The Lodge at Fall Creek Falls was recently recognized with a Citation Award for exceptional work in architecture by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Middle Tennessee chapter.
“Our team is honored to be recognized for this project,” says Ron Lustig, ESa principal and lead architect for the project. “Creating these beautiful spaces that will be experienced by both Tennesseans and visitors to our state was an honor.”
Serving one of Tennessee’s most visited parks, the 2.5-story, 98,000-square-foot replacement lodge features a modern interpretation of rustic elements that draws inspiration from the beauty of Tennessee’s natural landscape.
Oriented for views of the surrounding lake and landscape, the lodge contains 85 guest rooms with private balconies, including three king suites and six family-style bunk rooms, a banquet room, outdoor pool and a 180-seat restaurant and bar.
Lustig stated that the site was master planned to accommodate the new lodge and support functions. Also designed with visitors to the park in mind are the interiors of the lodge.
Guest rooms incorporate materials that are associated with camping and the outdoors, while interior spaces feature textures and color palettes that blur the line between the lodge and landscape.
Also, by incorporating the use of solar shading, sustainable materials, reduced water usage and habitat-restoring landscaping, the lodge is designed to meet the State of Tennessee’s High Performance Building Requirements and is intended to function 19% more efficiently than energy code requirements.
Gresham Smith creates sustainability center
Nashville architecture and engineering firm Gresham Smith has announced the creation of its Sustainability and Resiliency Center, which will serve as a hub of experienced practitioners across the firm’s markets to provide technical expertise at the project level in areas such as LEED administration, carbon emissions reduction, climate adaptation, resiliency plans and vulnerability risk assessments.
The center will also focus on weaving sustainable best practices throughout Gresham Smith’s operations in order to measurably reduce the firm’s impact on the environment.
Lauren Seydewitz, a 20-year industry veteran, will lead the center as program manager, focusing on expanding the value and impact of integrating sustainability and resiliency into projects and creating added value for Gresham Smith’s clients. Her past experience includes working at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the City of Dallas.
Music City Center gets reaccreditation
Music City Center has achieved Global Biorisk Advisory Council STAR facility accreditation for the second year.
The GBAC STAR designation has become the gold standard for prepared facilities during the pandemic. Accreditation is reserved for facilities that demonstrate the superior ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from biorisk and infectious disease situations.
Music City Center initially achieved GBAC STAR status in July 2020 following the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19. Under the guidance of GBAC, a Division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, the center has established and maintained a cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents like the novel coronavirus.
The GBAC STAR facility accreditation is part of a larger effort by Music City Center to build on existing procedures and protocols in response to COVID-19. Facility leadership continues to monitor local, state and federal guidance on the virus and its variants.
Inova merges with two other companies
Nashville’s Inova Payroll has announced a merger with Integrated Payroll Services in St. Louis and LinkHCM in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
The combined enterprise is now among the top-three privately held payroll and HR companies in the United States, serving nearly 5,000 employers, encompassing 200,000 active employees.
Inova Payroll provides a comprehensive suite of human capital management solutions to employers nationwide while maintaining a personal, high-touch service standard. The merger with IPS and LinkHCM expands Inova’s operations and service center footprint to California and Missouri, resulting in 11 offices across nine states.
“I started this business 10 years ago with the goal of creating a national payroll services company focused on high client satisfaction,” says Farsheed Ferdowsi, President and CEO of Inova Payroll. “Today, through the addition of these two excellent companies, Inova is among the top three independent payroll and HCM service providers in the country offering our clients a full-suite of innovative human capital management solutions and services.”
One GI announces deal with Digestive Health
One GI, a gastroenterology management services organization based in Nashville, has partnered with Digestive Health Associates in the Terre Haute, Indiana market.
One GI identifies and partners with leading gastroenterology practices that are seeking a strategic alliance to provide capital and management services to help foster growth, drive economies of scale, and deliver high-quality care to patients.
Formed in April 2020, One GI is comprised of leading gastroenterology practices throughout Tennessee, Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana and is one of the fastest growing GI platforms in the country. DHS is a 3-provider practice operating in five centers in the Terre Haute area.
Goodwin Procter and Reed Smith served as exclusive legal counsel to One GI, and Alvarez and Marsal served as a key diligence partner.
FCM wins BBB top honor for ethics
First Community Mortgage has been named the winner of the Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky’s Better Business Bureau’s highest honor: The Torch Awards for Ethics.
FCM, which is licensed to lend in 46 states, won the Extra-large Business Category. The Torch Awards are presented in conjunction with the BBB Integrity Foundation.
“I feel strongly that actions speak much louder than words,” says Keith Canter, CEO of First Community Mortgage and one of the company’s founders, “and we’ve taken great care in establishing and communicating the core values of the organization, and communicating that they are never compromised by anyone.”
According to the Better Business Bureau, the Torch Awards for Ethics recognizes extraordinary businesses in BBB serving Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky’s service area that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to building trust through ethical practices with their staff, the community, their approach to marketing and within their industry.
2021 BBB Torch Awards for Ethics winners were also presented in the Small Business Category to Lucas Motorworks, Welding & Fabrication, Murfreesboro, and in the Medium Business Category to The Dan Company, Nashville.
Pivot Point publishes health IT report
Nashville-based Pivot Point Consulting has released its first Healthcare IT Directions Report, underscoring four trends certain to drive health IT decisions in 2022.
Pivot Point Consulting’s team of experts studied and identified four trends at the top of their list for 2022 including The Great Resignation, Virtual and Remote Care, Transforming Public Health Infrastructure and The Retail Health Revolution.
Among the findings:
• The Great Resignation: Nearly one in five health care workers have quit their jobs since February 2020. Organizations should evaluate and use hybrid staffing and managed services to establish fixed operating costs and reduce staffing risks.
• Virtual and Remote Care: The pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth and virtual care services with research indicating the telehealth market size will reach nearly $556 billion by 2027. When determining 2022 virtual care investments, health IT leaders must understand the broad scope of potential services and technologies.
• Transforming Public Health Infrastructure: The impact of investment and transformation of the public health system will be pervasive – from increasing and easing data access and reporting to shifts in career opportunities across the private and public sectors.
• The Retail Health Revolution: It started in 2016-17 with Walgreens and CVS deploying Epic to thousands of care sites. Organizations should double down digital strategy and services and offer a frictionless end-to-end patient experience.
Aspire Home Loans signs with Black Knight
Black Knight, Inc. has announced that Aspire Home Loans LLC, a Nashville-based independent mortgage banker, has signed a contract to implement the Black Knight Empower LOS and integrated origination performance solutions.
The contract includes Black Knight’s Surefire customer relationship management and marketing automation systems.
These advanced capabilities will support first mortgages for Aspire Home Loans’ retail lending channel and help enhance the borrower experience, support its employees and help drive business growth.
“We were impressed with the lights-out process automation offered by Black Knight’s Empower system that will provide significant support to our lending team and improve our borrower experience,” says Aspire Home Loans President and CEO Brian Hill. “When learning that the Optimal Blue pricing engine was being added to Black Knight’s suite of origination solutions, it made sense for us to take advantage of an integrated suite of capabilities that will help us originate more loans, reduce costs, increase operational efficiency and accelerate turn times.”
Novatech buys ManagedPrint
Nashville’s Novatech has expanded its coverage and portfolio with the acquisition of ManagedPrint, a managed print services leader headquartered in South Carolina.
Novatech serves the IT, print, cloud and security needs of businesses nationwide, and the acquisition complements the company’s mission of delivering the complete managed office. Novatech is owned by Trivest Partners, a private investment firm.
ManagedPrint delivers customized print services and solutions and supports the leading hardware brands. Known for its industry expertise, the company provides MPS to health care, banking, public sector and other markets.
This acquisition solidifies Novatech’s position as a leading provider of managed office solutions across the United States.