Firm News

Cherry Bekaert’s Dawn Patrick Joins Launch Tennessee Board

calendar iconSeptember 14, 2018

Nationally recognized public accounting and consulting firm Cherry Bekaert LLP (“the Firm”) congratulates Dawn G. Patrick, CPA, Managing Partner of the Firm’s Nashville practice, on her appointment to Launch Tennessee’s Board of Directors.

Patrick has been with Cherry Bekaert since 2009 and was named Managing Partner of the Firm’s Nashville practice in December 2017. In this role, she oversees the execution of Cherry Bekaert’s growth strategy and ensures a coordinated and seamless service experience for clients in the Nashville market. Patrick is also the Industry Leader of Cherry Bekaert’s Technology and Health & Life Sciences practices, and she leads the Firm’s specialty practice, THInc®.

As a Launch Tennessee board member, a position appointed by Tennessee’s Governor Bill Haslam, Patrick will help achieve the organization’s mission of making Tennessee the country’s most startup-friendly state and the top location in the Southeast for high-quality jobs. Launch Tennessee aims to achieve this mission through the execution of its five-year vision, which includes improving five elements of entrepreneurship: Capital, Market Access, Commercialization, Talent, and Policy.

The five elements of entrepreneurship involve actions such as providing access to alternative funding sources for entrepreneurs outside of the traditional venture model; establishing commercial programs that pair startups with private-sector companies willing to be early adopters and first customers; offering resources to aid the commercialization of life-changing and life-saving institutional research into startups; establishing a pipeline to develop, recruit and retain best-in-class technology, sales and business talent; and reinforcing the state’s business-friendly reputation by backing policies that support startups and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Launch Tennessee is a public-private partnership that focuses on supporting entrepreneurship from ideation to exit. The organization supports Tennessee entrepreneurs through a network of Entrepreneur Centers, located in six regions throughout the state, to deliver curriculum, mentors and other resources to build high-growth-potential businesses.