The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce has named Pinnacle Financial Partners Area Executive Bill Jones as the 2017 Business Legend of the Year and Smyrna / Rutherford County Airport Authority Executive Director John Black as the 2017 Business Person of the Year.
Both will be honored at the Chamber’s annual Business at its Best celebration on Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel & Conference Center.
Jones has almost 30 years of financial services expertise, and as area executive currently leads all efforts of Pinnacle Financial Partners in Rutherford and Bedford counties. Prior to its merger with Pinnacle in 2006, he served as executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Cavalry Banking, following seven years as a trust officer. His experience also includes serving as vice president and trust officer for SunTrust Bank. He launched his career at Provow, Jones and Associates, an insurance and financial planning firm.
Jones has been involved with Destination Rutherford since 2003 and has chaired the economic development initiative since 2007. He is chairman of the Rutherford County Industrial Development Board and Christy-Houston Foundation. He serves as director for the MTSU Jones College of Business and previously served on the board of directors for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital.
In 2012, he was named the Middle Tennessee Medical Center (now Saint thomas Rutherford Hospital) Foundation’s Philanthropist of the Year. He and wife Kathy were honored in in 2012 with the MTSU Jones College of Business Exemplar Award and in 2013 with YMCA of Rutherford County’s Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Jones is a graduate of MTSU, Southern Trust School at Birmingham-Southern University, and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. He and Kathy have two children, Alison and Sutton.
John Black began his career with the Smyrna / Rutherford County Airport Authority in 1991. During his tenure, the Airport Authority has invested over $127 million dollars into the airport and twice garnered the State of Tennessee’s Airport of the Year Award. Black is a recipient of the coveted Airport Manager of the Year award for the Federal Aviation Administration Southern Region.
He is the immediate past president of the Smyrna Rotary Club, has served as an aerospace adjunct faculty member in the Middle Tennessee State University graduate studies program since 2001, and serves on the board of directors for TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center. He is the past president of Arnold Community Council, and previously served on the board of directors for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of Leadership Middle Tennessee and Leadership Rutherford, which honored him in 2015 with the organization’s Pinnacle Award.
Black earned a bachelor’s degree in aviation management and master’s degree in aerospace from MTSU. He and wife Libby have two children, Chelsea and Austin, both MTSU graduates.
The Business at its Best celebration will take place at 11:30 a.m. Reservations are $40 for Chamber members and $65 for non-members. To reserve a seat, please contact the Chamber at 615-893-6565 or visit www.rutherfordchamber.org.
The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, which includes the Convention & Visitors Bureau, Destination Rutherford, Economic Development, Workforce Development and the Business Education Partnership, seeks to promote economic development and a quality of life to benefit all residents of Rutherford County. Programs, events and services are offered to both its nearly 1,600 member organizations and non-members. The Chamber operates out of a main office on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro, and has branch offices in Smyrna, La Vergne and Eagleville. Learn more at www.rutherfordchamber.org.