Business Digest: Harr joins board of Cohutta Bank

Harr joins board of Cohutta Bank

Ron Harr, who retired earlier this year as president of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, has joined the local advisory board of Cohutta Banking Co., a division of Synovus Bank.

Mike Sarvis, president and CEO of Cohutta Banking Co., said Harr’s “business expertise and knowledge of our community will enhance our ability to provide customers with the very best financial services, as well as expand our customer base.”

Harr is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He served as regional director of BellSouth (AT&T) for almost 20 years and retired from BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in 2011 where he was senior vice president and CEO of the Volunteer State Health Plan.

Harr serves on the boards of the Public Education Foundation and the Chattanooga Rotary Club. In the past, he has served as the president of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Chattanooga.

Claris Networks adds to staff

Claris Networks, a growing IT firm ranked among the top 55 cloud providers, has added three new IT professionals in its Chattanooga office.

Paige Sedman is the new administrative assistant. Sedman has five years of administrative experience and previously worked at Kohl’s for four years.

Doug Benafel joins Claris Networks, Chattanooga, as a system administrator II after working for Paradise Cruise Ltd. Hawaii for two years. Benafel has more than five years of experience in IT.

Jason Bridges has joined the company’s project management team. Bridges previously worked as a software quality analyst for Kenco. He has more than 12 years of experience in IT.

Roberts is VP of Strauss Co.

The Strauss Co. Inc., a leading Chattanooga commercial general contracting firm, has promoted Robert Roberts to vice president of pre-construction services.

Roberts joined The Strauss Co. Inc. in 2003 as a field superintendent and has worked his way up through the organization holding positions of project manager and senior estimator along the way.

John Straussberger, president of The Strauss Co., said Roberts’ experience “makes him ideally suited for his new role” managing preconstruction services and estimating. His duties will include managing client relations, developing incoming project leads, and coordinating resources to respond to budgeting and bidding requests.

During his 12 years at The Strauss Co. Inc., Roberts has been involved in many recognizable Chattanooga projects, including the Freight Depot renovation on 11th Street, McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center, BlueCross BlueShield Gateway facility, 2 North Shore retail development, The Block and High Point Climbing Gym, and Vine 324 Student Housing.

Steele joins Compass

Scott Steele has joined Compass Auctions & Real Estate as marketing director. Steele has spent the past 15 years working with national retailers, real estate and construction companies, local and national marketing agencies, as well as regional charities and organizations. He will help promote the roll out and implementation of the newly developed “SIPP” (Sell In Place Program) by Compass.

Paige Holt, president of Compass, said the hiring of Steele is “a sign of our commitment to being the leading company in our industry.”

Send your business news to Dave Flessnor at dflessnor@timesfreepress.com or call 423-757-6340.