SPRING 2018
BUILDING C U Lt U R E
How one tech CEO promotes values via hiring, conversations
B E A PA R t OF CHANGE
What are you doing to get us to gender equality?
ADVISING VS. ENFORCING
BIGGER,
BETTER
OUR CEO OF tHE YEAR B O B F I S H E R H A S tA k E N BELmONt tO NEw HEIGHtS AND CLOSE tO HIS ENROLLmENt GOAL. H E R E ’ S w H At ’ S N E x t.
State’s money cop on making government work better
IN CHARGE 2018
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300 Attorneys. 12 Offices. Southeastern Strong. At Burr, being able to take care of our clients’ multiple legal needs is part of what makes our client relationships successful. With the firm’s Nashville expansion, we are able to better serve those client needs. Due to the firm’s continued growth in Tennessee, we are excited to announce we have moved into a new office space in Nashville.
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OPEN
CONTENTS
16
THREE QUESTIONS
Concept Technology’s James Fields on building company culture
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STILL BUILDING
CEO of the Year Bob Fisher preps Belmont for its next era
43
IN CHARGE 2018 The ninth edition of our definitive list of Nashville’s movers and shakers features numerous new faces
cover: daniel meigs right: eric england
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this is not a game for lone rangers or the faint of heart. change takes guts. it takes a clear vision, collaboration, and sheer commitment. change requires a catalyst.
experts at accelerating change thinkchangebyc3.com
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2/22/18 12:23 PM
OPEN
COnTenTs
DEPARTMENTS
08 THE JOURNEY
18
THE GOOD, BAD AND UGLY
State comptroller has seen it all regarding leadership
Nashville Food Project founder helps those in her hometown
10 THE RULES
Bass attorney discusses impact of pay ratio mandate
12 FIGURES FOR FOOD
Second Harvest leader Jaynee Day knows the numbers
13 FAST PROGRESS
Mel Taylor steers Splitsecnd along road to success
14 TECH @ WORK
How to approach aggregating, organizing key indicators
FEATURES
20 2018 ALL-STAR BOARD Six local leaders to lean on
28 MAKING EVERY MINUTE COUNT
Williamson schools chief stays focused, learns from others
32 RECHARGE, PRIORITIZE How some execs beat burnout, find work-life balance
34 BRIDGING THE EQUALITY GAP Financial gains follow gender equity
37 READING CORNER
Tivity CEO Donato Tramuto stresses getting the culture right
40 THE BIG QUESTION
Just how willing to change are you?
71 IN CHARGE INDEX
4 leaders
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eric england
2/22/18 8:41 AM
WE CONGRATULATE OUR CLIENT-FOCUSED TOP PERFORMERS OF 2017 Joe Massa Lee Paradise Vickie Saito Shane Douglas Chris Grear Anthony Lunceford Ashley Compton Jim Morris Charlotte Ford Janet Sterchi Doug Ryan
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EDITOR’S LETTER
oPEn
editorial Editor Geert De Lombaerde Managing Editor William Williams
PASSION, VISION The combination of passion and vision is a powerful force in business and elsewhere. It challenges the status quo, breaks into new territory and creates more opportunities for more people. It makes for great stories, too, and we’re honored to feature Belmont President Bob Fisher as our CEO of the Year. Fisher might not have been offered the job in the spring of 2000 had he not challenged those interviewing him about their plan to tread water and maintain enrollment at 3,000. “Not good enough” won the day and Fisher’s passion for growth and ability to execute that vision set Belmont on a path that will soon have its undergraduate student body enrollment surpass that of Vanderbilt. Similarly, Justin Wilson and Mike Looney drive their organizations with a singular focus that their teams can rally around. We hope you enjoy and are inspired by their thoughts on leadership. We’re also proud to once again present our In Charge list as part of Leaders. This year’s compilation is our ninth and features 528 people, an 8 percent increase from 2017 and 20 percent larger than 2015’s version. We don’t think that means our standards are getting less stringent with time. It’s more an indication that Nashville’s continued growth is producing a new generation of go-getters who are doing their part to lead Music City into its next era. Here at the Post — and at our sister publications Nfocus and the Scene — we also are entering a new era under the helm of Publisher Amy Mularski, who joined us early this year from The Pitch in Kansas City. We’re already benefiting tremendously from her passion and vision and are excited about what’s ahead. We appreciate your support and look forward to talking with you soon. geert de lombaerde, Editor gdelombaerde@nashvillepost.com
Contributing WritErs Lena Anthony, Steve Cavendish, Stephen Elliott, Nancy Floyd, Amanda Haggard, Steven Hale, Holly Hoffman, D. Patrick Rodgers, Jason Saitta, Stephen Trageser
art art dirECtor Christie Passarello staFF PhotograPhErs Eric England, Daniel Meigs
production ProduCtion Coordinator Matt Bach graPhiC dEsignErs Abbie Leali, Liz Loewenstein, Melanie Mays
publishing PublishEr Amy Mularski advErtising dirECtor Heather Cantrell Mullins businEss dEvEloPMEnt dirECtor Jennifer Trsinar aCCount EXECutivEs Maggie Bond, Rachel Dean, Michael Jezewski, Carla Mathis, Hilary Parsons, Mike Smith, Stevan Steinhart, Keith Wright salEs oPErations ManagEr Chelon Hill Hasty aCCount ManagErs Rachel Hellewell, Gary Minnis
marketing EvEnts dirECtor Lynsie Shackelford ProMotions ManagEr Olivia Moye
circulation subsCriPtion ManagEr Gary Minnis CirCulation ManagEr Casey Sanders
SouthComm Chief Financial Officer Bob Mahoney Chief Operating Officer Blair Johnson Vice President of Production Operations Curt Pordes Creative Director Heather Pierce 210 12TH AVE. S., SUITE 100 NASHVILLE, TN 37203 WWW.NASHVILLEPOST.COM Nashville Post is published quarterly by SouthComm. Advertising deadline for the next issue is Friday, April 27, 2018. For advertising and subscription information, call 615-844-9307. Copyright © 2018 SouthComm, LLC.
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PARTNER LETTER
CapStar Bank
is proud to sponsor the “In Charge” issue of the Nashville Post magazine once again. We always enjoy this issue and find insight in the unique stories it contains. We believe CapStar bankers also provide valuable insight to our clients and friends. As 2018 begins, the path ahead for Nashville—and for CapStar—is bright. In July, CapStar will celebrate its 10th Anniversary, and there is much to celebrate. We opened our doors here in Nashville, and our associates are your friends and neighbors. Whether you need a mortgage, advice for financing or growing your business or a personal checking account, CapStar offers clients of all ages a satisfying combination of high touch and high tech alternatives. Our associates embrace the importance of personal service, advice and responsiveness. Through our CapStar Cares program, we support our community through volunteer activities at various nonprofits, from human services to arts organizations. Greenwich Associates recently completed a Customer Experience Evaluation revealing very positive feedback. Customers appreciate that our bankers are proactive in presenting new commercial solutions to current clients as well as prospective ones. The majority of our commercial customers consider CapStar their primary Treasury Management Services provider, an endorsement of the sophistication and technological advantages inherent in our product array. And we were excited to discover that the willingness of our clients to advocate and recommend CapStar are above industry norms. If you are ready for a truly satisfying banking relationship where you feel valued, please visit with us. You will find our approach to every client is individualized and specifically tuned in to fulfilling your needs. If you are already a CapStar client, thank you for your business and your confidence in our team!
Claire W. Tucker
President and Chief Executive Officer
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oPEN
THe JOUrneY
THE JOURNEY TALLU SCHUYLER QUINN NASHVILLE Food ProjEct
It wasn’t the most direct career path. A daughter of Nashville artists, Tallu Schuyler Quinn earned a bachelor’s degree in papermaking and bookbinding, then a master’s in divinity from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She moved to Nicaragua where she worked on food security projects for an NGO. Then she returned home to Nashville, where she’s spent the better part of a decade building the organization now known as the Nashville Food Project, an organization that grows, cooks and shares nutritious food in an effort to build community and alleviate hunger.
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THE JOURNEY
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I’ve always loved to cook. Cooking is very creative. After college, I applied to one culinary school and three divinity schools, and ended up at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where I quickly became a cook for an antipoverty nonprofit. After New York, I had a really shitty job at a grocery store in Boston, where one of my tasks at the end of the day was to go to the meat section and pull all the meat that was two days before its sell-by date, put it in a garbage bag and throw it away in the dumpsters in the back. That went against every bone in my body. Even though this was a dead-end job for me, you just never know what experiences you have end up informing later work that really is meaningful. That experience exposed me personally to the egregious waste built into our food economy. In Nicaragua, I was lonely, lacking the resource of relationships. To come
ming or meals for seniors. We have 19 staff and each month somewhere between 450 and 550 different individuals volunteering. We have six gardens and two kitchens. We’re recovering food from food donors and grocers, so that needs to go to the right kitchens, and all of that food is being prepped by volunteers, then being given to volunteers to cook into meals, then going out on food trucks to all the partners. It’s an enormous equation of coordination among our staff, and they are extraordinary. For the volunteers, it’s an amazing opportunity to interface with somebody coming out of prison alongside someone who’s never met somebody who’s been incarcerated. A table is so naturally suited to be a place where people talk about things, and food is at once a medium that can bring us together because it’s something we have in common, but then it
‘You just never know what experiences You have end up informing later work that r e a l l Y i s m e a n i n g f u l .’ back from there to my hometown and have an opportunity to start this, where I did have a lot of resources of relationship, that is a currency. I came back and understood with fresh eyes how important those things are. Now the Nashville Food Project’s garden program and meals program prepares and shares about 3,100 highquality, made-from-scratch meals each week with 25 nonprofit partner sites. Those partners could be offering a GED program for women, gang prevention programming, after-school program-
also can be an opportunity to grease the wheels for difficult conversations. For nine and a half years, Woodmont Christian Church has been an extreme supporter of our organization by giving us rent-free space, but we’ve really outgrown what the church can give us and we need more space and a commercial kitchen. We purchased a piece of property in The Nations last year and we’re in a capital campaign to build a brand new headquarters with an incredible commercial kitchen and space for involving more volunteers.
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OPEN
THe rUles
THE RULES
PAY RATIO DISCLOSURES Bass attorney expects new mandate will create reactions from investors, unions, others
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Per the massive Dodd-Frank Act, publicly traded companies will this spring begin reporting the ratio between the compensation of their CEO and their median worker. The rule has its fair share of detractors, and some observers had expected the Trump administration to revoke it. But that hasn’t happened. That means median employees have now been identified, various compensation totals have been tallied and dry runs have been performed. Andrea Orr, a member at Bass Berry & Sims, says many companies will still have some discretion in how they calculate parts of their 2018 ratios. As thousands of comparisons become readily available during the course of the year, it’s likely that best practices and quasi-standards will emerge in various industries that will help shape executives’ approaches for 2019. One area where that is most likely to be apparent, Orr says, is in companies’ discussion of their ratios in their proxy statements. She expects most executive teams will limit their discussion to “a sentence or two” in large part to see what others are doing this year. Critics of the new rule say it won’t provide a useful measuring stick of company performance or even corporate governance practices because of the multitude of factors that feature into the ratios that will be published. And while a number of constituents won’t pay much attention to the new data points, Orr says some labor unions and institutional investors will be keen to use them to push for pay or governance changes. Similarly, proxy advisory firms might over time incorporate the ratios into the recommendations they make to investors. “We will see all kinds of reactions. Companies will be interested in their peers’ numbers and we could see some changes in year two,” Orr says, adding that extra scrutiny from certain investors also might lead to action. “Nobody will want to be the company singled out at the end of proxy seasons as the one with the highest ratio.” daniel meigs
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OPEN
TOUCHING BASE
FIGURES FOR FOOD
Our 2017 CEO of the Year Jaynee Day knows the numbers by William Williams
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Jaynee Day’s job is often defined by numbers. The Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee president and CEO, Day oversees a nonprofit for which figures are critical. For example, in 2017, Second Harvest helped provide 27 million meals to people, while supporting the distribution of 9.5 million pounds of fresh produce and 32 million pounds overall (including shelf-stable food). On a similar theme, the nonprofit helped serve last year almost 172,600 meals and snacks through its Kids Cafe and At-Risk Afterschool Meal Programs and donated about 94,000 volunteer hours in the monumental task of feeding tens of thousands of hungry people. Those are eye-catching numbers, indeed. And helpful to an organization that now works with seven farms in Davidson County alone and oversees the effort to help almost 400,000 foodinsecure Tennesseans. And on the numbers theme, 2018 marks Day’s 30th with Second Harvest and the 40th of the nonprofit’s operations. “This is a milestone year for Second Harvest,” Day says. “As I reflect on what we’ve been able to accomplish together over the decades, I am immensely grateful for the generosity of this com-
Jaynee Day
munity. As we look ahead, we’re striving to build greater capacity to allow even more people in Middle and West Tennessee to access the nutritious foods they need.” Last year, Second Harvest broke ground on a West Tennessee facility in Camden, and is now seeing the installation of a massive 13,000-square-foot freezer at its Martin Distribution Center in MetroCenter. Both projects are part of $20 million capital campaign called Setting the Table for the Future. Launched in 2015, the campaign has generated about $8 million. “The goal is to extend the Nashville footprint, to increase capacity and distribution, and to add additional centers in Benton County in West Tennessee and Rutherford County,” Day says. The progress has not come without effort and sacrifice. When Day started at Second Harvest in 1988, the nonprofit had fewer than 10 employees and moved 1.5 million pounds of food. Those days — and such modest, comparatively, figures — are part of a very distant past for Day, who graduated from Missouri-based Park University in the 1970s and came to Nashville in 1988 from Des Moines. “I didn’t understand the impact hunger has on people’s lives,” Day says of that time 30 years ago. “But I learned quickly and got hooked on the front end. I’ve been going strong ever since. It’s not hard because the mission of feeding hungry people is so very compelling. “Our work is far from over, but together we can create a hunger-free Tennessee.”
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TOUCHING BASE
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FAST PROGRESS
Splitsecnd leader Mel Taylor seeks to capture market share with tech device entity by William Williams MEL TAYLOR
In October 2016 and March 2017, the Post interviewed local entrepreneur and Splitsecnd President and CEO Mel Taylor regarding her technology company. Much has happened since then with the eight-year-old company, which offers a portable device that allows crash detection, emergency assistance and vehicle monitoring. As 2016 ended, Splitsecnd (stylized as “splitsecnd”) was surging, having added employees and partnering with a local software development company during the year. Fast forward five months later and the company’s partnership with Germa-
ny-based SAP was evolving rapidly. SAP (systems, applications and products in data processing) discovered Splitsecnd during its yearly accelerator program. Splitsecnd was accepted into the multinational software corporation’s insurance and mobility categories. It represented one of the first times a company had accomplished such a feat with SAP, which bills itself as offering regional offices in 130 countries, with 345,000 customers in 180 countries. Taylor says Splitsecnd enjoyed a strong 2017. “When we last spoke I [noted] Splitsecnd has been focused on penetrating
the European market, leveraging new legislation (eCall) that goes into effect at the end of March,” she tells the Post. “We are in a strong position to capture market share as we have the only certified aftermarket device that meets eCall operational statutes. “We spent a significant amount of time in France in Q4 last year, and we are now reaping the benefits of that strategic decision as we expect to close our first distribution deal by the end of [February] with three others close behind.” Splitsecnd was founded in 2010 as a conceptual app by then-Vanderbilt University undergraduates William Green and Chris Thompson. In 2014, the company acquired the rights to the app and patents, with Taylor relaunching it as it is known today via JumpStart Foundry. At that point, Taylor realized the device
would best flourish if it were standalone and fully self-functioning. That pivot is complete. “We invested in a chief revenue officer at the end of 2017 with the goal of significant sales growth in both Europe and the United States,” she says. “We are focusing on the senior market here in the U.S. and have just partnered with one of the top five public employees’ retirement system companies, which, through Splitsecnd, sees the opportunity of providing its customers with 24/7 safety response services on the road and the home. This is something the company has not been able to do to date.” Taylor says a 2018 goal is to acquire 100,000 users by year’s end. She also wants to build upon the virtual reality capabilities that Splitsecnd integrated into its system in 2017.
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TeCH @ WOrK
TECH @WORK CEO DASHBOARDS How to think about aggregating, sifting through key indicators
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Emerging analytics, business intelligence and data visualization tools are aggregating more information than could have been dreamed of just a few years ago. That has tremendous potential to provide important insights to executives — and to confuse and snow-blind those leaders more thoroughly than ever before. Here are few things to keep in mind as you set out to build or refine your dashboard. • It’s just fine to be picky — Advisory Board Company researchers looking into dashboards used by nearly 50 hospitals and health systems said they should include only 15 to 30 data elements so that CEOs can keep track of the essentials. • Find a balance — Beth Chase of local firm c3/ consulting says leaders should build in both leading and lagging indicators and key performance indicators focused on growth as well as measures of operational effectiveness and culture or team engagement. • Look for predictive elements — Historical performance numbers can provide useful perspectives but by themselves won’t steer you to take appropriate action. Look to incorporate metrics from your business that give you a sense of where things are headed. • Build in action triggers — That Advisory Board study of health systems showed that effective leaders included both fixed targets to be benchmarks and relative targets that flagged deviations from expected performance trends. • Align your leaders — It’s critical to educate your senior executives and other top managers about the key performance indicators you’re watching. Says Chase: “They need to understand the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ behind them and then need to internalize the ‘how’ that they can make them happen through their specific role.” • Remember the limits — Keep in mind what you want your dashboard to do: give you a top-line overview and draw your attention to outliers and emerging trends. From there, it’s almost always still up to you to apply your understanding of the details and nuances of your business to the flags your dashboard is raising.
spring 2018 | NASHVILLEpOsT.COM
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2/22/18 1:08 PM
opEN
THree QUesTiOns
THREE QUESTIONS JAMES FIELDS CoNCEpt tECHNoLogy
James Fields founded managed services company Concept Technology in 2003. Now based near First Tennessee Park, the firm is home to more than 40 people and has made the Inc. 5000 list of the country’s fastest-growing companies seven years in a row. The company also has been named to Entrepreneur magazine’s ‘Top 10 Best Company Culture’ list. Fields chatted recently with Post Editor Geert De Lombaerde about how he built and has maintained the company’s culture. What did your approach to building a strong culture look like early on? I set out to build a good culture when Concept Technology was a zero-dollar, one-employee company. I was at home with my wife and suggested to her, “I’m going to quit my job and start a business.” She asked what I wanted to do and I said IT outsourcing. I didn’t know how to do that but I knew that if I figured out how to take care of my people and build a good team, that would help grow the business. And if the company acted in clients’ best interests, it wouldn’t be a complete disaster. I wanted to build a company I would want to work for. That was my vision — beer on Fridays, a fun place and those things. It was self-serving in a way. A lot of businesses looking for a good culture are doing it in a turnaround setting and will try things like that. But if it’s inauthentic, it doesn’t really work. You want the good and fun things of working somewhere to be a byproduct of a culture, not the causes of a culture.
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THREE QUESTIONS
Early on at Concept, we used a casual group interview as part of our recruiting process. We had a lot of mishires early on but we learned what the characteristics are that we want: humility, curiosity and vulnerability. Now, we talk early and often about these qualities during our interview process. We want people who are curious, humble and willing to be vulnerable. We can work with them all day long. But not having those qualities can breed toxicity into your culture. We need everyone to be an active participant in what we’re building, not an observer/critic/judge. When did you feel like you had truly figured out that how to make that mission work day to day and how did that evolve as your team grew? It was about five years ago that things truly came into focus. To be honest, early on we lacked the courage to terminate people over this. You know how it is in a small business: Every part counts in a major way, whether it’s in sales or service delivery. But when we as a leadership team started talking about this a lot, a number of observer/critic/judge people started
open
I’ll moderate those but I’m not at the head of the table. That gives people a chance to stay turned into what’s happening across the company and it gives me the chance to check in on the triangle — the model we use to ensure we are balancing the needs of our clients, our team and our business. Does that approach automatically lead to a much flatter organization — and how does that change the way you use your time? Our organization is superflat in that we don’t have an org chart. No one reports to someone else who then reports to someone else who then reports to me. It has created a different way of communicating. Just this morning, I was on a laptop in our café, talking to folks as they came in and out. At one point, it was a 24-year-old support engineer. At other points, it was some of our more senior people. Conversations like that help people see where they plug in and helps them keep an eye on the bigger goals for the company. If a CEO isn’t willing to be vulnerable like that, you’re not going to have a great culture. Then the CEO and other senior
‘You want the good and fun things of working somewhere to be a b Y p r o d u c t o f a c u lt u r e , n o t t h e c a u s e s o f a c u l t u r e .’ self-selecting out of the group. Then we really began emphasizing the qualities in almost every conversation we have. We definitely had to tweak things as we grew the business. Somewhere around 15 to 20 people — we’re at more than 50 now — it got to be difficult to stick to our original approach. About two years ago, we realized the weekly allstaff had turned into one person speaking at a podium and that wasn’t working as well as we wanted. So we broke up into four groups — all with members of our various teams — who meet every other week in roundtables.
leaders will be worried about sharing information or letting show what they don’t know. Communication and alignment are so important to getting the culture right. As it pertains to me balancing my schedule, I lean a ton on Bridget, my executive assistant. I see her as my professional manager and she really helps me manage my time. I don’t have the technical knowledge our clients need so I don’t get involved with what we’re doing day to day. On the flip side, that helps me focus on how I want to spend my 2018 — with prospects, clients and our people, especially new hires.
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daniel meigs
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FEATURES
CHeCK
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
When it comes to leadership, Tennessee’s top money cop has seen it all by STEpHEN ELLIoTT
e calls himself the money cop. In nearly a decade as Tennessee comptroller of the treasury, Justin P. Wilson has seen it all: corruption, theft, mismanagement and greed. And good leadership, too, though that rarely makes the news. Wilson’s constitutional duties include auditing state government agencies and local governmental bodies in Tennessee, ranging anywhere from reviewing the management of statewide programs like TennCare to the operations of a high school basketball booster club in rural Tennessee. The mission statement of his office is, “To make government work better,” and he even has a faux-Make America Great Again hat that says, “Make Government Work Better.” Prior to assuming the office in 2009, Wilson was a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and deputy governor for policy under then-Gov. Don Sundquist. The Post spoke with Wilson about the lessons he has learned from reviewing leadership and management in public bodies for the past decade.
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Who do you like to hire? I’m not always the very best judge of people. At the front end when I first meet them, I really trust people. I believe they can do the work. I really encourage every employee ... to wake up in the morning and come to work and wonder what sort of challenge you’re going to solve today. Have you made the comptroller position a more robust job? I don’t know if we have or not. We believe in making government work better. We honestly do. I want to take every step we can to make government work better. What are some traits of managers who are doing well? It’s difficult to generalize with any real accuracy, but the No. 1 characteristic is honesty. Believing in what you can do is important. Really believe that what you’re doing actually makes a difference.
Some people like to solve crossword puzzles. Some people like to do Sudoku. I like to make government work better. If you really believe in what you’re doing and want to do a good job, then things work. Are people responding well to that? Oh yes. Usually when the comptroller comes to see you, it starts off as not a very good sign. If you come to the comptroller’s office with a problem, it is a very good sign. People come to you? Absolutely, and we encourage that. The results usually are very different when you come to us to get help than when you get caught. What sort of problem might they bring you? All sorts of problems. Not knowing how to do things. Or if you find something that’s not working.
ERIC ENGLAND
2/22/18 8:52 AM
CHeCK
FEATURES
What are they? I really believe that a government can best serve its people if it really has a basis of fiscal responsibility and financial responsibility. I really believe that. Taking care of money? That’s why I call myself the money cop. I believe that Tennessee is doing a wonderful job of doing that. Has the state always done a strong job? Nope. What are some things that used to happen that don’t anymore? If you just look at the attitude of many of our employees, for example, the attitude is, “I have a job in state government and that job is my job for life. I don’t need to do anything else. I’m here forever. And you can’t do anything about it.” I think that attitude is declining and declining dramatically. Because of efforts by people like you? Of course I’d like to claim all the credit, but I don’t think it’s true. If you’re a good leader, you have followers. And if you do this and show these characteristics, then it flows through the entire system.
Finding yourself in over your head? That’s part of it. Or you have difficult decisions. Our laws are very difficult to understand and you need help to do something, or you want experience or want to see how other people do things. I feel it’s much better to be an advisor than to be an enforcer. Are there any crossover lessons for private business? Absolutely. I think that it’s really important to have people believe in what your organization is doing, and to really identify with the goals of the organization and to really try to make your audience, whichever it is, function better. What has been the response from organizations you’ve criticized? It’s been different. Some of them are very appreciative and they really want to do better and they do better. We’ve had some very remarkable
success stories that I’m very proud of. And we’ve had others who just resist. Does that make it exciting to come to work, seeing those improvements? The improvements are really good. Making government work better is a good feeling. It really is. Why do you care about that? I can’t say that there’s any great moral view or anything like that. I really enjoy what I’m doing and I really enjoy solving problems and I guess that’s a problem I found to solve. How do you define “good government”? I don’t know if there’s a definition of what makes good government. Many people have different ideas about what good government is. And I have my own ideas and they may not be universally shared.
A lot of politicians say they want to make government run like a business. Do you see any logic in that? There’s a lot that government should do like business. But the purpose of government is to deliver services to the people. That’s not the purpose of business. The purpose of business is to make money. In many cases, there are very common characteristics that a good business will make money because it does certain things. Just like a government will deliver better services to the people within the cost structure that it has if it does certain things, and often they’re very similar. Have you seen a trend toward better management? I think that in the operations level, the executive branch is really far better managed operationally under Gov. Haslam than it was in the last two years under Gov. Bredesen. What makes a bad leader? Arbitrariness. Haughtiness. Thinking that you can do no wrong. Rudeness.
NASHVILLEPOST.COM
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BOard
2018
ALL STAR BOARD Middle Tennessee’s business and nonprofit sectors thrive on collaboration, on the willingness of so many to share their time, experiences and connections so that others can succeed. That spirit is the inspiration behind our All-Star Boards, which we began assembling in 2013 to showcase the breadth of expertise available to area entrepreneurs of all stripes. The people profiled here represent a range of skills and a proven willingness to contribute to the greater good.
O u r pa s t a l l - s ta r B O a r d memBers and where they w O r k e d at t h e t i m e w e prOfiled them
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HARRY ALLEN
STUdIo bANk
An expert in financial management and administration — especially of nonprofits — Allen started in banking in 2000 at SunTrust while attending Belmont. He moved to the former Avenue Bank in 2011 after spending three years at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee. A year ago, he joined the team launching Studio Bank, which is expected to open its doors later this year. He was tapped by Mayor Megan Barry to serve on the governing board of the Hospital Authority overseeing Nashville General Hospital and has been a Belmont trustee since early 2016. He also is the treasurer of the board of the Center for Nonprofit Management and in December was elected president-elect of the Rotary Club of Nashville, a role he will take on in June.
FRANK BUMSTEAD
FLood bUmSTEAd m C CREAdy & m C CARTHy
Few people in Nashville can rival Bumstead’s arc of experience across more than four decades. He has helped grow his music business management firm and advised numerous businesses on their sales, including CMT’s to the former Gaylord Entertainment. His business board service spans manufacturing (Nashville Wire) as well as retail (United Supermarkets of Texas) and education (Watkins College of Art and Design) while he also has dedicated parts of his time to the American Red Cross, Junior Achievement and others. Looking for a final data point to help show Bumstead’s value as an advisor? His fellow directors of Brookdale Senior Living last year approved an exception to the company’s policy requiring board members to step down at age 75.
2013>
John Aron, The Pasta Shoppe • Jan Babiak, Women Corporate Directors Agenia Clark, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee • Marc Fortune, Force Five Debbie Gordon, S3 Asset Management • Richard Herrington, Franklin Synergy Bank Kevin Lavender, Fifth Third Bank • Mike Shmerling, XMi • Don Williamson, Compass Executives
2014>
Tawn Albright, Vanderbilt University • Jim Lackey, Complete Holdings Group Scott McWilliams, OHL • Julia Polk, W Squared • Lynn Simon, Community Health Systems Dwayne Tucker, Compass Executives
spring 2018 | NASHVILLEpOsT.COM
2/22/18 8:54 AM
BOard
REBECCA FINLEY
RAY GUZMAN
A former television journalist (who minored in ballet at Loyola University New Orleans), Finley is a marketing and communications strategist who spent more than a dozen years at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. During that stint, she oversaw the growth of the organization’s Big Payback community day of giving initiative and led the crisis response to the regional floods of 2010. She also has worked with the American Cancer Society’s regional division and is a board member of End Slavery Tennessee. At Executive Aura, Finley also works with clients on corporate culture and CEO relations and perception.
A former soldier who attained the rank of non-commissioned officer in three years, Guzman is an IT specialist who was a top performer for Microsoft, where he was the tech giant’s account executive at HCA. In 2012, he moved to analytics venture WPC Healthcare, rising to CEO and helping orchestrate a 2015 buyout of the firm from its parent. Last year, he sold WPC to Intermedix, where he is now senior VP of analytics. Beyond his day jobs, Guzman has served on the boards of the Alzheimer’s Association and the Brentwood Family YMCA, among others. He was picked by Gov. Bill Haslam to spend six months on a task force looking into the state’s approach to open data and last year was elected to board of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
ExEcUTIVE AURA
INTERmEdIx
FEATURES
JIM VARALLO
TERRY VO
Varallo is a veteran entrepreneur who ran a regional distributor of canned meats, fruits and vegetables before selling and turning to commercial real estate, including plans for a big riverfront marina and condo development in Donelson. But he stayed active in the M&A arena and has now spent more than two decades advising private companies — in manufacturing, consumer goods and tech, among other sectors — on their strategic options. Varallo is a licensed pilot and Coast Guard Captain who spends a good bit of his free time on the cruiser “Snap Shot,” named after his wife and local public relations exec Deb.
Vo is a dynamic up-and-comer who brings a global perspective to her work in communications, advocacy and project management. While earning her international relations degree at the University of Arkansas, she interned at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. She later worked for the Japan Exchange and Teaching program both in Tokyo and here, where she oversaw a five-state recruitment program. She helped market Australian city Brisbane to the world and directed communications for Jeremy Kane’s mayoral campaign before joining Comcast. She has been involved with MakeA-Wish Middle Tennessee since 2010 and also is a board member of Nashville Dismas House and Big Brothers Big Sisters, among others.
WHITEHoRSE PARTNERS
comcAST
2015>
Steve Curnutte, Tortola Advisors • Jay Graves, Strategic Solutions for Business • Gavin Ivester, Flo {thinkery} Betsy Jones, The Countdown Group • Scott Kozicki, Brentwood Capital Advisors • Sarah Meyerrose, Civic Bank & Trust
2016>
Jim Armistead, Regions Bank • Tony Heard, InfoWorks • Nancy Falls, The Concinnity Company Mark Dixon, USr Healthcare • Deb Varallo, Varallo Public Relations
2017>
Jean Ann Banker, civic leader • Cece McCormick-Moore, Soles4Souls • Sharon Roberson, YWCA Tara Scarlett, Scarlett Family Foundation • Bo Spessard, 1115 Group
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CeO OF THe Year
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CeO OF THe Year
STILL BUILDING N e a r ly t w o d e c a d e s i N , o u r c e o o f the year BoB fisher is prepariNg BelmoNt for a slight chaNge of pace By stepheN elliott
ob Fisher’s tenure as president of Belmont University is about as old as the school’s incoming freshmen. When he was appointed to the position in April 2000, Belmont had fewer than 3,000 students, a formal affiliation with the Tennessee Baptist Convention and no pharmacy or law school. None of those things is true today. The growth — in terms of enrollment, geography and academic reach, as well as on other fronts — was both part of a grand plan and a departure from one. Before he was hired for the job, Fisher recalls now, he frankly assessed the university’s recently completed strategic plan, which called for Belmont’s enrollment to remain steady around 3,000 students for the foreseeable future. “I don’t think it’s a very good idea,” he remembers telling his interviewers. “You can be a great liberal arts college at 3,000, but you can’t be a great professional university at 3,000.”
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Fisher won that debate. The school’s enrollment has more than doubled during his tenure. The student body surpassed 8,000 last fall, and Fisher thinks 8,888 students would be optimal. With graduate degrees in business administration and management, and a stint as dean of the business school at Henderson State University in Arkansas, Fisher says he saw the issue facing him during his interviews as an economics question. Belmont already had programs in nursing, physical therapy, business and music when Fisher came aboard — professional programs that, he says, “require extensive, quality facilities if you’re going to be the best at it.” But the scale wasn’t right to make that happen. Belmont needed to grow and have each additional student tack on relatively low costs with high margins. That would allow the school to afford top-notch facilities for its name-brand music business program and other academic disciplines. Even as enrollment topped 5,000, then 6,000 and then 7,000, Fisher says it was important to maintain roughly the same student-to-teacher ratios. “Most people think [with] a university, you’re going to grow and you’re going to reduce your quality. It’s really the opposite for us,” Fisher says. “We’ve grown and our quality has gone through the roof.”
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To support that claim, the university cites 2014, when the school cracked the top 5 in U.S. News & World Report’s regional rankings for the first time. A year later, its young law school posted the highest bar passage rate in the state, beating out its elite neighbor Vanderbilt. The university’s decision to build that law school — made in the midst of a nasty recession — surprised some, but Fisher says he saw a market opportunity. As he viewed it, Nashville School of Law offers a part-time legal education and Vanderbilt has elite admissions standards. Surely there were students in Middle Tennessee who sought a full-time legal education but couldn’t get into Vanderbilt, Fisher posited. So far, he’s mostly been proven right. And a number of splashy hires has kept Belmont’s name in the news. Belmont appointed former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dean of its law college in 2014. Gonzales was not a squeaky-clean choice: Critics in Nashville continue to point out his involvement in some of the seedier aspects of the George W. Bush presidency. But Gonzales is a big name who often appears in national media, accompanied by the name of the Belmont University College of Law. It’s name exposure that’s tough to buy. Also in 2014, retiring Nashville District Attorney Torry Johnson joined the college’s faculty. And last year, President Donald Trump appointed a Belmont law professor, Donald Cochran, to serve as U.S. attorney in Nashville. Both are the type of additions long reserved for the more established law school near West End Avenue. The BU law school’s first students began classes in 2011. Fisher says the school created tracks in entertainment law and health care law to better, and more specifically, prepare its students for work in two prominent Nashville industries. Starting from scratch in the 21st century, the school was also able to reimagine the economics of decades-old law schools with clunky, analog law libraries and relatively low student to faculty ratios. “When you’re the new kid in town, you get to start over,” Fisher says. “When I look back on it, I probably should have been more afraid, but I wasn’t.”
Smarts and foresight Fisher has proven unafraid to place big bets that have paid off. Philanthropist and businessman Gordon Inman, who has served as a Belmont trustee since the early 1980s and has been board vice chairman for more than a decade,
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says Fisher and his wife, Judy, are Belmont’s “greatest asset.” He has nicknamed Fisher “Bob the Builder,” in part because the school has added some 10 new buildings during Fisher’s tenure. “We’re at 8,000 [students], but we’re not through growing. Bob the Builder is not through,” Inman says. “I don’t know what the future holds for Belmont, but all I can tell you [is] I’m proud to be part of it.” Part of Inman’s confidence in Fisher is that business background. “A lot of the presidents of these universities know nothing about business, and Bob has all those talents of not only being a great president of a university, but he’s got the résumé and the background and the smarts on the business side,” he says. “We wouldn’t be building one building a year if it wasn’t for somebody like Bob who had the foresight to see it and being able to put the numbers together and the money together and the plan together to do it.” Belmont’s story has also been about more than bricks and mortar, though. Fisher and other Belmont leaders also have repeatedly sought to burnish the school’s reputation. Perhaps most notable among those moves was Belmont hosting one of three 2008 presidential debates between John McCain and Barack Obama. As the stock market collapsed and the economy began to shrink painfully, millions of Americans watched the presidential candidates spar in the Curb Event Center, which had opened in 2003 as one of the first visual landmarks of Fisher’s tenure (and this spring will host a Davis Cup match). As with Gonzales, it’s hard to buy that kind of name exposure to thousands of potential students. Another major development during Fisher’s tenure had come a year earlier, when Belmont and the Tennessee Baptist Convention concluded a bitter legal dispute over university trustees’ ability to
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appoint their own successors in an attempt to widen their reach. The resolution called for Belmont to pay the convention $11 million over more than four decades and allowed the school to maintain its Christian identity but act more independently. “We have a lot of students who aren’t Christians in our school. We have students of other faiths, and we have students who have never really been thoughtful about the issue of faith,” Fisher says. “We just try to create an environment that reflects God’s love, grace, mercy, kindness and,” he laughs, “occasionally wrath.”
expand 50 acres anyWhere.
It was a bold idea — too bold, critics said — when Belmont suggested investing millions of dollars in Metro-owned E.S. Rose Park so that the school could build soccer, softball and baseball fields for its teams, offloading valuable acreage from the crowded campus to the public park in Edgehill. Many neighbors criticized the plan. They wondered if college sporting events would crowd their streets with cars. They chafed at turning over their public park to a private entity. Fisher has always contended the arrangement was a win-win. Belmont gets the nice athletic facilities it wanted and couldn’t fit on campus. Metro Parks gets annual rent payments and a maintained park. Neighbors get a shiny, clean park to replace the dilapidated (at least according to Belmont) one that was there. Belmont eventually got its way, and the school’s athletic teams use the park 30 percent of the time, Fisher says. “It took an existing piece of property and made it better, and I think everyone that I talk to agrees now that was a good idea,” he says. “It’s good for the neighborhood, and the kids have something of real quality to play on over there. It was neglected and run-down and all kinds of bad stuff was happening there. Now the only bad stuff that happens is maybe we lose a baseball game.”
W e j u s t c a n ’ t .’
True to the tune
Moving outward The TBC split grabbed major headlines. Expansion in the years since has caused growing pains that put Fisher and Belmont administrators in the spotlight in other ways. To facilitate the doubling of their student body, Belmont leaders have consistently sought to expand the school’s geographic footprint, gobbling up surrounding homes. They have placated homeowners with a good price and a soft landing but nevertheless changing their neighborhood forever.
‘We’re not going to
bob fisher
Fisher asserts that “everybody’s happy to sell to Belmont” — he says neighbors get a markup of 50 to 80 percent when they strike a deal — but the school’s steady expansion over the years has at times ruffled the feathers of residents and preservation activists. Those rumblings have receded in recent years. A Belmont spokesperson says the university has grown its property holdings by 30 percent during Fisher’s tenure, primarily by moving east toward 12th Avenue South. The university has grown vertically, too, building several underground parking garages to drastically reduce the surface-level impact of students’ space-hungry cars and adding height, most notably with a nearly completed $80 million residential tower informally called “Tall Hall.” “When we decided we needed to grow, I started looking for places to do that,” Fisher says. “We had to make some real fundamental strategic decisions about how to build, because we had land that’s very, very scarce for us right there in the neighborhood.”
Newer programs in law, pharmacy and more — witness the recent acquisition of O’More College of Design in Franklin — have broadened Belmont’s appeal. But its bread and butter, its heart, has remained the same: music business. Students from across the country flock to Music City to break into the business, and many of them turn to Belmont to get a foot in the door. Most music business students at Belmont are from out of state — in contrast, nursing students overwhelmingly come from Tennessee — and are interested in an industry that has been flipped on its head during Fisher’s tenure. Coveted jobs on Music Row are still there, but more and more students are joining entrepreneurial endeavors — in the words of Fisher, they’re “the ones that are figuring out how to get paid for doing music,” including by developing apps or working for other new companies on the cutting edge of music delivery technology. “We’ve been trying to grow [our other programs] because we think that [music business] is our brand, but at the same time we didn’t want to put all of our bets on music in a world
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G R OW I N G W I T H N AS H V I L L E S I N C E 1 8 9 5
ACKLEN | BELLE MEADE | BRENTWOOD | GREEN HILLS | FIVE POINTS
FA M I LY O W N E D . FA M I LY O P E R AT E D . H I L LC E N T E R G R E E N H I L L S.COM | H G H I L L .COM | H I L LC E N T E R B R E N T WO O D.COM
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FEATURES
CeO OF THe Year
‘He can visualize tHe
18 YEARS OF BELMONT MILESTONES
future better tHan anybody i’ve ever
aprIl 2000 Bob Fisher appointed president
k n o w n .’ G o r d o n
september 2003 Curb Event Center opens
Inman
where, over the last 18 years, the business has transformed itself,” Fisher says. Next up for Fisher is a broader transformation of Belmont as a whole. Two decades of rapid expansion are nearly complete. The school’s enrollment is nearing what Fisher claims is its optimal level, with an undergraduate population that will soon match Vanderbilt’s. There are fewer and fewer neighborhood properties available for the school to purchase. “We try to acquire property all around us every chance we get. But the reality is, we’re not going to expand 50 acres anywhere,” he says. “We just can’t. It won’t happen.” From this point forward, Fisher says, the plan is “to focus really intensively on maximizing the experience within that community.” Fisher’s primary focus in the coming years is likely to be on fundraising. Nearly two years ago, he launched the “We Believe” capital plan with the goal of raising $300 million by 2020. The millions in new contributions will go to endowed scholarships, endowed chairs and professorships, Christian missions support for students and athletics funding — all goals that take up no more room. Belmont is more than $150 million to that goal, helped by a number of major contributions — including its largest ever, $15 million from the Ayers Foundation, to endow scholarships based on financial need. In announcing the campaign, Fisher touted the successes of his tenure: new academic buildings, the presidential debate and a new place among U.S. News’ rankings. “We have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams,” he said. “But we believe this is only the beginning.” Inman is adamant that the president who has overseen that “beginning” — and nearly two decades of rapid growth — is the same man to oversee a new, slightly different phase focused more on improving from within. “He can visualize the future better than anybody I’ve ever known.”
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Fa l l 2005 Enrollment passes 4,000 students november 2007 Lawsuit settled, relationship ends with Tennessee Baptist Convention 2007 University adds songwriting major
January 2006
Initiates Metro partnership that led to renovation at Rose Park
auGust 2008 First pharmacy students enroll Fa l l 2009 Enrollment passes 5,000 Fa l l 2011 Enrollment passes 6,000 september 2011 First law students enroll June 2012 New program in motion pictures announced J u ly 2 0 1 2 Athletics programs join Ohio Valley Conference
october 2008
Hosts Town Hall Presidential Debate
march 2013 Launches scholarship program for local public school students Fa l l 2014 Enrollment crosses 7,000 september 2014 For the first time, university achieves Top 5 ranking in U.S. News & World Report – Southern region 2015-16 University celebrates 125th anniversary aprIl 2016 Launches public phase of “We Believe” fundraising initiative, which seeks $300 million by 2020
auGust 2014
Opens largest academic building, later named in honor of Janet Ayers
m ay 2 0 1 6 Ayers Foundation makes largest gift in university history, $15 million Fa l l 2017 Enrollment passes 8,000
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‘EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY COUNTS’ Williamson County Schools chief Mike Looney on staying focused, learning from other organizations and finding leaders who can push others just hard enough by STEVE cAVENdISH
y almost any metric, Mike Looney is one of the most successful school superintendents in the state of Tennessee. His work in Williamson County has coincided with high graduation rates and high test scores — and interest from poachers in Nashville. Metro Nashville Public Schools attempted to hire Looney in 2015 before he opted to remain in his current post. The former Marine and high school dropout is an accidental educator. After retiring from the corps due to injury, he pursued a career in finance and was working for a South Alabama company when a change in ownership found him without a job. His wife, a teacher, and her boss talked him into becoming a substitute, which became teaching and his career took off. In 2009, he left the Randolph County Schools superintendent job to come to Tennessee and the post in Williamson. Post contributor Steve Cavendish spoke recently with Looney in his Franklin office about his leadership philosophy, building on his district’s successes and what he’d tell himself if he were starting the job today.
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I want to start out by asking you about the leadership that you have to provide, because it takes a lot of different forms. Certainly, you have the direction of pushing teachers and the staff. The district has been involved in a number of big projects, and your office is responsible for managing all of those resources. And there’s a political piece of it: You have to man-
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age up to an elected school board and that relationship is, obviously, very important. How do you work across such a diverse portfolio? First of all, I try to surround myself with knowledgeable and capable staff. Our leadership — I say our leadership style because it really is a relationship — the relationship I have with the board and the relationship that I have with employees through my cabinet, senior staff members, is what I would describe as participatory. We probably spend too much time, quite frankly, debating issues to try to come to the best possible outcome and best possible decision. My staff challenges me and my thinking a lot, probably a lot more than what people might surmise from the outside looking in, but certainly around this table and around other tables, we have a lot of fierce debates. Those same things happen with the school board. A lot of times from the public’s perspective, they don’t get to see that, but we are a participatory leadership network. It’s not just me. It certainly is not me. I, in some ways, am the face of the district. But the truth of it is the grinding — the everyday grind that has to happen — is hundreds of people
working in unison for a common goal that was established, really, by our community through our strategic plan. How do you pick issues to focus on for the district and for your staff? In some respects, we’re kind of like a locomotive that’s on a train track and there’s no stopping us. We’re focused on the strategic plan. Everything we do, all of our conversations, are geared around, “Does it advance the strategic plan or does it not? If it doesn’t, then why are we spending time and energy on it?” So I think one of the reasons we’ve been successful in the district for the last decade is we’ve been really focused. We recognize that we can’t do everything. We can’t be everything to everybody, but there are some things that we can do really well. What we can do really well is help students achieve, help them prosper academically and athletically, and continue the learning process once they leave us. The last decade has been really successful for the district. What do you think the best benchmarks of success for a school district are?
dAnIel meIgs
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Kids walking across the stage and getting their high school diploma and kids going to school and feeling safe and nurtured are the two for me. In our district, we talk a lot about data, but I will tell you I’m really proud of the fact that we also talk about kids, individual students. Yesterday, as an example, my assistant superintendent came to me and he and I went to a high school to talk to a specific student. We have 40,000 kids in the district, but the fact that the assistant superintendent knows about an individual student, brings that student to my attention, we both get in our vehicles and go to a high school to address that specific student, I think, is a pretty amazing story. What was the kid’s story? This particular student wanted to drop out of high school. And was a bit of a knucklehead. We have a practice in the district, no student is allowed to drop out of high school without confronting me first. That was one of those confrontational meetings. How often do you have to have those confrontational meetings? We’ll have a couple dozen a year. The good news is he’s at school this morning. He didn’t drop out. What do you say to a kid like that? First of all, I was a high school dropout, so I bring the wisdom of having walked in those shoes. But the truth of it is, most kids don’t really want to drop out. What they’re really looking for is an opportunity to succeed, a path. They feel like they’re boxed into a corner and there’s no way out, so they might as well give up. What we do is we try to clear hurdles out of the way, barriers out of the way, and show them this still can happen. Sometimes, we’re creative in that process. Sometimes, they have to go to school extra. Sometimes, we have to figure out if we give them a chance to retry something. More often than not, we figure out how to make it work on behalf of the kids. Once again, I think our story is focusing in on the individual students. I think I had 17 kids last year that met with me personally that wanted to drop out and remained in school and ended up walking across the stage, which is how I measure my success. Among your contemporaries, other superintendents, how frequent is it for someone to talk individually to a kid, much less try to keep them from dropping out? It probably is atypical. But, honestly, we’re so
busy we’re not looking around to see what other people are doing. We’re focused on doing the work here and I’m sure there are others that do it, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s the norm. My superintendent didn’t meet with me before I dropped out of high school. Do you think it would have helped if he had? Maybe. I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I was a runaway. I was living under a bridge for a while, so my life circumstances put me in a place where I needed to get out of town. So I joined the Marine Corps as soon as I turned 18 or right after I turned 18. Did you start jumping out of planes as a marine? I did something else, called spy rigging. But, essentially, flying out of a flying aircraft. Spy rigging is when you fly a helicopter with a rappelling rope, essentially, and then they pick you up and fly you through the air. I didn’t actually skydive in the Marine Corps. You have one of the best-performing districts in the state. A lot of that is a function of continuity; the district has been successful for a while. A lot of it is location; you’re in one of the richest counties in the state. Sure. Of course. What are the factors that go into the success of a district? How much of it is location? How much of it is the work of a district? How much of it is the work of the teachers and the staff within that? Williamson County Schools was a really good district before I got here. I think the thing that’s changed in our district is we’ve come to a mindset not to accept the status quo. Our average ACT score was a 22.8 when I arrived. Now it’s at 25.2. It’s not because of anything that we’ve done other than be really focused and demand excellence from our employees and our students. To accept nothing less than their best. Accountability is a big piece of that. When I talk to teachers, I talk to them about how every single day matters, every class period matters, every minute of the day counts. We can’t be idle and let time go by without being productive because the truth is we can’t recapture that time for students. It’s really just about being focused and everybody reading off the same page. With nearly 6,000 employees, that’s a pretty huge feat to pull off. But the reality is I don’t have to. We have plenty of field commanders that help do that.
What are the most important pieces of your job? How would you rank personnel versus strategic decisions and planning versus project management versus curriculum and more traditional educational issues? They’re all critically important. I don’t think we can be successful without them, but I will tell you, we are in the people business. Make no mistake about it. We could not be successful without having the right team in place. We put a tremendous amount of energy in doing two things. One is recruiting and retaining folks and the other part is training them. Training them to make sure their work is in alignment with what our vision of success is. The reality of all those things are really critically important. We have invested a tremendous amount of energy and time in our local curriculum, taking the state’s curriculum and making sure we’ve unpacked it for people and massaged it and redefined it and, in some cases, improved it. So that our students are exposed to what we believe is a guaranteed, viable curriculum for success. When I first got here, one of the things that we agreed to do was making sure that Algebra I is Algebra I in all schools. Not having an advanced Algebra I in one school, because of its geographic location, relative to another school in Williamson County. So if you go a Williamson County School and you take Algebra I or Chinese III, you’re guaranteed the same viable, high-quality curriculum. On the personnel piece of it, what do you do differently about hiring people? First of all, an interview process that is like none other. I think you could talk to any person that’s been employed at the principal or even district level about their interview process. It is arduous, it’s taxing and it gets beyond the superficial answers of tell me about your work experience and why you want to be a principal. It’s really about the skill set, the temperament that they have and, quite frankly, the tenacity that they have. Are they tenacious enough to demand excellence without making people jump off the ship? Finding a leader that has the skill set that can push people without breaking them is critically important. Not everybody has the ability to do that. How did you put that in place? How did you develop the personnel screening piece of it? As a cabinet, we’ve come together. I’ve brought some of those belief systems with me from my past experiences as a superintendent and also my
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EDUCATE
MYTH: The transit plan is too expensive.
FACT: We can’t afford to do nothing. Let’s Move is a $5.4 billion investment in Nashville’s future and quality of life.
MYTH: Nashville’s taxes will be too high.
FACT: Nashville will still have one of the lowest overall tax burdens in the nation, even if voters approve the investments – lower than Charlotte, Indianapolis, Louisville, Columbus, and 26% lower than Chicago.
MYTH: Driverless cars will solve all our problems.
FACT: We don’t when or how driverless technology will impact transit, but we know we can’t widen our roadways. Even if the one million people moving to our region in the next 25 years had driverless vehicles, it’s still too many additional vehicles on our roads.
To learn more about the transit plan, visit LETSMOVENASHVILLE.COM. To support the effort to vote for transit, visit TRANSITFORNASHVILLE.COM.
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military and my private industry experience. My team has challenged my thinking about what are the critical pieces of a really solid interview process. Then doing our due diligence about their background. Beyond just traditional reference checks. Digging deep to try to find nuances of a person’s personality. We also require them to take an assessment, which is kind of unusual for a school district, but any teacher or principal who wants to come work in our district actually has to take a test. It’s a test about their temperament and their empathy level and their leadership style. We don’t want a leader that’s going to come in here and be Colonel Clink. We want somebody that emulates the values that we think are important. What are you reading these days? I’m kind of in between books. The last book I read was a religious book, “Running with Giants.” I also read “The Way of the Shepherd” and just finished “Switch.” Do you look at how other companies are working or how other governments or systems are working? What helps inform you? This is going to seem a little strange. I’m really looking at what they’re doing wrong. So we don’t repeat the errors that they make. So, if you kind of dig through the superfluous stuff that’s there ... I try to dismantle why organizations break and figure out how we make sure that we don’t do that, especially in an organization that’s growing exponentially quickly. Managing growth is a significant challenge for any organization. And oftentimes the challenge of growth management causes organizations to fail — whether it’s graduating or widgets or new shakes. It’s a function of their inability to prepare and manage the growth process. If you could drop a memo to yourself starting the job, what would you tell yourself?
Well, mine would be about people, specifically. Not individuals, but groups of people. One is the changing norms of our society. How do we adapt without losing our center. The way adults speak to teachers. The way parents speak to teachers and viewing how to support the teachers through that process. Because I’ve seen a tremendous evolution happening in how everybody interacts with teachers. The teacher now seems to be wrong, regardless. So how do I support teachers when they’re being attacked from a myriad of fronts? Parents, politicians, the governments. How do they still close the door and teach and care for kids despite all those things? This is tangentially related, the polarization of communities. This country is more polarized than it has ever has been, at least in my lifetime that I can remember. I was too young in the 1960s to know about what it was like then. But it certainly is a very polarized time in our community and people are reacting fiercely to information that is not accurate. There was a great book I read called “The End of Big.” It’s this theory that social media continues to change our culture dramatically. Someone can Instagram or Snapchat or Tweet something these days and it goes viral and you’ve got millions of people that have read it and believe it to be true, even though it’s not. There’s no way for an organization to effectively combat that, right? Because you’re always, “That’s not true.” We’ve had a couple of incidents in this district just recently where I’m getting emails from the United Kingdom about an issue that happened at a school. I was like, “Please get your facts right, that’s just not true.” But people would more readily believe a Facebook post from some person, rather than a government official. I think that’s going to become ever more challenging as time goes by.
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SOCIAL MEDIA ‘ANOTHER ELEMENT OF CHALLENGE’ WCS superintendent talks about the evolution of communication
The district has been a little more active with social media. Is that because of how social media has affected the district or is that just a way to reach people? All the above. When I first got here, [Communications Director Carol] Birdsong and I went round and round a couple times about social media. I just believe in being accessible. I give students my telephone number. I give parents my telephone number. Any time I speak to a group, I give them my cell phone number, right? So I’m getting texts this morning from students. Social media is just another avenue that allows people access to us. There are consequences of doing that as well, but I think the benefits of being accessible far outweigh the challenges that are created from social media. The
reality of it is it’s a more effective way of communicating for a large segment of our population these days, because that’s how they communicate. We talk about the four Rs in Williamson County a lot: rigor, relevance, relationship and relentlessness. The relevance piece is really important, right? How do we remain relevant to our families, to our students? Well, one of the things that we have the ability to do is communicate in a language that they understand. So a Twitter feed is incredibly important for a district these days. In fact, when we close school, we probably more quickly inform our constituents, our families out there through Twitter than we do through the traditional telephone system that we use. That’s how it works. There’s been a lot written recently about the selfperpetuating nature of different networks, how the algorithms help construct a narrative that may or may not be accurate. I wonder how you think the schools can adequately address that or respond to that. What we do, we explicitly teach. We explicitly teach our students about credible sources of information. What’s credible, what’s not and how to use the power of discernment to judge for yourself what’s credible
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and what’s not. Just because something’s on the internet, doesn’t mean it’s true. So I have my own Williamson County Director of Schools Twitter feed, then we have the WCS Twitter feed. I would say the WCS Twitter feed is kind of the official, canned responses that we do. Mine is that with my own personal lens on it and my twist on it. Whereas you won’t find WCS using humor in how they do it because it’s more official, you’re going to see my personality emerge through my Twitter feed and the back and forth that I do with students about issues of importance to them — typically snow days and things that they find of great importance, lunch room food and those kinds of things. When you got started in education, did you ever think that you’d have to be dealing with things like Twitter feeds or Facebook? No. It is a whole new world, literally. It really is. The profession continues to change so quickly. Honestly, it’s driving a lot of people out. A lot of colleagues of mine are hanging up their hat. Not necessarily because of social media, but it certainly has added another element of challenge for them, especially if they’re not technologically oriented and in some senses savvy.
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reCHarge
Maximize Your Productivity
John Mark McDougal
RECHARGE, PRIORITIZE Nashville execs beat burnout via work-life balance By LENA ANTHoNy
hen John Mark McDougal accepted the position of shareholder in charge of Brentwood-based LBMC’s audit and advisory practice in 2010, he did so with a stipulation. “I didn’t want to give up my clients and I
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As CEO of Nashville-based XMI, a business process outsource partner for emerging growth businesses, Jim Phillips routinely works with startup leaders on issues related to productivity. “The very first thing we talk about is how they spend their day,” he says. “The goal is to start figuring out which of those things are helping move them and their business forward. The reality is [that] usually half of it’s not.” Phillips challenges his clients to focus on their highest and best use of time, and to rely on delegation for completing lesser tasks. “The entrepreneur, then, is focused on things they do well and enjoy doing,” which will have a trickle-down effect on their business, team and personal life, he says. For McDougal, prioritizing the most effective and productive use of time sometimes means rejecting meetings when objectives are not clear. “My calendar is pretty much fair game to my team, because they want my time and, because I’m the leader, they deserve it. But at the same time, there must be a measure of fairness,” he says. “I’m not willing to walk into a meeting unless I know I have good purpose, I see the right people will be there and there are clear ends and objectives.” Maximizing productivity for McDougal also means taking fewer morning meetings and getting into the office as early as possible, taking advantage of his most productive time. Since productive times are different for everyone, identify yours and complete the most difficult, focused tasks during that time, he suggests.
Find the Power to Unplug didn’t want to give up business development, so I chose the route of doing all three,” he says. “It makes for a pretty wide variety. When it’s working, it sure is enjoyable because it’s never boring.” And when it’s not working? Well, McDougal isn’t ashamed to say he knows a thing or two about that. Over his 22-year career, which also included stints at Arthur Andersen and LifeWay Christian Resources, McDougal has had to make multiple attempts at improving his worklife balance. Of course, what works for him — like scheduled family time, Predators games and weekends at the lake house — won’t be doable for every busy executive. But McDougal and virtually every other leader who cares about work-life balance know this: Bouts of burnout are inevitable but too much is unsustainable. So, heed this advice — for you, your business and your relationships.
In today’s 24/7 world, it can be tempting to make yourself always available. But McDougal has a theory about that. “People will send you stuff as long as you’re willing to look at it,” he says. “We’ve got a lot more control over our accessibility than we want to admit.” With rare exception, McDougal doesn’t check email between 8 and 10 p.m. “That’s recharge time, and I’m usually spending it with family, reading or watching TV.” What you do to recharge matters less than how often you do it. Kerry Schrader, CEO of Franklin-based Mixtroz, calls her life “cuckoo crazy” right now, as she and her daughter and cofounder, Ashlee Ammons, juggle clients, a rigorous accelerator program in Birmingham and an upcoming appearance on a national investment show. Still, she knows the importance of unplugging, even if she’s only able to do it in small ways.
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“It can feel like every minute of every day is taken,” she says. “My non-negotiables are eating lunch and taking a walk every day. It may not sound like much, but it keeps me from feeling overwhelmed.” Traci Snowden, CEO of Nashville-based startup Apto Global, recharges by playing her keyboard, cooking (she calls chopping vegetables “hugely cathartic”) or hanging out with friends (which she tries to do once a week). “All of these activities take me out of work mode and put me in human mode,” says the startup founder who routinely works 12-hour days and travels an average of 14 days each month. “I’m also big on mind-body-spirit, and I reserve my mornings for gym time, yoga, coffee, journaling, whatever I need to boot myself up.” Phillips of XMI dedicates the quiet early morning hours, before his kids wake up, to personal time and contemplation, a practice he has honed at quarterly weekend retreats to the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky. “When you are busy and there are a lot of things on your mind, the chatter in your head can get
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overwhelming and lead to a place where you are indecisive and stuck,” he says. “The monastery clears away all that chatter by giving me a chance to remember what’s most important in life.”
Health Matters Not sleeping, skipping meals, finding an outlet in bad habits — busy leaders make poor health decisions every day that can compound an already stressful job. But staying on top of your health can be as effective at beating burnout as reducing your workload — especially when it comes to sleep. “Get up early or stay up late, but don’t do both,” Schrader says. “That’s something I learned 15 years ago and I have never let go of it. Even when I’m crazy busy, I always go to bed at a reasonable time.” Apto’s Snowden says she can tell when she needs to recharge — she simply looks at her team. “I always notice a dip in morale if I’m not modeling a good work-life balance,” she says. “It’s a real struggle, and the team can definitely feel it. That’s why it’s better for me to stay charged.”
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Peer Mentoring for Accountability McDougal of LBMC admits that for all of his achievements as a leader, he still struggles to prioritize health and wellness. “That’s still on the list to conquer,” he says. Rob Ivy, CFO of Franklin-based Lee Co. and McDougal’s peer mentor, meanwhile, struggles with unplugging and spending quality time with his family. Together, they hold each other accountable in these areas through their informal peer mentoring arrangement. Previous colleagues at Arthur Andersen, Ivy and McDougal meet quarterly to check in with each other on career, relationships, health and spirituality. Ivy says the meetings are invaluable. “We are in a similar place in life and face similar struggles,” he says. “I know that he is walking or has walked a mile in my shoes. That gives his advice a lot more credibility. “Most of the time, we know the practical things we need to do,” he adds. “That’s not the issue. It’s having the conviction and motivation to get it done. That’s what peer mentoring gives me.”
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eQUaliTY
BRIDGING THE GAP TO EQUALITY
Financial rewards follow gender equity. So let’s get to work. by jAmIE dUNHAm
Women in the Workplace study by Lean In says that women aren’t expected to reach equality with men for about another 100 years. Let that sink in: A hundred years. That’s pretty disheartening for someone like me who remembers the Feminist movement starting some 50 years ago with Gloria Steinem’s stinging advocacy and Virginia Slims ads touting “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.” Surely that 100-year prediction can’t be true? We have Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Mary Barra, Meg Whitman, Tory Burch, Oprah and Sheryl Sandberg, don’t we? Yes, we have a group of women to look to who are succeeding in both government and business, but they represent a relatively small group of female leaders. Here are just a few of the sobering facts. Women remain underrepresented at every level of corporate America and the government. There are only 27 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Only two of those are women of color. Only 19 percent of women make it to the C-suite. And only 37 percent of women reach a manager level in corporations. The high-tech world has the worst statistics: Women hold only 25 percent of computing jobs and a mere 11 percent of executive positions in Silicon Valley. And only one in five members of Congress is female.
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In this day of #MeToo, social media and a renewed advocacy among millennials, women will more quickly achieve parity, right? Or will we? Ann Curry recently told Stephen Colbert, “We’re a long way from fixing the problem. It’s more than a conversation; it’s about action. And it’s about not just telling people they can’t do certain things. It’s about changing the dynamic, the power balance, within companies so that women are not seen as people who could never rise to the top.” Power is definitely a part of the sexual harassment issue. Power can amplify bad behavior that already exists in some men. Research shows power can be isolating and make people feel less inhibited. But most sexual predators in the workforce share two distinct traits — “hostile masculinity” (power over women is a sexual turn-on) and “impersonal sexuality” (a preference for sex without intimacy) — as well as sexist attitudes towards women. But what about the good, well-meaning men in business? Certainly, not all men fear women
in leadership roles. There seems to be another influence at work, an unconscious bias. Clearly put: Men and women see the gender gap differently. Men are more likely to think the workplace is more equitable than it really is. Men think that women are fairly represented because they see a few women in leadership roles. Some 50 percent of men think women are well represented in leadership in companies where only one in 10 senior leaders is a woman. So while many men may not fully grasp the issue, they also don’t think gender diversity is a priority for them. But it should be. The prize for companies who actually create more balanced gender teams is better and more sustained performance. Study after study has shown that companies with more gender-balanced leadership outperform those with less. So how do we bridge the gap more quickly? There are numerous ways, all of them necessary. • Education — It is time to help educate men and women on the facts of gender balance to bet-
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ter understand the opportunities awaiting a more balanced workforce. It’s time to broaden the concept of effective leadership by changing the use of stereotypical leadership terms such as women “take care of things” and men “take charge.” Studies suggest that even men who initially hold negative or sexist attitudes regarding the role of women in the workplace become more supportive of gender parity programs when they are actively included in conversations about such programs. • Language matters — One JavaScript tool developer created a “guys jar” to which employees (voluntarily) add a dollar when they catch themselves using the word “guys” when they mean “people.” The money collected goes to Girls Who Code. • Measurement — It is time for companies to gather the data and see the truth of their own situation. Only when you can see the problem can you change it. Companies need to measure their efforts. Buffer, a software application for managing your social networks, built a realtime dashboard to track demographic diversity
like ethnicity, gender and age. Since they started tracking their diversity, they have hired two female engineers. • Core values — It is time to reframe the conversation to talk about the efficacy of balanced work teams, not just about promoting women. The conversation starts at the top and has to be reinforced at all levels of the organization. Creating a diversity and inclusion strategy means including diversity as a core value, training people about unconscious bias and being willing to have the uncomfortable conversations. One of my favorites cartoons shows a woman seated at a board table composed of all men. The caption is one of the men asking the woman, “What do you think you could bring to this group?” • Board parity — Gender equality can start with board representation. Board appointments are greatly influenced by CEOs. One reason that boards continue to be male is the focus on selecting active CEOs or COOs, which just perpetuates male selection since only 6 percent of U. S. CEOs are women. Members of diverse boards talk about the benefits — less groupthink, better lis-
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tening, a diversity of perspectives — and the creation of female role models for their companies. • Media representation — It is time for women to also be well represented in the media. Analyses have shown that male voices outnumber female voices in media three to one. We need to consistently seek out good examples of females to interview and spotlight for their endeavors. Financial rewards follow gender equity. It’s that simple. A Credit Suisse study reported that, “as we re-run our dataset for 2016, we find those investors focusing on those companies where gender diversity is an important factor in their strategy continue to be rewarded with excess returns running at a CAGR of 3.5 percent.” Some say #TimesUp. We can, should and need to reach gender equality sooner than 100 years from now. Are you prepared to step up?
Jamie Dunham is founder and chief brand strategist of Nashville marketing agency Brand Wise. jamiedunham.com
WE NEGOTIATE. WE CREATE. WE REDEFINE. WE SPEARHEAD. WE NAVIGATE. FOR OUR CLIENTS. cushmanwakefield.com/action
I D E AS I N TO AC T I O N Guest Column.indd 3535 NP_3-18_22-41.indd
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reading COrner
‘WHEN YOU ARE THROUGH WITH GROWING AND DEVELOPING, YOU ARE THROUGH’ An excerpt on getting the culture right from Tivity Health CEO Donato Tramuto’s “Life’s Bulldozer Moments”
he quotable Mark Twain is reputed to have said that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. To me, nothing is more important than finding the “why” of your life, your purpose for being, the motivation that
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gets you out of bed in the morning and propels you through each day. Your “why” is your passion, your very cause for being. I found my “why” as a boy struggling with a disability, reeling from the loss of much loved relatives, and battling the oppression of low expectations for me and my
life. By focusing my career and philanthropic efforts on making a difference in health care, sparing others the pain I experienced when my sisterin-law died and when I lost my hearing in my left ear for the second time, and by trying to make the world a better place, my life has been infused with energy and purpose. Confucius said choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. There are many fortunate people who find the perfect combination of career and talent and will honestly say that they would do their jobs even if they were not compensated because they so love what they do. This is an alien concept for too many people who view their jobs as a source of drudgery or duty. In an ideal world, everyone would work at a job that brings happiness and fulfillment. We spend most of our lives working. The American Time Use Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the typical American spends more time working on an average day, 8.9 hours, then anything else, even sleeping, 7.7 hours. So if we are going to spend most of our time working, why not do something that makes you happy and if you are unable to find the job that makes your heart sing, why not just make the best of it? This may seem a peculiar way to start a chapter on company culture but I am convinced that the two concepts; building a company culture and finding your “why” or, as I prefer, your passion in life, are linked. The “why” of business sits at the very core of culture. If you get the culture right, everything else will fall into place. The “why” for a company can be answered in many ways. My friend Bill Novelli, the former Chief Executive Officer for AARP who is now a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, describes culture as “the way we do things around here.” A successful business needs to provide a service or solve a challenge better than others. A company needs to have a specific purpose for being in existence whether it is providing excellent plumbing services to a community or manufacturing a cell phone with better options than the last generation of phones. A successful business needs a market and needs to respond to the marketplace in a creative and sustainable manner. The “why” of a company is about much more than money. Money is a goal but not the only goal and it can be a short sighted goal if the pursuit of more money becomes the only purpose in the end in itself. While making money is the reason for commerce, commerce also must meet the greater purpose of meeting consumer needs
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and demands. In fact, if you do not meet the needs and desires of the market, you will never make a profit. The business will fail. So purpose must come first. Identifying the “why” is the first step towards building a coherent company culture. To quote the great business guru Peter Drucker, culture eats strategy for lunch every day. Another brilliant business consultant, Jim Collins, says “culture is strategy.” To me, culture is the soul of a company. As someone who studied for the priesthood, the soul to me is the very essence of being. Nothing is more important. This is true in other pursuits as well. Think about presidential campaigns. The cleverest strategist and most wily tactician cannot win if the candidate is ineffective and lacks a compelling message that resonates with a majority of voters. To win a national campaign, a candidate needs to be able to articulate purpose and vision and convince a majority that he or she is on their side and will serve their interests. A candidate who is simply hyper-ambitious or overwhelmingly narcissistic and has no platform to sell to voters will lose regardless of the quality of his or her staff. Like business, a candidate needs to have a soul. Too many people in business focus on the specifics of transactional change or the elements of a turnaround and only deal with the dynamics of the business, ignoring what is really the most important element, the people. Nothing happens without people and at the end of the day, business is about people. My associates and colleagues are often surprised that I maintain lifelong relationships with people, long after we worked together and parted ways. Not too long ago, I was warmly greeted by a woman while walking down the street in Ogunquit. I did not recognize her but she greeted me by name and flashed a big bright smile. I stopped to greet her and asked her to remind me of how we knew one another. She said I had fired her from UnitedHealth many many years earlier. I started to apologize but she stopped me and assured me that letting her go at that point in her life was a good thing for her. Moreover, she recalled that I treated her with dignity and respect. Her talents and skills no longer fit into the evolving culture of my division, but all those years later, she not only recognized me on the street but remembered me fondly. Every time I had to fire someone, I made certain that I treated the individual with courtesy, respect and tried to make certain the employee was being transitioned out with enough time and money to ease the jolt that losing a job
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causes everyone. Providing severance pay and allowing a decent period of notice are essential. Yes, those two things may cost a company slightly more money but the true bottom line is enhanced by helping that employee leave as kindly as possible. There have been many times when a person who parted ways with me at a company wound up back on my radar screen as a client, associate, or partner in another venture. Burning bridges may make sense in war but it never makes sense in business. This is a huge lesson for corporate America. Large companies can easily lose touch with their roots and humanity. Too many executives have training in business, the sort of approach taught in business schools, but they lack in emotional quotient. They can make tough decisions but do not know how to make those decisions in a way that minimizes the trauma and respects the
integrity of the employee. As a small start-up becomes successful and scales into something much larger than ever envisioned by the founder, the personnel process becomes ruled by manuals and processes that can overlook the individuality and particular needs of individuals. Everyone is different. Respecting that difference and making it part of the corporate culture pays off. Forgetting that every employee is a person with hopes, aspirations and ambitions and treating the people who helped create the success of the company as cast offs when they no longer fit in with a culture is simply stupid and shortsighted. You do not get a second chance when it comes to people. If you hurt someone or violate her rights or treat her like a commodity rather than a person, that person will never forget the transgression, will become angry, and will nurse a grudge forever. I remember when we made an acquisition
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some years ago and expanded the responsibilities of one of the executives, a truly brilliant man. Yet as the years passed, he repeatedly dropped the ball on important issues and did not move the technology forward in the way we had agreed. I finally had to tell him that I had lost confidence in him. He told me that he respected me so much that if I have lost confidence in him, then he would immediately look for another position. He was a start-up person, an entrepreneur in the purest sense, not someone who thrived in a bigger company where the scale dramatically changed. A few years later, I ended up selling him a part of the company that needed his particular skills. Our relationship survived the turmoil because I always treated him with respect, dignity and candor. I had never lost respect for him or confidence in his intellect. […] When hiring a new employee or meeting an employee for the first time, many seemed to be shocked that I set aside a significant chunk of time, long enough to have a lengthy and penconversation. interviews SV etrating Ad_v1_proof.pdf 1 2/9/2018 11:25:16Drive-by AM
that just checked the box waste time. I want to know everything about the person and that takes time. I often say that I go back to the day they were born. One-on-one interviews are now standard in business but too often CEOs view them as a perfunctory exercise and do not even try to conduct a deep investigation of the employee. I want to know how and where the employee grew up, how he or she interacts with parents and siblings, what their goals and ambitions are, and even what they read. I am as interested in their failures as their successes because I am convinced people only learn if they stumble and make mistakes. People who never take a wrong step, who never ever fail, are not destined for greatness. In my view, success is a product of setback and failure so long as the individual embraces the failure in a positive way and learns a lesson that provides critical guidance in the future. I was interviewing a highly qualified 41-yearold man for an executive position not too long ago and asked him what business books he read. He told me that he no longer read business
FEATURES
books. He apparently felt he had learned all that was necessary. This man came highly recommended and had an impressive resume but I did not hire him. I do not want someone in my organization who has stopped learning and striving to learn more. It is like that high school football star who reaches the pinnacle of achievement at age 17. As far as I am concerned, when you are through with growing and developing, you are through. Business is just like any other profession. It is vital to keep on top of trends and developments and be open to new ways of thinking and new approaches. Physicians, lawyers and other professionals are required to keep up with advances and changes in their fields. Business is no different. If a business leader cannot lead himself in terms of constant self-improvement, why would he be entrusted to lead others? Donato Tramuto has been CEO of Tivity Health, the former Healthways, since late 2015. The veteran health care executive also has long been a philanthropist and in 2014 received the RFK Ripple of Hope Award.
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JUST HOW WILLING TO CHANGE ARE YOU? e’ve all heard it said a million times: Change is the only constant. And we can likely point to many examples in our lives — business and personal — where that has proven to be the case. But be honest for a second: Would you and your organization really be able to throw aside large
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parts of what you do and how you do it if the market were to suggest you should? We didn’t set out to make adapting a recurring theme in this book. But on so many of these pages, we found ourselves writing and reading about leaders creating and managing change. Belmont President Bob Fisher got a big green light from the university’s board to step on the gas pedal nearly two decades ago, setting off changes that have reshaped a large part of Nashville’s core and added to its Athens of the South reputation. James Fields at Concept Technology overhauled the way he and his leadership team communicate their core values. And Justin Wilson’s core goal as state comptroller is to change government for the better. Sure, there’s a lot to be said for sticking to a strategy, particularly if that approach has worked well for a long period of time. But too much adherence can be very costly: One of the more memorable corporate examples was Blockbuster, where CEO John Antioco in the early 2000s turned down the chance to buy Netflix — then still a DVD-by-mail venture — for $50 million. And witness what Tivity Health CEO Donato
Tramuto writes in his book, “Life’s Bulldozer Moments,” about not hiring an executive who said he no longer read business books. Digging in can be dangerous. Whether it’s a reticence to ditch a cash cow product, dismiss emerging competitors or modify an outdated workflow, we should, and often do, shudder at the idea of “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” Let’s make it a point to do the same when it comes to empowering and promoting women to executive ranks and other positions of power. The way we’ve always done it only entrenched far too many men in corner offices and board rooms and created far too many workplaces that actively suppressed women. As our guest columnist Jamie Dunham points out, even well-meaning men often have it very wrong and think their workplaces are far more equitable than they actually are. So if you’ve been successful in business by periodically reassessing what you sell, how you market it and how your organization works, take some time now to ask yourself if you’re providing women enough opportunities — and be ready to overhaul what you’ve been doing. It will change the world for the better.
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LEADING THE CHARGE IN
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2017 ARENA OF THE YEAR
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IN CHARGE 2018
in what has beCome an annual traDition, the Nashville Post team presents In Charge, a compendium of Middle Tennessee’s top business, political and civic leaders. The more than 500 women and men found on our list, the Post’s ninth, represent the best of the best — and always are “in charge.”
44 the arts 44 banking anD FinanCe 46 eDuCation 47 the FooD biZ 48 government anD politiCs 51 health Care 55 legal 57 management Consulting 57 manuFaCturing 58 marketing anD pr 60 meDia anD publishing 60 musiC 62 nonproFits 63 real estate 66 retail 66 sports 68 teChnology 69 tourism 70 transportation, Distribution anD logistiCs 72 inDex
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arTs/BanKing and FinanCe
ARTS ANNE BrowN
Owner, The Arts Company: Former Metro Arts commissioner, longtime leader of Nashville’s visual arts community and cofounder of First Saturday Art Crawl Downtown. Her grassroots gallery provided key spark in revitalization of Fifth Avenue as a thriving arts community.
SHEATS SHINES AS FISK ART GALLERY DIRECTOR For his first important task as Fisk University Galleries director and curator, Jamaal Sheats started big. Specifically, he curated the noteworthy Origins of Influence: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Modern Art exhibition for the 2016 reopening of the newly renovated Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery. The exhibit marked the return of the collection shared with the Arkansasbased Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Along with the World War I and the Great Migration offering, it drew 7,000 visitors to the Van Vechten and Aaron Douglas galleries last year. Bolstered by that success, Sheats is elevating the Fisk University Galleries profile. He travels to promote its history, mission and collections. Future exhibits will showcase items from the university’s collection of more than 4,000 pieces of African and African-American art. Sheats’ goal to build partnerships and programs was rewarded in late 2017 when he secured grants from the Walton Family Foundation and Ford Foundation. In simple terms, Sheats describes the innovative museum leadership program to be developed in collaboration with several museums and academic institutions: “With this additional support, we will continue to work with our partners as we expand our programming and improve the representation of minorities within the arts community.” > HoLLY HoffmAN
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JEN CoLE
Executive Director, Metro Nashville Arts Commission: Key nexus for focusing energy of arts organizations, increasing public funding for the arts, supporting development of local professional artists and boosting creative community. Unveiled Public Art Community Investment Plan to guide city’s future art ecosystem.
rENé CopELANd
Producing Artistic Director, Nashville Repertory Theatre: Since joining the Rep in 2004 has advanced company’s artistic reputation and grown programming through creation of REPaloud series as well as continued evolution of nationally recognized Ingram New Works Project.
SuSAN EdwArdS
Executive Director and CEO, Frist Center for the Visual Arts: Built museum into downtown anchor and destination by presenting high-profile exhibitions from a wide range of artists. Holds Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres from Consul General of France.
TIm HENdErSoN
Executive Director, Humanities Tennessee: Named leader in late 2012 after serving in several capacities since 1998. Oversees group that organizes history and culture programs statewide, including Southern Festival of Books, Salon@615 and Nashville Reads.
dENICE HICkS
Artistic Director, Nashville Shakespeare Festival: Has worked for festival since 1990 as an actor, director and teaching artist. Festival has been recognized for artistic excellence nationally and internationally under her guidance. NSF celebrates 30th anniversary this year.
JoHN HoomES
CEO and General Director, Nashville Opera: Became organization’s leader in 2012 in addition to serving as artistic director
since 1995. Has directed more than 200 productions of opera and musical theater in the U.S. and abroad.
mArTHA INgrAm
Chairman Emerita, Ingram Industries: Doyenne of Nashville philanthropy, generous patron and unwavering advocate of the arts. Steadfast supporter of performing arts including Nashville Opera, Nashville Repertory Theatre and Nashville Symphony. Crucial to development of Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
in the city’s arts community. A respected repoussé artist and assistant professor in the Fisk art department.
STEpHANIE SILVErmAN
mATT LogAN
Executive Director, Belcourt Theatre: Has overseen theater’s growth since 2006 and held leadership roles in national art house and historic theater organizations. With Development Director Brooke Bernard, Programming Director Toby Leonard and Education and Engagement Director Allison Inman, led $5 million renovation of the Belcourt. In 2016 named “Nashvillian of the Year” by Post sister pub Nashville Scene.
JANE mACLEod
CEO and General Director, Nashville Fashion Alliance: Founded the NFA after more than 30 years in finance with a mission to build a sustainable and globally recognized fashion industry in Nashville. Released economic impact study on fashion industry in Nashville and hosted NFA Honors.
kATHLEEN o’BrIEN
President and CEO, Nashville Symphony: Joined symphony in 1998 and has overseen major growth and innovative programming at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which has included the release of more than 30 albums that have earned 24 Grammy nominations and 13 Grammy Awards.
Artistic Director, Studio Tenn: Nationally recognized director and designer co-founded theater company with Emmy Awardwinning producer Philip Hall and Broadway actress Marguerite Lowell Hall in 2009. Has drawn on his multi-disciplinary talents to produce eight consecutive seasons. President and CEO, Cheekwood Estate and Gardens: Since 2010 has introduced blockbuster exhibits and four-season programming to boost Cheekwood’s profile, membership rolls and fundraising coffers. Completed restoration of the mansion and oversaw rebranding that included name change. President and CEO, Tennessee Performing Arts Center: With $20 million annual budget and similar endowment, runs an entity that mixes big-name Broadway musicals and artists with educational outreach to thousands statewide and is the performance home to three resident companies.
BrIAN owENS
Artistic Director, Nashville Film Festival: Took over NFF in 2008 after launching and building Indianapolis International Film Festival. Screened over 300 films and shorts chosen from more than 5,500 submissions and drew 40,000 attendees in 2017.
TIm ozgENEr
President and CEO, OZ Arts Nashville: With father Cano transformed the family’s former cigar warehouse into performance and installation space to create a destination for cutting-edge contemporary art experiences with eclectic programming of performing and visual arts events.
JAmAAL SHEATS
Director and Curator, Fisk University Galleries: Named to position in 2015 to manage school’s impressive permanent collection of more than 4,000 objects. Active
VAN TuCkEr
ALAN VALENTINE
pAuL VASTErLINg
Artistic Director and CEO, Nashville Ballet: Has held top role at state’s largest professional ballet company since 2010 and oversees professional company and NB2, the second company. Fulbright Scholar presents varied repertoire of classic and contemporary works, including his own original works.
LAIN York
Director, Zeitgeist Gallery: Painter and gallery director at Zeitgeist since 1999. Known affectionately as the “Mayor of Art Town.” Provides a venue for world-class art shows at the gallery’s home in the creatively thriving Wedgewood-Houston district.
BANKING AND FINANCE VIC ALExANdEr
Chief Manager, KraftCPAs: Has led accounting and advisory firm since 1993 and overseen small acquisitions and strategic recruiting to grow staff to about 200. Busi-
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ness valuation, financing and M&A specialist, among other things.
DEVAN ArD
Chairman, President and CEO, Reliant Bancorp: Last year succeeded Ron DeBerry as head of former Commerce Union, bought Community First Bank & Trust — which grew Reliant’s assets to $1.5 billion — and opened Chattanooga loan office.
SAm BELk
EVP and Mid-South Division Manager, Wells Fargo: Joined Wells from BofA in 2005 and now manages commercial lending teams in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Has been in banking nearly four decades.
DENNy Bottorff
Chairman, CapStar Financial Holdings: Ex-First American CEO who helped organize CapStar in late 2000s and has been locking horns for more than a year with investor Gaylon Lawrence. Also co-founded Council Capital, where he is still general partner, in 2000.
BArNEy ByrD
President and CEO, Gen Cap America: Founded firm focused on smaller companies three decades ago. Latest $250 million fund last year invested in close-out grocery chain and plastics products manufacturer, among others.
SID CHAmBLESS
Executive Director, Nashville Capital Network: Connects 100+ investors with promising startups via four funds. In 2017 closed $34 million NCN Partners Fund and exited positions in Emma, EnableComp, Inova Payroll and Tricycle.
rANDALL CLEmoNS
Chairman and CEO, Wilson Bank & Trust: Has entered last full calendar year of leadership at fourth-largest bank based in region, which last year branched into the heart of Nashville. Will in 2019 hand baton to John McDearman.
JoHN CroSSLIN & JuStIN CroSSLIN
Co-Managing Principals, Crosslin: At the start of 2017 took over from Dell Crosslin the day-to-day management of 30-yearold firm’s CPA arm and its IT services group, led by Co-Managing Principal Bryan White. Combined have three decades of experience with firm.
GrEG DAILy
CEO, i3 Verticals: Exec who built PMT Ser-
vices and iPayment in late 2012 launched i3, which has since acquired a handful of companies. In September raised $14 million from existing investors to build on business that now employs about 200.
JEff DrummoNDS
CEO, LBMC: Was leading partner of LBMC’s tax group before taking over in 2015. Oversaw firm’s main office move to Hill Center Brentwood and last year bought local outsourcing firm W Squared and Atlanta accounting software venture.
CHASE GILBErt
CEO, Built Technologies: Co-founded with Andrew and Scott Sohr construction loan management software venture in 2014 and has since brought on board big names and (late last year) $21 million in venture capital from firms in San Francisco and New York.
rICHArD HErrINGtoN
Chairman, President and CEO, Franklin Financial Network: Rapidly grew nineyear-old bank to $3 billion via organic growth and 2014 MidSouth Bank buy. Went public in early 2015. After fortifying programs at behest of regulators, again hunting for deals.
tINA HoDGES
Chief Executive and Chief Experience Officer, Advance Financial: Ex-nurse practitioner leads lender with 85+ locations across Tennessee, employing more than 800 and ringing up $150M+ in revenues. Last year led online lending push that now reaches 10 states.
DAN HoGAN
CEO, CapStar Bank: Former National Bank of Commerce and Fifth Third regional leader who joined downtown-based CapStar as COO in late 2012, then moved into bank CEO role with formation of holding company before 2016 IPO.
CHrIS HoLmES
CEO, FB Financial: Named CEO of FirstBank parent three years after joining in 2010. Oversaw company’s 2016 IPO, 2017 purchase of two banks from Jim Clayton and growth of asset base to more than $4.7 billion. Scouting region for more acquisition candidates.
mAtt kING
Managing Partner, FCA Ventures: Runs later-stage venture capital arm of Clayton Associates with fellow managing partner John Burch. Former banker who moved
into entrepreneurship and has been part of 55 VC and PE deals since 1992.
GAyLoN LAwrENCE
Owner, F&M Bank and Tennessee Bank & Trust: Bought Clarksville-based F&M in 2015 and last year spun out Tennessee Bank & Trust from Arkansas parent. Making biggest waves these days as 10% owner of CapStar, whose leaders have taken him to court.
wANDA LyLE
Managing Director and GM of Business Solutions Center Nashville, UBS: Led Nashville expansion of global financial blue chip. Hub for supporting wealth management, investment bank and asset management businesses now home to more than 1,500 people.
HOLMES POSITIONS FIRSTBANK PARENT FOR PROGRESS
JoE mAxwELL
Managing Partner, FINTOP Capital: Serial fintech entrepreneur and advisor who led and sold Investment Scorecard and Shareholder InSite, among others. Last year closed $50 million-plus fund. Has invested in locally based software developer Core10, among others.
roB mCCABE
Chairman, Pinnacle Financial Partners: Co-founder of Nashville’s largest homegrown bank and its Tennessee chairman since acquisition of BNC Bancorp in mid2017. Began banking career in Knoxville in 1976 and rose to be vice chairman of former First American in late 1990s.
mICkEy mCkAy
President, Fifth Third Bank (Tennessee): Veteran commercial banker who was tapped last spring to take over from Hal Clemmer at region’s No. 9 deposit holder. Returned to Nashville from Charlotte in 2015 and has more than 35 years of industry experience.
roB mCNEILLy
Market President, Synovus: In late 2017 moved to holding company that owns what was The Bank of Nashville after leading regional operations of SunTrust since 2005. Active in community through Goodwill, Leadership Nashville, YMCA and other groups.
ANtHoNy moorE
President and CEO, Southeastern Bancorp: Last year moved to grow parent of First Federal Bank in Dickson to more than $700 million in assets by buying Cumberland Bank & Trust in Clarksville. Company
Chris Holmes, marking 25 years in banking this year, joined FirstBank eight years ago and has since 2013 led the downtown-based lender. During that time, he has steadily reduced problem assets, grown mortgage lending and guided holding company FB Financial on its journey to the New York Stock Exchange. Holmes capitalized quickly on the liquidity provided by a September 2016 IPO. Barely four months later, he inked a $284 million deal to buy Clayton Bank and American City Bank, growing FB’s asset base by about 40 percent and lifting its margins to more than 4 percent. Investors have taken a real liking to FB shares since its IPO. The company’s market capitalization has grown to about $1.2 billion — nearly triple that of Franklin Financial Network despite being only about 25 percent larger — and has given Holmes a strong currency with which to continue shopping around the region. In late January, he said his team was in talks with other lenders across Tennessee as well as in the northern halves of Alabama and Georgia and parts of Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia. With motivated sellers present, look for Holmes — who earned his banking stripes in Memphis and later led retail banking for South Carolina-based South Financial Group — to make more deals that will cement FB’s role as a regional community banking leader. > GEErt DE LomBAErDE
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KraftCPAs was founded in 1958 by our own inspiring leader, Joe Kraft.
BANKING AND FINANCE/EDUCATION
now runs 17 offices and is ninth-largest locally based bank.
TysoN MooRE
Market President, Bank of America: Twodecade Merrill Lynch executive who was picked in early 2017 to succeed John Stein as leader of BofA’s regional franchise. Continues in area Merrill role he took on in summer of 2011.
As we celebrate our 60th anniversary, we . . . reflect on the past, appreciate the present, and remain committed to serving the business leaders helping shape the future of our great city.
sCoTT PoHlMAN
JAMEs PowEll
Regional President, U.S. Bank: Joined nation’s No. 5 bank from First American in 2000 and has led its Middle Tennessee operations since 2005. Has maintained company’s No. 7 area deposit market share and in 2013 relocated area HQ to AT&T Building.
President, Nashville Region, SunTrust Bank: Moved here from Atlanta last fall to succeed Rob McNeilly. Had been director in syndicated and leveraged finance with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey since early 2011 and before that worked in real estate. Office Managing Partner, KPMG: Runs Big Four firm’s local office and is national partner in charge of campus recruiting and university relations. Audit partner who works with clients in Nashville and Atlanta and has been nominating committee member for firm’s board of directors since 2015.
RoN sAMuEls
Vice Chairman, Pinnacle Financial Partners: Sold Avenue Bank to Pinnacle in 2016 and has since helped lead the bank’s music and entertainment industry group. Veteran of more than four decades in Nashville banking and community affairs.
JIM sCHMITz
President, Middle Tennessee, Regions Bank: Has led operations across 15 counties for No. 2 deposit holder since 2007, when it and AmSouth joined forces. Moved regional HQ to One Nashville Place in 2013.
PAT sHEPHERd
CEO, Avondale Partners: Co-founded West End-based firm in 2001 and built it to about 75 people before last year closing down equity sales, research and trading divisions to focus on investment banking and wealth management.
RANdy sTEvENs
ClAIRE TuCkER
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TERRy TuRNER
President and CEO, Pinnacle Financial Partners: Co-founder of largest bank based in Nashville, with more than $22 billion in assets after wrapping BNC purchase and continuing to add lenders and customers. Member of the boards of Belmont, Nashville Sports Council and Music City Bowl.
Chairman and CEO, First Farmers and Merchants: Runs Columbia-based holding company that now has 22 offices in eight counties and has been steadily growing in Williamson and Davidson. Has worked at bank since 1973 and been CEO since 2002.
kraftcpas.com/60th
CapStar in 2007. Pushing into SBA lending and other fee-based businesses and aiming to kickstart loan growth.
President and CEO, CapStar Financial Holdings: Former First American and FirstBank exec who co-founded $1.3 billion
wARd wIlsoN
ToM wylly
Senior Partner, Brentwood Capital Advisors: Former Bradford partner who has been involved in more than $6 billion worth of deals and helped scale HealthSpring, Passport and Acadia, among others. Key backer of Nashville Capital Network.
CARol yoCHEM
President, Middle Tennessee Region, First Tennessee Bank: Took over in 2014 after wealth management career led her from Tennessee to TD Bank in North Carolina. Last year put in place new leaders for area business and retail banking divisions.
EDUCATION dAN BooNE
President, Trevecca Nazarene University: Understated academician who has the Church of Nazarene-affiliated Trevecca undertaking some bold initiatives. Has in recent years launched degree programs and made several real estate moves.
BoB FIsHER
President, Belmont University: Has overseen within the past five years multiple major construction projects, with so-called Tall Hall, a 12-story $80 million residential high-rise, being built. With more than 8,000 students, Belmont is Tennessee’s secondlargest private university.
GlENdA BAskIN GlovER
President, Tennessee State University: Leads an institution that has garnered in the past few years multiple federal grants for, among others, agriculture, en-
gineering and science research. Offered details in late 2016 for Cumberland City, a multi-building project proposed eyed for 80-plus acres adjacent to the North Nashville campus.
JAMEs E.k. HIldRETH
President, Meharry Medical College: Leads one of the nations oldest and largest historically black academic health science centers. Working toward increasing the number of faculty and active in talks about Nashville General’s future.
sHANNoN HuNT
President and CEO, Nashville Public Education Foundation: Leads nonprofit centered on public education. Was key member of ex-Mayor Phil Bredesen’s team in 1990s.
sHAwN JosEPH
Director, Metro Schools: Leads the city’s more than 86,000-student public school system. Was hired by the Metro Nashville Board of Education and is the first black superintendent in Metro history. Tasked with turning around the district’s struggling schools.
JAy klINE
President, Watkins College of Art, Design & Film: Runs 300-student, four-year college offering baccalaureate degree programs in film, fine arts, graphic design, interior design and photography. Pushing hard to give 131-year-old school bigger national brand.
RANdy lowRy
President, Lipscomb University: Has since 2005 led ambitious growth push that has added buildings and new degree programs and grown enrollment to 4,800 from about 50 nations. In midst of $250M five-year investment plan to further focus on cornerstone health sciences, business, education, liberal arts programs.
sIdNEy MCPHEE
President, Middle Tennessee State University: Began working in 2017 with the eight-member MTSU governing board. MTSU’s University Honors College, the first in the state, “offers an Ivy League experience” for high-ability students, and the school is one of just 108 recognized recently by the Chronicle of Higher Education for producing Fulbright scholars.
CANdACE MCQuEEN
Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Education: Former senior vice president and dean at the Lipscomb University College of Education, ranked among best in the nation for teacher training.
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edUCaTiOn/THe FOOd BiZ
LAuRA MooRE
Education Liaison, Mayor’s Office: Appointed by Mayor Megan Barry to work toward strengthening relationships between the public school system, nonprofits and education institutions. Formerly served as vice president of policy with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
ANDREw oppMANN
Vice President of Marketing and Communications, MTSU: Changed the face of the university through a reorganization of the marketing and communications department and a more aggressive marketing strategy.
wILL pINkStoN
Member, Metro School Board: Unabashed critic of school system and self-described bomb-thrower. Drives conversation regarding fiscal effect of charter schools, district accountability, English language learners and public engagement. Joined Phil Bredesen’s Senate campaign as a general strategist.
ANNA SHEpHERD
Chair, Metro School Board: Replaced Sharon Gentry. Guides the nine-member group as it makes policy decisions that affect more than 86,000 students.
wENDy tuCkER
Member, State Board of Education: Appointed by Gov. Bill Haslam in 2014. CoCEO of Project Renaissance, an educationfocused nonprofit founded by her ex-boss, former Mayor Karl Dean, whom she served as education advisor.
FLoRA tyDINGS
Chancellor, Tennessee Board of Regents: Began managing TBR’s implementation of free community colleges in 2017. First woman in Tennessee history to lead the state’s higher education system. Also serves as president of Chattanooga State Community College.
SuSAN wENtE
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Vanderbilt University: Also a cell biologist with Vanderbilt’s Wente Lab, so named to recognize her contributions to the university.
ALISA wHItE
President, Austin Peay State University: Leads fast-growing university now eclipsing 10,000 students. Previously served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas at Tyler and provost and vice president for
academic affairs at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.
JAMIE wooDSoN
President and CEO, State Collaborative on Reforming Education: Led state’s efforts to identify and support effective teaching, overhaul K-12 education funding formula, raise academic standards, improve low-performing schools and expand public charter schools in Tennessee.
NICk ZEppoS
Chancellor, Vanderbilt University: Former faculty member, provost and vice chancellor marking 31 years of work on the VU campus. Oversaw split from VUMC and directed work on Warren and Moore Colleges for sophomores, juniors and seniors. New $116M Barnard residential college is slated to open this year. Next focus is replacing Carmichael Towers with various buildings, including a 20-story neo-gothic tower.
THE FOOD BIZ DAREk BELL
Founder, Corsair Distillery: Founded Nashville’s first microdistillery, and in late 2015 opened distillery in Wedgewood-Houston, which joined facilities in Marathon Village and Bowling Green. Prepping his WeHo building for Jackalope and Chandler Brothers Houston Street Pool Room space.
BoB BERNStEIN
Owner, Bongo Productions: Has added Box, a 12South coffee bar and bakery; Fetch, a togo storefront next to Fido; and Game Point @ Bongo East, the city’s first board game cafe, one-of-a-kind establishments that began 25 years ago with Bongo Java. Prepping move to Alloy at Tech Hill.
NICk BISHop SR. & NICk BISHop JR.
Co-owners, Hattie B’s: Father and son founded popular Midtown hot-chicken outpost in 2012 and are rolling along with locations on Charlotte Avenue, in Birmingham and a new Nashville location on Franklin Pike. Atlanta location is being built out and should open this year.
MAtt BoDNAR
Partner, Fresh Hospitality and Fresh Capital: Part of group behind expansion of Jim ‘N Nick’s and Martin’s BBQ, among others. Now focused on food court at ex-Hunter’s space near Five Points and former building home to The Mad Platter.
MANEEt CHAuHAN
President, Morph Hospitality Group: Nationally known chef opened her vibrant Chauhan Ale & Masala in 2014, then launched Franklin-based Mantra Artisan Brewery in 2015. Two new restaurants were added to her hospitality group in 2017: Tànsuo˘ (an upscale Chinese restaurant) and The Mockingbird (a global diner).
wILL CHEEk III
Partner, Waller: Left Bone McAllester Norton, at which he was a member, in late 2017. Leads the firm’s alcoholic beverage team and provides licensing and regulatory compliance advice to restaurants, hotels, art venues, bars and clubs. Go-to source for Tennessee liquor law. Authors Last Call, a blog covering alcohol, restaurant and hospitality news.
OPPMANN GUIDES MTSU MARKETING WITH MARKED SKILL
SANDy CoCHRAN
President and CEO, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store: Former Books-A-Million CEO in 2016 has intensified efforts to expand base. Company expects to open eight or nine Cracker Barrels and three Holler & Dash units this year.
BENJAMIN GoLDBERG & MAx GoLDBERG
Co-Owners, Strategic Hospitality: The brothers boast a portfolio of 10 restaurants and event spaces, including some of the hottest restaurants in the city (Catbird Seat, Bastion, Patterson House, Pinewood Social). Opened popular Germantown spot Henrietta Red in 2017, garnering national attention for chef Julia Sullivan.
LINuS HALL
Owner, Yazoo Brewing: After turning a start-up into the most popular of Nashville craft brewing companies, became a leader in efforts to fix the state’s beer tax and allow sales of high-gravity beers outside of liquor stores. Brewery slated to move this year from The Gulch to a location that remained undisclosed as of press time.
CoRDIA HARRINGtoN
Founder and CEO, Tennessee Bun Co.: So-called “The Bun Lady” runs company that ships products across U.S., Caribbean and South America. Supplying biscuits, buns and muffins to likes of KFC and McDonald’s. Teams with co-founder, CFO and husband Tom Harringon to oversee $100 million company.
CHRIStIE HAuCk
Founder, The Christie Cookie Co.: ExVanderbilt football player and student found-
Andrew Oppmann arrived at Middle Tennessee State University in 2010 as associate vice president before transitioning into the role of vice president of marketing and communications in 2013. During his MTSU tenure, Oppmann has helmed a complete reorganization of its marketing and communications departments. He works alongside President Sidney McPhee, with the two strategizing about vision and ensuring Murfreesboro — and surrounding communities — know about all the university’s assets. Oppmann’s work has yielded the True Blue campaign, which encourages students to sign a “True Blue Pledge,” espousing nonviolent conflict resolution and honest communication. Oppmann also revamped the university’s news service, MTSUNews.com, and alumni publication, MTSU Magazine. His work as a president and publisher at Gannett during his pre-MTSU career provided him the knowledge to develop a new strategy for web and social media. Part of that effort includes pitching local newspapers on stories about MTSU, but it also includes sending full-fledged articles and eye-catching art to newspapers for use as they please. Two years after Oppmann took over as marketing and communications VP, the university racked up 28 awards at the Tennessee College Public Relations Association’s annual competition. > AMANDA HAGGARD
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ed The Christie Cookie Co. in the early 1990s. Works closely with company president Fleming Wilt. Germantown location offers various treats for sale via a retail space.
CHRIS HYNDmAN
Owner, MStreet: Restaurateur who, with Jim Caden, transformed McGavock Street (aka MStreet) in The Gulch with stylish Gulch restaurants such as Virago, Whiskey Kitchen and Kayne Prime as well as Midtown’s Tavern. Eyeing a restaurant in a building planned for 11th and McGavock.
PAT MARTIN MASTERS BBQ, BURGERS, SHAKES Pat Martin’s culinary career began more than 25 years ago when he started honing his craft and mastering the art of West Tennessee barbecue in Henderson, Tennessee. There has been no looking back for the well-respected pitmaster since. Upon opening flagship restaurant Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in Nolensville in 2006, Martin has seen his whole-hog approach to barbecue garner national attention. He and the restaurant throughout the years have been featured on Food Network, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel and The Today Show, as well as in multiple national publications. Not surprisingly, Martin is one of the nation’s most well-known and admired BBQ pros. The Nolensville eatery’s popularity spurred expansion throughout Middle Tennessee and into Kentucky. Today, Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint boasts locations in Mt. Juliet, on Belmont Boulevard, in downtown Nashville and in Louisville. In 2017, Martin opened HughBaby’s, a fast-casual burger and barbecue restaurant on Charlotte Avenue. Stressing simple food prepared with precision, Hugh-Baby’s honors the momand-pop eateries of Southern small towns. The restaurant — reminiscent of a 1950s diner with its throwback redand-teal décor — prepares made-fromscratch burgers, barbecue, french fries, hot dogs and milkshakes. > NANCY FLOYD
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WESLEY KEEGAN
Founder and CEO, TailGate Brewing Co.: Former San Diego beer man has made major impact in Music City within a brief time span. Opened a taproom on Music Row Roundabout in 2017 and hoping to unveil an East Nashville site this year.
PAt mARtIN
Owner, Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint: Opened Hugh-Baby’s BBQ & Burger Shop on Charlotte Avenue last year, with the burger joint quickly gaining favor. Fourth Avenue Martin’s in SoBro is often packed with tourists and locals alike. Martin’s ranks among Fresh Hospitality’s strongest brands.
ANDY mARSHALL
Owner, A. Marshall Family Foods: Oversees Franklin company best known for Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant. Opened Deacon’s New South in the iconic L&C Tower in 2017.
mARGOt mCCORmACK
Chef-Owner, Margot and Marché: East Nashville’s culinary pioneer trained the chefs who helped establish Nashville as a great city for food. Has received awards from Nashville Food Project and Springer Mountain Farms for her talent and appeared on Vivian Howard’s PBS series “A Chef’s Life.”
tOm mORALES
CEO, TomKats Hospitality: Founder of TomKats (entertainment industry caterer) and managing partner in SoBro’s The Southern Steak & Oyster, popular Lower Broad restaurant/bar/music venue Acme Feed & Seed and The Gulch’s Fin & Pearl. Newest endeavor, Woolworth on 5th, opened downtown in January.
ANDY NELSON & CHARLIE NELSON
Co-Owners, Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery: Brothers brought the family whiskey business back to life crafting top-quality, small-batch bourbons at their Marathon
Village distillery. Nelson’s First 108 Tennessee Whiskey, made from an original historic recipe, joined lineup anchored by flagship Belle Meade Bourbon.
DEb PAquEttE
Executive Chef, Etch and Etc.: Veteran chef joined with 4 Top Hospitality to bring creative dishes to Etch, an elegant SoBro anchor, and Etc., the more intimate sister site in Green Hills. One of the first to bring global flavors to Nashville’s dining scene.
AuStIN RAY
President and Founder, A.Ray Hospitality: Runs company that opened in 2017 both M.L. Rose in Capitol View and Von Elrod’s near Germantown. Also an operating partner at The Sutler Saloon and a partner in Sinema restaurant.
RANDY RAYbuRN
Owner, Midtown Cafe and Cabana: Patriarch of the restaurant scene and community leader unafraid of legislative battles. Culinary arts program at Nashville State Community College named in his honor. A member in Belcourt Partners development team, whose Moxy Hotel is under construction in Hillsboro Village.
mAtt SCANLAN
Partner, Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin: Practice is primarily focused on alcoholic beverage regulation. Serves as counsel for Red White and Food, which successfully lobbied to bring wine to state’s grocery stores.
bAILEY SPAuLDING & StEVE WRIGHt
Co-Owners, Jackalope Brewing Co.: The former built Jackalope from a college hobby into one of Nashville’s most beloved breweries. The latter started as Jackalope’s biggest fan and worked his way up to co-owner. Duo planning to open this year a Wedgewood-Houston brewery while having the Gulch site focus on sours and specialty beers.
JImmY SPRADLEY
CEO, Standard Functional Foods Group: Was 26 when family bought Standard Candy in 1982. His strategic decision to get into nutritional and organic snacks has paid off, as that business grew to 500-plus people before Spradley sold it last year to refocus on Goo Goo Clusters.
KENt tAYLOR
Co-Founder, Blackstone Brewing Co.: The opening of a taproom at the Clifton Avenue
brewery in North Nashville softened the blow of the 2016 closing of the Midtown brewpub. Voted by CraftBeer.com readers last year as top brewery in Tennessee. In business since 1994, making it the city’s longest-operational brewery.
tANDY WILSON
Chef-Owner, City House: Spurring Nashville’s rise on the national culinary scene, his highly regarded restaurant celebrated 10 years as a Germantown destination. In 2016 was the first Nashville chef to win the prestigious James Beard Award as Best Chef, Southeast.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS LAmAR ALExANDER
U.S. Senator: Former governor and current Tennessee senior senator and chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. One of the few Senate Republicans to attempt partially bipartisan health care reform in 2017. Despite a lack of endorsement, has overwhelmingly voted in favor of Trump appointments and initiatives.
JANE ALVIS
Owner, Alvis Co.: Lobbyist for Tennessee Municipal League. Formerly a partner at Ingram Group. Also a staffer under Gov. Lamar Alexander and director of legislative affairs under Mayor Bill Purcell.
ROGERS ANDERSON
Mayor, Williamson County: Running for a fifth term as executive of booming county facing growing pains, the most prominent of which are transit and public education.
StEVE ANDERSON
Chief, Metro Police Department: In his eighth year leading the MNPD, at the center of debate — and some controversy — over police-community relations. Remains influential among Metro officials and is a constant presence at Metro Council meetings.
WARD bAKER
Political Consultant: Former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Working on Marsha Blackburn’s Senate campaign, as well various other state and national races.
mEGAN bARRY
Mayor, Metro Nashville: Former two-term
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at-large Metro Council member in the second half of her first term as mayor. Secured approval for a Major League Soccer stadium in the face of strong blowback for admitted affair with security detail head.
LEE BEAmAN
Chairman and CEO, Beaman Automotive Group: Likely best known for the auto dealership that bears his name, but also donates significantly to conservative political organizations and candidates and is sure to play a role in 2018 Republican primaries.
DIANE BLACk
U.S. Representative, 6th District: Congressperson (and former state legislator) currently running for governor. First woman to serve as chair of House Budget Committee, a position she recently resigned to focus on her campaign. One of the wealthiest members of Congress.
mARSHA BLACkBuRN
U.S. Representative, 7th District: Former state legislator turned congressperson, now running for U.S. Senate. Chair of House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, which oversees FCC, broadband regulations and cybersecurity.
mARk CAtE
Principal, Stones River Group: Lobbyist for big-name companies like AT&T, Koch Companies, Methodist LeBonheur, Volkert and Ernst & Young. Former chief of staff for Bill Haslam. Also instrumental in helping with successful Major League Soccer expansion bid.
JoHN RAy CLEmmoNS
State Representative, District 55: One of the more liberal and outspoken members of House Democratic Caucus. Lawyer, former political director for Tennessee Democratic Party. Briefly contemplated a run for Corker’s seat, so a 2020 bid for Alexander’s seat could be on the horizon.
JIm CooPER
U.S. Congressman, 5th District: One of the few remaining long-serving Southern Democrats in Congress. Serves on House Armed Services Committee and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Pushing bipartisan voting initiatives to increase turnout and security at the polls.
JoN CooPER
DAVID BRILEy
Ex-Nashville Mayor: After two terms as mayor, largely (but briefly) disappeared from the political scene. Now, as a candidate for governor, hopes to ride an expected wave of Democratic enthusiasm, at least if he can get past the primary.
GLEN CASADA
Majority Leader, Tennessee House of Representatives: Powerful Republican Williamson County legislator likely to run for speaker of the House in 2019, assuming he’s re-elected.
SCott GoLDEN
Chairman, Tennessee Republican Party: Former Fincher staffer leading the state party in the era of Trump. Successfully fundraised in 2017 but faces a challenge with an increasing number of competitive races in 2018.
tRE HARGEtt
kARL DEAN
PHIL BREDESEN
Vice Mayor, Metro Nashville: Bone McAllester Norton attorney and former Metro councilman who takes active role as vice mayor and has used his role to frame and direct council deliberations on issues like policing and the regulation of short-term rental properties.
GLENN FuNk
District Attorney General, Davidson County: Metro’s top prosecutor after nearly 30 years as a defense attorney. Recently created the office’s first conviction review unit.
Speaker, Tennessee House of Representatives: Tied for longest-serving House member, will either retire later this year or become the next governor of Tennessee. A moderate for much of her career who has leaned further right as her campaign has progressed.
U.S. Senator: Chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee and member of Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and Senate Committee on the Budget. Sometimes an outspoken critic of Trump, but has not distanced himself from the president’s legislative agenda.
Ex-Nashville Mayor and Tennessee Governor: Returning to the political arena to run for a U.S. Senate seat. A moderate Democrat who made his fortune in health care before getting into politics. Currently chair of solar energy company Silicon Ranch.
BILL FREEmAN
Chairman and Co-Founder, Freeman Webb Co.: One of Nashville’s key Democratic fundraisers. Teams with Jimmy Webb to oversee Green Hills-based real estate company. Son Bob is running for Harwell’s open House seat.
BoB CoRkER
RANDy BoyD
Former Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development: Gubernatorial candidate and founder of PetSafe. Helped Haslam push through his educational programs, Drive to 55 and Tennessee Promise. Owns the Tennessee Smokies minor league baseball team.
ex-Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. Even if he doesn’t end up advancing to the general election, he could push Dean to the left.
Secretary of State: In his third term, has successfully overseen the push for a new Tennessee State Library and Archives building, now under construction. Has less successfully addressed voting issues in the state to the frustration of legislators from both parties.
Director of Law, Metro Nashville: Tasked with guiding city’s legal tussles with the state, opioid manufacturers and others. Was previously attorney for the Metro Council.
StEPHEN FINCHER
Former U.S. Congressman: West Tennessee farmer who, after stepping down from Congress in 2016, decided to run again for Bob Corker’s open seat but withdrew from race earlier this year.
CRAIG FItzHuGH
Minority Leader, Tennessee House of Representatives: The leader of a dwindling Democratic minority in the Tennessee House, Fitzhugh is running for governor as a more progressive alternative to
BEtH HARwELL
BILL HASLAm
Governor, State of Tennessee: In his last year in office, the two-term governor turned down an opportunity to jump in the race to replace Bob Corker and recently stated he’s not interested in serving as UT system president, although rumors to the contrary persist. Could conceivably land back at his family’s company, Pilot Flying J, especially if his brother and current CEO Jimmy suffers damage from its major fraud trial.
RyAN HAyNES
Lobbyist for Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee: Former head of the Tennessee Republican Party, in training to take over from top lobbyist Tom Hensley, the famed “Golden Goose.” Ex-state represen-
SBC’S MOORE UNAFFRAID TO TAKE TOUGH STANCE Russell Moore rose to power outside conservative religious circles for opposing Donald Trump, while many Christian leaders backed the eventual president. Moore also made waves in 2016 by leading a successful effort to have the Southern Baptist Convention repudiate the Confederate battle flag’s use. But while playing the role of conservative critic to the man who would become president landed Moore coverage in The New Yorker, it left him vulnerable as president of the SBC’s policy arm. In that role, held since 2013, Moore essentially represents the Baptist church in the political and cultural spheres. In early 2017, reports suggested Moore could lose his job amid backlash over his Trump criticism. He survived and has softened his stance minimally since. He later called on Christians to reject then-Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, accused of preying on underage girls, despite the backing of many Republicans, including Trump. More recently, Moore urged Congress to act on behalf of undocumented immigrants brought to the country as minors. Moore can also strike a conventional conservative stance. He signed the Nashville Statement, affirming the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman and condemning both same-sex relations and Christians who approve of them. He called the statement “urgently needed.” > StEVEN HALE
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tative from Farragut. Remains to be seen whether their combined influence will continue to squash Sunday wine sales.
tom INGRAm
Founder, The Ingram Group: Political kingmaker. Former staffer for Lamar Alexander and advisor to Bill Haslam. Holds court in Tennessee and D.C.
KIm KAEGI
VERCHER LENDS A FRESH FACE TO METRO COUNCIL District 28 Metro Councilmember Tanaka Vercher took on a key leadership role last year when she assumed the chair of the Metro Council’s influential Budget and Finance Committee from John Cooper. Like Cooper, Vercher hasn’t been a rubber stamp for mayor’s office initiatives. And she ruffled some feathers when she called an accurate Tennessean story “fake news” from the council floor. And yet she’s shown herself willing — at least more so than her predecessor — to compromise and to support projects she doesn’t think are perfect. One such compromise came during negotiations regarding funding a professional soccer stadium at the Fairgrounds Nashville. Though Vercher initially expressed concern over a provision in the deal that gave the soccer team’s ownership group 10 acres of city land for private development, she ended up supporting the stadium proposal after a back-and-forth resulted in some requested assurances. Vercher also has been an active participant in the debate about the future of Nashville General Hospital. When Mayor Megan Barry initially proposed ending inpatient care at the city’s public hospital, Vercher was quick to object. Beyond the council work, Vercher stays busy. A U.S. Navy veteran, she has joined a group of fellow ex-military members supporting former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean’s run for governor. > StEpHEN ELLIott
50 leaders
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Fundraiser: Despite reputation as state’s best, has in recent months been hit by candidates from further right as “too liberal” to be a bonafide GOP fundraiser. Regularly raising money for Lamar Alexander and Bill Haslam; this cycle fundraising for Stephen Fincher and Randy Boyd, among others.
BILL KEtRoN
State Senator, District 13: Senate Republican Caucus chair, currently running for Rutherford County Mayor. Vice chair of the Joint Fiscal Review Committee. Led the push for wine in grocery stores and now advocating Sunday sales.
DARoN HALL
BRENt LEAtHERwooD
Director of Strategic Partnerships, ERLC: Former executive director of the TNGOP now running public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention under Russell Moore. Somewhat surprisingly willing to work on bipartisan initiatives, to the frustration of certain conservatives.
BILL LEE
Owner, Lee Company: Williamson County businessman and millionaire who stepped down from day-to-day operations of region’s largest plumbing and electrical contractors to run for governor.
tALIA LomAx-o’DNEAL
Finance Director, Metro Nashville: Previously served as deputy finance director under Rich Riebeling. First woman and first African-American to hold the position.
LoNNELL mAttHEwS
Director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement: Former two-term Metro Councilmember, now aide to Mayor Megan Barry. Running for Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk.
Davidson County Sheriff: In post since 2002 and is currently running for re-election while simultaneously juggling the demands of a progressive Metro Council and a conservative state legislature and federal law enforcement as debate over local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues apace.
Principal, McMahan Winstead: Powerful GOP lobbyist with 25 years of Hill experience. Represents everything from AT&T to liquor conglomerate Diego North America to charter schools, manufactured homes and payday lenders.
JoE HALL
RANDy mCNALLy
Partner, Hall Strategies: Co-founded boutique lobbying and strategic communications company more than a decade ago and in the past year has been tasked with selling the state’s attempted outsourcing of some government jobs to Jones Lang LaSalle and publicizing Second Avenue Partners’ planned 40-story tower in SoBro and the Fifth + Broad development in the CBD.
mIKE JAmESoN
Staff Attorney, Metro Council: A former member of the Metro Council who now provides legal counsel to members of the body.
BRAD LAmpLEy
Nashville Partner in Charge, Adams and Reese: Last year re-took the reins as leader of the firm’s Nashville office, but also heads the entity’s government relations team. Lobbies on behalf of Metro Nashville, the Tennessee Bar Association and energy giant Kinder Morgan, among others. ExUniversity of Tennessee football player also serves on school’s board of trustees.
DAVID mCmAHAN
Lieutenant Governor, State of Tennessee: Longtime Republican legislator from Oak Ridge elected to head the Senate after Ron Ramsey’s retirement. Genial affect hides ability to pleasantly browbeat legislators into dropping bills he dislikes. Often accompanied by Shadow, one of the state’s most handsome golden retrievers.
BoB mENDES
Metro Council, At Large: Among the handful of Metro Council members in the fray on seemingly every major fight, including affordable housing, transit, short-term rentals and Nashville General Hospital. Outspoken on issues like policing and immigration and sits on the council’s Budget and Finance Committee. Communicates with constituents through regular blog posts.
KEN mooRE
Mayor, City of Franklin: Declined to run for Marsha Blackburn’s seat in the U.S. House to instead run for re-election next
year. A prominent supporter of preservation and downtown development in the fast-growing Nashville neighbor.
FREDDIE o’CoNNELL
Metro Council, District 19: First-termer represents North Nashville and downtown. Served on the Nashville Metro Transit Authority’s board of directors and has been active on transit issues, advocating for cyclists and pedestrians. Sits on the council’s Planning, Zoning and Historical Committee.
RoN RAmSEy
Retired Lieutenant Governor, Lobbyist: Retired former Republican speaker of the Senate, now lobbying for Comcast, Realtors and others.
CHIp SALtSmAN
Consultant: Former head of the Tennessee Republican Party now running Randy Boyd’s gubernatorial campaign. Also served as senior political advisor to Bill Frist in his Senate days and managed Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign in 2008.
HERBERt SLAtERy III
Tennessee Attorney General: Bill Haslam’s former legal counsel and close friend, halfway through his eight-year term. Solidly conservative but not as far to the right as some legislators wish, prompting a current push for the General Assembly to appoint the AG.
SAm REED
Strategic Consultant, The Ingram Group: Former lawyer and staffer for Congressman Jim Cooper has his hands in most every Metro issue as a lobbyist for Google, Ryman Hospitality and Bonnaroo, among others.
RICH RIEBELING
Chief Operating Officer, Metro Nashville: Oversees Metro’s departments and agencies for the Barry administration. Ex-finance director under then-Mayor Karl Dean.
RALpH SCHuLz
President and CEO, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce: A high-profile cheerleader for Nashville’s business community. Has led since 2006 organization with goal of “facilitating community leadership to create economic prosperity.”
StEpHANIE tEAtRo
Co-Executive Director, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition: In a year in which President Donald Trump sought to (or did) ban travel from certain Muslim-majority countries, reduce the num-
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2018 ber of refugees entering the United States and eliminate protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as young children, Teatro has been one of the loudest local voices fighting back.
TANAkA VERCHER
Metro Council, District 28: Since taking over the chair of the council’s powerful Budget and Finance Committee, has not shied away from fights. And with a number of hot-button issues remaining on the docket, the rest of her term as chair promises not to bore.
Bo WATsoN
State Senate, District 11: Chattanoogan and chair of the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee known for his perpetual bow-ties. Likely in mix for Senate leadership positions in 2019.
MATT WIlTsHIRE
Director, Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development: During a period of unprecedented growth, has overseen Nashville’s efforts to lure businesses to the area.
BRENdA WyNN
County Clerk, Metro Nashville: Became the first African-American female elected to a constitutional office in Davidson County in 2012. Co-chaired with former Mayor Bill Purcell a transit and affordability task force that made recommendations ahead of Mayor Megan Barry’s multi-billion-dollar transit initiative push.
HEALTH CARE TIM AdAMs
CEO, Saint Thomas Health: Former Ascension executive who returned from Texas network leadership role with Tenet Healthcare to succeed Karen Springer, who has moved into performance excellence/project management role.
HAl ANdREWs
CEO, Trilliant Health: Waller attorney turned serial entrepreneur who has in the past decade helped lead Digital Reasoning, Shareable and nTelagent, among others. Assumed current position after helping orchestrate last year’s merger of Aegis Health and Clariture.
CINdy BAIER
CEO, Brookdale Senior Living: Former CFO tapped in February to replace Andy Smith
when board’s strategic review ended without a sale. Joined company she must now turn around in late 2015 after stints at Navigant Consulting and Central Parking.
JEff BAlsER
President and CEO, Vanderbilt University Medical Center: Led hospital complex’s 2016 separation from Vanderbilt. Further growing Vanderbilt Affiliated Health Network and last year recruited North Highland exec Lance Fletcher to lead new unit launching and incubating auxiliary businesses.
JoHN BAss
CEO, Hashed Health: Globetrotting evangelist for potential of blockchain technologies in health care. Leads small Germantown-based team that has secured $2 million to help build consortium, develop use cases. Health IT veteran also built InVivoLink and empactHealth.com.
CRAIG BECkER
President, Tennessee Hospital Association: Moved here from Maine in 1993 to be trade group leader and has been consistent advocate for Medicaid expansion that will especially help state’s small and rural hospitals.
merger that created Premise and has since set up West Coast office. Last year acquired a Texas-based health screenings venture to bolt onto service offerings focused on large employers around the country.
dICk CoWART
Shareholder, Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz: Board member and health and public policy group leader of firm that now is among nation’s 50 largest. Past president of American Health Lawyers Association and advisor to forprofit and nonprofit providers on policy and governance issues.
BoB CRANTs
duNCAN dAsHIff
BIll CARpENTER
MICHAEl CARTWRIGHT
CEO, Change Healthcare: Ex-Oracle exec who has taken revenue cycle-centered Emdeon into new markets via acquisitions, highlighted by deal with McKesson unit that created $3B+ enterprise. Last year renewed big Donelson HQ lease and launched promising blockchain platform.
Chairman and CEO, AAC Holdings: Built and took public addiction treatment services company with presence in eight states. Last year struck deal to build up New England footprint through $85M deal for AdCare and recently recruited HCA exec Michael Nanko to be No. 2.
dEVIN CARTy
COO, Martin Ventures: Former Vanguard CMO and Cancer Treatment Centers of America strategy and talent chief who formally joined Charlie Martin’s investment firm in late 2015. Key player in formation of Trilliant Health and board member of promising startups Hashed Health and Lucro Marketplace.
sTu ClARk
CEO, Premise Health: Former CHD Meridian exec who oversaw 2014 worksite health care
Acadia Congratulates Dr. Bob Fisher of Belmont University!
Chief Investment Officer, Pharos Capital Group: Helps lead firm with $690 million in private equity assets that has in recent years invested in mental health, dermatology and PT ventures. Helped launch Goldman Sachs’ special investments group before co-founding Pharos. Managing Director and Head of Health Care Services, Canaccord Genuity: Joined investment bank in early 2017 after working as COO of MedCare Investment Funds run by Harry Jacobson. Before that co-founded Epiphany Health Ventures and led Morgan Keegan’s local office.
Chairman and CEO, LifePoint Health: Former Waller lawyer has led hospital chain since 2006. Formed joint venture with Duke University Health System and has grown annual revenues to more than $6 billion. Focused on improving performance of several recently acquired hospitals.
CEO of the year
NEIl dE CREsCENzo
BRANdoN EdWARds
CEO, ReviveHealth: Founded marketing agency now part of Weber Shandwick after working at national firm and Tenet. Moved HQ to Nashville from California and has grown team to 70. Firm’s client list includes HCA, VUMC and Envision Healthcare.
dAN ElRod
Attorney, Butler Snow: Member of firm’s health care regulatory and transactions group. Certificate-of-need and licensing expert who has handled hundreds of applications for Tennessee providers.
sTEVE flATT
CEO, National HealthCare Corp.: Assumed top spot of senior care provider (as first from outside founding Adams family) after more than decade with company
6100 Tower Cir #1000, Franklin, TN 37067
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IN CHARGE
HealTH Care
overseeing development work and strategic partnerships. Former president of Lipscomb University and Ezell-Harding.
BILL FRIST
AAC’S CARTWRIGHT LOOKS TO BUILD You wouldn’t blame Michael Cartwright for thinking 2018 provides something of a fresh start for his Brentwood-based addiction treatment company. After closing the books in late 2016 on a contentious California lawsuit related to a patient’s 2010 death, Cartwright early last year trimmed his team by about 100 before investing in business development and call center staffers and inking an $85 million deal to buy a peer with a strong presence in New England. Cartwright and his team through the course of the year also dialed back on their use of expensive drug testing, something several investors had questioned. Lower reimbursements also have cut into that business line, which now accounts for less than 10 percent of AAC’s top line, versus more than 20 percent a year ago. Another item to be filed under ‘Clearing the deck’ is the settlement early this year of two shareholder lawsuits filed in the aftermath of the California patient death disclosure. Investors — those who have stuck around since AAC’s 2014 IPO are down some 40 percent — will be hoping for no bad surprises in 2018. Look for Cartwright’s reshaped executive team to try to set the tone early and often — with perhaps the most intriguing addition being that of HCA veteran Michael Nanko, whom Cartwright brought on late last year to be president. > GEERT DE LOMBAERDE
52 leaders
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Saint Thomas and works with providers of all sorts on M&A, joint ventures, Medicare/Medicaid issues, whistleblower defenses and more.
SAM HAzEN
Chairman, Cressey & Company: Former U.S. Senate majority leader who also co-founded Aspire Health — which has received backing from Alphabet’s VC arm — and is among leaders of Health Care Council’s Fellows program. In 2015 founded local population health nonprofit NashvilleHealth.
President and COO, HCA Holdings: Was named president in late 2016 and appears to be first in line to succeed CEO Milton Johnson. Started with hospital giant in early 1980s before overseeing Western Group and being named COO in ’15.
BOBBy FRIST
TIM HINGTGEN
Chairman, President and CEO, HealthStream: Co-founder of health care workforce development company in past year committed to new downtown HQ lease and oversaw rollout of credentialing and privileging brand as well as nurse residency product. Company has grown subscriber base to more than 4.6 million.
VIC GATTO
CEO, Jumpstart Foundry; CEO, Solidus: Leads ex-incubator turned seed-stage fund that invests in health care startups and now has offices in Nashville, Atlanta, Chicago and Bentonville. Took over at Green Hillsbased VC firm Solidus after investors broke with founder Townes Duncan on strategy.
DAVID GuTH
CEO, Centerstone: Co-founded nonprofit behavioral health provider in 1997 after running treatment facility. Has steadily grown footprint via acquisitions to more than 170,000 patients in five states. Pending deal with Louisville residential services provider is expected to close this spring.
BOBBy Guy
Shareholder, Polsinelli: Moved from Frost Brown Todd in 2015 to launch local office for one of country’s largest firms. Deal specialist who last year worked on Kindred’s $700 million sale of skilled nursing portfolio. Each spring chairs national Healthcare Dealmaker’s Conference in Dallas.
BRIAN HAILE
CEO, Neighborhood Health: Former TennCare deputy COO and Jackson Hewitt exec who last summer was recruited to replace primary care organization’s longtime leader Mary Bufwack. Oversaw insurance exchange planning initiative for state prior to Jackson Hewitt stint.
JAy HARDCASTLE
Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings: One of city’s top health care advisors who helped arrange Baptist Hospital sale to
President and COO, Community Health Systems: Was promoted twice in 2016 into top operations role to oversee work on improving performance of former HMA hospitals. Has in past year seen several division presidents depart for other companies.
CHRIS HOLDEN
President and CEO, Envision Healthcare: CEO of former AmSurg since 2007, led company’s push into physician services through acquisitions of Sheridan and Colorado-based Envision. Under pressure to improve results amid reported interest from private equity buyers.
RuSTy HOLMAN
Chief Medical Officer, LifePoint Health: Former Cogent HMG exec joined hospital operator in early 2013 and has led development of ambitious quality improvement program alongside partners at Duke University Health System. Focus on transparency, patient engagement yielding consistent results.
ANGELA HuMpHREyS
Chair, Healthcare Practice Group, Bass Berry & Sims: Leads high-profile group home to more than 180 attorneys in four cities. Health Care Council board member and former chair of ABA’s health care M&A committee who has led billions of dollars worth of deals.
JOEy JACOBS
Chairman and CEO, Acadia Healthcare: Co-founder and former CEO of Psychiatric Solutions who has led Acadia since 2011 and has tripled revenues to about $3 billion. Purchase of Priory Group in U.K. in 2016 causing some heartburn but U.S. business growing strongly.
HARRy JACOBSON
Co-founder, TriStar Technology Ventures: Former VUMC CEO has founded more than 10 companies and mentored countless others. Works with multiple
investment funds, including Epiphany Health Ventures, MedCare Investment Funds and Iroquois Capital.
DAVID JARRARD
President and CEO, Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock: Founding partner of 12-yearold health care communications firm that has worked with more than 400 health care organizations. With Chicago contingent, team now numbers more than 40.
MILTON JOHNSON
Chairman and CEO, HCA Holdings: Took over at hospital giant in 2014 and has overseen steady growth of company’s market share to 25 percent. Last year picked up several Texas hospitals from struggling competitors and moved into Savannah market with $710 million deal.
DON LAzAS
Managing Partner, NueCura Partners: Gastroenterologist and former U.S. Army Medical Corps major who has built NueCura into prominent angel investor group. Portfolio companies include Concert Genetics, EvidenceCare and Satchel Health.
CHARLIE MARTIN
Chairman, Martin Ventures: Former Vanguard Health CEO in 2013 returned full-time to investment firm he founded. Focused on technology investments that aim to disrupt established methods and has emerged as prominent backer of blockchain in health care.
TOM MILLER
CEO, Quorum Health Corp.: Former CHS division president tapped in 2016 to lead spinout company. Has divested nearly a quarter of the 38 hospitals he inherited while efforts to improve operations at retained facilities are beginning to show results.
FRANk MORGAN
Managing Director, RBC Capital: Former Jeffries analyst has led health care services equity research at RBC since late 2008. Authority on hospital industry, senior living, behavioral and other operators.
ANNA-GENE O’NEAL
President and CEO, Alive Hospice: Formerly top quality exec at Cogent and Essent. Picked in 2012 to lead Middle Tennessee nonprofit hospice provider, which runs inpatient units in Midtown, Madison and Murfreesboro that serve 12-county area.
JONATHAN pERLIN
Chief Medical Officer, President of
spring 2018 | NASHVILLEpOsT.COM
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THANK YOU Tennessee Bank & Trust honors Gaylon Lawrence, Jr. for his vision, trusted partnership and dedication in leading our company through big changes making 2018 our best year yet. Congratulations to each of this year's 'In Charge' honorees!
GAYLON LAWRENCE, JR. Owner Tennessee Bank & Trust
MEMBER FDIC EQUAL HOUSING LENDER ©2018 TENNESSEE BANK & TRUST
Congratulations to all on the 2018 InCharge List
Serving the financial industry for 36 years
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Clinical Services, HCA Holdings: Joined hospital titan more than decade ago after working as top doc in federal government as Department of Veteran Affairs CEO. Oversees clinical operations, particularly care advancement through massive clinical data warehouse.
CLAy PHILLIPS
DE CRESCENZO SEES FULL PLATE AS CHANGE CEO Neil de Crescenzo last year finalized Change Healthcare’s combination with McKesson’s IT business, brought on a new CFO and renewed his team’s massive headquarters lease at Donelson Corporate Centre through 2022. More big decisions await. The integration of the legacy Emdeon processing and software businesses with the original Change Healthcare’s patient engagement and McKesson’s technology services is incomplete. And the CEO of McKesson, which owns 70 percent of the company, early this year said it could soon launch an initial public offering. By most measures, Change is a behemoth, working with about 2,100 payers and 5,500 hospitals and touching one in five patient records in the United States each year. Even post-McKesson, it is adding to its lineup, with company execs having recently announced deals to buy dentist credentialing and decision software support companies. An IPO will reveal de Crescenzo’s plan to focus the organization and will clarify the financial health of the new Change, which has revenues of about $3.5 billion and posted a loss of about $390 million in the first nine months of 2017. Still to address is the roughly $6 billion in fresh debt on Change’s books from the McKesson deal. But the recent tax law changes could contribute $150 million to its bottom line this year. > GEERT DE LOMBAERDE
54 leaders
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VP of Network Innovation, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee: Former Miller & Martin attorney joined state’s largest insurer in 2006 to direct government relations. Took on current role in 2013 and oversees Patient-Centered Medical Home and alternative payment programs.
C. WRIGHT PINSON
Deputy Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and CEO, Vanderbilt Health System: Clinical and operational leader who also serves as chief of staff at Vanderbilt University Hospital and develops partnerships with regional providers.
MARTy RASH
President and CEO, RCCH HealthCare Partners: One of region’s most veteran hospital execs who built and sold Province Healthcare before starting over with RegionalCare. In 2016 took over leadership of Apollo Global-backed company following combination with Capella.
CLAy RICHARDS
CEO, naviHealth: Former Healthways VP helped launch Brentwood-based postacute care manager in 2012 and grew it enough to attract 2015 buyout from Cardinal Health that valued company at $408 million. Hosts big fall gathering that draws national post-acute audience.
HEATHER ROHAN
President, TriStar Division: Former nurse who began HCA career more than 30 years ago and moved into leadership role at 16-hospital group in late 2016 after leading flagship Centennial Medical facility for four years.
DAWN RuDOLPH
Chief Experience Officer, Saint Thomas Health: Moved here in 2010 from Indiana hospital to be president and CEO of Saint Thomas West. Took on system-wide role in 2013 and now oversees patient satisfaction and experience initiatives.
SAuRABH SINHA
CEO, emids Technologies: Co-founded health IT systems company in 1999 and
has steadily grown it to more than 1,500 employees. Last year opened London office and acquired QuintilesIMS division that added about 200 people and opened doors with providers.
WAyNE SMITH
Chairman and CEO, Community Health Systems: Veteran CEO last year faced investor call to leave as team still struggling to get handle on HMA hospitals bought in 2013. Sold facilities with $3.4 billion in revenue and targeting 2018 divestitures of properties with another $2 billion in revenue.
Care chair who joined LifePoint in 2010 and was previously operations strategy and integration SVP.
PAuL WALLACE
Managing Director, Heritage Healthcare Innovative Fund: Former Healthways sales leader with two decades of VC and PE experience. In 2016 closed $220 million second fund and has amassed portfolio of nearly 20 health IT ventures.
DON WEBB
ROBIN STEABAN
CEO, Williamson Medical Center: WMC veteran since 1985 was appointed to top role in 2012. Has overseen partnership with VUMC on big children’s hospital wing and last year saw off proposal to sell county-owned hospital as part of school funding plan.
FAHAD TAHIR
CEO, Nashville General Hospital: Former Methodist LeBonheur exec and TSU alum still working to get a handle on operations at Metro-owned hospital. Facing uncertain future in face of Mayor Barry’s proposal to end inpatient care.
Chief Nursing Officer, Vanderbilt University Hospital and Clinics: Veteran nurse and hospital leader oversees the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute. Joined VUMC in 1990 as nurse coordinator and was appointed to system-wide role in 2014 as part of leadership reorganization. CEO, Saint Thomas Midtown and West hospitals: Tapped late last year to lead local Ascension network’s flagship facilities after running Saint Thomas Medical Partners for three and a half years.
DONATO TRAMuTO
CEO and President, Tivity Health: Took over in 2015 after being recruited a year earlier to board of what was then Healthways. Has posted solid growth and renewed key contracts since overseeing 2016 sale of big divisions and subsequent rebranding.
BRENT TuRNER
President, Acadia Healthcare: Joined Acadia in 2011 after serving at Psychiatric Solutions and as treasurer for what is now CoreCivic. Key lieutenant to Joey Jacobs as Acadia has quickly grown revenues to annual pace of $3 billion.
DAVID VANDEWATER
President and CEO, Ardent Health Services: Former Columbia/HCA president who has led Ardent since 2001. Has stepped up acquisition pace in recent years, buying LHP Hospital Group, taking over nine-hospital Texas network and getting into joint venture in Kansas.
MELISSA WADDEy
President of Ambulatory and Operations Services, LifePoint Health: Named to newly created role in early 2017 to oversee physician services alongside several HQ departments. Ex-Leadership Health
JOSEPH WEBB
PHIL WENk
President and CEO, Delta Dental of Tennessee: Joined insurer in 1997 and was picked to lead it in early 2000. In 2014 launched foundation to support dental schools, children’s hospitals and clinics. Active in community as director of Nashville Zoo, Music City Bowl, other groups.
MARCuS WHITNEy
CEO, Health:Further: Serial entrepreneur looking to put Health:Further as venue for global conversation on health and innovation. Founded Jumpstart Foundry in 2010 and The Unlikely Co. in 2015 and was key player in building of soccer club Nashville SC.
STEVE WILSON
CEO, United Healthcare of Tennessee: Has been with giant insurer for more than a decade. Early this year inked deal to partner with Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network on accountable care organization covering 35,000 plan members across the state.
kAREy WITTy
COO, Envision Healthcare: Former Corizon CEO and HealthSpring CFO joined surgery center and physician services company in newly created role last fall. Also has held senior posts at naviHealth, Optum and Centene.
spring 2018 | NASHVILLEpOsT.COM
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HealTH Care/legal
LEGAL KAtHRyN BARNEtt
Nashville Managing Partner, Morgan & Morgan: In addition to leading one of the city’s most influential plaintiffs firms, continues to practice in consumer protection, personal injury and torts. Helped secure a $500,000 settlement in a labor and employment case against a local school district last year.
JEff BIVINS
Chief Justice, Tennessee Supreme Court: Worked his way up from circuit court judge to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals to the Tennessee Supreme Court, where his peers in 2016 elected him chief justice. Prior to judicial service, practiced with Boult Cummings Conners & Berry in Nashville.
MELISSA BLACKBuRN
Presiding Judge, Davidson County General Sessions Court: After a tumultuous year that saw four judges lead the General Sessions court, seeks to provide more stability during her term. First elected to court in 2014.
CHARLES W. BoNE
Founder and Chairman, Bone McAllester Norton: Represents clients on matters ranging from M&A to financial institutions and government relations. Has represented high-profile Nashville inmate Cyntoia Brown for several years in her quest for clemency and Southwest Value Partners regarding its Nashville Yards project.
RoSS BooHER
CEO, Latitude Legal Solutions: Along with health care exec Ken Clarke, started company with distinctive model that provides attorneys to firms on an on-demand basis.
GARy BRoWN
Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: Returned this year to Nashville legal practice after six years as CEO of a financial services company. Prior to that, was a shareholder at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz.
MAttHEW BuRNStEIN
Chairman, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis: In addition to counseling large health care companies and other businesses engaged in transactions, has led powerful firm since 2014.
RICHARd BuSCH
Partner, King & Ballow: Well-known for representing the estate of Marvin Gaye in a 2015 victory against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke related to the song “Blurred Lines.” Leads the firm’s entertainment and IP sections.
BRIGId M. CARpENtER
Nashville Managing Shareholder, Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz: Last year put in charge of firm’s Nashville office, the first woman to hold that position. As managing shareholder, maintains practice that includes products liability defense, catastrophic personal injury defense and prosecution and defense of commercial disputes.
MARK CHALoS
Nashville Managing Partner, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein: In charge of the local office of national plaintiffs firm. Has participated in a number of major class action cases in addition to filing lawsuits on behalf of Nashville and other governments against the manufacturers and distributors of opioids.
JIM CHEEK III
Member, Bass Berry & Sims: Since graduating from Vanderbilt Law School more than 50 years ago, has represented a number of public companies, including locals HCA and Genesco, and was retained to probe New York Stock Exchange operations.
doN CoCHRAN
U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Tennessee: As the chief federal law enforcement officer in Nashville and the surrounding area, plans to bolster his office’s violent crime efforts. Was previously a professor at Belmont University College of Law and, before that, a prosecutor in the federal case against one of the Klansmen who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
CHASE CoLE
Partner, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis: Represents companies in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, securities offerings and SEC reporting. Was lead outside counsel for HCA’s 2011 IPO, the largest ever for a local company.
ALBERto GoNzALES
Dean, Belmont University School of Law: Former U.S. attorney general has led Belmont law school since 2014 and is a member of the Governor’s Commission on Judicial Appointments.
BoB GoodRICH
Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands: Practiced bankruptcy law for more than 30 years with Stites & Harbison and Burr & Forman before late last year leaving the latter to join the nonprofit law firm where he represents low-income taxpayers and those facing bankruptcy issues.
CHRIS GutHRIE
Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Law: In addition to serving as VU law school dean since 2009, remains a nationally recognized expert on behavioral law and economics, dispute resolution and negotiation.
AuBREy HARWELL
Partner and Co-Founder, Neal & Harwell: After turning over the reigns as chief manager to Phil Irwin several years ago, remains active in commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense and crisis management, including representing Pilot Flying J in an ongoing federal fraud investigation.
LELA HoLLABAuGH
Nashville Managing Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings: Has served in local leadership role with the firm since 2015. Was previously a partner at Waller and considered a top lawyer in gas-pipeline issues. General counsel for Nashville Bar Association.
JAMIE HoLLIN
Sole Practitioner: Former Metro Council member represents clients in various Metro regulatory matters, including land use, zoning and short-term rental issues.
pHIL IRWIN
Chief Manager, Neal & Harwell: Succeeded firm co-founder Aubrey Harwell in the leadership position in 2015. Has spent three decades with Neal & Harwell, primarily practicing civil litigation.
BILL KoCH JR.
Dean, Nashville School of Law: Left the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2014 to lead NSL, where he has taught for more than two decades. Previously served on the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
StACEy GARREtt KoJu
Founding Member and Board Chairperson, Bone McAllester Norton: Firm leader who concentrates practice in corporate transactions, labor and employment law, and higher education.
BAKER DONELSON’S TOP DOG IS NEW (SORT OF) Brigid Carpenter isn’t new to the local legal community or to her firm, Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz. But she is a relatively recent arrival to her leadership role as managing shareholder of the firm’s Nashville office. Carpenter succeeded Scott D. Carey, who held the position for eight years. Though she is leading the firm’s local office, Carpenter maintains a robust practice that includes products liability defense, catastrophic personal injury defense and prosecution and defense of commercial disputes. The firm, which traces its roots to Howard H. Baker Jr. and Lewis R. Donelson III, has more than 750 attorneys and public policy advisors in 23 offices. With approximately 100 attorneys in its local office, Baker Donelson ranks among the city’s largest law offices. “The Nashville office has seen tremendous growth under Scott’s leadership over the past eight years,” Carpenter said upon her appointment. “I look forward to building on [his] success in recruiting talented lawyers and instilling the priority of client service.” Carpenter’s influence extends beyond the firm, as she also contributed to MLS franchise recruitment efforts and serves as a 2018 director of the Nashville Bar Association. > StEpHEN ELLIott
NASHVILLEPOST.COM
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IN CHARGE
LEGAL
RyAN LEvy
The Plan of Nashville created a community vision & Ten design principles.
Managing Shareholder, Patterson Intellectual Property Law: Earlier this year succeeded in charge of the specialized firm. Practice is focused on patent litigation.
Tom LAwLEss
Attorney, Lawless & Associates: Bankruptcy and creditor’s rights specialist with deep political ties. Sits on Tennessee Registry of Election Finance Commission and the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct and is city judge for Oak Hill.
mARk mANNER
Member, Bass Berry & Sims: Experienced corporate attorney is board chair for the Land Trust for Tennessee. Previously served as founding member and managing shareholder at Harwell Howard Hyne Gabbert & Manner.
JERRy mARTIN
Principle #4
Develop a convenient and efficient transportation infrastructure.
You're In Charge! Early voting: April 11th - 26th Register to vote by April 2nd for May 1st Election YOUR CITY YOUR NCDC
BECOME A MEMBER
Partner, Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison: Former U.S. attorney who emphasized health care fraud has continued similar work in the private sector by representing whistleblowers in fraud and abuse cases. Has also taken on employment litigation and civil rights cases.
RoCky mCELHANEy
Founder and Managing Partner, Rocky McElhaney Law Firm: Leader of the eponymous and highly publicized personal injury shop.
mEkEsHA moNTGomERy
Nashville Member in Charge, Frost Brown Todd: For several years the leader of regional firm’s local office. Practices in areas of employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, union negotiations and arbitration.
BILL NoRToN
Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings: A noted expert in bankruptcy law with more than 30 years of experience in the field. Also an adjunct at alma mater Vanderbilt Law School.
LARRy PAPEL
Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: An expert in land-use and real estate law who has served in leadership capacities with both the Nashville Civic Design Center and Watkins College of Art, Design and Film.
BILL PENNy
Partner, Burr & Forman: Heads the firm’s environmental practice group as one of
the region’s experts on environmental law. Former Stites & Harbison member moved to Burr in 2015.
BRANT PHILLIPs
Partner, Bass Berry & Sims: Leads the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution practice group and is a member of its executive committee. Practice includes complex litigation and public policy.
sTEPHEN PRICE
Nashville Managing Partner, Burr & Forman: Former partner at Stites & Harbison tasked with leading expansion of Birmingham-based firm in Nashville. Member of commercial litigation and labor/employment practice groups.
GREGG RAmos
Partner, North Pursell & Ramos: Past president of the Nashville Bar Association, Catholic Charities of Tennessee and Conexion Americas whose practice includes personal injury, employment law and workers’ compensation.
DAvID RAyBIN
Co-Founder, Raybin & Weissman: Prominent criminal defense attorney whose practice includes criminal trials, criminal appeals, parole hearings and civil rights litigation.
ERIN PALmER PoLLy
Attorney, Butler Snow: In addition to commercial litigation practice at Butler Snow, serves as 2018 president of the Nashville Bar Association. Previously practiced with Walker Tipps & Malone, which was absorbed by Butler Snow in 2015.
JENNIfER RoBINsoN
Nashville Managing Shareholder, Littler Mendelson: In addition to her own practice primarily focused on the food and beverage industry, leads the local office of worldwide labor and employment firm.
ToDD RoLAPP
Managing Partner, Bass Berry & Sims: Was chair of Bass’ corporate and securities department before becoming managing partner in 2013.
RoBERT sARTIN
Chairman, Frost Brown Todd: Took the reins last year as Louisville-based firm’s first Nashville-based chairman. Had previously led Louisville office before relocating to Nashville in 2011.
kEvIN sHARP
Nashville Managing Partner, Sanford
Heisler Sharp: After surprising the local legal community by announcing his retirement as a federal district court judge just a few years into a lifetime appointment, opened a local outpost of the national litigation firm. Has already taken on highprofile employment discrimination cases, including that of the ousted airport authority leader.
Tom sHERRARD
Founding Member, Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison: Has represented public and private companies in several-decades career. Civic and community involvement has included leadership roles with Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Public Education Foundation and Leadership Nashville.
JoyCELyN sTEvENsoN
Executive Director, Tennessee Bar Association: After a stint as a shareholder with Littler Mendelson, last year named leader of state bar, succeeding executive director emeritus Allan Ramsaur. Was Nashville Bar Association president in 2016.
GERARD sTRANCH Iv
Managing Partner, Branstetter Stranch & Jennings: Last year elected leader of local firm. Has participated in major litigation, including against Volkswagen and opioid manufacturers.
PETER sTRIANsE
Attorney, Tune Entrekin & White: Former federal and state prosecutor is now one of Nashville’s most prominent defense attorneys. Client roster has included exNashville Judge Casey Moreland, former state Rep. Jeremy Durham and one of the convicted Vanderbilt rapists.
ovERToN THomPsoN
Member, Bass Berry & Sims: With more than three decades of complex business litigation experience, has represented corporations multiple high-profile cases, including those involving Genesco and Westin Nashville Hotel owner Nashville Hospitality Capital.
GIf THoRNToN
Managing Partner, Adams and Reese: Leads the regional firm while maintaining influential government relations practice. Has served on multiple nonprofit and other boards and was a foreign service officer prior to entering law practice.
ByRoN TRAuGER
Partner, Trauger & Tuke: A former Rhodes
Civicdesigncenter.org
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LEGAL/MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING/MANUFACTURING
Scholar whose practice includes health care, civil litigation and regulatory agency work, among other areas. Close friend and advisor to former Gov. Phil Bredesen, currently running for U.S. Senate.
Vince Verna
CEO, Counsel On Call: Has led ondemand legal services company for two years after taking over day-to-day leadership from founder Jane Allen. Held previous positions in workplace solutions and IT industries.
Jack Waddey
Partner, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis: Brought four colleagues from Waddey Patterson, the firm he founded, to Waller in 2015, and has remained an IP expert and co-leader of the firm’s intellectual property practice group.
richard Westling
Member, Epstein Becker Green: Former Waller partner and federal prosecutor tasked last year by national law firm with opening a Nashville office
Brian Winfrey
Member, Morgan & Morgan: Joined the national plaintiff’s firm last year as its statewide employment practice leader and has already handled high-profile cases including former employees’ ongoing age discrimination suit against Channel 4.
ed yarBrough
Member, Bone McAllester Norton: Former U.S. attorney and assistant district attorney with several decades of experience in private practice. Currently leads Bone’s criminal defense and government investigations division.
MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING Beth chase
CEO, c3/consulting: Has built a team of about 100 that works in number of industries on strategy, optimization and leadership. Chairs board of Entrepreneur Center and is director of Ingram Industries, Nashville Area Chamber and YWCA, among others.
Jim clayton
Chairman and CEO, InfoWorks: In 1997 co-founded firm that has been fully employee-owned since 2012 and works with
about 250 clients. Spent 32 years with IBM in Nashville, is member of board of Watkins College of Art and Nashville Black Chamber of Commerce, among others.
deB Palmer george
Principal, Palmer Solutions: Facilitator and executive coach with more than 25 years of experience in organizational development, strategic planning and sales. Community involvement includes chairing Metro Human Relations Commission.
deBBie gordon
President, Master Key Executive Consulting: Entrepreneur who built and sold Snappy Auctions and S3 Asset Management before turning to leadership coaching and training. Master Key program focuses on optimizing entrepreneurs’ use of their time.
in charge
MANUFACTURING greg Bafalis
CEO, Aries Clean Energy: Named in July 2016 to position at what previously was called PHG Energy. Has 31-plus years of leadership in the clean technology and energy sector. Past work includes stints with Fortune 500 companies. Started private equity-backed renewable energy company in Houston. Company announced in January a collective $46.4 million of new and addition equity from two entities.
steVe BlackWell
daVid oWens
President, Triumph Aerostructures/ Vought Aircraft Division: Leads a company that has, spanning 77 years, produced more than 10,000 wings and tail sections for multiple aircraft contractors. Has served in current position since 2011.
kimBerly Pace
Executive Managing Director, LFM Capital: Oversees private equity investment entity that focuses, in part, on manufacturing entities. Ex-principal with TVV Capital and COO of MFG.com, among the world’s largest global online marketplaces for the manufacturing industry.
Professor of the Practice of Management and Innovation, Owen Graduate School of Management: Specializes in innovation, product design and organizational design and has consulted for NASA, The Smithsonian, Nissan and many other big names. President and CEO, Executive Aura: Professor of management at Vanderbilt’s Owen school since 2005 who in 2012 launched firm with Michael Burcham and David Furse. Has worked with VUMC, Ingram Content Group and Lucent Health, among others.
art reBroVick
President, Compass Executives: Has brought background in manufacturing, distribution and experience with turnarounds to clients. Firm of 15 has worked with more than 300 clients since 2001.
nancy schultz
Vice President, North Highland: Has more than 28 years of consulting experience in health care, retail, hospitality and other sectors. Launched firm’s Nashville office in 1999 and led growth to 60+ people. Serves on boards of the Nashville Children’s Alliance and Better Health 4Kids.
don Williamson
Managing Director, Compass Executives: Former president and CEO of Rogers Group who helped launch Compass in 2006. Also held leadership roles at Aladdin Industries and with medical device company Symbion.
steVe cook
space to space to thrive. thrive. space to thrive.
SmartSpace PhiliPPe fauchet SmartSpace provides Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering: Veteran academicianprovides also commercial real serves as VU professor of engineering. An commercial real expert in silicon photonics. Holds numerestate solutions ous patents and once founded a successSmartSpace solutions ful startup. Key player in building estate transfor businesses institutional programs on VU campus. provides for businesses seeking to commercial real heath holtz to estate Senior Vice President, Manufacturing,seeking Supsolutions prosper. ply Chain Management and Purchasing, SmartSpace for businesses prosper. Nissan North America: Manages Nissan’s
space to space to thrive. thrive.
manufacturing operations in the U.S. and Mexico, including all supply chain and purchasing operations. Previously served as VP, manufacturing, overseeing Nissan’s Smyrna vehicle assembly plant. Joined company in 2006 as manager of vehicle operations.
mark Johnson
President, Mars Petcare, North America: Oversees strategy and execution for company, which employs more than 3,000 associates and has 22 facilities nationwide. Mars Petcare offers more than 40 pet products brands.
henry JuszkieWicz
CEO and Chairman, Gibson Guitar: Co-
provides SmartSpace seeking to commercial real prosper. provides estate solutions commercial real for businesses estate solutions seeking to prosper. for businesses seeking to prosper.
smart-space.com | 615-251-8900
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in CharGe
March AMA Nashville Power Lunch: How to Talk About Products That Nobody Wants To Talk About
March 1, 11am
AMA Nashville Mixer: Texas de Brazil March 13, 5pm Get to Know AMA Nashville Coffee March 15, 8am B2B SIG March 20, 7:30 - 10am Nashville Predators All Access Event March 29, 5:45pm
April AMA Nashville Power Lunch April 5, 11am AMA Nashville Mixer April 10, 5pm Get to Know AMA Nashville Coffee April 12, 8am AMA Nashville NonProfit SIG April 19, 7:30am
May AMA Nashville Power Lunch May 3, 11am AMA Nashville Mixer May 8, 5pm Get to Know AMA Nashville Coffee May 10, 8am
June AMA Nashville Mixer June 12, 5pm Get to Know AMA Nashville Coffee June 14, 8am
LEGAL/MARKETING AND PR
owner of iconic instrument maker, which he acquired in 1986 with business partners. Company sold one Gulch property in 2017 and is facing big debt deadlines.
Christine KarbowiaK
Chief Administrative Officer, Bridgestone Americas: Promoted to CAO in 2010 from EVP of community and corporate relations, adding environmental affairs, internal audit, safety and corporate security to her duties. Bridgestone’s first woman board member.
Matt Kisber
President and CEO, Silicon Ranch: Helping lead energy company in its $200 million sale to Royal Dutch Shell. Former state ECD commissioner during administration of Phil Bredesen, who co-founded Silicon Ranch.
ted Klee
Sr. VP, Global Supply Chain, Schneider Electric: Brings more than 31 years of industry experience. A Vanderbilt graduate whose specialties include operations, lean manufacturing and financial management.
Gordon Knapp
President and CEO, Bridgestone Americas: Replaced the retiring Gary Garfield in September 2016. Previously served the tire manufacturer as chief operating officer.
Ken KniGht
Complex Manager, GM Spring Hill Manufacturing Plant: Leads the 6.9-millionsquare-foot, 2,000-employee operation, which includes production facilities for two engines and Chevrolet Equinox. Plant added in 2017 a third shift and 650 jobs to increase output of Cadillac XT5 and GMC Acadia, the latter expected to represent a $27 million investment.
denis le Vot
Senior VP, Management Committee Chairman, Nissan North America: Previously served as senior VP and chairman of company’s Eurasia region for Groupe Renault. Joined Renault in 1990 and has held multiple positions in aftersales. He has served as new cars marketing and sales director in Turkey; vice president, marketing and sales for the Eurasia region; chief operating officer of Renault Russia; and vice president, sales and marketing for Europe/G9.
Monte Metz
Plant GM, Cargill: Overseeing Cargill’s North America protein business, which is investing $146 million to expand the Minneapolis-based company’s facility in Nashville (adding 100-plus jobs).
José Muñoz
Chief Performance Officer, Nissan Motor Corp.: Appointed to Nissan North America chair position in January 2014 and to CPO role in October 2016. Duties include manufacturing, engineering, design, sales and marketing, administration and finance. Joined Nissan in 2004 and was GM, dealer development, for Nissan Europe. Holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering from Polytechnic University of Madrid.
brad southern
CEO, Louisiana-Pacific: Replaced Curtis Stevens in July 2017 as fifth CEO in company’s history. Joined LP in 1999. Company announced last year it will acquire Minnesota-based International Barrier Technology for $22 million.
hosunG suh
President, Hankook Tire America: Previously served as senior vice president of Hankook’s Global Corporate Strategy Planning Division, filling the role held by President Hee-se Ahn, who has led Hankook Tire America since January 2015. Key goal is to grow the tire maker’s presence in the American market via Clarksville plant.
uzi YeMin
Chairman, President and CEO, Delek US Holdings: Has led U.S. arm of Israeli energy conglomerate since mid-2004, overseeing acquisitions of pipeline and logistics assets as well as more recent $535 million sale of Mapco retail division. Company in June 2017 bought remaining outstanding shares of Texas-based Alon USA for more than $460 million.
MARKETING AND PR Jeff bradford
President and CEO, The Bradford Group: Has worked in the industry since 1985. Firm represents companies in technology, real estate, finance, law and health care. Among the youngest individuals inducted (1991) into Leadership Nashville. Firm made move to East Nashville in early 2014.
JeffreY buntin Jr.
President and CEO, The Buntin Group: Leads Tennessee’s largest communications agency, which is prepping to relocate its 110 employees from a Gulch-area building to the former Tennessee Central Railway train shed.
libbY CallawaY
Founder and Principal, The Callaway: Oversees communications agency that offers content creation, event execution, strategic marketing and public relations focused on creative companies in fashion, beauty, retail and hospitality. Curated Keep Shop, a boutique retail space in downtown hotel Noelle.
darden Copeland
Managing Director, Calvert Street Group: Leads public affairs firm founded in 2009 and that managing grassroots political campaigns. Does work within the commercial, retail, industrial and residential sectors.
shari daY
President and CEO, BOHAN: Promoted in November 2015 from president/chief operating officer to CEO, replacing Kerry Graham. Joined the advertising and marketing agency firm in 2010 as senior VP for operations and planning.
daVid fox
Partner, McNeely Pigott & Fox: Exreporter (in both Memphis and Nashville) who teams with Mark McNeely. Also once worked in the presidential campaigns of Howard Baker and Jimmy Carter. Respected for understated demeanor.
Keel hunt
President and Founder, The Strategy Group: Politics and media veteran who has consulted for some of Tennessee’s largest institutions, including HCA, Pilot, Ingram Industries and BellSouth. Noted author and columnist.
Jeff lipsCoMb
Co-owner and CEO, GS&F: Oversees Cummins Station-based integrated marketing agency that employs more than 115 people and has capitalized billings of more than $76 million. Roster includes Bridgestone, LP, Titans and Preds.
tiM MCMullen
Founder and CEO, Redpepper: Oversees Germantown-area-based company that has worked with Cracker Barrel, Slack and Verizon, among others. Brand strategy and communications company maintains Atlanta office.
roseMarY plorin
President and CEO, Lovell Communications: Joined firm that focuses on health care in 2000 and took over as its leader in 2015. Has worked with news outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street
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FIRST TENNESSEE THE DIFFERENCE At First Tennessee, we are fortunate to follow the accomplished leadership of Carol Yochem. Congratulations to Carol for being recognized as one of Middle Tennessee’s top business leaders who make a positive impact not just on their individual sectors, but on the city in general.
©2017 First Tennessee Bank National Association. Member FDIC.
Congratulations to our
Congratulations Mark Schoenwald, President and CEO,
Mark Schoenwald for
being one of Nashville’s business elites in
Media & Publishing! We are proud of the
impact your leadership
for the 7th consecutive year! has had on our
community and your
everyday commitment to our mission. Sincerely,
HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Nashville are of us at lucky to have you as All a business leader In Charge!
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IN CHArgE
MarKeTing and pr/Media and pUBlisHing/MUsiC
Journal, USA Today, Reuters, Bloomberg, Newsweek, CNN, 60 Minutes and 20/20.
roNALd robErtS
CEO, DVL Seigenthaler: Former CEO of DVL Public Relations & Advertising who co-leads 2014-created DVL Seigenthaler with president Beth Seigenthaler Courtney and Chairman John Van Mol. Joined DVL in 1992, becoming president and COO in 2008.
dEborAH VArALLo
WMOT’S SCOTT IS PROGRAMMED FOR SUCCESS In September 2016, WMOT Roots Radio 89.5-FM in Murfreesboro transitioned from a jazz-news-classical format to a full-time Americana format. The switch came as the critical acclaim and commercial success of artists who fit under Americana’s broad stylistic umbrella flourished. And nobody is better suited to curate the Middle Tennessee State Universitybased station’s music than veteran DJ and programmer Jessie Scott. The New York-born Scott made her industry debut in 1971 as the first woman rock DJ in Pittsburgh. She later held onair and behind-the-scenes positions in multiple markets and radio formats, with an eight-year tenure as the first female program director at XM Satellite Radio (later SiriusXM) bolstering her resume. In 1999, Scott helped to found the Americana Music Association and, in 2009, started the Music Fog YouTube channel — highlighting her abiding passion for roots-centric music. As WMOT program director, Scott has fostered on-air talent such as former longtime WSM announcer Keith Bilbrey and much-loved musician Webb Wilder. And she has helped key programming partnerships with Nashville’s Americana-focused showcase program Music City Roots and NPR’s World Cafe. Music City Roots’ future home at 6th & Peabody in SoBro will feature a broadcast suite for WMOT. > StEpHEN trAgESEr
60 leaders
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President, Varallo Public Relations: Highenergy client advocate and camera-wielding PR pro who likely attends more events than any other official within her industry. Boasts a vast network of contacts.
MEDIA AND PUBLISHING CHuCk ALLEN
Executive VP and COO, Athlon Sports Communications: Runs company known for its college and pro sports season preview annuals. Athlon Media Group acquired Parade Media Group (parent company of Parade magazine) in late 2014.
ALANNA AutLEr
Investigative Reporter, WSMV: 2012 Northwestern University graduate who quickly established herself locally with strong work related to the difficulties faced by state Rep. Jeremy Durham, the Metro Election Commission and ex-Metro School Board candidate Thom Druffel.
dAVId bAILEy
CEO, BTC Media: Oversees company that publishes what it bills as the world’s only print magazines about the Bitcoin and blockchain industries. BTC claims 3.5 million readers.
t.b. boyd III
Chairman Emeritus, R.H. Boyd Publishing: Stepped down in late 2017 from family’s 115-year-old religious publishing company, for which daughter LaDonna Boyd now serves as president and CEO. Nashville Entrepreneur Center Hall of Fame member.
ANItA bugg
Vice President of Content, Nashville Public Radio: Has doubled the WPLN news team staff number. With NPR since 1995 and in current role since 2016.
yurI CuNzA
Co-Founder and Editor, La Noticia: Key voice for Nashville’s increasingly influential Latino community. Peru native whose Spanish-language newspaper features original content written by and for Hispanics. Teams with co-founder Loraine Segovia-Paz.
JoEy gArrISoN
Reporter, The Tennessean: Comprehensively covers Metro Government for morning daily, at which he has become a star in only five years. Walking encyclopedia who knows politics, pop culture, sports and current events.
dEmEtrIA kALodImoS
Journalist: Ex-WSMV legend stepped down in late 2017 after having served as longest continuously working evening news anchor in Channel 4 history (she joined the station in 1984). Produces documentaries for her Genuine Human Productions housed in SoBro’s The Filming Station.
roSEttA mILLEr-pErry
Publisher and CEO, The Tennessee Tribune: Founded Perry & Perry & Associates in 1990 and, the following year, created the Tennessee Tribune, perhaps the state’s most influential African-American publication (with weekly readership of more than 150,000).
bob muELLEr
Anchor, WKRN: Venerable broadcast journalist has co-anchored News2’s main desk since 1982. Has been honored with three National Telly Awards and two National Communicator Awards.
LyN pLANtINgA
Vice President and General Manager, WTVF: NewsChannel 5 stalwart previously served as station manager. Has been with WTVF since 1998.
ErIk SCHELzIg
Editor, Tennessee Journal: Ex-Associated Press reporter covered Tennessee state government and politics for 12 years before succeeding Ed Cromer as Tennessee Journal top dog in November 2017. Once worked for the Washington Post and German paper Der Spiegel.
mArk SCHoENwALd
President and CEO, HarperCollins Christian Publishing: Guided what was then Thomas Nelson through the 2012 sale to News Corp. subsidiary HarperCollins then oversaw integration with Zondervan division.
pHIL wILLIAmS
Chief Investigative Reporter, WTVF: Tenacious hard news man who boasts three duPont-Columbia University Awards and three George Foster Peabody Awards. Started his now-storied broadcast journalism career as a newspaper man.
MUSIC JoHN ALLEN
President, New West Records: Former VP at BMG Chrysalis opened New West’s first Nashville office after being appointed president in late 2014. Roster includes Buddy Miller, Ben Folds, Rodney Crowell, John Hiatt and Nikki Lane.
dAN AuErbACH
Musician, Producer, Frontman of The Black Keys and The Arcs: Owns and operates Easy Eye Sound recording studio and record label. Has produced albums by Cage the Elephant, Pretenders, Ray LaMontagne and Lana Del Rey. Co-founding business partner at Barista Parlor Golden Sound.
SCott borCHEttA
President and CEO, Big Machine Records: Launched Big Machine (2005), sister label Valory Music Co. (2007) and BMLG (formerly Republic Nashville, 2009). Roster includes Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts and Midland, among others.
StEVE buCHANAN
President, Opry Entertainment Group: Executive producer and co-creator of TV show Nashville. Has been with Opry Entertainment Group (which oversees WSMAM and the Ryman Auditorium) for 30plus years, overseeing brand’s expansion into New York.
FrANk bumStEAd
Founding Partner, Flood Bumstead McCready & McCarthy: Over 40 years of experience as professional financial advisor. Founding partner of FBMM in 1990. Director at large on the CMA Board of Directors. Active board member of several nonprofits.
ASHLEy CAppS
President and CEO, AC Entertainment: Founded in 1991 music promotion company that co-produces Bonnaroo and several other festivals. Opened a Nashville office in 2013. Sold in 2016 a majority stake in AC to Live Nation. Started music biz career in the ’70s booking shows in Knoxville.
spring 2018 | NASHVILLEpOsT.COM
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Vincent font MUSIC
IN CHARGE
Presented by
DAvE Cobb
Producer: One of Nashville’s most in-demand producers. Has worked with Jamey Johnson, Lindi Ortega, Rival Sons and Sturgill Simpson, among others. Named 2014 Producer of the Year by Americana Music Association and won Grammys in 2015 for work with Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell. Tenant of historic RCA Studio A since 2016.
MIkE CuRb
Founder and Chairman, Curb Records: California’s former lieutenant and acting governor. Songwriter, producer and owner of independent record company since 1962, yielding more than 400 No. 1 records. Major Belmont University benefactor.
DoylE DAvIs & MIkE GRIMEs
Co-Owners, Grimey’s New & Preloved Music: Co-proprietors of nationally respected indie record store, which expanded in 2013 into an adjacent location with Grimey’s Too, a bookstore, cafe and music shop. Davis hosts WXNA’s D-Funk radio show, and Grimes runs live music venues The Basement Nashville and The Basement East.
MIkE DuNGAN
Chairman and CEO, UMG Nashville: Former Capitol Records Nashville President/ CEO. Appointed to position at UMG following 2012 merger with EMI. Regular on Billboard’s Power 100 list.
JoHN EsposIto
Chairman and CEO, Warner Music Nashville: Formerly at Def Jam, Polygram and WEA Corp. Runs Warner Music Nashville, encompassing Warner Bros. Nashville, Atlantic Nashville, Elektra Nashville and LoudMouth.
RoD EssIG
Vice President, Creative Artists Agency Nashville: Helped build CAA into one of the most formidable agencies in Music City. Moved into penthouse of downtown’s SunTrust Plaza building in 2012. Agent for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Martina McBride and Tim McGraw.
lEslIE FRAM
Senior VP of Music Strategy, Country Music Television: Oversees music integration throughout CMT’s brands and across all platforms, including on CMT, CMT.com and CMT Radio. Georgia Radio Hall of Fame member and T.J. Martell Foundation Award recipient.
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JoE GAlANtE
Mentor in Residence, Nashville Entrepreneur Center: Music industry veteran and former Sony Music Nashville chairman. Advises entrepreneurs within the entertainment and digital media startup fields to keep Nashville competitive on both local and global levels. Co-founder of Project Music and co-chair of the Music City Music Council.
RANDy GooDMAN
Chairman and CEO, Sony Music Nashville: Former VP and general manager of the RCA Label Group and senior VP of marketing at RCA before that. Thirty years of experience in the industry. Member of the Music City Music Council and a board member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
AlI HARNEll
SVP, AEG Presents: Oversees operations and booking for Southeast regional office in addition to managing national tours. Produces more than 150 shows annually. Actively involved in area nonprofits.
JED HIlly
Executive Director, Americana Music Association: Has overseen nonprofit artist advocacy group since 2007. Grammy and Emmy winner as producer of Levon Helm: Ramble at the Ryman and two-time Regional Emmy winner for Americana Honors and Awards. “Americana” has been added to the slate of Grammy Awards, Billboard charts and the Merriam-Webster dictionary during his tenure.
JosEpH HuDAk
Senior Editor, Rolling Stone Country: Former editor at TV Guide and managing editor at Country Weekly who helped launch and now oversees Rolling Stone’s Nashville-based country coverage. Also contributes to Rolling Stone’s non-country reporting and hosts panels and Q&As.
JAy JoyCE
Producer and Songwriter: Produced career-defining albums by Eric Church, Brandy Clark, Miranda Lambert, Cage the Elephant, Patty Griffin, Little Big Town and Thomas Rhett, among others. Songwriting credits include tunes cut by Emmylou Harris, Keith Urban and Faith Hill. 2015 winner of ACM Honors Studio Recording Award.
kEN lEvItAN
Co-President and Founder, Vector Management: Co-partner of Vector and immediate past chair of the Nashville Conven-
tion and Visitors Corp. board. Launched upscale food and music festival Music City Food and Wine Festival in September 2013 with concert promoter C3 Presents and longtime clients Kings of Leon.
DENNIs loRD
Executive VP of Creative and Business Affairs, SESAC: Songwriter who has penned cuts for Travis Tritt, Ruby Lovett and more. Entertainment lawyer who served as VP of writer and publisher relations at SESAC from 1997 until 2005 naming as executive VP. Founding president of the Americana Music Association’s board and current board member at the T.J. Martell Foundation. Along with SESAC Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Operations and Corporate Development Kelli Turner, was named on Billboard’s 2017 list of Nashville Country Power Players.
DAvID MACIAs
President, Thirty Tigers: Grammy-winning producer and a music industry indie Swiss Army Knife who handles marketing, distribution and management for Jason Isbell, Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin, Aaron Watson, Trampled by Turtles and others.
JoHN MARks
Global Senior Editor/Music Programmer Country, Spotify: Assumed post in November 2015 after leaving SiriusXM Radio, where he was one of Music Row’s most influential tastemakers as senior director of country programming.
March 22, 2018 6 PM-9:30 PM Musicians Hall of Fame
TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT NASHVILLESCENE.COM
Guests will enjoy complimentary libations and unlimited food samples as 4 of Nashville’s Top chefs compete in a heated battle to take home the coveted Iron Fork trophy. THIS IS A +21 EVENT. Benefitting
Sponsored by
MICHAEl MARtIN
Vice President, ASCAP: Leads Nashville membership office operations and creative team, overseeing the signing, development and retention of ASCAP members in the country music market. ASCAP is a U.S. performing rights organization that is owned and run by its 650,000 plus songwriter, composer and music publisher members.
HEAtHER MCbEE
Vice President, Operations, Nashville Entrepreneur Center: Former Sony executive with 25 years of experience in music marketing, sales and operations. Leader in Project Music, the Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s year-round tech-startups-andentrepreneur-accelerator program.
GREG oswAlD
Co-Head, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment Nashville: Teams with Rob Beckham, Scott Clayton, Joey Lee and Jay Williams to oversee an office that represents multiple high-profile artists. Relocated in
In Partnership With
World Food Championships The Art Institute of TennesseeNashville
2/22/18 2/22/18 11:08 1:28 PM AM
IN cHARGE
MUsiC/nOnprOFiTs
2017 to WME Nashville’s new headquarters at 1201 Demonbreun St. In 2017 alone, WME represented 11 of the 15 largest arena headliners for country tours and saw clients win 16 ACM and CMA awards.
JoHN PEEtS
Founder, Q Prime South: Manages from East Nashville office artists such as Eric Church, The Black Keys, Rhiannon Giddens and The Wild Feathers.
LEANN PHELAN
STEVENS EXTENDS REACH OF THISTLE FARMS NATIONWIDE For over 20 years, Becca Stevens has been changing the lives of Middle Tennessee women through her Thistle Farms. Now she’s extending her reach nationwide. Stevens founded nonprofit Thistle Farms (then Magdalene House) in 1997 as a residential program for women who had experienced sex trafficking, abuse and addiction. Since then, the entity has evolved to include both a free-of-charge two-year residential program (housing up to 32 women) and a social enterprise to help graduates find jobs and learn new trades. Nearly 60 survivors are employed by the social enterprise, with referral and advocacy services for hundreds more. Stevens — also an author, a public speaker, a priest, a 2016 CNN Hero and a White House Champion of Change — tours the country to share Thistle Farms’ story. She serves victims of trafficking and abuse by building a network of sister organizations. As a result, Thistle Farms now boasts 49 sister organizations in 26 states. Replicating Thistle Farms’ model, each works toward free, long-term housing for survivors; holistic healing that creates community (and not clients); economic independence; and becoming part of Thistle Farms National Network. Thistle Farms provides ongoing training, consulting and reference materials for sister organizations. Those interested in replicating the model can attend a bimonthly education workshop. > NANcy FLoyd
62 leaders
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Co-Leader, Sea Gayle Management: Industry veteran left ASCAP’s Nashville membership/creative team in May 2015 to join the management entity of 19-year-old publishing company Sea Gayle Music.
JoHN PRINE
Founder, Oh Boy Records; singer-songwriter: Legendary folk and country singersongwriter and multiple Grammy winner. Co-founded Oh Boy Records, along with now-deceased industry vet Al Bunetta in 1981. Oh Boy bills self as the second-oldest artist-owned indie label in the country and the oldest in Nashville.
SHERod RobERtSoN
President and Owner, Music Row Enterprises: Former CFO for Post parent company SouthComm Inc. Bought company (dba MusicRow magazine) in November 2010. Oversees all operations and develops strategic initiatives.
JESSIE Scott
Program Director, WMOT: Veteran DJ and radio programmer with more than 45 years’ industry experience. Hired to program the MTSU-based station when it switched to an Americana format in 2016. Co-founder of the Americana Music Association and the popular YouTube channel Music Fog.
JoHN StRoHm
President, Rounder Records: Former Loeb & Loeb senior counsel was named president of 48-year-old bluegrass and roots label Rounder Records in 2017. Also a musician who has played with The Lemonheads, Antenna and more.
FRANk tANkI
General Manager, Country Music Television: TV Land exec tapped to also lead CMT when Brian Philips stepped away last year. Runs day-to-day operations working from both New York and Nashville.
bRIAN tRAEGER
President, Live Nation’s Tennessee Busi-
ness Unit: In charge of programming at Live Nation’s Ascend Amphitheater. Nominated for Talent Buyer of the Year at the 2015 Pollstar Awards.
SARAH tRAHERN
CEO, Country Music Association: Former Great American Country executive who previously covered politics and public affairs at C-SPAN. Took over as trade group’s leader in early 2014 and has grown membership.
LEStER tuRNER
President, Tuned-In Broadcasting: Company is home to WRLT Lightning 100 and Live on the Green Music Festival. Family owns downtown building housing Acme Feed and Seed (behind which a hotel with a House of Blues is being eyed).
JAck WHItE
Musician and Owner, Third Man Records: Grammy-winning songwriter known for his work with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and more. Landed a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in 2015 and recently opened pressing plant in native Detroit. Will release his third solo record, Boarding House Reach, in late March.
Jody WILLIAmS
Vice President, Creative, BMI: Founder of publishing group Jody Williams Music (a joint venture with Sony Tree) and former president of MCA Music Publishing’s Nashville division. Directs songwriter and publisher relations in BMI’s Nashville office. Board member at the Country Music Foundation and CMA board president.
SALLy WILLIAmS
GM, Grand Ole Opry, and Senior Vice President of Programming and Artist Relations, Opry Entertainment Group: Head of Opry Entertainment Group’s newly created programming and artist relations division. Industry vet who has served on the Music City Council and chairs the Country Music Association board.
NONPROFITS JANEt ANd JIm AyERS
Co-Founders, The Ayers Foundation: Founded organization in 1999 to improve quality of life for Tennesseans through scholarship program, Ayers Children’s Medical Center in West Tennessee and Ayers Institutes at Vanderbilt and Lipscomb universities. Foundation has awarded more than 3,000 college scholarships.
PEtE bIRd
President and CEO, Frist Foundation: Has served as foundation head since 2002 and been with entity since 1983. Oversees more than $300 million in foundation assets.
bARbARA boVENdER
Tennessee Region Chair, American Red Cross Tiffany Circle: Founding member of Nashville chapter of Tiffany Circle, a group of female donors of the Red Cross who pledge to donate $10,000 or more annually. Serves on the Tiffany Circle National Council.
AGENIA cLARk
CEO, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee: Dynamic leader of organization that serves approximately 14,500 girls and 6,500 volunteers in 39 Middle Tennessee counties.
GLENN cRANFIELd
President and CEO, Nashville Rescue Mission: Oversees large-scale operation that includes staff, a 20-plus member board and hundreds of citizens serving Nashville’s homeless population. Mission facility property in SoBro is being engulfed by nearby development.
JAyNEE dAy
President and CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank: Has led since 1988 an organization fighting hunger with a network of more than 490 partner agencies working within 46 counties.
SuSAN ALLAN HuGGINS
President and CEO, Cable: Eighth-generation Nashvillian and former direct mail entrepreneur was hired in 2011 to be first executive director of women’s leadership group.
tARI HuGHES
President and CEO, Center for Nonprofit Management: Succeeded former president Lewis Lavine, who retired in 2016, as fourth president and CEO. Formerly spent 12 years as president of Nashville Public Library Foundation, raising more than $41 million.
ELLEN LEHmAN
Founder and President, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee: Oversees entity that has managed more than $1 billion in charitable donations and distributed about $827 million in grants spanning 26-year history. Foundation administers approximately 1,250 separate funds.
LIz mCLAuRIN
President and CEO, Land Trust for Tennessee: Succeeded founder Jeanie Nelson
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NONPROFITS/REAL ESTATE
as president in July 2015 and assumed CEO office in May 2016. Accredited nonprofit has since 1999 protected more than 120,000 acres of public and private land statewide through about 350 projects.
SylvIA RApopoRt
President, Conservancy for The Parthenon and Centennial Park: Leader of support organization committed to preserving and restoring the park, which attracts 2 million visitors annually. Oversees Centennial Park Master Plan with Metro Parks, which announced $22 million Phase 2 in 2017.
SHARoN RobERSoN
President and CEO, YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee: Oversees organization with $10 million in assets, more than 75 employees and programs for women and girls in Middle Tennessee, including the Family Literacy Center and the state’s largest domestic violence shelter.
RICk SCHwARtz
President, Nashville Zoo: Tireless leader of exotic wildlife park, which in 2017 set an annual attendance mark of 964,760. Overseeing multi-million dollar master plan, which included new rhino and spider monkey exhibits in 2017 and planned exhibits for tigers and Andean bears to open this year.
loRI SHINtoN
President and CEO, Hands On Nashville: Named president and CEO of volunteer organization in September 2016. HON registers 30,000 volunteers annually and partners with more than 130 agencies for 3,600 volunteer opportunities per year.
DERRI SmItH
Executive Director, End Slavery Tennessee: Founded ESTN in 2008 to confront modern slavery in Middle Tennessee and provide comprehensive aftercare for human trafficking survivors. In 2017, Tennessee was named nation’s top state for laws that fight human sex trafficking.
RENAtA Soto
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Conexión Américas: Former United Way stalwart co-founded Conexión to aid the city’s fast-growing Latino population. Costa Rican native serves on the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Immigrants and Refugees.
bECCA StEvENS
Founder and President, Thistle Farms: An Episcopal priest, author and entrepreneur whose nonprofit works with women recovering from prostitution, trafficking and ad-
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diction. The two-year residential program and social enterprise employs 50 residents and graduates manufacturing all-natural beauty products sold in 450 retail stores. Nonprofit has served as a model for 40plus organizations nationwide.
StEvE tuRNER
Chairman, James Stephen Turner Charitable Foundation: Credited for philanthropic efforts and helping jumpstart downtown Nashville development in 1980s. Supports, among others, Nashville Symphony and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Holly wHAlEy
President and CEO, Nashville Wine Auction: Leads nation’s oldest charity wine auction, which has raised more than $20 million for cancer research since 1980.
JERRy wIllIAmS
Executive Director, Leadership Nashville Foundation: Oversees entity founded in 1976 as independent, nine-month executive leadership program. Honored with the Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award in 2017 by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
REAL ESTATE lEwIS AGNEw
President, Chas. Hawkins Co.: Named leader of venerable area CRE firm in October 2016. Received the 2016 NAIOP Developing Leader Award for Middle Tennessee.
AllEN ARENDER
Director of Development, Holladay Properties: Has helped Indianapolis-based Holladay create a presence in the Nashville market. After completing Starbucks project on Charlotte Avenue, has turned attention to Donelson Plaza shopping center with plans for a transit-oriented project.
DAvID bAIlEy
Principal and Architect, Hastings Architecture Associates: Face (with William Hastings) of firm that is designing multiple largescale buildings in the city, including a Hyatt hotel and a mixed-use tower, both in SoBro.
AuStIN bENEDICt
Senior Associate, CBRE: Has quickly established himself as one of the city’s go-to brokers for urban retail space. Was a key factor in the filling of the first-floor commercial spaces in Encore.
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DouG bRANDoN
Managing Principal, Cushman & Wakefield: Veteran of the CRE trade who oversees strategic and day-to-day operations of entity that merged with DTZ in 2015. Previously worked at Smith Barney.
bEN bREwER
President, Elmington Capital Group: Teams with Cary Rosenblum (CEO) to lead company that in 2017 finished a major upgrade to the Hillsboro Village building home to the Hopdoddy and Altar’d State spaces. Company has started on its 153unit apartment building Twelfth & Wedgewood in Edgehill.
JIm CADEN
Developer and Investor: Gentlemanly land-use pro who led the evolution of M Street in The Gulch. Respected for his lowkey approach. Looking to redevelop segments of ex-Gannett property and fomer Déjà Vu site.
JoE CAIN
Director, Urban Development Department, Metro Development and Housing Agency: Straight-shooting urban development official who oversaw MDHA’s tapping of Ray Hensler and Eakin Partners, respectively, to handle high-profile Rolling Mill Hill projects. Leads new construction projects at the agency’s long-time subsidized residential sites.
REAL ADVANTAGE THROUGH REAL ESTATE
wooD CAlDwEll
Principal, Southeast Venture: Arguably the face of a firm with many stars. Serves with Cam Sorenson and Tarek El Gammal in SEV’s development services division. Company is fully underway with its massive Silo Bend project in The Nations.
DAvID CREED
President, Creed Investment Co.: Updating with fellow investors downtown’s The Pilcher Building. Hoping to break ground this year on 20-story mixed-use building in Midtown.
mARk DEutSCHmANN
Founder, Village Real Estate Services: Started Village in 1996, focusing on older neighborhoods in Nashville’s urban core. Oversees Core Development, known for Werthan Mills Lofts. Company has more projects finished or underway in Wedgewood-Houston than any other developer.
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tIm DowNEy
CEO, Southern Land: Leads company known for its Westhaven development in
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Franklin. Sold in 2014 its Elliston 23 for a then-record $287,000 per unit. Completion looms on SLC’s mixed-use Vertis Green Hills.
RyAN DoyLE
GM, oneC1TY: Spearheading mixed-use oneC1TY, in which a residential building recently opened and work on a hotel looms. Former board chair of the Nashville Civic Design Center.
HIGHWOODS’ REAMES NOW FOCUSED ON GULCH Brian Reames serves as senior vice president of the Nashville office at Highwoods Properties, a job that keeps the real estate industry veteran busy. And Reames likes staying busy. This year — with a Gulch project looming — will follow a major 2017, during which Highwoods completed its striking Bridgestone Americas Tower in SoBro. The 460-foot-tall skyscraper quickly has become an icon with its distinctive night lighting. Originally, the announcement of construction of the building drew criticism from many residents of the adjacent Encore condominium tower, concerned about potential negative impact. But Reames, a former NAIOP Nashville chapter president known for his calm demeanor, and his team would later win high praise from the residents for their attentiveness to those concerns. Reames, a Vanderbilt graduate who once served as a partner at Eakin & Smith (until its merger with Highwoods in 1996), is now prepping for the next major local urban project for the company, which manages more square footage of Nashville-area office space than any other entity. In early February, Highwoods announced it will develop in The Gulch — on a parcel of former Gannett property it acquired — a mixed-use buliding with headquarters space for Asurion. > WILLIAm WILLIAmS
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Plan of Nashville.” Serves as a lecturer with the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design. Studied urban design in Krakow, Poland.
HuNtER GEE
toNy GIARRAtANA
Principal, Hensler Development Group: Known for $80 million, 23-story Gulch luxury condo tower Twelve Twelve. His Adelicia in Midtown ranks among the city’s most attractive tall buildings. Eyeing early 2020 start on Rolling Mill Hill residential tower.
JImmy GRANbERy
Principal, Tuck Hinton Architects: Partners with Co-Principal Seab Tuck to oversee one of city’s most storied architecture companies. Firm slated to move this year from SoBro to May Hosiery Co-Op in Wedgewood-Houston.
JoHN EAkIN
Principal, Smith Gee Studio: Teams with fellow principals Fleming Smith III, Dallas Caudle and Greg Tidwell at architecture firm that has quickly emerged as a local power and that is noteworthy for employing a significant percentage of women.
mARCH EGERtoN
Principal, Giarratana Nashville: Nashville’s undisputed No. 1 high-rise developer completed sleek skyscraper 505 in 2017 in the CBD. Has developed five local towers of 200 feet tall or more. Also serves as Premier Parking co-owner with Ryan Chapman.
Chairman, Eakin Partners: Oversees with Barry Smith a company that has developed mixed-use mid-rises Roundabout Plaza, SunTrust Plaza and 1201 Demonbreun in The Gulch. Will break ground in spring on ninestory mixed-used building in Rolling Mill Hill. Developer and Real Estate Investor: Teams with Dan Heller to undertake both new and adaptive reuse projects in East Nashville. The Wabash, the partners’ most recently completed building, is home to WeWork.
JoHN ELDRIDGE III
President, E3 Construction: Has established himself as the main developer of boutique for-purchase residential projects in transitioning urban McKissack Park area of North Nashville. Focused on Clifton Avenue and surrounding streets and has offered the area the alternative name City Heights.
PAt EmERy
CEO, Hall Emery: The Spectrum | Emery founder teamed with Fred Hall to create new company in late 2017. Developing Franklin Park, a 71-acre, multi-building development in Cool Springs, and started last year work on Fifth + Broadway at ex-Nashville Convention Center site. Teams with David Wells and Clay Moss at company.
JEff EStEPP
Developer and Real Estate Investor: Focusing his energies on The Nations. Teamed with Dave O’Connell to develop mixed-use building home to 51N Taproom. Led retrofit of former church in The Nations that is now home to Corner Pub.
GARy EVERtoN
Co-Owner and Founder, EOA Architects: Veteran architect skilled at recognizing rising young designers and hiring them. Actively involved in Leadership Nashville.
GARy GAStoN
Executive Director, Nashville Civic Design Center: Principal contributor to “The
JEff HAyNES
Founder, Boyle Nashville: Oversees firm working with Northwestern Mutual to develop Capitol View in North Gulch. Company announced in 2017 Capitol View buildings for Healthstream and Hampton Inn.
CEO, H.G. Hill Realty: Veteran behind company that has delivered tasteful mixed-use urban infill projects in 12South, Five Points, Green Hills, Hillsboro Village and Sylvan Heights. Unlike some members of the city’s old school development sector, has instituted forward-thinking design concepts and business models since 2000.
CHAD GRout
Founder and Principal Broker, Urban Grout Commercial Real Estate: Oversees East Nashville-based boutique company focused strictly on marketing and selling properties located no more than three miles from city’s epicenter.
HAyNE HAmILtoN
Nashville Office Senior Development Manager, Panattoni Development Co.: Teamed with brother Whitfield (partner) on development of Music Row building home to SESAC. Broke ground last year on Music Circle South office building.
kIm HARtLEy HAWkINS
Co-Founding Principal, Hawkins Partners: Teams with husband Gary Hawkins to lead influential land planning and landscape architecture firm. Company now strongly focused on massive Nashville Yards project.
mICHAEL HAyES
President and CEO, C.B. Ragland Co.: Ranks among city’s most admired advocates of progressive urban development. Spearheaded the landing of Asurion to Ragland’s SoBro building. Completed with Hines the mixed-use 222 2nd in SoBro and now focused on Hyatt hotel for ex-Listening Room site.
RAy HENSLER
kEm HINtoN
bILL HoStEttLER
Principal Broker, HND Realty; Chief Manager, Craighead Development: Blunt-talking yet affable industry veteran (more than 37 years in the business) focused on developing reasonably priced condos and townhomes.
mICHAEL kENNER
Owner, MiKeN Development: Focused on the city’s once-overwhelmingly working class west side, deploying an understanding of affordable housing issues and environmentally friendly methods. Finished last year mixed-use The Phoenix in The Nations.
StEPHEN kuLINSkI
Managing Director, CBRE: Assumed current role in 2015 after a 30-plus-year career as an architect, most recently with Gresham Smith + Partners. President of local NAIOP chapter. Company settled much-publicized lawsuit with local Colliers affiliate last June.
kEN LARISH
CEO, The Mainland Companies: Leads company with a presence in both Nashville and Portland. Seeking to break ground this year on 30-story tower on SoBro roundabout. Company merged in early 2017 with retail-focused Hart-Redd.
Rob LoWE
Senior Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield: Has participated in $739 million in investment sales and handled more than $943 million of leases while representing tenants and more than 3 million square feet of Class A office space for landlords.
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CARy mACk
Co-Managing Partner and Co-Majority Owner, Southwest Value Partners: Teaming with Mark Schlossberg to undertake the massive mixed-use project Nashville Yards on downtown’s ex-campus of LifeWay Christian Resources. Based in San Diego but lives part-time in Nashville.
BERt mAtHEWS
President, The Mathews Company: Community leader oversees development, acquisitions, financing and institutional/ investor relations of all real estate marketing activities for The Mathews Company. Also a partner with Nashville office of Colliers International.
StEVE mASSEy
Executive Vice President, CBRE: Joined company in 1985 and quickly established expertise as multi-family properties specialist in the investment field. Has been involved in deals with properties with more than $6 billion in collective value.
tHomAS mCDANIEL
Director of Office Properties, Boyle Nashville: Oversees Nashville-area office portfolio that includes CityPark and Capitol View. Handles Boyle’s leasing, acquisition, development and tenant representation activities for office properties.
DIRk mELtoN
Development Director, MarketStreet Enterprises: Ex-Washington, D.C.-based CRE pro has been face of MarketStreet’s Gulch development efforts (think Thompson Nashville Hotel and Gulch Crossing).
HENRy mENGE
Managing Director and Principal Broker, Clearbrook Holdings Corp.: Leads firm previously known as XMi Commercial Real Estate and recognized for its Midtown and Medical District work.
JANEt mILLER
CEO and Market Leader, Colliers International, Nashville: Former Nashville Area Chamber ECD leader who moved to Colliers in July 2014. Soon after recruited several key team members and acquired retail-focused Vision Real Estate. Firm has relocated to 615 Third building in SoBro.
DICk mILLER
CEO, President and Principal, ESa: Veteran architect, lecturer and author with noteworthy resume in health care facility design. Joined ESa in 1967.
AL PRAmuk
Chairman and CEO, Gresham Smith & Partners: Assumed current role in January. Firm focused on its architect-of-record work on Fifth + Broadway and will contribute strongly to Nashville Yards. GS&P moved to 222 2nd in 2017.
BRIAN REAmES
ANDREW StEFFENS
Nashville Region Development Director, Alliance: Oversaw Phoenix-based company’s Broadstone 8 South in Melrose (completed in 2017) and 14-story apartment building 8th + Division, slated for a finish this year in The Gulch.
tIm StoWELL
Senior VP and Regional Manager, Highwoods Properties: Oversees company that finished work last year on 30-story Bridgestone Americas Tower in SoBro. Highwoods teamed with Jim Caden to buy Gannett property in The Gulch for $55 million.
Managing Member, Corporate Real Estate Advisors: Significantly connected tenant rep who can see a lease or sale looming long before his peers. Equally effective in assessing CRE numbers and spotting trends.
JoHN Root
LIzABEtH tHEISS
Founder, Root Architecture: Progressive architect whose company (stylized as “rootARCH”) each year elevates its status with noteworthy projects.
FLoyD SHECHtER
President, SmartSpace: Leading the private-sector drive regarding inclusionary zoning to create more affordable housing. Successful redeveloper of larger old buildings. Re-signed Change Healthcare to Donelson-based Corporate Centre II.
mIkE SHmERLING
Chairman and CEO, Clearbrook Holdings Corp.: Has focused over the years on Midtown real estate. Opened with Tony Giarratana their Pearl Street Apartments in 2017, with the two friends also having partnered to development 1818 Church. Known for under-the-radar approach with company formerly known as XMi Holdings.
BARRy SmItH
Co-Founder and President, Eakin Partners: Combines with John Eakin to form respected duo. Former executive vice president and principal of the now-defunct Grubb & Ellis/Centennial Inc.
WARREN SmItH III
CEO, Avison Young: Ex-Cushman & Wakefield | Cornerstone CEO who now leads local office of Canadian-based power. Former partner and president of Mid-South Financial Corp. and ex-president and CEO of Q10 | Vista Mortgage Group. Company seeking to sell for clients multiple Gulch and SoBro sites.
StAN SNIPES
Founder, Snipes Properties: Leads company that leases, manages and sells commercial real estate. Former senior advisor with Sperry Van Ness Investec and ex-XMi Commercial Real Estate president.
Vice President of Business Development, Crain Construction: A veteran of the local construction industry, having joined Crain in 2004. An expert at marketing, media relations and business development with a strong knowledge of place-making issues.
mCCLAIN toWERy
President, Towery Development: Unassuming industry official with experience with projects located in or near 12South, Edgehill Village, The Nations and East Nashville. Part of Hyatt House hotel project now underway in SoBro.
BRItNIE tuRNER
Founder and CEO, Aerial Development Group: Her SoBro-based company is one of city’s most prolific single-family home developers. Now focused on North Lights development on West Trinity Lane.
JAy tuRNER
Managing Director, MarketStreet Enterprises: Company has helped transform the once-desolate Gulch into arguably the city’s most vibrant mixed-use district. Teams with Joe Barker and Dirk Melton.
Bo tyLER
Managing Director, JLL: Teams with coManaging Director Tom Hooper to oversee the Nashville office of the national power. Joined JLL in late 2012 after a strong career at Eakin Partners.
JAmES WEAVER
Partner, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis: Major player in shepherding urban development projects and fundraising for Democratic political candidates. Representing Chicago-based Monroe Investments related to its planned River North development.
CADEN AMONG CITY’S VETERAN DEVELOPERS Few Nashville real estate developers and investors are as seasoned as Jim Caden. From the 1980s to the early 1990s, Caden, Chip Christianson and Joe Rodgers developed the Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel and Office complex, the Embassy Row Hotel, Citizens Plaza, Whitworth, OtterWood, The Golf Club of Tennessee, Richland Country Club and numerous shopping centers. The trio also was a forerunner in acquiring cellular licenses. In early 2000, he formed Caden Holdings and began the revitalization of Demonbreun Street with offices, shops, restaurants and the 14-story Rhythm at Music Row condominium and retail tower. In late 2005, he shifted focus to The Gulch. During this time, and in addition to continuing to acquire real estate, he co-founded with Chris Hyndman M Street Entertainment, the hospitality company that owns Virago, Kayne Prime, Whiskey Kitchen and Moto, among others. Caden favors partners with complimentary skills. These include, among others, Bobby Kirby, Kent Kirby, Jewel Hale, Dave Arnholt, David Bartholomew and Mark Tarver. Eighth South in Melrose and The Gossett in The Gulch are products of such partnerships. Following a recent $55 million acquisition, Caden and Highwoods Properties now separately own the ex-Gannett properties in The Gulch. Caden has not yet announced plans for his parcels. > WILLIAm WILLIAmS
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JImmy WEbb
Co-Founder, Freeman Webb Companies: Oversees with long-time friend Bill Freeman a company with approximately 450 employees and about 15,000 apartment units and 1 million square feet of commercial property under management in four states.
RoNNIE WENzlER
Executive Director, Cushman & Wakefield: Known for his work with the Sawtooth Building, BowTruss Building and The Sheds on Charlotte. Teamed with Holladay Properties’ Allen Arender in tasteful adaptive reuse of Geist site in North Capitol.
AARoN WHItE
Principal and Co-Founder, Evergreen Real Estate: A co-founder of Core Development who later started Evergreen with Hunter Connelly. Company’s most recently finished projects include Archer at 12th in Edgehill and The Jenkins in Belmont-Hillsboro.
tom WHItE
Space reservation: APRIL 27 Materials due: M AY 4 In market: M AY 1 7 Save the date: M AY 1 7 @ Nashville Technology Council Issue Partner:
Partner, Tune Entrekin & White: A go-to attorney on growth and development matters. Helped client last year move forward on Fairfax Flats apartment project after facing lawsuit from some Hillsboro-West End neighbors. Rarely loses a land-use case.
D.J. WootsoN
Principal, Titus Young Real Estate: A potentially fast-rising star who is focused on North Nashville. His 1821 Jefferson mixed-use building offers 18 apartments and several retail spaces.
mANuEl zEItlIN
Owner, Manuel Zeitlin Architects: Oversees a boutique firm involved in private homes, mixed-use buildings and interiors. Perhaps more than other local buildings that recently were completed, MZA’s Chelsea (located near 12South) draws wildly ranging opinions. Designing Moxy hotel in Hillsboro Village.
RETAIL CRIssy CAssEtty
N A S H V I L L E P O S T. C O M 615.844.9252
Retail Recruiter, Nashville Downtown Partnership: Key contributor to downtown’s landing of soft goods and foodand-beverage retail businesses. Works equally effectively with owners of both properties and retail businesses.
zANE DAy
President, Kroger Nashville Division:
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Named to role in early 2016. Had served as vice president of operations in Kroger’s Smith’s division, at which he began his career on the night crew in Ogden, Utah, in 1974.
bob DENNIs
Chairman, President and CEO, Genesco: Former Hat World boss who succeeded Hal Pennington in 2008. Oversees company that saw in late 2017 and early 2018 changes in high-level leaders at its various divisions.
tAsHA KENNARD
Executive Director, Nashville Farmers’ Market: Assumed role in January 2014. Previously worked in marketing for Second Harvest Food Bank and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Early 2017 announcement to increase market rents rates to reduce operating deficits drew both concerns and support but did not yield long-running controversy.
mIKE JoHNsoN
General Manager, CoolSprings Galleria: Replaced David Meadows in late 2016. Has worked with Chattanooga-based CBL & Associates, which owns the Galleria, since 1985.
JAD muRpHy
General Manager, Opry Mills Mall: Oversees facility highlighted by about 200 stores, many of them outlets of popular retailers. Spanning 1.2 million square feet, mall most recently has landed Madame Tussauds and Bavarian Bierhaus.
ANN pAtCHEtt
Author, Co-Owner, Parnassus Books Nashville: New York Times bestselling author and co-owner, with Karen Hayes, of the literary landmark in Green Hills. Partnered with airport retail giant Hudson Group to open outpost at airport last August.
GREG sANDfoRt
CEO, Tractor Supply: Took over from company legend Jim Wright in late 2012 and has overseen chain’s growth to about 1,620 stores in 49 states. Investing more in on-line platforms and in growing the 2016-acquired Petsense for $116 million.
KImbERly sHADWICK
General Manager, The Mall at Green Hills: Assumed the post in February 2013. Has spent the past 27 years with Michiganbased Taubman Centers, which purchased The Mall at Green Hills in 2011. Major recent mall changes include new spaces for Dillard’s and Restoration Hardware.
toDD VAsos
CEO, Dollar General: Took over from Rick Dreiling in May 2015 after overseeing store operations, merchandising and supply chain. Joined Goodlettsville-based company in December 2008. The smallerformat DGX was unveiled in Midtown in early January 2017.
SPORTS RICK byRD
Men’s Basketball Coach, Belmont: In his 32nd season at Belmont and 37th as a college head coach. Closing in on 700 career victories. Since 2006 his teams have won 16 conference championships (nine regular season, seven tournament), which ranks third in NCAA Division I.
bERNARD CHIlDREss
Executive Director, TSSAA: Under his direction the TSAAA finally achieved the long-discussed public-private split with its 2017 reclassification, which also added a third Division II championship. The organization also has greatly expanded its digital presence in recent years.
tIm CoRbIN
Baseball Coach, Vanderbilt: Sustained success over 16 seasons has produced a steady string of Major League players and prospects, including two first overall MLB draft picks (David Price in 2006 and Dansby Swanson in 2016). Has become a resource for coaches in other sports on campus and across the country.
sCott CoRlEy
Director of Athletics, Belmont: Ex-star basketball player during Belmont’s NAIA era has applied a modern business model to the athletics department’s operations since being hired in June 2016. First few coaching hires indicate he can identify leadership skills in others.
KERmIt DAVIs
Men’s Basketball Coach, Middle Tennessee State: Has won more than 300 games in 16 seasons. Consecutive years with NCAA tourney wins, including 2016 upset of Michigan State. Has turned Raider program into an emerging national brand of sorts similar to those at, for example, Virginia Commonwealth and Butler.
bEtH DEbAuCHE
Commissioner, Ohio Valley Conference: In eight years on the job, has railed against
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CONGRATULATIONS Jimmy Webb, President and Co-Founder of Freeman Webb Company, for being recognized as a Nashville Post Leader!
freemanwebb.com
Explore the Worth website and experience luxury real estate with one click
worthproperties.com
40 Burton Hills Boulevard, Suite 230 Nashville 37215 | 615.250.7880
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the status quo with expansion of conference membership and championship events. Moved the basketball tournament out of Nashville this season. Also has negotiated football and basketball broadcast deals with multiple national outlets.
BRyCE DREw
VU’S DREW PROVIDES PROLIKE PROGRAM They say you dress for the job that you want, not the job that you have. Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew and his staff recruit players to wear college basketball uniforms. No doubt. In a figurative sense, though, they offer an NBA-like atmosphere they feel will help 18- to 20-year-olds ultimately play professionally. The VU staff has sold the concept sufficiently. Its 2018 signing class is regarded as the program’s best ever, comparing favorably with those of bluebloods Duke, Kansas and North Carolina. “We have three coaches on our staff that played in the NBA and another that trained NBA players,” Drew says. “So we definitely have an NBA influence — as far as how we train guys, prepare for games, actions we might run on offense or defense — yet in a college setting.” Vanderbilt recently has developed professional prospects — three were drafted in 2012 and two in 2015 — but none was on an NBA roster at the season’s start. Drew, who enjoyed an NBA career from 1999-2004, aims to make Memorial Gymnasium a regular stop toward the pro ranks. Of course, offering vision is useless if players fail to buy into it. “We’re all former players,” he says of his staff. “We can really be hands-on with our guys — what they’re going through and what it takes to be successful. We’re not asking them to do anything that we didn’t do.” > DAVID BoCLAIR
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Men’s Basketball Coach, Vanderbilt: In 2017 became the first coach in program history to lead Commodores to the NCAA tourney in his first year. His 2018 signing class ranks among the country’s top 10 and has changed the national perception of Vanderbilt basketball.
ToNy FoRmoSA
Promoter, Fairgrounds Speedway: Has directed events at the sometimes-controversial venue since 2010. Last year fought off challenges to his position and now has a contract for the next five years, which will be a time of great change and growth for The Fairgrounds Nashville.
SEAN HENRy
CEO, Nashville Predators: Helps lead franchise that will sell out every home game for the second straight season in 2018 and had to cap season ticket sales. The impact of the franchise’s fan engagement under his leadership was apparent in the tens of thousands who turned up outside the arena for 2017 playoff games.
mARk HowARD
Co-Host, The Wake-Up Zone: Serves as the lead voice on the city’s highest rated morning talk show. Hosts Titans postgame show on the team’s flagship station and is part of the Predators’ television broadcasts. No one has more influence on the city’s discussion of its pro sports teams.
PHILIP HuTCHESoN
Athletic Director, Lipscomb: The most celebrated basketball player of the school’s NAIA era has led the department for a decade. Lipscomb teams have won 19 regular season conference titles and seven conference tournaments as well as four President’s Trophies (most athletes with 3.0 or better GPA).
JoHN INGRAm
Lead Owner, Nashville Soccer Holdings LLC: Stepped up early in the city’s bid to earn an MLS expansion franchise and led the effort. Under his direction the local effort navigated the process at an unprecedented pace, with the city besting 11 others for the first of four teams the country’s top soccer league eventually will award.
CouRT JESkE
CEO, Nashville SC: The expansion United Soccer League franchise will meet or exceed all of its season ticket goals for its inaugural season. Team has struck sponsorship deals with significant local corporations. Experience as an MLS executive likely paid dividends in Nashville’s bid to land MLS franchise.
PETER LAVIoLETTE
Coach, Nashville Predators: Last spring became the first American-born coach to lead three different franchises to the NHL’s Stanley Cup final. Among the NHL’s top 25 overall (ninth among active coaches) in career victories. Twice has been head coach of the U.S. Olympic team.
GEoFF mACDoNALD
Women’s Tennis Coach, Vanderbilt: In 2016 led program to the first women’s national championship in school history. Since then the Commodores have reached the national semifinals two more times, won their first SEC regular-season title and became the third SEC program to win the regular season and tournament championships in the same year.
CHRIS mASSARo
Director of Athletics, Middle Tennessee State: In 11 years has overseen the school’s move from the Sun Belt to Conference USA. MTSU teams have won 46 conference championships under his direction, and for six years the school’s athletic teams have exceeded NCAA’s required graduation rates.
ADAm NuSE
General Manager and COO, Nashville Sounds: Has helped oversee a steady attendance increase through the first three years at First Tennessee Park and has found additional ways to utilize the venue (concerts, college baseball, Nashville SC home matches), which is central to Germantown’s continued redevelopment.
TERESA PHILLIPS
Director of Athletics, Tennessee State: Has directed TSU athletics since 2002, a period that has included the return of football games to campus on a limited basis, the football program’s first playoff appearance in 14 years (2013) and first postseason football victory in 27 years. Also has restructured many aspects of the athletics department and worked to upgrade facilities.
DAVID PoILE
President Hockey Operations/General
Manager, Nashville Predators: His willingness to make trades and the effectiveness of his deals in recent years transformed the Predators into a Stanley Cup contender. Was named the NHL’s 2017 General Manager of the Year after having been a finalist three other times.
SCoTT RAmSEy
President/CEO, Nashville Sports Council and Music City Bowl: Under his direction, Nashville currently is under consideration to be included in the United States’ 2026 World Cup and is a candidate to host a second NCAA Women’s Final Four. The bowl matchups have been consistently compelling in recent years.
JoN RoBINSoN
Executive Vice President/General Manager, Tennessee Titans: By 2018 season’s start, more than 80 percent of the roster will be players he drafted or acquired. Fired head coach Mike Mularkey following a playoff season seven months after he retooled the franchise’s scouting staff.
DAVID wILLIAmS
Vice Chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs/Athletics Director, Vanderbilt: Recently completed a capital campaign to fund significant renovations at Hawkins Field. Continues to ask questions and pursue possibilities for a new football venue. Vanderbilt teams have won two national championships in the last five years.
BRAD wILLIS
Program Director 104.5-FM The Zone: Station is the flagship for Tennessee Titans as well as the local outlet for University of Tennessee football and basketball. Three daily local shows rank among the most highly rated anywhere in the country.
TECHNOLOGY ANToINE AGASSI
Chairman and CEO, Trinisys: Entering his fourth year at the helm of the Brentwoodbased health care software company. Has led a phase of growth that included product launches, competitor acquisitions and a staffing ramp-up.
RoB BELLENFANT
Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, TechnologyAdvice: After leading the buildout of Technology Hill, now home to the company he founded, TechnologyAdvice, as well as the Nashville Software School
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and the Nashville Technology Council, the campus is now for sale. And with a professional soccer team and stadium moving in nearby, the timing couldn’t be better.
CHArLIE BroCk
President and CEO, Launch Tennessee: As the head of the public-private entrepreneurship booster, again led the annual 36|86 conference, which last year featured executives from America Online, FedEx and more. Previously served as general partner of a Chattanooga angel investment group.
CHuCk BryANt
Co-Founder, TechFed Nashville: Co-founded the group that helps manage the many grassroots technology user groups in the city. Helps software developers and others share skills outside of work environment.
ALEx CurtIS
Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Nashville Technology Council: A familiar face at tech events in Nashville, newly tasked with helping launch the advocacy group’s lobbying efforts on behalf of local technology companies.
kEItH DurBIN
CIO and Director of Information Technology Services Department, Metro Government: As Nashville attempts to lead the way on proactively publishing as much of the government’s data as possible, Durbin is tasked with guiding that effort. Previously on Metro Council and an IT consultant for HCA.
CArNELL ELLIott & NICoLE GIBSoN
Co-Site Directors, Dell: Jointly oversee the tech giant’s local campus, which includes about 1,500 employees. Both promoted to current leadership positions last year.
tIm EStES
President and Founder, Digital Reasoning: Last year handed over the CEO position of the cognitive computing company he founded while in college to a newcomer. Mostly focusing on AI product development now.
VALErIE GILLESpIE
Area Vice President and General Manager, Comcast: Guides the telecommunications giant’s local efforts, including managing the rollout of high-speed fiber network and a legal battle with Google Fiber.
tAmmy HAwES
Founder and CEO, Virsys12: Started and leads firm that helps health care companies integrate Salesforce. Previously
worked in tech positions at HCA, Central Parking and Paradigm Health.
mArty pASLICk
BEtH HoEG
Senior VP and CIO, HCA: Approaching three decades with the hospital operator. Leads a department that provides IT support and strategy for hundreds of hospitals and surgery centers.
ANN HowArD
President, AT&T Tennessee: Oversees telecommunications company’s state operations, including a recent dispute involving AT&T, Comcast, Google Fiber and Metro. Assumed president role in 2013 after serving as an attorney for the company.
COO, Trinisys: Top manager at fast-growing Brentwood-based software company. Immediate past president of Women in Technology of Tennessee who has been a prominent supporter of diversifying maledominated tech industry. Managing Partner, Centresource: One of two managing partners, along with Janet Timmons, of Nashville software development company. Started career in public radio but has spent a decade in tech and software development.
JoELLE pHILLIpS
StEVE proCtor
mArtHA IVEStEr
CEO, Edgenet: In 2014, helped re-launch the software-as-a-service company that has in recent years racked up a number of major deals with distributors.
BrEtt JACkSoN
VP of Information Technology and Services, HCA: Has held various positions in two decades with the for-profit hospital operator, but currently responsible for strategy and planning for team of 4,500 across the country.
roByN mACE
Founder and President, Nashville Software School: Responsible for the training of hundreds of junior software developers since the school launched in 2012, creating a vital talent pipeline for Nashville’s hungry tech industry.
City Manager, Google Fiber Nashville: After stalling out for a period, Google Fiber launched across much of the city last year, with Ivester at the helm. Handled public spat with Comcast and AT&T over One Touch Make Ready. CEO, Digital Reasoning: Took over the local cognitive computing company last year amid rapid growth for the firm whose technology is employed by Nasdaq, Goldman Sachs and UBS. Was previously chairman and CEO at both Logi Analytics and Digital Harbor. Chief Data Officer, Metro Nashville Government: Along with Keith Durbin, tasked with managing the city’s rapid deployment of open data technology, designed to increase transparency and help citizens engage more effectively with government.
pEtEr mArCum
Founding Partner, Dev Digital; Managing Partner, Kernel Equity: After co-founding web services company, last year helped launch spinoff Kernel Equity, which focuses on helping startups, turnarounds and small businesses integrate technology.
BrIAN moyEr
President and CEO, Nashville Technology Council: Continues to lead the local tech community’s main advocacy group. Has redirected some of its resources toward government lobbying.
SAm NADLEr
Nashville General Manager, Lyft: Has led local office of ridesharing giant as it staffed up from nothing a few years ago to several hundred today.
TECH COMPANY FOUNDER CHANGE PAYS OFF NICELY
NICoLE trEmBLEtt
JoHN wArk
TOURISM GrEG ADkINS
President and CEO, Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association: Former Metro councilmember and executive director of the Tennessee Public Transportation Association. Leads Nashville-based 1,800-member entity that is state hospitality industry’s resource for information and education.
JoE CHAmBErS
Owner, Musicians Hall of Fame: Oversees Municipal Auditorium-based museum that exhibits instruments owned and played by both well-known artists and behind-the-scenes session musicians.
JAN FrEItAG
Senior Vice President of Lodging Insights, STR Inc.: The face of a team that includes Chairman and Co-Founder Randy Smith and President and CEO Amanda Hite. Helps lead what has become one of
Last year Tim Estes, founder of Franklinbased artificial intelligence computing company Digital Reasoning Systems, stepped aside as chief executive officer and brought on board a tech industry veteran to lead the company. The strong move quickly paid off. Brett Jackson took the reins of the company with significant experience, including with Logi Analytics, Axent Technologies, Digital Harbor and eSecurity. In his most recent position, at Logi Analytics, Jackson served as CEO and chairman at the Northern Virginia-based company that lets users embed analytics tools in other applications. Digital Reasoning has raised millions of dollars in recent years from Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and HCA, and the company’s announcement of Jackson’s hire made sure to highlight his experience leading Axent Technologies as it prepared to go public in the 1990s. “We sought a leader who shares our passion for delivering disruptive technology,” Estes said in announcing Jackson’s hire. “Brett stood out due to his blend of proven leadership and industry knowledge, which will help Digital Reasoning achieve what I set out to accomplish when I founded the company.” Though Jackson is guiding the company moving forward, Estes remains in a major role as president, working on AI product development. > StEpHEN ELLIott
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IN cHARgE
TOUrisM/TranspOrTaTiOn, disTriBUTiOn and lOgisTiCs
BY THE NUMBERS Compiling the In Charge list is an inexact science. But the Post strives to undertake the task with as much precision as possible. Typically, and not surprisingly, about 20 percent of the people on any given list will not be found on the following year’s iteration, with the changes dictated, for example, by retirements, moves, position changes and de-emphasis of roles. Of note, from year to year to year, the number of people on the 19-sector list (we added Management Consulting this year) typically increases slightly. The 2018 number is 528 people, up from the 2017 number of 488. The 2016 mark was 457, with the 2015 figure at 438 and the 2014 list having included 428 folks.
Most significant gains Sports
20 23 vs.
2017
2018
Year-to-Year totals
488 528 vs.
2017
2018
Sectors with most inclusions
Real Estate: 65 Health Care: 61 Government and Politics: 55 Legal: 52 Music Industry: 39 Banking and Finance: 35
Sectors with fewest inclusions
Manufacturing: 18 Media: 13 Tourism: 13 Marketing and PR: 12 Retail: 10 Management Consulting: 9 Transportation: 9
70 leaders
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the international lodging industry’s major data providers.
HENRY HIckS
President and CEO, National Museum of African American Music: Leads nonprofit that is prepping to unveil distinctive cultural attraction at Fifth + Broadway in 2019. Has worked in both the private and public sectors.
JEff LANE
Founder, Lane Motor Museum: Established nonprofit cultural attraction in 2002 in ex-Sunbeam Bakery building. Museum focuses on European vehicles and bills itself as showcasing one of the world’s top collection of Czech cars.
BILL MILLER
Owner, Johnny Cash Museum, Nudie’s Honky Tonk & Patsy Cline Museum: Opened Cash Museum on Third Avenue South in 2013. Later added Nudie’s Honky Tonk on Lower Broad and Cline Museum (also on Third). Bought last year downtown building home to restaurant/bar Skull’s.
coLIN REEd
Chairman and CEO, Ryman Hospitality Properties: The leader of company that owns the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium and radio station WSM. Recently established Opry brand in New York and planning to unveil Old Red Nashville on Lower Broad this year.
RoB ScHAEdLE
Managing Partner, Chartwell Hospitality: Co-founded in 2003 hotel development entity that completed Hilton Garden Inn in SoBro in 2015 (which company sold in 2016 for $80 million). Now undertaking a 10-story Hampton Inn in Capitol View.
StEVE SMItH
Owner, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge: Owner of the most legendary honky-tonk in Nashville. As co-owner of Rippy’s, Honky Tonk Central and The Diner, a strong voice for downtown merchants. Now working on four-story building (for a Harry O’s Steakhouse) at Fourth and Broadway.
ButcH SpYRIdoN
President, Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau: Helped lead effort to see the Music City Center come to fruition. A straight shooter who is unafraid to speak frankly about Nashville’s tourism and convention industry.
cHARLES StARkS
President and CEO, Music City Center:
Oversees a 225-person staff at massive SoBro-based convention facility. Oversaw recent major upgrades to the building’s Eighth and Demonbreun corner, work that yielded a market and cafe.
RAY WAtERS
Vice President, Castlerock Asset Management: Was named to present position in October 2016. Castlerock owns the building home to Westin Nashville Hotel and is nearing completion of the repurposing of the former Wells Fargo building to house boutique hotel Bobby. A 40-plus-year veteran of the local hospital industry.
kYLE YouNg
Director, Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum: Has led cultural icon since 1999. Facility saw in 2013 completion of a major addition and expansion integrated with the adjacent Omni hotel. Museum is prepping for May start of exhibit Outlaws and Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s.
TRANSPORTATION, DISTRIBUTION AND LOGISTICS
Barge Company and publishing industry services company Ingram Content Group. Vanderbilt grad known for his work with university’s board of trust.
doug kRuELEN
President and CEO, Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority: Former airport COO assumed CEO role in December 2017 after the controversial firing of Rob Wigington. Now leads authority’s $1 billion upgrade to BNA.
MARk MAcY
Assistant Director of Engineering, Metro Public Works Department: The face of the city’s multi-faceted infrastructure efforts. Oversaw 2017 finish of Division Street extension project in SoBro and now focused on Mayor Megan Barry’s sidewalks initiative.
BoB MuRpHY
President, RPM Transportation Consultants: Leads veteran company that is handling traffic work for Southwest Value Partners’ multi-building Nashville Yards project at ex-LifeWay campus.
JoHN ScHRoER
StEVE BLANd
Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Transportation: Ex-Franklin mayor is focused on Gov. Bill Haslam’s Improve Act, passed in April 2017 to update the state’s transportation infrastructure by increasing fuel taxes for the first time since 1989. Act allows local governments to pass taxes to fund transit projects.
MARk cLEVELANd
Executive Director, Greater Nashville Regional Council: Former ED of Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. The numbers/details man behind region’s push to expand mass transit
CEO, Metropolitan Transit Authority: ExPittsburgh transit head who replaced Paul Ballard in 2014 and quickly earned praise for his willingness to cite MTA challenges. Focused on Metro’s proposed $5.4 billion mass transit plan. CEO and Co-Founder, Hytch: Leads company whose Hytch Rewards app validates, tracks and rewards ridesharing behavior and is funded, in part, by a state grant and employer partners. Company (pronounced “hitch”) announced partnership with Nissan in January.
MIcHAEL SkIppER
dAVId INgRAM
Chairman and President, Ingram Entertainment Holdings: Owns and operates (independent of his powerful family) the nation’s largest distributor of DVD software. Privately held IEH is a major distributor of audiobooks, video games and related products also runs DPI Beverage distributorship.
oRRIN INgRAM
President and CEO, Ingram Industries: Leads holding company that includes inland marine transportation company, Ingram
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A-B Tim Adams 51 Greg Adkins 69 Antoine Agassi 68 Lewis Agnew 63 Lamar Alexander 48 Vic Alexander 44 Chuck Allen 60 John Allen 60 Jane Alvis 48 Rogers Anderson 48 Steve Anderson 48 Hal Andrews 51 DeVan Ard 45 Allen Arender 63 Dan Auerbach 60 Alanna Autler 60 Janet Ayers 62 Jim Ayers 62 Greg Bafalis 57 David Bailey 60 (BTC Media) David Bailey 63 (Hastings) Ward Baker 48 Jeff Balser 51 Kathryn Barnett 55 Megan Barry 48 Glenda Baskin Glover 46 John Bass 51 Lee Beaman 49 Craig Becker 51 Sam Belk 45 Darek Bell 47 Rob Bellenfant 68 Austin Benedict 63 Bob Bernstein 47 Pete Bird 62 Nick Bishop Jr. 47 Nick Bishop Sr. 47 Jeff Bivins 55 Diane Black 49 Marsha Blackburn 49 Melissa Blackburn 55 Steve Blackwell 57 Steve Bland 70 Matt Bodnar 47 Charles W. Bone 55 Ross Booher 55 Dan Boone 46 Scott Borchetta 60 Denny Bottorff 45 Barbara Bovender 62 Randy Boyd 49 T.B. Boyd III 60 Jeff Bradford 58 Doug Brandon 63 Phil Bredesen 49 Ben Brewer 63
David Briley 49 Charlie Brock 68 Anne Brown 44 Gary Brown 55 Chuck Bryant 69 Steve Buchanan 60 Anita Bugg 60 Frank Bumstead 60 Jeffrey Buntin Jr. 58 Matthew Burnstein 55 Richard Busch 55 Barney Byrd 45 Rick Byrd 66
C-E Jim Caden 63 Joe Cain 63 Wood Caldwell 63 Libby Callaway 58 Ashley Capps 60 Bill Carpenter 51 Brigid M. Carpenter 55 Michael Cartwright 51 Devin Carty 51 Glen Casada 49 Crissy Cassetty 66 Mark Cate 49 Mark Chalos 55 Joe Chambers 69 Sid Chambless 45 Beth Chase 57 Maneet Chauhan 47 Jim Cheek III 55 Will Cheek III 47 Bernard Childress 66 Agenia Clark 62 Stu Clark 51 Jim Clayton 57 John Ray Clemmons 49 Randall Clemons 45 Mark Cleveland 70 Dave Cobb 60 Don Cochran 55 Sandy Cochran 47 Chase Cole 55 Jen Cole 44 Steve Cook 57 Jim Cooper 49 Jon Cooper 49 Darden Copeland 58 RenĂŠ Copeland 44 Tim Corbin 66 Bob Corker 49 Scott Corley 66 Dick Cowart 51 Glenn Cranfield 62 Bob Crants 51
David Creed 63 John Crosslin 45 Justin Crosslin 45 Yuri Cunza 60 Mike Curb 61 Alex Curtis 69 Greg Daily 45 Duncan Dashiff 51 Doyle Davis 61 Kermit Davis 66 Jaynee Day 62 Shari Day 58 Zane Day 66 Karl Dean 49 Beth DeBauche 66 Neil de Crescenzo 51 Bob Dennis 66 Jeff Drummonds 45 Mark Deutschmann 63 Tim Downey 63 Ryan Doyle 63 Bryce Drew 66 Mike Dungan 61 Keith Durbin 69 John Eakin 64 Brandon Edwards 51 Susan Edwards 44 March Egerton 64 John Eldridge III 64 Carnell Elliott 69 Dan Elrod 51 Pat Emery 64 John Esposito 61 Rod Essig 61 Jeff Estepp 64 Tim Estes 69 Gary Everton 64
F-G Philippe Fauchet 57 Stephen Fincher 49 Bob Fisher 46 Craig Fitzhugh 49 Steve Flatt 51 Tony Formosa 68 David Fox 58 Leslie Fram 61 Bill Freeman 49 Jan Freitag 69 Bill Frist 51 Bobby Frist 52 Glenn Funk 49 Joe Galante 61 Stacey Garrett Koju 55 Joey Garrison 60 Gary Gaston 64 Vic Gatto 52
Hunter Gee 64 Tony Giarratana 64 Nicole Gibson 69 Chase Gilbert 45 Valerie Gillespie 69 Benjamin Goldberg 47 Max Goldberg 47 Scott Golden 49 Alberto Gonzales 55 Randy Goodman 61 Bob Goodrich 55 Debbie Gordon 57 Jimmy Granbery 64 Mike Grimes 61 Chad Grout 64 David Guth 52 Chris Guthrie 55 Bobby Guy 52
H-J Brian Haile 52 Daron Hall 50 Joe Hall 50 Linus Hall 47 Hayne Hamilton 64 Jay Hardcastle 52 Tre Hargett 49 Ali Harnell 61 Cordia Harrington 47 Kim Hartley Hawkins 64 Aubrey Harwell 55 Beth Harwell 49 Bill Haslam 49 Christie Hauck 47 Tammy Hawes 69 Michael Hayes 64 Jeff Haynes 64 Ryan Haynes 49 Sam Hazen 52 Tim Henderson 44 Sean Henry 68 Ray Hensler 64 Richard Herrington 45 Denice Hicks 44 Henry Hicks 69 James E.K. Hildreth 46 Jed Hilly 61 Tim Hingtgen 52 Kem Hinton 64 Tina Hodges 45 Beth Hoeg 69 Dan Hogan 45 Chris Holden 52 Lela Hollabaugh 55 Jamie Hollin 55 Rusty Holman 52 Chris Holmes 45
Heath Holtz 57 John Hoomes 44 Bill Hostettler 64 Ann Howard 69 Mark Howard 68 Joseph Hudak 61 Tari Hughes 62 Angela Humphreys 52 Susan Allan Huggins 62 Keel Hunt 58 Shannon Hunt 46 Philip Hutcheson 68 Chris Hyndman 48 David Ingram 70 John Ingram 68 Martha Ingram 44 Orrin Ingram 69 Tom Ingram 50 Phil Irwin 55 Martha Ivester 69 Joey Jacobs 52 Harry Jacobson 52 Brett Jackson 69 Mike Jameson 50 David Jarrard 52 Court Jeske 68 Mark Johnson 57 Mike Johnson 66 Milton Johnson 52 Shawn Joseph 46 Jay Joyce 61 Henry Juszkiewicz 57
K-L Kim Kaegi 50 Demetria Kalodimos 60 Christine Karbowiak 58 Wesley Keegan 48 Tasha Kennard 66 Michael Kenner 64 Bill Ketron 50 Matt King 45 Ted Klee 58 Jay Kline 46 Matt Kisber 58 Gordon Knapp 58 Ken Knight 58 Bill Koch Jr. 55 Doug Kruelen 70 Stephen Kulinski 64 Brad Lampley 50 Jeff Lane 70 Ken Larish 64 Peter Laviolette 68 Tom Lawless 56 Gaylon Lawrence 45 Don Lazas 52
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Brent Leatherwood 50 Bill Lee 50 Ellen Lehman 62 Denis Le Vot 58 Ken Levitan 61 Ryan Levy 56 Jeff Lipscomb 58 Matt Logan 44 Talia Lomax-O’dneal 50 Dennis Lord 61 Rob Lowe 64 Randy Lowry 46 Wanda Lyle 45
M-O Geoff Macdonald 68 Robyn Mace 69 Cary Mack 64 David Macias 61 Jane MacLeod 44 Mark Macy 70 Mark Manner 56 Peter Marcum 69 John Marks 61 Andy Marshall 48 Charlie Martin 52 Jerry Martin 56 Michael Martin 61 Pat Martin 48 Chris Massaro 68 Steve Massey 65 Bert Mathews 65 Lonnell Matthews 50 Joe Maxwell 45 Heather McBee 61 Rob McCabe 45 Margot McCormack 48 Thomas McDaniel 65 Rocky McElhaney 56 Mickey McKay 45 Liz McLaurin 62 David McMahan 50 Tim McMullen 58 Randy McNally 50 Rob McNeilly 45 Sidney McPhee 46 Candace McQueen 46 Dirk Melton 65 Bob Mendes 50 Henry Menge 65 Monte Metz 58 Bill Miller 70 Janet Miller 65 Richard Miller 65 Tom Miller 52 Rosetta Miller-Perry 60 Mekesha Montgomery 56 Anthony Moore 45
72 leaders
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Ken Moore 50 Laura Moore 47 Tyson Moore 46 Tom Morales 48 Frank Morgan 52 Brian Moyer 69 Bob Mueller 60 José Muñoz 58 Bob Murphy 70 Jad Murphy 66 Sam Nadler 69 Andy Nelson 48 Charlie Nelson 48 Bill Norton 56 Adam Nuse 68 Kathleen O’Brien 44 Freddie O’Connell 50 Anna-Gene O’Neal 52 Andrew Oppmann 47 Greg Oswald 61 Brian Owens 44 David Owens 57 Tim Ozgener 44
P-R Kimberly Pace 57 Deb Palmer George 57 Larry Papel 56 Deb Paquette 48 Marty Paslick 69 Ann Patchett 66 John Peets 62 Bill Penny 56 Jonathan Perlin 52 LeAnn Phelan 62 Brant Phillips 56 Clay Phillips 54 Joelle Phillips 69 Teresa Phillips 68 Will Pinkston 47 C. Wright Pinson 54 Lyn Plantinga 60 Rosemary Plorin 58 Scott Pohlman 46 David Poile 68 Erin Palmer Polly 56 James Powell 46 Al Pramuk 65 Stephen Price 56 John Prine 62 Steve Proctor 69 Gregg Ramos 56 Ron Ramsey 50 Scott Ramsey 68 Sylvia Rapoport 63 Marty Rash 54 Austin Ray 48 David Raybin 56
Randy Rayburn 48 Brian Reames 65 Art Rebrovick 57 Colin Reed 70 Sam Reed 50 Clay Richards 54 Rich Riebeling 50 Sharon Roberson 63 Ronald Roberts 60 Sherod Robertson 62 Jennifer Robinson 56 Jon Robinson 68 Heather Rohan 54 Todd Rolapp 56 John Root 65 Dawn Rudolph 54
S-T Chip Saltsman 50 Ron Samuels 46 Greg Sandfort 66 Robert Sartin 56 Matt Scanlan 48 Rob Schaedle 70 Erik Schelzig 60 Jim Schmitz 46 Mark Schoenwald 60 John Schroer 70 Nancy Schultz 57 Ralph Schulz 50 Rick Schwartz 63 Jessie Scott 62 Kevin Sharp 56 Jamaal Sheats 44 Kimberly Shadwick 66 Floyd Shechter 65 Anna Shepherd 47 Pat Shepherd 46 Tom Sherrard 56 Lori Shinton 63 Mike Shmerling 65 Stephanie Silverman 44 Saurabh Sinha 54 Michael Skipper 70 Herbert Slatery III 50 Andy Smith 54 Barry Smith 65 Derri Smith 63 Steve Smith 70 Warren Smith III 65 Wayne Smith 54 Stan Snipes 65 Renata Soto 63 Brad Southern 58 Bailey Spaulding 48 Jimmy Spradley 48 Butch Spyridon 70 Brad Southern 58
Charles Starks 70 Robin Steaban 54 Andrew Steffens 65 Becca Stevens 63 Randy Stevens 46 Joycelyn Stevenson 56 Tim Stowell 65 Gerard Stranch IV 56 Peter Strianse 56 John Strohm 62 Hosung Suh 58 Fahad Tahir 54 Kent Taylor 48 Stephanie Teatro 50 Lizabeth Theiss 65 Overton Thompson 56 Gif Thornton 56 McClain Towery 65 Brian Traeger 62 Sarah Trahern 62 Donato Tramuto 54 Byron Trauger 56 Nicole Tremblett 69 Claire Tucker 46 Van Tucker 44 Wendy Tucker 47 Brent Turner 54 Britnie Turner 65 Jay Turner 65 Lester Turner 62 Steve Turner 63 Terry Turner 46 Flora Tydings 47 Bo Tyler 65
Aaron White 66 Alisa White 47 Jack White 62 Tom White 66 Marcus Whitney 54 David Williams 68 Jerry Williams 63 Jody Williams 62 Phil Williams 60 Sally Williams 62 Don Williamson 57 Brad Willis 68 Steve Wilson 54 Tandy Wilson 48 Ward Wilson 46 Matt Wiltshire 51 Brian Winfrey 57 Karey Witty 54 Jamie Woodson 47 D.J. Wootson 66 Steve Wright 48 Tom Wylly 46 Brenda Wynn 51 Ed Yarbrough 57 Uzi Yemin 58 Carol Yochem 46 Lain York 44 Kyle Young 70 Manuel Zeitlin 66 Nick Zeppos 47
V-Z Alan Valentine 44 David Vandewater 54 Deborah Varallo 60 Todd Vasos 66 Paul Vasterling 44 Tanaka Vercher 51 Vince Verna 57 Jack Waddey 57 Melissa Waddey 54 Paul Wallace 54 John Wark 69 Ray Waters 70 Bo Watson 51 James Weaver 65 Don Webb 54 Jimmy Webb 65 Joseph Webb 54 Phil Wenk 54 Susan Wente 47 Ronnie Wenzler 65 Richard Westling 57 Holly Whaley 63
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