Culbreath

Daniel Culbreath, a government strategist and policy expert who previously worked for the Tennessee General Assembly’s senior leadership, has been named assistant vice chancellor for state government relations at Vanderbilt University.

Culbreath will develop and direct state legislative and government strategies for the university, and advocate on behalf of the university with state policymakers.

Since October 2016, Culbreath has served as a principal at Stones River Group, a Nashville-based public affairs group, where he helped clients secure support on a variety of public policy issues. These include the IMPROVE Act, a comprehensive plan passed by the General Assembly in 2017 to update the transportation infrastructure in Tennessee, and Nashville Metro Council legislation paving the way for the city to secure a major league soccer franchise. He also worked on a variety of tasks ranging from public relations to local government lobbying efforts.

Culbreath’s previous experience in state government included serving as chief of staff and senior policy adviser to former Tennessee House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick from 2011 to 2016. While working for the house majority leader, Culbreath played a key role in the negotiations and passage of the Tennessee Promise scholarship program. He also spent a year as legislative director for the state House in the majority leader’s office.

Culbreath began his career with the Tennessee General Assembly as a research analyst for the House State and Local Government Committee. Before that, he was an assistant to the public policy director in the Office of the Secretary of State.

Culbreath spent two years in Washington, D.C., working at the Environmental Protection Agency as an appointee under then-President George W Bush.

In 2006, he earned a degree from Lipscomb University, where he majored in political science. He has completed partial coursework toward a Master in Public Administration from Tennessee State University.

Degrafinreid named to community relations post

Degrafinreid

Alfred Degrafinreid II, a veteran public administrator and community leader, will join Vanderbilt University as associate vice chancellor for community relations with the Division of Government and Community Relations.

A native Tennessean, Degrafinreid most recently served as the chief administrative officer for the Office of the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk. Before serving the Metro Nashville government, he was counsel to U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper and coordinated community outreach for Davidson, Dickson and Cheatham counties.

Degrafinreid holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tennessee State University and a doctor of jurisprudence from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law. In addition, he serves as the 2019 chair for the largest nonprofit awards ceremony in the country, the Salute to Excellence Awards, which is hosted by the Center for Nonprofit Management to recognize community and nonprofit leaders in the Middle Tennessee region.

Bone McAllester Norton adds Jones in Sumner Co.

Jones

Bone McAllester Norton has hired R. Colten Jones in the firm’s Sumner County office. Jones counsels clients in numerous aspects of civil matters, including general civil litigation, estate planning and intellectual property issues, and will work closely with attorney Marty Cook in other areas of commercial and employment litigation.

Jones was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 2016 and admitted to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in 2018. Before joining Bone McAllester Norton, Jones handled all aspects of civil litigation with a focus on insurance defense as an associate attorney at Nashville law firm Brewer, Krause, Brooks & Chastain, LLP.

Jones earned is a graduate of Lipscomb University and earned his juris doctor from the University of Kentucky. While attending law school, he served as a legal intern for Fayette County Attorney’s Office in Lexington, Kentucky, as well as the office of U.S. Senator Rand Paul in Washington, D.C.

Cumby joins Adams and Reese

Cumby

Adams and Reese has hired Joshua Counts Cumby for the firm’s Nashville and Washington, D.C., offices as an associate.

Cumby is a litigator who works with the firm’s Class Action/Complex Litigation and Appellate teams. His practice includes class actions, intellectual property litigation, disputes involving complex commercial transactions, disputes involving the government and appeals.

Cumby is a frequent author on topics involving appellate law and the intersection of law and technology, among others. He is currently editor-in-chief of The Journal of Legal Metrics, one of the bundle of small journals that make up the Journal of Law, and he has written for and edited the publication since 2011. He is also an adjunct professor at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, where he teaches courses on federal courts and legal writing.

Cumby served as a law clerk for the Hon. Leonie M. Brinkema, district judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Hon. John F. Anderson, magistrate judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Cumby earned his J.D. from the George Mason University School of Law in 2011, and a degree in music from The University of Texas at Austin.

Brown is new director of Economic, Community Dev.

Brown

Mayor David Briley has appointed Jamari Brown as the new director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development.

Brown comes to the Mayor’s Office from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, where he served as the director of business development. Brown has led 70 teams that have announced more than 13,000 jobs and investments of $2 billion in Tennessee. During this time, Brown has worked with a diverse list of clients that include AllianceBernstein, Google, Hankook Tire, The ICEE Company, Lyft, Philips, UBS, Warner Music Group and others.

As director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development, Brown will lead efforts to recruit and grow businesses in Nashville. Brown fulfills the position most recently held by Matt Wiltshire, who is moving to MDHA to head up the Mayor’s Under One Roof 2029 initiative, the city’s largest-ever investment in affordable housing.

Brown graduated from Pearl-Cohn Comprehensive High School and has a degree in business administration with a focus in marketing from the University of Tennessee at Martin. He has previously served as a board member on the Governor’s Medical Device Advisory Board, Life Science Tennessee and Tokenize Tennessee.

Donelson Hermitage Chamber hires director

Nutter

The Donelson Hermitage Chamber of Commerce has hired Terri Williams Nutter as executive director.

Nutter currently serves as children’s minister at Donelson Church of Christ, a position she has held for four years. She holds an affiliate broker’s license with Beck & Beck Real Estate, Inc., and has 20 years’ experience in residential real estate.

Originally from Memphis, she moved to the Donelson area at the age of 17 to work as an entertainer at Opryland and has lived in the Donelson-Hermitage area off and on for more than 40 years. She also worked in Branson, Missouri, and has performed in the Music Valley area of Donelson, as well as in Pigeon Forge. She has sung on the Grand Ole Opry, is a published songwriter and was a recording artist at Warner Bros. Records. She has also traveled and performed internationally.

She was the co-producer of Branson Fest for 14 years and producer of the 1994 Branson Area Festival of Lights lighting ceremony for the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce.

Hendersonville Area Chamber names board

The Hendersonville Area Chamber of Commerce has named its 2019-20 Board of Directors. Joining the board for the first time, are:

• Kelley Crecelius, First Tennessee Bank
• Jason Duncan, Energy Lighting Services
• Lacey Edwards, Durham Farms
• Kevin Jones, Keller Williams Realty
• April Jones, Tap Snap 1208
• Penny McElhaney, Rocky McElhaney Law Firm
• Dr. Courtney Moseley, Music City Health Center
• Sean Roach, Sean Roach & Associates
• Scot Robinson, Olympian Construction
• Lee Rucks, Leadership Middle TN, incoming board chair

Continuing to serve the board are:

• Marty Cook, Bone McAllestor Norton, PLLC, board chair
• Steve Botts, Heritage Financial Group, LLC, immediate past chair
• Lynn Bowles, Hendersonville Lifestyle Publication
• Jeff Burns, Aladdin Temp-Rite
• Dr. Renee Dauer, Union University
• Laura Degelau, Comcast Spotlight
• Kathryn Gupton, Kathryn Gupton, CPA, treasurer
• Barry Hardwick, Centennial Retail Services
• Nicolas Howald, TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center
• Daniel McMullen, LaQuinta Inn & Suites
• Wendy Navarro, Navarro creative Group
• Amy Raines, Park Place Retirement Community
• Mary Smith Dohner, Constangy, Brooks, Smith, & Prophete, LLP
• Greg Wilson, Actor’s Point Theatre Company

Ex-officio Members include:

• Mayor Jaime Clary, City of Hendersonville
• Jimmy Johnston, Forward Sumner
• Dr. Phillips, Sumner County Board of Education
• Abbie Rice, 9 Rounds

Young Professional Council board liaisons are:

• Sarah Mitchell, Salt MedSpa
• Saige Navarro, Navarro Creative group
• Lesley Sinks, Park Place Retirement Community
• Dennis Tulpa, Studio Bank

MP&F welcomes Grenier as an account executive

Grenier

Media and communications professional Kirsten Grenier has joined the MP&F Strategic Communications team as an account executive.

Grenier brings nearly 10 years of journalism, communications and music industry experience to MP&F. She was most recently a publicist at The GreenRoom PR, where she supported the firm’s prestigious roster of country artists and helped run point for Bobby Bones, Thomas Rhett, Maddie & Tae and Brett Young. Grenier secured ongoing national media coverage and managed press for clients at major award shows, industry events and priority-market concerts.

Her recent campaigns include Bones’ No. 1 New York Times best-selling book “Fail Until You Don’t: Fight. Grind. Repeat” as well as Thomas Rhett’s Grammy-nominated album Life Changes, which debuted atop the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Before The GreenRoom PR, Grenier worked as a publicist at The Media Collective with clients including NEEDTOBREATHE and Owl City, and as a staff reporter at The Ogemaw County Herald in West Branch, Michigan

A Michigan native, Grenier holds a degree in advertising & public relations from Grand Valley State University.