Bruce C. Doeg has been elected a member of Baker Donelson’s board of directors by the firm’s shareholders.
Doeg, a shareholder in the firm’s Nashville office and co-chair of the Firm’s Privacy and Technology Center of Excellence, concentrates his practice in the area of business law with an emphasis on rapidly changing industries, including technology, digital health and life sciences.
Previous leadership positions at Baker Donelson include roles as chief strategic officer, business department head and Nashville office managing shareholder. He also leads the firm’s Digital Health Initiative.
A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and Duke University, Doeg is a member of the American, Tennessee, Knoxville, Nashville and Delaware Bar Associations. He currently serves as the vice chair of LaunchTN and is a board member of BioTN and The Contributor.
Campbell joins Dickinson Wright
Jay Campbell has joined Dickinson Wright PLLC’s Nashville office as a member. He will split his time between Nashville and Memphis.
Campbell advises middle-market companies with the acquisition and disposition of operating and financial assets. He represents clients in M&A and corporate finance, including corporate lending and corporate equity formation. He also assists clients on private equity offerings, equity recapitalizations and other capital formation techniques.
Campbell is a member of the American Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association and a board member of the Association for Corporate Growth Tennessee Chapter. He also serves on the board of directors of Case Management, Inc., a nonprofit that provides behavioral health services to underprivileged Tennessee citizens. He earned his B.B.A. and M.S. from George Washington University and his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School.
First Farmers appoints community banking director
First Farmers and Merchants Bank, a community bank with 22 locations in seven Middle Tennessee counties, has promoted Marcus D. Williams to director of Nashville community banking. Williams, who has 24 years of experience, joined the First Farmers team in 2019 and previously served as branch manager of the McEwen office in Franklin, where he assisted customers with personal, business and mortgage loans.
First Farmers created Williams’ new role to advance the bank’s mission of forming lasting connections within the local community and promoting their affordable lending program. Williams will work to connect customers in Middle Tennessee with helpful financial services, such as homebuyer education classes, down payment assistance, budgeting tools and financial literacy courses. Additionally, Williams will help assist business growth by focusing on relational banking and routinely engaging with community partners.
TBA selects attorneys for Leadership Law Class
The Tennessee Bar Association has chosen 34 attorneys from across the state for its 2022 Leadership Law program.
Now in its 19th year, Leadership Law is designed to equip Tennessee lawyers with the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to serve as leaders in their profession and local communities. The class will meet for its first session in March, and then spend the next six months learning about leadership in the legal profession, issues in the courts, policymaking in state government and the importance of community service.
Class members are:
• Anthony Adewumi, BMI, Nashville
• Maha Ayesh, Lincoln Memorial University-Duncan School of Law, Knoxville
• Adam Barber, Martin Heller Potempa & Sheppard, LLC, Nashville
• Jessie Chandler, 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Pulaski
• Brittany Davis, The City of Memphis, Memphis
• Laura Deakins, Lewis Thomason, Memphis
• Mark Donnell, Sims Funk PLC, Nashville
• Zack England, Best and Brock, Chattanooga
• Mandy Strickland Floyd, Spencer Fane Bone McAllester, Nashville
• Libba W. Fyke, Butler Sevier Hinsley & Reid PLLC, Memphis
• Heather Gavrock, Spragins, Barnett & Cobb, PLC, Jackson
• Micah Guster, Advice Law Firm, Chattanooga
• Shellie Handelsman, Handelsman Law, Nashville
• Todd Hartley, Country Music Association, Inc., Nashville
• Julie Heffington, Wolaver, Carter & Heffington, Columbia
• Cameron Hoffmeyer, Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC, Lawrenceburg
• Cherrelle Hooper, Tennessee Housing Development Agency, Nashville
• Courtney Leyes, Fisher Phillips, Nashville
• Mark Litchford, Litchford, Pearce & Associates, PLLC, Chattanooga
• Devin Lyon, Arnett, Draper & Hagood, LLP, Knoxville
• Matthew McDonald, Bernstein, Stair & McAdams LLP, Knoxville
• Asia Diggs Meador, Generations, Inc., Memphis
• Patrick Morris, FedEx, Memphis
• Jerrick Murrell, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, Memphis
• James Parker, Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC, Knoxville
• Caraline Rickard, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, Nashville
• Hon. Danielle Mitchell Sims, Shelby County Government, Memphis
• Brandon Smith, Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, Nashville
• Grace Stranch, Harpeth Conservancy, Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, PLLC, Nashville
• Josh Thomas, Metro Nashville Law Department, Nashville
• Quinton Thompson, Morgan & Morgan, Memphis
• LaTanyia Walker, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis
• Joel Wallace, Cunningham, Mitchell & Rocconi, Clarksville
• Brennan Wingerter, District Public Defenders Conference, Franklin
Leadership Tennessee president to step down
Leadership Tennessee, the only statewide cross-sector community leadership program, has announced its founding executive director, Cathy Cate, will step down at the end of June. Leadership Tennessee’s board of directors will lead the search for Cate’s successor.
The initiative was launched in 2013. In 2015, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided funding that enabled Leadership Tennessee to expand its program offerings beyond its Signature Program for established business, government and community leaders to include Leadership Tennessee Next, a leadership development program for emerging leaders and Vote Tennessee, a voter registration and education program. Leadership Tennessee’s network today includes more than 400 alumni and 2,000 yearly community contacts.
Cate was elevated to the role of president in August 2021, when Leadership Tennessee became an independent 501c3 organization. During her nine-year tenure, Cate led the organization as it facilitated statewide conversations on issues ranging from childhood literacy, to the opioid epidemic and other major policy issues impacting the state. Cate also brought national recognition to Leadership Tennessee through its participation in the Association of Leadership Programs and was named to its board of directors in 2017, serving as chair of the national conference in 2021.
Individuals interested in applying for the role of president should submit their resume and cover letter to [email protected] by Feb. 4. A full job description can be found at www.leadershiptennessee.org/hiring.
Airport Authority adds to senior team
The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority has enhanced its senior team with several personnel appointments:
Amber Stewart, director, facilities maintenance, joined MNAA in 2013, working first with the Department of Public Safety as airport security manager and then in the maintenance department as a maintenance coordinator. She is a certified member of the American Association of Airport Executives, earned a degree in criminal justice and is pursuing an MBA from Middle Tennessee State University.
Amy Castro, director, customer experience, continues her leadership role at MNAA, shifting her focus from facilities maintenance. She joined MNAA in May 2005 and brings finance, business diversity and maintenance experience to her new role.
She earned an MBA from UT Martin and master’s degree in teaching from Trevecca Nazarene University. She also holds an economics degree with a concentration in finance from UT Martin. She is a Certified Member of AAAE.
Craig Farmer, director, capital improvement program. After a period of designing airports, Farmer served 15 years as chief aviation engineer for the State of Kentucky, overseeing projects at all 58 general aviation airports before joining the Blue Grass Airport as manager of design and construction. He earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Kentucky.
Jessica Burton, director, procurement, brings a solid background in the field, having served as director, purchasing and travel department at Kentucky State University and in several relevant positions at the Kentucky Department of Education. She earned an associate and bachelor’s degrees, paralegal program, from Sullivan University in Lexington, Kentucky. She is a member of the Kentucky Professional Procurement Association and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing.
Tanja Turner Bell, director, business diversity development, will be responsible for the administration of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and the Small, Minority and Woman-owned Business Enterprise programs for the Airport Authority.
She recently managed the real estate land acquisition and DBE federal programs at the Birmingham Airport Authority. She also served as the Federal Aviation Administration liaison officer for the ACDBE & DBE programs and for the Birmingham Aviation Authority’s Title VI and ADA compliance function. She is an alumna of the DeVos Leadership Program in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and attended the University of Montevallo (Alabama). She is a member of the Airport Council International–North America (ACI-NA) Business Diversity Committee and an ACDBE and DBE Certifier.
Hunter names Downing national account manager
Hunter Industrial Fans, a division of the Hunter Fan Company, has added Seth Downing as national account manager for the company’s Jan Fan division.
Previously, he served as senior-level marketing manager at Apex Tool Group, LLC.
Acquired by Hunter Industrial in 2019, Jan Fan is a manufacturer and distributor of fixed and rolling-mount caged fan solutions for commercial and industrial workspaces.