Live from the 2026 NEXT Awards
Dr. Michael Burcham on 15 years of the Hall of Fame.
In 2011, Burcham launched the NEXT Awards and the Hall of Fame in a hotel ballroom with 150 seats, and gave away half the tickets so the room wouldn’t look empty. At the Schermerhorn this October, he looked back on what it takes to earn a place here.
Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame
Honoring our city’s most iconic entrepreneurs.
Through their vision, courage and perseverance, our Hall of Fame members have built longstanding and meaningful careers and are an inspiration for today’s up-and-coming change-makers.
Meet the inductees
Class of 2026
The bank, the buildings and the restaurants.
Inducted at the 2026 NEXT Awards on October 19 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center: three Nashville founding teams who, between them, built the bank, the buildings and the restaurants that turned Nashville into a national city.
Rob McCabe and Terry Turner
Rob and Terry left First American after its 1999 sale to AmSouth and opened Pinnacle in Nashville in October 2000, on one rule: experience and relationships beat scale. Bankers needed at least ten years in the job before advising a client. Turner led the company as President and CEO for twenty-five years and is now Chairman. McCabe chaired the board through 2025 and serves as Vice Chairman and Chief Banking Officer.
Max and Ben Goldberg
Ben founded Strategic Hospitality in 2006, and Max joined a year later, leaving a financial consulting career in New York. The Patterson House opened in 2009 and started Nashville’s craft cocktail scene. The company makes its chefs equity partners, and in November 2025 Bastion, The Catbird Seat and Locust received stars in the inaugural Michelin Guide American South, the only starred restaurants in Tennessee.
Don and Tracy Hardin
Don, a Nashville native and Tennessee State-trained architectural engineer, came home to lead construction of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, then launched Don Hardin Group out of TSU’s Business Incubation Center in 2000. Tracy is co-owner and CFO. Their work includes Music City Center, where the team reached 30% minority subcontractor participation, the National Museum of African American Music and First Horizon Park.
The inductees
Fifteen years of Nashville legends.
Keep exploring
The next generation is building now.
About the EC
Since 2010, the first stop for anyone looking to turn their ideas into reality.
Who we areThe Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame is a program of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.