Thirty-four community and business leaders from the Middle Tennessee region have been selected for membership in the 2013 Class of Leadership Middle Tennessee, Inc., a regional leadership institute encompassing the 10-county area involved with Partnership 2020.

Members were selected from across the 10-county area which includes Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson.

They include:

• Cheatham County: Ray Crouch, Jr., assistant district attorney; Len Rinehart, III, vice president commercial lending, First State Bank
• Davidson County: Randy Bostic, director of development, College of Business, Lipscomb University; Nancy Eisenbrandt, COO, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; Kaki Friskics-Warren, executive director, Dan and Margaret Maddox Charitable Fund; Shawn Henry, attorney, Tune, Entrekin & White PC; Keri McInnis, senior vice president/financial advisor, Pinnacle Financial Partners; Lisa Meiers, director of marketing, Avenue Bank; William Miller, II, associate publisher, Tennessee Tribune
• Dickson County: Pat Reynolds, director, Leadership Dickson County, Dickson Chamber of Commerce; Tim White, owner/partner of Benefits, Inc.
• Maury County: Joe Kilgore, executive director, Maury Regional Health Care Foundation, Maury Regional Medical Center; Kristi Martin, executive director, Columbia Main Street Corporation
• Montgomery County: Tommy Bates, president, Legends Bank; James Halford, director, plans, analysis & integration, U.S. Army (Civil Service) Fort Campbell; Candy Johnson, director, Corporate and Community Relations Foundation, Clarksville Montgomery County School System; Tommy Vallejos, care pastor, Faith Outreach Church
• Robertson County: Chris Heeren, administrator, NHC Healthcare Springfield; Nina Kumar, associate attorney, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP; Ty Watts, vice president/financial advisor, Heritage Bank Wealth Management
• Rutherford County: Andrae Crismon, Sr., managing attorney, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands; Paul Latture, president, Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce; Bert McCarter, attorney, McCarter Catron & East; Tara MacDougall, CEO, Discovery Center
• Sumner County: Tommy Condone, executive director, Tennessee State Soccer Association; Melinda Judd, director of corporate engagement, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee; Reggie Mudd, regional director, State of Tennessee Economic and Community Development
• Williamson County: Clyde Ingalls, community president, Bancorp South; Kathie Moore, Realtor, Crye-Leike REALTORS; Jeff Palmquist, senior vice president Nashville Group, Duke Realty Corporation; Melissa Thompson, owner/president MWT Online Media
• Wilson County: Chris Dowell, fire chief, Lebanon Fire Department; Randall Hutto, county mayor, Wilson County; Nelson Remus, president and CEO, Remar Inc.

Leadership Middle Tennessee was formed in 1999 as an initiative of Partnership 2000 to contribute to future planned and sustainable economic and community growth and development in the fast-growing 10-county area through the participation of community leaders in an annual regional leadership program.

Tissue bank director elected to board

Lou Barnes, executive director of DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank, has been elected to the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) Board of Governors. As part of that role, he will also serve as chairman of the AATB Processing and Distribution Council.

DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank, a division of DCI Donor Services, Inc. (DCIDS), coordinates tissue donation and distribution in Tennessee, California and New Mexico.

This role is one of many which Barnes, an AATB-certified tissue bank specialist, has held within the association. He has been secretary of the AATB’s accredited tissue bank council and chairman of the association’s public and professional relations committee. He has also been a member of the AATB’s governmental affairs and accreditation committees.

XMi hires director of marketing, social media

Laura Somerville has been hired by XMi Commercial Real Estate as its director of marketing and social media. In this position, she will work to expand the organization’s client engagement and company visibility.

Before joining XMi, Somerville was an account assistant at DVL Public Relations & Advertising, where she worked with clients such as Jack Daniel’s and Johnston & Murphy to monitor media coverage and assist with event management for the annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue and the USO “Toast to the Troops” programs.

Conley named CEO for two hospitals

Susan (Sue) Conley, FACHE, has been named CEO for DeKalb Community Hospital (DCH) and Stones River Hospital (SRH) by the Upper Cumberland Healthcare Initiatives Board and Capella Healthcare. She begins the new position on Monday, October 1.

Conley previously worked in Van Buren, Ark., where she has been serving as CEO of Summit Medical Center, a 103-bed acute medical/surgical hospital. Prior to that, she served as CEO at Mesa Vista Regional Hospital in Mesquite, Nev., and as COO at a number of hospitals, including 492-bed Sparks Health System in Fort Smith, Ark.

Flesher joins Paradigm for communications

Paradigm Group, a Nashville-based human resources, employee benefits and retirement consulting firm, has added Elizabeth Flesher as the company’s communications consultant.

With more than 15 years of experience in the communications industry, Flesher will work with clients to develop communications campaigns regarding wellness, employee benefits and retirement services.

Before joining Paradigm Group, Flesher worked as an associate in specialized benefit reporting and analytics for BPS&M, an employee benefits consulting firm associated with Wells Fargo. Flesher worked with clients to design, write and supervise the production of communication pieces for participants and plan sponsors of retirement, health and welfare plans. Flesher has worked in public relations, account management, graphic design and photography.

Bone McAllester adds commercial litigator

Sean C. Kirk has joined the law firm of Bone McAllester Norton PLLC as a commercial litigation attorney.

Kirk represents clients in a variety of matters including secured transactions, collections, creditors’ rights and all facets of bankruptcy proceedings and commercial litigation. His broad range of clients includes institutional lenders and financiers, real estate and equipment lessors, and electronic payment processing companies involved in various industries.

In addition, Kirk manages multi-jurisdictional litigation on behalf of his clients across the United States. A significant portion of his practice involves commercial loan workouts and representation of secured lenders in commercial foreclosure and deficiency actions.