Frank Hughes has set a pretty high bar for himself and the leadership team at Chattanooga’s Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center.
The retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel took over last month as the center’s board chair. Prior to that, as vice chair, he led the $6.25 million capital campaign that resulted in the center’s design and construction.
“The Heritage Center being open, period, was an unexpected outcome,” said Hughes, an executive vice president for SmartFinancial, the parent company of Knoxville-based SmartBank. “Most everyone thought we’d fail, but we got it open on time and on budget.
“When you put military on a mission, things get done,” he said. “I would hope we’d continue to execute as well in the future.”
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Alongside Hughes on the center’s board are vice chair Linda Moss Mines, who serves as historian for Chattanooga and Hamilton County; interim executive director David Currey, who designed the center, and immediate past chair Noah Long, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral. The board also welcomed Chattanooga Bar Association executive director Lynda Minks Hood in November as well.