Staff & Directors

Dr. Bridget Jones: Executive Director
Email: bridget@cumberlandregiontomorrow.org
Office Phone: 615.986.2699

Dr. Bridget Jones is an economic and community development and higher education professional. She has lead major regional and community-level initiatives and projects across Middle Tennessee. Bridget’s work has focused on effective use of collaborative vision and effort along with proactive project management strategies toward complex solutions to community and economic development problems through her career.Prior to joining Cumberland Region Tomorrow in mid-2003, Bridget worked with the South Central Tennessee Development District, Columbia Main Street Corporation and Columbia State Community College in various executive and project leadership positions, including Executive Direction of Downtown revitalization Programs, Regional JTPA/Workforce Development Grant Programs and Regional Rural Community Development -Community College Site Creation in multiple communities throughout South Central Middle Tennessee.Dr. Jones is a native Middle Tennessean and holds degrees from the University of Memphis, Vanderbilt University and the University of Louisville. She has completed numerous publications and presentations relating to her career experience and interests including the Cumberland Region Tomorrow Report to the Region…Continuing the Discussion (2003), Quality Growth Toolbox (2006) and GIS Greenprint Tools for Quality Growth (2009). She received the first William McCulley Award for Excellence in Research from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for her dissertation research entitled The Role of Tennessee Community Colleges in Economic Development in 2001 .Dr. Jones is past-Chair of Columbia Main Street Corporation, a founding Board Member of Maury Vision 20-20, a graduate of Leadership Maury and Leadership Middle Tennessee Class of 2005 and past-Member of the Southern Growth Policy Board – Global Strategies Council. She is a Visiting Lecturer with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Lipscomb University Institute of Sustainable Practice. Bridget currently serves on the Boards of the Natchez Trace Parkway Association and Smart Growth America.

Kasey Talbott: Program Director
Email: kasey@cumberlandregiontomorrow.org
Office Phone: 615.986.2698

Kasey was born and raised on a farm in Blount County, Tennessee and now calls Middle Tennessee home. He brings a unique set of skills from his former experiences working for the Tennessee Titans, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, and singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett. In addition, Kasey holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications from Middle Tennessee State University and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of Memphis. Kasey serves as the lead in CRT’s community relations efforts in addition to wearing various hats within CRT’s scope of work: project management, research, fundraising, grant writing, and community planning and consulting.

Liz Gatlin: Director of Web Development and Technology
Email: liz@cumberlandregiontomorrow.org
Office Phone: 615.986.2697

Liz Gatlin comes to CRT with a Bachelor’s of Architecture from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a strong background in graphic design and information technology. Having an interest in Quality Growth Principles and experience in Transit Oriented Development planning she joined CRT to help better implement online communication strategies and outreach initiatives. She works with many different programs and online tools to provide technology assistance for CRT’s varying roles in the region. Liz grew up in Nashville, TN and currently lives in the five-points area with her husband. She is an active participant in her community and professional organizations and hopes to watch Middle Tennessee grow in a positive way through her work.

Dustin Shane- Intern

Dustin Shane has served as an intern with the National Trust Main Street Center and Cumberland Region Tomorrow. He has a B.S. in Urban Studies from Tennessee State University. His interests include architecture, historic preservation, and landscape design.

Officers

Marion Fowlkes: Co-Chair
Marion Fowlkes is president of Centric Architecture. Centric shares a firm wide passion for innovative and sustainable design solutions addressing the needs of Middle Tennessee Communities. Centric places Clients in the center of the practice, and pushes to develop relevant and inspiring design-centric solutions. The firm’s diversified list of clients – educational, religious, financial and corporate – is as detailed as its list of major projects. Marion includes in that list these Nashville projects: Saint Cecilia Motherhouse and Convent, the Tennessee State Capitol, Cathedral of the Incarnation and Tennessee Banker’s Association Headquarters a LEED Certified project and numerous commissions with the Tennessee Board of Regents.

Marion received a BS in Engineering Technology from University of Memphis before earning a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute in NY. He recently served as a Director on the AIA National Board representing Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. He serves on advisory boards to the UT College of Architecture and Design and the University of Hawaii College of Architecture. Marion is Chair of the 2011 AIA National Convention in New Orleans where the theme’s focus is Regional Design.

Marion is active in the Rotary Club of Nashville, Leadership Nashville, Leadership Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Chamber and the Kingston Springs’ Planning Commission. He is a founding director of Cumberland Region Tomorrow and serves as Board Co-Chair.

John L. Batey: Co-Chair

John L. Batey Jr. is a sixth generation farmer in Rutherford County and currently presides as President of Rutherford County Consolidated Utility District. He is a Board Member and Past President of the Rutherford County Farm Bureau; a Committee Member of the Tennessee State Committee for USDA Farm Service Agency; a member of Blackman United Methodist Church; a member and Past President of the Blackman Community Club; and a Committee Member of the Citizen Advisory Committee for Blackman Community Land Use Plan.

John received B.S. in Agriculture Business in 1974 from Middle Tennessee State University. He is married to Melissa Weatherford Batey and has three children.

Gary Scott: Vice-Chair

Mr. Scott, former chairman and CEO of Mid-America Bancshares and PrimeTrust Bank, has more than 30 years of financial services experience. Prior to starting PrimeTrust Bank in 2001, Mr. Scott served as a senior vice president at First American National Bank. Mr. Scott started his career in the Management Training program at Third National Bank and then moved to Cheatham State Bank in 1973, initially as executive vice president and then as chairman, president and CEO from 1986-1998. While at Cheatham State Bank, he attended both the Tennessee School of Banking at Vanderbilt University and the Graduate School of Banking of the South at LSU. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Austin Peay University in 1971.

Mr. Scott has held numerous leadership positions with the American Bankers Association and the Tennessee Bankers Association. He received the Tennessee Bankers Association “Leader in Banking Excellence” award in 2007.

He has also served in many community and business leadership roles, including director for CSB Financial Corporation, Plateau Group Inc., Plateau Insurance Company and Delta Dental Plan of Tennessee.

John McDearman: Treasurer

John McDearman III is Vice-President of Wilson Bank & Trust in Lebanon, Tennessee since 1998. Before coming to Lebanon, he served as Assistant Vice-President at Bank of America in Chattanooga from 1994 to 1998.

He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Lebanon/Wilson County Chamber of Commerce and the Lebanon Rotary Club. He is President of Empower Me Day Camp and a graduate of Leadership Wilson. He is active in fundraising for Boy Scouts of America, American Heart Association and United Way and is a member of Lebanon First Methodist Church. He received the 2001 Community Service Award from the Lebanon Jaycees and the 2000 Sales Person of the Year from Wilson Bank & Trust.

He holds graduate degree in banking from Louisiana State University and a B.S. in Biology from Tennessee Technological University.

Margot Fosnes: Secretary

Margot Fosnes is the executive director of the Robertson County Chamber of Commerce. She has had a long-time association with the Chamber, serving on the Board and Executive Committee for eight years and as president of the Chamber in 2001-02. Among her responsibilities as chamber director, Fosnes is the primary contact for economic development and business retention for Robertson County, working with city and county officials and industrial boards to recruit and retain industry and business to Robertson County. In her role as a chamber executive and before, as a volunteer, Fosnes has worked to move Robertson County towards the creation of a comprehensive growth plan which will help preserve the small town character of the county’s communities and protect the rich agricultural resources that are such an important part f the county’s economic vitality and tradition. Fosnes served as co-chair of the team which planned and executed a community-wide charette in 2007 which brought more than 200 community members together over two days to create a vision for the future growth and development of Robertson County. The responses gathered from this visioning process clearly identified the community’s desire for a plan to preserve the Robertson County way of life.

Fosnes was born in Jacksonville, Florida and came to Tennessee in 1975 to continue her education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She received a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Vanderbilt in 1979. She received the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1983. She and her husband, Dr. Jeff Fosnes, moved to Springfield in 1989 where he began a family medicine practice. They reside on a small farm near Cross Plains, where they have continued to cultivate a love of the land and the preservation of open spaces.

Directors and Affiliations

John L. Batey: Farmer, Batey Farms
Stephen Betts: Engineer/Attorney, S.C. Betts
Julian Bibb: Attorney, Stites & Harbison PLLC
Charles Bone: Chairman, Bone McAllester Norton PLLC*
Jeff Carr: Former Vice-Chancellor, Vanderbilt University
James Chavez: President, Clarksville Montgomery County Economic Development Council
Everett Cowan: CEO, AE Guidance, LLC.*
Laurel Creech: Chief Service Officer, Mayor’s Office Metro Government
Jim Durrett: V.P. Business Development, First Federal Savings Bank
Joe Elliot: Principal, Robert Elliott & Sons Angus
DeWitt Ezell: Former CEO, Bellsouth
Margot Fosnes: Executive Director, Robertson County Chamber of Commerce*
Marion Fowlkes: Principal, Centric Architecture*
Phyllis Freeman: Junior Ph.D., Fisk University
Kay Gaston: Historian
Tim Hall: President, Austin Peay State University
Sam Hatcher: President & Editor, Main Street Media. Wilson Post*
Gary Hawkins: Principal, Hawkins Partners Inc.
Clay Haynes: Realtor, Haynes Realtors
Stan King: Executive Vice President, Florence & Hutcheson
Lane Lyle: Principal, Lyle Cook Martin Architects
Bert Mathews: President, The Mathews Company
Jere McCulloch: Principal, Rochelle, McCulloch & Aulds PLLC
John McDearman, III: SVP-Central Division Main Office, Wilson Bank & Trust*
Reggie Mudd: Downtown Developer, Mudd Properties
Robert Murphy: Principal, RPM Transportation Consultants
Darwin Newton: Program Manager, NRCS*
Trent Ogilvie: Executive Director/CEO, Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Corporation
Marian Ott: Board Member, RTA
Sally Palmer: Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy
Allen Patton: President and Chief Manager, CPS Land, LLC
Brenda Payne: Executive Director, Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce*
Mary Pearce: Executive Director, Heritage Foundation Franklin and Williamson County
Joe Pearson: Chief Administrative Officer, TN Farm Bureau Federation
Pettus Read: Director of Communications, Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation
Lynnisse Roehrich-Patrick: Associate Executive Director, TN Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations*
Steve Schroeder:Member, Rutherford Neighborhood Alliance
Gary Scott: Area Chairman, Pinnacle Financial Partners*
Ann Shayne: The Shayne Foundation
Keith Simmons: Managing Partner, Bass, Berry & Sims PLC
Fleming Smith: Principal, Smith Gee Studio, LLC
John Stern: Citizen Planner, Community Benefits Group
Seab Tuck: Principal, Tuck Hinton Architects
Steve Turner: Principal, Market Street Enterprises
Jack Turner: Principal, Jack B. Turner & Associates*
Eleanor Willis: Executive Director, Friends of Warner Parks*
Randy Wilmore: Chief Executive Officer, Family Health Group
John Wingo: Attorney, Stites & Harbison PLLC