Area businesses have released the following announcements about honors, career moves, business rankings and more.
Local attorney receives prestigious Olmsted Award
Memphis-based attorney Charles F. Newman of Burch, Porter, Johnson LLC has received the distinguished Frederick Law Olmsted Award.
The Tennessee Chapter American Society of Landscape Architects (TNASLA) bestowed the award at their state awards dinner and conference on April 25.
Newman was honored for his leadership in conservation and his role in providing access to and protection for the most prominent and beloved public landscapes in Memphis-Shelby County.
Through Newman’s decades of service, he has shared the values of the landscape architecture profession by working behind the scenes on complex legal strategies to secure acquisition and protection for notable parks and greenways such as Overton Park, Shelby Farms Park, Shelby Farms Greenline and Big River Crossing (formerly Harahan Bridge).
In the 1970s, Newman led the Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Vole case that saved Overton Park. In the 2000s he shaped the establishment of the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, negotiating the conservation easement. Later he negotiated with CSX for the acquisition of the abandoned railroad corridor that is now Shelby Farms Greenline. Most recently, he was instrumental in reaching an agreement with Union Pacific Railroad for shared use of the Harahan Bridge.
Newman said, “Landscape architecture is perhaps the most important of the visual arts, the most consequential with the most significant social consequences. I have been very lucky to have had, in over 50 years, so many opportunities to support what you [landscape architects] do, and I appreciate this award very much.”
NASLA’s Olmsted Award is given annually to recognize significant contributions in one of four categories: contributions to the profession in Tennessee, preservation of the landscape of Tennessee, enhancement of Tennessee’s physical environment, or landscape architectural education.
Owen Harris of Dalhoff Thomas Design Studio and TNASLA President-Elect, said “The TNASLA Past-Presidents Council awarded Mr. Newman for his lifetime of service and leadership in protecting some of the most significant public spaces in Memphis.”
Newman is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School and has been listed for 25 years in Best Lawyers in America. He has served on the Memphis Landmarks Commission, Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, Wolf River Conservancy, Environmental Action Fund, Memphis College of Art and Civil Rights Museum Foundation.
Past TNASLA Olmsted Award winners include Barbara Hyde, Jean Nelson, Larry Mizell and Caron Beard.
Professional group honors local landscape architects
and Owen Harris, Dalhoff Thomas design studio.
The Tennessee Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (TNASLA) met in Memphis on April 25 & 26 for its annual state conference and awards ceremony.
The conference opened with a keynote by Carol Coletta (Memphis River Parks Partnership & Kresge Foundation). Landscape Architecture luminaries Kona Gray, FASLA (EDSA, Florida) and Thomas Woltz, FASLA (Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, New York) spoke.
Additional speakers were Mitch Robinson (Strawberry Plains Audubon Center), Bob Wenner (Wolf River Conservancy), Daniel Ashworth (Alta Planning + Design), Warren Goodson (WH Porter & Co.), Ritchie Smith (Ritchie Smith Associates), Nick Oyler (City of Memphis), Roshun Austin (The Works), Seth Harkins (Alcy Ball CDC), Dane Forlines (The Heights CDC), and Emily Trenholm (HighGround News). Tours in Memphis included Crosstown Concourse and Edge District with Todd Richardson, Tony Pellicciotti, and Tommy Pacello.
The Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects judged entries for the Professional and Student Design Awards.
In the Professional Design category of awards, one Memphis studio won two awards: Dalhoff Thomas design studio won the Honor Award in Analysis and Planning for the Big Creek Resilience project and also the Merit Award in Analysis and Planning for the Parkside Planned Development.
In the Student Design category of awards, a number of students in the University of Tennessee’s Knoxville Graduate Landscape Architecture Program were recognized for award-winning projects and plans. Hank Mary, Wyatt Pless, Daniel Rose, and Dustin Toothman received Honor Awards. Alexa Macri, Maggie House, Fernando Turpin, Bridget Ash, Natalie McCarthy, Payton Watson, and Chloe Reeves received Merit Awards.
DA’s community prosecutor heading to DCS
After more than 15 years with the District Attorney’s Office, including summer internships, Carrie Shelton Bush is leaving one state agency for another.
On May 6, she officially became the executive director for regional administration for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.
“I will be relying heavily on the training and skills I’ve learned over the years at the DA’s office in order to continue to serve the citizens of Tennessee,” she said. “As part of my new duties, I have been asked to complete an analysis of various departments and programs within the 12 DCS regions across the state to help determine what is and isn’t working. Ultimately my goal is to be a resource to the staff in the field and for the communities they serve.”
Her new appointment was made by new DCS Commissioner Jennifer Nichols, a former Shelby County deputy district attorney and a former criminal court judge.
“Carrie has been a key contributor to every unit and program in which she has served while in this office, and we will miss her greatly,” said District Attorney General Amy Weirich. “She has been a tireless defender of the young, the elderly and the vulnerable citizens of Shelby County, and now children across the entire state of Tennessee will benefit from her dedication and passion.”
Before becoming an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) in the Domestic Violence Unit in November 2004, Bush worked in the DA’s office as an intern while in college and was a victim-witness coordinator and an investigator before attending law school.
As an ADA, she also worked closely with the Child Advocacy Center as a member of the Special Victims Unit (SVU) and in 2014 became the chief prosecutor of SVU. She became division leader of Criminal Court 3 in 2016 and a year later became the DA’s first community prosecutor at the Old Allen Station Police Precinct.
The innovative Community Prosecution plan places prosecutors out in the community, where they can build relationships with law enforcement, neighborhood watch groups, schools, businesses and other community-based organizations.
While serving at the Community Prosecutor, Bush also continued to work as the DA’s coordinator for the Vulnerable Adult Protective Investigative Team (VAPIT), which also includes law enforcement and protective services members who address issues of elder abuse.
Fox13 Memphis names Emmy Award-winner as news director
Fox13 Memphis (WHBQ-TV), a Cox Media Group station, has announced the appointment of Adam Henning to the role of news director for the station, effective June 3.
An industry veteran and Emmy Award winner, Henning brings nearly 20 years of experience to this new role. He will lead the strategic and tactical direction of daily and breaking news, as well as special and investigative reports, and special event coverage to help grow audience ratings and digital products.
Susan Connor, vice president and general manager of Fox13 Memphis, said, “We are thrilled to have Adam Henning join the Fox13 Memphis team. His passion for the TV broadcast industry is characterized by his long-standing career in news and dedication for doing what’s right by his people and the community through his story telling and leadership.”
Henning joins Fox13 Memphis from CBS12 News WPEC in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he served as news director since 2016, creating and executing on CBS12 News’s brand to grow ratings and revenue across all platforms. He began his career with WCJB and has a successful track record of leading news teams at stations like WWAY, WNCT and WAFF. An award-winning journalist, Henning was most recently recognized with an Emmy in 2018 for Team Coverage, Breaking News, Serious Feature, Politics/Govt. on WPEC’s coverage of Parkland Strong.
“I could not be more excited to join the Fox13 family and make a real difference for the amazing people throughout our market,” said Henning. “… My wife Jen and I along with our daughters Leah and Iris could not be happier to make Memphis our new home.”
Bass Pro Shops ranked 12th in reputation in America
Consumers rank Bass Pro Shops as one of the most reputable companies in the world, according to a new national study. It took 12th place.
The Reputation Institute – a national reputation management organization – in conjunction with Forbes conducted the single largest reputation study in the history of the U.S., using more than 167,000 individual ratings to measure more than 2,200 companies across the country.
“We are humbled and truly grateful to be singled out by consumers as among the very best in America,” said destination retail pioneer and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris. “This recognition speaks to the genuine friendly service our remarkable outfitters provide our customers every day. Beyond offering quality products, exceptional value and a shopping environment unlike any other, our people make the difference, and we owe this honor to the collective efforts of our entire team.”
Bass Pro Shops was founded in 1972 when Morris, an avid young angler, began selling tackle on eight square feet of shelf space in his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Mo. Today, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s welcome more than 200 million visitors annually to its 200 destination retail and marine center locations across North America, including the Pyramid in Memphis. Bass Pro Shops is also a national leader in protecting wildlife habitat and connecting new audiences to the outdoors. The company’s diverse offerings also extend to marine manufacturing with a wide assortment of boats and ATVs and a growing hospitality division including wilderness resorts.
Banks ranked in region by customer satisfaction
The 2019 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power, now in its 14th year shows that overall retail bank customer satisfaction has improved since 2009, as have satisfaction scores with in-person branch service, online banking and ATMs.
Also, since 2009, satisfaction with mobile banking has improved, as have customer knowledge of the features, benefits and fees structure associated with their banking products. Customers currently view their banks as being more innovative and financially stable. However, customer perceptions of retail banks having a good reputation and being customer driven are lower in 2019 than in 2009. The industry has improved convenience and driven increased levels of operating efficiency, but a trade-off for banks is a decline in easy interaction, providing advice and strengthening customer relationships.
The study measures satisfaction in six factors account opening, communication and advice, channel activities, convenience, problem resolution, and products and fees. Channel activities include ATM, assisted online, branch, call center, IVR, mobile and website.
Following are rankings for the South Central region, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. The scores are based on a 1,000-point scale:
- Arvest Bank, 841
- Capital One and Chase, tied at 837
- Regions Bank, 832
- BB&T and Hancock Whitney, tied at 831
- South Central Region average, 823
- BankcorpSouth Bank, 818
- First Tennessee Bank, 809
- Bank of America and U.S. Bank, tied at 808
- SunTrust Bank, 802
- Wells Fargo, 801
- BBVA Compass, 800
See more key findings from the report online at bit.ly/bank-study-2019.
J.D. Power rates insurance companies on property claims
The recently released J.D. Power 2019 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study measures satisfaction with the property claims experience among insurance customers who have filed a claim for damages by examining five factors.
In order of importance, the deciding factors are settlement, claim servicing, first notice of loss, estimation process and repair process.
The study is based on responses from 6,374 homeowners insurance customers and was fielded between April and November 2018. The following rankings are on a 1,000-point scale:
- Amica Mutual, 901
- Country Financial, 893
- The Hartford, 888
- Chubb, 882
- Auto-Owners Insurance, 881
- Erie Insurance and Farmers, tied at 880
- Liberty Mutual, 878
- Nationwide, 875
- American Family, 873
- Industry average, 873
- Encompass, 872
- Auto Club of Southern California Insurance Group, 869
- Allstate and MetLife, tied at 868
- State Farm, 866
- Safeco, 859
- AIG, 857
- Travelers, 855
- MAPFRE Insurance, 853
- CSAA Insurance Group, 844
- Automobile Club Group, 843
- Homesite, 825
One company that was scored but not included in the rankings was USAA, an insurance provider that serves only U.S. military personnel and their families. It scored 901.
