Nashville-based Stonebridge Wealth Management and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants are launching a program of joint quarterly webinars for professional athletes and entertainers.

“We are proud to be a strategic partner with AICPA-CIMA and the first to provide continuing professional education specifically for business managers and CPAs working with high-profile clients including athletes, artists and entertainers,” says Mitch Martin, Stonebridge CEO.

“As the world’s leading membership association for public and management accountants, we are committed to a culture of continual learning and development,” says AICPA-CIMA Senior Manager of Engagement and Learning Innovation Tommy Crompton. “We are excited to be partnering with Stonebridge to enhance the knowledge and expertise of CPAs serving this industry.”

Upcoming webinars will focus on such topics as:

l Advanced planning

l Wealth enhancement

l Estate planning

l Asset protection

l Practice growth and client retention

l Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies

Advocate Capital bumps up max line of credit

Advocate Capital, headquartered in Nashville, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and the company’s credit committee announced it will increase its maximum line of credit to a new high of $8 million per qualifying firm.

Advocate Capital, Inc.’s new higher limit marks a $2 million increase from its previous maximum of $6 million. The company’s 500+ clients will continue to benefit from the AdvotracCase Expense Funding Service and The Advocate Flexline. The company hopes this increase will enable plaintiff law firms to continue to pursue justice and get even better results for their clients.

“We are so thankful for the opportunity to fulfill our mission of helping an ever-increasing number of plaintiff lawyers get even better results for their clients. This new, higher limit will enable us to expand even further,” says Advocate’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael J. Swanson.

LP Building Solutions garners Weekley award

Nashville-based LP Building Solutions has earned the “Partners of Choice” Award from David Weekley Homes, the nation’s largest privately held home builder, for the sixth straight year.

LP achieved the “AA” rating for service and quality.

LP was one of 160 companies participating in David Weekley Homes’ industry-leading supplier evaluation platform to receive the award.

“It’s fantastic to be recognized for our quality and service by David Weekley Homes,” says Craig Sichling LP specialty sales and marketing vice president. “Our high-performance field sales, marketing and customer service teams are relentlessly focused on delivering value to our customers. This prestigious award affirms we’re fulfilling our brand promise.”

“David Weekley Homes’ evaluation process is a useful tool for us to gauge where we excel and where we need to improve in terms of service and quality,” says Michael Murphy, LP building solutions national account manager. “We share the information with our sales and marketing teams, and we all work very hard to provide world class service and quality to an important customer.”

LP’s field sales and marketing team works closely with David Weekley Homes, supplying more than half of the homebuilder’s markets with a variety of engineered wood products.

Timeshare customers seeking debt relief triples

Franklin-based Wesley Financial Group, the leader in timeshare cancellations, is experiencing significant increases in requests from consumers seeking relief from timeshare debt.

The company has fielded more than 65,000 inquiries from Jan. 1 to date in 2019 from consumers hoping to cancel their timeshares as compared to approximately 20,000 for the same period in 2018.

“The number of consumers deceived in the sales process by companies selling timeshares is immense,” says Robin McVey, president of WFG. “We’ve had exponential growth because – unlike others who tout themselves as cancellation experts - we have a proven track record of extricating those who qualify from timeshare agreements that are financial burdens for them and their families.”

WFG offers a money-back guarantee if the company cannot get its clients freed from their timeshare agreements. Unlike most other timeshare exit companies, WFG handles all phases of the cancellation process internally as opposed to any outsourcing. Prospective clients go through a thorough qualification process to determine if WFG can assist them. For those approved, WFG has been able to get timeshare owners relief in an average of less than 300 days.

“Our focus is on consumers who have experienced fraud, misrepresentation and/or outright lies during the sales presentations that led them to purchase a timeshare,” McVey says.

Out of the 65,000 inquiries through June 2019, 3,900 were qualified and have become WFG clients. To date in 2019, the company has relieved 1,068 clients of their timeshares, a value of more than $26 million saved just for owed mortgage debt relief.

“It’s a shame how many consumers get put into high pressure and unethical sales presentations that result in them signing agreements that put not only them, but also their heirs, into financially crippling situations for years to come,” McVey says.

Bar-B-Cutie adds franchises in Texas

Nashville’s Bar-B-Cutie SmokeHouse will add a fourth and fifth location in Texas in the fall.

Texas has other restaurants with three in the Rio Grande Valley and one in San Antonio.

“Operating as a local, family-owned BBQ joint by giving back to the community has been a main focus of Bar-B-Cutie since my grandfather began operations in the Nashville BBQ market in 1950,” says Brett McFarland who is a third generation Bar-B-Cutie SmokeHouse partner.

The new operations are in Harlingen, Sharyland and will be locally owned and operated.

“It’s extremely important for our restaurant owners to actually live in their location’s community,” says Ronnie McFarland, CEO of Bar-B-Cutie Franchise Systems.

Bar-B-Cutie is a 69-year-old fast casual restaurant.

Management company picked to operate Margaritaville hotel

Margaritaville Hotel Nashville will be operated by Davidson Hotels & Resorts, a management group based in Atlanta.

The 12-story hotel with 217 rooms, owned by Safe Harbor Development, is inspired by the lifestyle of singer, songwriter and best-selling author Jimmy Buffett.

Situated in Nashville’s bustling South of Broadway (SoBro) neighborhood, Margaritaville Hotel Nashville is near the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bridgestone Arena, Music City Center, Honky Tonk Highway and other attractions.

“With Davidson’s success to date managing Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort and recent expansion with Davidson Restaurant Group, we saw them as the clear choice to manage this new development where we are debuting two new dining concepts for the brand,” says Darby Campbell, Safe Harbor Development owner and president Darby Campbell. “Margaritaville Hotel Nashville will be unlike any hotel in the city where guests can escape from the everyday and enjoy true Southern hospitality with a ‘no worries’ tropical vibe.”

The hotel is set to feature more than 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space; a rooftop deck with a pool, fire pits and live entertainment; a 24-hour fitness center and two new Margaritaville dining concepts, JWB Grill and FINS Bar.

David Yurman store opens in Green Hills

David Yurman, a luxury jeweler, has opened its newest boutique at the Mall at Green Hills.

Founded in 1980 by New York artists David and Sybil Yurman, the brand is renowned for capturing the essence of relaxed American luxury with artistic inspiration, craftsmanship, and unconventional design at its core.

The store is in the newly renovated luxury wing of the Mall at Green Hills, a 2,079-square-foot space, and will feature a curation of David Yurman product across all categories, including women’s, men’s and wedding.

Nashville’s natural sophistication is echoed throughout the store’s design with the use of elements such as white oak, nickel accents, and leather tile, while concrete wall panels are juxtaposed with travertine and custom carpets. Jewel-toned mid-century-inspired seating and artisanal plasters complement the interior, while iris blossoms are featured on focal wall panels in a nod to Tennessee’s state flower.

GoNoodle expands, teams with non-profit

Nashville’s GoNoodle and non-profit RespectAbility have announced the launch of Flash Bolton, a new GoNoodle Champ character to bring more disabled diversity to digital kids’ media.

GoNoodle Champs are lovable characters each with his or her own unique personality and interests. They are featured in the brand’s school platform and encourage kids to stay active.

To create Flash Bolton, GoNoodle worked with RespectAbility, a non-profit agency that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of their communities.

GoNoodle is a movement and mindfulness platform, used in four out of five U.S. public elementary schools to get 14 million students moving each month, so they can be the best versions of themselves.

Flash Bolton is part of GoNoodle’s Yes! You! Initiative that celebrates kids of different backgrounds, interests, perspectives and disabilities.

Getting started with GoNoodle is easy and free. Educators can set up a free GoNoodle account by visiting gonoodle.com. Kids can play the same videos they love from school at home by visiting gonoodle.com, and clicking “Start GoNoodling” or by downloading the free GoNoodle.

Score’s Metrock unveils new Alexa book

“More Than Just Weather & Music: 200 Ways To Use Alexa,’’ will be released in October by Bradley Metrock, CEO of Nashville-based Score Publishing.

The new book details a multitude of Alexa skills and use cases. The release will coincide with a presentation on the same day about voice technology and AI – to be given by Bradley Metrock – at the Frankfurt Audio Summit, part of the annual Frankfurt Book Fair.

“We’ve seen how users are interacting with Alexa-enabled devices, and it’s limited,” Metrock says. “Most people just don’t know all the many and valuable ways that Alexa can bring value to them, their families and their household.’’ torically Black Colleges and Universities 2019 list by College Consensus.

To identify the top schools, College Consensus combined the latest results from the most respected college rankings with thousands of real student reviews to produce a unique consensus score for each school.

As the editors explain, “The College Consensus methodology pulls together rankings from U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, and Wallethub, averaging all of a given school’s numbers to get the Publisher Rating. Then we average student reviews from sites like Cappex, Niche, Student Review, and more, to get the full picture of how students see their colleges, which we call the Student Review Rating. Put them together, and we have the College Consensus.”

Other top HBCU schools on the list were Spelman College at No. 1 followed by Howard University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Morehouse College, Hampton University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Claflin University, Alcorn State University and

Oakwood University.