Polsinelli has welcomed Richard Miltimore as a shareholder in the firm’s growing Nashville office and to the real estate & financial services department.

Miltimore is an experienced real estate attorney and former business owner in the payment processing space. He is the 12th shareholder the department has added in the past 12 months and the fifth new shareholder in Polsinelli’s Nashville office in the past year.

Polsinelli moved into a new office space in Nashville in October last year to accommodate the firm’s exceptional growth in Music City.

Miltimore earned his J.D. at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and holds a B.A. from Pepperdine University.

Lawson elected member at Dickinson Wright

Dickinson Wright has elected Rachel Schaffer Lawson as a member attorney in the firm’s Nashville office.

Lawson is an alcohol and hospitality lawyer who focuses on helping business owners with their legal needs so they can get back to focusing on their businesses. She provides myriad legal services to businesses across many industries, from trademarking and entity selection and formation to contract drafting, litigation and alcohol licensing and permitting. In particular, she works with restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries, and distributors to obtain their beer and liquor licenses.

She is a graduate of Northeastern University and earned her J.D. from Loyola University College of Law.

Mullen to manage Womble offices

Womble Bond Dickinson has appointed new practice group leaders of for its business litigation and capital markets groups and new office managing partners, including Josh Mullen in Nashville.

He also will manage the firm’s Huntsville office.

Mullen focuses his practice on government contracts and business litigation and assists various government contractors with litigation and general counseling in all aspects of procurement law.

He is a graduate of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, and the University of Tennessee College of Law.

MP&F hires Bruck as vice president

MP&F, a Nashville-based full-service agency, has added award-winning communications veteran Julia Bruck as vice president.

Bruck most recently served as communications director for Tennessee’s secretary of state, a role she held for more than four years. She served as the Department of State’s spokesperson, leading communication strategy and media relations for the 2020 and 2022 elections and the opening of the state-of-the-art Tennessee State Library & Archives. She also established innovative voter information initiatives, including collaborating with Tennessee’s professional sports teams, Division 1 universities, Fortune 500 companies and community organizations across the state.

Bruck began her career as a broadcast journalist, working as a reporter and anchor in newsrooms across the country, including WSMV News 4 and WTVF NewsChannel 5 in Nashville. Bruck has earned multiple awards in her career, including three regional Emmys.

A graduate of Santa Clara University, Bruck has lived in Nashville for more than a decade.

CBRE welcomes Annello to expanding retail team

Jennifer Annello has joined CBRE in the company’s Nashville office as a vice president. She will work with the office’s existing retail team and provide broker services with a focus on landlord and tenant representation nationally.

Annello has more than 20 years of experience in national and international retail real estate development. She joins CBRE from Planet Fitness, where she served as director of real estate development and was responsible for the company’s development in the U.S., as well as its expansion into Mexico and Central America.

She also handled market strategy, retail development, site selection and contract negotiations as part of the corporate real estate teams for Pet Supermarket, Panda Restaurant Group and Starbucks. She managed commercial real estate development services with Guggenheim Retail Real Estate Partners and provided brokerage services with Baum Realty Group in Chicago, Illinois.

Annello is a graduate of Texas A&M University and a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Mental Health Cooperative selects Schafer for CEO

The Mental Health Cooperative has appointed Michelle Schafer as its new chief executive officer, succeeding founder and CEO Pam Womack. Schafer begins her new role at MHC in early April 2024.

Schafer has dedicated her career to advocating for individuals facing mental illness and substance use disorders. Her experience, spanning over 25 years in mental health, includes roles at SSM Health in St. Louis, Missouri, where she served as regional/system vice president of Behavioral Health.

During her tenure at SSM Health, Schafer played a pivotal role in transforming care delivery models, enhancing clinical quality and fostering mental health care integration. Her work as a champion for community mental health led to significant achievements, including being honored with the Missouri Hospital Association’s “Aim for Excellence” award.

Schafer holds a master’s degree in counseling and psychology, as well as a degree in psychology from Indiana University-Bloomington. She also served as co-chair of the Behavioral Health Strategy Committee at Indiana University, designing a comprehensive system strategy for behavioral health services across the entire IU Health system.

Since its start in Nashville more than 30 years ago, MHC has expanded to 12 locations throughout the state. Over the last three years, MHC has also established the Partners in Care and REACH programs in Nashville, providing law enforcement and non-law enforcement alternatives for responding to mental health crisis calls within the city.

Slayton named Tennessee State Forester

Heather Slayton has been named Tennessee state forester and assistant commissioner for the Forestry Division. She succeeds David Arnold, who is retiring after more than three decades of public service.

Slayton will now oversee 400 division staff members and the management of more than 168,000 acres of state-owned forests. Additionally, she will direct programs to assist forest landowners, provide quality tree seedlings, support forest health, collect forest inventory data, aid forest industries and prevent and suppress wildland fires.

Slayton, who has more than 20 years of professional experience in private, corporate and public forestry sectors, joined the department in 2012 as a forest health specialist. Within two years, she was promoted to leader of the Forest Health and Sustainability Unit.

In 2018, Slayton was named assistant state forester, providing executive leadership to divisional units and overseeing operational and facility maintenance budgets totaling more than $47 million. Slayton also guided key administrative functions including grants, purchasing, contracts, facilities and workforce development.

Slayton earned a degree in forestry from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in forestry from the University of Tennessee.

Arnold spent 33 years with the Forestry Division and retires following more than five years as state forester. Under his leadership, the department modernized emergency response capabilities and capacity, improved rural economies by bolstering the forest products industry, and positioned employees to excel in their jobs and duties.

Zagurski joins executive team of Something Inked

Something Inked, LLC, a provider of private-label branded merchandise and promotional products, has named Mike Zagurski vice president of sales.

Zagurski has been a key component of the sales team since 2019 in both part-time and full-time roles. He will focus on leading the Something Inked sales team of more than 15 full-time sales executives, emphasizing growing sales, expanding the client base to new industries, recruiting new sales executives and more.

He previously was a professional baseball player, pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies (2007, 2010-11, Milwaukee Brewers (2018), Arizona Diamondbacks (2012), Pittsburgh Pirates (2013) and the New York Yankees (2013), and several minor league organizational affiliates, as well as spending time in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan early in his career.

He holds a degree in communication from the University of Kansas.