My grandfather is especially at are gone before they happened. risk. I live 300 miles away; if the Some of my friends have already worst were to happen, I’m unleft the city. While I would have sure if I could afford to go home. COVID-19 doesn’t scare me, but been saying goodbye in May after graduating, the abrupt ending the impacts that it has had on my feels bittersweet. I didn’t want life do. to say goodbye to them as they There is a surreal feeling to scrambled to pack their dorm find myself living through this rooms into their cars. I wanted moment in history. I was born too young to reto hug them as we crossed Rhodes’ There is no street that member the 9/11 attacks, and alcampus one last we can march down, time. though I grew up I’m not afraid with stories of the no organization of COVID-19 percivil rights moveto protest, and no sonally, and to be ment f rom my politician to oust. grandparents, I honest most of my friends aren’t. never felt connectCOVID-19 does not We ’ r e y o u n g , ed to that moment. care about gender, most of us have no My generation has pre-existing condinever really had a race, or sexual tions, and all of us defining moment. orientation. are lucky enough Though many of us remember the to have health insurance. What I am afraid of is death of Osama Bin Laden, the what comes after. The economy Paris terrorist attacks of 2015, or is more imperiled than at any the election of Barack Obama, moment in my memory, and not no event in our adult lives has afmany places are keen to hire in fected the world in the same way the middle of an epidemic. At that COVID-19 has. Now history best I have enough money to is unfolding before our eyes and we are being forced to watch. cover my rent through May. Af-

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNA TRAVERSE FOGLE

History Unfolding Before Our Eyes

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THE 2 GRAN COUPE

Introducing the 2 Series Gran Coupe—the option that’s as thrilling to drive as it is to look at. To sit in. To call your own. From its nimble posture, masterfully-tuned suspension and TwinPower Turbo engine to its premium interior, cuttingedge tech and four frameless doors, every aspect of the 2 Gran Coupe pushes the boundaries. Welcome to Option 2. Contact a Client Advisor at Roadshow BMW to take a test-drive today. BMW. The Ultimate Driving Machine.® Roadshow BMW 405 N. Germantown Parkway Memphis Cordova, TN 38018 (901) 365-2584 roadshowbmw.com Accesories shown. ©2020 BMW of North America, LLC. The BMW name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.

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T:10.25”

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At BMW we don’t believe there should be one path in life. That’s why we forged a different path. A path on which attention to detail meets physics-defying thrills. Because the status quo is option one. This is Option 2.