BusinessTN

"NBT, led by Thurmond and CEO Tom Stumb, is a full-service bank and wealth management company. Started with $20 million from individual private investors in 2004, the bank now boasts over $200 million in managed assets and ranks among the nation's fastest-growing trust departments. NBT attributes much of its success to general market conditions in which top bankers and wealth management professionals and their clients have grown increasingly disenchanted with large regional banks."

"Navarro is a federal contractor providing environmental services, renewable energy and energy efficiency; nuclear, national security and emergency management; and quality and safety services. The company has grown to over 300 employees working in 14 offices and 23 project locations. Increased growth in the energy sector bodes well for Navarro."

"Each hour, 330 baby boomers turn 60 years old. Many of these leading-edge boomers own businesses/companies and plan to exit over the next five years. Regional and independent, boutique investment banking firm NorthShore intends to capitalize as it provides financial advisory services to middle-market companies seeking guidance on buy/sell opportunities, mergers and acquisitions, valuations, joint partnerships, debt placement and financial restructuring."

"Marketing executives are shifting their advertising spending from traditional to online media. n-tara, an interactive media development firm, began in 1999 as the brainchild of three then-faculty members of East Tennessee State University teaching in the Digital Animation Lab. n-tara's sales enablement tools created for Xerox recently won ""Best of Show"" at the 2008 Horizon Interactive Awards (considered the ""Oscars"" of interactive international competition), beating out the biggest agencies around the globe and some of the world's most recognizable brands, including Mercedes Benz and Burger King."

"Hospitals incurred about $40 billion in bad debt in 2006 as the number of uninsured patients continued to rise and the effects of consumer-driven health care increased the co-pays and deductibles of the insured. nTelagent, a next-generation revenue cycle company whose investors include former Province Healthcare CEO Marty Rash, has developed a proprietary technology platform that, for providers, improves upfront and overall cash flow, receivables and profitability by reducing bad debt and improving the revenue cycle process for self-pay patients."

"OHL is one of the largest third-party logistics companies in the world. The company provides supply chain management solutions including international and domestic transportation, warehousing, customs brokerage, freight forwarding, and import and export consulting services. The 5,700-employee company operates over 120 distribution centers and serves the electronic and high-tech, apparel, consumer products, food and beverage, specialty retail and industrial industries (among others)."

"Against the backdrop of current high energy prices, energy exploration and production company Orea has in recent years drilled 11 oil and gas wells in the Morgan County area and has commitments to drill 60 more, including current funding (as of May) for 10 new wells. Oil and gas infrastructure in Tennessee has been weak, a trend Orea is turning around as it brings oil and gas workers back to work in Tennessee from neighboring states. Given the United States' continued push to reduce dependence on foreign oil, Orea is well-positioned to benefit."

"Founded by Gaushell and friends working at an architectural firm to provide 3-D computer graphics and animation services, Paradigm is a specialist in marketing services for real estate, design, aviation, manufacturing and institutional clients. An example project is a video production that includes a virtual tour of a space well before it is built or showcases a product or procedure such as hip replacement. Paradigm was recently awarded illustration services projects for developments in North Africa and Nicaragua. The company enjoys a working relationship with Nashville's Earl Swensson Associates."

"More than 1,500 hospitals and 2,800 physician offices and other facilities in all 50 states use Passport's products and services to get information (co-pay levels, physician referrals, etc.) from insurance companies and other data sources. In 2007, the nearly 200-person company processed more than 100 million transactions through its array of revenue cycle solutions. Passport recently acquired a 100-employee, 2,500-customer Illinois company, completed $144 million in financing from Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group to fuel growth and snagged two new majority owners through a $232 million equity infusion."

"PlayCore designs, makes and markets a broad range of commercial and consumer playground and park equipment, surfacing, and related play products, operating under the commercial brand names of GameTime and Play and Park Structures. If your child is playing on a playground, there's a good chance PlayCore made it. The company recently acquired Everlast Climbing Industries, a Minnesota company that produces climbing walls—PlayCore's third acquisition this year."

An aging baby boomer population is increasing the need for drugs. Sales of oncology drugs are expected to grow at nearly double the forecasted growth rate of the global pharmaceutical market. This has amplified the demand for clinical trials and put more importance on the time it takes to get these drugs to market. Praxis is the only company in Tennessee that solely recruits patients for clinical trials for big pharmaceutical clients. Praxis expects more growth as an increasing number of trials are conducted overseas.

"PureSafety was started as a direct result of the first and only fatal accident that occurred at Thompson Machinery Commerce Corp. In response, management seeded and launched an Internet-based application in 1998 to more effectively deliver, track, manage and report on its compliance-based safety training initiatives for its eleven locations. The principals at Thompson recognized the application had broader commercial appeal beyond heavy equipment dealers. Today, that spin-off, PureSafety, serves over 1,000 customers in over 20 major industry sectors."

REG can handle everything associated with the presentation of business theater and live entertainment. Since 2004, REG has booked and produced thousands of events, working with such household names as Elton John, James Taylor, Harry Connick Jr. and Charlie Daniels. REG clients include Memphis companies such as the Peabody Hotel Group, the Memphis Grizzlies and Medtronic. Stovall chairs the International Association of Corporate Entertainment Producers.

"Launched in December 2000, RFD-TV is the nation's first 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week television network dedicated to serving the needs and interests of rural America. Programming includes shows focused on agricultural, equine, and rural lifestyles, as well as traditional music offerings, with stars like Don Imus and Crook & Chase also offered. RFD-TV recently struck a deal with fellow Nashville business Gaylord Entertainment to re-broadcast episodes of Hee Haw in order. Currently, RFD-TV is distributed in over 32 million homes in all 50 states. Other units include RFD HD (launched in December 2007) RFD-TV magazine and RFD-TV the Theatre, which opened last year in Branson, Mo."

"Knoxville is the nation's fourth largest cable television production market, largely due to Ross Bagwell Sr., founder of the studios that became both Scripps Howard and RIVR Media. Today, Bagwell's daughter, Dee Bagwell Haslam, along with her business partner Rob Lundgren, runs one of America's largest independent production companies, with particular expertise in the reality, how-to, home improvement, lifestyle and documentary genres—all red-hot forms of entertainment. (See cover story.)"

"Rustici Software, founded to provide custom software development services, quickly discovered there was an unserved market niche helping Web-based training companies adhere to a standard called SCORM, or Sharable Content Object Reference Model, a specification that comes out of the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. SCORM is a collection of standards and specifications for Web-based e-learning that defines communication between client-side content and a host system called the run-time environment. SCORM also defines how content may be packaged into a transferable ZIP file."