Tommy Austein

Larkin Gieringer

Carolyn Smith

Cara Martin

Philip C. Fons

Jordan Melick

Jordan Melick has joined Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. as a managing director for the firm's Fixed Income Banking Group. Melick previously was managing director of the health care finance team of Minneapolis, Minn.-based Piper Jaffray & Co. He began his career in health financing in 1991 at Detroit-based Comerica Bank.

Elizabeth Allen has been named the director of culture, recreation and tourism for the Collierville Chamber of Commerce. For the past year, Allen has worked for the Town of Collierville Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Department as special services coordinator.

Cara Martin recently was named a principal owner of Pickering Inc. Martin has worked in Pickering's Memphis office for more than 12 years serving as a civil design engineer and project manager. Larkin Gieringer was named associate principal owner of the firm. She works in the Memphis office as a civil design engineer and project manager.

John Winchester has joined Commercial Alliance Management LLC as property manager. He previously was employed with Clean Play Inc. as general manager.

Melissa Alexander has joined Commercial Advisors LLC as marketing director. She previously worked for SPEAK! Creative as marketing director. Alexander serves on the board of directors for the Memphis Advertising Federation.

Sylvester Fulton has been named 2006 Big Brother of the Year by Big Brothers Big Sisters. Fulton is an associate command and control analyst at FedEx Corp. He has been an employee of FedEx for 23 years. Fulton has mentored his Little Brother, Jeremy Moore, for more than four years.

Marc Wright has joined SSR Ellers Inc. as computer aided design and drafting (CADD) technician. Wright previously worked as senior CADD designer for Spirco Manufacturing. He also has worked as a CADD instructor for Vatterott College.

Tommy Austein, owner of Dingo Entertainment, has been voted "Mobile DJ of The Year for 2005" by the Mid-South Disc Jockey Association. Austein recently was voted onto the board of directors for the local chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE). He also is co-chairman of the Memphis Area Band Association (MABA).

Carolyn Smith has joined Weichert, Realtors-Chapman & Associates as a residential/investment property specialist. She has seven years of real estate sales experience.

Philip C. Fons has been named head of BankTennessee's new Private Banking Division. Fons is a member of the bank's board of directors and previously held the role of chief operating officer/chief credit officer with the bank.

The National Association of Women has announced the following newly elected officers: Jill Rayman, president; Karen Dexter, vice president; Sandra Pitts, secretary; Brenda Qualls, treasurer; and Delcie Duncan, corresponding secretary. Members of the board include Brandy Faust, Sarita Copeland, Patti Harman and Annie Montgomery.

Answering Advantage LLC has been presented the 2006 Award of Excellence by the Association of TeleServices International (ATSI). Answering Advantage was presented the award at ATSI's annual convention held in Portland, Maine. The call center also won the award in 2004.

Rhodes College announced that the following alumni will be inducted into the Rhodes Athletic Hall of Fame: Will Rhea Winfrey, Bill Carrell, Robert Echols, Mallory Chamberlin, Susan Clark, Carl Hill and Mike Gonda. Also being honored is the 1961 Lynx baseball team, which won the NCAA Collegiate Baseball National Championship and the record-setting 1947 mile relay team.

Brigita Rasys has been promoted to senior director of strategic marketing and development for Inventory Locator Service (ILS). Rasys previously served as business development director for the Government Marketplace division at ILS for two years.

Dr. William M. Locante has received an invitation from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) to join a 10-day teaching symposium in New Delhi and Chennai, India. The mission will be to teach Indian dentists how to perform implant surgery and the science behind the treatment. Locante is a cosmetic and implant dentist at the Southern Dental Implant Center in Cordova.

The Professional Insurance Agents of Tennessee announced the following new board members: Barry L. Wilson, president of Mid-South Insurance Office Inc. and W. Herbert Montgomery, agent with Clay and Land Insurance Agency Inc. George Hilliard, president of Pete Mitchell & Associates Inc., is immediate past president of the organization.

Running Pony Productions has won five national Telly Awards for video and film production. Running Pony won bronze awards for videos produced for the University of Memphis, Children's Museum of Memphis, Baptist Memorial Health Care, the Memphis Zoo and St. Mary's Episcopal School.