Minor

J. Douglas Minor Jr., a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, will be moving to the firm’s Nashville office from Bradley’s Jackson, Mississippi, office.

A member of Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group since joining the firm in 2006, Minor has been a litigator in the Southeast for more than two decades.

Minor focuses his practice in wide variety of areas, including consumer and investment fraud, commercial loan workout litigation, unfair competition claims, class actions and product liability. He has appeared in courts in Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia and West Virginia, and has argued before the Second, Fourth and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals.

He is a past chair of the Litigation Section of the Mississippi Bar and is a certified instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He is licensed in Mississippi and Florida, and is a frequent lecturer in the areas of conflicts of interest, juror bias and the impact of social media on the jury system.

He recently was appointed by the president of the American Bar Association to the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Minor earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his A.B. from Harvard University.

EO Nashville announces new Catalyst members

EO Nashville, the third-largest chapter of the global Entrepreneurs’ Organization, announced today the 33 members of its seventh annual Catalyst class.

Catalyst is an 18-month program for business owners whose companies generate a minimum of $250,000 in revenue per year. The program combines three segments – classroom instruction, mentorship and peer-to-peer CEO forums – to help these businesses reach $1 million in gross annual revenue or more. The course consists of 12 classes held every two weeks, an 18-month mentorship and participation in a CEO forum for up to one year.

Catalyst has proven to be an effective solution for local entrepreneurs looking to jumpstart the growth of their business. Catalyst graduates from 2016 saw a 132 percent average growth in their businesses and hired a total of 124 additional employees upon completion.

This year’s Catalyst participants are:

Luciana Aliaga, Kingdom Homes LLC

Murray Allan, Marr Traffic

Jacob Boone, The Boone Company, LLC

Kyle Bush, Cumberland Creative

Libby Callaway, The Callaway

Dave Crawley, Music City IT

Nate Dary, M.A.D.E. Fitness

Bo Dill, Mobile Attic

Emily Eggebrecht, Consider the Wldflwrs

Andra Eggleston, Electra Eggleston Fine Textiles

Clay Ezell, The Compost Company

Steven Fazio, Southbound Custom, LLC

Hunter Ford, SkinWorks Wellness and Aesthetics

Jay Fulmer, Fulmer Engineering, LLC

Marcelle Guilbeau, Marcelle Guilbeau Interior Design/Building Ideas, LLC

Lynley Hammes, LYNE, LLC

Nick Hegeman, CertaPro Painters of Nashville North-Bowling Green

McKel Hill, Nutrition Stripped

Allison Holley, Apple & Oak

Kristen Holscher, TWO for Home

Trish James, FACE Nashville

Cliff Jones, Landscape Solutions

Jerry Lo, Spine and Strength

Shannon Mikula, LYNE, LLC

Michael Miller, Keystone Business Solutions

Stephen Pinaire, Pinaire Roofing

Philip Rykwalder, Southern States Property

Garrison Snell, Gyrosity Projects

Ryan Stout, Astute Communications

Jake Veyhl, Jake’s Bakes, LLC

Tom Woodard, Woodard Brothers Distributing, LLC

Jules Wortman, Wortman Works Media & Marketing

Monette Young, My Diva Gourmet

Reed to lead Pinnacle Asset Management

Reed

Pinnacle Financial Partners is bringing additional experience to its wealth services team with the hiring of Stephen L. Reed, CFP®, CTFA, to lead Pinnacle Asset Management, which provides investment management, securities trading and execution.

Reed has worked in finance for 35 years, most recently running SunTrust Investment Services for the Middle and West Tennessee regions. At Pinnacle, he will have responsibility for Pinnacle Asset Management across the firm’s entire footprint in Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia.

Reed worked for SunTrust for 15 years, and prior to that served at Lattimore, Black, Morgan and Cain as director of mergers and acquisitions. He has also held various roles at First Union Bank, AmSouth (First American) and the Tennessee Teachers’ Credit Union.

Reed earned his bachelor’s degree from Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois and a master’s from Middle Tennessee State University. He is a Certified Financial Planner professional, a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) and graduated with honors from Cannon Trust School I, II and III. He holds Series 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 24, 31, 63 and 65 licenses, as well as an insurance license in health and life and variable annuities.

Reed has served as chairman of the board for the Middle Tennessee Society of Certified Financial Planners and Christian Counseling Services.

Anderson Benson adds to music, entertainment team

Gray

Anderson Benson, a locally owned and independent insurance broker providing insurance and risk management to a variety of commercial industries, has added Valerie Gray as a marketing analyst and account manager in its music and entertainment practice.

Gray spent a large part of her entertainment insurance career with Robertson Taylor International Insurance. She will focus on advancing Anderson Benson’s standing in the music and entertainment industry.

Better Decisions hires new executive director

Zitka

Better Decisions, which helps women in prison make better life choices, has selected Christina “Crissy” Zitka as executive director.

Better Decisions has been mentoring incarcerated women at the Tennessee Prison for Women for 30 years, mobilizing hundreds of local women volunteers to help prepare those behind bars for a future of hope and responsibility.

Programs like Better Decisions have been instrumental in lowering the state prison’s recidivism rate, which dropped from 50.5 percent to 47.1 percent in the past year, Tennessee Department of Corrections figures show. The life skills taught through the eight-week class seek to break inter-generational cycles of crime and impart hope for more responsible decision-making in prison and after parole.

Since 1985, Better Decisions has taught more than 1,500 incarcerated women and trained more than 1,200 volunteers to serve as one-on-one mentors to inmates.

Zitka’s work has focused on workforce and community education and health advocacy in various leadership roles that have taken her from state-level and regional positions to national and global assignments. She has served as campaign director of the Lutheran Malaria Initiative – a United Nations-supported, $45 million capital campaign to eliminate malaria in Africa – as well as senior director of advancement for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.

She holds a degree in psychology and minor in communications from Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla, as well as a master’s in management from Webster University in St. Louis.

Tennessee Chamber names VP for member relations

Boutwell

Kelly Boutwell, IOM, has been named the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s Vice President for Member Relations.

She comes to the Tennessee Chamber from the Mississippi Economic Council – that state’s Chamber – where her team earned national awards for both membership growth and retention. Boutwell has more than a decade of experience in sales, marketing and management.

As vice president of member relations, Boutwell will lead all efforts in growing, engaging, and retaining the membership base of the State Chamber and the Tennessee Manufacturers Association.

In addition to her professional experience, Boutwell earned IOM Graduate Recognition in 2016 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Northeast Institute. The Institute of Organization Management (IOM) is a four-year professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation that educates professionals on all facets of running a non-profit organization.

Boutwell is a native of Forest, Mississippi. She attended Millsaps College, where she earned a degree in sociology and an MBA from the Else School of Management.

Schoch named COO for TNCPE

Schoch

The Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence has named Award Program Manager Heather Schoch as Chief Operating Officer, a new position within the organization.

Schoch will oversee daily operations, implementing TNCPE’s business strategy and managing relationships with key stakeholders.

Prior to this appointment, Schoch was responsible for overseeing applications to the TNCPE award program, examiner recruitment and training, and all other aspects of the award process. Since assuming this role in 2015, she has trained more than 500 examiners and guided 86 award applicants through the TNCPE program.

Schoch holds a degree in math from Vanderbilt University.

Nashvillian takes role in New Zealand government

Richards

Nashville native and Nashville School of the Arts graduate Kiri Richards has been appointed principal advisor of strategy projects for the Ministry of Health in New Zealand.

Richards earned degrees in accounting and dance at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. She also earned a Master of Professional Accounting from Victoria University of Wellington.

Alive Hospice names VP of mission-based services

Orr

Middle Tennessee nonprofit Alive Hospice has appointed Judy Orr as vice president of mission-based services. In her new role, Orr is part of Alive’s executive leadership team and directs several key programs and functions that have a direct impact on the community.

Orr’s areas of responsibility include fundraising for charity hospice care, overseeing Alive Grief Support, the agency’s bereavement support program, and leading the Alive Institute, Alive’s center for education, outreach, innovation and advocacy, and marketing.

Orr previously worked at Vanderbilt University where she spent 20 years as assistant vice chancellor for creative services. Her career also includes 10 years at Ingram Book Company as director of advertising and creative services.

She earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Tennessee College of Social Work and a bachelor’s degree in English from Vanderbilt.