Alexis Willis will join the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce as director of small business and entrepreneurship beginning Jan. 8. Willis will direct the activities of the INCubator, which is located in the Hamilton County Business Development Center on the North Shore.
Willis will lead a team of five members at the INCubator. Most recently, Willis served as director of business support for The Company Lab (CO.LAB.) As a certified CO.STARTERS facilitator, she has trained dozens of startup owners and in 2016 was nominated Startup Advocate of the Year by the community through the Chattanooga Startup Awards program.
Willis serves on the boards of the Virginia College of Business as well as Stove Works, a multi-use venue for artists. She’s a founding member of the Greater Chattanooga Sankofa Fund for Civic Engagement and she served as a board member for the Leadership Chattanooga Alumni Association for two years, having graduated the program in 2014.
Willis founded her first company, Natural Beautiful Me, in 2011. She launched her second brand, The Red Lipstick Experiment, in 2013. Willis earned a B.A. in English from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a minor in business administration, along with several professional certifications.
Weaver, Bryant, Walker appointed
The Chattanooga Area Food Bank has added three members to its board of directors: Celeste Bandy Weaver, vice president of finance and regulatory with Ringgold Telephone Company; Kyle Bryant, a partner with Market Street Partners; and William Walker, general counsel with Reliance Human Capital Management.
LBMC adds to Chattanooga office
Accounting and business consulting firm LBMC has added the following employees to its Chattanooga office:
Amber Blevins has joined as a staff accountant in the audit group. She holds her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UTC, where she was the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student in the Master of Accountancy Program.
Mary Catherine Fleming has joined as a staff accountant in the tax group. She previously served as a tax Intern for LBMC. Fleming holds her bachelor’s degree from the UTC and serves as a volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Association and the MOMentum Network.
Janay Medina has joined as a human resources account specialist for LBMC Employment Partners. She previously served as a human resources generalist for Republic Parking System. She holds her bachelor’s degree from UTC.
Lucas Watson has joined as a senior in the tax group. Watson previously served as a senior tax associate for Rodefer Moss and Co. and has three years of tax experience serving clients in manufacturing, real estate and construction. He holds his bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Carson-Newman University.
Parkridge East names directors
Parkridge East Hospital CEO Jarrett Millsaps has tapped neonatologist Kelly Hersey, MD, to be the director of the facility’s level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. As director of the NICU, Dr. Hersey will oversee the 22-bed NICU at Parkridge East.
Dr. Hersey, who is board-certified in pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine by The American Board of Pediatrics, is affiliated with Regional Obstetrical Consultants. He comes to Parkridge East from The University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he was director of telemedicine, director of the Newborn Follow-up Clinic and medical control director for Neonatal Transport.
After earning his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Dr. Hersey served his residency at the University of Missouri-Columbia Hospitals & Clinic, where he also completed a fellowship in neonatal and perinatal medicine.
Also, Lori Salmon, RN, BSN, has been appointed women’s services director at Parkridge East Hospital. Salmon has worked at Parkridge East for 11 years, most recently serving as clinical coordinator of the hospital’s Labor and Delivery department.
Salmon earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Western Governors University and RN certification from Georgia Northwestern Technical College. She recently was selected to participate in TriStar Division of HCA’s Emerging Leader Program.
As director of women’s services, Salmon will oversee the labor and delivery and mother-baby units and work closely with Kelly Hersey, M.D.