East Ridge City Council member Mike Chauncey recently completed the Local Government Leadership Program hosted by the Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership, an agency of The University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service.
The city and county officials who attended the program in Knoxville were invited by the UT County Technical Assistance Service and the UT Municipal Technical Advisory Service, sister agencies of Naifeh Center.
The program included sessions on building an ethical culture, applying lean practices in the public sector, understanding individual leadership characteristics and updates on the U.S. and Tennessee economies.
Parkridge names Landon Smith COO
Parkridge Health System recently welcomed Landon Smith as chief operating officer, co-ethics and compliance officer and chief staffing officer. A native of Dalton, Georgia, Smith will oversee all construction on the Parkridge Medical Center campus and the Parkridge North Emergency Department, as well as laboratory services, radiation therapy and rehabilitation services.
A graduate of the University of Georgia, Smith earned a master of health services administration from Armstrong Atlantic State University. Before joining Parkridge, he served as assistant administrator and co-ethics and compliance officer at North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida. Before that, he was the strategy and planning manager at Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia.
HHM CPAS hires three for firm
HHM CPAs has hired a controller, audit manager and staff accountant.
Jessi Blackwell will oversee controllership functions and perform full-cycle accounting and bookkeeping functions for HHM and its affiliate companies. Blackwell worked in the banking industry for several years before switching to accounting. She was most recently the accounting manager at a Cleveland location of a long-term elderly care company.
Chase Lloyd joins the firm as a manager in the accounting and assurance department. He will be responsible for planning, risk assessments and financial statement preparation, review and presentation. Lloyd began his public accounting career at HHM in 2008, before relocating to Denver, Colorado, for six years, where he worked for a regional firm on a variety of audit engagements.
Also joining HHM is Ryan McGowan. He will provide tax and audit support to clients within the dealership industry. McGowan holds a master of accountancy from UTC.
Local TN Chamber of Commerce appointments
Sharon Braden Law of Thompson Engineering in Chattanooga has been appointed to the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industries board of directors for 2020. Leisa Cagle, vice president and controller of McKee Foods in Collegedale, has been appointed secretary-treasurer.