Southern Business & Development magazine recently recognized Stites & Harbison, PLLC in “The Best Economic Development Law Firms in the South,” a directory produced every six years. The firm was among 24 honored on the list.

Honorees are chosen based on the magazine’s knowledge of economic development in the South, as well as a poll of the Southern Economic Development Roundtable. The Roundtable is an annual invitation-only gathering of many of the best minds in economic development in the South.

FW Publishing acquiring Home Page Media Group

FW Publishing LLC is acquiring “hyper-local” online news publishing company Home Page Media Group, which operates online news sites including the Brentwood Home Page, Franklin Home Page, Spring Hill Home Page, Nolensville Home Page and Business Williamson.

“Jimmy Webb and I are thrilled to purchase Home Page Media, which has been a pioneer in the expansion of intensely local news, business and sports coverage,” said Bill Freeman, who with longtime partner Jimmy Webb created FW Publishing LLC. “It is important to us and, we think, to Middle Tennessee that locally owned and operated news media are given the opportunity to grow and thrive.

“We look forward to ensuring a steady future of excellent media coverage under our ownership.”

In May, Bill Freeman and longtime partner Jimmy Webb purchased the Nashville Scene, Nashville Post and Nfocus.

The staff of Home Page Media is joining FWP and will continue in their positions, Freeman said in a release. Terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed.

Relatient launches new patient product

Franklin-based Relatient has unveiled Patient Self-Scheduling and Waitlist, its newest product to address deficiencies in patient access.

The product offers cost and time savings for practices, medical groups and health systems.

Many medical groups today schedule appointments by phone, which takes eight minutes on average. This can equate to an extra staff person for every 100 appointments made during a day on the phone, creating inefficiency and low results.

Using the self-scheduling product, a patient can make an appointment in as little as two minutes with minimal, if any, staff involvement and without the need for patients to download an app or register for a portal.

CapStar, Athens bank complete merger pact

CapStar Financial Holdings, Inc., the parent company of CapStar Bank, has completed its merger with Athens Bancshares Corporation. Athens Federal Community Bank, National Association, Athens’ wholly owned bank subsidiary, has also been merged into CapStar Bank.

The Athens merger adds eight branches in Southeast Tennessee, $463 million in assets and $403 million in deposits to CapStar.

Morgan buys 826 apartments in Nashville

Four properties with 826 apartments in Nashville has been acquired by Morgan Properties, a real estate investment and management company.

It is Morgan’s first purchase in Tennessee.

The company acquired the multifamily portfolio from Cardone Capital for $91 million and plans to invest an additional $8.7 million into renovations and amenity upgrades.

“Entering Nashville is a major milestone for Morgan Properties,’’ says Jonathan Morgan, president of Morgan Properties JV. “Nashville is a hot market and we have been targeting it for quite some time. We felt this portfolio gave us a foundation to build on as we continue to seek follow-on investment opportunities to scale our footprint in the market.’’

The Nashville portfolio consists of four garden-style apartment communities: Hickory Creek, Lincoya Bay, Sheffield Heights and Jackson Grove.

Asurion certified as “great workplace’’

Asurion, a technology solutions services company, has been certified as a great workplace for a second year by the independent analysts at Great Place to Work.

Asurion earned the nationwide workplace credential based on extensive ratings provided by its employees in anonymous surveys, in which 88 percent of those surveyed say Asurion is a great place to work.

Employees gave high marks for the high level of workplace engagement and camaraderie that Asurion helps foster among colleagues, and the company’s ability to continuously improve, adapt quickly and generate game-changing opportunities.

Grand Ole Opry House to host Holidaze again

Cirque Dreams Holidaze will return to the Grand Ole Opry House for 50 performances Nov. 16-Dec. 28.

Nearly 100,000 people saw the production last year.

With more than 20 glowing and cutting-edge elaborate scenes, dozens of original holiday production numbers, over 30 artists, hundreds of ingenious costumes and new creations, Cirque Dreams Holidaze is a special addition to the annual A Country Christmas at Gaylord Opryland Resort.

New highlights featured in this season’s production of fresh and distinctive performances are acts including twisting candy cane contortionists, wheel rolling engineers, joyful jugglers, jingle bell bicyclers, spiraling aerialists, tinsel and toys along with dexterous dance and acrobatics.

Sylvan Supply buys Charlotte Ave. property

Sylvan Supply, an adaptive re-use development featuring large format, class-A creative office space, has closed on the acquisition of the former Madison Mill on Charlotte Avenue.

The Nashville property will be divided into six buildings connected by open corridors and terraces providing outdoor workspaces for tenants.

The project will have 133,000 square feet of creative office space featuring open floor plans, large windows and highly-amenitized outdoor space, as well as 27,000 square feet of curated dining and shopping.

Sylvan Supply is the first project of the newly formed Third & Urban, which merged with Westbridge Partners earlier this year. Construction is expected to begin in October, and the project ready to open in 2019.

“Nashville is an incredible city for creative, infill development, with a thriving and growing economy based on innovation and invention,’’ says Chris Faussemagne, Partner, Third & Urban.

“Early interest from companies seeking large-format creative space, as seen in other markets, shows the need for Sylvan Supply.

“Third & Urban, FCP and our local partners have the experience and expertise to execute large-scale adaptive reuse projects in urban areas that purposefully fit and enhance the surrounding community.”

SSM invests in ProviderTrust

SSM Partners announces it has made a minority investment in ProviderTrust, a Nashville-based healthcare IT company, providing screening, monitoring and verification tools to simplify healthcare compliance programs.

ProviderTrust is co-led by Michael Rosen, Christopher Redhage and Andrew Luers. ProviderTrust works with acute and post-acute providers, payers and their vendors across all 50 states. Their client list includes some of the leading healthcare companies in the country, like Community Health Systems, Deaconess Health System, Dialysis Clinics Inc., HCR ManorCare, Vanderbilt University and RCCH HealthCare Partners.

ProviderTrust is the fastest-growing SaaS company in Tennessee and the 90th fastest-growing SaaS company in the nation, per Inc. 5000, and it is the market leader in the data science of exclusion monitoring, license verification, and sanction screening.

ProviderTrust’s products include Passport (automated checks of individuals), VendorProof (automated checks of vendors), and ExclusionCheck (simple, self-service exclusion searches).

Bernard Health announces partnership

Bernard Health, a benefits brokerage and HR software company based in Nashville, is partnering with Baird to provide healthcare planning and health insurance advice to clients of the national financial services firm.

Through the 12-month Healthcare Extension partnership, Baird’s 900 advisors across the country will have access to Bernard Health’s licensed, noncommissioned healthcare advisors.

“More and more financial advisors all over the country are recognizing that healthcare represents a notable gap in the financial planning process,” said Ryan McCostlin, who leads the Healthcare Extension segment at Bernard Health.

“We are impressed by Baird’s leadership and commitment to closing this gap for clients across the country.”

Bernard Health launched the Healthcare Extension model through financial advisors in 2017 and has since grown to partner with independent and regional retirement advisors in the Southeast, Midwest and Northeast.