Here’s a look at promotions, hirings, movers and newsmakers in the Memphis area business scene:
Baker Donelson launched a new location in Charleston, South Carolina, with the addition of four attorneys from two well-respected firms. Joining as shareholders in the new location are corporate attorney J. Ashley Cooper and employment attorney Jennifer K. Dunlap, both previously with Parker Poe, and health law attorneys Alissa Fleming and Catherine F. Wrenn, both previously with Womble Bond Dickinson. This is Baker Donelson’s second new office in the Carolinas in less than a year. In October 2021, the firm added a team of health care attorneys in Raleigh/Research Triangle, launching its first North Carolina location.
Butler Snow announced that former Tennessee Chancellor Gadson William “Will” Perry has rejoined the firm in its Memphis office and will practice with the Commercial Litigation and Appellate practice groups. Perry also will focus his practice on alternative dispute resolution. He served on the Chancery Court for the Thirtieth Judicial District of Tennessee, which covers Memphis and Shelby County, from June 2021 to September 2022.
The Association for Dressings and Sauces (ADS) named Ring Container Technologies, a leader in the plastic container manufacturing industry, its Supplier Partner of the Year for Packaging. One focus area of the nomination and subsequent honor elaborated on Ring’s commitment to reliably serving its existing partners, even throughout the pandemic. ADS represents manufacturers of salad dressing, mayonnaise and condiment sauces and suppliers of raw materials, packaging and equipment to this segment of the food industry.
Sugar Services, a manufacturer of top-quality sugar products in the South, named David Turman as its new director of operations and Mathilde Crosby as the new chief financial officer. Turman will oversee the facility and operations located in Downtown Memphis that manufactures and delivers sugar products within a 400-mile radius of Memphis and Houston, Texas. Crosby will direct and oversee the financial activities of Sugar Services. Turman has more than 20 years of production management experience having worked with Smith & Nephew, The Hershey Company and Newly Weds Foods. Crosby has more than 20 years of finance experience. She has held leadership roles with Shelby County Government, St. Mary’s Episcopal School, New York City Department of Environmental Protection and Citibank.
Wilderness-inspired hotel Big Cypress Lodge inside the 32-story Memphis Pyramid, named Romaine Scott as its hotel manager. He’ll oversee operations for the 103-room facility, which serves as a one-of-a-kind Bass Pro Shops retail and lifestyle experience. With more than 20 years of experience in hotel management, Scott has held managerial and rooms division positions in some of the world’s most celebrated destinations including Jamaica, New York City and Chicago. Scott comes to Big Cypress Lodge from The Peabody, where he was the director of Training and Development and director of Housekeeping and Laundry. He is completing his bachelor’s degree in Management from the University of Phoenix, along with his associate degree in Teaching: Mathematics and Science from Church Teachers’ College in Mandeville, Jamaica.
The Memphis law firm of Godwin, Morris, Laurenzi & Bloomfield added Tess Shelton to its team as an associate attorney. She graduated law school from the University of Memphis where she was inducted into the National Order of the Barristers for Moot Court participation. Shelton is a 2021 Peggy Browning Fund Fellowship recipient and is focusing her practice on union-side labor law.
Memphis-based General Contractor RKA Construction named Patrick Johnston as executive vice president of its newly created Commercial Services Division. Previously he served in various roles at Turner Construction Company, lastly as project executive. Johnston earned his bachelor’s degree in Building Science from Auburn University and is a LEED Accredited Professional by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
Tara Jackson Lemoine has been named the new executive director for the Center for Health Care Improvement and Patient Simulation (CHIPS) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She joined UTHSC to lead the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation, a nearly $40 million simulation building that opened in 2018 on the Memphis campus. Lemoine previously was with Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, California. She is dual board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric critical care. After receiving her Doctor of Osteopathy degree from North Texas Health Science Center, she completed her residency and critical care fellowship at Primary Children’s Medical Center and the University of Utah, respectively. She obtained a fellowship in simulation medicine through the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. During her 10 years at Valley Children’s Hospital, Lemoine helped build a simulation program as medical director of simulation and the academic chief of resident and fellow simulation.
NOTEWORTHY
Elaine Frawley, associate professor of biology at Rhodes College, received a National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award of more than $300,000. Her three-year grant began Sept. 1 for her project titled “The Role of Manganese Homeostasis in the Nitric Oxide Stress Response of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.” Salmonella is a leading cause of diarrheal disease worldwide and food-borne illness in the U.S., according to Frawley. The human immune system uses nitric oxide as one type of chemical defense to fight off bacterial infection. Increased bacterial resistance to current antibiotics is a growing public health concern. The goal of Frawley’s research is to gain a better understanding of the actions of nitric oxide and how bacteria such as Salmonella can evade them.
— Compiled by Daniel Ginsburg
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