Terry Turner was in his element the evening of Jan. 19. Mingling with co-workers among the dozens of tables in the Omni Hotel’s ballroom, Turner and members of his executive team were handing out bonus checks to some 800 people for a job well done in 2015.

A job very well done: The checks totaled $15 million, a reward for a collective effort that had seen Pinnacle Financial Partners plant its flag in Memphis and Chattanooga in a big way, continue to expand in Nashville and Knoxville, and grow profits 35 percent. The checks being distributed also lifted to more than $200 million the incentive payments Pinnacle has made to its employees since opening its doors in the fall of 2000, giving the bank holding company a decent claim to being one of the biggest wealth generators in Middle Tennessee not linked in some way to a certain hospital company.