Dorman Products, an automotive parts manufacturer, will invest more than $55 million to expand operations in Robertson County.

Headquartered in Colmar, Pennsylvania, Dorman is a leading aftermarket supplier of original replacement parts, automotive hardware, brake parts and fasteners for both automotive and heavy vehicles.

The company plans to build a new production and distribution facility in the Tennessee-Kentucky Industrial Park, located on the Robertson County side of Portland. The expansion will create approximately 215 jobs.

Dorman will build an 815,000-square-foot facility, and construction will begin in the first quarter of 2018. The new building is tentatively scheduled to be operational in the first quarter of 2019.

Once construction is complete, Dorman will relocate its existing Portland operations to the new facility. Dorman employs 380 people in Portland, where it has operated since 2006.

The new Portland facility will primarily serve customers in North America.

Bar-B-Cutie grows franchises in Texas

Nashville’s Bar-B-Cutie Smokehouse is expanding its franchise business.

The company has launched a new franchise model with three locations now in Texas with two more set to open in 2018.

The restaurant was founded in 1950 in Nashville as predominately a car-hop business with only four inside, dining tables.

The company’s new franchise model offers multiple revenue streams which include, dine-in, drive-thru, catering, and take-out.

Bar-B-Cutie markets itself as an “affordable, sustainable and potentially profitable franchise with world-class training systems.’’

BBQ is a tremendously under-served market, emergingfranchises.com reports, with less than 2,000 BBQ restaurants open across the country, and Bar-B-Cutie’s plan is to fill in the gap beyond its eight locations in the Nashville area.

Pinnacle is No. 3 on ‘Best Workplace’ list

Pinnacle Financial Partners is ranked No. 3 on the 2018 list of the Best Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work.

Last year, Pinnacle earned the No. 7 spot.

The ranking is based on surveys of more than 76,000 employees in the sector that look at over 50 elements of their experience on the job, no matter who they are or what they do.

Factors include pride in the organization’s community impact, belief that their work makes a difference and feeling their work has special meaning.

“We have built a culture based on genuine caring and concern for each other in both a personal and professional sense,” said Terry Turner, Pinnacle’s president and CEO. “In addition, our associates are free to do what they love and what they are best at without layers of middle management looking over their shoulders. This is a combination that creates a place where people love coming to work every day.”

Franklin students win publishing prize

A group of 500 students at Moore Elementary in Franklin have been recognized for writing, illustrating and publishing their own books.

A first-grade class at the school has launched Studentreasures Publishing’s 14 millionth student-authored book, “Invincible Grit,” and been awarded a $1,000 grant as part of an all-school celebration.

These student authors are automatically entered into Studentreasures’ National Book Challenge, the only student-publishing book contest in the nation, and will compete against schools across North America for a chance to win $5,000.

Studentreasures has been encouraging young writers across the United States and Canada for more than 22 years, and the organization has helped more than 350,000 teachers provide inspiring writing lessons.

With the goal of helping every child become a published author, this free program provides engaging, hands-on art and writing lessons – including online publishing.

Franklin’s UL offers new software package

Franklin’s UL EHS Sustainability, an occupational health and safety software and training company, is launching a streamlined version of its award-winning PURE Sustainability software.

The new software package offers a quickly deployable, scalable version of “PURE Sustainability.”

The product provides small and medium-sized businesses with the essential software modules they need to collect, track, and manage sustainability reporting information.

Verdantix, an independent industry analyst firm, rated PURE Sustainability software 3/3, highlighting UL’s expertise and 15 years of experience in the industry.

“Our global clients have used our PURE Sustainability software to develop high-performing sustainability programs,” says Mark Ward, general manager of UL EHS Sustainability. “However, we know that the full system isn’t always the right option for smaller companies, so we developed a software package that incorporates the best of what we have to offer. This lower-priced version is quick to deploy, easy to set up, and more cost effective to implement.”

New state brand, logo for Hilliard Lyons

Hilliard Lyons, a wealth management firm, is unveiling a new brand and logo for its 10 Tennessee branches, which will be seen on the company’s exterior signs.

Hilliard Lyons employs 70 wealth advisors, client service associates, and other staff in Tennessee.

“We are really excited to reveal our new branding,” says Tom Kessinger, Hilliard Lyons president. “For more than 160 years, our number one priority has been clients’ success – and that is not changing.

“But our new branding reflects how our firm has evolved from a traditional brokerage firm to a comprehensive wealth management firm with deep roots in each community we serve. We’ve embraced the latest technology to help clients meet their financial goals more effectively.”

The new logo and branding elements are a dramatic departure from the firm’s former bull-and-bear-and-tickertape logo, which the firm has used since 1973.

Brentwood health care company expanding

SpecialtyCare, Inc., a health care company that supports surgeons and medical centers, is expanding its Brentwood headquarters and adding 124 new jobs.

SpecialtyCare plans to consolidate multiple locations to a 40,000 square-foot facility within the Eastpark Office Park in Maryland Farms.

The company is investing in state-of-the-art clinical training facilities with an expanded simulation operating room and classrooms with enhanced technology features, such as touchscreen smartboards and significantly broader and faster wireless capabilities.

Eastpark is owned in a partnership between Ayers Asset Management and Boyle Investment Company, which plan to transition Eastpark to a multi-tenant campus.

Renovations include adding glass to the building exteriors, substantial exterior hardscape and landscaping, and interior modernization of all the building systems and common areas.

“As a leading provider of outsourced clinical services across the United States, SpecialtyCare has enjoyed steady growth for over a decade. This move allows us to further support that growth by bringing our administrative and training teams that support our clinicians under one roof in Eastpark,” says SpecialtyCare CEO Sam Weinstein, M.D., MBA.

“The larger, modernized space with its upgraded training facilities provides room to expand and gives us easy access to local resources,” Weinstein adds.

“SpecialtyCare has a long-standing relationship with Boyle. Ayers Asset Management and Boyle have done a wonderful job renovating Eastpark Three for us. We are grateful to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and TVA for supporting our efforts as an employer of choice. Eastpark will be a great new home that accommodates our needs today and as we continue to grow.”

State launches plan for school principals

The Tennessee Department of Education has announced a comprehensive initiative to improve the preparation, retention, and development of school principals.

The Transforming School Leadership initiative leverages both state and private dollars to improve school leader preparation programs, reward and retain individuals effectively leading the state’s lowest performing schools, and provide networking opportunities and support for principals in rural communities.

Each year, the state hires approximately 270 new principals across 1,819 public schools.

“I firmly believe that one of the most important things we can do to help our schools succeed is make sure they are led by strong principals,” says Gov. Bill Haslam. “School leaders have a tough job, and as a state we need to support their dedication with resources that will ensure every teacher and student in Tennessee has a transformational principal.”

Haslam has dedicated more than $3.5 million in the FY 2018-19 budget to advance this work.

Additionally, the Ayers Foundation, Scarlett Family Foundation, and the State Collaborative on Reforming Education have invested a combined $600,000 to advance leader preparation.

The initiative consists of three elements designed to both address the pipeline of new leaders and well as the development of existing leaders:

• Effective preparation of new school leaders
• Recruitment and retention of turnaround school leaders
• Development opportunities for rural school leaders.

Pharos buys Horizon, launches new product

Pharos Capital Group, LLC, a private equity firm based in Nashville and Dallas, has acquired Horizon, headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana.

The acquisition also launches Verdi Oncology, Inc., an oncology practice and clinical research management company, headquartered in Nashville.

Founded in 2001 by Dr. Wael A. Harb, Horizon has four providers offering oncology and hematology services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Verdi will focus on aggregating high-quality oncology practices that participate or qualify to participate in the Oncology Care Model program, a value-based care payment program backed by CMS, and similar value-based care payment programs offered by commercial payors.

Pharos is partnering with Wes Chapman, a seasoned executive in the oncology industry, who will serve as chief executive officer of Verdi.

“We are thrilled to launch Verdi and partner with the professionals at Pharos, who bring a wealth of financial and operational health care experience, and Dr. Harb at Horizon Oncology, a high-quality practice with a terrific clinical trials offering,” Chapman says.