Chattanooga State appoints communications director
Chattanooga State Community College has appointed Chris Lykins to serve as its director of marketing and communications following a national search to fill the position. Lykins served as interim director for more than one year.
During his time as interim director, Lykins reworked the marketing budget, formalized partnership models, improved internal and external communication, established a campus brand audit and moved from push advertising to multimedia storytelling.
Lykins holds a Master of Education and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a bachelor’s degree in English and pre-law from Pensacola Christian College.
State society honors local historian
The East Tennessee Historical Society presented its Community History Award to Rita Lorraine Hubbard during its annual awards June 7 at the Museum of East Tennessee History in Knoxville. Hubbard is an award-winning author who resides in Chattanooga. The society cited the excellence with which she promotes and preserves Black history in East Tennessee through the authorship of nonfiction biographies and educational picture books.
Green|spaces hires new Build It Green director
Green|spaces has tapped Dexter Talley to serve as the director of its Build it Green program. BIG is a local leadership and workforce development program that prepares young adults for community leadership and energy services careers.
Talley graduated from the BIG program in 2019 and returned as a senior member the following year. In 2021, green|spaces promoted him to project manager. Since then, Talley has gained several certifications, including the Duct and Envelope Tightness Verifier certification.
As program director, Talley has already recruited 10 members for the summer cohort, doubling the program’s enrollment rate.
CSCC’s Coslett to serve as OAH rep
The Organization of American Historians recently chose Dr. Linda Coslett, department head and associate professor of history at Chattanooga State Community College, to serve as a community college representative.
Coslett will also participate in a roundtable discussion during the annual OAH conference in 2023. Discussions will revolve around teaching underprepared learners, the needs of nontraditional students, equity and inclusion, faculty needs, teaching formats and more.
Founded in 1907, OAH is a professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history.
BrightBridge adds Adams, West
BrightBridge Capital has added Zac Adams and Kristin West. Adams is serving as a loan officer while West is the team’s newest credit underwriter.
Adams comes to BrightBridge after serving as a licensed commercial real estate agent. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University and the United States Sports Academy. In his spare time, he teaches swimming to underserved communities.
West partners with loan officers in evaluating loan requests to determine eligibility and creditworthiness. She is completing a degree in business administration from Dalton State College. West enjoys volunteering at Dalton’s Habitat ReStore.
Miller, Morgan join Pinnacle
Stacey Miller and Jamie Morgan have joined Pinnacle Financial Partners in Chattanooga. Miller comes to the firm from Regions Bank and brings more than 20 years of experience to her role as a credit adviser. Morgan comes to Pinnacle from SunTrust and brings six years of financial services experience to her role as financial specialist.
Miller is based at Pinnacle’s Broad Street office. In addition to her tenure at Regions Bank, she also worked for SunTrust Bank, where she began her career in 1997. Miller earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She also graduated from the Southeastern School of Banking at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.
Morgan is based in Pinnacle’s Shallowford Road office. In addition to her four-year tenure at SunTrust, she also worked for Pioneer Credit for two years.