c3/consulting Founder Beth Chase will serve as Board Chair
NASHVILLE, Tenn., January 23, 2020 — Today, the Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC) announced that seven new members, including three ex-officio, have joined the board of directors:
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Bill Brown, Founder and CEO of A2B Advisors and former CEO of Entrada
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Michael Burcham, Executive Partner at Shore Capital and former President and CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center
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Shani Dowell, Founder of Possip
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David A. Owens, Executive Director of The Wond’ry Innovation Center at Vanderbilt
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Ralph Schulz, President and CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
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Amy Tanksley, Founder and Owner of Uncle’s Classic Barber Shop
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John Zarling, Co-Founder/President and Chief Strategy Officer of 615 Leverage + Strategy and former EVP at Sony Music Nashville
Additionally, Beth Chase, Founder of c3/consulting and Senior Managing Director at Ankura assumes the role of board chair after also serving in this position from 2017-2018. Chase is joined by Executive Committee members: Darrell Freeman of Zycron, Jose Gonzalez of Belmont University as Finance Chair, John Ingram of Ingram Industries as Chair Emeritus, David Klements of Qualifacts, Janet Miller of Colliers International as Governance Chair, Linda Rebrovick of Impact Corporate Consulting as Development Chair, Chris Sloan of Baker Donelson and Clint Smith formerly of Emma.
“It is such a pivotal time for entrepreneurship in Nashville and for the Nashville Entrepreneur Center,” said Chase. “We are excited to welcome these seven leaders from the Nashville business community who represent varied industries and expertise. As we work towards making Nashville the best place in America to start or grow a business, their guidance and perspectives will be instrumental in helping that vision become a reality.”
In 2020, Nashville was named the 11th best city in America to start a business by Inc Magazine. The city now boasts more than 40,000 businesses, representing the fifth largest change in net business creation in the country from Q1 2018 to Q1 2019. As the EC celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding, the growth of entrepreneurial activity in Music City continues to soar.
These seven members join the following current EC board members:
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Beth Chase, Ankura
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Sherry Deutschmann, Braintrust
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Jeff Drummonds, LBMC
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Mignon Francois, Cupcake Collection
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Darrell Freeman, Zycron
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Jose Gonzalez, Belmont University
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Angela Humphreys, Bass, Berry & Sims
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John Ingram, Ingram Industries
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Joe Ivey, Lipscomb University
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David Klements, Qualifacts
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Janet Miller, Colliers International
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Turner Nashe, Global Tel*Link
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Linda Rebrovick, Impact Corporate Consulting
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Kevin Roddey, Pinnacle Financial Partners
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Chris Sloan, Baker Donelson
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Dee Anna Smith, Sarah Cannon
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Clint Smith, formerly of Emma
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Kelli Turner, SESAC
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Damon Whiteside, Academy of Country Music
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Nicole Froker, Google for Startups (Ex-Officio)
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Phillip Gaskin, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (Ex-Officio)
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Hayley Hovious, Nashville Health Care Council (Ex-Officio)
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Audra Ladd, Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development (Ex-Officio)
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Brian Moyer, Nashville Technology Council (Ex-Officio)
The 31-member volunteer board is comprised of community and business leaders representing diverse voices in the Nashville area. The board is charged with directing the work of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center to help fulfill its mission in supporting entrepreneurs throughout their lifecycle while helping to grow Nashville’s burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem.
About Nashville Entrepreneur Center
The Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC), a nonprofit 501(c)(3), was founded in 2010 as an initiative of the Nashville business community with a vision to be the front door to entrepreneurship in Nashville. The EC’s mission is to connect entrepreneurs with the critical resources to create, launch and grow businesses. Supported by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, the organization offers membership, access to advisors, an entrepreneurial community, startup curriculum and industry-immersive experiences in healthcare (Project Healthcare) and music (Project Music). EC programs are built on a foundation of navigation to resources and diversity & inclusion. Learn more about the EC at www.twitter.com/entrecenter and www.instagram.com/entrecenter.
