business briefs

• Cheryl G. Rice, a civil litigator with Egerton McAfee Armistead & Davis, P.C., recently was named Knoxville Bar Association president. Outgoing president, Hanson R. Tipton, a member of the Knoxville law firm of Watson, Roach, Batson & Lauderback, PLC, passed the gavel to Rice during a virtual KBA meeting on Dec. 11. Other officers chosen were: Jason H. Long, president-elect, Loretta Cravens, treasurer; and Catherne E. Shuck, secretary.

• J. Corbitt, Dylan Robinson and Natalie Saunders with Weichert, Realtors Advantage Plus in Knoxville recently were named the top agents in the Weichert Realtors’ office for November.

Corbitt was named the overall Top Agent of the Month while Robinson and Saunders were named the Top Selling and Top Listing agents, respectively.

• Stacy Strobl and Kenny Lynn, regional owners of EXIT Southeast, announce the opening of the second EXIT Real Estate Professionals Network, under the direction of Jesse Vose as an EXIT Realty franchisee, at 1778 W Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville.

• Tennova Healthcare recently announced Turkey Creek Medical Center and North Knoxville Medical Center each were awarded an ‘A’ in the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing the Tennova hospitals’ achievements in protecting patients from harm and providing safer healthcare. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months.

• Pellissippi State Community College recently won a statewide friendly food drive competition this past semester, as PSCC crushed the “friendly” competition this semester by collecting an equivalent of 31,412 items in College System of Tennessee’s 22nd Annual Food Drive Challenge.

Pellissippi State was the top institution in its tier during the month-long food drive, which ended Dec. 8. Students, faculty and staff collected the food items and cash donation for food pantries, food banks and organizations in their communities.

This is the second year in a row Pellissippi State has collected the most food items in its tier, but this year’s 31,412 items more than doubled last year’s 15,411.

• The University of Tennessee Medical Center has earned an “A” fall 2020 Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade for protecting patients from harm and providing safer healthcare.