Archive

Charles D.

Charles D. McVean is Chairman and CEO of McVean Trading & Investments, LLC of Memphis, TN. McVean graduated with honors from Vanderbilt University in 1965. He began his trading career in the grain industry, first with Cook Industries of Memphis, TN,

and then with the Lou

GEORGE E.

George Cates’ success stemmed from recognizing the talents of those around him and developing a productive group to make vision become reality. George made a name for himself in the real estate world, beginning with the creation of the Cates Company in 1977. In 1994, the company went public as Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., now MAA on t

Rudi E.

The name Rudi Scheidt is music to the ears of many at the University of Memphis – literally. In June 2000, Rudi and Honey Scheidt gave the largest gift ever in the history of the College of Communication and Fine Arts. Accordingly, the music department was re-named the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, and the gift e

IRA A.

The Memphis business community has benefited from the leadership of Ira A. Lipman for many years. His entrepreneurial spirit led him in 1963 to found Guardsmark, a privately held security firm headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. With Fiscal Year 2014 revenues more than $500 million, Guardsmark currently employs appro

FRED L.

“The risk takers of the world are the people who are most responsible for the innovative progress from which we all benefit.” Fred Davis is undoubtedly one of those people who is not afraid to take risks, and whose efforts have taken him a long way, contributing greatly to the Memphis business community. In 1967, Fred opened Fred Davis Insur

James L.

“The entrepreneur must be someone who would choose to do business with himself.” Jim Vining places a great deal of emphasis on the qualities that make an entrepreneur successful: integrity, hard work, creativity, courage and fairness. He is President and CEO of Vining Sparks, IBG, a general securities firm that he

Herbert S.

“Entrepreneurship is the foundation of the business world.” It can’t be stated more plainly than that, and few could demonstrate it better than S. Herbert Rhea, the 2001 recipient of the Master Entrepreneur Award given annually by the Society of Entrepreneurs to an outstanding member of the business community. Throughout his career, Mr. Rhea

Carlos H.

The ServiceMaster Company was recently named by Fortune as the country’s #1 most admired outsourcing company, and Carlos Cantu who served as the Senior Chairman, earned a great deal of credit for leading the company to where it is today. Carlos joined ServiceMaster in 1986, and he became CEO in 1994. Building upon the original franchise model,

Jabie S.

“Hard work and honesty.” That what he said it takes, and that’s what Jabie Hardin has exemplified throughout his career with Hardin’s-SYSCO, which he founded in 1936 as Hardin Distributing Company. Hardin’s-SYSCO, which in 1972 joined the wholesale food distribution conglomerate known as SYSCO Corp., was originally a two-person operati

Harry J.

The late Harry Phillips was a true pioneer in the modern waste management business. Realizing the efficiencies that could be achieved from consolidating what had historically been a fragmented, mom-and-pop industry under a single corporate roof, Phillips and a few others transformed the waste-disposal business into what it is today: a legitimate