Rutherford County Chamber Announces Distinguished Award Recipients

The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce has named Lee Moss as the 2019 Business Legend of the Year, Deb Thompson as the 2019 Business Person of the Year and Shane Reeves as recipient of the Leadership Rutherford 2019 Pinnacle Award. These three honorees will be recognized at the Chamber’s annual Business at its Best celebration on Tuesday, February 4, at Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel & Conference Center.

2019 Business Legend of the Year – Lee Moss
Lee Moss serves as president of Franklin Synergy Bank and Franklin Financial Corp., having previously served as chairman & CEO of MidSouth Bank in Murfreesboro prior to their banks’ merger in 2014. Moss formerly served 28 years with SunTrust Bank in Nashville, most recently as president in Rutherford County. Moss graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1973 with a B.S. degree in Business Administration majoring in Banking, having also graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at LSU and the National Commercial Lending School.

He is very active in the Middle Tennessee community, currently serving as board chairman of Ascension St. Thomas Health for Tennessee, immediate past chairman of the Tennessee Bankers Association, and as a board member of the Business Education Partnership and the Jennings Jones Foundation. Moss previously served as chairman of the following boards: St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital, Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties board and campaign chairman, Discovery Center in Murfreesboro, Rutherford County American Heart Association, University of Tennessee Davidson County Alumni Association, the Nashville Downtown Optimist Club, national president of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and board member of the MTSU Foundation and MTSU School of Business.

Moss was the 2018 Distinguished FIJI recipient, the Y’s 2012 Humanitarian of the Year, 2006 Chamber Business Person of the Year and 2004 Jennings A. Jones Champion of Free Enterprise from MTSU’s School of Business. He officiated high school basketball in Middle Tennessee for over twenty-five years and twice officiated the State Tournament in Murfreesboro. Moss graduated from Leadership Rutherford in 1996, Leadership Middle Tennessee in 2011, and is active at First United Methodist Church where he has taught the Koinonia Adult Sunday School Class for over 22 years and serves on the Administrative board, having formerly served as chair of the elders at Woodmont Christian Church in Nashville. Over many years, Moss has frequently taught various finance, business and business ethics classes at UT and MTSU. He and his wife Susan have four children: Katherine, Chase, Laura and Robert (deceased), and six grandchildren.

2019 Business Person of the Year – Deb Thompson
Deborah Thompson recently retired from her position of vice president agency-sales for the southeastern market area for State Farm. She was responsible for agents and agency field leadership in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky.

Thompson joined State Farm in 1982 as an agent in Virginia. In 1995, she accepted an opportunity in leadership as an agency field consultant in Raleigh, N.C. In 2000, Thompson was selected as the Agency Field Executive in Eastern N.C. In 2003, she helped start the Developmental Agency Field Office for the Mid-Atlantic Zone and moved to corporate headquarters in 2006.

Thompson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. She served on the board of directors for the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties and Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital. She currently serves on the Middle Tennessee State University Foundation board of trustees.

She and her husband, Roy Snipes, currently reside in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They have three children: Ryan, Patrick and Brennan.

Leadership Rutherford 2019 Pinnacle Award – Shane Reeves
Leadership Rutherford has named Shane Reeves as the 2019 recipient of the Pinnacle Award. Shane Reeves currently serves as Tennessee State Senator for the 14th district.

A graduate of MTSU, Reeves bought into the family pharmaceutical business named Reeves-Sain Family of Medical Services in Rutherford County. In 2015, Reeves and Sain sold their retail and specialty pharmacy, Entrust. Reeves then launched a new pharmacy called TwelveStone Health Partners which focuses on servicing patients with chronic, complex and rare diseases in post-acute care settings.

Reeves is highly active in his community, serving as past chairman for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, past-president of Leadership Rutherford, past board member in Leadership Middle Tennessee and past chairman for Tennessee’s National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) leadership council. Reeves is a 1997 graduate of Leadership Rutherford. In 2005, Shane was honored as Tennessee’s small business champion by NFIB. In 2012, Reeves and his partner Rick Sain were given the prestigious “Business People of the Year” award from the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. He is active in the Blue Raider Athletic Association, Alzheimer’s Association, American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society.

Reeves is very proud to serve as a deacon at the North Blvd. Church of Christ. He and his wife, Amanda, live in Murfreesboro with their three children: Will, Jack and Emma-White.

The three distinguished recipients will be honored at the Chamber’s annual Business at its Best event at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 4, at Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel and Conference Center. Reservations are $50. To reserve a seat, please contact the Chamber at 615-893-6565 or visit www.rutherfordchamber.org.