Business Digest: Carolyn Freeman named Life Care VP

Sunday, July 13, 2014

photo Carolyn Freeman

Carolyn Freeman named Life Care VP

Carolyn Freeman was recently named vice president of Life Care Centers of America's Cumberland region, which encompasses nine skilled nursing facilities in the company's eastern division.

"Having started her health care career as a registered nurse, her focus on resident care and continuous performance improvement are an exact fit for what we were seeking in our Cumberland RVP," said Latessa Morris, vice president of Life Care Centers of America's eastern division.

Freeman most recently worked for LaVie Care Centers as regional vice president of its facilities in North Carolina. She has 30 years of experience in long-term care.


Unum taps Wendy Gibson as senior VP of service center

Unum Group recently announced the promotion of Wendy Gibson to senior vice president of the service center.

In this role, Gibson will lead Unum's administration center of excellence covering administration for both Unum U.S. and Colonial Life businesses. In 2013, she also helped build, and continues to have responsibility for, the company's U.S. contact center, including the Colonial Life and Unum U.S. businesses.

She graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in finance and joined Unum in 1991 as an underwriting consultant.


photo Rhonda Chancey
photo Krista Sellers
photo Joyce Ann Williams

Three promoted at LBMC

Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain PC has announced the following tax department promotions for the firm:

Rhonda Chancey, CPA, has been promoted to senior manager within the state and local tax services department. She worked for several years as a tax auditor for the Tennessee Department of Revenue, focusing on manufacturing audits. She then worked as a tax consultant in Atlanta and New York at several firms, including Arthur Andersen and BDO Seidman, LLP. She currently serves on the TSCPA state tax committee and is a member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation.

Krista Sellers has been promoted to senior within the tax services department. Prior to joining LBMC, Sellers worked as a data entry clerk for three years while getting her accounting degree. She joined LBMC in 2010, completed her master's degree and obtained her CPA license while serving as an intern and staffer in the audit department.

Joyce Ann Williams also has been promoted to senior within the tax services department. Prior to joining LBMC, she worked as a sales auditor for at Dollywood. She joined LBMC in January 2012 as a tax intern and gained experience working with individual and small business tax returns.


Local company gets ATSI award

At an awards ceremony in June, locally-owned and operated AAA Message Connection Telephone Answering Service received the exclusive ATSI 2014 Award of Excellence for the third consecutive year. This award is presented annually by the Association of TeleServices International, the industry's trade association for providers of telecommunications and call center services.

Beth Cooper, director of operations, stated, "As customers, we all want to feel that we are valued and our needs are important, no matter what time of the day or night we might need assistance."


Hoffman is new Spartan director

Spartan Systems, a Chattanooga-based software and application development company, announced the hiring of Aaron Hoffman as director of user experience.

Throughout his career, Hoffman has worked for national and international clients including Turner Broadcasting, Intercontinental Hotels, HGTV, Food Network and CBS Radio. Most recently, Hoffman was the director of marketing at Nudge, a company that aggregates health data across digital platforms to measure a healthy lifestyle, where he spent his time crafting the interactive strategy and refining the user experience of Nudge's application.

"Aaron's unique expertise and dedication to creating engaging digital experiences are rare qualities that we had to harness within Spartan," said Spartan Systems founder Ben Wald. "We are blessed to have Aaron bringing his skills to our clients' projects."


photo Kenny Dyer

CapitalMark rated 5-star

Independent rating and research firm BauerFinancial, Inc., recognized CapitalMark Bank & Trust as one of the top performing financial institutions in the nation by awarding it a 5-star rating.

BauerFinancial has been analyzing and reporting on financial institutions since 1983 and uses key ratios to assess performance, stability and profitability. This award marks the 13th consecutive quarter that CapitalMark has been recognized as lead performer among banks and credit unions.

Banking Group President Kenny Dyer stated, "Our stability and success as a financial institution can be attributed to the strength of the team assembled."


Erlanger adswin ADDY's

Erlanger Health System won eight ADDY awards at the annual advertising awards ceremony hosted by the Chattanooga Advertising Foundation.

Working in collaboration with local advertising agency The Johnson Group, Erlanger was honored with a gold ADDY award this year for elements of advertising, visual and cinematography for "Norman." The commercial featured Norman Blake, bluegrass artist and former Erlanger neurology patient. Erlanger's gold ADDY now qualifies for regional and national awards.

Erlanger also received six silver ADDY's. Two were for cancer treatment services in "Upside Down," a magazine ad and cancer television campaign for "Upside Down" and "Eraser." Others included orthopedic surgery services campaigns with magazine ads, enhanced photography and cinematography in "X-ray/Bone," "Bike," and "Sean."

- Compiled by Wesley Holloway, wholloway@timesfreepress.com.