SVP-Singer Holdings, Inc., with corporate headquarters in La Vergne, has reached a definitive agreement for Platinum Equity to acquire a controlling stake in the company along with its wholly owned subsidiaries.

Existing shareholders and management have retained a meaningful equity interest. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2021.

SVP Worldwide accounts for more than one out of three consumer sewing machines sold worldwide through three iconic brands: Singer, Viking and Pfaff. The company’s products are sold across a network of sewing machine dealers, mass retailers, specialty shops, online retailers, distributors, and the company’s 180 internally operated retail stores.

SVP Worldwide CEO Carl-Martin Lindahl and Executive Chairman Stan Rosenzweig, who both joined the company in 2018, will continue in their roles following the change in ownership.

Wellview earns Trailblazer honor

The Wellness Council of America has selected Nashville-based Wellview as a 2021 Well-Being Trailblazer Award recipient for its proactive, population care solution that uses behavioral data to connect employees to highest-value health resources.

This first-ever Well-Being Trailblazer competition sought to find and award the nation’s most innovative worksite well-being companies. After a rigorous review, Archetype Solutions Group and WELCOA selected Wellview from a pool of hundreds of entries.

Wellview is one of four Well-Being Trailblazers who are designing solutions for holistic well-being and innovating to reduce barriers that get in the way of humans thriving and flourishing. Award recipients also include LearnLux, Peerfit and Unmind.

“Simple, personalized and sustainable health care is possible,” says James Story, CEO & co-founder of Wellview. “At Wellview, we’re building the next generation health experience while reducing cost for our employer customers. We’re proud to be recognized as a Well-Being Trailblazer for our ability to deliver engaging, proactive care and cost savings for today’s employers.”

Rep. John Lewis Way dedication set for July 16

Rep. John Lewis Way, the city’s former Fifth Avenue, will be formally dedicated in memory of the late civil rights leader and Georgia congressman in a series of events July 16-17, the anniversary of Lewis’ death.

In late 2020, the minority caucus of the Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County City Council and a group of community leaders came forward to sponsor and support a city ordinance to rename Fifth Avenue in memory of Lewis, who died at age 80 in 2020.

Dedication ceremonies, originally planned for February, were postponed due to the pandemic. Admission is free to all events.

Lewis began his lifelong crusade for civil rights and civic justice in Nashville while a student at American Baptist Theological Seminary and Fisk University. In 1960, he was a leader in the historic lunch counter sit-ins, some of which occurred on Fifth Avenue North, that led to Nashville becoming the first Southern city to start the desegregation of public places.

Included in the weekend will be a celebration at the Ryman featuring remarks by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham, who recently wrote “His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope.” Performers include singer-songwriters Ruby Amanfu and Matt Maher, and Leigh Nash, lead singer for the band Sixpence None the Richer.

Tickets for Ryman celebration will be available, beginning June 22, through Ticketmaster. Tickets are free, but all attendees must have a ticket for admission. There is a maximum of 4 tickets per person.

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Aegis unveils COVID testing for schools

Nashville-based Aegis Sciences Corporation has launched TestingWorks! to help keep schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic through pooled testing.

The testing program was designed to be simple for schools to use while reducing costs and increasing access to testing.

“We’re at a critical point in the pandemic right now, and it’s vital that we continue tracking the virus to prevent it from spreading in our schools,” says Dr. Frank Basile, CEO of Aegis Sciences Corporation. “We created TestingWorks! to make ongoing testing easy for teachers and students, so schools can safely and confidently remain open. Our goal is to have every child back in the classroom for the 2021-2022 school year, and pooled testing is the best way to achieve that.”

The CDC recommends pooled or batch testing as a strategy to help schools track possible infections among students and teachers and prevent the virus from spreading. Ongoing testing allows schools to remain open for in-person learning. Aegis developed TestingWorks! as a simple solution that will work for schools of multiple sizes and budgets. The test itself was designed to be easy enough for children to collect themselves under supervision. Each test takes around 15 seconds to collect, resulting in minimal disruptions to the school day.

TestingWorks! provides multiple options for schools to test students and staff. Pooled In-Lab tests are collected individually and combined together at Aegis labs into pools. Results from either test are available to the schools within 24 hours on average, and the TestingWorks! team will work with schools with a positive case to determine the best course of action.

Hattie B’s launches hot chicken chips

Nashville’s Hattie B’s Hot Chicken and Flock Chicken Chips are producing a new snack, a Nashville hot style chicken chip.

The companies first connected through Instagram during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic and spent six months crafting this new offering. The partnership represents Hattie B’s first foray into packaged goods and Flock’s first external collaboration. Flock is a subsidiary of The Naked Market.

The exclusive new flavor drop combines Flock’s popular keto chicken chip with the addictive spices and big flavor of Hattie B’s.

Advanex American coming to Robertson

Advanex Americas will relocate its headquarters and manufacturing operations to White House.

The spring and component parts manufacturer has been based in Cypress California and plans to build a new facility at 514 Hester Dr.

Officials plan to invest $17 million and create 102 new jobs. Advanex products are used in everything from ballpoint pens to space stations.

Advanex Americas is the U.S. division of Advanex Inc., a Japanese company founded in 1946 and headquartered in Tokyo, that has grown into 15 group companies around the world. The company manufactures precision springs, wire form, pins, stampings, plastics and assemblies for companies in a range of sectors including automotive, aerospace, medical and agriculture.

Over the last five years, TNECD has supported more than 10 economic development projects in Robertson County, resulting in 1,900 job commitments and $671 million in capital investment.

Ardent Health Services partners with Qualtrics

Nashville-based Ardent Health Services has chosen Qualtrics to transform and elevate the experiences of both patients and health care workers.

Ardent Health Services is an innovative health care system with 30 hospitals and 25,000 employees nationwide. Qualtrics is an experience management provider and creator of the XM category.

Ardent will leverage Qualtrics to continuously listen to feedback from employees, allowing them to design new experiences and improve existing ones. With the Qualtrics platform, Ardent will gain insight about the connections between patient and employee experience, discover ways to improve that experience and, in turn, elevate patient care.

With Qualtrics, Ardent will be able to listen and respond to patient feedback in real time, while also consolidating its existing listening programs and assessments – including the industry standard Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys – onto a single platform. Qualtrics is an approved vendor for HCAHPS, a 29-question instrument and methodology used to measure patient experience and determine reimbursement dollars.

New investment for Monogram Health

Nashville’s Monogram Health, a benefit management and care delivery company for kidney diseases, has closed a $160 million Series B funding round led by TPG Capital.

The funding round also includes existing investors Frist Cressey Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners, as well as Humana Inc. and other notable national and regional strategic investors

The investment will be used to fuel the company’s rapid expansion as the leading solution for improved kidney care in the U.S. In conjunction with the investment, Todd Sisitsky, co-managing partner of TPG Capital who co-leads the platform’s health care franchise, has joined the Monogram Health board of directors.

Monogram operates its renal disease clinical managed services to manage benefits across 20 states in the U.S. and has built a national network of nephrologists that includes hundreds of leading kidney care specialists. In April it opened an operations center in Arizona to support its growth in Western states.

New MBA program to be launched at Fisk

Marsh McLennan, a professional services firm, is launching RISE, a global MBA fellowship program in partnership with the National Black MBA Association and Fisk University.

A first-of-its-kind program, RISE, which stands for racial inclusion and social equity, will provide second-year Black MBA candidates and graduates in the U.S., UK and Canada with an enriching curriculum of practical business knowledge and tools for advocating for social justice within a business environment. The program is being launched in celebration of Marsh McLennan’s 150th anniversary. The first cohort will begin their fellowship in September 2021, completing the program in May 2022.

As part of RISE, Marsh McLennan’s executive committee will participate in an intensive social justice module at Fisk University. “Our leaders are committed to cultivating a culture in which different experiences and perspectives are valued and celebrated,” says Carmen Fernandez, senior vice president and chief people officer, Marsh McLennan.

The fellows will participate in an immersive social justice program through the John Lewis Center for Social Justice at Fisk followed by an eight-month paid fellowship incorporating thought-leadership and mentorship from Marsh McLennan executives and NBMBAA leaders. Upon completion of the program, the fellows will be expected to complete an assessment of their observations and how they envision their role in continuing to promote an agenda of social justice.