Congratulations to the 2024 Murfreesboro Technology Council Awards Winners!

We’re excited to announce the 2024 winners who have demonstrated outstanding dedication and innovation in the Middle Tennessee tech community. These leaders and companies are shaping the future of technology, and we are proud to recognize them for their achievements at MTC’s first awards gala!

United Communications is a leading provider of internet and phone services to enterprise-class businesses and residential customers in Middle Tennessee.

United has been nationally and regionally recognized, including 2023 Top 100 Fiber-To-The-Home Leader, 2023 Torch Award from the BBB, 2023 Best Places To Work from Nashville Business Journal, a Smart Rural Community Provider℠, “Fastest Internet Service Provider” by BroadbandNow, and 2021 Broadband Communities Cornerstone Award.

It operates more than 3,600 route miles of fiber covering portions of Bedford, Davidson, Franklin, Marshall, Maury, Rutherford, Williamson, and Wilson counties. United Communications is a service of Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation.

https://united.net/

Holly Rachel is a seasoned executive, educator and entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience. Rachel began her career at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as a special agent. During her three-year tenure, she also held roles as a forensic scientist and data analyst.

In 2017, Rachel and friend Lena Winfree, who co-founded the Data Science Institute at Meharry Medical School, launched Rachel & Winfree, a technology consulting firm specializing in helping small-to-midsize businesses strategically scale with data. Since then, the two have consulted with more than 30 companies across the globe.

In addition to her business and non-profit work, Lena is an active part of the Nashville tech community. Lena dedicates her time to serving on the Women in Technology Tennessee (WiTT), the Nashville Technology Council (NTC) executive board, and the Nashville Technology Council’s Education Committee. She also served on the steering committee for the Nashville Analytics Summit for the past two years. Lena was awarded the “Women of Influence” (2023) for the greater Nashville area.

Lena launched LocalTek-Thrive, a technology education initiative that aims to diversify the tech talent pipeline by providing Nashville high school students with opportunities to receive hands-on tech education, college credit, and industry certifications that prepare them to join Nashville’s rapidly growing tech workforce.

A successful developer in Murfreesboro, Scott recognized an unmet need in his hometown. He teamed up with longtime friend Jon Hoscheit and daughter Julia to totally re-imagine what a data center could be. Blessed with a relative ignorance of the “accepted” way of building a data center, and a propensity to question everything, Scott assembled an inquisitive team of engineers who were willing to think outside the box and brainstorm every aspect of what it takes to keep data safe.

After three years of design and multiple iterations, this team grew to over a dozen engineers, consultants, and top experts in networking and power distribution. And they ended up with an elegantly simple but robust data center that opened to its first clients in early 2018.

Scott’s passion is building businesses with fresh approaches, solid processes, and a distinct culture that produces an unparalleled client experience. Data Suites is the latest in a string of businesses that have broken the mold in their respective industries.

https://mydatasuites.com/about/

Andy Flatt has over 40 years of experience with healthcare companies, from startup to growth to Fortune 500. In addition to his current role as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of National HealthCare Corporation, he has served in executive leadership roles at Corizon Health, Cigna-HealthSpring, AIM HealthCare and Baptist Hospital.

Mr. Flatt currently serves as Treasurer and Board Member of Ascend Federal Credit Union and Chair of the Middle Tennessee State University’s MSPS Advisory Group. He also currently serves as the Chair Emeritus of TennesseeCIO and as a member of Ratio Healthcare Advisory Board.

In addition, he serves as a Mentor and Coach through the InspireCIO NGL and NTC ELITE programs. He previously served on the boards of Second Harvest Food Bank and The Greater Nashville Technology Council.

In addition to serving as adjunct faculty for nine years, Mr. Flatt also served his alma mater, Lipscomb University, as Chair of the College of Computing and Technology Advisory and College of Business Alumni Boards.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bandersonflatt
https://nhccare.com/

Shaun Willis is a Senior Full-Stack Engineer and a committed advocate for the local tech community. Beyond his role with North American Bancard, Shaun has grown the development community in Murfreesboro from the ground up to over 600 members online.

He is also the founder of a promising development agency that, outside of his full-time position, has already reached $100k in revenue. By hiring developers from this community, Shaun’s agency is on track to generate an additional half-million by the end of next year, creating opportunities for local developers, product managers, and designers. This up-and-coming agency is poised to make a significant impact on Murfreesboro’s tech landscape.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunwillis
https://www.north.com/

With over 20 years of experience in brand marketing and communication, Kristina brings a passion and focus on growing the Chamber of Commerce mission. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in InterStrategic Communications, with an emphasis in Public Relations from the University of Kentucky. That being said, Kristina is a die-hard Alabama football fan—Roll Tide!

She joined the Chamber staff in 2018 and previously worked for NewsChannel 5 and the Tennessee Lottery. Kristina also worked at the Child Advocacy Center as a fundraiser. She credits her non-traditional career moves and diverse experiences to making her the marketer she is today.

Kristina is a member of the Murfreesboro Noon Rotary Club and Rutherford CABLE, and is a graduate of Leadership Rutherford. She is currently working on obtaining her Institute for Organization Management (IOM) certification.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-troglen-b44b686
https://www.rutherfordchamber.org/

Peter Nelson currently serves as an Associate Instructor at Tennessee College of Applied Technology – Murfreesboro, where responsibilities include managing a diverse classroom, instructing on industry certifications, and facilitating hands-on learning for students in critical IT skills.

Prior to this role, Peter Nelson was a Lab Instructor, where duties involved overseeing domain project creation and administering practical exams. Experience also includes working as an IT Support Specialist at Cumberland University, providing extensive hardware and software support while achieving a high satisfaction rate, and as a Lead IT Support Technician at Tachi-S Automotive Seating USA, LLC., ensuring network reliability and training new technicians.

Peter Nelson holds a Technical Diploma in Information Technology and Infrastructure Management from Tennessee College of Applied Technology – Murfreesboro, with additional education from Motlow State Community College.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-nelson122
https://tcatmurfreesboro.edu

Jon Hoscheit is a founding partner for Data Suites Datacenters (Murfreesboro Data), as well as the Murfreesboro Technology Council and several consulting groups. With a focus on improving the technology offerings in Rutherford County, as well as matching companies to local IT professionals, Jon is focused on enabling Rutherford to compete in a global market.

Before dedicating his time to Data Suites, the Technology Council, and the consulting practices, Jon gained over 20 years of enterprise experience with the IRS, several Fortune 500 Medical companies and non-profit charities. Throughout his career, Jon focused on improving and enhancing people around him.

Jon has education ranging from multiple Voice, Network, and Microsoft certifications, as well as education from multiple Universities in several technology degree fields ranging from Information Management to CIS. His education and work for the community continue to drive him to evolve, while enabling others to thrive.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-hoscheit-6b83a61/
http://www.mydatasuites.com/

Keyword data is everywhere. But who plows through 10,000 irrelevant junk keywords to find ten diamonds that drive impressive conversion? Yeah, that would be me.

The right targeting can work miracles.

It’s not uncommon for me to rapidly double a client’s traffic or conversion (sometimes both) in a short period of time. Here’s an example. In 2024, I drove a 26,316% return on every SEO dollar spent for one client, increased from 21,903% the year before (2023), and 14,228% the previous year (2022). Sweet, right?

I help companies understand search patterns and buyer intent, build a keyword plan that is relevant, then apply that knowledge to their SEO or content marketing.

It can completely transform a website, or a content editorial calendar.

By offering deep keyword segmentation, I help them understand exactly what their target audience is searching for online, then work with their marketing or lead generation teams to deliver it. Together, we adjust SEO to bring in leads at just the right moment, a website experience that shows we understand them, and content with the answers they need to make a purchase decision.

It’s all about relevance.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgancarrie/
https://www.carriemorgan.com/