Nashville medical trade center hires adviser with Vanderbilt ties

A Dallas-based company with plans for a medical trade center in Nashville has hired the former head of a Vanderbilt-linked think tank as a senior adviser.
David Osborn will be based here and will have responsibility for strategic development of the Nashville Medical Trade Center, which Market Center Management hopes to open as early as next year. Osborn was executive director of the Health Care Solutions Group, a public policy organization created by Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Nashville Health Care Council. That group ended operations last month.

Osborn's hiring comes as Market Center Management explores potential sites for what could eventually become 1.5 million square feet of year-round space to showcase medical gadgets and health-care technology.

The trade outpost also could host seminars, medical conventions and serve as a site for continuing education programs.

Leasing the current Nashville Convention Center site downtown is among long-term possibilities for a site, especially after a new Music City convention hall is built south of Broadway.

As a consultant, Osborn will work with Nashville health-care and community leaders to develop a vision for the medical trade center and encourage companies to showcase products for the industry there.

"The goal is to bring value to the health-care industry," Osborn said. "Purchasers would be able to come to one place, see all of the products, services and emerging technologies they need, and be able to make a much more informed decision about purchasing without having to travel to multiple places."

The Health Care Solutions Group closed three years after it started. Projects undertaken included a Web site developed during last year's presidential elections to educate the public about health-care issues.

"It was a business decision that reflects the times we're in and Vanderbilt's need to use its resources on priority items closest to home," Osborn said of the think tank's closure.

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New jobless claims rise unexpectedly to 558,000

WASHINGTON -- The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week, while continuing claims fell sharply.
The Labor Department says new claims increased to a seasonally adjusted 558,000, from 554,000 the previous week. Analysts expected new claims to drop to 545,000, according to Thomson Reuters.

The number of people remaining on the benefit rolls fell to 6.2 million from 6.34 million the previous week. Analysts had expected a slight decline.

The four-week average of initial claims, which smooths out fluctuations, rose by 8,500 to 565,000, after falling for six straight weeks.

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Retail sales dip 0.1 percent in July

WASHINGTON -- Retail sales outside of autos turned in a disappointing performance in July, underscoring concerns about the timing and durability of a recovery from the worst recession since World War II.
The Commerce Department says retail sales fell 0.1 percent last month, a much worse performance than the 0.7 percent gain that economists had expected.

While autos, helped by the start of the Cash for Clunkers program, showed a 2.4 percent jump -- the biggest in six months -- there was widespread weakness elsewhere with gasoline stations, department stores, electronics outlets and furniture stores all reporting declines.

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Nashville area hoteliers can't get money for growth

Two weeks before the spring groundbreaking of Candlewood Suites in Lebanon, Praveen Patel pulled the plug on its construction.
With tourism and corporate travel declining and hoteliers cutting room rates dramatically to stay in business, Patel decided to delay the May construction of the 91-room, extended-stay hotel to November.

"Tourism is down right now," said Patel, who operates hotels in the region. "Everyone is cutting back."

It's a choice more businesses are making — it has become more difficult to get financing for projects, and it's not clear when the market will improve. The number of U.S. hotel rooms in the pipeline dropped nearly 25 percent in June, compared with the same month last year, to 501,476 rooms, according to Hendersonville-based Smith Travel Research. In Nashville, about 2,500 rooms are in some phase of planning or construction.

"Financing a hotel is nearly impossible," said Rick Frazier, vice president of marketing and leasing for Alex S. Palmer & Co. The developer has put on hold West End Summit, a 25-story combined Intercontinental Hotel and condo project on West End Avenue in Nashville. "I don't know of anybody that can put a project together in this environment."

The commercial mortgage-backed securities market, which provided funding for many hotel developments, still remains tight, Frazier said. The alternative — traditionalbanks — is requiring developers to come up with 40 percent equity, or cash investment, to qualify for a loan, a nearly impossible financial commitment for many developers. A few years ago, developers could get a loan with 15 percent down.

The hotel at West End Summit was supposed to be completed next year, but construction hasn't even started, and there's no telling when it will.

The Fairfield Inn and the Hampton Inn, two hotel projects in the Nashville West shopping area with more than 100 rooms each, have been put on hold. So has the 109-room Residence Inn at the SuperTarget off Interstate 24 and Sam Ridley Parkway in Smyrna.

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Nashville Area Chamber's activism earns honors

It's the equivalent of winning the Super Bowl for chambers of commerce.
That's how Nashville Area Chamber President and Chief Executive Ralph Schulz views the organization's recognition as national Chamber of the Year for 2009 by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives.

The association, also known as ACCE, is made up of the leaders of more than 1,300 chambers across the nation. It gave Nashville the top award in the large-cities category, beating two other finalists — Louisville, Ky., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

ACCE President Mick Fleming said Nashville was chosen over a field of dozens of competitors largely because of the chamber's "proactive response to the current challenging economic environment," as well as initiatives such as its successful campaign against the English-only proposal that was defeated by Nashville voters in January.

"The criteria are not only that chambers are successful in their own business operations, but that they are able to advance the business community's agenda and make an impact on regional prosperity," Fleming said.

"We had a strong field in our largest-chamber category," he said. "All three of the finalists demonstrated that they were doing the right things to be proactive in regional development initiatives, especially with Cedar Rapids, which fought to recover from a devastating flood. And even though Nashville was the winner, the other two certainly were not losers."

The nearby Bowling Green (Ky.) Chamber of Commerce won the award for midsize cities, and Columbus, Ind., won among smaller cities.

Just to be permitted to compete for the award, a chamber must first meet a long list of benchmarks that are judged by a "jury of peers," Fleming said. Judges are executives from chambers that have won the award in the past.

Nashville's selection came as a pleasant surprise, Schulz said, particularly because he "didn't even know we were a nominee until we were named one of the three finalists," he said.

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People in Business

Larry McElroy is serving a three-year term on the board of the National Rural Water Association starting in October. McElroy is general manager of the Consolidated Utility District of Rutherford County.
The American Heart Association announced the following people are on its Greater Southeast Affiliate Board of Directors:

Joey Barnett is vice president of the board. Barnett, Ph.D., is a professor of pharmacology, medicine, pediatrics and microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt University.

Brian Callahan is a member of the board. Callahan is chief financial officer of Spheris.

Dr. Steven Manoukian is a member of the board. Manoukian is director of cardiovascular research for the Sarah Cannon Research Institute.

The Nashville Chapter of Tax Executive Institute announced its 2009-10 board of directors:

Richard L. Wise is president. Wise is vice president of tax at Emdeon Inc.

Matthew Musso is vice president. Musso is vice president of tax services at Symbion Inc.

Ed Curvin is secretary. Curvin is senior manager, IRS examinations and litigations for HCA Inc.

Stephen Miller is treasurer. Miller is senior manager, tax for Nissan North America Inc.

Glenn Mortensen is chapter representative. Mortensen is director, tax research and planning for HCA Inc.

Lloyd Grogan is a director. Grogan is senior director, tax for Ingram Book Co.

Sarah Hoover is a director. Hoover is senior manager, tax planning for Nissan North America Inc.

Terry Harness is a director. Harness is senior manager, tax for Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores Inc.

Stephanie Marshall is a director. Marshall is tax manager for Ardent Health Services LLC.

Kelvin Ault is a director. Ault is vice president of tax for Vanguard Health Systems.

Dave Courtney is a director. Courtney is vice president of tax for Ardent Health Services LLC.

Awards

Thomas J. Stickrath and Albert R. Murray received the E.R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award from the American Correctional Association for their dedication to the field of corrections.

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Psychiatric Solutions selling business unit for $70 million

Psychiatric Solutions Inc. said it has a definitive agreement to sell its employee assistance program business to health insurer Aetna for about $70 million in cash.
The deal should be completed in the fourth quarter and is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approval, the Franklin-based provider of behavioral health programs and operator of psychiatric inpatient hospitals said.

The business produced revenues of about $22.6 million for the first six months of this year.

Psychiatric Solutions said it would use proceeds to reduce its debt.

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