The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is accepting applications for discretionary grants.

Nonprofit organizations working to improve the well-being of residents of Middle Tennessee are eligible and are encouraged to apply. Nonprofit grant guidelines and applications are available at www.cfmt.org. Deadline is Aug. 1.

Grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations across Middle Tennessee serving a wide range of causes, including: animal welfare, arts and humanities, conservation and preservation, environment, education, employment and training, health and human services, housing, and economic and community development.

The Community Foundation awarded $2,726,800 in grants to 453 local nonprofit organizations as part of the 2018 annual grantmaking process.

The Foundation’s discretionary grant recipients will be announced in late fall 2019. All tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations applying for discretionary grants must be profiled on The Community Foundation’s initiative www.GivingMatters.com.

Information: 615 321-4939, 888 540-5200, [email protected].

Ponder & Co. buys South Carolina firm

Franklin-based Ponder & Co., a health care financial advisory firm, has acquired Knowledge Capital Group, management consulting firm of Charleston, South Carolina.

“We are excited to offer Knowledge Capital Group’s management consulting expertise to our clients,” explains Julian Head, CEO of Ponder. “This new service line will allow us to assist our clients through the full spectrum of a transaction, from strategic planning, to financing, to performing the planning and implementation work to become a fully integrated system.”

Over the past 45 years Ponder has advised over 750 health care organizations on capital planning, strategic advisory and transactions.

Wellview Health launches new program

Nashville’s Wellview Health has put a new proprietary integrated health engagement platform on the market.

Wellview Tech Connect integrates multiple data points for supporting consumer, provider, and employer health management that’s actionable, according to James Story, Wellview CEO and co-founder.

Wellview Tech Connect enables a simplified, seamless and enjoyable participant-driven engagement experience, while integrating key data for successful employer population health management. The proprietary platform collects and integrates data points of thousands of consumer lives, along with proprietary consumer profiling algorithms, to simplify and personalize participant-driven health engagement.

Wellview Health continues to focus on strategic expansion in 2019 and 200% growth in 2020.

Xtend to invest, add jobs in Hendersonville

Xtend Healthcare, LLC, plans to invest $1.3 million and create 200 jobs in Hendersonville, where its headquarters is located.

The company is a provider of comprehensive revenue cycle solutions for hospitals, physicians and other health care providers.

“Tennessee provides an excellent labor force with health care expertise that has accelerated our growth at Xtend Healthcare,’’ says Daniel Brooks, chief development officer.

Founded in 2009, Xtend employs more than 700 professionals in Tennessee. Worldwide, the company employs more than 1,000.

A subsidiary of Navient, Xtend provides services to hospital systems, teaching hospitals, urban medical centers, critical access hospitals, children’s hospitals and large physician groups.

Asurion again makes top IT workplace list

Nashville-based Asurion has been selected as a 2019 Best Places to Work in IT by IDG’s Computerworld.

Among the perks of working at Asurion: Global and local hackathons. Project-based reskilling and role evolution to keep tech skills fresh. On-site massage days.

Asurion has been named to the list for the second consecutive year, ranking No. 4 among large organizations for creating challenging and rewarding career development opportunities for its technology staff while also providing great benefits and compensation.

Computerworld also ranked Asurion No. 9 for career development.

The list is compiled based on a comprehensive questionnaire regarding company offerings in categories such as benefits, career development, training and retention. Computerworld also conducts extensive surveys of lT workers, and their responses factor heavily in determining the rankings.

Southern Oak joins Sanctuary Wealth

Sanctuary Wealth has added Jackson Hill & Fish Private Wealth Advisors and Southern Oak Wealth Group to its national network of advisers. Southern Oak is a six-person, $310 million team in Nashville, led by J. Patrick Poling, CFP, CRPC, CPFA; Jonathan Trusty, and Ann Hollis-Young, AAMS. Poling was named a Best-in-State Wealth Advisor by Forbes this year.

“The wealth management landscape has undergone a major transformation since I began my career in 2006, with new pressures and boundaries consistently emerging, yet clients continue to demand better service, expertise and interaction,’’ Poling says.

Boston hospital group picks HealthTrust

Beth Israel Lahey Health has selected Nashville-based HealthTrust as its supply chain organization.

Based in Boston, BILH is an integrated care delivery network of 13 hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts, including four academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, eight community and specialty hospitals, and other sites of care. Three quarters of the region’s residents reside within just a few miles of a BILH-affiliated primary care provider.

AdhereHealth to partner with Papa

Franklin-based AdhereHealth, a health care technology company, has announced a partnership with Papa, a companionship platform company serving the elderly, blind and disabled who experience social determinants such as loneliness, food insecurity and transportation.

Any one of these issues could impede optimal health care and medication adherence.

“Our analytics and clinical workflows will help direct Papa Pals to address myriad SDOH issues our consumers face, such as transportation to doctor appointments and local pharmacies, grocery shopping, housing chores and other senior services,” says Jason Z. Rose, AdhereHealth CEO.

In 2018, a new policy allowed Medicare Advantage and Part D health plans to pay for SDOH services as a medical expense for seniors with chronic diseases. Now AdhereHealth can deploy “Papa Pals” to consumers at risk for poor health outcomes for face-to-face support. Most Papa Pals are college students majoring in nursing, social work, or hospitality that desire to improve consumer quality of life.

Work underway at Four Seasons

Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences has begun construction in Nashville.

With demolition work on the site having been completed in May, foundation work will commence now throughout the rest of 2019 with the project aiming to go vertical in early 2020.

The iconic 40-story tower with 236 hotel keys and 143 luxury private residences will be a five-star, full service, a world-class spa and an array of lavish amenities.

“We officially celebrate the start of construction on an iconic tower which will become synonymous with Nashville’s skyline,” says Dean Stratouly, president of The Congress Group. “Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Nashville will be the premiere luxury destination to live and stay. In a city where business is booming, and individuals come from around the world to experience the culture and music, this property will dramatically rewrite what is possible for any resident or visitor.”

The brand’s arrival to Nashville, which will be the first Four Seasons in the state, is the culmination of nearly a decade of economic and cultural advancement and momentum in the city.

The facility is strategically located adjacent to the Cumberland River, within a block of fresh and exciting culinary and nightlife experiences throughout SoBro and on Broadway, and just across the street from West Riverfront Park and the award-winning Ascend Amphitheater.

Construction is being led by AECOM Hunt and is designed as LEED Gold.

The project is being designed and executed by a world class team of architects, designers and engineers, which includes:

SCB, project architect; HOK, interior design of the luxury residences and amenity spaces; Marzipan, interior design of the hotel and public spaces; Barge Design Group, civil engineer and permitting; Cosentini Associates, MEP engineer;

MKA, structural engineer; and TTL, geotechnical and environmental engineer.

SteelSummit buys Magic Steel Sales

SteelSummit Holdings, a LaVergne-based national metals service center and trading company, has acquired Magic Steel Sales. Terms in the all-cash deal were not disclosed.

With approximately $200 million in sales, Magic Steel Sales is a leading steel service center company headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The company was founded in 1974 by Joe Maggini and operates service centers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Decatur, Alabama.

Nashville freelancers’ revenue up 40%

Fiverr International Ltd., has released the findings of its annual Freelance Economic Impact Report, a comprehensive study that identifies and profiles the 25 largest markets in the United States for skilled freelance workers.

Nashville rates at 24th with 52,947 freelancers (2018 projected) earning $2,489,932,163 (2018 projected revenue).

New York is home to over half a million freelancers, earning estimated $25 billion, and Los Angeles’ creative freelancers generate $5 billion.

Over 6% of San Francisco’s workforce employed as skilled freelancers

Austin is experiencing a talent boom, with the skilled freelancer population up almost 26%.

For the second year Fiverr commissioned market research firm Rockbridge Associates to analyze a range of secondary data sources, including the U.S. Census bureau, to determine the size and revenues of U.S. based skilled freelancers.

More than 20 million tax returns were classified by geography and industry, allowing researchers to approximate that there are 5.6 million skilled freelancers working in creative, technical or professional positions across the country.