These Chattanooga area business people are on the move

Rikel Barrott joins Bridge Property Management Group as a commercial realtor for sales and leasing. He will work with investors and small businesses in the Greater Chattanooga area. Barrott has a degree in business and construction management and has worked in industrial and construction sales for 12 years.

Kelley Farrow joins HHM Certified Public Accountants as its recruiting director to help grow the firm by identifying then securing top experienced talent. Prior to joining HHM CPAs, Farrow worked in the human resources and recruiting field placing professionals in healthcare, manufacturing, accounting and administrative roles. She was most recently an executive recruiter at a large CPA firm and the training and development manager for a local government. She is a graduate of Cleveland State Community College and Western Governor’s University, and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Lisa Lay is promoted to director of properties and facility management for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. As director, Lay leads properties and facilities management at the 12 BlueCross offices, including construction and remodeling efforts, facility workspace design, employee relocation projects and food services. Lay, a 27-year veteran of the design industry with both residential and commercial experience, has been part of the properties and corporate services team at BlueCross since joining the company in 1999. She has supported oversight of facility workspace design and implementation as well as relocation plans for the company. During her time with BlueCross, Lay has helped open six offices in Tennessee. She has played key roles in significant projects including the move to the Cameron Hill corporate campus and the company’s return-to-office strategy after more than a year of remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sam Berry is named a senior development manager for Rise Partners. Berry interned with Rise Partners in the summer of 2020, before his final year of graduate school to receive a master’s degree in real estate with a concentration in development from Cornell University. In his new role at Rise Partners, Berry focuses on developing industrial, retail, and build-to-rent residential communities. Initially, he will oversee some of the ongoing Rise development projects. Berry graduated from McCallie School and from there attended Auburn University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in building construction. He began his career in construction management, working for general contractors and from there, decided to pursue a master’s to transition over to the investment and development side of real estate.

Doug Wagner is named vice president of operations for Tennessee American Water. Wagner manages the teams responsible for the daily operations in the Chattanooga and Sequatchie Valley Districts. Wagner began his career with American Water in 2002 and most recently worked as senior manager for Missouri American Water in St. Louis. He also has served in leadership roles at Illinois American Water, where he was a senior superintendent of operations, and at Virginia and Maryland American Water as a business performance supervisor. In his current role, Wagner leads the production, water quality and field operations teams in their delivery of clean, safe, reliable water to 380,000 people in the region.