Author: Brad Dawson

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Category: abc, Alcoholic Beverage Commission

02.11.19

As the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s online licensing system known as RLPS nears its first anniversary, the ABC continues to refine and enhance the system. This post explores improvements for larger corporate license holders. 

Change in Control of Corporate Owners

A change in corporate officers can trigger the need to file an amendment to the RLPS license. For publically traded companies, licensees owned by investment funds and other more-complicated ownership structures, corporate officers at the license level are treated as “owners,” because the officers are deemed by the ABC to control the licensee. A change in one of the officers constitutes a change of control, similar to a change in ownership of the licensee.

Officer changes trigger the need to pay a $300 application fee and file new RLPS questionnaires and copies of government IDs. The ABC will review the officer disclosures and, if in order, approve the amendment to the license.

This process does not apply to closely-held companies, like restaurants and bars that are owned by one or two individuals. 

Master Files for LBD Licensees

We have great news for publicly traded companies and other complicated license holders.  The ABC has recently made master company records available for liquor by the drink licensees. 

Master company records have been available for food store applicants for a couple of years.  We find master company records to be particularly helpful where an address or officer change needs to be made to several license files. 

If a licensee has a master company record, the change only needs to be made to the master company record. If not, you have to go in and individually revise each license for simple changes, such as disclosure of a new officer.

The ABC is still working out the details with officer changes and we encourage folks to stay tuned for more information.

All those changes in corporate officers makes us think of the Queen favorite:

And another one gone, and another one gone

Another one bites the dust

Hey, I’m gonna get you, too

Another one bites the dust

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Category: abc

01.31.19

Drumroll please  . . . cue the trumpets for the fanfare . . .

Russell F. Thomas was named Director for the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission at today’s regular TABC meeting.  Director Thomas assumes the top leadership position following the resignation of Interim Director Zack Blair and former Director Clay Byrd. 

The Tullahoma native holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.  He was an Alpha Tau Omega.

Thomas earned his J.D. from UT in 2003.  He practiced for four years as an Assistant District Attorney General in Nashville, where he “prosecuted hundreds of misdemeanor and felony cases, including D.U.I. drug offenses, white-collar offenses and murder,” according to Justia.

He worked as a solo practitioner from 2007 until his appointment, where he specialized in criminal defense, DUI and general civil litigation.  He is a 2014 Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation.

Thomas’ wife, Mary Beth Thomas, serves as General Counsel to the Tennessee Secretary of State, where she has worked since 2013.  We suspect they are former buddies from UT Knoxville, from which Mary Beth Thomas holds a B.S. in Finance and a 2003 J.D.  Mary Beth Thomas is an alum of our firm, Waller, where she worked as a litigator. 

All this talking about the Tennessee ABC reminds us of Midland’s hit song, “Drinkin’ Problem”

“People say I got a drinkin’ problem

But I got no problem drinkin’ at all

They keep on talkin’

Drawing conclusions

They call it a problem,

I call it a solution.”

Drinking is our business and it ain’t no problem. 

We welcome Director Thomas and wish him well in his new position.

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Category: abc

01.30.19

The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission agenda has officially been published, but all eyes for this Thursday’s meeting at 10 a.m. will be focused on an item conspicuously absent:  Will the Commission name a new Director?

As federal employees headed back to work this week, the top two positions at the Tennessee ABC remain vacant.  We understand that the Commission has been quietly winnowing down a list of candidates for the Director’s position.  Although liquor gossip is usually insanely rampant, we have heard nothing about a likely successor to Clay Byrd.

We will be on the edge of our seats at the meeting tomorrow and certainly keep you posted.

Meanwhile, former Interim Director Zack Blair has assumed the role of Director of Legislation and Rules at the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.  We have been remiss in not congratulating Mr. Blair for his fabulous new gig.  Mr. Blair departed the ABC in late December for what he describes as the perfect position for him to make a difference.

We will sorely miss Mr. Blair and wish him the best of continued success.

Mr. Blair’s legacy has national implications, now that he is the named defendant in the pending U.S. Supreme Court case that was recently heard for argument and is expected to be decided in June of this year.  If anyone would like to read more details about this fascinating dormant commerce clause argument, or is in need of a sure cure for insomnia, here is a link to the transcript of the Supreme Court hearing.

As always, please stay tuned for more details about leadership at the Tennessee ABC and the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Blair decision.

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Category: data breach, hacking, cybersecurity

11.30.18

We suspect that thousands of Tennessee restaurants, hotels, bars and other hospitality businesses gather personal information from their customers for marketing purposes.  

It’s just a birthdate, address, anniversary, spouse’s name – good stuff to know, right?

That’s all fine and dandy until some hacker steals the information.  Marriott’s disclosure that 500 million Starwood Hotel guests’ personal data was stolen should be a wakeup call. 

We’ve had Beastie Boys’ classic Paul Revere stuck in our head all morning:

The kid said, “Get ready ‘cause this ain’t funny

My name’s Mike D and I’m about to get money”

Pulled out the jammy, aimed it at the sky

He yelled, “Stick ‘em up!” and let two fly

Hands went up and people hit the floor

He wasted two kids that ran for the door

Don’t expect Mike D to come knocking on the door at your restaurant demanding you to turn over personal information squirreled away in a computer somewhere in the back office.  Modern Mike D is coming through the internet.  He’s gonna hack your computer while you are sleeping off that last martini.

Don’t delay.  Call or email your IT person now and review your security procedures to ensure that employee data, as well as customer data, is protected.  Although your system may not be sophisticated enough to withstand cyberattacks from the likes of Mike D in Ukraine, anything you do is better than nothing.

Here are a few simple tips from Waller’s IT team:

Physically lock the office where the computer is located when it is not in use
Use a password to log in
Use complex passwords and change them regularly
Create very simple software that requires password changes, which annoy the heck out of us but work
Encrypt your hard drive with BitLocker or other encryption software, so that if the computer or drive is stolen, the data is not easily read
Password protect important files, particularly those that contain personal data such as social security numbers and dates of birth

One of the easiest things to do is minimize the amount of personal information you amass.  Although an owner needs employee data, do you really need personal data on your customers?

Heed the warning and be on the lookout for Mike D.

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Category: distillers, Tennessee Distiller’s Guild

11.07.18

A look back at the inaugural whiskey festival in 2014. 

Twenty-nine of the licensed distillers in Tennessee poured their finest at the third annual Grains & Grits Festival in Townsend, Tennessee this past weekend.  The distillers rocked a crowd of approximately 750 thirsty fans, which we figure was pretty much the perfect crowd for the evening.  Rocked on by FGL House band January Noise, there was a ton of energy, enthusiasm and thirst quenching without long lines.

The Third Annual Grains & Grits reminded us how far the Tennessee Distiller’s Guild has come since its first whiskey festival, in the middle of the speedway at the Tennessee State Fair on September 6, 2014. During the past 4 years, Tennessee Distillers have been laying back aged whiskey, with a healthy number of distilleries pouring samples of really tasty samples at this weekend’s fest.

To all the Tennessee distillers out there:  We’re really proud of you guys.  You are killing it.

Chumbawamba’s all-too-catchy thub-thumping is stuck in our heads: 

He drinks a whisky drink

He drinks a vodka drink

He drinks a lager drink

He drinks a cider drink . . .

I get knocked down, but

I get up again

You’re never gonna keep

Me down.

Grains & Grits is a fundraiser for the Tennessee Distiller’s Guild, a 501(c)(6) business league that supports the whiskey industry in Tennessee.  We hope to see you at the Fourth Annual Grains & Grits next Fall.