The Gunter Group's Nashville Bet: A New Consulting Model for Music City

NASHVILLE, TN – December 02, 2025 – The Gunter Group (TGG), a Portland-based management consulting firm celebrated for its distinct “people-first” culture, has officially opened its doors in the Greater Nashville area. The move marks the firm’s first foray into the Southeastern U.S. and its third office nationwide, signaling a deliberate strategy to embed itself within one of the country's most vibrant economic hubs.

This expansion is more than just a new pin on the map. It represents a calculated bet that a boutique firm’s high-touch, relationship-driven approach can thrive in a competitive landscape populated by global consulting powerhouses. The firm, which already serves Fortune 100 clients in automotive, retail, and healthcare, sees Nashville as a strategic nexus for deepening its influence across the Eastern U.S.

Leading the charge is Managing Partner Tony Schweiss, who recently relocated to Nashville. “Nashville is one of the most dynamic business communities in the country,” Schweiss stated. “We're not interested in parachuting in, delivering a slide deck, and disappearing. We want to be here, shoulder to shoulder, building solutions that support Nashville's thriving economy.”

Nashville: The New Consulting Battleground

The Gunter Group’s arrival comes as Nashville solidifies its reputation as a premier destination for business, drawing significant investment and talent. The city's economic engine is powered by a diverse array of industries, creating fertile ground for strategic advisory services. The healthcare sector, in particular, stands as a titan, contributing nearly $68 billion to the local economy annually and accounting for over 330,000 jobs. With more than 900 healthcare companies headquartered in the region—managing over half of the privately owned hospital beds in the U.S.—the demand for consulting in compliance, digital transformation, and value-based care is immense.

Beyond healthcare, robust financial services, automotive, and retail sectors create a complex ecosystem ripe for the kind of operational and technological overhauls TGG specializes in. However, the firm is not entering an empty arena. Nashville is a key market for global consulting giants like Deloitte, Accenture, PwC, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), all of whom maintain significant local operations. These firms offer a vast scale of services, backed by global resources. The city also fosters a vibrant community of specialized local and boutique firms, such as Thrivence and InfoWorks, which offer deep regional expertise.

Against this backdrop, The Gunter Group is positioning itself not as a direct challenger on scale, but as a different kind of partner—one that prioritizes cultural integration and long-term, collaborative problem-solving over transactional engagements.

A Culture-First Approach in a Competitive Market

What truly sets The Gunter Group’s strategy apart is its unwavering commitment to its internal culture as a primary business driver. The firm’s belief, as articulated by Founding Partner Mike Gunter, is simple: “if you take exceptional care of your people, they will take exceptional care of clients.” This philosophy is backed by a formidable track record of accolades.

TGG has been named to Consulting Magazine’s “Best Small Firms to Work For” list for six consecutive years, ranking as high as fourth nationally and earning the top spot for leadership. It has also appeared on Inc. Magazine’s “Best Workplaces” list for three straight years. These honors are not vanity metrics; they are the result of employee surveys that validate the firm’s claims of providing superior work/life balance, career development, and authentic leadership.

This “people-first” ethos is codified in a set of “non-negotiables”—core values like intellectual curiosity, emotional intelligence, and integrity—that guide hiring and client work. It translates into tangible benefits like childcare stipends, flexible schedules, and a commitment to recruiting military veterans, who comprise one-third of the senior leadership team. For the Nashville market, this presents a powerful differentiator in the war for talent. As consulting professionals increasingly seek purpose-driven work and supportive environments, TGG’s model offers a compelling alternative to the high-burnout cultures often associated with the industry.

This approach is also central to its client acquisition strategy. The firm is betting that Nashville’s business leaders will gravitate toward a partner who offers more than just expertise. As new Nashville co-lead Rebecca Whitehead explained, “Nashville values consulting partners who listen first, roll up their sleeves, and stay through delivery.”

Local Roots for National Ambitions

To avoid the pitfalls of being seen as an outside firm imposing its will, The Gunter Group has made community integration a cornerstone of its expansion. The selection of Rebecca Whitehead to co-lead the office alongside Schweiss is the most visible evidence of this strategy. A Nashville resident since 2005 and a 2017 Nashville Healthcare Council Fellow, Whitehead brings deep-seated relationships and a nuanced understanding of the local business and healthcare landscapes. Her involvement in the community, which includes owning a local youth fitness program, signals a commitment that extends beyond corporate boardrooms.

This local-first mindset is reinforced from the very top. Founding Partner Mike Gunter is an alumnus of Vanderbilt's prestigious Owen Graduate School of Management, a connection that adds a personal dimension to the strategic expansion. “As a proud alum… Nashville means a lot to me personally,” Gunter said. “Committing our team to trusted relationships in a community we respect and want to serve for the long run is fulfilling a lifelong goal.”

By combining a relocated senior partner with a deeply integrated local leader and leveraging the founder’s personal history, TGG is executing a textbook strategy for authentic market entry. The plan is to build a high-caliber Nashville team composed of local hires, establishing an operational hub intended to drive growth not just in Tennessee, but across the entire Eastern seaboard.

From Strategy to Execution: Proving the Model

While culture and community are key pillars, The Gunter Group’s long-term success will ultimately be measured by its ability to deliver results. The firm’s history provides compelling evidence of its impact. In one notable engagement, TGG partnered with the technology support division of a Fortune 100 global footwear and apparel company that was struggling to meet customer needs. By facilitating a new strategy, guiding an organizational redesign, and providing ongoing executive advisory, TGG helped the division grow from 150 to 1,500 employees. The client subsequently achieved its most profitable holiday season on record with the fewest customer support issues, a testament to the transformative power of the firm's collaborative approach.

This ability to lead clients through complex digital transformations, agile development, and large-scale system implementations has earned the firm recognition as a top provider in these fields by publications like CIOReview. The firm’s model is designed to move beyond high-level strategy and embed its teams within client organizations to ensure that ambitious plans translate into sustainable, real-world outcomes. As it begins to engage with Nashville’s leading companies, this proven capacity for execution will be its most critical asset in building the lasting partnerships it seeks.