Belmont University is launching a new program in supply chain management within its Jack C. Massey College of Business.

The SCM curriculum was developed based on insights garnered from leaders of local and regional Fortune 500 companies, privately held corporations and nonprofit organizations, the university reports. The inaugural class will begin this fall.

In the U.S., 37% of all jobs are in the supply chain economy, employing 44 million people in jobs that have higher average wages compared to business-to-consumer positions. Plus, the growing complexity of global business operations has ignited unprecedented demand for skilled supply chain personnel. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the number of SCM jobs will grow by more than 5% annually during the next decade and 22% in the next two years alone.

Belmont’s SCM major focuses on all facets of the business process from planning and forecasting to purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, quality and customer service. Students will learn business fundamentals and analytics in supply chain functions of planning, sourcing, making, delivering and returns. SCM majors at Belmont can focus on four specialized tracks within their degree program – health care, international, analytics, services – or create their own general track. Juniors and seniors will gain meaningful work experience through a required “hands-on” cooperative internship.

Drive begins to restore historic Boyd House

Nashville-based R.H. Boyd Company has launched a $1.1 million nationwide campaign to restore and repair the Boyd House, a historical home in Nashville erected in the 1930s.

The home was originally owned by Dr. Henry Allen Boyd (1876-1959) and Georgia Bradford Boyd (1884-1952). Boyd was the second-generation leader of the National Baptist Publishing Board, now known as the R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation, and Mrs. Boyd was a suffragist and a prominent community voice for the advancement of women’s and children’s issues.

Dr. LaDonna Boyd, president/CEO of the R.H. Boyd family of companies, says there is a need to preserve the relics of the African American heritage and to renovate the historical Boyd House on the campus of Fisk University. The former home of Dr. Henry Allen Boyd and Georgia Bradford Boyd will be repurposed as state-of-the-art academic and event space.

This early 20th century Edwardian style home is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and was transferred to the University in 1938. It is being restored for the purposes of creating academic spaces, such as classrooms and a lecture hall, and opportunities to further the educational pursuits of students in the areas of business and entrepreneurship.

Nashville’s Pivot Tech closes $10M investment

Pivot Technology School has announced the close of $10 million in growth financing to drive the expansion of their tuition financing programs.

The Nashville-based company empowers minority students with in-demand technical skills, an industry historically lacking strong racial diversity. Pivot Tech plans to increase access to their program through the use of income share agreements, which will be available to students as a result of this capital. These incentive-aligned financing products demonstrate Pivot Tech’s innovative ethos and dedication to delivering exceptional student outcomes.

Pivot Tech has partnered with Leif, the Tuition Finance Management Platform. Leif works with industry leading education and training providers who deliver exceptional outcomes to students across a variety of fields and arranged the financing for Pivot Tech. Leif’s outcomes-aligned tuition financing solutions include Income share agreements which help education providers maximize their program’s growth and impact potential.

Oman-Gibson to develop Texas facility

Oman-Gibson Associates, a health care real estate firm based in Nashville, has announced it will develop a 12,000-square-foot, freestanding ambulatory surgery center in Corpus Christi.

The center will specialize in vascular surgeries to treat conditions associated with end-stage kidney disease and peripheral artery disease. The Corpus Christi project is the first of many upcoming projects in the company’s Texas development pipeline.

The ambulatory surgery center will include three operating rooms and one procedure room. It also will provide same-day surgical care, including diagnostic and preventive procedures.

Scheduled for completion in early 2022, the new facility will replace a facility located on the campus of Christus Spohn Hospital South. Azura Vascular Care and National Cardiovascular Partners will operate the center in partnership with Dialysis Access Center of Corpus Christi, which will provide the center’s clinical team.

Cloud Range joins FlexEd program

Cloud Range, headquartered in Nashville, has announced it has been selected to participate in Booz Allen Hamilton’s FlexEd program, an enhanced, continuing education benefit for the firm’s 27,000-plus employees.

Cloud Range, founded in 2018 by Debbie Gordon, helps close the cyber skills gap by enabling companies to accelerate the effectiveness and experience levels of their security teams by using a comprehensive hyper-realistic simulation cyber training program.

Booz Allen Hamilton chose the innovative, award-winning Cloud Range solution to further enhance its employees’ analytical, cyber, digital, and engineering skills and to prepare and defend against forthcoming cybersecurity attacks.

Smart USA to bring U.S. operations to Nashville

Smart USA Co., a London-based company, will locate its U.S. headquarters in Nashville.

Smart USA is the U.S. division of Smart Pension Ltd., one of the world’s fastest growing retirement technology businesses. The company will create 128 new jobs and invest $2.2 million in its Davidson County operations over the next five years.

Founded in 2014, Smart has more than 70,000 retirement plans on its platform throughout the U.K., Ireland, Dubai and Australia. Smart USA’s offices in Cummins Station will support its new venture into the U.S. retirement services industry.

Over the last five years, TNECD has supported 65 economic development projects in Davidson County, resulting in approximately 19,000 job commitments and $2.1 billion in capital investment.

GEODIS buys Velocity Freight

GEODIS, a global supply chain operator whose American operation is based in Brentwood, has reached an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Velocity Freight Transport, Inc. from the McLane Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Based in Plano, Texas, Velocity is a freight brokerage company. The transaction closed June 30. Terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.

The acquisition expands GEODIS’ Capacity Solutions offering in North America at a critical time as the industry continues to face ongoing driver and truck shortages. The acquisition of Velocity will help meet the increased customer demand for more transportation alternatives to ensure their supply chains remain agile and effective. Velocity provides freight brokerage services that include refrigerated and temperature-controlled freight, flatbed and less-than-load trucking, intermodal, van and specialty options.

Velocity’s team will remain in Plano, expanding GEODIS’ operation in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area where it currently employs up to 3,500.

Brookdale sells Health Care Services

Brentwood-based Brookdale Senior Living Inc. has completed the sale of a majority stake in Brookdale Health Care Services to Nashville’s HCA Healthcare.

Brookdale sold 80% of the equity in BHS to HCA Healthcare for a purchase price of $400 million, which implied a $500 million value for the BHS business.

Brookdale retained a 20% equity interest in the venture with HCA Healthcare.

Brookdale received approximately $300 million of cash proceeds at closing, net of customary transaction costs and purchase price adjustments, including a reduction for the remaining outstanding balance as of the closing of Medicare Advance Payments and deferred payroll tax payments related to BHS.

J. Alexander’s merges with SPB in $220M deal

J. Alexander’s Holdings, Inc. officials say the Nashville-based company has entered into a merger agreement under which SPB Hospitality LLC will acquire the company in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $220 million.

J. Alexander’s is the owner and operator of J. Alexander’s Restaurant, Redlands Grill, Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill and selected other restaurants.

The company’s shareholders will receive $14 in cash per share of common stock of the company, representing a 78% percent premium to the closing share price Feb. 9, the last trading day before the company’s announcement of its commitment to completing the strategic alternatives process, and a premium of approximately 14% to the price July 1.

The merger was approved by J. Alexander’s board of directors following a review of a wide range of strategic alternatives, which was first announced in Aug. 2019, and continued in 2020 (until the onset of the pandemic) and 2021. The transaction is expected to be completed early in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to approval by J. Alexander’s shareholders, expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as well as other customary closing conditions.

Mosaic’s acquisition of Westward completed

Nashville-based Mosaic Consulting Group has completed the acquisition of Westward Consulting.

With this acquisition, Mosaic, a longtime Ultimate Software partner focused on human capital management support and service, is adding Westward Consulting’s Kronos experience and focus on workforce management, to their services.

Ultimate Software and Kronos merged in 2020 to create UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), a leading global provider of HCM, payroll, HR service delivery and workforce management solutions.

The creation of UKG resulted in new opportunities for both certified consulting partners and UKG customers alike. This acquisition will strengthen Mosaic Consulting Group’s exclusive focus on implementation, support, and optimization across the entire UKG product suite.