ServisFirst Bank Nashville hires 2, promotes a third

Friday, June 10, 2022, Vol. 46, No. 23

ServisFirst Bank Nashville, a subsidiary of ServisFirst Bancshares, has hired Stephanie Sallman as vice president, commercial credit officer, and Ryan Muskar as vice president, commercial portfolio manager. Dan Harrington has been promoted to executive vice president and managing director of corporate real estate.

Sallman brings 30 years of banking and finance experience to ServisFirst Bank Nashville. Most recently, she held a variety of leadership positions at CapStar Bank, including underwriting and acting senior credit officer. Before her time at CapStar, she worked for 12 years at Professional Bank Services as a consultant in the loan review division.

Sallman earned her MBA in finance from DePaul University in Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.

Muskar joins ServisFirst Bank Nashville with 17-plus years of banking and finance experience. Before ServisFirst, he served as vice president, commercial portfolio manager at CapStar Bank. His previous experience includes positions as credit analyst, portfolio manager/finance officer and lead Small Business Administration underwriter at Wells Fargo, Apple Pie Capital and First Horizon Bank. Muskar earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco.

Harrington previously served as director of corporate real estate. In his expanded role as executive vice president and managing director of corporate real estate, he will continue to build on longstanding relationships with clients throughout the area and help ServisFirst diversify its local loan portfolio.

A graduate of Texas Tech University, Harrington started his banking career in Dallas with JP Morgan’s predecessor, Texas Commerce Bank, before moving to Nashville with SunTrust Bank.

TN Pharmacists Association announces two hires

The Tennessee Pharmacists Association has hired Olivia Welter, doctor of pharmacy, as director of professional affairs, and Ariel Clark, doctor of pharmacy, as manager of education and practice development.

Welter will help lead TPA’s practice initiatives, regulatory affairs and policy development process. She will be responsible for identifying and developing practice-based resources, overseeing educational events and programs, managing practice-related advisory committees and working closely with volunteer leaders.

Welter earned her doctor of pharmacy degree from Drake University. She recently completed the APhA Foundation Knowlton Center Executive Fellowship in Association Management and Leadership in Washington, D.C.

Clark will assist in cultivating educational program offerings and leadership development opportunities for TPA members. She will also serve as TPA’s continuing education administrator and ensure compliance with the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards for Continuing Pharmacy Education.

Clark earned a degree in biochemistry and doctor of pharmacy degrees from the University of Minnesota-Duluth College of Pharmacy, where she graduated with an emphasis in pharmacy leadership. Upon graduation, Clark completed an executive fellowship in association leadership and management with the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board in Washington, D.C.

She has earned an ASHP Teaching Certification, an ICE Credentialing Specialist certification, and while in pharmacy school earned a QPR Institute Suicide Prevention Instructor certification.

Belmont appoints Kornu to senior faculty ethics post

Belmont University has appointed Dr. Kimbell Kornu as Provost’s Professor of Bioethics, Theology and Christian Formation.

In his role, Kornu will focus on the development of a curriculum that prioritizes character, competency and creativity to nurture healthy communities of practice, while also bolstering robust research with a strong emphasis in bioethics.

Kornu comes to Belmont from Saint Louis University where he served as assistant professor of medicine, health care ethics and theological studies and practiced as a palliative care physician. He holds an M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas.

While he initially planned to work as a community physician, his dismay at the deformative aspects of typical medical training led him to Westminster Theological Seminary where he completed a master’s degree in religion between his third and fourth years of medical school. After residency training, he took a Ph.D. in theology at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

Kornu’s research focuses on the historical, social, philosophical and theological determinants that shape the metaphysics and practices of modern medicine. While publishing widely in the philosophy and theology of medicine, he is currently working on a book that traces the philosophical history of medical knowing back to the origins of Western medicine through the lens of anatomical dissection.

A.O. Smith names Porter vice president, retail sales

A. O. Smith Corporation has promoted Eric Porter to the position of vice president of retail sales. Porter and his team will develop and implement strategies that further position the organization for profitable growth in the various retails channels we participate.

Porter brings more than a decade of sales and leadership experience to his position. He joined the company in January 2007 as a business system analyst and was promoted to retail sales analyst, customer service manager, senior account executive for the Lowe’s account and most recently served as director of retail sales for the Lowe’s account.

He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and holds a degree in business statistics.

Esposito to receive CRB President’s Award

The Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. has announced John Esposito, chairman & CEO of Warner Music Nashville, as the 2022 CRB President’s Award recipient.

The CRB President’s Award is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the marketing, production, growth and development of the Country Radio Seminar and the multiple services that Country Radio Broadcasters provide to the country radio and music communities.

Since Esposito joined the label in 2009, Warner Music Nashville’s market share has quadrupled. Its artists have spent more than 107 weeks at #1, earning 74 chart-topping singles, multiple gold and platinum sales certifications, and Grammy, CMA, ACM, Billboard, AMA and People’s Choice awards ranging from New Artist to Entertainer of the Year.

Esposito has been chairman of the board of the Country Music Association, governor of the Nashville Chapter Board of NARAS, and an executive committee board member of the Country Radio Broadcasters Association. He is vice chairman of the T.J. Martell Foundation National Board and currently serves on the CMA Foundation board. The Music Business Association awarded Esposito its prestigious Presidential Award for Outstanding Executive Achievement in 2016, an honor he shares with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dick Clark, Walter Yetnikoff, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, Clive Davis, and Casey Kasem. In 2017, he was named the inaugural recipient of the Innovation in Music Awards’ Innovator of the Year Award and received an honorary doctorate of music from Monmouth University.

Previous CRB President’s Award recipients include Beverlee Brannigan, Sarah Trahern, Mike Dungan, Charlie Morgan, Bob Kingsley, Joe Galante, Erica Farber and more.

HarperCollins Christian names marketing VP

HarperCollins Christian Publishing has named Gabriel Aviles vice president of marketing for its Spanish Language Division.

Aviles joined the Spanish Division as senior marketing director in 2019 with 25-plus years of marketing experience. During his tenure as marketing leader, the Spanish Division has experienced 25% growth. Aviles has led the successful launch of the C.S. Lewis Spanish brand and the NBLA Bible translation, and has worked with bestselling authors including Agustín Laje, Daniel Habif, Miguel Nuñez, Christy Muller, Craig Groeschel, Lysa TerKeurst and Max Lucado.

As vice president of marketing for the Spanish Division, Aviles will continue to lead the marketing strategy and execution for the division.

Nashville Shores names new general manager

Nashville Shores Lakeside Resort has appointed Joe Eckman as its general manager. Eckman will oversee the day-to-day operations of the 385-acre Nashville Shores property, including its water park, lodging program, marina, zip line and ropes course and boat rental business.

Eckman previously served as director of operations for Nashville Shores and succeeds industry veteran Larry Edgmon. Edgmon acted as general manager since 2012 and has been named senior adviser, where he will help with the transition of management and focus on the property’s future expansion and growth.

Eckman, who has been in the amusement and water park industry for 24 years, began his career at Clementon Park in New Jersey in 1998, where he held various roles. He was named director of operations for Nashville Shores in 2013 and has spent the last nine years reporting directly to Edgmon.

LaPlume joins Meharry National Advisory Board

Meharry Medical College and its Center for Health Policy has selected Joseph LaPlume, corporate executive vice president for Charles River Laboratories, to join the Center’s National Advisory Board.

LaPlume will contribute to the development and implementation of the Center’s strategic plan, assist in identifying opportunities for furthering the Center’s development, and advocate for the Center’s affiliated fellows and scholars.

The National Advisory Board of the Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College consists of experts and leaders in health and health policy from across the nation providing the Center’s executive director with advice, guidance, and counsel in the development and implementation of the strategic plan, assistance in identifying opportunities for furthering the Center’s development, and promotion of the Center’s affiliated fellows and scholars.

LaPlume joins the current board to provide Dexter Samuels, Ph.D., the Center’s executive director and senior vice president for student affairs at Meharry, with guidance and counsel to continue the Center’s and Meharry’s historic mission of improving health and health care in underserved communities.