Welcome EO Nashville’s Newest Batch of Members

New member companies support a combined 98 employees and $25,980,000 in annual sales

The Nashville chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) announced the addition of seven new members to its group of Middle Tennessee business owners.

The new members bring a combined $25,980,000 in annual sales and 98 full-time employees to the group’s ranks. Three-fourths of the new member companies are located in Williamson Country, with the remaining fourth calling Davidson County home.

The Nashville EO chapter has a total of 113 members. To join, an entrepreneur must be a founder, co-founder, owner or controlling shareholder of a company with gross annual sales exceeding $1 million.

“Entrepreneurs come to our chapter to grow their companies, add jobs and develop their leadership skills through peer-to-peer mentoring with other local business professionals,” said Andy Bailey, EO Nashville president and entrepreneur coach at Petra. “We’re excited to welcome these newest members, and to help them advance their businesses.

The seven new members are:

Tom Beach

Tom Beach, CEO of City Saver, a marketing company that produces coupon books and smartphone applications that help schools fundraise. Founded in 2004, City Saver’s products have raised over eight million dollars for local schools and charities. Beach is a graduate of Milligan College.

David Box

David Box, co-founder and principal of Trinisys, a software company that provides a data capture, integration and rapid Web development platform. He is a software developer turned entrepreneur, having founded Trinisys in 2004. Box graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s of computer science.

William Kirkland

William Kirkland, who founded The Kirkland Company in 2007. The real estate brokerage firm specializes in selling apartment communities; something Kirkland has had personal experience in for 12 years. Kirkland has closed over 125 transactions totaling half a billion in sales since 2005.

Greg Luken

Greg Luken, CEO of Luken, a financial advisory firm that handles the financial affairs for a select group of successful families. He is a native of Elizabethtown, Ky. and received a bachelor’s degree in English from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He worked as vice president of investments with Morgan Keegan, PaineWebber and Aintree Capital before founding Luken Investment Group, a predecessor to his current firm.

Brian Murphy

Brian Murphy, who founded the technical staffing firm Vertek Solutions, Inc. in 2006. The firm specializes in IT, telecommunications and engineering. Murphy attended State University of New York College at Oswego and Potsdam.

Adam Sinks

Timothy Adam Sinks, president and co-founder of Full Circle Disposal, LLC, a waste management company that hauls and disposes of construction and demolition waste. A Nashville native, Sinks attended the University of Tennessee. He served in the Army until 2009 before starting Full Circle Disposal in 2010.

Ricky Scott

Ricky Scott, partner and owner of The Kingston Group, a residential construction, development and investment group. A custom remodeler and builder, Scott founded The Kingston Group in 2007 with business partner Robbie Edwards. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in mechanical engineering and engineering science.

Peer to peer: Catalyst program helps area entrepreneurs thrive

This article originally appeared in the Nashville Ledger on Friday, Nov. 2, 2012.

When building a business from scratch, no one will ever love and care for that business that way you do.

But while you are nurturing growth, you can also become an island, working as CEO, head of sales and director of marketing — all at the same time. And growth can stall if you don’t have the right people helping you.

“I am so busy planning events for other people I can’t finish anything for myself,” says Angela Proffitt, a local wedding and event planner in her 10th year of business. She has a few unfinished projects she would like to complete, and there have even been opportunities she has had to pass on due to her current workload.

Other business owners are going through the same thing as Proffitt, and a local program she recently joined aims to bring her together with other business owners for support and guidance.

Last year the Nashville chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and the Nashville Entrepreneur Center announced the launch of Catalyst, a mentorship program geared toward helping local entrepreneurs grow their companies past $1 million in annual sales.

EO Nashville 2012 Moveable Feast Recap

Last Wednesday we hosted our annual Moveable Feast event in downtown Nashville.

The exclusive, members-only affair took place at The Palm, The Southern Steak & Oyster and Merchants. Members enjoyed appetizers at one restaurant, before moving to another for the salad course and the third for the entrée.

Table 1 appetizers at The Palm

 

Leaving The Southern

Merchants

Honky Tonk Central

At the after party, which was held at Honky Tonk Central, EO Nashville board members announced recent chapter accolades that included:

• Rock Star Award Winner, 2011-2012
• Century Club Award

Nashville was one of 38 out of 121 chapters globally to win Rock Star for the 2011-2012 year. To earn Rock Star distinction an EO chapter has to complete 27 benchmarks in areas of chapter health, including growth, renewals, learning, communications, forum and finance. This is the forth time since 2008 that Nashville has been named a Rock Star chapter.

EO Nashville Membership Chair Joe Freedman was also presented with the EO Century Club award for increasing Nashville’s chapter membership to more than 100.

You can check out all the pictures from the event on our Facebook page.

EO Nashville Members in the News: Alan Looney, Charles May & Michael Brody-Waite

Recently, three of our members have earned some well-deserved press attention.

The Tennessean reported that homebuilder Alan Looney, founder and president of Castle Homes of Brentwood, has been named Custom Builder of the Year by the Southern Living Custom Builder Program.

The Nashville Business Journal’s ”Ten Minutes to Better Business” feature profiled Charles May’s company bytes of knowledge.

Michael Brody-Waite, CEO of InQuicker.com was was asked by  the Nashville Business Journal to offer advice for first-time entrepreneurs.

Nashville Entrepreneurs’ Organization Announces New Board of Directors

The Nashville chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) announced recently its 2012/2013 board of directors.

The Nashville EO chapter has 111 members. To join, an entrepreneur must be a founder, co-founder, owner or controlling shareholder of a company with gross annual sales exceeding $1 million.

The new board of directors of Nashville EO is:

• President: Andy Bailey, Founder and Coach, Rock Habits; Founder and General Manager, 30Avacation.com
• Past President: Debbie Gordon, President and CEO, S3 Asset Management and Snappy Auctions
• President Elect: Joe Freedman, Founder and Chairman, RFx Legal LLC, AMERICAN Legal Search LLC, AMERICAN Financial Search LLC and Music City Tents & Events LLC
• Finance Chair: John Aron, President, The Pasta Shoppe
• Learning Chair: Arnie Malham, Founder and President, cj Advertising
• Social Chair: Glenn McConnell, Owner, Music City Tents & Events LLC
• Forum Chair: Sonny Clark, President and CEO, Advanced Network Solutions
• Forum Co-Chair: Bryan Merville, President and Partner, Beacon Technologies
• Forum Health Chair: Jeff Turner, President, Turner Machine Co., Inc.; National Storm Shelters LLC
• Membership Chair: John Kepley, Principal, President and CEO, teknetex inc
• Membership Co-Chair: Jackson Miller, Founder and CEO, Bizen, Inc.
• Sponsorship Co-Chair: Tim Ozgener, Principal, Oz Ventures
• Sponsorship Co-Chair: Ben Hanback, President, The Hanback Group
• Communications Chair: JJ Rosen, Chief Manager, Atiba
• Catalyst Chair: Dan Hogan, CEO, Medalogix
• Catalyst Co-Chair: Bryan Ansley, President and CEO, FNB Merchants
• Member Benefits: Bill Kimberlin, Medicare.com
• Member Integration: Vicki Hill, Founder and President, Mosaic Consulting Group LLC
• Forum Olympics: Mike Rustici, Partner and Founder, Rustici Software
• At-Large: Sam Sanchez, Owner, Sam’s Sports Grill & Sperry’s
• At-Large: Dudley Jacobs, CEO, Evoluc
• At-Large: Alex Tolbert, Team Member, Bernard Health LLC
• Spouse Forum: Mose Ramieh III, COO, Power & Generation Testing, Inc.
• Mentorship Chair: Charles May, Founding Principal, bytes of knowledge
• Member Retention: Hannah Paramore, Owner, Paramore I the digital agency

“For the first time in our chapter’s history, we’ve passed the 100-member mark and we expect to continue this development over the next year. To accommodate the growing needs of this diverse group, we’ve added new board positions this year to help with special events, mentorship and retention, among other things,” said new chapter president elect Andy Bailey. “The board is a fantastic group of people. I’m really looking forward to working with each and every one of them this year.”

Survey shows that EO Nashville members plan to increase staff & revenue this year

EO Nashville members who took EO Global’s Q4 2011 Economic Survey are optimistic about a profitable 2012. With the economic downturn stressing area companies over the past two years, member businesses are looking to increase hiring and returns this year.

Here’s a breakdown of the survey results, question-by-question:

Question 1: Change in number of full-time employees during the past 6 months, AND Predicted change in number of full-time employees during coming 6 months:

•       Sixty-nine percent of EO Nashville respondents expect to increase their full-time staffs in the first half of 2012, that’s two percent less than the second half of 2011 and three percent more then EO global respondents.
•       None of the EO Nashville respondents expect to decrease their full-time staffs in the first half of 2012.
•      Regionally, Nashville ranks second in full-time hiring goals behind Knoxville (83 percent) and ahead of Charlotte (59 percent) and Birmingham (43 percent).
•       None of the regional EO respondents expect to decrease their full-time staffs in the first half of 2012.

Question 2: Change in number of part-time or contract employees during the past 6 months, AND Predicted change in number of part-time or contract employees during coming 6 months:

•       None of the EO Nashville respondents expect to decrease their part-time or contract employees in the first half of 2012, that’s compared to 14 percent of EO global respondents who plan to decrease them in the first half of 2012.
•      Regionally, only EO Charlotte respondents expect to decrease part-time or contract employees by four percent

Question 3: Change in net profit during the past 6 months, AND Predicated change in net profit during coming 6 months:

•  Seventy-six percent of EO Nashville respondent expect their net profits to increase in the first six of 2012, with the remaining 24 percent expecting net profits to remain constant. That’s two percent more then EO global respondents.
•  Regionally, Nashville ranks second in predicated change in net profit behind Knoxville (100 percent increase) and ahead of Birmingham (71 percent increase) Charlotte (70 percent increase).

Question 4: Change in debt load during past 6 months, AND Predicted change in debt load during coming six months:

• Twenty-one percent of EO Nashville respondents expect to decrease their debt load in the coming six months. That’s equal to the percentage of EO Nashville respondents expecting to increase their debt.

Question 5: Change in your business’s access to capital during past six months, AND Predicted change in your business’s access to capital during coming six months:

• During the past six months, 34 percent of EO Nashville respondents saw an increase in their access to capital, and 38 percent expect access to capital to increase in the first half of 2012.
• Regionally, EO East Tennessee respondents are highly optimistic with 83 percent banking on increased assess to capital, 37 percent of EO Charlotte respondents expect an increase, and 29 percent of Birmingham respondents expect an increase

Question 6: Change in your business’s revenue during past six months, AND Predicted change in your business’s revenue during coming six months:

• Ninety percent of EO Nashville respondents believe that their revenue will increase in the first half of 2012. That’s the highest percentage regionally, and 10 percent higher than the global outlook.
• None of the EO Nashville respondents expect revenue to decrease in 2012.

Question 7: Predicted change in your country’s economic environment during coming six months:

•  Roughly three-fourths of EO Nashville respondents predict the economy will either improve or remain the same during the coming six months. That’s consistent with the outlook from the previous six months.

Question 8: Current proclivity to start a new business:

•  Sixty-two percent of EO Nashville respondents would like to start a new business.
•  Regionally, 83 percent of EO East Tennessee respondents would like to start a new business, 71 percent of EO Birmingham respondents and 59 percent of EO Charlotte.

EO Nashville’s 2011 “Moveable Feast” Recap

In case you missed it, EO Nashville held its its annual “Moveable Feast” event on M Street in the Gulch on October 12. And the delicious after party/dessert course held at Citizen (pictured above) was just the end of it!

The exclusive, members-only affair took place at Whiskey Kitchen, Virago and Kayne Prime. At the after party, EO Nashville board members announced recent chapter accolades that included:

• Rock Star Award Winner, 2010-2011
• Highest Percentage Growth (second place globally)
• Most New Members (third place globally)

To earn “Rock Star” distinction an EO chapter has to complete 27 benchmarks in areas of chapter health including growth, renewals, learning, communications, forum and finance. This past year, Nashville was one of 25 out of 120 chapters globally to win Rock Star. This is the third time since 2008 that Nashville has been named a Rock Star chapter.

Crowd shot at Kayne Prime

EO Nashville also ranked second globally for percentage growth, and third for adding the most new members, making the chapter one of the fastest growing in the world.

Take a look at all of the photos from the event here.

 

Results from EO Nashville’s Semi-Annual Economic Survey

A couple weeks ago, we shared with you a link to the Nashville Business Journal‘s coverage of EO Nashville’s Q2&3 Economic Survey.

This week, we wanted to share with you the raw data that makes up the survey. We have also included the EO global results to the same survey that was conducted at the same time. This way you can compare Nashville’s sentiments to the business sentiments globally.

Question 1

• 71% of EO Nashville respondents expect to increase their full-time staffs in the second half of 2011, that’s 10% more then the first half of 2011 and 3% more then EO global respondents.
• None of the EO Nashville respondents expect to decrease their full-time staffs in the second half of 2011.

Question 2

• None of the EO Nashville respondents expect to decrease their part-time staffs in the second half of 2011, that’s compared to 9% of EO Nashville respondents who decreased them in the first half of 2011, and 10% of EO global respondents who plan to decrease them in the second half of 2011.

Question 3

• 97% of EO Nashville respondents expect their net profits to increase or remain constant in the last six of 2011. That’s 15% more then the first half of 2011 and 6% more then EO global respondents.

Question 4

• Over the past six months, and during the next 6 months; EO Nashville respondents are decreasing their debt loads at a faster rate than EO global respondents.

Question 5

• A greater percentage of EO Nashville respondents (28%) find it easier to access credit now then EO global respondents.
• EO Nashville respondents are significantly more wary about credit being accessible in the last six months of 2011, with only 33% predicting that access will increase.

Question 6

• Roughly three-fourths of EO Nashville respondents predict the economy will either improve or remain the same.

Question 7

• Roughly three-fourths of EO Nashville respondents indicate that they are likely to start a new venture in the future.

 

Inc. 5000 Update

A few interesting stats stats regarding the recent Inc. 5000 list.

Of the 105 Tennessee businesses that made the list, 17 (16%) are EO companies (EO Nashville with 13 and EO East Tennessee with 4). Nationally, there are 215 EO member companies on the list, or 4.3%.

To read full coverage of EO Nashville’s showing on the list, check out this blog post.

EO Nashville Grows 32%

Adds 21 new members since start of 2011

Following a record-breaking fall recruitment, the Nashville EO chapter again broke recruitment molds, adding 21 members since the beginning of 2011, and securing its place as one of the fastest growing EO chapters in the world.

EO Nashville has grown 32% over the last 12 months. The growth is due to more than just adding new members—96% of existing members recently renewed their memberships as well.

The 21 new members of EO Nashville are:

Michael Berman

Robert Collins

Sherry Stewart Deutschmann

Michael Hodges

Aimee Johns

Bill Kimberlin

Chris Kincade

Nancy Leach

Alan Looney

Bert Lyles

Susan Marlow

Jackson Miller

Taylor Milliken

Miranda Whitcomb Pontes

Gene Robertson

JJ Rosen

Kevin Ross

Suzanne Sevier Rowland

Alex Tolbert

George Uribe

Hart Weatherford

Michael Berman is founder and CEO of Network Contract Solutions, a leading provider of contract management solutions. He has worked as general counsel for Goldleaf Financial Solutions, Inc., Tecniflex, Inc. and Imagic Corporation. He holds degrees from Cornell University and the University of Tennessee.

Robert Collins III founded Wealth Management Group of Tennessee in 2001, after nine years in the insurance and investment industry. His practice focuses on investment strategy, wealth preservation, retirement distribution and legacy planning for the next generation. He attended the University of Mississippi and Belmont University.

Sherry Stewart Deutschmann founded LetterLogic, Inc. in 2002 from in the basement of her home. The fast-growing manufacturing and business services provider, prints and mails statements, letters and invoices for other business, primarily in the healthcare sector. Deutschmann also speaks for national women’s organizations, publicizing the benefits of employee-centric cultures.

Michael Hodges has been president and CEO of Advance Financial since 1998. He has grown the company from three locations to 26 with over 200 employees, making it the leading provider of alternative financial services in Middle Tennessee. He attended the University of Tennessee.

Aimee Johns is well known in the music industry, not for her music, but for her unique style and unmatched client service. Her award-winning designer boutiques, Flavour and Flavour Men, cater to the music industry as well as professional athletes and everyone in between. Johns previously worked at RCA Records and Arista.

Bill Kimberlin is a proven entrepreneur, founder and investor of numerous businesses. By the age of 27, both Forbes and US News & World Report had recognized him as a leading entrepreneur. Kimberlin currently serves as founder and CEO of Medicare.com. He was the founding president of the Nashville chapter of EO, at the time called Young Entrepreneurs Organization.

Chris Kincade is chief executive officer of The Kincade Group, Inc., a master franchisor in commercial cleaning. He’s led and company for 12 years, managing more than 300 franchises for Bonus Building Care in Nashville, Memphis, Birmingham and South Florida. He attended Vanderbilt University.

Nancy Leach founded Facility Planners, Inc. in 1995, under the concept of coordinating the fields of architecture, interior design, construction and project management with furniture specification, procurement and installation. Leach got her bachelor’s from O’More College and her master’s from Belmont University.

Alan Looney is founder and president of Castle Homes. He serves as the Custom Builders Council president for the Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee. He is also a member of Builder 20, U.S. Green Building Council, Christian Leadership Concept and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.

Bert Lyles has spent his career in commercial and residential real estate. Currently the CEO of Showhomes Franchise Corporation, the country’s largest provider of staging services to high-end houses for sale. He has also served for more than 10 years as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University’s Graduate School of Business.

Susan Marlow is founder and CEO of Smart Data Strategies, Inc. She is familiar with all facets of the parcel conversion industry, having completed GIS and parcel conversion projects for cities and counties across the United States. She is active in multiple professional organizations, including the Institute for GIS Studies and the Transportation Research Board.

Jackson Miller is an innovative technologist turned entrepreneur. He currently owns Plato’s Closet franchises and is CEO of Bizen, a web-based dashboarding tool that provides insight into the workings of franchises. He has also made significant contributions to many of Nashville’s most noteworthy startups, including Emma, Magazines.com, centresource and BorderJump.

Taylor Milliken is president and CEO of Elite Landscape Company, Inc., a turnkey provider for residential and commercial landscape services. He previously worked for The Tess Company, and attended Volunteer State Community College for engineering.

Miranda Whitcomb Pontes owns Burger Up in the 12South neighborhood. She’s passionate about using organic, locally sourced meat and produce in her establishments. She is currently fostering plans for a second Burger Up location in Cool Springs.

Gene Robertson has owned U.S. Lawns of Nashville, a commercial landscape management franchise, for 12 years. In addition to two Nashville locations, he has locations in Clarksville and Murfreesboro. Robertson graduated from Middle Tennessee State University.

JJ Rosen is the CEO and founder of Atiba Software LLC. He founded Atiba in 1992 to provide IT, programming, Web development, database design, and project management services to clients of all types and sizes including the District Attorneys Office and the State of Tennessee Department of Human Services. He graduated from Vanderbilt University.

Kevin Ross is an entrepreneur with a passion for bootstrapping and building profitable, sustainable companies that make a difference. He founded the mobile software company, Metova, Inc. in 2006. Three offices later, Metova now ranks among the best in the world in mobile application development. He graduated from Iowa State University.

Suzanne Sevier Rowland always had a passion for sewing clothes, but didn’t consider making a career out of the hobby until her late 20s, when she moved to New York City, enrolled in The Fashion Institute of Technology and took a job at the city’s top fabric store, Mood Fabrics. Rowland’s skirts-only line took off in 2004, and sales of Sevier Skirts have doubled every year thereafter.

Alex Tolbert is a team member at Bernard Health, a health insurance advisor. Founded in 2006, Bernard Health now employs 12 employees with offices in Nashville, Indianapolis and Louisville. Tolbert attended the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University.

George Uribe is president of Guestbooker.com. His television experience includes stints at Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN. He serves on the board of governors for The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Mid-South Chapter. He holds degrees from George Washington University and North Carolina State University.

Hart Weatherford is the founder of Farmington Financial Group LLC. He has personally originated and closed over $500 million in mortgage loans in his career. Weatherford has consistently been a “Diamond” and “Platinum” awards of excellence winner by the Mortgage Bankers Association. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.