The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce has named Joey Peay, chief executive officer of Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, as the 2013 Business Person of the Year, and will honor him at the Chamber’s annual Business at its Best celebration on Friday, Feb. 7, at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel & Conference Center.

Peay is a Certified Medical Practice Executive by the American College of Medical Practice Executives and has led Murfreesboro Medical Clinic since 2003. Prior to that, he served as the clinic’s chief financial officer. Since beginning his career at the Clinic in 1998, it has grown from a low of 37 physicians to more than 70 today. Most of that growth has occurred under Peay’s leadership, and necessitated two building projects that he oversaw, the most recent being a 155,000 square-foot addition which opened in January, 2013. All of this growth has been in spite of the tremendous challenges facing the health care industry.

Peay graduated with honors from Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and passed the Uniform CPA Exam in 1988. Peay spent the first 10 years of his career with KPMG, an international public accounting firm, leaving in 1998 as a senior manager. 

A 2001 Leadership Rutherford graduate, Peay currently serves as chairman of the Kittrell Volunteer Fire Department Board of Directors, and is a member of the Rutherford County Board of Directors of the American Heart Association, MTSU Accounting Advisory Board, Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants and Medical Group Management Association.

Peay is an elder and clerk of session at Cripple Creek Presbyterian Church. He and wife Charlotte have four children, Madilyn, Natalie, Zachary and Carolyn.

The Business at its Best reception will begin at 5:30 p.m.; followed by a dinner at 6:30 p.m. Reservations are $70 for Chamber members and $90 for non-members. To reserve your seat, please contact the Chamber at 615-893-6556 or visit www.rutherfordchamber.org.

The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, which includes the Convention & Visitors Bureau, Destination Rutherford, Economic Development, Workforce Development and the Business Education Partnership, seeks to promote economic development and a quality of life to benefit all residents of Rutherford County. Programs, events and services are offered to both its nearly 1,600 member organizations and non-members. The Chamber operates out of a main office on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro, which also houses the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, and has branch offices in Smyrna, La Vergne and Eagleville. Learn more at www.rutherfordchamber.org.