New inductees named for Nashville Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame
The Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC) has announced its new inductees to be welcomed into the “Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame” during the 2022 “NEXT Awards” October 24 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
This year’s class includes:
- André Prince is owner of the legendary Nashville hot chicken shack, Prince’s Hot Chicken, which her family founded and has been serving Nashville for nearly a century. Since taking the reins from her uncle in 1980, Prince has transformed one of Nashville’s historic restaurants into a must-visit destination in Tennessee for all locals and tourists.
- Amy Kurland, who was born in Oklahoma and raised in Nashville with parents trained in music and theater, set out on her own journey to learn culinary arts and founded Nashville’s iconic Bluebird Café in 1982. Four decades later, it is one of the most sought-after outlets in Nashville for talented songwriters and artists to debut new material and earn new fans.
- Mike Shmerling, a native Nashvillian, began his career in 1977 in accounting at the Nashville office of Ernst & Ernst CPAs. Following 17 years of success in public accounting, he dove into entrepreneurship where he founded or co-founded 11 businesses, four of which were ultimately sold to publicly traded companies. Additionally, he was part of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Partnership 2010 initiative that ultimately created and launched the EC to become the front door for entrepreneurs aspiring to create companies in Nashville. Today, he serves as Chairman of private equity firm Clearbook Holdings Corp., formerly known as XMi Holdings, Inc.
- Steve Turner is the founder of MarketStreet Equities Company, an investment firm with diversified holdings in real estate and wetlands mitigation environmental preservation. After moving to Nashville from Kentucky in 1986, Turner and his wife quickly became active in civic and cultural initiatives including interests in urban revitalization. Through Turner’s leadership in urban revitalization, MarketStreet Equities formed the Nashville Urban Venture partnership which spearheaded the development of The Gulch, one of Nashville’s most vibrant urban districts, known for its dining, entertainment, and shops.
