business briefs

• John Jeffries has joined Messer Construction Co. as environmental health and safety manager in Messer’s Knoxville region and Brian Walker has joined Messer Construction as project manager in the Knoxville region. Walker has played a key role in higher education projects.

• Knoxville resident Ashley Brooker has been recognized by Patcraft, part of Shaw Industries, as one of the company’s top sales leaders in the country. She has worked for Patcraft for three years, providing customer service, education of product knowledge and passion for identifying the best-fit performance product for commercial spaces. She was honored with the Sales Excellence Award during Patcraft’s Circle of Distinction ceremony in March.

• Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. has received approval from Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions and North Carolina Office of the

Commissioner of Banks to merge with BNC Bancorp. TDFI, NCCOB and Federal deposit Insurance Corporation also approved the proposed merger of Pinnacle Bank and Bank of North Carolina.

• Tony Benton has been named Tennova Healthcare’s chief executive officer of Physicians Regional Medical Center and Knoxville metro CE. The metro hospitals include Turkey Creek Medical Center, North Knoxville Medical Center and Physicians Regional Medical Center. He has held leadership positions at Mountain States Health Alliance in Johnson City and, since 2014, served as vice president and COO over Washington County operations.

• The University of Tennessee Medical Center has been named on the 2017 list of Becker’s Hospital Review Great Hospitals in America. Only three Tennessee hospitals made the list. The other two were Vanderbilt University Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

• SmartBank, a subsidiary of SmartFinancial Inc., has announced the formation of its board of directors in Knoxville. The directors are: Cathy Ackerman, president and CE of Ackerman PR; Justin Cazana, principal broker of Avison Young; Kelly Headden, senior vice president of BarberMcMurry architects; David Henry, president of Empire Distributors of Tennessee Inc., Knoxville, and Shannon Harper, vice president and COO of Harper Auto Square.

• Weichert Real Estate Affiliates Inc. has named 2016 award winners from independently owned and operated Weichert-affiliated offices. They are: Ambassador Club, Lillian Rayson andTerry Patton; Executive Club, Brandi Matson, Carol Zimmerman, Christie Sox, Elizabeth McDaniel, Grace Duong, Marilyn Varnes, Mary-Ann Linkowski, Steve Mount and Susannah Dunn; sales achievement, Debbie Ishak, Diane Hawkins, Donna Hardesty, Dottie Webb, J. Corbitt, J. Gene Sims, Jan Moore, John Sadler, Luke Stapel and Missy Hall.

• Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. will host a live webcast 8:30 a.m. CTD, Tuesday, April 18, to review its first quarter 2017 financial results, the firm’s busiess outlook and other matters. To access the call for audio only, call 1-877-602-7944. For the presentation and streaming audio, access the webcast on the investor relations page of Pinnacle’s website at pnfp.com.



• John Jeffries has joined Messer Construction Co. as environmental health and safety manager in Messer’s Knoxville region and Brian Walker has joined Messer Construction as project manager in the Knoxville region. Walker has played a key role in higher education projects.

• Knoxville resident Ashley Brooker has been recognized by Patcraft, part of Shaw Industries, as one of the company’s top sales leaders in the country. She has worked for Patcraft for three years, providing customer service, deducation to product knowledge and passion for identifying the best-fit prformance product for commercial spaces. She was honored with the Sales Excellence Award during Patcraft’s Circle of Distinction ceremony in March.

• Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. has received approval from Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions and North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks to merge with BNC Bancorp. TDFI, NCCOB and Federal depostion Insurance Corporation also approved the proposed merger of Pinnacle Bank and Bank of North Carolina.

• Tony Benton has been named as Tennova Healthcare’s chief executive officer of Physicians Regional Medical Center and Knoxville metro CE. The metro hospitals include Turkey Creek Medical Center, North Knoxvlle Medical Center and Physicians Regional Medical Center. He has held leadership positions at Mountain States Health Alliance in Johnson City and, since 2014, he had srved as vice president and COO over Washington County operations.

• The University of Tennessee Medical Center has been named on the 2017 list of Becker’s Hospital Review Great Hospitals in America. Only three Tennessee hospitals made the list. The other two were Vanderbilt University Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

• SmartBank, a subsidiary of SmartFinancial Inc., has announced the formation of its board of directors in Knoxville. The directors are: Cathy Ackerman, president and CE of Ackerman PR; Justin Cazana, principal broker of Avison Young; Kelly Headden, senior vice president of BarberMcMurry architects; David Henry, president of Empire Distributors of Tennessee Inc., Knoxville, and Shannon Harper, vice president and COO of Harper Auto Square.

• Weichert Real Estate Affiliates Inc. has named 2016 award winners from independently owned and operated Weichert-affiliated offices. They are: Ambassador Club, Lillian Rayson andTerry Patton; Executive Club, Brandi Matson, Carol Zimmerman, Christie Sox, Elizabeth McDaniel, Grace Duong, Marilyn Varnes, Mary-Ann Linkowski, Steve Mount and Susannah Dunn; sales achievement, Debbie Ishak, Diane Hawkins, Donna Hardesty, Dottie Webb, J. Corbitt, J. Gene Sims, Jan Moore, John Sadler, Luke Stapel and Missy Hall.

• Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. will host a live webcast 8:30 a.m. CTD, Tuesday, April 18, to review its first quarter 2017 financial results, the firm’s busiess outlook and other matters. To access the call for audio only, call 1-877-602-7944. For the presentation and streaming audio, access the webcast on the investor relations page of Pinnacle’s website at pnfp.com.