Every year the Tennessee Society of CPAs recognizes outstanding individuals for their performance and dedication. The Discussion Leader Award recognizes the top continuing professional education discussion leaders who receive the highest average evaluations in a given year. Recipients must be TSCPA members with an evaluation score of at least 4.75 out of a possible score of 5 in the previous year.

Made in Tennessee: Corsair Artisan Spirits – Raise a glass to Nashville’s newest whiskey

By Carrington Fox

It’s a new era in the world of Tennessee sipping whiskey. “There used to be only Jack (Daniel) and George (Dickel) – now there’s also Darek, Amy Lee, and Andrew,” says Corsair Artisan Distillery cofounder Darek Bell.

Last year Darek and his partners, Amy Lee Bell and Andrew Webber jumped on a change in Tennessee’s liquor laws that made it easier to distill spirits legally in the state. They already owned a distillery in Bowling Green, Kentucky (which still makes gin, vodka, rum, and absinthe), and moved the whiskey and moonshine-making part of the business – lock, stock, and barrels – to Nashville.

Their Corsair Artisan Distillery also brought changes to the former Marathon Motor Works automobile factory at 1200 Clinton Street in Midtown. The renovated factory had been home to the Yazoo Brewing Company, which relocated to a larger facility five minutes away on Division Street.

In the former car factory the partners now create batches of whiskey in a salvaged 240-gallon still that predates Prohibition – but their products are purely for the 21st century. Offerings include Wry Moon, a sort of legal white lightning that delivers the peppery spice of traditional rye in a clear, unaged whiskey, and a Pumpkin Spic Moonshine, a clear whiskey infused with ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and pumpkin. The partners also plan to continue small batches of experimental recipes – one under development involves using persimmon and sassafras.

Having trained at Bruichladdich Distilling Academy in Scotland, Darek was living in Manhattan when he met some fellow brewing hobbyists dabbling in unaged spirits. “These guys were from Brooklyn, and making moonshine,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘I’m the Southerner here, I should be doing that.”

With their whiskey operation fully underway, Darek, Andrew, and Amy Lee invite visitors to tour the distillery. They also run the Corsair Artisan Brewery Taproom, serving craft beers from around the country. As Darek explains, “Beer is just whiskey that hasn’t reached its full potential.”

Corsair Artisan Distillery

1200 Clinton Street, #110

Nashville, Tennessee 37203

615.915.2403

www.corsairartisan.com

To assemble their list, they began with a list of several dozen finalists from a variety of sources — nominations from local firms, input from the industry along with a review of which leaders are truly making headlines in the pages of the Business Journal.

Once that list was created, they then reached out to each of the finalists and asked them to vote for their top five choices from that pool. In-firm voting was limited, and finalists could not vote for themselves.

What emerged was a list of 42 accountants making waves in their industry and considered true leaders by their peers.

Here is Robert Davidson’s profile as published in the NBJ:

NBJ: What about your job would surprise people?

RD: In contrast to the standard image of a CPA firm, there is never a dull moment. DGLF has an interesting and challenging client base located in 24 states, from Hawaii to North Carolina. In this economy, our clients are looking for innovative advice and strategies. It is a difficult but exciting time.

NBJ: Who is your professional mentor?

RD: I have had numerous mentors over the years. I am especially grateful for the opportunity I had to work with James Wright, Don Dean and William Somers – all three have passed away. They taught me a great deal about business and life.

NBJ: If you could make one regulatory change, what would it be and why?

RD: The tax code should be changed to allow all corporations and partnerships to have more flexibility in selecting tax year ends other than Dec. 31. Too many small businesses must select Dec. 31, which is extremely burdensome for CPA firms and certain businesses.

NBJ: What issues are most clients talking to you about right now?

RD: The economy; most of our clients are in the construction and real estate businesses and have been hit hard by the recession. We are working with our clients to not only survive the recession, but emerge stronger than ever.

Anderson Moore, based in Lake Park, Florida, ranked 82nd (up from 89th last year) and Kaufman Lynn of Boca Raton, Florida moved up from 116 in 2010 to 96 this year.

Click here for the complete list of finalists.

Forbes ranked the country’s 52 largest metro areas (those with populations exceeding 1 million) based on various data indicating past, present and future vitality. Job growth accounted for roughly one-third of score and the other two-thirds consisted of a broad range of demographic factors. Nashville ranked 3rd and Orlando followed closely at 10th.

Here’s what they had to say about our great cities:

Nashville - The country music capital, with its low housing prices and pro-business environment, has experienced rapid growth in educated migrants, where it ranks an impressive fourth in terms of percentage growth. New ethnic groups, such as Latinos and Asians, have doubled in size over the past decade. Two advantages Nashville possesses are a mild climate and smaller scale. Even with population growth, it does not suffer the persistent transportation bottlenecks that strangle the older growth hubs. At the same time, this city is building the infrastructure — roads, cultural institutions and airports — critical to future growth.

Orlando - Our other two top ten, No. 9 Phoenix, Ariz., and No. 10 Orlando, Fla., have not done well in the recession, but both still have more jobs now than in 2000. Their demographics remain surprisingly robust. Despite some anti-immigrant agitation by local politicians, immigrants still seem to be flocking to both of these states. Known better s as retirement havens, their ranks of children and families have surged over the past decade. Warm weather, pro-business environments and, most critically, a large supply of affordable housing should allow these regions to grow, if not in the overheated fashion of the past, at rates both steadier and more sustainable.

Click here for the full article.

The award recognized the successful rehabilitation of six existing United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA RD) financed properties throughout the State of Ohio and The Woda Group’s commitment to building quality affordable housing.

“We are very excited about the success of this project. Preserving 188 units of Ohio’s affordable housing stock was very important to us. We wouldn’t have been able to complete this complicated transaction without a great deal of help and cooperation from all parties involved,” said Ian Maute, Vice President of The Woda Group LLC.

Key Bank, Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, Fifth Third Bank, Huntington National Bank, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, and the United States Department of Agriculture each provided debt or equity financing for the project.

Development costs totaled $16.8 million dollars and include the rehabilitation of four family and two senior projects totaling 188 units. The 188 housing units preserved included 164 units with rental assistance provided by USDA RD. The Woda Group, LLC used a variety of funding sources to complete the transaction including USDA RD 515 debt, Tax Credit Equity, Housing Development Assistance Program and Financial Adjustment Factor loans from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, tax-exempt bonds, and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

“The Governor’s Awards for Historic Preservation give us an opportunity to recognize some of the people behind the projects that are making a difference in Michigan,” said Gary Heidel, Executive Director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, in a written report.

Sycamore House and six other projects were chosen for the award which recognizes homeowners that rehabilitate their homes, developers who transform underutilized historic structures into vital economic assets, academic institutions, archaeologists, nonprofits, and local governments, among others who strive to preserve Michigan’s important historic and cultural resources.

“We were very pleased to receive the coveted “Governor’s award” for the historic preservation of Sycamore House. While The Woda Group and their architects were honored at the Capitol building, we believe the award is the direct result of the unfailing support we have received from the City of Durand, Shiawassee County and the people of Durand and the region,” said Craig Patterson, Vice President of Development for The Woda Group, LLC.

Sycamore House is located within walking distance of downtown Durand on a square parcel called “the Hub,” At the HUB, four diagonal streets converge on the site. Concrete sidewalks ring the entire site and extend out to the tree-lined streets. Prior to construction the building was deteriorating at a rapid rate and an increasing eye-sore within the community.

In order to maintain the historic nature of the building, The Woda Group restored the interior woodwork, terrazzo flooring, chalkboards and more. The exterior brick and limestone were also restored. The total costs of renovations were approximately $10 million dollars and resulted in a total economic impact of $34.8 million.

The 2010 award winners were announced at the NAPA 56^th Annual Meeting in Orlando at the Waldorf Astoria on February 9, 2011.

Congratulations to the following DGL clients that won NAPA awards:

Outstanding Website Award

Herman Grant Company, Inc. of Chattanooga, Tennessee – designed by Paula Grant Shuford, the company President

Paula Grant Shuford receiving NAPA's Outstanding Website Award for her interactive design.

Quality in Airport Construction Award

Jas. W. Glover, Ltd., Honolulu, Hawaii – Honolulu International Airport Taxiway B Pavement

Quality in General Paving Awards

Jas. W. Glover, Ltd., Honolulu, Hawaii – Wal-Mart Milliani Capital Improvements

Jas. W. Glover, Ltd., Honolulu, Hawaii – Honolulu Street Rehabilitation Project

Summers Taylor, Inc., Elizabethton, Tennessee – Asphalt Paving – Tennessee DOT Interstate I-81

Quality in Highway Paving Award (over 50,000 tons category)

Haskell Lemon Construction Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Asphalt Paving – OK DOT Highway 51 and Interstate I-35