John Cooper is the ninth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and

Davidson County.

Since taking office in 2019, he has achieved some historic results for residents –

including making Nashville’s teachers the best-paid in Tennessee.

The financial turnaround Mayor Cooper helped engineer has enabled record

neighborhood investments in schools, transportation, and parks.

Meanwhile, Oracle Corporation is investing $1.2 billion and creating 8,500 jobs in

Nashville; the economic development project is unrivaled in the state’s history.

After adopting a Metro Transportation Plan for the first time, Nashville now has a local

Department of Transportation, dedicated entirely to pedestrian safety, neighborhood

infrastructure improvements, and better traffic management.

The city has more than tripled its affordable housing resources, including a first-ever

Metro Housing Division.

Nashville is co-leading a private-public partnership to construct 100 megawatts of local,

utility-scale solar power. Meanwhile, the mayor’s latest capital spending plan creates

60-plus acres of public green space– including a city park in one of the last districts that

still has none.

John Cooper served as an At-Large Member of Metro Council from 2015 to 2019.

He brings more than 30 years of business and financial experience in retail, banking,

and real estate to his leadership. He is the founder of The Heritage at Brentwood, a

large, continuing-care senior living community, and Happy ReTales, a volunteer-

directed, pet products retail store where all profits benefit animal rescue.

Mayor Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s

degree in business from Vanderbilt University.

He was born in Nashville and raised in Shelbyville.

He and his wife, former Constitutional law professor Laura Fitzgerald Cooper, have

three teenage sons and three dogs. They attend Christ Church Cathedral.

Courtney D. Pogue is the Director of Economic Development of City of Dallas, Texas. As the Director, Mr. Pogue oversees a department that fostered more than $300 million in private investment in 2016‐ 17. Additionally, Mr. Pogue manages the following programs for the City of Dallas: tax increment financing, new markets tax credits, Section 380 economic development, tax abatement, and small business development. Prior to joining the City of Dallas, Courtney was the Director of Economic Development for Clayton County, Georgia. As the Director, Mr. Pogue implemented Clayton County’s (population of 280K; home to the world’s busiest airport) 2013 Economic Development Plan, resulting in improvement to County’s overall economic vitality: higher per capita income, reduced unemployment, expansion of the labor force and increased household income. Assessed the viability of potential transactions based on financial feasibility and economic impact modeling.

Brett has over 14 years of experience in the construction industry and focuses particularly on delivering projects via the design-build methodology. He established ARCO/Murray’s Nashville office in 2017 to better serve clients in Middle Tennessee and has managed the completion of millions of SF of warehouse and distribution space in the region to date.

Joining RC Andersen in 2024 as Vice President, Eddie Slay brings with him a proven track record with over 30 years of successful construction projects across Southeastern United States. His experience in cities such as Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, Savannah, Orlando, and Miami provides him with extensive insights into the various site conditions and limitations that can be encountered throughout the region. With this deep understanding of the different markets, Eddie positions himself as a key partner to his clients in their pursuits across the Southeast.

Leveraging his regional expertise, Eddie has developed a reliable network of subcontractors which ensures highly efficient and successful outcomes. Having established strong relationships with clients and subcontractors, along with a reputation as an industry expert, he will lead RC Andersen’s expansion into the Southeastern US market.

Eddie and his wife, Stacey, reside in the Northeast Georgia mountains, where he enjoys outdoor activities, trout fishing, and spending time with his eight grandkids.

Focused on booming multifamily real estate sector

Real estate private equity funds, syndicators, developers, investors, and owner-operators involved in the multifamily real estate sector rely on Philip Head for counsel in transactional matters. Negotiating the complex joint ventures and multi-tiered ownership structures necessary for sophisticated acquisition and financing vehicles, Philip has closed apartment acquisitions, dispositions, and re-financings with an aggregate value in excess of $9.5 billion.

Philip has guided borrowers through the intricacies of financing multifamily properties through the:

Freddie Mac Seller Services Program

Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing product line

HUD/FHA insurance program

In addition to his multifamily experience, Philip assists developers, owners, and tenants in the development and leasing of stand-alone and multi-tenant office, industrial, retail, and healthcare properties.

Mia leads the development of all industrial, multifamily, and mixed-use projects in the Nashville market. Her responsibilities include site selection, contract negotiations, project due diligence, governmental approvals, and predevelopment budgets for land closing. Mia has completed $690 million in transactions in her career and is exclusively focused on growing Pizzuti’s presence in the Nashville market across multiple product types.

Born in California, but today calls Nashville,

Tennessee home, real estate developer Meg Epstein

has over a decade of experience creating efficient,

modern lifestyles for people where it matters most:

their homes and neighborhoods. Developing and

establishing spaces that support whole living and

simplify home and work life for individuals is a

personal passion of hers.

Melissa Alexander, SIOR serves as Senior Vice President for Foundry Commercial. Considered one of the foremost industrial

brokers in Nashville, she leads the Foundry Industrial Brokerage team in her hometown of Nashville, TN. Melissa has more

than 16 years of real estate experience focusing on the leasing, sale and development of industrial properties in Tennessee as

well as across the US.

Melissa got her start in industrial in Memphis, TN where she previously served as Principal of the Cushman & Wakefield

(C&W) affiliate there. She served as the only female partner and only female broker in the firm.

Melissa has a strong business presence locally and online. She is consistently named one of the top Commercial Real Estate

Influencers to follow on Twitter and LinkedIn. In 2018, she launched #CREchat with colleague, Casey Flannery. The monthly

chat hosts Commercial Real Estate thought leaders from across the US and has garnered participation and praise from CRE

professionals, organizations such as CREW, SIOR, Bisnow and CoStar as two women bringing change and innovation to the

industry. The chats have since evolved into a podcast called CREchat Live. Melissa regularly serves as a speaker/panelist for

national conferences and media outlets such as GlobeSt.com, Bisnow, Nashville Business Journal, Arco Murray’s Women in

Construction, CREI, Drastic Summit and Counselors of Real Estate.

Outside of work, you will find Melissa hanging out by a fire pit, watching sports or traveling with her husband, John, and their

two children.

Patrick leads Al. Neyer’s expanding presence in Middle Tennessee. As the Nashville Market Leader, he is responsible for site acquisitions, oversight of our projects through the entire development process, as well as serving our tenants, investment partners, and design-build construction clients. Patrick’s strategic perspective as a real estate attorney adept in the negotiation of purchase agreements and joint ventures, matched with his strong entrepreneurial drive and commitment to client service, make him a crucial asset to the company.