Vince Troia

Veteran journalist Vincent Troia has been named executive director of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, tasked primarily with growing membership for the 35-year-old organization.

Troia worked for nearly three decades as a print journalist before accepting an executive service job as public information officer and projects manager for the Tennessee Department of Human Services in 2010.

He began his print media career in his native California after earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from San Diego State University. He worked for the Pulitizer Prize-winning Oakland Tribune before moving to Nashville, where he has had stints as reporter, designer or editor at the Nashville Banner, The Tennessean, InReview, The City Paper, Nashville Scene and Nashville Ledger.

Home Builders honor Miles

West Meade native and businessman Roy Miles has been named 2011 Remodeler of the Year by the Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee.

Winners of the Annual Remodeler of the Year Award are determined by votes cast by members of the HBAMT Remodelers Council.

Miles, owner and president of The Miles Company, has been a member of the HBAMT and the HBAMT Remodelers Council for more than 20 years. An HBAMT certified builder, Miles holds multiple professional designations including “Certified Remodeler,” “Certified Graduate Remodeler (CGR),” Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS)” and “Certified Green Professional (CGP).” He has also earned the EPA’s “Lead-Safe Certified Firm” designation as required under the agency’s Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule.

Taylor is Young Leader of the Year

Brian Taylor, broker for Karr Realty, has been named the 2011 Young Leader of the Year by the Young Leaders Council (YLC), a Nashville-based nonprofit organization that has trained more than 1,900 men and women since 1985 to participate on the boards of nonprofit agencies.

A 1999 graduate of YLC Class 33, Taylor has served on the YLC board since 2004 and was the board chair for two years in 2009-10.

In addition to his YLC volunteer commitment, Taylor was an advisory board founder and 2009-10 board chair of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals (YP) Nashville. He is a 2005 graduate and former advisory board member for Nashville Emerging Leaders and previously served as a board member for The Phoenix Club of Nashville. He was recently appointed by Mayor Karl Dean to the Metropolitan Beer Permit Board and will serve as its 2012 vice chair. He also serves on the board of directors for the Green Hills YMCA.

Taylor serves as the president of the Howell Park Homeowners Association. He also serves on the board of directors for The District Nashville, where he will serve as Vice Chair in 2012; Metro Nashville District Energy Systems; and the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors (GNAR), where he was also a 2005 graduate of Leadership GNAR.

He is a 1992 graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a BBA in economics and finance. He is a native of Savannah, Tenn.

Financial advisor joins Pinnacle

Tom Roady has joined Pinnacle Financial Partners as a senior vice president and financial advisor for its client advisory group at Pinnacle at Symphony Place.

Roady brings 39 years of financial services experience and comes most recently from JPMorgan Chase, where he opened an expansion market office for commercial middle market businesses in Tennessee. Prior roles include serving as a senior vice president in the commercial general industries group for Bank of America and as chief operating officer for the private merchant banking firm Second Generation Capital LLC.

Roady is a graduate of MBA and holds a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University. He earned his juris doctor degree from the Nashville School of Law and attended the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. Roady has been certified as an AICPA Business Valuation Certified Analyst.

Thien recognized for volunteer work

Mark Thien, president of Envolve Strategies, Inc. and co-founder of the Nashville Clean Water Project, has been named 2011 Volunteer of the Year by National Public Lands Day.

National Public Lands Day (NLPD), America’s largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands, recognizes outstanding volunteers that go above and beyond to make their local NPLD event a success. As one of five national award recipients, Thien was selected for spearheading a large scale eco-recovery initiative by the Nashville Clean Water Project at J. Percy Priest Lake on Sept. 24.

Thien co-founded the Nashville Clean Water Project in 2008 with fellow environmentalist and friend Laurel Creech to provide Middle Tennessee corporations and residents a platform to demonstrate a dedication to sustainability and service.

MP&F hires Dean staffer

Tom Hayden, former director of communications for Nashville Mayor Karl Dean’s 2011 re-election campaign and for former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, has joined McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations as a senior account executive.

Hayden most recently served as the deputy campaign manager and director of communications for Mayor Dean’s successful re-election campaign.

Hayden worked on Rep. Davis’ staff in Washington, D.C., and in Tennessee for eight years as director of communications. While with Rep. Davis, he managed communications outreach, strategic planning, media relations and crisis communications, and assisted with event planning. In conjunction with his management of communications, Hayden served two years as a legislative assistant and staff liaison to the House Science Committee.

Prior to working for Rep. Davis, Hayden managed communications for the Tennessee Democratic Party and worked as a tourism marketing associate at the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. Hayden, a native of Parkman, Ohio, is a 1999 graduate of Hiram College.

VUMC’s Fogo honored by nephrology society

Agnes Fogo, M.D., the John L. Shapiro Professor of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, and professor of medicine and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is the 2011 recipient of the Robert G. Narins Award from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN). The award honors “individuals who have made substantial and meritorious contributions in education and teaching,” according to the society.

Fogo’s teaching accomplishments include developing and leading the basic renal pathology course that is an annual feature of ASN Kidney Week, the world’s premier nephrology meeting. She also developed the ASN Renal Biopsy Short Course for Kidney Week, which brings together nephrologists, pathologists and microscopists to study challenging renal biopsies and discuss clinical correlations.

The author of two textbooks on renal pathology, Fogo created a free Web-based Atlas of Renal Pathology, which has become a widely used resource for teaching renal pathology.

Bass, Berry & Sims attorneys honored

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC had 17 of its attorneys named as 2012 Lawyers of the Year by Best Lawyers® in 18 different practice areas.

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

Bass, Berry & Sims honorees include:

H. Lee Barfield II, Appellate Practice; Robert L. Brewer, Technology Law; Wallace W. Dietz, Litigation - Banking & Finance; J. Andrew Goddard, Administrative/Regulatory; John A. Good, (Memphis) Securities/Capital Markets; L. Wearen Hughes, Litigation – Construction; J. Brook Lathram, (Memphis) Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions; James Allen Overby II, Mergers & Acquisitions; William N. Ozier, Employment Law – Management; Todd J. Rolapp, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity; Cynthia N. Sellers, Commercial Finance; Michael D. Sontag, Litigation & Controversy – Tax; John A. Stemmler, (Memphis) Banking and Finance; Samuel E. Stumpf, Jr., Corporate; G. Scott Thomas, Environmental Law; Bob F. Thompson, Securities/Capital Markets; F. Mitchell Walker, Jr., Mutual Funds, Securities Regulation.

Willis executive among ‘Women to Watch’

Willis Group Holdings has announced that Sharon Edwards, chief financial officer, Willis North America, has been named to the 2011 “Women to Watch” list by Business Insurance magazine.

The sixth annual “Women to Watch” report recognizes a group of 25 high-profile executives who are leading the way in insurance, reinsurance, risk management and employee benefits. Candidates were selected based on leadership, professional achievements and market influence.

Based in Nashville, Edwards is responsible for all aspects of Willis North America’s finance functions, including transactional accounting, financial planning and analysis, reporting and the financial operations of each region within North America. Willis North America is the largest business unit of Willis Group Holdings, reporting $1.35 billion revenue in 2010, and employing more than 6,000 associates.

Edwards also is a member of the Willis Chairman’s Council, the Willis North America Board of Directors and The Willis Foundation Board of Directors. She joined Willis in 1991 and has served in a variety of leadership roles including chief administrative officer of Willis North America, director of financial operations of Willis North America, regional operations officer of the central region and North American controller.

VICC scientists named to cancer consortium

A team of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center scientists, led by Daniel Liebler, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, biomedical informatics and pharmacology, has been selected to participate in the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC), a multi-center cancer research program created by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Liebler will lead the Vanderbilt Proteome Characterization Center, one of five academic centers focused on characterizing the proteins and proteomes of human cancers in an effort to develop reliable blood tests that could lead to earlier detection and improved treatments for cancer.

Vanderbilt will receive about $7.8 million over three years to help support the research.

Fifth Third Bank adds loan originator

Peggy Coleman joins Fifth Third Bank as a mortgage loan originator. She was previously employed with Bank of America Mortgage Loans and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Coleman brings several years of experience to Fifth Third, including 14 years in the mortgage industry and more than 25 years in retail banking.

Junior Achievement lands $25K grant

Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee has received a $25,000 grant from the American Honda Foundation to fund its JA BizTown program. The grant will help fifth grade students from four schools in Coffee, Davidson and Williamson Counties learn the basics of financial responsibility and workplace skills as they run their own economy in JA’s lifelike mini-city.

Bel Aire Elementary in Tullahoma, Andrew Jackson Elementary in Nashville, Heritage Elementary in Thompson Station and Fairview Elementary in Fairview will participate.

During their time in JA BizTown, these students will learn what it is like to have responsibilities, work as a team, and earn and manage money. Students hold jobs, earn paychecks and purchase merchandise from the 14 different businesses housed in JA BizTown.