Comcast promotes Valerie Gillespie
Comcast has announced its promotion of Valerie Gillespie to serve as area vice president and general manager for East Tennessee. She will oversee a region that includes East Tennessee, northern Georgia and portions of Virginia and will be based in Knoxville.
She previously served the cable company as vice president and general manager for Chattanooga Comcast.
She has been with Comcast for more than 15 years, the last three as head of its Chattanooga operations. Previously she was vice president and general manager for the company in Augusta, Ga.
Bob Vercoe joins Cornerstone
J. Robert “Bob” Vercoe has joined Cornerstone Community Bank as senior vice president and relationship manager at its downtown office.
He is a 30-year-veteran of the banking industry, serving in executive positions with banks in Chattanooga, Charlotte, Nashville and Franklin.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in American history and an MBA in finance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He and his wife, Cathy, have lived in Chattanooga area for the past 20 years. They reside on Signal Mountain and have four grown children.
Klee named Suburban head
Airxcel Inc. has named Art Klee as president of its Suburban division in Dayton, Tenn.
Klee succeeds Roger Panoz, who is retiring Dec. 31.
“Art Klee has been with Suburban for 30 years working in marketing, sales and related areas and, most recently, as vice president of engineering,” said Mel Adams, chief executive of Airxcel. “He is uniquely qualified to lead Suburban’s continuing growth and development.”
Suburban is a leading manufacturer of recreation vehicle gas furnaces, water heaters, ranges and cooktops.
Adams said Panoz made many valuable contributions over the years toward helping Suburban grow.
Roussell named dealer manager
Tim Roussell has been named general manager at Crown Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram in Chattanooga.
A news release said Roussell will manage and direct all the operations of the dealership that will open in January on Chapman Road.
“We conducted an exhaustive, nationwide search to find the best general manager for our new store,” Dwayne Hawkins, founder and president of Crown Automotive Group, said. “Tim is quite simply one of the country’s leading automotive experts; his management skills and experience are at the top of the industry with a focus on team building and customer retention.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome him to Crown Automotive. As we continue our strategic growth, Tim will be an integral part of our management team.”
Roussell has more than 30 years of dealership experience, beginning as a service technician and moving into management more than 20 years ago. He most recently served as general manager for multiple Penske Automotive Group dealerships.
Crown Automotive Group has been in business for more than 40 years and operates 26 domestic and international automotive franchises in Florida and Ohio, with more than 750 employees.
Kathleen Van Pelt Gibson joins firm
Kathleen Van Pelt Gibson has become an associate in the law firm of Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison PC.
She is a graduate of the University of Georgia who also earned her law degree from that university’s law school. She is admitted to practice in Georgia and Tennessee.
She plans to concentrate in the areas of litigation, dispute resolution, criminal defense and domestic relations/family law.
Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison is in downtown Chattanooga at 633 Chestnut St.
Andrews joins Wells Fargo
George H. Andrews Jr. has become vice president-investments in the Chattanooga office of Wells Fargo Advisors.
He previously served as vice president and senior financial adviser with Merrill Lynch.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and lives in Chattanooga with his wife, Correna, and their two children.
Wells Fargo’s brokerage businesses are made up of more than 15,000 full-service financial advisers and 4,500 licensed bankers.
Two awarded professional status
Buddy Goolesby and Aaron Shelley, both with Terenine Technology Solutions, have received the accredited tier specialist designation from the Uptime Institute.
Goolesby is technical facilities manager and Shelley serves a senior solutions architect.
Goolesby has been with the company for a year and, according to a release, is responsible for more than 20 miles of copper and fiber cabling, including an underground campuswide conduit system that serves all three highly available data centers at the Chattanooga campus.
Shelley has been with Terenine since 2006, working with company clients to develop cloud-based solutions and to align technical infrastructure with business needs.
Physical therapist earns certification
Physical therapist Carol Bell Hawkins has earned certification in the Myokinesthetic System, which a news release said is an “innovative muscle movement technique that helps correct and balance the nervous system.”
The release from Benton, Tenn., said she is one of 30 clinicians in the United States and the only Tennessee physical therapist certification.