Del Webb, a builder of active adult communities for those 55 and older, has broken ground on its first community, Del Webb Southern Harmony, in Murfreesboro.

The community, scheduled to open in late 2023, will contain 1,100 single-family homes and an abundance of resort-style amenities.

It will feature homes of 2-4 bedrooms with large kitchen islands, tall sliding glass doors to maximize natural light and flow between indoor and outdoor living, spacious owner’s suites with spa-like baths and ample storage space.

Once completed, Del Webb Southern Harmony will feature an open-concept residents’ clubhouse anchored by a great room leading to a large patio and event lawn with fire feature.

Bridgestone invests in autonomous driving

Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas is making a minority investment in May Mobility, marking the company’s first investment in public-serving autonomous vehicles.

The new partnership will include the future integration of Bridgestone’s digital and predictive tire-centric technologies into May Mobility autonomous vehicles, granting deeper AV intelligence for even safer and more efficient operation.

The new relationship between Bridgestone and May Mobility expands the AV technology company’s ability to operate and service its vehicles in new markets through Bridgestone’s nationwide network of more than 2,200 tire and automotive service centers doing business under the Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Hibdon Tires Plus and Wheel Works retail brands.

In addition, May Mobility will be able to leverage the company’s mobile service provider, Firestone Direct, to support their expansion.

AllianceBernstein buying CarVal Investors LP

Nashville’s AllianceBernstein and AllianceBernstein Holding has announced it will acquire CarVal Investors LP

CarVal is a global private alternatives investment manager with approximately $14.3 billion in assets under management, primarily focused on opportunistic and distressed credit, renewable energy infrastructure, specialty finance and transportation investments.

The acquisition represents a step forward in AB’s continued goal of better serving its clients by building and growing its world-class Private Alternatives business, the company reports.

The addition of CarVal, with 190 employees, including 68 investment professionals, in five offices across four countries, enhances AB’s Private Alternatives platform by adding complementary investment capabilities in opportunistic and private credit and expanding across multiple geographic regions, including North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Forbes picks Summit Leadership as best

Forbes recently named leadership advisory firm, Summit Leadership Partners, as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms in 2022.

Summit, with offices in Nashville, was selected as one of the best firms out of over 1,800 applicants this year.

Since the firm’s inception in 2014, Summit Leadership Partners has quickly risen as a premier consulting firm in the industry that advises boards, investors, CEOs and their management teams on accelerating leadership and organization performance to drive growth and increase enterprise value.

Summit Leadership Partners has been nationally recognized for scaling leaders and organizations for growth and improved performance.

To determine the list, Forbes partnered with Statista to survey more than 7,500 partners and executives of the management consultancies that applied for the award, as well as 1,300+ senior executives who had worked with the management consultancies and have been their clients over the last four years. CUD to improve water service in Rutherford

More than 160,000 customers in Rutherford County will have improved water service thanks to a new contract between Itron, Inc. and Consolidated Utility District.

The partnership will deploy Temetra, Itron’s mobile meter data collection solution, in conjunction with Itron’s fixed network solution, to upgrade its Advanced Metering Infrastructure and provide advanced capabilities such as active water leak detection and consumer portals.

CUD plans to initiate the project in the first quarter of 2022 and expects to have the system live this summer.

Utilizing Temetra, CUD will automate meter reading collection across their water distribution system and provide a seamless billing experience for their customers. The utility will improve billing accuracy and better visualize the interval data collected from meters, which will allow CUD to easily identify leaks and quickly address issues sooner. These advanced data collection capabilities will help conserve water and improve operational costs and efficiencies.

Captain D’s expands, adds drive-thru stores

Nashville-based Captain D’s has announced a slate of new openings underway in the first half of 2022, capitalizing on continued franchise development interest from both new and existing franchisees.

Captain D’s has 14 restaurants set to open by midyear in states like Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Texas and Tennessee. Two of these openings will be both franchise and company debuts of the new ‘Express’ prototype, a significantly smaller footprint featuring only a drive-thru and walk-up windows for ordering and picking up.

Hankook develops tire for electric vehicles

Hankook Tire, based in Nashville, has announced it will launch iON, its first family of tires specially designed for high performance, premium electric vehicles.

The product will be available as an all-season version for the North American market in May.

The company wants to make a decisive contribution from a tire choice perspective to advance mobility and the transition toward zero-emission vehicles. Characteristics of the new iON tires include further reduced rolling resistance, notably lower rolling-noise characteristics and high resilience. Compared to conventional tires, for drivers of electric cars this means more range per battery charge and an overall more enjoyable driving experience.

In addition, the new Hankook iON products are particularly designed for the instant high torques produced by powerful electric vehicles.

Novatech combines two acquisitions

Nashville-based Novatech has announced the consolidation of two of its previous acquisitions, United Laser and ManagedPrint.

In December 2020, Novatech announced the acquisition of United Laser, a nationwide leader in printer service, repair and toner fulfillment. In January 2022, Novatech acquired South Carolina-based ManagedPrint, further strengthening its managed print service (MPS) portfolio for customers in the Carolinas and nationwide.

Now the newly combined entity will operate as UL ManagedPrint, a Novatech company, and report as part of the overall Novatech Managed Print Services segment. The goal is to bring business customers a fully unified team, all working from the same page and same goal of delivering value.

Urgent Care Group purchased by ICV

Urgent Care Group, based in Brentwood, has been acquired by ICV Partners, LLC, an investment firm focused on lower middle market companies in business services, consumer goods and services, food and beverage, and health care. Urgent Care will be combined with portfolio company Total Access Urgent Care.

Founded in 2017 by Chief Executive Officer David Maloney, Urgent Care Group serves communities through 24 locations and three brands in Wilmington, North Carolina, the Greater Atlanta area and throughout South Carolina.

Maloney will serve as CEO of the combined company.

Amazon Music unveils For Love & Country

Amazon Music has announced For Love & Country, a new Amazon Music Original feature-length documentary that proclaims country music has always been Black music.

The genre not only owes part of its origin story to Black musicians, but through its history, prominent Black voices have pushed the genre forward with little recognition or fanfare. Directed by director and photographer Joshua Kissi, For Love & Country examines country music through the personal stories of a new generation of Black artists claiming space in Nashville—and helping to transform the genre in the process. For Love & Country will release April 7 in the Amazon Music app and on Prime Video.

“What I’ve come to realize is country music as a genre is just as complex as this country itself,” Kissi says. “Now is the moment to stand up for the voices that have always mattered throughout time, especially the musicians who didn’t get the credit when it was due.”

In addition to many musicians, Nashville residents will be featured, including journalist and New York Times bestselling author Andrea Williams, Davidson County criminal court clerk and former vice mayor Howard Gentry, academic and author Amanda Marie Martínez and rapper Mike Floss.

OneOncology partners with EDH on expansion

Employer Direct Healthcare a specialty health care solutions company and Nashville-based OneOncology have announced a broad partnership to strengthen EDH’s comprehensive oncology offering.

Through this partnership, OneOncology will collaborate with Employer Direct Healthcare to revolutionize the delivery and reimbursement for cancer care, including improved community-based access to precision medicine, clinical trials, and emerging therapies such as CAR-T.

The companies will also work together to lower costs for employers by expanding OneOncology’s novel episode-based payment model.

The partnership will expand patient access to innovative therapies and serve as a platform to bring more patient-centric, value-based care programs to patients while lower costs for employers.

The companies will work to lower costs for employers by expanding OneOncology’s novel episode-based payment model.

With over 700 cancer care providers across more than 260 sites of care, OneOncology will complement EDH’s growing network of NCI-designated cancer centers and enhance employees’ access to high quality cancer care in their own communities.