Fletcher Bright sips coffee in his corner office in the downtown Chattanooga building where the Fletcher Bright Co. is headquartered. He recalls the week just completed—teaching young fiddlers at a college in Oregon, his enjoyment of being at the controls of the plane on the flight home—and he reflects on his highly successful career in real estate.
The connections Bright draws between his music and his business wouldn’t surprise the McCallie School mates he joined in forming The Dismembered Tennesseans bluegrass band in 1945 nor the business and political leaders who cut their teeth working with and for him.
“The company never had a firm business plan, where we were going to be in one year, or five years,” Bright says of the company that now dominates the residential real estate market in Chattanooga, manages 140 shopping centers in nine states and operates a mortgage loan unit in Atlanta. “We learned to improvise, to play around the melody or back up the singer. When things come along you respond. You take the opportunities, the same way you would playing music.”
One of the first opportunities for Bright was joining the residential real estate brokerage of his father, Gardner Bright. “You sell a house, or you don’t eat,” he says of that business. “You live by your wits, and it is up to you—you have to self motivate.”
The Davidson College graduate entered the business as his father was expanding beyond selling homes to building “a house or two” along the way for the company to retail, and then as the market grew, allying with builders and selling new construction. After Gardner Bright’s death in 1960, the son took over the business. Sensing a need to expand his knowledge of commercial real estate, Bright went to law school at night, completed the MBA program at what was then the University of Chattanooga, and graduated from appraisal school.
With Jack Martin leading the company’s residential activities and Bob Hill starting its mortgage brokerage, Bright focused on joint ventures with developers and insurance companies. As he learned the commercial business, he began developing on his own.
Bright also found time in the early years to teach real estate courses at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. One of his students was Charles Lebovitz, now chairman and CEO of CBL Properties, the giant, publicly traded shopping center developer. One of Bright’s former commercial real estate salesmen, Zach Wamp, is now a U.S. congressman. And one of his biggest fans is Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker, who met Bright when Corker was starting what would turn out to be a fabulously successful real estate career of his own. “I just beam whenever I see him,” Corker says. “I have never heard anyone say a bad word about Fletcher. He is a true gentleman, a true Jeffersonian man, a businessman with a law degree, a musician. So multifaceted, so multitalented.”
Today, Bright increasingly calls on his musical talents as he gently turns over control of Fletcher Bright Co. to son George. Fifty-four years after its founding, The Dismembered Tennesseans remain one of the area’s most popular bands. The group has played for presidents and governors, recorded several CDs and performed at the Kennedy Center.
“I keep a fiddle over there in the corner of my office,” Bright says, nodding toward the instrument. “When things get complicated or frustrating, I just pick up the fiddle and play. George has a guitar in his office, and if we really get frustrated, we can have a board meeting.”
In the News
Chattanooga—Chattanooga State Technical and Community College has seen enrollment jump 31% over last year as a result of lottery scholarships. Tennessee’s lottery program provides the $1,250 per semester Wilder-Naifeh Grant for state residents enrolled in one of the state’s 28 Technology Centers.
Covista Communications’ operating losses nearly doubled in the three months ended July 31. The Chattanooga-based telephone service provider said it lost $1.15 million, or six cents a share, on revenue of $18.4 million in the most recent fiscal quarter. In the same period a year earlier, Covista lost $885,000, or five cents a share, on revenue of $21.5 million.
Erlanger Hospital, which is under a federal investigation of contracting practices and physician hiring, has seen the hospital’s legal fees jump to a multiple of the hospital’s budgeted figure to $7.5 million. The whopping increase in legal fees is raising eyebrows at the Hamilton County Commission, which provides the hospital some $3 million annually to help offset the hospital’s indigent care costs. Commission chairman Fred Skillern says the legal fees could impact the commission’s handling of future funding requests. The hospital hired a chief legal officer earlier in the year to help lower legal costs. Erlanger is the largest public hospital in Southeast Tennessee and is also associated with the University of Tennessee’s medical school.
NK Lawn and Garden has received permission from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to use its cash collateral to continue operation of its plant and meet payroll for the company’s 114 Chattanooga employees. NK, a 120-year-old seed packaging firm that moved to Chattanooga in 1984, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Sept. 1. In addition to its 114 full-time employees, NK also hires approximately 150 seasonal workers.
Northwest Georgia Bank, already the largest local bank in metro Chattanooga with assets of $467 million, plans to add five branches over the next five years. The bank began in Catoosa County, Ga., expanding into Tennessee two years ago by purchasing the charter of the Bank of Sharon in West Tennessee.
The purchase of WFLI TV, a Warner Brothers television affiliate station in Chattanooga, has been finalized by Des Moines, Iowa-based Meredith Corp. Debra Corson has been named vice president and general manager of the station formerly owned by Chattanooga Broadcasting LP. Meredith owns 13 television stations across the country, including affiliate stations in Atlanta, Nashville and Greenville, S.C.
Cookeville’s Kevin Carter of Budweiser Clarksville/Cookeville and Brad Leimer of J&S Construction, join Jerri Underwood of Parkridge East Hospital and Amy Carter of Parkridge Medical Center on the Board of Examiners of the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence. The TNCPE’s award program annually recognizes organizations demonstrating excellence in business operations and results. TNCPE’s Board of Examiners is composed of experts from all sectors, including business, industry, education and health care organizations, professional and trade associations and government. TNCPE’s award program, established in 1993, is designed to promote economic development by helping companies grow more competitive in today’s global marketplace.
Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey has won Technology 2020’s Vision Award for helping create the Hamilton County Center for Entrepreneurial Growth, which has 20 startup enterprises under its aegis. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has partnered with the center to establish an entrepreneurial training program. The center also has provided support services to the Chattanooga Technology Council. The Technology 2020 project was initiated in 1993 to capitalize on the technological resources of the East Tennessee region. Tech 2020 was one of several regional economic development strategies designed to lessen the region’s dependence on government funding. Future programs and projects will extend from Chattanooga to the Tri-Cities area of Tennessee, a region which some refer to as the East Tennessee Technology Corridor.
Cleveland—Cleveland, Tenn.’s Municipal Planning Commission has given preliminary approval for Mouse Creek Market Place, which could include a Walgreens, an Old Navy retail outlet and branch banks. The 12.3 acre project is inside the boundaries of Paul Huff Parkway, Valley Head Road, Peerless Road, and Mouse Creek Road in north Cleveland. Southmark, the project developers say the project could generate an estimated $23 million in revenue and create approximately 200 full-time jobs.
Cookeville—Denso MFG., Tenn. and the Denso North America Foun- dation completed funding of a $120,000 donation to Tennessee Tech University for the creation of the Denso Vehicle Engineering Center. Situated in a remodeled section of the college’s East Stadium, the student design teams are working on advanced projects, including Mini Baja vehicles and Formula SAE cars. Mini Baja is a design competition where engineering students work as a team in the designing, building and testing of an off-road vehicle capable of negotiating rough terrain. Tennessee Tech ranks as one of the most successful Mini Baja teams in history with two Dayton Cup Championships for best team and 23 Top Five finishes, including 10 first place finishes, against some of the best engineering schools around the world. The Formula SAE competition requires students to design and build a scale version of a Formula One race car. More than 130 universities and colleges, plus major automobile manufacturers, participate in the annual event.
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