Belmont University has been ranked No. 20 on The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship of 2020.”
Belmont was the only school in Tennessee, and one of only six colleges in the Southeast, to be named to the list.
“Entrepreneurship is at the heart of the Jack C. Massey College of Business to Belmont University,” says Dr. Jan Williams, Massey’s interim dean. “Mr. Massey was himself an outstanding entrepreneur, and entrepreneurship is one of the primary pillars upon which his vision for the school was based. Being recognized by Princeton Review and Entrepreneurship Magazine reflects the extraordinary effort of our faculty and Elizabeth Gortmaker, director of our Cone Center for Entrepreneurship.’’
Named in honor of the nationally acclaimed entrepreneur who is the only person to take three companies public at the New York Stock Exchange, the mission of the Jack C. Massey College of Business is to educate entrepreneurial and ethical future business leaders.
Since launching the entrepreneurship major in 2003, it has become the largest major in Massey College, and earlier this year a $2 million endowed fund provided the College’s Center for Entrepreneurship a new name: the Thomas F. Cone, Sr., Center for Entrepreneurship.
Schools receive Veteran Reconnect funds
Nine higher-education projects through the state’s Veteran Reconnect program have received grants from The Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
The program was developed to assist veterans and service members attain college degrees and workforce training.
A total of $1 million in Veteran Reconnect Grants will be distributed to universities, community colleges and colleges of applied technology.
The grant recipients are:
• Austin Peay State University
• Dyersburg State Community College
• Lipscomb University
• Middle Tennessee State University
• Southwest Tennessee Community College and Tennessee College of Applied Technology- Memphis (Collaborative Partnership)
• Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology at Harriman, Jacksboro, Oneida/Huntsville, and Knoxville (Collaborative Partnership)
• Tusculum University
• University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
• University of Tennessee at Martin
Christian entertainment platform is launched
Minno, which launched last week, is a Nashville-based children’s digital media company, offering Christian parents an alternative that is both entertaining and affirming.
Minno features an ad-free, subscription digital platform with curated entertainment and educational choices – including the world’s largest collection of Classic VeggieTales.
Working in partnership with Hachette Nashville, offerings include “The Laugh and Learn Bible for Kids,’’ and Minno Life, a parenting blog with expert resources and voices for Christian parents.
In the coming months, Minno will also offer parent’s guides on top-of-mind topics, family devotionals and podcasts.
INSBANK’s profits increase in third quarter
InsCorp, parent company of INSBANK, reported third quarter profits of $1,125,000, or $0.38 per share.
InsCorp, Inc., is a Tennessee bank holding company with offices in Nashville and Brentwood.
Loans grew in the third quarter at an annualized rate of 11%. Over the past 12 months the bank’s commercial loan portfolio has increased $13 million, or 8%, while a decline in construction loan balances reduced aggregate loan growth.
“Given the industry concerns of late cycle credit allocation and a yield curve pressuring margins, our team has been maintaining a disciplined approach to credit underwriting and pricing while also focusing resources on commercial deposits and treasury management solutions for business customers,” says Jim Rieniets, INSBANK president & CEO.
Year-to-date operating income of $4,805,000 increased 8% over the prior year. Net income after taxes for the same period decreased slightly from $3.1 million to $3.0 million, due to the incremental financing cost of $15 million in subordinated debt recently issued to support continued growth.
XSOLIS purchases MEDarchon
XSOLIS, a health care data company, has acquired Nashville-based MEDarchon, a provider of intelligent clinical communication.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. MEDarchon clients will experience no immediate change in service or support.
MEDarchon was founded in 2012 with a specific goal in mind: to improve patient care and provider effectiveness by preventing silos in communication. MEDarchon offers real-time, unified clinical communication to better care delivery. Similarly, XSOLIS uses real-time clinical data and analytics to better health care operations.
New mentoring program unveiled by BBBS
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee is launching a new mentoring program, “Sports Buddies.’’
Working one-to-one, the program connects mentors and youth through a shared participation in sports and sports-related activities. Activities will range from attending a professional or collegiate sporting event to rock-climbing. The goal is to expose young people to the widest variety of sports and sports-related topics.
The new program is the first of its kind in Tennessee and is designed to attract men that may have been hesitant to mentor in the past.
As CEO Melissa Hudson-Gant explains, “We heard from a lot of men that they loved the idea of mentoring, but were holding off because of the commitment required or the challenge of figuring out what to do with a kid. At the same time, we had boys waiting for a mentor, sometimes for months. We knew we needed to do something different.”
Sports Buddies, modeled after a highly successful program in Colorado, differs from other BBBS mentoring programs in four important ways: the program requires less of a commitment, asking mentors to meet with their mentees twice a month for six months; BBBS staff plans and facilitates all activities – mentors simply attend; BBBS staff coordinates attendance and transportation with families; and all activities, participatory and spectator, occur in a group setting.
HealthTrust announces new agreement, new drugs
Nashville-based HealthTrust has added two more mission-critical drugs – Diprivan (propofol) and heparin – to its proprietary pharmacy-contracting mode.
Under a new agreement with Fresenius Kabi, the drugs will be contracted through the HealthTrust Supply Interruption Mitigation Strategies, a health care improvement program targeting more than 75 medications identified by providers and clinical advisory boards as critical to patient care.
“Our rigor creates supply confidence for HealthTrust members for these essential medicines,” says Vincent Jackson, vice president of HealthTrust’s Pharmacy Services Group.
HealthTrust is working with Fresenius Kabi and other manufacturers that demonstrate the capabilities necessary to meet the strict criteria for SIMS inclusion. HealthTrust expects to contract 15 SIMS products by the end of 2019.
Spero Health expands with Cookeville clinic
Nashville-based Spero Health, a CARF-accredited organization and leader in outpatient addiction treatment, has announced the opening of a new clinic in Cookeville.
Dr. Harold Alan Chertok has joined the organization as the medical director and lead physician at this clinic.
Spero provides local and affordable care for more than 6,000 patients throughout Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee. They accept TennCare and most commercial insurance plans so that cost is not a barrier to addiction treatment.
“Substance use disorders are treatable but there isn’t a one-size fits all solution, which is why Spero Health considers each unique patient need when developing treatment plans and setting goals for the future,” says Chertok.
State Forestry Division wins NFWF fire grant
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has awarded a $200,000 grant to the state’s Division of Forestry to expand fire implementation and management.
The project will support a prescribed fire strike team that will implement more than 1,200 acres of prescribed burning on public and private forestland on the Cumberland Plateau. Prescribed fires help reduce the catastrophic damage of wildfire by safely reducing excessive brush, shrubs and trees. They also encourage native vegetation to grow and are used to maintain the many plant and animal species whose habitats depend on periodic fire.
The Division of Forestry will hire a new strike team to implement prescribed burning practices that complement the work of division staff statewide. The NFWF grant project will engage private landowners on the Cumberland Plateau.
TDA Division of Forestry extinguishes nearly 1,000 fires each year and helps control the disease and insect pests that plague state forests. Tennessee’s forests cover 14 million acres, more than half of the state, and provide many benefits, including beauty, wildlife habitat, timber production, recreation, air and water quality, energy conservation, carbon sequestration, enhanced property values, stormwater control and natural heritage.