Dr. Vernell Bennett-Fairs became the 13th president of LeMoyne-Owen College in January. The Ohio native is the second woman to lead the HBCU. A trained vocalist and orator, she dreamed of becoming the first singer to successfully cross multiple musical genres from opera to gospel. But she also aspired to become a college president. She says she was just waiting for the right opportunity.
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Oliver Doughtie is the Chief Financial Officer of Mimeo.com, a company he describes as the perfect combination of technology, manufacturing, and logistics, all of which play to the strengths of the Memphis market. Mimeo provides on-demand digital printing services to a broad spectrum of clients from Fortune 100 companies to small consulting firms. Mimeo has three main business lines. MimeoBusiness provides business customers the ability to build, print and ship high quality documents globally. With the tagline “Hold the Moment,” MimeoPhotos enables consumers to turn meaningful moments like vacations and weddings into high-end photo books, calendars, cards, and wall art. MimeoSchool’s creates customizable student planners for schools worldwide. Mimeo’s location near the FedEx World Hub means orders placed by 10pm can be produced and delivered as early as 8:30am the next day.
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Octavius Nickson is the president of Nickson General Contractors, a company he co-founded in 2015. The company is a Certified Minority Owned Small Business with the core principles of people, purpose, and pride. Past projects include the Shelby County Health Department, Grind City Brewery & Ghost River Brewing and Whitehaven and Central High Schools. The project he’s most proud of has also been one of the most challenging: renovating the historic Cossitt Library in Downtown Memphis. Nickson is replacing and relocating all the systems in the building from the chillers to the switchboard. He says the transformed space will be a great asset to the community.
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Jennifer Sims is the CEO of Power & Tel, a position she’s held since 2013. Power & Tel is a third-generation family-owned company founded by her grandfather 58 years ago. The company distributes communications products and solutions used to build and maintain communication networks to around 70 different countries from its multiple locations throughout the US, as well as in Canada and Mexico.
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Frank Quinn is a Managing Director with CBRE, covering west Tennessee and Mississippi, with offices in Memphis and Jackson. He’s held the role since 2016, returning to CBRE as market leader. During his extensive career, Quinn has represented both landlords and tenants in their leasing efforts, acquired sites for clients, as well as represented owners in the sale of investment properties. Today, as Managing Director, he’s passionate about shaping the next generation of real estate professionals.
As the President of Pandrol North America, Breen Reardon is focused on his coworkers, his community, and growth for Pandrol, a global leader in railroad infrastructure. Reardon and Pandrol are excited to now call Memphis home after a recent strategic relocation of Pandrol operations from New Jersey to Memphis. Through Pandrol and in his personal life, Reardon is actively working to provide value to the local community while becoming an integral part of the vibrant culture of Memphis and the Mid-South.
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Eustis Corrigan, Jr. is the Senior Managing Director for the Memphis office of CBIZ MHM, LLC, which he manages from newly renovated office space on the 30th floor of Clark Tower. With about 100 employees in Memphis, CBIZ is one of the nation’s top providers of accounting, tax, and advisory services.
He started his career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co. in Jackson, MS, shortly after graduating from Louisiana State University. A job with KPMG took Corrigan and his family on a nomadic journey to Baton Rouge, back to Jackson, MS, to Memphis and back to Baton Rouge, to San Antonio, Lafayette, LA, Jackson, MS, then back to Memphis. When he was recruited to lead the office here in 2013, Corrigan says it was CBIZ’s reputation for having an outstanding work culture that convinced him to make the move.
He says CPAs are wired to be teachers and describes his management style as very hands-on, ensuring there is a constant atmosphere of learning and teaching, where accountability can’t be lost, and good results must be maintained. He strives to hire the right people who are hungry and smart, and then provides constant coaching. He said, “I’m a big believer in getting execution through the development of others.” Corrigan is a fan of fable-oriented writing. One of his favorite authors is Patrick Lencioni, whose books on business management emphasize team dynamics.
Corrigan and his wife of 32 years have 4 children. He says it’s a testament to Memphis that 3 of his children choose to live in the Bluff City. He credits a low cost of living, easy commutes, access to entertainment and plenty of craft beer. In his downtime you’ll find the Louisiana native in the kitchen, preparing his favorite Cajun food. Just don’t ask him for a recipe … he doesn’t have one. The self-taught cook has created his own dishes built on a blend of recipes from multiple cookbooks. He equates cooking to running a business: you choose a bunch of different ingredients, measure by hand or feel, and then add in lots of time and patience. Like gumbo, a perfect work team gets better with time. Give him a tough issue, and he’ll let it simmer, while he works through it.
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The Greater Memphis Chamber’s Chairman’s Circle presents a panel of local experts sharing best practices for instilling basic business sense in your employees. We hope you and/or your HR representative can join us Wednesday, March 3, 12:00 – 1:30pm.
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Eric Brown is the Vice President and General Manager of the Valero Memphis Refinery, a position he has held since April 2020. Moving to Memphis last year was a homecoming of sorts – although he’s a Jackson, Tennessee native, he began his career at the Memphis refinery in 1997 as a process engineer, after earning his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Christian Brothers University. In 2002, Eric moved to the Gulf Coast and over the years he has held progressive leadership roles throughout Valero, the world’s largest independent refiner and North America’s largest renewable fuels producer. Throughout the refining organization he has served as Operations Complex Manager, Director of Technical Services and Operations Director.
The Valero Memphis Refinery is located on 250 acres along the Mississippi River’s Lake McKellar. It is the only oil refinery in TN. More than 300 employees and 200 contractors work to provide a safe, stable and reliable source of petroleum products for the Tennessee-Arkansas-Mississippi market. They use light and sweet crude oil to produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and petrochemicals. Nearly 100 percent of gasoline and jet fuel in this area comes from the Valero Memphis Refinery. Brown says, “I come to work every day focused on how we manage our business. The safety of our workers, the environment and the surrounding community are my priorities.”
Brown describes Valero as a “very giving company” with a consistent commitment to the communities where we live and work. Over the past 10 years, this Memphis refinery and the Valero Energy Foundation have donated over $10 Million to support area charities. The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the Valero Texas Open and Benefit For Children, one of their signature programs. But that didn’t stop Valero from distributing over $350,000 here in Memphis to support disabled and disadvantaged children’s programs. Over the past three years Valero employees have volunteered over 12,000 hours to support charitable organizations. During the pandemic they focused on helping children that live near their fence line advance and succeed by donating meals and digital devices. Brown says, “Valero purchased this site in 2005 and we value the relationships we have fostered in this community. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be back in Memphis and I’m looking forward to meeting more Memphians when the pandemic lifts.”
Brown is a proud veteran of the United States Army. He served in the US Army for five years as a Power Generation Equipment Repairman. He says the Army helped him earn money for college, develop strong leadership skills and travel the world. He was stationed in Germany, Kansas and served in Operation Desert Storm. Brown credits a teacher from Southside High School in Jackson, TN, with recognizing his natural affinity for math and science and ultimately helping him find his path to his current career. He has been married to his high school sweetheart for 32 years. He and Chiquilla have two sons – a 19-year-old who is attending UCLA virtually and a 15-year-old attending Lausanne.
Jimmy He is the President of Standard Elevator Systems, a company he founded in Memphis in 2007. In the beginning, his company supplied only one customer and employed two people — himself and his assistant. They designed one type of elevator traction machine. Fast forward to today, his company employs more than 100 people in five countries – China, India, Brazil, Poland, and the US. 35 of those employees work here in Memphis at his world headquarters.
Standard Elevator Systems strives to be a one-stop-shop for contractors, offering leading elevator solutions. The company is technology driven: 85% of orders go through their system without a human touch. Contractors can use the company’s website to enter specifications and get designs within minutes. That’s work which may take their competitors a week to produce. From historic buildings to brand new hospitals, to 100-story buildings in Manhattan, every structure is unique, meaning the elevators they design, and build are all highly customized.
He attended college in China and completed his MBA at the University of Chicago. A job offer from ThyssenKrupp brought him to Memphis in 2004. After working as a strategy manager for three years, he decided to start his own elevator company. Staying in Memphis made sense from a convenience standpoint. He had the workforce he needed with a reasonable cost of living, access to a strong logistics network, and the support of his local customers. Memphis is also where he met and married his wife 14 years ago. They have 7-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. Asked what he most likes about Memphis He says, “the people. They are genuine and very sincere.”
Outside of work He enjoys golfing, skiing, and reading. Pre-pandemic, He and his family also traveled frequently. He says it’s important to be exposed to different cultures to gain more open perspectives. He is also the President of Mid-South Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Chairman of the Board, Greater Memphis United Chinese Association. Memphis has a very tightknit Chinese community of around 10,000 people. He is honored to serve the community and is always seeking opportunities to give back. He says the US is his second motherland and he appreciates all the opportunities he was offered while living here for the past 20+ years. But He says, “ultimately it doesn’t matter where you are from, because the US is the land of opportunity.”
Tina Walker is the Chief Operating Officer of Patriot Bank. It’s a position she started in September 2019, after working in the Shelby County Trustee’s office for 27 years. The transition from public sector to banking was a natural one: Her first job after graduating from Union University was working in a small bank in Jackson, Tennessee. Now with an extensive track record in leadership and management within the financial services industry, Walker is a key member of Patriot Bank’s management team.
Patriot Bank will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2021. Their 8 branches are spread throughout Shelby and Tipton Counties. The newest branch opened in the heart of Raleigh last month, across from the new Raleigh Springs Civic Center. Walker says the Raleigh location is “positioned beautifully for people to have access to our services. We feel like there is a niche there.” She described joy in watching development take off around the new Raleigh branch. She sees that growth each day, on her drive to the bank’s corporate headquarters in Barretville.
Patriot Bank prides itself on providing “downhome banking the way it should be.” While it promises fast, friendly personal service, Walker says “community service is at the heart of what we do at Patriot Bank. We want to be more than a bank. We want to be a partner, know our customers’ names, schools, churches, and non-profits. We are there for the community.” In short, Patriot wants to be a good neighbor and financial partner.
Walker describes herself as a lifelong learner who loves to travel and is looking forward to pairing research of her ancestry with a trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland as soon as pandemic-related travel restrictions ease. Her favorite stress reliever is playing a round of golf with close friends. Walker is a deacon at Second Presbyterian Church and is head of the stewardship committee. She attributes her success to the great opportunities provided to her and great mentors. “Networking is an equipping type of thing,” she said. “We need strong support systems so we can succeed, and we need to empower other people.” Her guiding principle “is to try to always do the right thing. My hope is that I would empower others to do the right thing and pour into their life that which is rich and meaningful.”
Anthony Clark is the Managing Partner of Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP for the Memphis, Dallas, and Los Angeles offices. Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP is the largest certified public accounting firm headquartered in the Southern U.S. and the 17th largest in the United States.
With more than 30 years of public accounting experience, Clark has served both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. His primary focus at DHG is hospitality, including hotels, resorts, and management companies. Hospitality companies seek his guidance on potential property acquisitions, strategic growth plans, and operational accounting practices.
After graduating from Ole Miss in 1983, the Ripley, Mississippi, native moved to Memphis, and began his career as a CPA at Rhea & Ivy, one of the oldest public accounting firms in Memphis. He was Chief Manager of Rhea & Ivy, P.L.C. when it joined DHG in 2008.
DHG recently launched new branding that is future-focused and places an emphasis on creating the ultimate client experience. “We want our brand to resonate and emotionally connect with our clients, prospects and people. A connection that is supported by a modern, fresh, sophisticated visual approach,” Clark says. “I tell our team, that it’s not always about having an answer. Often, it’s about having all of the right questions that lead you to THE answer.”
When he’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife, five children, and his grandson. And while he doesn’t get to do it as often as he would like, the sports enthusiast enjoys golfing and duck hunting.
One of his guiding principles is “You can’t change without changing” and when it comes to marketing the Bluff City, he says “We need to learn how to be cheerleaders for Memphis. We have a lot to be thankful for, and a lot to be proud of, and I think we need to learn how to articulate that clearer and louder.”
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