Inside Memphis Business Feb/March 2019

FEB/MAR 2019 | VOLUME XIII | NUMBER 3

AWARD WINNERS 1000+ EMPLOYEES

MERI ARMOUR LE BONHEUR CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL 200-1000 EMPLOYEES

JACK SODEN ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES 50-200 EMPLOYEES

NATHAN A. BICKS BURCH, PORTER & JOHNSON 1-50 EMPLOYEES

JONATHAN AND JARRETT LOGAN CASTLE BLACK CONSTRUCTION

Supplement to Memphis magazine

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Jonathan and Jarrett Logan

CASTLE BLACK CONSTRUCTION

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FEB/MAR 2019 | VOLUME XIII | NUMBER 3

AWARD WINNERS 1000+ EMPLOYEES

MERI ARMOUR LE BONHEUR CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL 200-1000 EMPLOYEES

JACK SODEN ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES 50-200 EMPLOYEES

NATHAN A. BICKS BURCH, PORTER & JOHNSON 1-50 EMPLOYEES

JONATHAN AND JARRETT LOGAN CASTLE BLACK CONSTRUCTION

Supplement to Memphis magazine

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Jack Soden

E LV I S P R E S L E Y E N T E R P R I S E S

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FEB/MAR 2019 | VOLUME XIII | NUMBER 3

AWARD WINNERS 1000+ EMPLOYEES

MERI ARMOUR LE BONHEUR CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL 200-1000 EMPLOYEES

JACK SODEN ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES 50-200 EMPLOYEES

NATHAN A. BICKS BURCH, PORTER & JOHNSON 1-50 EMPLOYEES

JONATHAN AND JARRETT LOGAN CASTLE BLACK CONSTRUCTION

Supplement to Memphis magazine

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Nathan A. Bicks

BURCH, PORTER & JOHNSON

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FEB/MAR 2019 | VOLUME XIII | NUMBER 3

AWARD WINNERS 1000+ EMPLOYEES

MERI ARMOUR LE BONHEUR CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL 200-1000 EMPLOYEES

JACK SODEN ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES 50-200 EMPLOYEES

NATHAN A. BICKS BURCH, PORTER & JOHNSON 1-50 EMPLOYEES

JONATHAN AND JARRETT LOGAN CASTLE BLACK CONSTRUCTION

Supplement to Memphis magazine

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Meri Armour

LE B O NHEU R CHILD RE N ’ S H OS PITA L

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2017

project location size project type

Ensafe Office Campus Memphis, TN 10,000 sf Office - Renovation

100 Memphis, Peabody Place, Memphis, TN 38103 ••901.260.7370 • www.belzdesignbuild.com 100 Peabody Place, TN 38103 • 901.260.7370 www.belzconstruction.com

Providing the highest level of eye care within a 150-mile radius. uthsc.edu

Jack Soden

CEO, Elvis Presley Enterprises

- With love from your entire vis Presley Enter

prises family

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 VOLUME XIII | NUMBER 3

COLUMNS 6

FROM THE EDITOR

Innovations and inspirations.

••• B Y J O N W. S PA R K S

32

8

CREATIVE COMMUNICATION

Social media for the savvy CEO. ••• B Y A N D R E A W IL E Y

10 F I N A N C E & I N V E S T M E N T

Are you crazy? No? Maybe you should be.

••• B Y D AV ID S . WA D D E L L

12 S M A R T B U S I N E S S

42

CEOs and civic responsibility.

23 1000+ EMPLOYEES

WINNER

MERI ARMOUR

LE BONHEUR CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

••• B Y TO M J O N E S

15 I N S I D E N O N P R O F I T S

Five rules for leading your organization.

••• B Y K E V IN D E A N

DEPARTMENTS 17 W E S A W Y O U

Dixon Hughes Goodman; Suits & Sequins.

••• B Y MIC H A E L D O N A H U E

44

200-1000 EMPLOYEES

WINNER

JACK SODEN

32 P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T

Training to take jobs to the next level.

••• B Y A N DY M E E K

ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES

42 M E M P H I S 2 0 0

1852: A remarkable year in Memphis history.

••• B Y J O N W. S PA R K S

44 M A K I N G I T W O R K

Mike Warr’s ongoing children’s crusade.

50

••• B Y C H R I S M C C OY

50 L E A D E R S H I P

New roles, same vision at New Memphis.

••• B Y C A R O L IN E S P O S TO

52 H A R M O N I C C O N V E R G E N C E

Guiding the next generation of musicians.

••• B Y S A M U E L X . CIC CI

50-200 EMPLOYEES

WINNER

NATHAN A. BICKS BURCH, PORTER & JOHNSON

56 S M A L L B U S I N E S S C E N T R A L

58

Doug Carpenter’s passion for the community.

••• B Y J O N W. S PA R K S

58 E C O N O M I C R E C O N S T R U C T I O N

Eric Robertson’s mission at Community LIFT. ••• B Y S A M U E L X . CIC CI

61 C O M M U N I T Y P A R T N E R S H I P

Campbell Clinic and Memphis Union Mission.

••• B Y E MILY A D A M S K E P L IN G E R

62 T H E O F F I C E

62

Ben Adams at the top of Baker, Donelson.

••• B Y S A M U E L X . CIC CI

64 F R O M T H E A R C H I V E S

The genesis of the Crystal Shrine Grotto.

1 - 50 EMPLOYEES

WINNER

JONATHAN AND JARRETT LOGAN CASTLE BLACK CONSTRUCTION

••• B Y VA N C E L AU D E R D A L E

CEO PHOTOGRAPHS BY LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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F R O M

T H E

E D I T O R

• • •

B Y

J O N

W.

S PA R K S

Running the Show

Memphis business leaders are exemplars of innovation and inspiration.

INSIDEMEMPHISBUSINESS.COM EDITOR

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR

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Kevin Dean, Michael Donahue, Tom Jones, Emily Adams Keplinger, Vance Lauderdale, Chris McCoy, Andy Meek, Jane Schneider, Caroline Sposto, David S. Waddell, Andrea Wiley, Cindy Wolff Christopher Myers Margie Neal Jeremiah Matthews, Bryan Rollins Karen Pulfer Focht, Larry Kuzniewski

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Inside Memphis Business is published six times a year

by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 © 2019, telephone: 901-521-9000.

For subscription information, call 901-575-9470. All rights reserved.

Periodicals postage paid at Memphis, TN. Postmaster: send address changes to Inside Memphis Business, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. Opinions and perspectives expressed in the magazine are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the ownership or management.

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Who’s the boss? We tell you in this edition of Inside Memphis Business that leads with our picks for CEO of the Year — notable leaders who get the job done. They represent different pursuits, various missions, and distinct styles, but all bring passion and focus to their journey to success. Take a look at Meri Armour, who’s been in charge at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital for 12 years and brought it national attention. Then there’s Jack Soden, who turned Elvis Presley’s Graceland into a global attraction — something that not everyone thought he could pull off.

Meanwhile, Nathan A. Bicks has been charged with managing Burch, Porter & Johnson, a prestigious law firm that succeeds not just by making money but by sustaining its reputation and integrity. And then there are the twin dynamos of Jonathan and Jarrett Logan, founders of Castle Black Construction, which is building its fortune one commercial structure at a time.

These are remarkable leaders, and Memphis is fortunate to have so many others to show how it’s done.

In this issue, you’ll hear from Kevin Dean, the CEO of Momentum Nonprofit Partners, an organization that shows how to survive in the not-for-profit world. He lists five secrets that every nonprofit boss needs to know.

Reporter Chris McCoy reveals the passion of the irrepressible Mike Warr, who has been instrumental in keeping Porter-Leath vital.

Another dynamic leader is Nancy Coffee, whose work at New Memphis has been to nurture and refine leaders around the city. Caroline Sposto asked her to reflect on what’s been done and where the organization is going.

Elsewhere, you’ll read about the efforts of Doug Carpenter, principal at DCA, a nontraditional agency that bills itself as a creative communications consulting firm that aims to transform the city in meaningful ways.

In the same vein of working for a better Memphis, Samuel X. Cicci interviews Eric Robertson, CEO of Community LIFT and a leader in reviving long-neglected neighborhoods

around the city.

Andy Meek takes a look at the increasingly critical area of professional development, from the singular approach of Tech901 to the finely tuned program for University of Memphis students at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics.

We also take a peek into the office of Ben Adams, chairman and CEO of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, where he talks about how the law firm is considered a top place to work.

And don’t miss our story on how the maestros of Memphis are teaching the business side of music to the next generation.

Karen Pulfer Focht’s photographs show how that passion is transformed.

There’s all this and more in this issue devoted to the leaders of Memphis.

Coming next issue Every year, Inside Memphis Business devotes its popular April/May issue to the Mid-South’s Power Players, the more than 500 business and community leaders who make things happen. The categories range from Architecture, Arts/Entertainment, and Auto Dealers, to Public Service, Security, and Staffing. In between we spotlight the most influential people in Commercial Real Estate, Construction, Engineering, Higher Education, Hospitality, and many in the legal and medical professions. We also note the big “C” groups: top CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and of course CPAs. There are plenty more categories and they’re all topped off by our Business Hall of Fame. Also, in the spirit of showing who the movers and shakers are, we’ll feature stories on the new inductees into the prestigious Society of Entrepreneurs. It’s an issue not to be missed.

INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

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CM

MY

CY

MY

K

Helping people escape poverty is too big for any one person, any one organization, or even any one sector of business.

This work needs everyone to roll up their sleeves and bring their time, talent, and treasure together in a united way.

The key to the Mid-South’s economic prosperity is poverty reduction. Every time one person escapes poverty, we all beneďŹ t. Thank you for supporting United Way of the Mid-South!

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• • •

B Y

A N D R E A

W I L E Y

Leading as a Social CEO

Using technology to spread news and views about your company.

There is no question that social media has changed the way we communicate with one another. On one end of the spectrum, it can be seen as a platform for spreading hate and “fake news” leading us to be more divided as a nation than ever before. On the other end, it is a platform that has connected us, giving a voice to the powerless and an opportunity to share stories to start conversations that turn into societal change that spreads around the world.

CEOs in the business world are also using the power of social media to change the landscape of their companies as a means to connect with employees, customers, and stakeholders. Hayes Drumwright, CEO of Trace3, an information technology company based in Irvine, California, is convinced that “everyone in society, just as everyone on a team, really does matter equally.

All people have their own strengths and weaknesses, and each person contributes to the group in their own unique ways.” This insight inspired him to become a Social CEO. Drumwright explains in a Forbes column that “a Social CEO is a leader who adopts social media tools to better understand what motivates the entire team, and then digs in to help them solve real-world challenges, and who adroitly uses social media to check the pulse of the organization and channel the energy of the staff.”

Being a Social CEO means going beyond the occasional Tweet. To be an effective storyteller, you need to strategically select all the digital tools that will advance your business — ranging from your company’s intranet and website, to social channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and/or Instagram, depending on what channels are most appropriate. Writing a blog on the company website is much more time-intensive than 140 characters or less, but it is the right communications channel for the CEO who sees the value in sharing his or her own perspective with original content in

a deeper and more meaningful way.

Developing blog content also enables you to manage the message and the distribution through all social media channels, all while keeping the site’s content fresh and a reason for your customers to keep coming back. Social CEOs leverage the company’s website because it is the first place people go to

Social media is a good way for a CEO to share news and information about the company. learn about a company, its service offerings, and its leadership. It also offers a platform to share written thoughts, photos, videos, and more, all in one place.

Writing your own posts is critical in communicating in an authentic voice, but your words and perspectives must align with core company values in order to stay true to the brand. Frequent posters find it is more efficient to do it themselves rather than having a ghostwriter, but it all

comes down to what you are most comfortable doing.

Drumwright personally identified multiple benefits of being a Social CEO including better communications, an improved brand image, increased transparency, and greater employee morale, all of which help him to increase leadership effectiveness.

Weber Shandwick surveyed 630 professionals — managers to C-level, excluding CEOs — about the social participation of their own CEOs. Executives with highly Social CEOs described them as being forward-looking, effective, good communicators and good listeners, competitive, open and accessible, in touch, inspiring, and technologically savvy. Since engaging employees is critical to aligning day-to-day decision-making with company strategy, Social CEOs may be doing double duty by arming employees with news they can use to help spread positive word of mouth, defend the company if it is at risk, and strengthen talent recruitment and retention.

Social media is a good way for a CEO to share news and information about the company, and it can have a positive impact on a company’s reputation. It shows innovation while humanizing the company, enhancing credibility in the market, and attracting new employees.

Social media gives employees the chance to communicate directly with the CEO, in turn helping the CEO understand and stay in touch with what is happening inside the company.

Andrea Wiley is director of account management at DCA Creative Communications Consulting and is an adjunct professor teaching advertising at the University of Memphis. She was the 20152016 president of the American Advertising Federation, Memphis Chapter, and can be reached at awiley@dcamemphis.com.

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••• BY DAVID S. WADDELL

Let’s Go Crazy

Years ago, I attended a large conference filled with established and aspirational entrepreneurs.

To my left at the opening session sat a guy who sold towels to the NBA that reduced the spread of staph infection. His secret? The towels had the player’s names on them. To my right sat a guy who was working on harvesting rare earth minerals from asteroids. Steve Wynn took the stage and opened his talk with this: “I know you … because I am one of you … and you are all crazy in the head.”

TV Shows • Columns • Radio Show • Books • Podcasts

For years since, I have noted how effective leaders and innovators often seem a little off. Sometimes they run towards what they should fear.

Sometimes they blaze trails while burning all the bridges. Sometimes they defy reason and decorum with their actions or their words. Steve Jobs. Donald Trump. Elon Musk.

Howard Hughes. John McAfee.

Thomas Edison. Steve Wynn. Even those that appear sane carry a little crazy. Bill Clinton. Larry Ellison.

Walt Disney.

A quick title search on Amazon reveals more than 60,000 book titles that contain the word leadership.

How many have you read? Peering over at my own bookshelf I must have 30 different leadership playbooks with 30 different directives — often in conflict. Be humble. Be bold. Lead from the front. Lead from behind. Focus on the small things. Focus on the big things. Do it my way. Do it your way. Apparently being an expert in leadership theory only requires a pen. Of the 60,000-plus titles on Amazon I found only one with the word crazy in it, Joe Phillips’ unheard of classic You’re Crazy! How the Hell Are We Going to Do That?! I have not read this, but I will. It has 29 reviews and they are all 5 stars. Maybe we are on to something with all this crazy talk. Given that this seems to be an unexplored dimension of leadership

let’s work to define it.

In my mind crazy leaders think less and do more. Rather than listening to and caring about every “why we can’t,” crazy leaders just act. They start airlines to deliver spare parts, they make impossible runs for president, they build their

Individuals with ADHD are 300 percent more likely to start their own businesses. own private spacecrafts. To the sane, these are all insane pursuits.

Crazy leaders seem immune to criticism and unfazed by failure.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Albert Einstein failed the entrance exam to Zurich Polytechnic. Crazy leaders have ADHD. According to a study from Johan Wiklund at Syracuse, the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyper-

activity disorder — hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and impulsiveness — are actually behaviors that enhance the chances of success for an entrepreneur. How many great leaders do you know who love attending long meetings or reading voluminous legal documents? Crazy leaders don’t have time for that. Richard Branson has ADHD. So does Charles Schwab. In fact, individuals with ADHD are 300 percent more likely to start their own businesses. Want a more dynamic organization? Find someone crazy to lead it. Want to be a better leader? Go crazy.

I moved back to Memphis in 2000. At the time, serial entrepreneur Dean Jernigan was building a ridiculous ballpark, a luxury office building, and an upscale private dining club in an otherwise bombed-out area of downtown.

The financial failings of this endeavor have been widely reported. Dean moved on to other projects. But you know what? The ballpark stands.

That crazy idea played a vital role in reviving downtown then and its momentum now. On March 9th the professional Memphis 901 FC will kick off its inaugural season on that field with cranes whirling on its corners building new hotels and adjunct amenities. At the end of 2018, a crazy ag start-up named Indigo announced that 700 high-paying jobs will fill the office tower. Memphis thanks you, Dean, for your insanity. Memphis needs more of that. Want to be a better city? Go crazy!

David S. Waddell is CEO of Waddell and Associates. He has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Week, and other local, national, and global resources.

Visit waddellandassociates. com for more.

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Sometimes the best leadership may seem a little “off.”

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Congratulations, Meri Armour Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

2019 CEO of the Year Honoree

Leading the way in children’s healthcare.

Led by the best.

For 100 years, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has been led by the exceptional work of uncommon individuals. Now, we’re proud to recognize Meri Armour, President of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, as a 2019 CEO of the Year Honoree. Her commitment to our community for the last 12 years is an inspiration as we begin our next century of care.

methodisthealth.org

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SMART BUSINESS

• • •

TO M

J O N E S

The Changing Roles of CEOs

Ask people to name a great leader and it’s the rare person who names a business CEO. Most people default to leaders in politics or government where the public good is assumed to be at the center of their work. When it comes to elected officials, we project our own values and aspirations onto them.

There’s not normally that same kind of personal connection with CEOs outside of their own companies.

After all, if our FedEx packages arrive on time day after day, it doesn’t produce deeper feelings for Frederick Smith, because in that relationship, we see ourselves as consumers, not constituents. In addition, public sector leaders are more visibly engaged than top CEOs in tackling Memphis’ challenges and championing causes and agendas.

That’s not always been the case.

It’s been said that the lack of sustained and visible leadership on issues, campaigns, and public policies has been a weak link for Memphis when compared to other cities, like Nashville. There, for decades, business leaders have elbowed their way into important public debates

and offered up nontraditional candidates from the business community to sustain an economic vision based on quality rather than cheapness and quality of life investments that strive to be the best.

It’s true that CEO leadership here has not been as showy as in Nashville, but that’s not to say that it has been nonexistent.

For example, there was the mythic Memphis Jobs Conference in the early 1980s led by First Tennessee Bank presi-

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dent/CEO Ron Terry and the “superfund” money assembled by Terry, FedEx founder/CEO Smith, and AutoZone founder/ CEO J.R. Hyde III to jumpstart the city’s sluggish economy. In 1982, Holiday Inn CEO Mike Rose, Smith, and Hyde publicly backed attorney Mike Cody in an unsuccessful election for interim city mayor.

In 2001, the recruitment of the Memphis Grizzlies was spearheaded by Hyde and Storage USA CEO Dean Jernigan, who in the same year were the driving forces in establishing Memphis Tomorrow. And in 2002, Terry and Hyde led the campaign to create the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy to reinvent 3,200 acres in the heart of Memphis.

Since then, it can be argued that CEOs have largely used organizations like Memphis Tomorrow and the Greater Memphis Chamber as vehicles for their involvement rather than the high-profile personal and visible involvement seen in the past.

There’s no denying that the business community’s frustration with the slow pace of government decision-making frequently led it to lose focus and move on to other issues because they failed to appreciate the most important virtue when working with government — persistence — and to heed Forbes magazine’s admonition that while the idea that government should be run as

a business is popular, it “betrays a basic misunderstanding of the private and public sector.”

The Chamber, which has fluctuated for more than 35 years between bouts of open activism and times of passive partnership, is today in a cycle of activism propelled by a new generation of leadership unbowed by the sometimes perplexing realities of driving change in Memphis. It’s been a learning experience, resulting in some gaffes as the younger leaders learn that leadership in the business community is not easily transplanted into the public sector, where everyday life can be punctuated by racial politics, personal attacks magnified by social media, incremental victories hailed as progress, and relationships regularly trump white papers in influencing key votes.

The Chairman’s Circle, a CEO group at

The structural challenges facing Memphis demand everyone’s best efforts, and that certainly includes CEOs. the Chamber, sets a high bar for itself: to “create more economic prosperity and improve the quality of life in the Greater Memphis region.” Its results have been hit and miss to this point, but the willingness of the Chamber to advocate for an agenda aimed at supercharging an economy that has languished for a dozen years is a step in the right direction. Similar high-ideal, high-impact programs launched in the past regularly flagged because of the failure to sustain a clear agenda for the longer periods of

time needed to see progress on tough structural issues like poverty, blight, income inequality, and early childhood development.

Meanwhile, Memphis Tomorrow, an exclusive group of CEOs from the county’s largest employers, says that its work is “to promote opportunity and quality of life for all Memphians through public-private partnerships.” CEO-led organizations like it were popular 25 years ago but few remain. For example, Cleveland Tomorrow, the model for its Memphis counterpart, merged in 2004 with two other organizations and set its focus on improving the economy and racial harmony through what it called a more transparent and inclusive approach.

For the uninitiated, shaping government policy can be a grinding, indecorous process, but particularly for CEOs more accustomed to the linear and decisive decision-making built into most corporate organization charts.

Those young Turks in the late 1970s and early 1980s who challenged the status quo and stepped forward when Memphis was adrift are now in their seventies and eighties, and it’s uncertain today that the same level of CEO leadership will emerge to take their place.

One thing is certain: The structural challenges facing Memphis demand everyone’s best efforts, and that certainly includes CEOs. With the pressures of leading national and international companies in today’s complex economic environment placing unprecedented demands on them, will CEOs have the time, the inclination, and the flexibility in the future to weigh in on public issues the same way that an earlier generation did?

It’s a question whose answer is crucial to Memphis’ future.

Tom Jones leads Smart City Consulting and is the primary author of the Smart City Memphis blog, recognized by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change as “one of the most engaging” civic-minded blogs in the United States. You can reach him at tjones@smartcityconsulting.com

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Will new levels of leadership step forward to replace those from the past?

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I N S I D E

N O N P R O F I T S

The Loneliest Job Secrets of nonprofit leaders.

• • •

B Y

K E V I N

D E A N

“I want to be a CEO,” someone told me recently, “but I don’t want to do fund-raising stuff.”

After a good laugh, I was transported back 15 years when I probably said something similar. I was an ambitious, naive AmeriCorps worker at the local volunteer center who wanted to make a difference as much as I wanted a paycheck. From my first day on the job, I knew that I not only wanted to spend the rest of my working life in the nonprofit sector, but I also wanted to be a nonprofit CEO.

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With hard work and mounds of stubbornness, I was able to “fail up” the ladder to reach my goal of leading an organization.

As much as I gripe about the many frustrating aspects of the nonprofit sector and the unnecessary nonsense leaders have to face, the rewards of my job outweigh the challenges tenfold. In case you have the same aspirations as I did, here are five truths about being a nonprofit leader that you need to know: 1. As a CEO, you’ll do a lot of fundraising “stuff.”

The biggest misconception about being a nonprofit leader is that you can avoid fundraising by delegating the heavy lifting to your board of directors or staff. In reality, you, as the CEO, will spend most of your time raising money and worrying about money. You’ll wake up in the middle of the night panicking about cash flow and overhead and earned income streams. The insomnia will only be mitigated the nights after you cash those big foundation checks.

2. This will be the loneliest job you’ll ever have.

Most people will never understand the tough decisions you have to make on a daily basis, and you will consistently be the bad guy to someone. They won’t understand the burden you bear and the sacrifices you make, and you’ll be criticized far more than you are praised no matter how hard you work. You’ll be faced with more no-win situations than win-win situations.

It is critically important to connect with other nonprofit CEOs who have most likely experienced the same tough choices, roadblocks, and setbacks that you have. There’s nothing better than trading nonprofit horror stories over a glass of wine with a fellow leader.

3. Leadership is in the eye of the beholder.

If someone doesn’t think you’re a leader, don’t sweat it. Defining “effective” leadership is a moving target. The attributes that some people consider your defining leadership qualities are the same ones that others view as flaws. Research shows that leader identification, or how a potential follower connects with a leader based on shared characteristics, has more influence than the leader’s words or actions.

In Western culture, we also conflate gregariousness and extroversion with greatness. Vulnerability, which celebrity researcher Brene Brown asserts is essential to effective leadership, is still viewed by many as the sign of a weak leader. Good orators are sometimes viewed as great leaders, though a person who has mastered the art of cadence and word choice to excite a crowd could just be great at coercion. One time a person even told me, “Great leaders wear nice suits.” Huh? 4. Focus on your strengths, not on fixing your deficits.

Many criticisms exist of traitsbased definitions of leadership (sorry, Good to Great fans), as some of the world’s most despised CEOs hold the same traits as the “great” ones. In leadership books by self-improvement celebrities like Simon Sinek and Sheryl Sandberg, the ascribed characteristics of leadership are scattered at best, fallacious at worst. Instead of attempting to take on characteristics that may be in direct opposition to your personality and abilities, spend your time honing your own strengths and hire good people whose strengths are a perfect complement to yours.

5. Being a good leader requires mastering the art of letting go.

Innovation and creativity are rarely solo activities. Empower your staff, your board, and most importantly your constituents to be partners in the decision-making process. Share your power, especially with those most marginalized. No one is a leader all the time, but everyone has the ability to lead. Your responsibility as the leader lies not in making all the decisions but in bringing voices together as a generating force for identifying new, bold ways of making Memphis better.

If you are an aspiring nonprofit leader, join us at Momentum Nonprofit Partners for our Executive Director Boot Camp coming in early 2019.

Kevin Dean is chief executive officer of Momentum Nonprofit Partners, an organization that works with nonprofits to improve efficiencies and outcomes. Visit momentumnonprofit.org for more information. Dean can be reached at kdean@momentumnonprofit.org.

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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The 2019

B

Now Accepting Nominations

usiness is pushed forward by change and evolution, and it is those in the forefront of that evolution — the tinkerers, the questioners, the visionaries — who keep the machine of commerce oiled.

But who are these people? We want to know. Send us your best and brightest nominations for our seventh

annual Innovation Awards issue coming in October. Please include any pertinent biographical or business information, and why the person, business, or organization should be recognized as a leader among innovators.

Email your nomination to sparks@insidememphisbusiness.com.

Deadline for nominations is July 15, 2019.

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Dixon Hughes Goodman Holiday Party At Teton Trek on December 7, 2018 • • •

BY

M I C H A E L

D O N A H U E

When it comes to its annual holiday party, the Memphis office of the CPA firm Dixon Hughes Goodman does it up big. Previous parties were held at Memphis Botanic Garden, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and University Club of Memphis.

They’ve been holding holiday parties for 15 years, says DHG’s Andie Ray, and this one at Teton Trek at the Memphis Zoo offered two fireplaces, a 40-foot geyser and a dance floor. About 110 people attended the party, which featured a wine tasting

by Doc’s Wine, Spirits & More, a whiskey tasting

by Big River Distilling Co., and a barista bar from Randy Holford Panini Catering. A deejay from Dingo Entertainment provided the music.

As you’d expect from an accounting firm, the 2019 holiday party has been managed: “This year’s party has already been booked at Old Dominick Distillery, so it should be another fun event with our Memphis office,” Ray says. “We love showcasing fun new places to our internal people and supporting our local community. We hold a Lunch & Learn series during the summer for that exact same reason. DHG places a huge value on building into the community with the community.” The Memphis office is particularly focused on that. “Not only do we serve local businesses and not for profits, we want to help other smaller, lesser known organizations as well,” Ray says. “The Lunch & Learn Series provides a platform and opportunity for organizations to stand before 50-plus local professionals who are looking for ways to get more involved.”

1 Jay and Carrie Oliphant 2 Garrett and Avery Bizzell 3 Meg and Cory Prewitt 4 Buddy and Laura Dearman and Meade and Thomas Carlisle 5 Jonathan Bailey and Elizabeth Rapalo 6 La Ciera Bass and Kennedy Washington 7 Artesia Rose and Holly Shears 8 Anthony and Myra Clark 9 Kyerra Moody and Briana Myles 10 Kelsey Curle and Alex Bailey

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Suits & Sequins Ballet Memphis, December 31, 2018-January 1, 2019 • • •

BY

M I C H A E L

D O N A H U E

People were having so much fun at the Suits & Sequins New Year’s Eve Party that the celebrants were late doing the traditional countdown. According to the clock on my phone, 2019 had already arrived by the time the crowd started shouting, “Ten! Nine!

Eight! ...” None of the 678 attendees raised any objections to the delay at the event, which began at 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, says Jack Steffner with Phoenix Club, which hosted the fundraiser for Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis. Michael Brennan was the chair and Matt Heffington was 2018 Phoenix Club president.

A total of $18,435 was raised at the event, which featured music by City Mix. The party also included a silent disco, where guests in headphones danced in silence — until it was time to shout, “Happy New Year!”

1 Zephaniah Dixon 2 Daniel Pouget, Weezie Pouget, Sydney Tomes, Jack Steffner 3 Bud Harris 4 Taylor and George Coors 5 Carolyne Young and Alex Kenner 6 Ali Delgado and Lee Olswanger 7 Sayle Atkinson and Malcolm Wood 8 Michael McCaffrey and Nour Haddad 9 Charlotte Nichols and David Wallace 10 Lindsay Mouhot and William Mosteller 11 David Meehan, John Brand and Jake Woodman 13 Lee Lynch and James Long 12 Michael Brennan and Camille Hayes 1

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Georgia Pacific Memphis Cellulose

has been a part of the Memphis business community for 100 years. During that time as Memphis has grown and changed, Georgia Pacific Memphis Cellulose has grown and changed along with the city. Buckeye, began as a cottonseed oil company, established as a division of Proctor and Gamble in Ohio. The company began making cellulose for munitions in World War I. A Buckeye plant opened in Memphis, at Tillman Street and Jackson Avenue, during a time when cotton was the dominant economic driver and Buckeye was a cornerstone amongst the city’s manufacturing base.

E a r ly Y e a r s : 1 9 1 9 : Buckeye Cotton Oil Company purchased two Du Pont operated war plants at Hopewell, Virginia used for purifying cotton fibers in a smokeless powder plant. Started erection of a unit at Binghamton Oil Mill in Memphis, Tennessee.

1 9 2 0 : Started plants in operation using cottonseed hull fiber as raw material to produce pulp for operations.

1 9 2 5 : Started work on cotton linters for chemical cotton pulp and sold small quantities to Eastman Kodak and Hercules Powder. First year operation showed a profit.

1 9 3 0 : First sheet over paper machine in use. By this time practically all pulp was produced from linters, some with a mixture of linters and hull fibers.

1 9 3 7 : Sales exceeding capacity and expansion started to bring plant to 120 tons/day.

1 9 4 0 : Third expansion for capacity of 200 tons/day.

1 9 4 3 : Most of production allocated by War Production Board for war uses.

1 9 4 5 : Built plant for Defense Plant Corporation on Memphis Property to produce special cellulose from staple cotton for rocket program and made operating lease agreement, plant finished as war ended but not operated.

1 9 4 9 : Purchased plant from Defense Plant Corporation consisting of buildings and stock chests only, as equipment had been sold. Also purchased paper machine in Sweden to install in above buildings.

1 9 5 3 : Changed organization of Buckeye Cotton Oil Company putting Memphis Pulp and Cellulose Corporation in one Division under a General Manager, “Buckeye Cellulose and Specialties Division� and Oil Mills under separate management.

During the next several decades the company thrived and business continued to grow, further establishing its role as one of the leading Memphis companies.

Proctor and Gamble sold Buckeye’s oil mills and in 1988 renamed the subsidiary P&G Cellulose. Memphian Robert Cannon and a group of investors bought the Memphis facility and other assets from P&G in 1992 resulting in the formation of Buckeye. Cannon served as Chairman and CEO. He successfully took the company public in 1995 and presided over business growth which firmly established Buckeye as a leader in it’s category of business. Mr. Cannon retired in 2003 and was succeeded by David Ferraro. Mr. Ferraro retired in 2006 and was succeeded

by John Crowe. In April 2013, Georgia Pacific LLC and Buckeye Technologies completed the previously announced acquisition of Buckeye by Georgia Pacific.

Memphis Cellulose LLC, a Georgia Pacific company is one of the world’s largest cotton cellulose pulp producers and is the only cotton linter fiber pulp mill in GP Cellulose. The unique pulp is used in specialized applications including LED displays, technical papers, paints, currency papers, filtration and other products.

GP has two facilities in Memphis, the Memphis Cellulose Mill and the Technology & Innovation Center. Since acquiring Buckeye Technologies in 2013, GP has invested more than $25 million in Memphis operations and has donated approximately $100,000 annually to local charities in Memphis. The company and its employees are committed to creating value for its customers and finding fulfillment in work by participating in GP ServiceForce employee volunteer projects such as building homes with Habitat for Humanity Of Greater Memphis and promoting education by sponsoring the Memphis Public Library’s Cloud901Teen Learning Lab, Corporate Knowledge Bowl competition and other community enriching projects. As part of the acquisition of Buckeye Technologies, GP Cellulose donated the former headquarters building valued at $1.3 million to the United Way of the Mid South to serve as their new headquarters.

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1000+ EMPLOYEES

WINNER

MERI ARMOUR

LE BONHEUR CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

200-1000 EMPLOYEES

What does it take to be an exceptional CEO? There’s no better way to find out than by example, and here we have some of Memphis’ top leaders who bring their own approaches to success.

One CEO came in to take a children’s hospital to the next level of physical facilities, and more importantly, quality of care. After 12 years, Meri Armour has turned Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital into a nationally recognized institution.

Another leader brought optimism to a project he believed in despite widespread doubt. Jack Soden banked on turning Elvis Presley’s Graceland into a global attraction that would bring in fans for decades. His optimism won.

In the legal arena, leading an august law firm like Burch, Porter & Johnson is very much about consensus. As in any business, there’s a bottom line, but there is particular emphasis on integrity, knowledge, and depth. Nathan A. Bicks, who knows how to listen, shows how it’s done.

The construction business requires a high degree of knowledge, close attention to detail, and the ability to move quickly. Savvy twin brothers Jonathan and Jarrett Logan took their firm, Castle Black Construction, from a residential builder to mostly commercial projects by pulling all that together.

Here are their stories. We think you will find much to admire and plenty to learn.

WINNER

JACK SODEN

ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES

50-200 EMPLOYEES

WINNER

NATHAN A. BICKS BURCH, PORTER & JOHNSON

1 - 50 EMPLOYEES

WINNER

JONATHAN AND JARRETT LOGAN CASTLE BLACK CONSTRUCTION

>>>CEO PHOTOGRAPHS BY LARRY KUZNIEWSKI FEBRUA RY / M A RCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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1000+ EMPLOYEES

MERI ARMOUR LE BONHEUR CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

Caring for Children 24 |

INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

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>>> BY JANE SCHNEIDER

When parents arrive at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital with a sick child in tow, they come in search of hope and healing. A hospital stay can be an unnerving experience.

But Le Bonheur CEO Meri Armour understands that fact and has spent her career imbuing institutions she’s led with compassion and a clear message to families.

Here, children come first.

“Women are more nurturing and less competitive than men,” she notes.

“They bring a different approach to leadership — an approach that says, ‘All are included, all are part of the solution.’”

After arriving at Le Bonheur in 2007, Armour spent the first six months querying hospital staff and community stakeholders about where they stood as an organization. After releasing her SWOT analysis — an acronym for identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats — colleagues found her assessment spot-on.

“What was so powerful was that the people at Le Bonheur really wanted a strong leader; they really wanted someone to take them to that next level.

They were so proud of the project of building the new hospital and they so wanted to improve,” she told Downtowner magazine. “Those are rare opportunities to find and have the chance to shape something in the way you want it to be.”

And shape it she did. Over a three-year period, Armour oversaw the construction of the new, 255-bed hospital and raised $104 million toward the project. She believed Le Bonheur could earn its rightful place among the nation’s most noteworthy children’s hospitals. To get there, she drafted Vision 2020, a strategic plan that would move them to the next level.

First, they needed to improve the way they engaged with families. Providing more familycentered care required building stronger partnerships, so she created the Family Partnership Council. The council better utilizes those parents she calls “chronic users,” families for whom the hospital was, and is, a vital part of their child’s well-being. The parents’ feedback from attending doctors’ rounds and engaging with nursing staff has helped to shape Le Bonheur’s policies and practices, thus better meeting the needs of families.

She also shifted the mindset of how they did business. “We took down all the ‘No’ signs,” she says. The hospital lifted visiting hours so that families could stay with sick children around the clock. They created more staff liaisons in family counselors and child specialists to keep a finger on the pulse of a family’s emotional well-being.

“It was a whole philosophical shift to see parents as partners,” says Armour — a shift that has led to a higher degree of

“It was so terrific to be part of something so great.”

Le Bonheur by the Numbers OPENED: June 1, 1952 NEW HOSPITAL OPENED: 2010 BEDS: 255 NICU BEDS: 60 PEDIATRIC SPECIALTIES: 45

28 kids need Le Bonheur every hour

DID YOU KNOW?

customer satisfaction. “We get letters every day from parents saying, ‘We’re part of the family. We feel included.’”

Gradually, it led to their improved ranking nationally. Le Bonheur is now routinely included

by U.S. News & World Report as among the Best Children’s Hospitals nationwide, thanks to the growth of meaningful research in the Heart Institute, Neuroscience Institute, orthopedics, vision disorders, trauma, and other specialties.

Armour also said “Yes” to humanitarian efforts.

In 2010, Le Bonheur was the first children’s hospital nationally to answer a call to send a team of doctors to Haiti after the devastating earthquake left thousands of children injured.

The leadership Armour provided created a ripple effect across the city, prompting St. Jude, FedEx, Smith & Nephew, and other businesses to participate in the project. Fred Smith even offered his private jet and pilot to fly the medical team to Port-au-Prince.

“The greatest effectiveness in doing good is that you can use your name and prowess to get other people involved,” says Armour.

More recently, she used that prowess to bring together a team of doctors to separate a pair of conjoined twins from Nigeria after receiving a call from Nigerian-based Linking Hands Foundation. Surgeons prepared for five months before undergoing the 18-hour surgery, successfully separating the two girls. “We received no payment for that effort,” says Armour. “But it was so terrific to be part of something so great.”

“Le Bonheur’s medical team is like no other I have worked with throughout my medical career,” says Max Langham, MD, surgical team leader for the Ayeni twins. “To flawlessly execute an 18-hour surgery with this level of coordination proves we have some of the best physicians and surgeons in the world.”

The year 2019 will mark 12 years that Armour has been at the helm of Le Bonheur.

She will retire later this year, but leaves this respected institution on a firmer foundation, with millions still coming in to enrich the hospital’s endowment. Armour’s job has required many skills over the years.

Yet what she values most in herself are qualities she learned as a young person.

“I am passionate and I am honest,” she says. “I care about kids and I care about Le Bonheur. I’m honest about the fact that it’s not about me.”

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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200-1000 EMPLOYEES

JACK SODEN ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES

Being Timely and Timeless 26 |

INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

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> > > BY JON W. SPARKS

Jack Soden was a stockbroker in Kansas City in the early 1980s when he met Priscilla Presley through a mutual acquaintance. She was executor of Elvis Presley’s estate and, along with her co-executors, “was wrestling with the IRS and Graceland costing a lot of money,” he says. “Delta [Elvis’ aunt] still lived in the house, the maid still came and cleaned, cousins and uncles still cut the grass and painted the fences.”

Something had to be done, and if Soden thought it was obvious how to turn it around — open the mansion up to tours — not everyone else did. “The city council commissioned a $50,000 feasibility study,” Soden says. “I still have it, kind of a prized possession, because the summary was that Elvis is dead, life will go on, and Graceland is not part of the future of Memphis.”

But Soden was optimistic, in part, he says, because he didn’t know enough to be afraid. “How tough could it be? People were coming every day and parking across the street, and writing on the wall, and looking at Graceland.”

Priscilla bought into Soden’s optimism and, despite his acknowledged lack of background in music or tourism, the co-executors gave him the chance to make a business plan to open Graceland.

He started taking home tours around the country: Biltmore, Monticello, Mount Vernon, even Thomas Edison’s home in East Orange, New Jersey.

People’s fascination with Elvis opened doors: An unimpressed assistant at Hearst Castle reluctantly took a message but minutes later the manager of the historic venue called and said, “How cool!

Tell me, Jack, what do you need? Tell me about Graceland.” Soden says that, at least in early 1982, he was the nation’s expert on home tours.

On June 7, 1982, Graceland opened to the world. Still, there were doubters. “The Monday morning that we opened Graceland, there were reporters asking, ‘Elvis is dead, this is going to fade, his fans are going to get older and no longer travel — what do you do with Graceland then?’”

Soden knew if that happened, it would be because Graceland didn’t project Elvis into a changing world. “So we’ve never stopped keeping Elvis relevant,” he says. “Elvis is timely and timeless. If we worry correctly and creatively, then that timeliness and that relevance will never become a problem.”

The internet has given Graceland a powerful international reach. Elvis fans are abundant in the UK, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Brazil, Chile, and Japan for starters. This has helped cement it as one of only a handful of tourist attractions to pull in hefty global traffic — in 2017 it had visitors from 135 countries. Part of its enduring appeal is Elvis Presley Enterprise’s careful reliance on research and adaptation.

“We’ve been able to grow it, to adapt it so that new,

The challenge is “to keep introducing over and over again the magic of Elvis to new and long-time eyes and ears.”

young generations find something that’s relevant to them when they come here,” Soden says.

And that means rolling with the technology.

“It must be like 95 percent of the marketing and media tools we have didn’t exist 10, 15, 20 years ago, 25 years ago,” he says. The challenge is “to keep introducing over and over again the magic of Elvis to new and long-time eyes and ears,” Soden says.

As important as social media, Soden says, is old-school socialability: “It’s my favorite form of research. I go across the street to the visitor plaza and talk to our guests.

‘Where are you from? How long are you in town for? Why did you choose Graceland?

Where are you going from here?’ And the people end up telling you their Elvis story.”

The culture at Graceland was established from the beginning by Soden, who jokes that since he was the first employee of Elvis Presley Enterprises, he took the best title. He impressed on employees that “Elvis was an entertainer, he had a sense of humor, he loved to make people happy. We were going to be in a business that the goal was to make Elvis fans happy when they came to Graceland.”

Working at Graceland, he decided, should be fun: “It used to be a mantra, ‘If you’re not getting up in the morning and looking forward to coming to work, then we’re doing something wrong.’ It wasn’t a choice to make, it was that we had to hire good people and let them be themselves.”

His rationale was that employees who feel respected and valued will do a firstrate job of making Graceland’s visitors feel respected and valued. “All you need to really succeed in tourism is a smile,” he says.

The future of Elvis Presley Enterprises is happening now. In 2013, Joel Weinshanker acquired an ownership interest in Graceland in a partnership with Authentic Brands Group out of New York and the Presley family. Weinshanker took over management of Graceland operations and started the current expansion that Soden had been hoping to get done for years, including a first-rate 450-room hotel, a permanent “Elvis the Entertainer” exhibit, a soundstage, a proper visitor complex, exhibition space, a concert development deal, and other elements to keep Graceland vital.

Much has been done or is happening, and not just to showcase all things Elvis.

Soden is optimistic that attractions on a grand scale — think the Wonders Series of the 1990s — can bring blockbuster crowds to Memphis and Graceland.

And if Soden is optimistic about it, then you’d best pay attention.

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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NATHAN A. BICKS BURCH, PORTER & JOHNSON

Sense of Place 28 |

INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

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>>> BY CINDY WOLFF

Attorney Nathan A. Bicks is the kind of manager who asks, “How are you doing?” and then actually sticks around to hear the answer.

He’s the one who buys a bottle of red wine and Lifesavers Gummies for a lawyer’s birthday because he pays attention to what she likes. And when he can’t use his season tickets to the Memphis Grizzlies games, he offers them first to the receptionist and the office runner.

These aren’t requirements to be the chief manager at Burch, Porter & Johnson law firm, but they exemplify the man elected to the top management spot for the last three years. He’s sort of a chief executive officer, except Bicks typically makes decisions in concert with a three-lawyer management team. If a consensus can’t be reached, then Bicks has the final say-so. But, so far, he hasn’t said so.

“Our management is not like a regular business,” Bicks says. “It’s hard for me to describe a management style because I really function as a part of this group. I wear the mantle of being the chief manager, but the functions of this position are shared by a group.”

Burch, Porter & Johnson, established in 1904, is the second oldest law firm in Memphis, behind Apperson Crump, which opened in 1865. With only 41 attorneys, it might appear that BPJ is a boutique, but that title applies to a firm with one or two niche areas of practice. The BPJ attorneys have 20 specialties among them.

Bicks says the biggest change in the legal community through the years is the expansion of regional and national firms into the local market. These firms merged with local practices and hired attorneys from Memphis-based practices to establish a presence here.

“With all of the rapid changes in the Memphis legal landscape, it made us realize that we have unique resources of breadth and depth across a diverse community,” Bicks says. “They enable us to help clients accomplish their goals. We are able to use our sense and knowledge of ‘place’ as a differentiator to set us apart from our competition.”

Some of BPJ’s Memphis clients are the developers of the Big River Crossing, Rhodes College, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The firm is outside counsel to the City of Memphis and the counsel for the National Civil Rights Museum. It also created the Shelby Farms Conservancy, the Wolf River Conservancy, and the Overton Park Conservancy.

Lawyer Jennifer Hagerman says younger lawyers have a big advantage over other firms because the BPJ senior attorneys who’ve practiced in Memphis for more than 50 years come to the office every day.

“We have these sources of knowledge of wisdom and experience day in and day out,” Hagerman says. “We can go in their office and ask, ‘What do you think about this?’ or ‘What should we do about this?’ Having that wisdom and experience so accessible was such a benefit to my career. They are also willing to listen to input from the younger lawyers and help us think outside the box.”

“There’s a lot of value in talking face-to-face.”

The firm’s offices occupy three buildings on the north side of Court Square. One of them is the eye-catcher at the northwest corner of North Court and Second, the former Tennessee Club, constructed in 1890. Bicks’ office is in the turret, the most distinguishable feature of the building designed in Exotic Revival, Romanesque, and Moorish style, according to the National Register of Historic Places.

Since his fourth-floor office is circular with eight windows, several items that would normally be hung on the walls sit on the floor or lean against the wall space under the windows. The paperwork on his desk is organized in piles. Photos of family and friends are placed around the room. His wife, Andrea Beinstock, is the general counsel for Belz Enterprises. They have two daughters, Rebecca, a freelance writer outside of New York City, and Alexandra, a school teacher in Boston.

Bicks, 62, has been at the firm since 1985. He practices law in six areas including healthcare, zoning and land-use planning, and white collar and criminal investigations. He’s also the town attorney for the Town of Collierville.

Hagerman says Bicks regularly sticks his head in the door if he wants to check in with her or others in the firm. He doesn’t send out a mass email expecting the pings as everyone replies.

He’ll go door-to-door to get a consensus, she says. He’ll listen to what everyone has to say.

That’s because Bicks disdains email and texts, especially inside the office. If someone in the office sends him a text or email, he’ll usually pop out of his office and go to theirs to talk.

“I try to encourage everybody to not communicate electronically,” Bicks says. “There’s a lot of value in talking face-to-face. It enables people to have back-and-forth in a conversation. There are visual cues, emotional intelligence, tone — things that don’t come across in an email or text.”

As for Bicks, his turret is always open.

He gets his people skills from his parents, Dr. Richard and Marcia Bicks. His father was the chief of the gastroenterology department at Baptist Memorial Hospital. His maternal grandfather was a doctor with a general practice at South Parkway and Wellington. All of his mother’s cousins became doctors. It seemed like medicine would be the family profession.

“My father wanted me to be a doctor,” Bicks says. “My dad was a math and science nerd. I was a history and politics nerd. I believe he became a doctor because he was a people person and wanted to help people and solve problems. I like helping people and solving problems, too. I just decided I wanted to do it as a lawyer.”

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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1-50 EMPLOYEES

JONATHAN AND JARRETT LOGAN CASTLE BLACK CONSTRUCTION

Balanced Approach 30 |

INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

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>>> BY ANDY MEEK

Fans of HBO’s hit fantasy series Game of Thrones will pick up on the reference inherent in the name of Jonathan and Jarrett Logan’s Memphis-based construction business, Castle Black Construction. Both men — twin brothers and owners of equal shares of the business they started in 2005 — are Game of Thrones fans, and they decided to name the company after the headquarters garrison of the Night’s Watch.

In the series, it’s a stronghold that sits along the famed wall of ice that separates the most northern point of the seven kingdoms from the forbidding lands beyond.

That gives you some idea of what Jonathan (the CEO) and Jarrett (the COO) were going for in naming their enterprise — something different, attention-grabbing. In pairing that name with the company’s logo of a lion, Jonathan explains, the intent was to project ideals like “strength, courage, and perseverance.”

Be assured, however, that the similarities between the real and the fictional Castle Black end there.

As a general contracting company, Castle Black deals with the intricacies of the built environment, creating everything from warehouses to office complexes. An owner, be it a private organization, person, or government entity, hires a prime contractor to oversee or be responsible for construction, and when Castle Black is tapped for that job it does what needs to be done, including hiring specialty subcontractors who have to be licensed in certain trades, like plumbing.

According to Jonathan, Castle Black — based out of an office at 2500 Mt. Moriah — does about 90 percent of its work on commercial projects. “One area we focus on is pre-engineered metal buildings,” he says. “We do a lot of those, and they come in various types, from gymnasiums to office buildings, manufacturing facilities, maintenance, and storage.”

The company was formerly known as Jonathan Jarett Inc., “a period of time we solely focused on residential buildings,” Jonathan says. “And then the economy tanked in 2008, and we restructured our business. Close to about 2013, we changed the name to Castle Black Construction and moved more toward commercial construction only. Since 2013 that’s been our primary focus.”

The business has a full-time staff of 11 and another half-dozen or so part-time workers.

Because Castle Black goes after work on the state, local, and federal levels, it reaches beyond the Bluff City, including an office in Nashville and a presence in Houston.

“Our love for architecture and design is what led us into building.”

If you wanted to go back to the actual genesis of how and when the seeds for the business were planted, you’d have to start when Jonathan and Jarrett were still kids to get a sense of what they’d grow up to build and accomplish.

The brothers, even then, were tinkerers.

“Building has always been a thing that Jonathan and I have been passionate about,” Jarrett says. “Back when we were little boys, we’d both always take things apart and put them back together. And it stemmed from that, our love for architecture and design. Our love for that is what led us into building.”

Love of a profession is one thing. What keeps one able to punch the clock is a whole other matter, with both men pointing to a few simple but indispensable guiding principles that have helped them along the way — most boiling down to self-awareness. They say to be aware of the numbers, constantly analyzing how things look under the hood. And be aware of how all the pieces of your life work along with everything else.

Jonathan says it’s important to find the rhythm and not take on too much at once. “Pace yourself, and make sure that your financing and your ability to manage projects grow at a steady pace,” he says, “and you can keep up with the work demand.”

Adds Jarrett: “I have two sons, 15 and 11, they’re both active boys, both play sports. One’s in high school, and the other is in elementary going into middle school. It’s very demanding when you have kids that you have to nurture and grow, and then maintain a business that you have to nurture and grow. A lot of times, the most successful people in the world, they tend — this is just my view and my perspective — to be highly successful in one area, but they fail miserably in other areas.” It might be the relationship with the children, or the spouse. Jarrett feels that one thing tends to suffer when the emphasis is placed somewhere else.

“All of these things have to be balanced,” he says. “One side of the scale can’t be too far tilted to the left or the right so much that the other one fails. I always try to make sure I make time for everything that’s important to me.

And that’s other things besides business.”

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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After getting laid off in 2018 from his job as a project manager with Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc., Levi Coon left the world of commercial construction for good and joined the ranks of Memphis’ knowledge economy.

It was for the best. He was already on the verge of deciding to make the jump anyway. He saw more of a future in writing code than helping build buildings — which led him last summer, after a decade or so in various construction industry roles, to a job with FedEx Services as a software developer.

Getting laid off is one of those oft-mentioned brutal life transitions, others being death and divorce. Making the jump to a new industry altogether can be stressful in its own way, with everything from a new professional rhythm to entirely new industry nomenclature to absorb.

Coon’s situation, meanwhile, is instructive on yet another level. Sure, knowledge economy workers are what cities like Memphis and others increasingly covet. They’re part of a young, upwardly mobile professional class that tends to throw itself into a city’s arts scene, embrace its culture, patronize its restaurants, and generally take a great interest in the quality of life afforded by the place they call home.

Coon’s career transition, though, wasn’t the serendipitous product of some random bit of luck or who-you-know. He got it thanks to a little-publicized but increasingly indispensable stratum within the sedimentary layers of the city’s education system, where the obvious and more highly visible components like colleges and public schools can overshadow what’s beneath.

In Coon’s case, it was the professional development instruction and coursework provided in what are often novel settings in Memphis that helped him write the next chapter of his professional life.

Examples of this kind of professional development cover a wide area of categories. There is, for example, the Professional Development Center in the University of Memphis’ Fogelman College of Business and Economics. And, in Coon’s case, an unrelated entity called Tech901.

Levi Coon (right) found Tech901 helped him as a means of professional development.

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In 2019, Tech901 hopes to complete about 450 new trainings while teaching classes year-round.

Tech901’s Steve Denegri (left) and Robert Montague (right) founded the nonprofit that trains tech workers.

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T

he latter, founded in July 2015 and operating from a dedicated space within Crosstown Concourse, is a nonprofit with a straightforward mission. It’s right there, spelled out formally in Tech901’s charter — the mission being to expand the base of technology industry workers in the city to 10,000 employees by 2025, from the current estimate of 6,000.

The program is unique, even though you can of course get the same kind of training and instruction in a normal college setting, on a traditional college campus. For that, however, you’d also have to shell out for the typical cost of said education, which may be more money than a professional trying to make a career transition is willing and able to part with.

Especially if you need to make that career adjustment fast.

That’s exactly the scenario where Tech901 can assist.

Its nonprofit model means students like Coon have to pay only a nominal fee, ranging from $100 to $250 for classes, which are generally 12 to 14 weeks long. They’re open to anyone with a high school diploma or GED-equivalent. And the program’s leaders say it was developed precisely

to give CIOs and executives in similar leadership positions at top companies around the city a pipeline that’s filled with, ideally, an ever-growing number of professionals, like Coon.

Speaking of Coon, his was one of those it’s-a-small-world moments, in that while at Grinder, Taber & Grinder, he was the project manager in charge of the buildout for what would become Tech901’s physical space. Little did he know he’d eventually find himself occupying one of the desks in that classroom, learning how to manipulate ones and zeroes.

“It was a little bit of an unknown going into this, because of the speed with which I had to do it,” Coon says, regarding how quickly his life needed to change. “But it turned out to be such a pleasant surprise. The teacher was Brad Montgomery, who does a fantastic job. He was really supportive, and the people in that class were also coming from all kinds of different backgrounds. You might have somebody who’s a hobbyist.

You might have somebody who’s doing it to bolster their current career path. You might have people making career transitions, like me. I think, in the beginning, the class was probably 15 to 20 people.”

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But make no mistake, he continues.

Tech901 is what saved him. “The certifications, the connections there — for sure, that’s the reason I was successfully able to transition careers.”

Tech901 co-founder and chief operating officer Steve Denegri tells Inside Memphis Business that since its founding, the nonprofit has moved a total of about 600 students like Coon through its various offerings. And in 2019, the nonprofit hopes to complete about 450 new trainings, teaching classes year-round.

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nationwide.

Denegri and his co-founder Robert Montague had both been former tech analysts in the investment world before opening their nonprofit’s doors. “As part of that work,” Denegri explains, “we had befriended several CIOs across the country but in particular some locally whom we remained friends with after leaving that business. In following up with them, we’d learned that they were having a really difficult time finding talent. FedEx, particularly, had hundreds of IT job openings that were unfilled. And that’s not a Memphis phenomenon; it’s certainly a nationwide phenomenon.”

Both men started trying to look into ways that gap could be fixed. The feedback they got was that employers more or less believed the raw talent was out there in Memphis, especially for a lot of the entry-level tech jobs. The barrier was the education, in that tuition costs were too high for the potential workers these employers wanted to be able to tap. “So we saw an opportunity, through a nonprofit model, to train Memphians who we felt like could qualify from an intellectual standpoint to get this training for an extremely low cost,” Denegri says.

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The course list includes classes in IT networking, foundations, security and projects, as well as a Code 1.0 Introduction to Computer Science. The average student is 30 years old, and according to the nonprofit, its average graduate goes on to secure an IT job paying around $36,500 a year — a 74 percent increase versus what they were making before they participated in Tech901’s classwork.

Fifty Memphis-area companies have hired Tech901 graduates at the time

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The average student at Tech901 is 30 years old and goes on to land an IT job paying about $36,500 a year, 74 percent more than they’d gotten previously.

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of this writing, and Tech901 achieved almost 100 known job placements in 2018 alone. Among some other metrics and highlights about the nonprofit’s work: The vast majority of the students it serves — almost 80 percent — are men and women of color. Thirty-six percent of its students are women, and the desire for a career change is one of the most common motivations. Around 30 percent of Tech901’s students also start a class unemployed.

“Our offices open at 8:30” in the morning, Denegri says. “Typically, we have a day class that will start at nine. Our typical class duration is about three months, three hours a day.

Our day class runs from 9 a.m. to noon for about three months, and then classes kick off at 6 p.m. again at night. Because the demand is so strong now and workers hard to find, programs like ours are really being viewed as an excellent substitute to degree programs.”

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illing in the gaps left in the traditional high school and collegiate education landscape, meanwhile, is of course about more than turning Luddites into tech-savvy IT professionals. Anyone who’s been in the workforce for any length of time

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can instantly point to a whole body of knowledge that’s required to land and maintain the job you want — the kind of things that generally fall outside of rote memorization, math problems, and chemical formulas.

It’s not enough to have learned all the facts and figures needed to score a diploma, a degree, and prove your intellectual mettle to a prospective employer.

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At the University of Memphis, the Fogelman Professional Development Center helps students get an edge on entering the workforce.

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tell a compelling story about yourself, or are lousy at interviewing for a job.

These and related proficiencies are called “soft skills” by some, but Dr. Kathy Tuberville, director of the Avron B. Fogelman Professional Development Center within the University of Memphis’ Fogelman College of Business and Economics, dislikes that phrase. She believes it undercuts how important those skills are — and how hard it is to teach them so that students can use them successfully.

The center she runs represents another example of filling in the gaps to help in the professional development of Memphians who need every advantage as they step into the workforce.

Housed on the second floor of the Fogelman College building on the U of M campus, the center got its start as a result of its namesake hearing that many business students were having a hard time entering the workforce. Seeing that there were skills they either needed or could use some brushing up on to help pave their way, Fogelman decided to provide seed funding for a center that would teach U of M business students everything from dining etiquette

to how to build a LinkedIn presence.

The center’s staff also helps students prepare polished resumes, and in turn those resumes go into a pipeline so that employers in the Memphis area always have a pool they can readily dip into.

After a slow, somewhat quiet start, the center got rolling early in 2013.

“A lot of employers find students graduating from college lack these kinds of skills on a regular basis,” Tuberville says. “Part of that is a result of our digital environment.

Twenty years ago when we weren’t using technology as much, we interacted with each other on a more regular basis verbally.

And we’ve lost some of those skills.”

Tuberville also teaches management leadership as a faculty member. “So I also teach the importance of building your own career,” she says. “You are, in essence, driving your own career. No one’s going to pick a career for you. You have to develop your plan and determine what it’s going to take.”

For many veteran professionals — or, in the center’s case, young job-seekers — making that determination may lead some of them to creative professional development solutions. Actually, a lot of them. Each semester, more than 2,400 students are involved in some form of programming offered by the U of M’s professional development center.

That encompasses everything from lectures to workshops to the center’s complete slate of professional programs. (Details at www.memphis.edu/professional).

When you participate in something like that, you’re underscoring in a small, subtle, but profound way that the professional rat race really isn’t a race at all. It’s never over, in the sense that instead of some clearly defined endpoint there’s always higher ground to strive for. You can also start over, as do the participants in Tech901’s offering. With apologies to Thomas Wolfe, this is one instance where you can indeed go home again.

Or, you can turn to something like the U of M’s center to fill in some of the blank spaces in your understanding of the working world.

“At the Fogelman College of Business and Economics, we prepare our students quite well from an education standpoint in terms of preparing them for a business career,” says Dr. Marla Royne Stafford, interim dean of the Fogelman College. “However, students don’t always have the skill sets for interviews. They need help with resumes. They need help entering the workforce. So the Avron Fogelman Professional Development Center provides a lot of those resources, to help them to actually get the jobs. It’s an enrichment program beyond just their academic training.

“It makes for a more complete person, so they can be successful not just in landing a job but in keeping the job and being successful in the workforce.”

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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athaniel Anderson and Louis Trezevant had a problem. The Memphis businessmen felt “there is no properly conceded umpire to which our merchants may refer their accounts or unavoidable commercial disputes. They are obliged to go to the courts.”

That’s how it read in the Memphis Enquirer of March 22, 1838, reporting the formation of the Memphis Businessmen’s Club — the precursor to the Chamber of Commerce.

At first, the Businessmen’s Club worked to resolve disagreements among local businesses, but it soon would be more than reactive. It became vital to Memphis business by recruiting industry, improving quality of life, and lobbying for commercial interests.

It took a while to build up steam. In 1842, the Memphis & LaGrange Railroad was finished and a government shipbuilding facility was set up. Six years later, the club led an effort to install the city’s first telegraph line. Two years after that, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad was completed.

But it was 1852 that was a golden year. Paul R. Coppock, in one of his history columns in The Commercial Appeal, noted it was a year when the city began to improve on several fronts. Some of these seem minor, but they were setting the stage for growth.

For example: Aldermen voted to pave Front Row, streets were ordered to be extended which helped make way for the town’s first railroad depot, a new market-house was approved to handle the population surge, gas lighting first came to town, a bus service began along Main Street, and another followed that went the 11 miles to Raleigh.

Roads were running further and railroads were moving in and out more often with passengers and cargo.

Steamboat use increased, cutting hours off running times — although they got snagged, exploded, had collisions, or sank with alarming frequency.

But civilization marched on: The year 1852 also saw telegraph service open up to New York and Washington, three newspapers joined the two already in town, the wholesale grocery business began, and the Main Street skyline rose. The first “soda fount” appeared and the city’s first brass band played on.

The 1850 population was 8,841 — by 1860, it was 22,263. Memphis was the nation’s largest inland cotton market and for a while, the fastest growing city in the United States.

This originally appeared in the Greater Memphis Chamber’s Crossroads magazine.

INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

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The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Porter-Leath is as old as the City of Memphis.

In 1850, a young boy approached Judge J.W.A. Pettit, chairman of the Shelby County Court, on the street. An orphan with nowhere to go, he begged the well-heeled judge for help. Pettit was moved by the boy’s pleas, but he realized there was nowhere to send him. That would not do for this newly booming city of 8,000.

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Pettit convened a group of women, including Mrs. Sarah Leath, a prominent activist at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church who had founded the Protestant Widows’ and Orphans’ Asylum. Leath was a wealthy widow who had two sons of her own, but was foster mother to many more. She devoted her life to the care of the destitute, and in 1854, with her Downtown location overflowing, she donated land on what is now Jackson and Manassas and started raising money for a new orphanage.

Leath thought this location, which was then semi-rural, would help the orphans to get away from the corrupting influence of the city. When the small brick building was completed on June 4, 1856, it was immediately filled with seven boys and seven girls. When Leath died in 1858, an additional 20 acres was willed to the Leath Orphan Asylum. She became not only the orphanage’s namesake, but something of a guardian angel.

During the Civil War, Jane Ward, the matron of the orphanage, fought to keep it open and afloat. But the biggest challenge was yet to come. The Yellow Fever epidemic of the 1870s devastated the city, and resulted in a flood of new charges for the orphanage.

“When the Yellow Fever epidemic hit Memphis, this building was crammed with kids whose parents were deceased” says Rob Hughes, Vice President of Development at Porter-Leath. “That’s when the bigger building was built, with a gift from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.”

The three-story building, which is now the familiar face of the organization, was completed in April, 1876. For the next twenty years, Dr. David Porter, former President of the Taxing Authority of Shelby County (effectively the mayor) became the orphanage’s trustee, as did his son James and daughter Rebecca. In 1904, in recognition of their generosity, the board added the Porter name to the marquee.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY PORTER-LEATH

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Devastating Mississippi River floods and the Great Depression brought new waves of orphans to the door. During World War II, Porter-Leath looked after children of soldiers serving overseas. But times were changing.

In the 1950s, the foster care system and Social Security eliminated the need for orphanages to keep children on a permanent basis. New arrivals were temporary, put there by the courts. One of the most successful of the latter day programs at Porter-Leath is the Foster Grandparents, which give low-income seniors an opportunity to lend one-on-one support to needy children. In late 1985, the facility’s Victorian era buildings were placed in the Historical Register. Today, the buildings house administrative offices. “It’s amazing that these two buildings are still in use,” says Hughes. “They predate indoor plumbing, electricity, air conditioning.”

M

ike Warr is one of five children and understands the loss of a parent. “I lost my father very early. He was 54,” he says.

Warr is chairman of the Porter-Leath Early Childhood Foundation and has been crucial to the current success of the nonprofit.

Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and growing up in Hot Springs, his first job was as a busboy. He joined the Navy, and served on the aircraft carrier Oriskany, where “I was feeding 10,000 meals a day. Everywhere I went after the Navy, I got involved in a restaurant. I liked the customers and the employees. A good restaurant is like a family.

I like getting out and walking around in the dining room, asking how the food is. It really does get in your blood. Even today, I’d sooner cater a lunch for 20 than write a grant.”

Warr came to Memphis to open Captain Bilbo’s restaurant downtown, and would go on to have a hand in a number of other Memphis eateries, such as Le Chardonnay and Bayou Bar and Grill. Then, facing burnout after decades in the business, he sold his restaurants at age 46. But retirement was not in the cards. “I’m like a beaver. If I can’t stay busy, I’ll chew my own tail off.”

Years earlier, Warr had become involved helping troubled youth. “The first kid I worked with was the little brother of a cocktail hostess at No. 1 Beale,” he recalls.

“He was young, probably 12 or 13 ... I went to juvenile court to literally get him out of jail. It

as bad as I had feared, which was a relief, was some BS charge. I had to talk to the staff because everything else was in the toilet.” probation officer to do that. The officer said, The 1920s-era Gould Cottage, first built ‘Do you want to help this kid? I can make you as a dorm for girls, was boarded up. “There an auxiliary probation officer.’ I thought that was a crack den upstairs, and a prostitute sounded cool. I went through training, got working downstairs,” he says. One of sworn in, and by the time it was over, the first priorities was fixing the I was the chief probation officer.” roof on the 1873 building and In 1997, the venerable Porterpouring $120,000 worth of Leath was adrift. Its historrepairs and upgrades into ical mission was diluted, the campus. The new leader and two different boards proved to be an excellent running the programs were and innovative fundraiser. plagued with infighting.

But Warr says the very The United Way, which had nature of the organization propped up the organization had to be changed. “In a for years, was preparing to toxic culture, good leaders pull its support. Juvenile Court Mike Warr get buried so they don’t Judge Kenneth Turner, disrupt the toxic culture.” who knew Warr from his Warr made personnel volunteer work, called him “We had what we called changes, which included a and asked if he would be the ‘orphans of the living’ crucial new hire — Anne interested in helping turn Knox. “She knew how Porter-Leath around. The — kids whose parents non-profits worked,” he call found Warr, who had deserted them, or they are says, “the less obvious stuff started a consulting businot supervising them and we needed to be doing.” ness, bored and depressed.

The center still worked “They needed some leadthey’re in jail.” with at-risk youth, but ership and management,” there hadn’t been an actual Warr says, so he jumped orphan housed on campus since 1958. “The at the chance, taking the job of president orphanage was long gone. We had what and CEO. “Here I come, all glib and naive, we called the ‘orphans of the living’ — kids thinking this is going to be easy!” Then he whose parents deserted them, or they are not saw the state of the organization. “It was a supervising them and they’re in jail. While total wreck. It was on the verge of crashing.” all this housecleaning was going on, we were Warr applied his decades of management talking about mission. We had foster care, experience to the new challenge. “I just startfoster grandparent program, and a really ed doing what I do,” he says. “I met the peobroken home visitation program. I was going ple, got the financials. The financials weren’t

Porter-Leath’s Early Childhood Academy serves 224 children.

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to get rid of that, but I’m really glad I didn’t.

“We changed our mission to early childhood development. Everything we do is evidence-based. People have tried this out, and there’s evidence to support that it actually works.”

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In 1998, Porter-Leath secured a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to begin an Early Head Start program. It was in charge of 56 kids, but “we had no place to put ’em,” says Warr.

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entire Shelby County Head Start program had been decertified by the federal government. Rout strongly suggested that Porter-Leath put together a bid to take it over. “It’s got be easier, right? Going from birth to three to three to five.” says Warr.

It was not. “The programs mirror one another, but Early Head Start is easier.”

Shelby County Head Start, Inc. had spent $3 million in five years and had not served a single child. What they did have was a new, almost-completed facility. “It was a gorgeous building,” Warr says. He told Rout “I need a dollar-a-year lease, and I’ll get this up and running for you.”

Overwhelmed with new, at-risk kids to teach, Warr located a second building on American Way that had just lost a major tenant. Today, that facility served more than 200 children. “It’s full and has a waiting list,” says Warr. “We did more with $1.5 million than they had delivered with $3 million.”

P

orter-Leath’s remarkable turnaround is now two decades old.

First under Warr’s watch, then with current president Sean Lee, it’s implemented new

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JACK SODEN CEO OF THE YEAR

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programs and strengthened old ones. In May, 2014, it took over Shelby County’s Head Start programs. “We went from 900 students to 4,300 in 33 operating days,” says Hughes.

“We’re up over 6,200 now.”

In the first year, kindergarten readiness rates went from 30 percent to 70 percent.

The goal is to have more than 90 percent of the county’s children ready for Kindergarten by age 5. Porter-Leath’s expanding Teacher Excellence Program now trains teachers and day care center operators all over the county. Their newest venture is the Early Childhood Academy, a state-of-the-art facility in South Memphis that provides what the organization calls “wraparound services” for 224 students in 16 classrooms.

To streamline operations, last year the organization consolidated its administrative team in a new Early Childhood Support Center.

Growth is the driving force for Octavius Nickson.

He knows that making a positive impact requires purpose and perseverance. Octavius needed a collaborator who shared his passion for creating change and opportunities for others.

See Octavius Nickson’s story at my.triumphbank.com

“The only way we’re going to work our way out of this is to start with those young people. This stuff is designed to stick with them. They will learn by how they are treated, and when good things happen to them.”

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INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019

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But the need remains overwhelming.

Every year, about 10,000 low-income children qualify for Head Start, but there are only 3,200 slots. “We’re constantly reaching out to parents. We’re in the neighborhoods where the poverty is,” says Hughes. “We’ve always been focused on quality over quantity, but because of our quality, over time the quantity has grown.”

Warr, as Chairman of the Early Childhood Foundation, says there’s really no secret to his success. “Number one is management skills. When you’re in a restaurant, you’re managing every minute that you’re standing there. But what I really learned was, you do what you say. That’s a part of our values. If you promise someone you’re going to do something, you go do it.”

“We are totally driven by creating excellence in early childhood education,” says Warr. “I truly believe in my heart that it’s the only way we’re ever going to fix Memphis. All the other stuff they’re doing, I’m not criticizing it, but by the time you’re 16 years old and in juvenile court, or by the time you’re 8 years old and you can’t read, or by the time you’re a teen mom with one or two babies, it’s too damn late. The only way we’re going to work our way out of this is to start with those young people. This stuff is designed to stick with them. They will learn by how they are treated, and when good things happen to them. It ain’t going to happen overnight. It’s going to take a while.”

An Evening with Kristin Chenoweth Saturday February 9th, 2019 at 6pm The Guest House at Graceland

Join us for a special event to benefit The University of Tennessee West Institute for Cancer Research. This intimate evening will begin with fine dining at the Guest House and will conclude with a private concert

by Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth. Proceeds from this event will help fund our commitment to adult cancer research and supportive care services.

Visit WestInstituteGala.org for details and tickets For Sponsorship Opportunities contact Rola Obaji - robaji@westclinic.com • 901-484-8252

L E A D E R S H I P

Taking the Lead

There’s a change at the top at New Memphis, but the mission to refine talent is the same.

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Nancy Coffee is a natural catalyst. She has a gift for turning insight into vision, vision into action, and action into change. During her 15 years at New Memphis, she has been instrumental in expanding its programs and redeveloping its brand. A self-described idealist, her enthusiasm stays fresh because she sees service as her calling. the welcome isn’t about someone showing The scope of that calling evolved, once up at your door with a casserole. It’s about again, on January 1, 2019, when she stepped someone showing up at your proverbial down as CEO of the organization, passing door with an opportunity to do good. That the baton to Anna Mullins Ellis. That dynamic is life-giving for all of us.” succession plan, which had been in the works for over a year, put Coffee into the role of president emeritus, and brought up Ellis, who had served as vice president of communications and strategic initiatives for the nonprofit.

“Anna is phenomenal in every way,” Coffee says. “She’s a brilliant leader and a natural collaborator. Because New Memphis is all about attracting, developing, activating, and training talent, it’s especially exciting to promote from within.”

The goal of New Memphis is to improve talent at all levels in business, government, schools, and communities.

Coffee’s idealism has nurtured that during her tenure.

“When I moved to Memphis, I wanted to work in some way that would allow me to serve.

Now my new role will enable me to focus on the work I love most, connecting with our partners and cultivating the resources Memphis needs to fuel its future.”

Coffee admits that her love Nancy Coffee affair with the city wasn’t immediate. “I made the leap to Memphis for my fiancé at the time,” she einvesting in the community says. “I was thriving in Chicago, as was is a foundation for all of the New my career. It was a tough adjustment.”

Memphis programs because the drive for She credits the city’s culture with her improvement and progress is the foundation change of heart, saying, “I really had to come of its work. to appreciate and enjoy Memphis over the “Every great human being, company, course of that first year. This is a remarkable and city are trying to be better today than city for newcomers. They say converts to a they were yesterday,” Coffee explains. religion are more zealous than those who “People with that desire are the types are born into it. I have become that zealot.” who are drawn to our programs.”

Coffee adds, “The Southern welcome was And New Memphis makes the most of that very meaningful and substantial. In Memphis passion. “That’s why our leadership programs

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are very asset-based. We are all about inviting people to come to the table with what they do well, and evolve from there.”

The effectiveness of New Memphis lies in its ability to be both prescient and nimble.

The roots of the organization go back to 1979, and it has been ever-evolving under a series of names. In 2012, under Coffee, it was rebranded and redefined as a talent engine.

That talent engine is vast and inclusive, offering programs designed to meet the needs of leaders in all stages of their careers.

The Leadership Development Intensive is a highly personalized program designed for seasoned professionals. Delivered in partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership, this once-ina-career opportunity is an accelerated three days of assessment, networking, leadership training, and attention to action plans.

Mid-career leaders who want to amplify their already-high performance can benefit from the Fellows program. This community-wide experience caps classes at 30 and divides its curriculum between leadership development and community action.

Emerging professionals in their twenties receive professional development, networking, and mentorship through Embark, a three-month program aimed at helping them set the courses for their careers and discover new ways to make a positive difference in the community.

The New-to-Town program gives transplants an understanding and appreciation for the community, as well as a special sense of belonging.

“Once our graduates embrace their new relationships and experiences, they seek new opportunities to serve,” Coffee says.

“That same spirit of identifying what’s going well, growing from one’s strengths, and celebrating what’s right is so important not only for people, but also for cities.”

She adds that while most New Memphis graduates come to embrace common core values, none of the programs is one-size-fits-all.

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“Each human being is as distinct as each star in the galaxy. Each one contributes something different. Our participants leave the program changed — as much by what they give to the program, as by what they take away from it. There’s an alchemy with every class that is very beautiful.”

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internships also serve to help cities retain talent, since 82 percent of college students who intern in a region remain after graduation.

“Internships are more than an anchor, they’re a trigger for economic mobility as well,” she says. “They’re a huge catalyst for success.”

In order to set priorities and develop initiatives, New Memphis keeps its finger on the pulse of the community, finding challenges that might otherwise go overlooked.

The internship program, for example, was

ecause of that awareness and respect for individuality, each initiative within each program is developed and finetuned based on solid research and measurement. That level of fine-tuning ensures programs don’t merely identify needs, but go on to meet those needs in meaningful ways.

“One of the things we’re very intentional about measuring,” she says, “is how likely participants would be to recommend Memphis to a friend or colleague.”

Coffee is proud to state that their participant polls show enormous growth in loyalty to the local community after the program. She says most of the groups polled enter the program reporting at an average community loyalty score of 6.4. Upon completion of the program that average score has typically risen into the 9s.

She points out that those numbers are important because one of the organization’s overall objectives is to make Memphis magnetic.

As a result, one of New Memphis’ primary areas of focus is on college students.

Anna Mullins Ellis “This is one of the most important efforts for our community,” Coffee says. “Memphis has spent tremeninspired when a young man approached the dous effort getting students from K-12, which organization with research that indicated lois essential. Once we get those kids through cal African-American college students didn’t college, we have to deliver on the promise.” believe Memphis had a career for them. His data led Coffee and Ellis to take action.

“We looked into this more deeply and ne of New Memphis’ more refound that Caucasian students are five cent initiatives is making sure college times more likely to have an internship students have access to internships. Coffee than African-American students because says that internships are not only a major internships are about who you know,” driver in ensuring students stay in school, Coffee says. “So we began a very strong but also a way to help them make wise decimarch toward democratizing internships.” sions selecting their vocations. She adds that

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When it comes to democratization, Coffee is encouraged by the progress she has seen the city make in recent years. “Memphis can become a mecca,” she says. “It’s all about connectivity, celebrating what’s right, and helping our current young professionals appreciate what our city has to offer.”

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offee says one of her favorite things about Memphis, in addition to the downtown skyline, is the river.

“I love that the Mississippi is right here and so accessible to all of us,” she says. “I love being able to look across at the beautiful view of the Arkansas landscape.”

She admits she also loves being six minutes away from her office, where she’ll serve, in her new emeritus role helping to expand New Memphis’ capacity, and supporting the work she and her colleagues and community partners have done so far.

“I’m blessed with a brilliant band of diverse and effective teammates, board members, and community partners,” she says. “Everything is a partnership. For every success we have, I owe thanks to other people who are concerned with our city’s future.”

To learn more about New Memphis visit newmemphis.org

NEW MEMPHIS LAUNCH Campus to Career is a free, online portal that provides businesses of all sizes access to a vast pool of interns. It also provides access to resources for creating and running a great internship program.

It’s an easy way for a business to gain coast-tocoast exposure with the up-and-coming generation by promoting highlights of its mission, values, culture, and facilities.

For more information, call New Memphis at 901-527-4625 or visit newmemphis.org/ programs/launch/launch-for-employers

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Rhodes students (L to R) André Moore, Raneem Iman, Anna Welden, Felix Whipple, and Benton Parker.

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H A R M O N I C

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Moving the Needle

Learning the music business from the Memphis maestros.

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Is it daunting to match up to Elvis? Newcomers to the Memphis music scene no doubt appreciate what “the King” did for Memphis and the world, but he casts a large, mythic shadow. However, with all due respect to legends, the Mike Curb Institute for Music at Rhodes College is working to ensure that, rather than being beholden to the past, students are able to use Memphis’ rich musical heritage to move their music — as well as the city’s — forward.

The Rhodes College branch of the institute was founded in 2006

by Mike Curb, a record executive from Nashville who has set up programs at universities around the country (Belmont, widely recognized as a big music industry school, is home to the Curb School of Music Business). The Curb Institute at Rhodes, however, isn’t an ordinary music program, according to director John Bass. “We’re at our core about the liberal arts,” says Bass, “and the institute here is at its strongest when I don’t have just music majors.” Throughout his tenure, the students have come from a variety of academic pursuits, including, history, philosophy, English, and urban studies. “People bring different perspectives from different classes. When I talk about my recruiting pitch, I just say that if music in Memphis means something to you, then you’ll want to spend time on it.” various autonomous teams that tackle The students who join the institute come day-to-day functions designed to provide in with a wide range of goals: some to work valuable work skills. “It’s almost like it’s in the music industry, others to go into the a small nonprofit here on campus,” says nonprofit sector. The curriculum prepares Bass. An audio production team edits students for all possibilities. Bass cites one sound, while the video production team student who moved on to the publishing creates documentaries and promo videos program at Columbia University, while for the institute. Students also tackle PR others earned positions at William Morris Endeavor in Nashville, and marketing duties. The research the biggest talent booking and writing team delves into agency in the country. “In journalism with newsletters the Curb Institute you and feature-length articles. can get some really inFinally, the community depth real world expeengagement team thinks rience,” says Bass, “and about ways to connect some real things to put with Memphis through music. Some students lead on your CV so that when a preschool music class at you go up for these posiJohn Bass, Hope House and partner tions, you have actual expeRhodes College with the Levitt Shell and other rience, and good references.” organizations.

The Curb Institute operates With so much good music having come outside Rhodes’ official music departout of Memphis, it’s tempting to look ment, but Bass says that is by design. backward when creating new music. Bass “Rather than trying to make something wants to get away from that tendency and look like a music business degree, students create a more progressive process. “When get their liberal arts degree and place it I moved to Memphis, the idea of recogniznext to things on their CV that show they ing the weight of the history of tradition can do the work.” of this place, but not petrifying it, has been There are 35 students enrolled in the really important to me,” he says. He points Curb Institute. Within the program are FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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Gold records and other tributes showcase the legacy of Ardent Studios.

recording and releasing sound? What were to Elvis as the most prominent example. “Just currently hosts multiple music technology the ramifications of cultural appropriation take Elvis, and some of his contemporaries. classes in the music department, but they are and the issues of musicians not being paid for They were all young people. They weren’t more composition-based. “We wanted to focus their work? Those themes would be tackled playing old-fashioned music, but were right in more around the science and theories behind while learning the skills necessary to make audio engineering and capturing live sound,” the forefront. Many of them are older now, and and record music. To that end, the co-instrucsays Bass. “It wasn’t meant to be just a strict revered musicians, but back then they were tors looked at various studios where they audio engineering class where you learn the just young adults who were trying to be cool could take the students. Ward Archer and move the needle.” Bass believes was one of the first to make his space, that students need to take lessons “We are about to walk through a Archer Records, available. “His studio from that movement and that Membecame our second home base,” says phis needs to give young musicians very important part of Memphis Bass. “Beyond that, we went to Royal the license and creative freedom to do history. With one of the most Studios, and we met with Jeff Powell that today. at Sam Phillips Recording. We did an With that in mind, the Curb Insti- important guys.” — John Bass tute set to work creating unique proamazing tour of the studio, and he said grams to serve that philosophy. Last semester, programs and techniques, but to really think he wanted to show us how to cut the vinyl.”

Bass approached engineer and producer Kevwhat it means to teach an engineering class As it turned out, Powell had just received a in Houston to co-teach a music engineering in Memphis. How could we make it different contract to cut the vinyl for Al Green’s newest class at the institute. It’s the second class the than if students were taking a class in a difrecording in a decade. The students were the ferent city.”

Curb Institute has sponsored, and anyone who first people to ever hear that music on vinyl. “It Houston and Bass met to hash out the dewants to join the program is able to take the sounded amazing,” says Bass. “It was just like tails and decided that touring studios and muclass. Once the Institute created a recording he was right there in front of us. That’s a good sical landmarks around Memphis was crucial. metaphor for this idea of the past affecting room on campus, interest in audio engineering For the instructors, context was important. young people today. Just hearing that helps grew and Bass looked at how he could bring What was the historical and social context of them understand the importance of music in elements from around town together. Rhodes 54 |

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Institute students at Ardent with Jody Stephens (right).

les’ “Don’t Let Me Down.” this place more than any lecture I could ever sionals on a personal level, he says, really inThe process was run completely by the give them.” formed the process. “Jody just started talking class, with students working the boards, doThe studio tours may have been the most about some things, and eventually I had to ing the microphones, and providing instruimportant component of the class. “I think it’s remind everyone that they were talking to the mentation, vocals, and harmonies. As a final important for students to realize what a huge drummer from Big Star, who’s been part of the assignment, each student had to utilize skills part Memphis studios played in the history studio for years and to give some context to from the studio to create their own mix of the of recorded American music,” says Houston, the weight of who they were talking with.” “and that many of these historic Many of the students continue studios are still very relevant in “There’s a lot of magic that has hapto work with the Curb Institute today’s musical landscape.” and with the larger Memphis muContact with iconic Mem- pened in this room. It’s all about the sic community. Bass hopes that phis musicians continued at Ar- way you feel and how you express that. the work done at the institute paves the way for how students dent Studios. Big Star (profiled change the Memphis music scene in Memphis magazine’s January Surroundings help.” — Jody Stephens going forward. “If you spend time issue) drummer Jody Stephens at the institute at Rhodes, I want you to leave track. “Memphis music is all about combining came in to discuss his career, how he got here understanding why Memphis is importmusical genres to create new, fresh sounds,” started, and why there’s such weight to reant. Then hopefully that gives students and says Houston. “We respect and pay tribute to cording in Memphis. “The cool thing about musicians the context to answer the questhe artists of Memphis’ musical history while coming to Memphis to record, there is this tions of how you take Memphis forward. It’s trying to inspire students to combine classic tremendous history,” Stephens told the class always struck me that there continue to be sounds with current genres and techniques to before a recording session. “There’s a lot of great musicians in this town. It’s still this recreate something new and original.” magic that has happened in this room. It’s all ally vibrant city. And I definitely think having about the way you feel and how you express To round out the semester, Bass and the stuyoung, really creative people fall in love with that. Surroundings help.” The students went dents all listened to each version of the mixes. the city will make the scene stronger.” on to record their own version of The BeatBeing able to connect with industry profesFEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 | INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS.COM |

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Purposeful Selling

Doug Carpenter & Associates finds its mission in making the city a better place.

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“Do we get the coolest projects or do we make the projects we get really cool?”

Doug Carpenter savors this question. It goes to the heart of Doug Carpenter & Associates (DCA), which might carelessly be called an ad agency or PR firm. He calls it a creative communications consulting firm, a descriptive that is somewhat more vague but is also more accurate in its wider application.

What Carpenter wants to do are projects that engage him because they carry civic benefits, something the community talks about, engages in, has a stake in.

That are cool.

Some of Memphis’ most visible and remarkable projects have the DCA stamp on them. It has been instrumental in bringing about Big River Crossing, Mighty Lights, the Tennessee Brewery’s Untapped project, Loflin Yard, Staxtacular, the Crosstown development, the Kroc Center, Opera Memphis, and Memphis Greenspace, which got statuary of Confederate figures out of public parks.

One of the biggest undertakings was Explore Bike Share, the public two-wheeled enterprise that developed as the city was becoming much more bicycle friendly.

“We were sort of being inquisitive about biking and found a study that indicated that the city could support one,” Carpenter says. “So we set up that effort and I would say that’s a project where we displayed all of our skill sets from business consulting to community engagement to fund development to operations structure.”

Like any businessman, Carpenter wants to turn a profit. But he also has to feed his sense of civic responsibility and the need to elevate what is around him.

“If I can do something that satisfies my intellectual curiosity,” he says, “and satisfies the responsibility to my employees 56 |

vision, and a different approach to getting things done.

“In the past it took me three years or three months to recognize a shortcoming or a business flaw, whatever it was,” he says, “and now I wanted to recognize it in 30 minutes and act on it in three minutes. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes.”

One critical part of his plan and my family, and does somewas to “surround myself with thing that creates something really smart people,” Carpenunique and something that ter says. “Smarter than I am benefits the people involved and and who are driven to the city in general, then perform.” He wanted it’s the greatest feeling to do projects that in the world.” were meaningful Carpenter got in several ways. into the adverOne such tising business project was the when he was Big River Cross19, selling ad ing, the brainspecialties on child of Charlie commission. He McVean, founder absorbed the prevDoug Carpenter of McVean alent notions of Trading and Insales, people, vestments and motivation, “Advertising is not the the nonprofit and fulfillment Peer Power that inform his business, it’s really the work today. business of communication.” Foundation.

Carpenter From there he observed McVean’s remarkable went to work at an agency and determination. learned enough there that he “Charlie just would not felt he could go it on his own. let this idea of a pedestrian “So I started an agency with bridge go away,” Carpenter little or no reason to do so,” he says. It was expensive, it was drily observes. complicated, and there were That was in 1988, and the reluctant bureaucracies from years following saw Carpenter the railroads to the government successfully ply his trade around that had to be dealt with. “He town. In 2001 he joined Brian just kind of wouldn’t take no Sullivan to form Carpenter/ for an answer,” Carpenter says.

Sullivan, which then became “But when people have ideas carpenter|sullivan|sossaman in that are outside the norm you 2006. In 2009, Carpenter wanted can either call them crazy or to take a year or so off, so Sulyou can realize that some of the livan bought out his interest in most remarkable things that the agency. happen are things that people It turned out to be only a hadn’t thought of. Some people few months, though — entresee ‘new’ as an opportunity and preneurs have to scratch that some see it as a threat.” itch — and Doug Carpenter & There was something similar Associates soon appeared with going on with the Crosstown an office downtown, a clear

project back when it was but an inkling.

“I can remember talking to Todd Richardson [a co-founder of Crosstown Arts] very early on,” Carpenter says. “He was asking if I had any insight on it, and I said, ‘Every real estate developer has said no. Everybody who knows about it has said no.

So if you’re gonna make a run at this thing, your team has to believe that this can work. Otherwise you’re just going down the same path.”

Projects like these are substantially changing how Memphis thinks about itself, Carpenter believes. “It’s the tapestry that has changed, the outward perspective of the city.

But even more powerfully, it’s changed the inward perspective. People now believe that things can happen.”

And, he believes, there can be and should be less of Memphians comparing the city to, well, anyplace else. “If you can recognize that you are in a category of your own and how you want to structure and carry yourself as the leader in that category, then that’s what Memphis is starting to realize.”

Carpenter finds that these larger issues of self-regard require the very best he can provide. “If people come to a conclusion on their own, they would own it. That’s one of the communications challenges — it’s not telling people what to do. It’s presenting something in a way that they, on their own accord, find to be positive or life-enhancing.”

One of DCA’s most controversial challenges was the removal, in December of 2017, of the statues of Confederate figures that had been in public parks. Carpenter had to sign a confidentiality agreement before being told

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what the job was. The effort was organized by attorney Van Turner and there were many discussions in the short time available. “The public was overwhelmingly in favor of the removal,” Carpenter says, “but there was tension, and concerns about safety, and we talked about what to respond to and what not to

respond to. But Van drove straight in and did something remarkable.”

Carpenter has come quite a way from the early days when he sold ad specialities. “This is an interesting industry in that it comes and goes,” he says.

“I have two daughters and I’d like to be able to look back and have some sense that I did

something beneficial in the world. A lot of advertising is consumed and gone, but being able to work on projects like these — that’s my profession.

Advertising is not the business, it’s really the business of communication and how you can put it to work in a way that can change perspectives. This is the most powerful tool there is.”

DCA projects include: (above left) The removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue on December 21, 2017. (Top) Downtown Memphis’ oasis Loflin Yard.

(Bottom) The Mighty Lights debut on the Hernando de Soto Bridge during RiverArtsFest in 2018.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY DCA. MIGHTY LIGHTS PHOTOGRAPH BY ADARRYLL JACKSON, SR.

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R E C O N S T R U C T I O N

Following the Vision

Eric Robertson and Community LIFT work to revitalize Memphis.

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For impoverished Memphis neighborhoods, finances specifically set aside for revitalization might as well have been locked up in Fort Knox, such was the convoluted method in which local government for years set aside those funds. But Eric Robertson has a plan. to serve Frayser, Binghampton, Highland Robertson is the CEO of Community Heights, Whitehaven, and South Memphis.

LIFT, an organization dedicated to reviving disinvested neighborhoods in Memphis.

Founded in 2010, LIFT spawned from the ommunity LIFT has seen conGreater Memphis Neighborhoods Plan, an tinuous growth, due to early grants initiative that partnered with the Communifrom ArtPlace America to do work in the ty Development Council of Greater MemSoulsville Community. What really proved phis, now Building Memphis. Tackling the catalyst for LIFT’s boom, however, the issues facing Memphis was a was its founding of an affiliate daunting task, and Robertson organization called River City needed to find others who Capital Investment Corp. were well-versed in different River City shares a staff with sectors of the city.

Community LIFT, and “We were looking for through the corporation people in banking, within conducts economic develcommunity development, opment activities based then recruited someone around lending. from the Crime Commission,” “We give loans to borrowsays Robertson. “And then we ers in targeted neighborhoods, Eric Robertson gathered a number of commuwho couldn’t access capital nity development corporation from traditional banks,” says executive directors to represent “We need to be able to Robertson, “and who want to grassroots leadership.” access capital from nontradihave a vision for what tional sources without astroSince LIFT was a brandnew organization, recogniznomical interest rates.” something different able board members brought Working in unison, LIFT could look like.” credibility to the fledgling and River City provided an initiative. Names such as Bob Fockler, Archie intermediary to combine local resources and Willis, Josh Poag, and Herman Strickland be more appealing to national funding due all ensured a somewhat smooth start to life. to the business community, corporate and In 2010, Robertson had a two-year budget of banking community, and local government $150,000. To demonstrate its early potential, all able to coordinate better and funnel their LIFT invested in Broad Avenue early on available resources to organizations that with contributions to businesses like Wisework on the ground. Even with Robertson acre and Euro Imports. Since then, Comable to group together the multiple sectors munity LIFT has raised around $10 million needed to enact change, LIFT needed to

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY COMMUNITY LIFT

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examine the problem in a new light.

After years of asking what were the challenges facing communities in Shelby County, Robertson thought that a different approach was required.

“Rather than asking the same old questions,” he says, “I thought, why haven’t we as a city seen one of our disinvested neighborhoods revitalized? What’s preventing that from happening, and why hasn’t that happened in the last 40 years or so?” That prompted a new line of inquiry into systems, structures, and policies.

Robertson returned to the communities he’d been working with and saw that organizations were severely understaffed and lacked the capacity to deliver change. He cites one example of a CDC with a staff of two and a miniscule budget. Furthermore, not every neighborhood has such an organization, and those that do usually focus on youth.

“This is part of the capacity issue,” says Robertson. “The people, organizations, and people closest to the ground who know and understand the communities have the least amount of resources to create change.”

The quickest way to impact these issues, decided Robertson, was to pursue policy change at government level. Compared to other places, he says Memphis doesn’t have as many pro-neighborhood policies. In other cities, he cites what is called a Housing Trust Fund, which takes a few cents off water and gas fees, and that money goes into a pool of up to $10 million every year aimed at neighborhood revitalization.

“Until we rethink some of our policy decisions across sectors, with very intentional efforts around what I call pro-neighborhood, pro-inclusive growth strategies, we’re going to lack the resources and capacity to

The Heights Line project along National Street aims to add green space to the area. It received a $2,500 Community LIFT empowerment grant.

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deliver change,” he says. “That means some 20 percent of our population will always be hovering around the poverty line.”

Robertson went to the city to propose two new funds. The Community Development Corporation Capacity Fund raises money to provide grants to community development corporations. The goal is to increase capacity and results for these neighborhood organizations, which in turns makes them more attractive for national funding.

“The fact that foundations, the city, and others invest in that fund, we see that as a policy win,” he says. “They’ve made a decision to say, ‘We’re going to place value in this policy decision with our foundation because we believe in its theory of change.’”

The Memphis Empowerment Fund is a smaller grant, which provides money for residents who want to create change in their own community. They aren’t required to be a 501(c)3, or even be part of a neighborhood association, but must show how they are working with other nonprofits or groups to accomplish their projects.

“We wanted to recognize people we had seen who were already doing these projects, but out of their own pockets,” says Robertson, “to say ‘we see you, we honor you, we recognize you in terms of the work you’re doing.’”

“We are forging these relationships, because they have to demonstrate how they’re working with other nonprofits,” he continues. “We are building the capacity of CDCs, which are nonprofits that by definition are organizations who wake up every day thinking about the transformation of a particular community, and we can increase their ability to work at a higher level and then team them with residents. Then everyone can participate and help drive change. Because they are all engaged, you lessen apathy. You then connect that to businesses that are growing and creating jobs and economic opportunity.”

I

n the two years since it has been implemented, LIFT has given around $520,000 to the CDC Fund and around $110,000 in grants to 41 residents across 25 neighborhoods. WIth the funds firmly entrenched, LIFT looked at programs like the Community Builder Pilot embraced

by EDGE and determined how to apply it to distressed communities. Robertson com-

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missioned the Search for Economic Development Equity report, which looks at various economic development agencies in Memphis, Detroit, St. Louis, and Atlanta “This was trying to expand the conversation Memphis was having about how it should be more aggressive with economic development,” says Robertson. “We want to be aggressive, but the definition of what economic development is should be much broader than the recruitment of companies.

It should be inclusive of how we grow small To move forward, and mid-size existing businesses and how “courageous we revitalize commercial corridors and visionary industrial corridors.” leadership” is Housing and comcalled for. munity development are crucial to Robertson’s vision for revitalizing the economic sector. As companies grow and Memphis attracts new ones, then those employees need somewhere to live. The city also needs to factor in what to do with transportation. Robertson, however, believes that there simply isn’t enough staff at local agencies to handle all of these issues. Atlanta’s development agency, Invest Atlanta, at 55 employees, has a much larger staff than EDGE. St. Louis, of comparable size to Memphis, has 70 staff members.

To move forward, Robertson says “courageous visionary leadership” is called for.

“We need to be able to have a vision for what something different could look like. In terms of leadership, it’s being able to speak these things openly; not in a way to attack or tear anyone down, but in way that will move our community forward. At the end of the day, one thing I’m certain about is there are a lot of people who are on the same page about doing that. It’s just about influencing them in a way that they understand this inner connection of the lack of policy, and the non-allocation or misallocation of resources.”

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has come out in support of Community LIFT’s initiatives, but the organization’s next steps revolve heavily around the Memphis 3.0 Comprehensive Plan, which was set for discussions in late January. The plan should act as a guide and direction-setting document for the city.

“Our organization is looking toward that to help us guide some of our decision-making,” says Robertson. “We really think the Memphis 3.0 plan is a great opportunity for us as a city and a community. This will hopefully allow us as a community to marshal the resources necessary to create change, to be able to point to that neighborhood where we’ve seen revitalization, where people aren’t displaced, and where they have the opportunity to stay and benefit from change.”

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P A R T N E R S H I P

Campbell Clinic and Memphis Union Mission Soles4Souls helps those in the shadows.

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The men come to the Memphis Union Mission from across the Greater Memphis area. Some are referred by area hospitals, others through referrals from nonprofit agencies like the Salvation Army and the Hospitality Hub. All are homeless and in need of care, and all are welcomed.

In partnership with the Memphis Union Mission, team members from Campbell Clinic provided free foot and nail care to nearly 150 homeless individuals at the annual Soles4Souls event. Pictured are (from left) physician assistant Kennen Prentice; Dr. Clayton Bettin with Campbell Clinic; Carson Strickland, third-year resident with Campbell Clinic; James Reagan, Foot and Ankle Fellow with the Campbell Foundation; and Dr. Benjamin Grear with Campbell Clinic.

Steve Carpenter, director of development for the Memphis Union Mission, says, “We exist to minister to the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of individuals who are homeless, addicted, or in crisis. We provide overnight housing on a night-to-night basis, and although we provide meals, we’re not a soup kitchen.

Ministry-wide we serve about 300 to 350 people a day. Our mission is a comprehensive ministry that exists to rebuild lives.”

To that end, for at least 10 years, there has been an annual event downtown that provides free foot care to the area’s homeless. The program is called Soles4Souls and is the result of a partnership between Campbell Clinic and

orthopedic surgeon at Campbell Clinic who specializes in foot and ankle care and is the founder of the Memphis event. “When the program went national in 2007, the organization linked up with Soles4Souls to have the shoes provided, and Memphis was one of the first expansion sites. That’s also when the local partnership began between Campbell Clinic and the Memphis Union Mission.”

“Every year, during the week of Thanksgiving, the foot specialists at Campbell Clinic do a free clinic for our guests to address whatever foot issues they might have,” says Carpenter.

“We started at the main shelter at 383 Poplar, then moved across the street to 600 Poplar where we have more open space. The timing is intentional, giving a tangible meaning for being thankful, as well as trying to get good shoes on feet prior to the coldest weather.”

Dr. David Richardson, Campbell Clinic

Steve Carpenter, Memphis Union Mission

the Memphis Union Mission.

“The program, initially called Our Hearts to Your Soles, was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2004 by thenhigh school student Matt Conti and his father Dr. Steve Conti, a foot and ankle orthopedic specialist and colleague of mine,” says Dr. David Richardson, an

According to Richardson, the foot examinations deal with a variety of foot-related issues such as nail deformities that can lead to larger issues if not addressed, fungal infections, ingrown toenails, corns, and calluses.

“In addition to the exams, we also provide each person with a brand-new pair of shoes or work boots, as well as a new pair of socks,” says Richardson.

“The majority of footwear is

donated by Red Wing Shoes and the socks are provided through the Campbell Clinic Foundation. We collect well over 500 pairs of socks ever year. Campbell Clinic employees also bake and wrap cookies to offer along with bottled water and other snacks.”

Richardson continues, “Most of the participants are men who are staying at the Memphis Union Mission as homeless guests, but there are others, including homeless women, who hear of the event by word-of-mouth within the local community. At our last event we served at least 140 folks.”

Carpenter says the collaboration extends the ministry offerings of Memphis Union Mission: “It allows us to provide a service that we could not do otherwise.”

Typically, Richardson is joined by 10 healthcare practitioners (orthopedic surgeons, physician assistants, and medical students) and several more volunteers from Campbell Clinic. Some exams lead to referrals to Church Health or Methodist Hospital for ongoing care, with a written diagnosis to present to another healthcare provider.

“At Campbell Clinic, our mission is to provide excellence in patient care and orthopedic leadership in community service,” says Richardson.

“Working with the Memphis Union Mission has allowed us access to those in need who are often in the shadows. It’s been a wonderful partnership for us and we look forward to the Soles4Souls event every year. And there is always a need for new shoes and socks.”

For more information or to make a donation, visit memphisunionmission.org or contact Karen Watson at campbell-foundation.org.

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The Office Ben Adams CEO, Baker Donelson

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It is no small achievement that Ben Adams, chairman and CEO of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC since 2003, has run a top law firm with more than 1,500 employees spread across 22 offices nationwide. It wasn’t that large when he took over, but he’s presided over mergers and the creation of new offices almost every year since.

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The firm, which James F. Baker started in Huntsville, Tennessee, 131 years ago, has expanded to 10 states in the southeastern U.S. and Washington, D.C. It’s earned the appellation “prestigious”: Baker’s grandson was Howard H. Baker Jr., a three-term U.S. senator from Tennessee, chief of staff to President Reagan, and ambassador to Japan. Lewis Donelson, who died last year at age 100, was a powerhouse in legal and political circles

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and a lauded public servant.

Adams has made it his business to nurture the firm’s growth and making sure its traditional values are being met.

Adams is based in Memphis but travels up to “three out of four weeks, two to three days at a time.” He often finds himself in Nashville, one of the firm’s central locations, and Baltimore, where Baker Donelson merged with another group two years ago. But Adams always returns to the firm’s Memphis offices in the First Tennessee Building.

Visitors enter on the 20th floor, the only section available to the public, where they can marvel at the spectacular view of the city and the Mississippi River. To the right after entering is the firm’s main boardroom, named in honor of Adams’

predecessor, Charlie Tuggle.

Across the rest of the floor are additional boardrooms, each named after a founding member and graced by their respective portraits. The technology is there for a large, contemporary operation with many of the boardrooms equipped with audio and video teleconference technology. Adams says, “There’s no point in having 22 offices if you aren’t going to collaborate.”

In a corner of the 20th floor are research assistants. The area used to be a large library, but a recent transition to digital has resulted in a much smaller footprint. There is still a hefty amount of large, daunting legal volumes, but Adams calls the literature on display “peanuts” compared to the grandeur of the former library.

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Beyond that, offices for permanent or visiting employees take up the seven floors that Baker Donelson occupies.

Adams’ corner office has its own view of the river, and adorning the walls are awards and magazine covers that trace his professional career. “It’s how I got here,” says Adams. “People might make fun of us for it, but I rarely have anyone in here. It’s just for my own enjoyment.” The display he points to the most is a collection of Fortune magazine covers that celebrate Baker Donelson as a top workplace.

Adams’ ethos for managing a large number of employees is for the person in charge to be in service of the team. “For us to succeed, private practice in a large law firm is very much now more of a team sport, from

the mailroom to the senior partner and all points in between,” says Adams. “If there’s a breakdown in service, it’s not good for the client. To that end, we work hard at hiring not only talented people, but really nice people that are committed to serving our clients and our communities, and frankly each other.”

To sustain morale, communication is key. To keep the flow of information intact, Adams has implemented several ideas to keep his employees in the loop.

The first is “Ask Ben,” a series of videos in which Adams explains various facets of the company and answers specific questions submitted by employees. The

firm sets up a video presentation and the director of communications, Liz McKee, asks the questions and records the sessions for distribution throughout the firm. “Ask Ben” has weekly updates, and in that vein, Adams will travel to other offices and hold Town Hall-style sessions to answer other questions.

A second program is the “Daily Docket.” Many of the lawyers at Baker Donelson are grouped into teams. Teams meet daily for a few minutes and go over current events at the firm and bat around ideas, concerns, or criticisms. “It’s not only a good communication outlet,

but it’s a great informal network of feedback because the team leaders can pass back anything,” says Adams. “A lot of good ideas come out of reactions to the discussions at Daily Docket.”

Come May, there will be changes when Timothy Lupinacci, from the Birm­ ingham, Alabama, office takes over as president and CEO. Adams is making sure the transition goes smoothly. “You have to step back and decide what’s best for the law firm,” he says. “I think it’s time for the firm to have new energy, new ideas. It’s been the privilege of a lifetime to have the opportunity to serve and lead my colleagues, but I’m looking forward to a new chapter, even though I don’t quite know what that will be like.”

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The Crystal Shrine Grotto Memphis Memorial Park is home to a folk artist’s masterpiece.

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Cemeteries draw visitors for all sorts of reasons. Many come, of course, to pay their respects to family members and friends buried or entombed there. Others admire the lovely monuments and memorials, especially in older burial places here like Elmwood, Calvary, or Forest Hill.

But not many cemeteries offer a unique attraction that was designed and created by one of this country’s most talented — and most mysterious — folk artists. Indeed, Memphis Memorial Park’s Crystal Shrine Grotto should be on any visitor’s bucket list of places to visit here.

There’s nothing quite like it.

Born outside Mexico City in 1890, Dionicio Rodriguez came to this country in the early 1920s.

Since he spoke little English, and always wandered from place to place, details of his early life are frustratingly vague. One historian described him as “a descendant of the artistic Aztec race of Mexico,” but it’s hard to say if that’s entirely true.

What is known, however, is that somewhere and somehow

he perfected a technique for chemically tinting concrete and then carving or molding it into naturalistic forms that closely resembled stones, logs, tree branches — whatever he wished — down to such details as artificial worm holes, cracks in the wood, and peeling bark.

It’s hard to say how well Rodriguez was received in his own lifetime, as he traveled around the country creating projects for various clients. In recent years, however, surviving examples of his amazing work have been documented and preserved wherever possible, and good examples can be found across the South. In Little Rock there’s a beautiful park with bridges and an old water mill — all formed of tinted

The Pool of Hebron is part of Memorial Park’s Crystal Shrine Grotto.

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concrete — that is so realistic it was later used in the opening scenes of Gone with the Wind.

Luckily for Memphis, Rodriguez met up with another remarkable fellow, E. Clovis Hinds, who in 1924 had purchased some 160 acres of land on the outskirts of our city and transformed it into a

“He sought not merely a pleasant, peaceful place of repose but an atmosphere steeped in tradition, linking the ancient past with the eternal future.” tranquil graveyard he would call Memorial Park. A cemetery brochure describes his dream: “He sought not merely a pleasant, peaceful place of repose but an atmosphere steeped in tradition, linking the ancient past with the eternal future.”

Rodriguez came here in 1925

and under Clovis’ guidance began the construction of what many would consider his masterpiece — the Crystal Shrine Grotto. Words and pictures don’t really do it justice; only a personal visit shows the full scope of this endeavor.

Using tons of tinted concrete, Rodriguez recreated scenes from the Bible and ancient literature.

The Cave of Machpelah overlooks the scenic Pool of Hebron.

Nearby are Abraham’s Oak, the Ferdinand IV Sunken Garden, Annie’s Wishing Chair, the Fountain of Youth, and other works — all made of cement.

Perhaps the most unusual feature is the Grotto itself, a large manmade cavern carved into a hillside, with the high ceiling studded with thousands of quartz crystals. Inside, visitors can stroll past 10 panels depicting scenes from the life of Christ, which have been enhanced in more recent years by wood figures sculpted by Memphis artist David Day. How did he carve out this grotto, or form these remarkable things, entirely alone? No one today is quite sure. Few photographs exist showing Rodriguez at work, because he was so secretive about his techniques that he often shrouded his projects in canvas until they were finished. After working at Memorial Park for several years, he left for other projects in other cities. He died in 1955 and is buried in San Antonio, but his remarkable creations live on.

That’s because Dionicio Rodriguez took the time to make sure they were built to last. A marker at the Grotto explains that his artwork was “reinforced with steel and copper bar so as to ensure its existence for many centuries to come.” It still looks as impressive today as when he first unveiled it some 90 years ago.

PHOTOGRAPH BY VANCE LAUDERDALE

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