Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has added four partners – Elizabeth C. Sauer, Mary O’Kelley, Kacie McRee and John P. McGehee – along with counsel Kyra F. Howell and associate Taylor P. Scott in a major expansion of its national real estate and finance practice.

All six attorneys join Bradley from Baker Donelson, bringing extensive transactional experience in the real estate, banking, and health care industries to the firm. This team routinely handles all aspects of commercial real estate development and complex real estate and finance transactions, with a focus on long-term care facilities and senior housing.

Sauer advises investors, developers, managers, owner-operators and lenders in large-scale, multistate portfolio transactions, as well as single-asset deals. She earned her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Virginia.

O’Kelley focuses her practice on long-term care transactions, including financing, leasing, acquisitions and dispositions of long-term care and senior housing facilities. She also represents owners, operators and developers of health care facilities, as well as investors in other real estate asset classes. O’Kelley earned her LL.M. and J.D. from Cornell University School of Law and her B.S. from Vanderbilt University.

McRee has a broad range of experience in real estate and corporate transactions, including representing both borrowers and lenders in real estate development transactions, commercial leasing and secured lending, as well as representing clients in corporate formations and corporate M&A. She also has particular experience related to environmental issues in connection with sales and acquisitions of real estate. She earned her J.D. from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and her B.S. from Troy University.

McGehee has extensive experience representing lenders and borrowers in HUD-insured loan transactions for multifamily and senior housing facilities and the related asset management and servicing work. He earned his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law and his B.A. from Murray State University.

Howell practices in the areas of commercial real estate and finance transactions. Her experience includes HUD transactions, as well as primary and mezzanine lending in bridge-to-HUD and standard commercial lending transactions. She earned her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and her B.A. from Manhattanville College.

Scott represents clients in real estate and finance transactions, long-term care transactions and commercial leasing matters. She earned her J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law and her B.S. from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Richards & Richards owner elected to national post

The 1,000-plus members of The International Secure Information Governance & Management Association have elected Bowman Richards, owner and president of Nashville-based secure shredding company Richards & Richards, LLC, as president-elect of the national organization.

Before his election as president-elect, Richards served as chair of i-SIGMA’s Conflict Resolution Committee, having been a member of the committee since 2018. The i-SIGMA CRC is responsible for enforcing the association’s Code of Ethics, handling complaints of wrongdoing within the information lifecycle management industry and protecting the association’s trademarks if misused.

Gresham Smith names marketing ops director

Gresham Smith has promoted Angie Womack to director of marketing operations. Womack has worked for the firm for 35 years and has nearly 30 years of marketing experience.

Womack has been instrumental in winning numerous projects and completing hundreds of proposals and presentations. She helped launch several internal training and development opportunities, elevating the capabilities of the marketing team and the firm.

In her new role, Womack will oversee the firm’s marketing team and work with senior leaders to develop strategies geared toward expanding Gresham Smith’s external market share. She will play a key role in developing and implementing improved procedures and practices across the firm, and will assist with major project pursuits.

Johnson named to Bridgestone post

Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, has named Robert Johnson vice president of store operations. Johnson joined Bridgestone Americas in 2016.

Johnson will oversee operations for BSRO’s 2,200 company-owned tire and automotive service centers to create an exceptional experience for BSRO’s more than 20 million annual customers. Johnson will also be responsible for managing a team of high-performing retail professionals and will play an active role on the BSRO executive leadership team.

In 2016, he joined Bridgestone as executive director of finance for BSRO where he was responsible for all finance and control functions of BSRO’s retail store network. In 2018, Johnson became executive director of finance for the Integrated Consumer Group, and in 2020 he was promoted to vice president of finance for the company’s Americas Tire Group and marketing function.

Before joining Bridgestone, Johnson spent more than six years at Advance Auto Parts in a variety of roles.

Emerging Leaders announces 2021 class

Nashville Emerging Leaders, an annual leadership program that brings together Middle Tennessee’s most promising young professionals with the region’s top community and business leaders to cultivate Nashville’s leaders of tomorrow, has named members of the class of 2021.

This year’s class consists of 30 Middle Tennessee emerging leaders who represent a range of industries and backgrounds. Class members will participate in an 11-week program, during which they will learn from and interact with some of Nashville’s most influential business and civic leaders, discuss critical issues facing our city, and learn more about their own leadership styles and capacities in the process.

The class includes:

• Amy Merritt Campbell, Elevate Consulting

• Adrianna Janelle Carter, Oasis Center

• Ariel Safdie, Conexión Américas

• Ben Baden, Gresham Smith

• Brittany Macon, Maynard Cooper & Gale, P.C.

• Dr. Candace Warner, people3, Inc.

• Carolyn Adkerson, 227Advantage LLC

• Crystalline Jones, STEM Prep Academy

• Devin Lintzenich, Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

• Dove Buppert, Implement Now

• Emily You, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

• I'Ashea Myles, Bone McAllester Norton, PLLC

• Jaz Boon, Bridgestone Americas, Inc.

• Joseph Gutierrez, Maddox Fund

• Lacey Hunter, Premise Health

• Lindsay Gilmore, US Small Business Administration

• Lisa Swinson, MP&F Strategic Communications

• Marisa Sharp, Certified Victim Advocate

• Matt Cooper, TenantBase, Inc.

• Minh Le, DVL Seigenthaler, a Finn Partners Company

• Nadira Freeman, Axis Strategies

• Nicole Keefe, Burr & Forman LLP

• Nikki York, Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network/VUMC

• Oklicia René Dillard, United Way of Greater Nashville

• Paige Reese, Leven Works

• Sonja Wilson, TMPartners, PLLC

• Todd Hartley, Bridgestone Americas, Inc.

• Virginia Ezell Briley, Jigsaw

• Britney Gannon, Asurion

• Libby Moore, UBS Financial Services

Keenan rejoins Triple 7 as vice president

Public relations veteran Shannon Leigh (Turbeville) Keenan has rejoined Triple 7 Public Relations as vice president, leading the company’s Nashville office. She previously worked with Triple 7 PR 2010-2016, first in the Nashville office and subsequently in Los Angeles.

Keenan will work alongside team members in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville to execute campaigns for business and health-focused brands, experts and book launches including Franklin Covey, Dr. Gail Saltz, Dr. William Li, Celeste Headlee, Jillian Michaels, Yoga Medicine founder Tiffany Cruikshank and others.

Keenan is a graduate of Belmont University.

Baker Storey McDonald adds brokers Bice, Cooper

The brokerage team at Baker Storey McDonald Properties Inc. has announced the addition of two brokers, Cameron Bice and Matt Cooper.

Bice and Cooper join the team from TenantBase and will focus on expanding BSMP’s asset class to include industrial, office and medical brokerage services. While at TenantBase, the two created a team structure that increased their average fee by 423%. Both received top producer awards due to their volume and gross commissions as first-year affiliates.

Cameron Bice earned a degree in finance with a specialization in real estate and professional sales from the University of Alabama.

Cooper earned a degree in economics from the University of Tennessee Knoxville.

ILEC Nashville adds Spoonhour as master coach

Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching Nashville has hired leadership executive coach Dennis Spoonhour to its staff.

Spoonhour will work alongside owners John and Kristi Hope to provide leadership coaching and leadership development programs to build strong cultures and drive results in businesses.

Spoonhour brings decades of leadership experience stemming from his sales management roles at Navistar, Steelcase and Herman Miller’s government division. Based in Chicago, he has developed a network of business connections that the team will leverage to close the leadership gap and expand their regional impact.

ILEC helps companies grow leaders, build cultures and drive results by developing stronger leaders at all levels, accelerating the development of emerging leaders with high potential, and helping organizations build and sustain strong cultures.