The Nashville Entrepreneur Center, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs and business leaders, has announced Amazon as a new supporting partner.

Amazon will provide philanthropic support that fuels the EC’s work of equipping entrepreneurs and innovators, at all stages of the business lifecycle, with the critical resources they need to create, launch and grow businesses.

Amazon’s partnership with the NEC supports five entrepreneurial education programs for business founders:

PreFlight: Supports first-time entrepreneurs, in the idea-stage of forming their business, establish a solid foundation for launch

InFlight: Addresses the unique challenges of early-stage startups in any industry

Twende: A yearlong program for entrepreneurs of color looking to significantly grow their businesses and gain access to world-class curriculum, a supportive community and individualized mentorship programming

Project Healthcare: An accelerator entrepreneurial initiative for high-growth startups accelerating innovation in the health care industry

Project Music & Entertainment: Focuses on advancing the growth and development of entrepreneurs in all aspects of the entertainment industry, including music, sports, film, esports, gaming, publishing and more

The NEC is dedicated to supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders by providing innovative mentorship programs and a community for entrepreneurs to build, connect and succeed. This new partnership illustrates both the NEC and Amazon’s commitment to supporting business development and expanded opportunity in the Middle Tennessee region.

Bradley named state’s top litigation firm

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has been named Benchmark Litigation’s 2021 Tennessee Litigation Firm of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Bradley was one of three finalists for the award, which recognizes litigation firms in each state based on the significance of their representations. The firm also was a finalist for Litigation Firm of the Year in Alabama and Mississippi. The state honors are part of the ninth annual Benchmark Litigation U.S. Awards, with nominees chosen based upon research conducted between March and November 2020. Benchmark Litigation determines its annual rankings through peer reviews and case examinations.

Nearly half of Bradley’s nearly 550 attorneys are litigators who represent clients in litigation and arbitration in every U.S. state and in every federal district and appellate court across the country, as well as internationally. The attorneys handle matters in nearly every substantive area of business law and in a wide range of industries, including high-stakes and complex cases.

Bridgestone sells division; employees to remain here

Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc., a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, has completed the sale of Firestone Building Products to Holcim Participations (US) Inc, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim Ltd.

Firestone Building Products employees have successfully transitioned to LafargeHolcim and will remain based in Nashville.

The transaction, valued at USD $3.4 billion, will advance Bridgestone’s efforts to deliver value to customers and society as a global leader providing tires and advanced mobility solutions.

The divestiture of Firestone Building Products supports Bridgestone’s mid-long term business strategy. By focusing its business footprint to maximize the strengths of its core tire business, Bridgestone is evolving into a sustainable solutions company that supports the mobility and movement of people and goods around the world.

Both Firestone Building Products and LafargeHolcim serve commercial building customers and have a shared focus on delivering innovative and sustainable building solutions.

Vanderbilt expands services in Sumner County

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has opened Vanderbilt Health Hendersonville, a new 31,000-square-foot facility that offers adult outpatient specialty care, along with pediatric specialty care and imaging services to the citizens of Sumner and surrounding counties.

Hendersonville ranks as Tennessee’s 11th-largest city and saw a population increase of approximately 13.2% between 2010 and 2019, the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates show. Growth projections show that the population in Sumner County will increase 45% by 2035. The Vanderbilt Health Hendersonville facility and the services now offered there were planned with this in mind.

The building features 40 clinic exam rooms, urgent care services and imaging capabilities such as CT, ultrasound and X-ray. Specialties on-site at the single-story facility include women’s health, pediatrics, adult primary care, orthopedics for both adults and children, imaging, rheumatology and walk-in-care. The facility also has three chairs dedicated to non-chemotherapy medical infusions.

Located at 128 N. Anderson Lane, it is staffed with 50 to 60 clinical and non-clinical employees.

Concert Genetics announces agreement

Nashville’s Concert Genetics is partnering with GeneMatters, a provider of telegenetics services and software.

Concert Genetics, a health care technology company, provides the digital infrastructure for genetic testing management. The partnership’s goal is to help health care systems meet patient demand for high-quality, personalized clinical genetics services.

The collaboration brings together key technical and clinical resources, including Concert’s interoperable SaaS platform for genetic test ordering and resulting and GeneMatters’ virtual genetic counselors, care delivery software and patient engagement tools. As a result, GeneMatters health system customers will have access to a complete platform for genetic testing management and data integrations by using Concert’s platform.

Williamson Parks hiring for summer

The Williamson County Parks and Recreation Department is accepting applications for temporary/seasonal summer jobs.

Several temporary, part-time positions are available at recreation centers throughout Williamson County, including lifeguards (certification required), splash park attendants and pool cashiers. Some age restrictions apply, and individuals must be at least 15 years old to apply for summer employment.

Positions are available at Fairview Recreation Complex, Franklin Recreation Complex, Indoor Sports Complex in Brentwood, Longview Recreation Center at Spring Hill and the Williamson County Recreation Complex at Nolensville.

Job descriptions: www.williamsoncounty-tn.gov/jobs.aspx, 615 786-0192.

Hankook’s partnership with MLB continues

Hankook Tire, headquartered in Nashville, has announced that it will continue its multi-year partnership with Major League Baseball as the league’s official tire in the U.S. and South Korea.

Hankook first entered into partnership with MLB in 2018 with the goal of showcasing Hankook Tire across the league’s wide array of highly engaged media assets, which include MLB Network, MLB.com, the MLB app & MLB social media channels. The multi-dimensional partnership also provides Hankook with marketing rights during the most-viewed events of the baseball calendar – MLB All-Star Week and the MLB Postseason, through the culmination of the World Series.

Hankook Tire also has extended its partnership with World Series champion and 8-time All-Star Pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

Hankook first debuted its ad campaign with Kershaw during the 2020 season, which included two multimedia spots, Perfect Pitch and Long Catch.

Magazine highlights HBCU’s COVID response

HBCU Research Magazine, a publication based in Nashville, has released a commemorative edition covering the HBCU response to the coronavirus.

This issue showcases the research accomplishments, excellence, resilience, and creativity exhibited by these exemplary institutions and the Black community during the pandemic.

The release of the magazine marks the 103rd anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic. The disparities that were observed over a century ago are still being observed today, with people of color disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

HireRight earns contract with Premier

HireRight, a Nashville-based background screening services, has been awarded a multiyear national contract with Premier Inc.

The agreement allows Premier members, at their discretion, to take advantage of pricing and terms pre-negotiated by Premier for background screening solutions and related services.

HireRight says agreement will offer Premier members best of class employment background screening solutions while leveraging pre-negotiated pricing for hospitals, nursing homes and other non-acute, long-term care facilities associated with Premier’s membership. HireRight’s comprehensive product portfolio includes public record checks, employment eligibility verifications, social media screening, drug testing, COVID-19 testing and health care-specific solutions like sanction checks, professional license verifications and nurse registry checks.

Employment and health care screening programs can be complex with changing laws and regulations. HireRight’s industry-leading technology will now provide Premier members with screening results, quickly and consistently.

Bridgestone to add 58 new stores across the US

Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas headquartered in Nashville, announces it will open 58 new stores across the U.S. in 2021 as part of the company’s continued growth strategy.

Eighteen stores are scheduled to open before the end of April.

The projected launches follow significant BSRO expansion in 2020 when 52 new locations opened amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent impacts on the retail sector.

“We are grateful that despite all the changes 2020 had in store for us, we were able to create jobs in 52 new communities and provide essential services to more customers across the country,” says Marko Ibrahim, president, Bridgestone Retail Operations. “We are excited to continue expanding our retail footprint in 2021 as we solidify our position as the most trusted tire and automotive service provider in every neighborhood we serve.”

BSRO, which operates more than 2,200 retail locations across the U.S. under the brand names Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Hibdon Tires Plus and Wheel Works, hired more than 500 employees in 2020 to support its new stores.

Age-Friendly Health Systems come to Tennessee

Health systems in Tennessee are recognizing the importance of addressing the health needs of the state’s rapidly growing number of older adults by participating in a movement to better identify and address their unique care needs.

Currently, Nashville area hospitals, medical practices, convenient care clinics and/or nursing homes in Tennessee have joined Age-Friendly Health Systems.

Funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation and led by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement – in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States – the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement prioritizes what matters most to an older adult.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency among health systems to prioritize age-friendly care; from March 2020 through December 2020, 1,671 U.S. health care sites joined the effort, including every CVS Health MinuteClinic, bringing the total number of sites to 1,956.

Nashville area health care systems that have joined are Vanderbilt Geriatrics, Nashville

Vanderbilt Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Veterans Health Administration, Tennessee Valley Health System - GeriPACT Outpatient Clinic, Nashville and 33 CVS Health MinuteClinics

“There has never been a more critical time to prioritize adoption of evidence-based care of older adults,” says Kedar Mate, M.D., president and CEO of IHI. “We are learning and improving care daily through the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement, and that will fortify our health care systems for the future. I am heartened by the increase in Age-Friendly participants and their commitment to better care for older adults.”