Business Digest: Lurie elected to Girls Inc. board

photo Bea Lurie

Lurie elected to Girls Inc. board

Bea Lurie, president and CEO of Girls Inc. of Chattanooga, has been elected to the National Board of Girls, Inc., the organization that inspires girls to be strong, smart and bold. Lurie will serve as a regional professional representative.

Lurie joined Girls Inc. of Chattanooga in 2007 as president and CEO. Under her leadership, the organization boasts a 100 percent success rate of high school girls going on to higher education, increased the number of girls ages 6-8 served by more than 30 percent and service hours by 200 percent, diversified funding sources and increased annual revenue by more than $250,000.

"We are thrilled to welcome Bea to our National Board as a strategic leader and passionate advocate for girls," said Judy Vredenburgh, Girls Inc. president and CEO.

Lurie has a master of public administration from New York University and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Prior to joining Girls Inc., Lurie led various community development initiatives and implemented strategies to revitalize communities, including as founding president of CRS Inc. Consulting and a director at the New York City Housing Authority.


photo Brenda Denaro

Denaro named by Pratt Builders

Pratt Home Builders has named Brenda Denaro as production coordinator, where she will work on design, estimating and purchasing for the interior finishes of new homes.

A native of Illinois and a graduate of the University of Illinois in interior design, Denaro has 20 years of experience in cabinet design and estimating.


Guerrero tapped for J&S HR job

J&S Construction Company, Inc., headquartered in Cookeville, Tenn., has appointed Jennifer Guerrero as the director of human resources.

Guerrero previously served as the director of recruitment at MasterCorp, Inc., for more than nine years and worked for 10 years with another local business as a human resources consultant in Middle Tennessee.

In her last role, Guerrero provided strategic human capital planning for 80 time-share resorts across the country and led a team of 10 staffing professionals working in recruitment for entry-level positions to vice president-level positions.


photo Vinay Madan

Madan joins Heart Institute

The Chattanooga Heart Institute at Memorial has added Vinay Madan, a board-certified specialist in cardiovascular diseases and interventional cardiology. He completed fellowships in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology at New York University Langone Medical Center.

Dr. Madan completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University School of Medicine. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and holds a degree in biochemistry from Rhodes College.


photo Hilary Barker

Barker added at LMBC

LBMC, PC, an accounting and business consulting firm, has added Hilary Barker to the tax services team.

Barker serves as a staff accountant within the tax team. She earned a degree in accounting and her MBA from Tennessee Technological University. She earned a Don Cook Accounting scholarship and TSCPA scholarship.


Vision expands in Nashville

Vision Hospitality Group, Inc., opened a Marriott-branded hotel in Nashville, which will feature the city's first hotel rooftop bar: Up, a Rooftop Lounge. Vision president and CEO Mitch Patel said the new hotel is pursuing LEED certification.The Chattanooga-based Vision currently has nine hotels either in operation or development in the Nashville region.


photo Calista Sprague

Sprague editor at Floor Focus

Floor Focus Magazine recently recruited Calista Sprague to join its editorial staff as senior editor.

Sprague earned a bachelor's and a master's degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a doctor of arts degree from the University of Mississippi. For the past nine years, she has worked as an editor at Columbus and the Valley and Valley Parent magazines in Columbus, Ga.

"As the print and online mediums continue to evolve, rich content becomes the key differentiator in the publishing game, and Calista will help us capture the attention of our audience," said publisher Kemp Harr. "We are pleased that Calista elected to move to Chattanooga and join our team."


photo Alan L. Elliott

Elliott joins Arthritis group

Rheumatologist Alan L. Elliott has joined Arthritis Associates, PLLC.

Dr. Elliott graduated from Auburn University and received his medical degree from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tenn. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., and a rheumatology fellowship in Chapel Hill, N.C. Originally from Chattanooga, he returns with several years' experience having practiced rheumatology since 2006 in Charlotte, N.C. He is board certified in rheumatology and is a fellow in the American College of Rheumatology.


photo Shelby Griffith

Griffith hired at Pratt

Shelby Griffith has been hired by Pratt Home Builders as an interior design coordinator to assist interior designer Sharon Chase. Griffith is currently a senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga pursuing a degree in interior design.

Under the supervision of Chase, Griffith will be assisting customers in making selections for color palettes, fixtures and finishes for their new homes.


Shaw payroll processes recognized

Shaw Floors was honored in September with the prestigious PRISM award for Performance Study Best Practices by the American Payroll Association (APA).

Shaw Floors excelled in the results of the 2014 Enterprise-Wide Payroll Performance Study conducted for the APA by The Hackett Group. It has participated in the performance study every year since 2009 and has achieved the top performer status in payroll. Over the last five years, the payroll department has reduced the cost per employee by 40 percent. Shaw Floors has also increased the number of employees receiving only electronic W-2's by 74 percent, reducing costs significantly.

The PRISM awards recognize companies that lead the accounts payable and payroll industries with innovative practices in the areas of technology, performance and process improvement.


photo Greg Everett
photo Joey Barbeauld
photo Matt Fugate
photo James B. Williams
photo Alex Miller
photo Garrick Smith

EMJ promotes managers

EMJ Construction, a national provider of construction services, recently announced several promotions.

Greg Everett has been named vice president, focusing on construction in the health care sector. Originally from Memphis, Everett began his career with Inman Construction in 1994, where he gained his experience and knowledge of the health care market. Greg joined EMJ when they acquired Inman in 2010;

Joey Barbeauld, Matt Fugate and James B. Williams have been promoted to senior project managers. Joey Barbeauld is a graduate of the University of Tennessee who began his career at EMJ as a co-op student. Matt Fugate joined EMJ in 2012. Prior to coming to EMJ, Fugate served as the vice president of construction for TDK in Nashville. James B. Williams is a UTC graduate in civil engineering who began his EMJ career in 2007 as a project engineer. Prior to coming to EMJ, Williams worked at Astec Industries.

Alex Miller has been promoted to senior estimator. Miller began his career at EMJ in 2007 as a co-op student at the University of Tennessee. After graduation he started as a project engineer and was soon promoted to estimator.

Garrick Smith has been promoted to project manager. Prior to coming to EMJ, Garrick worked as project engineer for the Williams Company in Orlando, Fla. Garrick graduated with a degree in building construction from Virginia Tech.

Jonathan Horne was promoted to director of quality control at EMJ's corporate quality control program, Prime QC. He began his career at EMJ as a student at the University of Tennessee.

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