Remember who was in the Knox News 40 Under 40 class of 2007?

As Knox News and Knox.biz prepare to honor the 15th 40 Under 40 class, which recognizes East Tennessee young professionals excelling in their industries and communities, let's take a look back at the individuals who were honored as part of the 40 Under 40 class of 2007.

Here's a look at what each of the recipients was up to back then.

Beginning Jan. 3, look for profiles of the 40 Under 40 class of 2021, sponsored by Lincoln Memorial University, online at knoxnews.com.

More: Announcing the Knox.biz 40 Under 40 class of 2021

Remember the 40 Under 40 class of 2007?

Franciel Azpurua-Linares was the director of business information management and technology at Information International Associates. The Oak Ridge company had recently tasked her with spearheading a document-harvesting project for the U.S. Government Printing Office, what she considered a turning point in her career.

R. Andrew "Andy" Beam was a corporate banker at BB&T. At the time, he managed $200 million in loans made to private and public companies in Tennessee and Kentucky. He said he loved listening to the stories business owners would tell about how they'd built their companies.

Jeremy Biggs was the chief administrative officer of St. Mary's Medical Center North. His planning and operational experience with the St. Mary's Health System had prepared him to head up its newest hospital. As CAO of the 72-bed hospital, he was responsible for a $31 million budget, gross revenue of $130 million and 275 employees.

Tasha Blakney was a partner Eldridge & Blakney P.C. She had passed the bar in 1999 and was working with other young lawyers through the Knoxville Barristers organization to serve the community through volunteering for Mobile Meals and other programs. She and David Eldridge established their law firm in 2003.

Robert Bowman was a partner at Kramer Rayson LLP. A member of the firm's employment law group, Bowman focused on representing clients from small local businesses to Fortune 500 companies. He also served on the board of directors for Child & Family Services of East Tennessee.

Abe Brown III was the director of performance and accountability for Cherokee Health Systems. After working in hospital administration in Cleveland, he moved his family to Knoxville for the strong opportunities in the health care industry. he joined Cherokee Health Systems in 2005 as a regional vice president.

Jan Brown was a senior intelligence analyst for TVA's Office of the Inspector General. In that office, which serves as oversight for the Tennessee Valley Authority, she used her math background to mine and analyze data. She worked with agents, analyzed financial data and conducted background checks to prevent fraud and waste within the agency.

Daniel Carter was a senior vice president of business development and a trust officer for The Trust Company of Tennessee. He managed $280 million in assets for individuals and companies. He joined The Trust Company because he said he shared the same values, work ethic and way of thinking as the president Sharon Pryse.

Chad Clabough Jr. was a vice president of managed care and government relations for Covenant Health. He was inspired to pursue work in health care after getting to know Joe McDonald, a chief operating officer for the Fort Sanders Alliance in the '90s. He joined the alliance, which later became Covenant Health, in 1996, and moved up the ranks.

Brandon Clarke was the vice president of John Bailey Co. He was one of the founders of the Young Professionals of Knoxville and went to work for his father, John Clarke, president of the John Bailey Co., after working in the insurance industry out of state.

Jacene England was the vice president of Michael Brady, Inc. She started as an intern at the architecture firm and had risen to vice president, managing a team of eight people and overseeing their clients, including the International House of Pancakes. She was also president of the East Tennessee Young Architects Forum.

Ta Kisha Fitzgerald was the assistant district attorney for the Knox County District Attorney General's office. The Austin-East Magnet High School and University of Tennessee graduate prosecuted violent crimes, served on a multiagency gang task force and mentored Knoxville youth.

Rob Frost was a Knoxville councilperson and an attorney at Arnett, Draper and Hagood. He practiced general civil law for 11 years before joining the firm and had served two terms on council. Frost and his wife restored a home in the Fourth and Gill neighborhood that won a Knox Heritage award.

Johney Green Jr. was a group leader in the fuels, engines and emissions research center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After postings with Ford Motor Co. and the U.S. Department of Energy, he became a manager in the research center at ORNL.

Kimberly Dixon Hamilton, an owner and Realtor for Downtown Realty, Inc., focused on selling condos and lofts downtown. Her passion for urban living led her to start her own firm focusing on downtown residential. Her listings included Cityview at Riverwalk and Gallery Lofts.

Whitney Haslam was the category manager and creative services manager for Pilot Company. After stints with Marriott International and on Pres. George W. Bush's re-election campaign, she returned to the family business to focus on travel centers food and maintaining relationships with vendors.

Mark Heinz was an architect for Dewhirst Properties, focusing on the firm's downtown redevelopment projects, including the conversion of the Cherokee and Holston buildings into condominiums. He also held leadership positions with Nucleus Knoxville and the Knoxville Museum of Art.

David Jacobs was a senior vice president for Tombras. After five years with the company serving in roles like senior account executive and account supervisor, Jacobs had taken on running Tombras Interactive, a division of the company.

Booth Kammann was the executive vice president and managing broker for Holrob Commercial Realty. In her position as executive vice president, she was involved in the management, leasing, sale and financing of the company's retail and office buildings, including Homberg Place and developments in Turkey Creek.

Fiona McAnally was the director of corporate and community relations for AC Entertainment. After stints in the state department and the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corp. she was recruited by Ashley Capps for a community relations position at the festival and concert firm.

Larsen Jay was the president and founder of visual media production company DoubleJay Creative. He started with one client and grew to a downtown office with a staff and production crew. He had earned a Davey Award for the documentary he produced about the Bijou Theatre.

Joseph "Joe" Johnson was the director of customer experience for Clayton Homes and had begun revamping how the company measured customer satisfaction. He was Clayton's representative on the Manufactured Housing Institute's customer experience task force.

Melanie Monroe was the area manager of Greater Knoxville Employbridge Companies, one of the nation's leaders in industry-specific staffing. In that role, she managed the sales and operations for six Knoxville-area offices representing four of the company's specialty staffing divisions.

Ken Oakes, owner of Oakes Daylilies, took a family hobby into a thriving national mail order business. Oakes was spending his time evaluating new varieties of daylilies, putting together an e-mail newsletter and finding new ways to grow the business.

Lara Owens was a senior tax manager for Pershing, Yoakley & Associates. She joined PYA after becoming a certified public accountant in 2001. She volunteered for Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service and United Way of Knoxville.

David Ownby was a senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer of Regal Entertainment Group. He joined Regal in 1999 as director of financial projects as the company was building stadium-style theaters. He led Regal's financials through a merger and filing for bankruptcy.

Jennifer Parks was president of Bobcat of Knoxville. The accounting and business management major sought something outside the traditional desk job, which led her to the heavy equipment company. She had been promoted to sales manager and then became company president and owner in 2000.

Todd Proffitt was chairman, president and CEO of Tennessee State Bank. The banker worked as a teller there while pursuing his degree but then became an entrepreneur in Sevier County before joining the bank's board of directors and eventually becoming CEO.

Dr. Ammar Razzak was an internal medicine physician with Sevier Internal Medicine and Summit Medical Group. Razzak opened his practice in 1998 in Sevierville and teamed with physician-owned Summit Medical Group in 2002. He'd also been chief of medicine and chief of medical staff at Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center.

Melanie Robinson was the vice president of human resources for ImagePoint. She moved to Knoxville in 1997 from Atlanta and joined ImagePoint, working her way through departments until she became operations manager for the company's business unit. In 2006, she became human resources director and was promoted to vice president.

Shannon Sapp was a partner and project manager for Merit Construction. Sapp started with Merit as an estimator and project manager and became a partner in the construction company in 1999. He had already managed several projects, including Renaissance Farragut and Brookview Town Centre office complex.

Paul Sponcia was the CEO and founder of RM Technologies Group. He became interested in rapidly changing technology after an internship at Phillips and Jordan and began writing software for the company's construction projects. He founded his company in 1998, eventually focusing on helping small businesses with tech needs.

Tim Sykes was the owner and co-founder of Retirement Plan Consultants Inc. He and Sean King founded the company in 1996, which specialized in third-party administration of retirement plans for small and mid-size corporate clients. The company had also added larger clients, like St. Mary's Health System.

LeRoy Thompson was the president and chief manager of BDT Development & Management LLC. The former NFL player had returned to his native Knoxville, had served as executive director of Wesley House and then founded BDT Development, participating in two major projects, Five Points Village Plaza and the Cherokee Health Systems headquarters.

John Tolsma was the CEO of Knowledge Launch. He founded the company in 2006 after realizing companies were overlooking the environments in which they were teaching employees. He had previously served on Lamar Alexander's presidential campaign and worked for Dee Haslam at RIVR Media.

Chris Van Beke was the president and CEO of Tennetic Ventures LLC. He worked with early-stage technology companies to help develop and fund a growth strategy. The Knoxville native became involved with the Innovation Valley Technology Council in Oak Ridge and wanted to help those companies communicate with investors.

Robin Wilhoit was an anchor for WBIR. Her career in television began while interning at a station in Durham, North Carolina, during college. She had worked as a reporter in Johnson City before coming to Knoxville in 1992. She began as a reporter and held multiple anchor positions before anchoring the nightly news at 6 and 11 p.m.

Gregg White was the owner of several restaurants, including Nama, La Costa and Eos Catering and Special Events. The U.S. Navy veteran had started in the restaurant business and expanded to catering. He had also invested in biodegradable and recycled materials, and La Costa was the state's first restaurant to be certified by the Green Restaurant Association.

Jamie Woodson was a state senator and general counsel for Camel Manufacturing. The chairperson of the senate education committee, she served three terms in the House before being elected in 2004 to represent Senate District 6 in Knox County.

Chad Youngblood was the general manager of Fine Living. He started his television career creating promotions for newscasts. He joined HGTV as a writer and producer in 2000 and was promoted three times in four years, ultimately becoming the general manager of one of Scripps Networks' cable television networks.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville News Sentinel's 40 Under 40 2007 class of professionals