Diversified Trust, a wealth management firm with more than $4 billion in assets under management, has named current chief operating officer John P. Seckman as its new president. Seckman will lead company operations from Nashville, a geographic center for the firm with additional offices in Atlanta, Greensboro and Memphis.
Seckman, a 10-year Diversified Trust veteran, had been the managing director of Diversified Trust’s Atlanta office since its establishment in 2002. As COO, he developed best practices across all offices, maintaining a consistent standard of excellence while managing Diversified Trust’s information technology and client administration.
Prior to joining Diversified Trust, Seckman was president of an Atlanta-based registered investment advisory firm. He also previously served as an investment director of the Delta Air Lines Pension Trust with direct responsibility for the fund’s $1.4 billion real estate and timberland portfolio.
Colliers International recruits top sales team
Bill Neill and Mark Woolwine have joined Colliers International, a commercial real estate services provider, in the company’s Nashville office. The addition of the well-regarded team, formerly with CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), brings the Colliers International office team to a total of 10 brokers.
As 20-year veterans of the Nashville commercial real estate industry, Neill and Woolwine have been active in both tenant and landlord representation. They have been recognized for the NAIOP “Deal of the Year,” as well as “Top Deals of the Year” in the Nashville Business Journal.
Neill and Woolwine began their career with CB Richard Ellis as office specialists. Their notable projects have included the AT&T Tower, Highland Ridge, One Nashville Place, Regions Center and the KBS Portfolio. They have represented a diverse group of Fortune 500 clients including Allstate Insurance, American Express, AT&T, Citigroup, HCA, Microsoft, Nationwide Insurance, Siemens, State Farm Insurance, TIAA-CREF, and Walgreens. In 20 years, they have represented over 500 clients totaling more than 10,000,000 square feet.
Barge, Waggoner adds Faris to staff
Architectural and engineering firm Barge, Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon, Inc. has added Benjamin Faris, PE, to the Industrial and Building Services group as a structural engineer. Faris joins Barge Waggoner from Structural Design Group in Nashville, where he served as a project manager and design engineer.
Faris previously worked as a bridge designer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). He received a degree in civil engineering from California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo (2001), and a master’s in structural engineering from the University of California at San Diego (2002).
Robkin named CEO of Bigger Picture
David J. Robkin has been named CEO and president of Bigger Picture Group. Robkin brings more than 30 years of professional and entrepreneurial experience in the music, entertainment, hospitality and financial industries.
As CEO, Robkin will oversee all business and creative areas of the company’s three operating divisions, including recorded music, publishing and digital services.
Before joining Bigger Picture Group in 2011, Robkin was a founder and principal of Liberty Venture Partners, a technology-oriented venture capital firm in Philadelphia with a focus on information technology services and restaurant and hospitality companies. Prior to joining Liberty, Robkin was the managing partner of AG Epstein Company, a Philadelphia accounting and consulting firm that merged with Grant Thornton in 1995.
Promotions, new hires at Crosslin & Associates
Crosslin & Associates, a regional accounting and consulting firm, has several new hires and promotions in the areas of audit, healthcare, tax and litigation support.
In the audit and assurance division, Marcus Heitor, John Hillis, Avonel Rodriguez, and Luke Myers have been promoted to advanced staff, while Tim Nowak has been promoted to senior manager. Michelle Howell has been promoted to manager of STATSolutions, the healthcare subsidiary of Crosslin & Associates.
Recent additions in the tax division include:
Elisabeth Harper as tax senior. Harper comes to Crosslin with a background in tax and law. As a law clerk for a Memphis firm, she worked in numerous areas including estate planning, expert witness preparation, accounting, financial statement and tax return preparation, and realty transactions. She holds a degree in economics from Furman University, an MBA from MTSU and a J.D. from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.
Yvette Halman, administrative assistant, who brings experience in office administration and database coordination.
In the Valuation Services Division, Kyle Wishing was added in the role of valuation consultant. Wishing, who previously worked as an intern for Crosslin & Associates, is a 2011 graduate of MTSU with a degree in finance.
Centennial announces marketing, PR hires
Centennial Medical Center has added two members of the Marketing & Public Relations Department.
Sarah Jones has joined Centennial as marketing manager, Women’s & Children’s Hospital at Centennial. Prior to joining Centennial, Jones served as medical staff coordinator for Southern Hills Medical Center. She also held the position of physician recruiter at Southern Hills. Jones earned communications degree from University of Tennessee.
Kimberly Tiscione joined Centennial as public relations manager. Prior to joining Centennial, Tiscione worked in federal civil service as an Army public affairs specialist, most recently at Fort Campbell, Ky. Tiscione earned degree in mass communication from Towson University and later completed a master’s in corporate communication from Austin Peay.
Bingham honored as top IT director
Craig Bingham of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has been named IT Director of the Year by ALM’s Law Technology News. The ninth annual “LTN Innovation Awards” recognize outstanding achievements by legal professionals in their use of technology.
In his role as Director of Technology, Bingham is responsible for IT, research services and records management. He has spent more than 20 years in the technology industry, the last 10 in the legal industry.
Skanska hires senior vice president
Skanska USA’s building business unit, a provider of construction management, preconstruction and design-build services, has hired Dennis Norvet as senior vice president of business development.
Norvet will work with Skanska’s operations and business development teams in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan to help the firm build its business in those markets. He brings more than 25 years of experience in sales, operations and development, spending more than 20 of those years in real estate and construction, with a focus on assisting hospitals and physician groups.
Centerstone names Baldwin as manager
Centerstone, the nation’s largest not-for-profit provider of community-based mental health and addiction services, has named Kim Baldwin as the organization’s government relations manager.
In this role, Baldwin will be responsible for managing relationships with Centerstone’s local and state constituents as the organization continues to serve 50,000 people each year, through more than 50 facilities and 160 partnership locations across Middle Tennessee.
Baldwin holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Middle Tennessee State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Tennessee State University.
Civil Site Design hires designer Moore
Zach Moore, engineer in training, has joined civil engineering, planning and design firm Civil Site Design Group, PLLC as a civil designer. Moore, who graduated from Tennessee Tech in 2011 with a degree in civil engineering, is a candidate for an MS degree in Civil Engineering at Vanderbilt University.
Moore’s previous experience includes working as an engineering intern at Catalyst Air Management, Knoxville, where he traveled extensively throughout the U.S. to conduct air quality process evaluations and emissions testing services for industrial and power generation clients.
Miller joins Harvard trial advocacy program
Nashville attorney and trial consultant Phillip H. Miller will serve on the faculty of a national program on trial advocacy at Harvard Law School, March 10-14. The program, The Ultimate Trial Advocacy Course: Art of Persuasion, is sponsored by the American Association for Justice (AAJ). Miller is also on the faculty of AAJ’s national case planning and strategy seminar and workshop, Feb. 24-26, in Washington, and the Louisiana Association for Justice’s strategic case planning workshop on March 6 in Baton Rouge.
Miller, whose practice focuses exclusively on personal injury cases, is the only Tennessee attorney to serve on the faculty of all three programs.
Stones River Electric promotes Kinney
Jeffery Kinney has been promoted to Director of Lighting Services at Stones River Electric.
Kinney, who has more than 30 years of experience in the lighting industry, was previously a senior project manager at the company. He has been associated with Stones River Electric since 2005.
Kinney is a Certified Lighting Management Consultant (CLMC) and a Certified Sustainable Lighting Consultant (CSLC). He began his career with IllumElex Corporation, where he held technical, management and operations positions in Georgia and Florida.