U.S. News & World Report has listed Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt among its top pediatric health care facilities in the nation for the 13th consecutive year.

Monroe Carell achieved a maximum 10 out of 10 pediatric specialty programs to be nationally ranked, with four of those in the top 20 in the country.

U.S. News gathered key clinical data from nearly 200 medical centers through a detailed survey that looks at measures such as patient safety, infection prevention and adequacy of nurse staffing. In addition, part of each hospital’s score is derived from surveys of more than 11,000 pediatric specialists.

Pediatric urology continues to earn the distinction as a premier, destination program, earning the No. 7 spot in the rankings for Vanderbilt. The program has achieved a top 10 ranking every year since U.S. News began ranking pediatric urology in 2009.

Among the other pediatric specialties, four moved up in the rankings. Gastroenterology improved from 24th to 17th; nephrology jumped from 38th to 24th; diabetes & endocrinology moved from 31st to 23rd; and cardiology & heart surgery improved from 42nd to 36th. Other specialties earning spots in the rankings are: cancer (14); pulmonology (15); orthopaedics (26); neonatology (28); and neurology & neurosurgery (34).

Baker Donelson named Gold Standard Firm

For the fifth consecutive year, Baker Donelson has been certified by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum as a Gold Standard Firm.

WILEF grants Gold Standard status to firms that meet objective criteria concerning the number of women among equity partners, in firm leadership positions, and in the ranks of their most highly compensated partners. Baker Donelson was among 45 U.S. law firms to earn this certification.

Criteria that are considered for WILEF Gold Standard Certification include the number of women attorneys who are equity partners; who serve as heads of the firm, its offices and practice groups or departments; who serve on the firm’s primary governance committee; and who serve on the firm’s compensation committee. To earn certification, firms must meet both a mandatory criterion regarding the percentage of women equity partners and at least three of five additional criteria related to women in various areas of leadership, compensation and minority/LGBT representation. Baker Donelson was among only 14 firms to meet all six criteria.

Through its Women’s Initiative, Baker Donelson has implemented numerous key initiatives designed to create an environment where female attorneys thrive, including an industry-leading parental leave policy, a firmwide mentoring program for women, a program that awards business development grants to women attorneys, and a training program designed to help women attorneys achieve equity shareholder status.

Harrow Health picks Nashville for HQ

Harrow Health, Inc., is moving its headquarters to Nashville, planning to invest $500,000 and create 27 new jobs.

Harrow is a publicly traded pharmaceutical company which, in addition to owning one of the nation’s leading ophthalmology pharmaceutical businesses, ImprimisRx, has started and owns large stakes in five other pharmaceutical companies.

Harrow plans to relocate to an existing building in Nashville, and the facility will operate as the company’s headquarters and will house the company’s executive team.

N-Hance expands to GCC countries

N-Hance, a Murfreesboro-based, wood-refinishing and refreshing franchise opportunity, is seeking master franchise owners in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman as part of a continued expansion plan.

N-Hance, which launched in 2006, provides consumers affordable wood refreshing, including the ability to change wood colors, in flooring, cabinetry, siding, furniture and trim refinishing, at a fraction of the cost of new cabinetry or floors.

The company began its global expansion in 2018 and has more than 500 franchises around the world. Its Master Franchise Owner program provides entrepreneurs ownership rights to an entire region or country, where they have the right to develop as many franchise locations as they can in that area.

TSU’s online MBA listed among Top 25

Tennessee State University has been listed among the Best Online Executive MBA Programs 2019 in a publication by College Consensus.

Schools in the 25 Best Online Executive MBA ranking are ranked according to three main criteria: Affordability, convenience and reputation. Data was drawn from sources like U.S. News, the Economist, Businessweek and the institution’s own published information.

Bethel University in McKenzie was the only other Tennessee college listed.

“Graduate degrees like the MBA can be a draining program for professionals currently holding positions in corporations and organizations,” as the editors of College Consensus note; “The strain of attending classes each week might make an employer think twice about releasing a manager to pursue such a program.” But the online executive format gives working professionals the means to “find the time to pursue a degree which will equip them for the next level of business leadership.”

Nashville YWCA to host anti-violence conference

YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee will host the first ever national conference on violence against women and healthy masculinity Sept. 9-10 in Nashville.

Keynote and featured speakers include actor Terry Crews, Time Magazine’s 2017 Person of the Year and Silence Breaker, former Tennessee Titan star Eddie George, survivor and activist Brenda Tracy, and Alejandra Castillo, CEO of YWCA USA.

“SHIFT: An AMEND Together Conference,” is a two-day conference to confront the crisis of violence against women. AMEND Together, a program of YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee, is dedicated to ending violence against women and girls by engaging men and boys to change the culture that supports violence. The conference is supported by Vanderbilt University’s Sports and Society Initiative and YWCA USA.

Celero Commerce buys Elmhurst Financial

Celero Commerce, a vertically-focused commerce solutions provider, has acquired Brentwood-based Elmhurst Financial Services, a financial institution-focused payment processing provider.

Celero also announced the acquisition of Tandem Innovative Payment Solutions, a technology-focused payment processing provider.

These acquisitions strengthen Celero’s expertise in providing industry-leading payment processing, business management software, technology, and customer support to its financial institution partners and SMB customers. With Elmhurst and Tandem, Celero will serve approximately 25,000 merchants and process approximately $10 billion in annual payment volume, with more than 100 employees in five offices across the U.S.

Cumberland picked as ACAP vendor

The Association for Community Affiliated Plans has chosen Nashville-based Cumberland as a preferred vendor in the categories of management consulting, operational effectiveness and technology consulting and business process and IT services.

ACAP is a national trade association that represents not-for-profit Safety Net Health Plans. Collectively, ACAP plans serve more than 20 million enrollees, representing nearly half of all individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans.

“We are honored to be chosen by ACAP as a preferred vendor,” says Pete Biagioni, Cumberland payer division managing partner. “We are committed to delivering best-in-class solutions to payer organizations and look forward to connecting with and serving additional ACAP members.”

JSS purchased by Solotech, Inc.

Solotech Inc., has acquired the assets of JSS, based in Nashville, a design-build company that provides integration and sales of acoustics, professional audio, video and lighting systems.

This strategic transaction strengthens Solotech’s positioning in Nashville and brings systems integration offerings.

“Our vision has always been to offer both Sales and Systems Integration and Live Productions services in all our offices,’’ says Philip Giffard, president of the Sales and Systems Integration Division at Solotech. “We have been partnering with JSS for many years already, so this acquisition opportunity is therefore not only momentous but also very well-thought-out.’’

The acquisition will enable Solotech to continue offering an unprecedented level of experience in a broad range of venues and markets such as cultural and special event centers, sports facilities, houses of worship, studio and broadcast, hospitality and retail, corporate enterprise, education and government.

Relevance helps PetScreening.com grow

Relevance Capital, headquartered in Nashville, is a participating partner in helping PetScreening.com to close a Series Seed round of venture capital financing.

Fenwick & West represented PetScreening.com in the transaction. Grotech Ventures led the Series Seed round along with Camber Creek and Relevance.

The invested capital will enable Petscreening.com to increase the sales and marketing resources it allocates to the apartment industry, and also will position the company to pursue additional software integrations beyond its current integrations with Yardi Voyager and RealPage’s OneSite.

PetScreening.com is a free service to property managers and housing providers that helps hold all residents more accountable regardless if they have no pets, pets or assistance animals.

Kraft Enterprise Systems received Oracle award

Brentwood-based Kraft Enterprise Systems, LLC, a provider of enterprise cloud business solutions, has received the Oracle NetSuite 5-Star Partner award.

The award acknowledges members of the NetSuite Solution Provider Program that continue to deepen their commitment to NetSuite customers through strategic expertise that enables organizations to achieve the benefits of cloud computing. KES was recognized for its long-term dedication to client service and success in sales, service and support of the NetSuite platform.

The company is planning the build out of nearly 40,000 additional square feet in one of its Nashville data centers, opening in 2019.

The Nashville expansion includes 10,000 square feet space for one enterprise customer.