Business Digest: Bush named regional VP at Schulte Hospitality Group

photo Wendell L. Bush

Bush named regional VP at Schulte Hospitality Group

Wendell L. Bush was named regional vice president of operations at Schulte Hospitality Group.

Prior to this appointment, Bush served for 24 years in senior management capacities with international hotel brands, including Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Starwood Hotels & Restaurants, Marriott International and The Omni Shoreham among others.

A role model to his peers, Bush has won numerous industry awards for his performance in earning the AAA 4-Star Diamond rating and the Best in Class award for associate management, guest satisfaction and RevPar growth.


Krauss joins Keller Williams

Barry Krauss, a real estate sales professional in Chattanooga, has joined Keller Williams. With more than 25 years of experience in the mortgage and real estate industry, Krauss brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Chattanooga market place.

"It's all about people and building relationships," says Krauss.

Krauss attended the University of Alabama, where he played football under Paul "Bear" Bryant and was voted the most valuable player. He continued as a number one NFL draft pick and played for the Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins.

"We are truly lucky to have Barry Krauss join us here at East Brainerd Market Center," says team leader Jon Hughes. "Keller Williams offers its associates unparalleled growth and lifelong earning opportunities in the real estate industry. We know Barry will be a great fit, and it is our customers who will benefit from Barry joining us."


photo Cindy Rix

Rix director at Mountain City

The Mountain City Club announced Cindy Rix as the new membership sales and marketing director. Rix came from Wells Fargo Mortgage where she was sales manager for the past five years and employed for seven years.

Rix is a graduate of Covenant College with a bachelor's degree in business administration. She and her family reside on Signal Mountain and have been residents of Chattanooga for 14 years.


Lutsenko joins Pratt Builders

Pratt Home Builders added Paul Lutsenko to its purchasing, estimating and design team as an estimator. He has estimating experience and a degree from Cleveland State Community College in drafting and design. A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Lutsenko will be involved in the design and estimation of new home floor plans, purchasing processes and vendor selection.


Lifetouch receives award

The City of Chattanooga Public Works Waste Resources Division recognized Lifetouch National School Studios as this year's Pretreatment Excellence Award winner. The annual award is given by the city to a manufacturer that has efficiently operated and maintained its waste water before it is discharged into city sewers. Lifetouch has had no violations of their waste water discharge permit in 2013 or, so far, in 2014.

Lifetouch's wastewater pre-treatment system uses a silver recovery system with electrolytic processes, ion exchange columns and pH neutralization. The company is considered a leader in environmental compliance in the City of Chattanooga.

Lifetouch specializes in photographic processing such as school portraits, special event finishing, league sports and proms.


photo Matt Stelzman

Stelzman gets ASA certification

Henderson, Hutcherson & McCullough PLLC (HHM) announced Matt Stelzman has successfully completed the certification process to earn the Accredited Senior Appraiser designation. Stelzman serves as a business valuation, litigation support and financial forensics expert at HHM.

"Matt is a great asset to our forensics, litigation and valuation team at HHM," said Randall Hebert, partner at HHM.

Stelzman is a member of the NACVA forensics board and is a certified valuation analyst and master analyst of financial forensics. He earned an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and also serves as an adjunct instructor of business at Bryan College.


Young, Smith at Waterhouse

Waterhouse Public Relations has expanded its team with the additions of Sheri Young as vice president of brand strategy and Callie Smith as media services coordinator.

Young will drive the development of business and consumer brand campaigns, capitalizing on her 20-plus years of working with national and global brands out of Nashville and Atlanta agencies. Young has worked in contract, agency and in-house corporate positions since graduating from the University of Alabama in 1992 with a degree in communications. Past clients have included Gibson Guitar, Southwest Airlines, Susan G. Komen and Kirstie Alley's Organic Liaison. In her most recent role as director of account services for Powell Creative, she was featured on AMC's network series, "The Pitch," in a behind-the-scenes documentary of agency life.

Smith will assist in tracking and monitoring stories valuable to Waterhouse campaigns while conducting research vital to client needs. Smith's experience in writing and editing news releases, web content and other material will best serve clients' present and future campaign goals. Before joining Waterhouse, Smith worked with a political consulting agency, aiding in the planning and execution of county and statewide political campaigns.

She also has taught English language and literature to college students at Henan University in Kaifeng, China, while working as a freelance writer and copy editor after graduating from Lee University with a B.A. in English.


photo Clint Dean
photo Alex Grace

Dean, Grace executive VPs

EMJ Corp. has promoted Clint Dean and Alex Grace to executive vice president positions in the Chattanooga office, effective at the end of the year.

Dean, who began his career at EMJ as a cooperation education student while attending Auburn University, has most recently held the position of vice president of construction.

Grace, who came to EMJ to develop the hospitality division, is being promoted to executive vice president of EMJ Hospitality.

"We have a tremendous amount of talent at EMJ, which is evident in these individuals," EMJ CEO Jay Jolley said. "We look forward to this transition allowing our family of companies to continue to have success and growth."

Compiled by Wesley Holloway, who can be reached at wholloway@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6613.

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