If you are a resident of Nashville, you have definitely long ago heard about Lee Beaman. I’m pretty sure that you have heard about him no matter where you live in Tennessee. In fact, he’s made quite a name for himself after certain political moves, so people all around the United States of America probably know who he is. At least, people who are into business and politics do.
As it usually goes with all great businessmen out there, their lives are rather exposed, but at the same covered with a veil of mysteries. You may know a few things about this particular businessman, but I can assure you that you cannot know it all. Depending on your interest in the business and the political scene in Nashville, you might have quite a lot of information about this person, or you might only know his name.
For people who aren’t that engaged into politics and business, the name might sound familiar, but they probably don’t know anything in particular about him. It’s a shame, though, to not be able to join in on the conversations that are frequently led about this highly influential persona. If you are from Nashville, then saying you don’t know who Beaman is might also be a bit embarrassing. Oh, well, you just aren’t that interested in the whole situation, am I right?
Eventually, We All Become Engaged
There comes a time, though, when everyone becomes interested not only in the political situation of a certain city, but also in the business situation and the intricate connection between these two. You might not have been interested by now, but 2020 seems to be just about the right year to gain a bit more knowledge about the people who are essentially shaping your future and the future of your children. If you have finally decided to gain that knowledge, find yourself a useful source of information and get started with your learning process.
Business and politics have always gone together and Lee Beaman is the man who proves that in a perfect way. When you decide to learn about the whole scene in Nashville, he is one of the first people that you should look into. Knowing that he is one of the richest people in the capital city of Tennessee is definitely not enough, because it’s what he does with the money that matters. What’s more, it’s what he does with his influence that matters.
It seems that the future of Nashville has never been more unpredictable than today. That’s why the time is right to get yourself informed about all the things that are going on. Ultimately, you are the one who is in charge of your own future and if you decide to stay in the dark, you will never get to fight for what you believe in. In fact, you probably won’t have anything to believe in in the first place. If you are ready to step out of the shadow and finally be able to join in on all those conversations, voice your own opinion and possibly make a difference in Nashville, then you should start by getting acquainted with Lee Beaman.
Since you might be new to the whole world of business and politics in Nashville, I’m here to share the info you need to know about this man before going any further. Depending on your knowledge so far, you might come across some things in the article that you already knew. Rest assured, though, that you’ll definitely find more of the things you didn’t know. Instead of simply sharing the bland and well-known facts about this man, I’ll try to paint his character through those facts, so that you know who you are dealing with.
Who Is He?
Let us start with the basics, shall we? I suppose that you are, most of all, interested in who this man actually is. That is, if you don’t know it by now. It’s highly unlikely that you don’t know at least the most basic stuff, but I’ll mention them anyway. I don’t want you wandering around and bragging with all the random facts about a Nashville’s businessman without actually knowing who he is and what he does today.
Even the birds of Nashville will be able to tell you that Lee Beaman is a CEO and the chairman of Beaman Automotive Group. That’s the name of the company he is running and it is the name that has made its way to a list of the biggest private companies in this city. The name Lee Beaman also carries a certain weight with it and it’s probably because he is known to be among the top 100 most influential and powerful people in Nashville. I’m not making this stuff up; he was ranked like this by the very Nashville Business Journal in 2015.
How Did He Grow Up?
Lee Beaman grew up in Nashville, but his roots are from a different city in Tennessee. His father lived in Knoxville until he was given a business opportunity to start a 7 Up franchise in Nashville. That was an opportunity he couldn’t let slip because, just like Lee, Alvin Beaman was a man of great ideas who wasn’t afraid to take certain risks. Let us quickly reflect on his father’s story, so that you get a better idea about the environment Lee grew up in.
Here’s the story. Alvin’s brother in law owned the rights to the 7 Up bottling and distribution in franchise and he was presented with the same opportunity in Nashville. He presented the idea to Alvin and gave him the chance to run that franchise in the capital of Tennessee. The plan was for Alvin to return their investment in 5 years and get himself an equal share in the deal.
Little did Alvin’s brother in law know that there is more to Alvin than meets the eye. I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect the next thing that happened, but it happened anyway. Alvin Beaman managed to earn their investment in as little as three years, which was a huge win for the whole company. He didn’t stop there, though. Eventually, he bought them all out and he quickly became known as one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in the city of Nashville.
From there on, things only seemed to be getting better and better for both Alvin and Lee. One thing led to another and today, the Beaman Automotive Group employs a large number of people and generates a head-spinning annual revenue. Does it really surprise you that Lee decided to preserve his father’s legacy and continue to build up on it instead of going into a different direction? I know I’m not surprised by this, but let us not get off topic. Lee Beaman grew up alongside a brilliant businessman that was his father.
Don’t let this fool you, though; Lee Beaman didn’t do everything the way his father wanted him to, since he had his own visions and ambitions: https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2016/02/lee-beaman-built-a-broadway-real-estate-empire.html
Where Did He Graduate?
Here is one thing he did just like his father, though. Lee Beaman graduated from the University of Tennessee. It appears that he held certain traditional values dear to his heart and he still does. The University of Tennessee was a logical choice for him not only because his father went there, but also because it was known as a highly prestigious and a highly competitive public University in the USA. Maybe it was the competitive nature that decided for him, huh?
It’s not surprising to hear that the most popular majors at University of Tennessee are business, marketing, management and similar. That seems just about right for a man who wants to continue doing what his father has been doing for a while, doesn’t it? That’s precisely why Lee Beaman told his freshman advisor that he wanted to study “whatever will prepare me to follow in my father’s footsteps”. This is an interesting story that further illuminates the very character of Lee Beaman, since it shows that he had faith in his father and that he believed continuing in his footsteps was a move worth making.
When Did He Become Known On The Political Scene?
As we all know, most great businessmen are intricately tied to politics. Some are more open about it than others, though. Lee Beaman is as open as it gets, which is probably what his father and Lee wouldn’t agree on. Unlike Lee, Alvin was worried about expressing his political stances, partly because he grew up at the time of the Depression and partly because, well, he was just getting started building a business, so he didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side.
Lee Beaman has no such concerns. The time of the Depression has long gone and his extremely wealthy and powerful business has been established for a long time. This gave him the courage to freely and openly endorse or oppose certain politicians and their views, stances and ideas. He probably entered the world of politics gradually, but there was one particular event that really made him rather famous and established him as a politically active local businessman who isn’t afraid to fight for what he believes in.
Let me quickly tell you about the event in question. It was 2013 when Mayor Karl Dean decided that it was a good idea to use a center lane of one route in Nashville as a rapid bus transit. A lot of people were strongly against that idea and Lee Beaman was one of those people. That’s when he decided to oppose the Mayor no matter what and a campaign under the name of “StopAmp” was started, led by Beaman and a few other businessmen. This campaign led to the death of the Amp project and to Beaman’s recognition as a highly influential person.
This course of events led to Lee Beaman becoming the Newsmaker of The Year in 2014, named, of course, by the Nashville Business Journal. While people have heard about Beaman in previous years, this is the event that marked him as a politically influential persona. He wasn’t afraid to take a stand for what he and a large number of Nashville people believed in. He wasn’t scared that his business might get hurt due to the fact that he is going against the Mayor and that risky decision was actually a wise one. I wonder if his father would have done the same, given the completely different circumstances he lived in.
What Did He Do For Nashville?
When you hear people speak about any businessman whatsoever, you will probably get a lot of information about the wealth and the power of that specific person. Why doesn’t anyone, however, mention the things that the same person has done for its community and the place they live in? Is it so difficult to come to terms with the idea that businessmen can be philanthropists and that they don’t care about their profit and their profit only? Well, there are two possible reasons why people don’t talk about the good things that a certain mogul has done for the community.
The first reason is, of course, because the mogul hasn’t done anything worth mentioning. The second reason is probably because they don’t want to admit the fact that people like Lee Beaman and similar influential personas can, in fact, have good interests at heart and can really be devoted to helping the community they live in. People don’t like to paint businessmen as philanthropists, which is why they will avoid that topic as much as they can.
This is, however, a topic that cannot be avoided when Lee Beaman is in question. He is, indeed, a great philanthropist. Among all the other things that he has done to support the economy of Nashville and the well-being of its citizens, a couple of things stand out. Those are the donations he gave to the Lipscomb University in order to build a library, the donation he directed towards the construction of the Student Life Center in the Belmont University and the money he gifted to the St. Thomas Midtown Hospital for the construction of a new NICU.