The Hot Sheet

ACQUIRED
United Capital Financial Advisers, LLC, a national network of financial advisory firms, has acquired Sovereign Wealth Management, a registered investment advisory firm based in Memphis, as part of its nationwide United Capital partnership.

AWARDED
For the seventh year in a row, the Holiday Inn at the University of Memphis has been awarded the Torchbearer Award at the Intercontinental Hotels Group annual Investors and Leadership Conference. The award is granted based on excellence in customer satisfaction and operations, and over 1,500 hotels compete for the recognition. In 2003, the hotel was also awarded the Newcomer of the Year Award.

Gossett Motor Cars has been awarded the Fiat Brand in Memphis and the Mid-South. The Fiat’s state-of-the-art showroom, which will be under construction as soon as possible, will be located on Covington Pike in Memphis.

Kitchens Unlimited designer Karen Kassen has won a Tri-Star Award for Residential-Singular Space in the 2010 Tennessee ASID Design Competition. It was her new kitchen construction project that captured the award. Kassen is also the only kitchen designer in Memphis to receive the accreditation of Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer (CMKBD), the highest level of recognition available in the industry. She joins only two others in the state of Tennessee with this accreditation.

Richard Donlon, one of the founding physicians of Christ Community Health Services, has received the Thomas W. Briggs Foundation’s 2010 Community Service Award. Dr. Donlon is the associate executive director and clinical director of the HIV/AIDS program at CCHS.
The award recognizes Donlon’s dedication to providing for the medically underserved and his success in establishing Christ Community Health Services. In its 15 years, CCHS has seen more than 750,000 patient visits and delivered 7,000 babies in communities that previously had no access to medical care. The annual Thomas W. Briggs Community Service Award honors the work of a local Memphis organization in the field of community service. The Briggs Foundation presented the award, along with a $25,000 donation to CCHS, at a ceremony at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in October.

The University of Memphis Journalism Alumni Club recently honored three individuals at its annual awards dinner: Jess Bunn and John Koski received the Charles E. Thornton Outstanding Alumni Award, and Candace “Candy” Justice received the Herbert Lee Williams Award.

Jess Bunn (BA ’74) is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of newspaper experience, beginning as a copy clerk at the Memphis Press-Scimitar. An award-winning headline writer and editor, he worked on the city, state, and sports desks of the Des Moines Register. Bunn was executive metro editor at The Commercial Appeal, which won two Associated Press public service awards during his tenure. A 14-year employee of FedEx Corp., Bunn now serves as manager of financial and corporate communications in Investor Relations. Prior to joining Investor Relations, Bunn specialized in media relations and reputation management. His teams won numerous public relations awards, including the Silver Anvil, Bronze Anvil, and Big Apple. He is a recipient of the prestigious FedEx Five Star Award.

John Koski (BA ’88) has served as vice president and general manager of FOX13 WHBQ-TV and MyFOXMemphis.com since 2000. He began his career as an intern at WHBQ, eventually becoming a member of the station’s sports team and then moving into promotions and programming. Koski was a member of the U of M Radio Network broadcast team for seven seasons as scoreboard show host and sideline commentator. He is a two-time regional Emmy winner, including one as executive producer of Home for the Holidays with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, FOX13 swept the top three regional Emmy categories. A 2010 graduate of Leadership Memphis, Koski was inducted into the Shelby County Schools Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009.

Candace “Candy” Justice (MA ’92) began her career in 1973 at the Memphis Press-Scimitar, where she worked as a reporter covering everything from crime to fashion. In 1981, Justice became TV editor and columnist. After the Press-Scimitar folded in 1983, she wrote about television for Scripps-Howard News Service and was a contributing editor at Satellite Dish magazine. While writing her nationally syndicated newspaper column, Justice freelanced for magazines, including TV Guide, Redbook, Stereo Review and Memphis magazine. She also wrote and produced a nationally syndicated radio show, Reach Out. Justice began teaching at the U of M as an adjunct instructor in 1985, and in 1992 became an assistant professor of journalism and general manager of The Daily Helmsman, the student newspaper. She still holds those positions. Justice has received numerous awards, including the Olin Morris/New York Times Broadcasting graduate fellowship in journalism and the 2001 Thomas W. Briggs Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award.

ELECTED
Gregory Polley, vice president of sales and marketing for Frase Protection, has been elected vice president of the Western Region of the Tennessee Electronic Security Association. Polley’s responsibilities will include scheduling and developing content for regional quarterly meetings, participating in board of directors meetings in Nashville, and taking part in the association’s annual trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with elected officials.

Bill Appling, President of Watkins Uiberall Healthcare Consulting Group, LLC, has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors for Lifeblood, a not-for-profit volunteer blood center located in Memphis. Appling’s term was effective after Lifeblood’s October 2010 board meeting. Appling joined Watkins Uiberall Healthcare Consulting Group in 2008. In his role as president, he is responsible for managing, facilitating, and coordinating all physician and hospital organization consulting engagements. Appling is also an active member of numerous other community and professional organizations, including the National Medical Group Management Association, MidSouth Medical Group Management Association, American College of Medical Group Practice Executives, Medical Group Management Association/University Advisory Committee, and the March of Dimes.

JOINED
Magna Bank’s Commercial & Multifamily Lending Division has joined the Q10 Capital Network. Composed of 18 companies, the Q10 Capital Network affords its members relationships with over 90 premier life insurance companies in the U.S., as well as pension funds and capital market conduits throughout the nation. Frank Stallworth, EVP of Magna Bank and President of the Commercial Real Estate Division, says, “We now have access to so many more sources of real estate capital. It’s the daily interaction among the 135 commercial mortgage bankers within the Q10 network that delivers the most reward and satisfaction. Their knowledge, advice, and contacts can all be used to help finance the various real estate projects for our customers.”

HIRED
Glankler Brown, PLLC has welcomed Arnold E. Perl as a new member of the firm. Perl’s practice is focused in the areas of labor law and advocacy before the U.S. Court of Appeals. He also focuses on arbitration and management training, and has successfully argued cases before the United States Court of Appeals, and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Perl also serves as Chairman of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, directing the decisions of Memphis International Airport, known as “America’s Aerotropolis.” He is Secretary and General Counsel of the Memphis Regional Chamber and chairs its Regional Logistics Council. Mr. Perl also serves as Chairman Emeritus, Japan-America Society of Tennessee, and Chairman Emeritus (Co-Chair) of Southeast U.S./Japan Association.

Owita Mays, M.D., has joined Methodist Teaching Practice at Methodist University Hospital. In addition to her responsibilities at Methodist Teaching Practice, Dr. Mays will also lead the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center of Memphis outpatient clinic, providing preventive health maintenance specific to sickle cell disease in a primary care setting. Dr. Mays holds an associate degree in Nursing from the University of Tennessee at Martin and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis in Biology/Pre-Med. She received her medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) College of Medicine. Dr. Mays completed her postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at UTHSC.

Jason Dallas has taken over as the new Chef de Cuisine at the Peabody Memphis’ Chez Philippe. Chef Dallas will help facilitate Chez Philippe’s return to “classical French” cuisine. The only Forbes 4-Star, AAA 4-Diamond restaurant in the Mid-South will also change its hours of operation to include a late-night, tapas-style menu served to patrons of the hotel’s Lobby Bar. Dallas is a Memphis native and graduate of Germantown High School. He comes to The Peabody with 10 years’ culinary experience, having trained with four James Beard Award winning chefs, including Todd English and Jean-Marie Lacroix, in some of the finest restaurants in Philadelphia and Seattle, such as Susanna Foo’s Chinese Cuisine and The Herb Farm. He has also cooked at two historic luxury hotels, The Fairmont Olympic Hotel and the Sorrento Hotel, where he was Executive Chef. Dallas is only the fourth chef in Chez Philippe’s 28-year history.

Counterpart Communication Design recently welcomed senior account executives Courtnay Hamacheck and Susanne Budd and account coordinators Sarah Marcrom and Sydney Munroe. (pictured, begining above left, in clockwise order)

Courtnay Hamacheck has previous experience as an account manager at HealthStream and at The Designory in Nashville. She graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, with a bachelor’s in art history and a minor in graphic design.

Prior to joining Counterpart Communication Design, Susanne Budd served as a program manager at The Memphis Challenge, a program coordinator at the Memphis Youth Leadership Program, and as a senior account manager at Oden Marketing & Design. She graduated from James Madison University with a bachelor’s  in history and a minor in economics and Spanish, and has a master’s in business administration with a focus in marketing from the University of Memphis.

Sydney Munroe previously served as a strategic thinker at Miami Ad School Account Planning Bootcamp in Florida and interned at Campbell-Ewald in Detroit as an account coordinator. She has a bachelor’s in marketing from the University of West Florida.

Sarah Marcrom was formerly a management and marketing intern at BrandCentrik in Nashville, where she developed and implemented a social networking plan for the company’s largest client. She graduated from Lipscomb University with a bachelor’s in management and a minor in marketing.

Sonya Pollard recently joined Nationstar Mortgage as a Mortgage Professional. Pollard has been a mortgage professional in the Memphis area for over 13 years. Nationstar is a national lender with over $68 billion in loan servicing and over 450,000 customers. Nationstar opened in 1997 and has offices in Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama.

HONORED
Amy J. Amundsen, a Memphis divorce attorney, has been selected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (IAML), a worldwide association of practicing lawyers who are recognized by their peers as the most experienced and expert family law specialists in their respective countries. IAML’s objective is to improve international family law practice throughout the world by creating an extensive network of expertise in international family law. A graduate of Dickinson College and the University of Memphis School of Law, Amundsen has practiced in Memphis for over 20 years at the law firm of Rice Amundsen & Caperton, PLLC.

DONATED
Alumna and Hutchison trustee Abbie Ware Williams (’89) and her husband Duncan Williams, President of Duncan-Williams, Inc., have made a seven-figure gift to Hutchison School. The Williamses’ gift is the third largest in Hutchison’s 108-year history, and provides funding for the school’s Center for Excellence and establishes Hutchison Leads, a formal leadership development program designed to empower young women to become twenty-first-century leaders through experiences in public policy development, private sector initiatives, civic responsibility, and service learning. The Williamses’ gift will further enhance after-school, weekend, and summer enrichment programs already available to all Memphis-area students and adults through Hutchison’s Center for Excellence and its six components: the Mary Miles Loveless Arts Academy, the Edna K. Crain Educators Institute, the Abigail Ware Williams Leadership Institute, the Parents Center, the Scholars Academy, and the Sports Academy.
    
PROMOTED
Baptist Memorial Health Care recently named a new vice president, Zach Chandler, and a new CEO and Administrator of
Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, Derick Ziegler.

After joining Baptist Memphis in September 2009 as the administrator and CEO, Zach Chandler will now serve as vice president and regional market leader. He was formerly president of Methodist Charlton Medical Center in Dallas and spent 10 years with Baptist in a variety of positions, including CEO and administrator of three Baptist hospitals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baylor University and a master’s degree in health administration from Washington University in St. Louis.

Derick Ziegler has been chosen as the new CEO and administrator of Baptist Memorial Hospital Memphis. Before coming to Baptist in 2008 as the CEO and administrator at Baptist Union City, Ziegler spent 23 years in healthcare administration for the U.S. Army. He served as deputy commander for administration — a position equivalent to chief operating officer — of Tripler Army Medical Center  in Hawaii. Ziegler holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh, and a master’s degree in health care administration from Baylor University.

REMEMBERED
Paul Jerome Miller, founder of Yuletide Office Solutions, passed away on November 15, 2010. He was 88. Paul was born in St. Louis and lived there until his family moved to Memphis, where Paul’s father launched National Hardwood Magazine a publication focusing on the hardwood industry. Paul graduated from Central High School and served in the Navy during World War II. In 1943, he married Ernestine Herbers, and upon returning to Memphis after the war, Paul rejoined the family’s publishing firm and the business eventually grew to include nine additional publications. Four of Paul’s sons, and his daughter, joined him in the family’s publishing business and the family still operates the firm today. In 1972, Paul founded Yuletide Office Supplies. Paul’s son, Chris Miller, is Yuletide’s president and the company employs three generations of the Miller family. Yuletide has grown to be the largest independent office supply business in the Mid-South. Mr. Miller was an avid outdoorsman and hunter and was a key member in several organizations including the Lumbermen’s Club of Memphis. He was predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Ernestine Miller, and is survived by his six children, Wayne, Gary, Paul, Chris, Terry, and Michelle Miller — all of the Memphis area. There are 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.