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Bill Coker, Regional Publisher, Medical News of Arkansas, Mississippi Medical News, Memphis Medical News and West Tennessee Medical News

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Medical News Inc. recently named Bill Coker regional publisher for Medical News of Arkansas, Mississippi Medical News, Memphis Medical News and West Tennessee Medical News.

“Bill’s expertise is invaluable to our company, and we’re privileged to have him focus his attention on our Mid-South markets,” said Medical News, Inc. CEO Mac Hardcastle. “His responsibilities include managing all aspects as CEO for four newspapers comprising the Mid-South region for Medical News.”

Coker brings a wealth of sales and leadership experience to the Medical News team, most recently as CEO and owner of Golf Cars of Arkansas, a North Little Rock-based company. Prior to living in Little Rock, Coker and his family lived in Nashville, Tenn., for nearly a dozen years, where he presided over several divisions of Genesco, a leading specialty retailer of branded footwear, licensed and branded headwear, and wholesaler of branded footwear. The 84-year-old Nashville-based retailer also designs, sources, markets and distributes footwear under its own Johnston & Murphy brand and under the licensed Dockers brand.

At Nasco Products, a fundraising/sporting goods company also based in central Tennessee, Coker managed the company’s licensed sporting goods division, which included merchandise licensed by the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, some of the nation’s leading colleges under license, such as those in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and The Disney Corporation.

“I’m very enthusiastic about the opportunity to grow our advertising revenues in each of the markets under my leadership,” said Coker, who was interviewed en route from Memphis to a mid-November trade show in Jackson, Miss., hosted by the Medical Group Management Association of Mississippi Inc. “With Medical News, I’m able to take my sales and sales management experience and skills across a wide spectrum of industries and apply them to healthcare publishing.”

A native of Peoria, Ill., Coker earned a business administration degree from Bradley University. Immediately after college graduation, he began working as a marketing manager for IBM, an experience he attributed to “providing me with a solid foundation of business skills and early expertise for the career moves that followed.”

Coker relocated to the southeastern U.S. in 1982. After a brief stint in Chicago, Coker and his family moved to Little Rock in 1996. During his sales and management career, Coker received a number of significant industry awards.

Coker and his wife of 39 years, Pat, continue to make their home in the capitol city of Arkansas. Their son, Brendt, works for EMC Corporation in Memphis, where he lives with his wife, Paige, and their two children, Bennett, 3, and Kate, 1. The Cokers’ daughter, Shawn Smith, lives in Ithaca, NY. “Our family is very close-knit, and I’m looking forward to spending extra time with all of them, especially the grandbabies, during the holidays,” he said.

Founded in the 1980s, Medical News Inc., the nation’s leading local healthcare news provider reaching more than 100,000 physicians and healthcare decision-makers across the southeast, also publishes HealthCare Profiles, an annual resource guide connecting advertisers and readers to the key leaders of the healthcare community. Medical News publications are produced for markets in Alabama (Birmingham), Arkansas, Florida (Orlando and Tampa Bay), Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina (Charlotte) and Tennessee (Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville and Tri-Cities).



December 2007

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