Bohan has announced today the official retirement of founder and agency namesake David Bohan, who started the agency in 1990.

With a talented team of 110 professionals, bohan has earned 314 Addy Awards, Nashville Business Journal Best in Business Award, 14 Emmy Awards and 68 Telly Awards.

Shari Day will continue to serve as president/CEO, alongside the senior leadership team consisting of Brian Gilpatrick and Farley Day as executive vice presidents/managing directors, and Jon Arnold as executive vice presidents/executive creative director.

Bohan officially stepped out of the day-to-day agency operations in 2016, remaining available to the senior leadership team. With this transition, the agency will now be fully owned by the aforementioned team.

Since the senior leadership team was named in 2016, the agency has grown across both its income and employee base by 35%. Its client list includes Amazon, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Dollar General and the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism.

Capitol & 5th adds new principal Bull

Capitol & 5th Public Strategies, a Nashville public strategies firms specializing in top-level political affairs expertise, has announced the addition of Melanie Bull, as a new principal at the firm.

She joins Capitol & 5th’s founding partners Courtney Atnip, J.A. Bucy and Dustin Goforth.

Bull will leverage her public affairs experience to assist clients in the health care, municipal and regulatory space at the Tennessee Legislature. With over a decade of working with the state government, she joins the Capitol & 5th team after several years of providing policy direction for high-level organizations.

Her career began with a legislative internship at the Tennessee General Assembly which led to becoming a senior associate at Schmidt Government Solutions and the public policy director at the Tennessee Disability Coalition. She is a graduate of Belmont University with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science.

Capitol & 5th Public Strategies, founded in 2017, has served a roster of more than 50 clients in industries that include technology, finance, tourism, food and beverage, health care and procurement.

Guth ascends to president at Lose

Sean Guth, AIA, NCARB, LEED® AP, has been named president of Lose Design. Guth has been with the firm since 2013.

Guth’s career began in the greater Denver area. He has since worked around the world on a variety of projects, learning how to integrate architecture and urban design in a way that addresses both social and environmental sustainability while highlighting quality, creativity and budget-sensitive solutions.

He holds a Environmental Design in Architecture degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2007, and both his master’s degrees in architecture and urban design from the University of Colorado College of Architecture and Planning in 2009.

Lose Design is an award-winning professional design services firm offering single-source of responsibility for architecture, landscape architecture, civil engineering and planning. The firm maintains offices in Nashville, Knoxville, Atlanta and Denver.

Dept. of Health names asstistant commissioner

Olivia Spears, Esq., has been appointed assistant commissioner for legislative affairs for the Tennessee Department of Health. Spears will direct and oversee the department’s legislative efforts and initiatives.

Spears served as TDH’s legislative liaison before her appointment as TDH assistant commissioner. Spears previously worked for the Tennessee General Assembly’s Office of Legal Services and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Spears is a graduate of the Belmont University College of Law and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Eaton tapped as assistant Agriculture commissioner

Chris Eaton has been named Tennessee Department of Agriculture assistant commissioner for administration and grants.

Eaton will be responsible for budgeting, forecasting and analyzing, preparing and reconciling financial statements. He’ll have an active role during legislative sessions and budget hearings where he will be responsible for evaluating effects of newly proposed legislation and TDA responses to budget questions. Eaton will also serve as the liaison to the Comptroller’s office.

Eaton replaces Shannon Klonowski, who joined the department in 2007 and worked as auditor and accountant in the Regulatory Services Division for five years before being named internal auditor. She later became the Fiscal and Administrative Services coordinator and was then promoted to assistant commissioner.

Eaton comes to TDA from the Tennessee Public Utility Commission, where he served as chief financial officer for eight years.

Eaton graduated from Belmont University with degrees in biology and business administration in finance. He earned an associate of science degree in natural resource management and policy from Volunteer State Community College.

First Farmers promotes Wagner

First Farmers and Merchants Corporation, the holding company for First Farmers and Merchants Bank, has promoted Darcy Wagner to chief compliance officer and a member of the administration team.

Wagner joined First Farmers in early 2022 as compliance manager after working for Capital One and World’s Foremost Bank for approximately 20 years in compliance and advisory roles.

She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska, a degree in psychology from South Dakota State University and a degree in criminal justice from University of South Dakota. Wagner is also a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager, an accreditation awarded by the American Bankers Association.