Business Alabama - January 2025

JAN 2025

KEEPING ALABAMA COMPETITIVE COMMERCE SECRETARY ELLEN McNAIR LEADS THE STATE’S ECONOMIC TEAM.

PAGE 13 COLLABORATION

35 FOR BETTER HEALTH STEM CAREERS

43 IN AGRICULTURE ON 52 SPOTLIGHT MONTGOMERY COUNTY

S a v e

t h e

D a t e

Join us for the Business Alabama Awards, honoring the people and projects that made an impact in 2024.

Friday, February 28, 2025 • 11:30am until 1:30pm The Harbert Center 2019 Fourth Avenue North Birmingham, AL 35203 For more information

Volume 40 / Number 1

JANUARY 2025

CONTENTS

38

Physician Steven Furr treats patients in his home town of Jackson and also leads the national group providing primary care to patients.

Photo by Mike Kittrell.

Features 13

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS A LONG TIME DEVELOPING Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair has spent her career promoting economic advancement

28

AGRICULTURE GREEN GROW THE GRASSES Beck’s Turf Farm has been supplying sod since 1938

35

38

43

HEALTH CARE POWER IN COLLABORATION Huntsville Hospital System uses its size to bring better care and financial options to hospitals across north Alabama and southern Tennessee MAKING A DIFFERENCE Family care physician and advocate Dr. Steven Furr works to care for his own patients and those across the country WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FARM Helping middle schoolers recognize STEM career options in agriculture

4 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

47

DRIVER TRAINING New simulators enhance career prep options at Ingram State

60

IN FOCUS BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE Standard Roofing has adapted to serve growing needs

74

RETROSPECT SWEET (POTATO) SUCCESS STORY Alarico supplied the treats when sweets were in short supply

On the Cover: A competitor since her days running track, Ellen McNair loves the team spirit that fosters success in her role as Secretary of Commerce for the state of Alabama.

Photo by Stew Milne.

28

52

28: Brothers Wayne (left) and Jimmy Bassett supply the sod to keep lawns green from their Beck's Turf Farm in Tuskegee. Photo by Julie Bennett.

52: Montgomery at night.

74: Luther B. Sprott and the Alarico sweet potatoes he marketed to the nation.

Departments 7

LEGISLATIVE DIRECTORY 16 CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS 17 CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS 19 STATE SENATORS 22 STATE REPRESENTATIVES

73 76 78

GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT 52 MONTGOMERY COUNTY SPECIAL SECTIONS 31 BUSINESS COUNCIL OF ALABAMA

79

74

79

BENCHMARKS: MONTHLY BUSINESS NEWS BRIEFING CAREER NOTES: WHO’S MOVING UP BA INDEX: HUNDREDS OF LEADS EACH MONTH COMPANY KUDOS: A MONTH OF ACHIEVEMENTS HISTORIC ALABAMA: A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE ALABIZ QUIZ: TEST YOUR KNOWLEDG

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 5

JANUARY 2025 BusinessAlabama.com Volume 40 / Number 1

PUBLISHER Walker Sorrell / wsorrell@pmtpublishing.com ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Stephen Potts / snpotts@pmtpublishing.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Alec Harvey / alec@pmtpublishing.com EDITOR Erica Joiner West / ewest@pmtpublishing.com COPY EDITOR Nedra Bloom / nedra@pmtpublishing.com ART DIRECTOR Vic Wheeler / ads@pmtpublishing.com DIGITAL EDITOR Abby Parrott / abby@pmtpublishing.com ACCOUNTING Keith Crabtree / acct@pmtpublishing.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Birmingham: 205-802-6363 Lee Mills / Ext. 102 / lmills@pmtpublishing.com Carrie Hicks / Ext. 111 / carrie@pmtpublishing.com DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MEDIA & EVENTS Sheila Wardy / swardy@pmtpublishing.com ADMINISTRATIVE Rachel Mayhall / rmayhall@pmtpublishing.com BIRMINGHAM OFFICE 3324 Independence Drive / Homewood, AL 35209 205-802-6363 MOBILE OFFICE 166 Government Street / Mobile, AL 36602 251-473-6269 CORPORATE T.J. Potts, President & CEO Thomas E. McMillan, Partner & Director Business Alabama is published monthly by

PMT Publishing Co., Inc. Copyright 2025

by PMT Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission prohibited.

Letters to the editor are welcome.

Moving? Please note US Postal Service will not forward magazines mailed through its Bulk Mail unit.

Four to six weeks before moving, please send old mailing label and new address to Business Alabama, P.O. Box 43, Congers, NY 109209922 or call 1-833-454-5060.

Use this QR code to subscribe to Business Alabama 6 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

Benchmarks

DC Blox plans two more Alabama facilities DC BLOX, a digital infrastruc-

ture provider that already has two locations in Alabama, will be adding two new hyperscale edge node data center sites in Alabama — one in Huntsville and the other in Montgomery.

The company also will be adding sites in South Carolina and Georgia.

Hyperscale data centers support big data-producing companies like Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and others.

The Montgomery facility will initially support 5 MW for an anchor tenant, with the capacity to expand up to 40 MW to accommodate other tenants. The Huntsville site will be designed to provide 5 MW of power dedicated to the hyperscale client.

“Our continued expansion is a testament to the soundness of our strategy and our deep understanding for the Southeastern market,” said Jeff Uphues, CEO of Atlanta-based DC Blox.

“With each new site, we are building critical digital infrastructure that enables hyperscale companies to operate at the edge while benefitting from the Southeast’s favorable economies and rapid growth.”

B U S I N E S S

B R I E F S

SPACE BACK The U.S. Space Command, once targeted for a move from Colorado to Alabama, will definitely move here under President-elect Donald Trump, says U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who represents eastern Alabama.

RETIRING HUNTSVILLE U.S. News & World Report has ranked Huntsville 8th on its list of the Best Places to Retire for 2025. Naples, Florida, topped the list.

CALL ME COCA-COLA It’s official. Birmingham’s new 9,000-seat venue for live music and more is now the Coca-Cola Amphitheater.

CAMPUS FOR SALE – AGAIN Miles College’s agreement to buy the Birmingham-Southern College campus has expired after BSC denied a request to extend the deadline. BSC closed in May 2024 after 168 years.

WATERFRONT DREAMS Patrick Lawler, the developer behind Guntersville’s $30 million City Harbor project, is planning a $20 million Coosa Harbor on Gadsden’s riverfront. The development would be on cityowned property off Rainbow Drive.

LASTING LEGACY A 54-building, 1.4-millionsquare-foot prison complex in Elmore County will be named the Governor Kay Ivey Correctional Complex.

The men’s facility is about 47% complete and is scheduled to be finished in May 2026.

The development of these new hyperscale edge node data centers has garnered support from local municipalities.

“DC Blox’s decision to establish a new data center in Montgomery highlights our city’s emergence as a prime destination for cutting-edge digital infrastructure in the Southeast,” said Shelby Stringfellow, senior vice president of economic development at the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. “This new investment is a significant achievement for Montgomery, reinforcing our business-friendly environment and setting the stage for transformative growth.”

DC Blox already has data centers in Birmingham and Huntsville, along with other Southeastern cities. 

SCHOOL SUPPLIES Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has given $150,000 to a nonprofit group that collects school supplies for Madison County teachers. It’s the largest single contribution ever for Free 2 Teach, which gives out about $1.7 million worth of items annually.

AUBURN RESEARCH RECORD Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering set a college and university record with nearly $118 million in research awards and grants in FY24. The college has increased awards and contracts by more than 300% since 2018.

TOP SCHOOLS U.S. News & World Report has released rankings of schools across the nation. Loveless

Academic Magnet High School in Montgomery topped the Alabama list and ranked 21st nationwide. Pizitz Middle in Vestavia topped Alabama’s middle schools. Crestline Elementary in Mountain Brook took top honors among Alabama elementary schools.

NEW AT THE TOP Jodi Parnell has been named president and CEO of Birmingham-based O’Neal Steel. David Pugh, a partner at Birmingham’s Bradley law firm, has been elected president of the Associated Builders and Contractors national board of directors.

Rick Metzger, who had been serving as interim CEO of USA Health Providence Hospital in Mobile, has been named CEO. Nathan Tudor has been

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 7

BENCHMARKS

JST Corp. adding engineering/production capabilities in Guntersville JST CORP., an advanced electronic

Map shows tentative connector manufacturer in Japan, has location for JST announced plans to build a new facility Corp. facilities. in Guntersville.

The company already has 30 full-time employees at its small testing facility in the city, but the new engineering and production space, located on 250 acres in Conners Island Business Park, is expected to add 80 employees initially, with further room to expand.

The company makes cable assemblies and switch connectors, both of which are made and designed in Guntersville.

“We are excited to expand on our success in Guntersville with the Conners Island manufacturing and design facility,” said Phillip Mosley, division manager for JST. “This will be a showcase for both the company and the state, combining our AI driven automation with Alabama’s natural beauty in a unique facility.”

The new facility will complement the company’s production facility in Waukegan, Illinois.

Guntersville Mayor Leigh Dollar said, “We have been very intentional about the right kind of tenants for Conners Island Business Park. It is a real honor for a global leader like JST to validate our long relationship with such a marquee facility.”

B U S I N E S S

B R I E F S

named CEO of Monroe County Hospital, which operates in a management agreement with USA Health. Philip Hall has been named president and CEO of The Chamber of Gadsden & Etowah County effective Jan. 1, after serving as the group’s business development manager.

Jim Williford has been named the CEO at Palomar Insurance Corp., succeeding Tony Craft, who will take up a new position as a producer within the company.

continue business under their current names. Miami-based Lennar Corp. announced that it is acquiring Rausch Coleman Homes. Based in Arkansas, Rausch Coleman also has operations in Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Birmingham-based Motion Industries has acquired International Conveyor and Rubber, which is based in Pennsylvania. Athens-based civil engineering firm Morell Engineering has acquired Civil Group LLC of Muscle Shoals, but the two firms will

READY FOR EMERGENCIES Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority, an affiliate of the UAB Health System, hosted a ribbon-cutting for its new ambulatory care center in Birmingham. The five-story building opened in December.

LEADERSHIP CHANGE CEO Joe Riley and COO Michael James have stepped down at Montgomery-based Jackson Hospital as part of the hospital’s financial restructuring.

Ronald Dreskin has been named interim CEO.

8 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

JST’s purchase agreement for the property includes the bulk of Conners Island’s remaining acreage. The company’s architectural partner, Ryuichi Ashizawa of Japan, will integrate unique architectural elements into the facility, drawing upon the natural environment for inspiration.

JST, founded in 1957, has 17 factories globally including facilities in Illinois, Michigan, California and Pennsylvania, as well as Guntersville. The company serves companies like Whirlpool, Electrolux, Ford, Tesla, Lucid Motors, Stellantis, General Motors and Bose. 

SKY HIGH HUNTSVILLE The first phase of construction of Huntsville’s Skybridge project will begin in spring or summer of 2025. The $62 million pedestrian access and redevelopment corridor will be completed in four phases, the first two taking place between 2025 and 2027.

SERVISFIRST GROWS Birmingham-based ServisFirst Bank has opened an office in Memphis, Tennessee. Calandra Freeman is the operations manager at the branch.

BIGGER & BETTER Aerojet Rocketdyne plans to expand its operations in Huntsville to increase production of missile components. The aerospace and defense company manufactures components for Guided

Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets. Dothan Warehouse plans to add 120,000 square feet and about 50 jobs with a planned $5.2 million expansion that will provide space for more than 10,000 pallets.

READY TO CREATE Oxford’s Choccolocco Research, Education, Arts and Technology Experience center is now serving students in fields like green power, robotics, construction and more. The school is now open to Oxford students, with plans to include those from Calhoun, Cleburne, Clay, Talladega and St. Clair counties next year.

GUTEN TAG The Alabama Department of Commerce is heading a delegation of state businesses attending Medica 2024. The

BENCHMARKS

Wind Creek Hospitality acquires Birmingham Racecourse and Casino WIND CREEK HOSPITALITY, owned by the Poarch Band of

Creek Indians, has entered into an agreement with the McGregor family to acquire Birmingham Racecourse and Casino. The sale is expected to be finalized in early 2025.

The McGregor family has owned the Birmingham Racecourse and Casino and Victoryland Casino for decades, and they will retain Victoryland Casino.

“For over 30 years, we have worked to provide the best possible experience for our customers and employees, while generating significant tax revenue for the state of Alabama and local charities,” said Lewis Benefield, president of the Birmingham Racecourse and Victoryland.

Benefield added that legislative hurdles have presented challenges. “The people of Birmingham desire the same types of entertainment offered at other facilities in and around Alabama.

Unfortunately, differing state laws and enforcement actions regarding gaming have limited our ability to compete effectively.

The McGregor family will now focus their efforts on Victoryland in Macon County and advocate for unified gaming legislation in Alabama, which would capture much-needed revenue for the people of Alabama.”

Wind Creek Hospitality, based in Atmore, has hotels and casinos in Atmore, Montgomery and Wetumpka and has been expanding with casino purchases outside the state. It plans to work with local elected and racing officials on steps moving forward as

B U S I N E S S

B R I E F S

event in Germany is the world’s largest for the medical industry.

in global health care leadership in the global leadership Ph.D. program. Faulkner University has added a B.S. degree in nursing.

FEDS FUND FOODS State and federal agriculture agencies are investing $5.9 million to strengthen the food supply chain in Alabama.

Suppliers of produce and milk will benefit most.

ON CAMPUS Wallace Community CollegeDothan is adding a modular production system to train students for careers installing and maintaining advanced manufacturing systems that include automation and robotics. Troy University has added three new advanced degree options — a Ph.D. in criminology, a Master of Business Administration-Data Analytics and a concentration

LOBBYING BY BILLBOARD A billboard sponsored by a multifaceted Cover Alabama group urges the legislature to expand Medicaid coverage to help save financially troubled rural hospitals. Cover Alabama includes members from consumer, business, health care and faith groups.

BIG HONORS FOR SMALL BIZ The Business Council of Alabama has honored four small firms as the best small businesses in Alabama. The four winners are Anderson Family Care in Demopolis, Wiregrass Wealth Management in

the sale is finalized and expansion plans Wind Creek in Wetumpka. are developed.

“We are excited to bring the Birmingham Racecourse into the Wind Creek family,” said Jay Dorris, president and CEO of Wind Creek Hospitality.

“The McGregor family built and has operated the Birmingham Racecourse for decades. Over those years, it became clear to us that we share many of the same goals — providing great entertainment, attracting tourism and creating economic growth in Alabama. We are really looking forward to welcoming their employees and to moving forward together.”

Stephanie Bryan, tribal chair and CEO of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, said the tribe already has been involved in the Birmingham area, supporting several organizations, and the acquisition will allow that to continue.

“When it comes to attracting tourism, this is an incredibly important area of the state. We are committed to building on the success of both the Birmingham Racecourse and Casino and our Wind Creek brand by ensuring that this property will keep tourist dollars here at home and provide jobs that support Alabama families,” Bryan said.

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians is the only federally recognized tribe in Alabama, Beyond its Alabama properties, PCI’s Wind Creek Hospitality brand manages gaming facilities in Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania and in Aruba and Curacao. 

Dothan, Johnny’s Bar-B-Q in Cullman and WM Grocery in Heflin.

AUBURN GROWING ON COAST Auburn University has approved plans for an engineering research station in Orange Beach. The $14 million center will focus research on the coastal environment.

POWER INVESTORS Y’all Sweet Tea, based in Hayden, landed a $500,000 investment from “Shark Tank” panelists. Y’all Sweet Tea drinks feature flavors such as Georgia Peach, Juicy Watermelon Whirl and Mango Tango.

CONTRACTS SCI Technology, in Huntsville, has been awarded a $40.7

million contract for equipment for a tactical operations center network intercommunication system. This includes power hubs, interface panels and radio control and audio equipment.

The Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center Board has awarded a $3.9 million contract to upgrade its outdoor space. The contract went to the minority-owned company SDAC, which is based in Selma.

HISTORIC HELP Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, the site of a 1963 bombing that killed four young Black women, has been awarded a $2.5 million preservation grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help preserve the church’s historic spaces and create an education and visitors center.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 9

BENCHMARKS

Presenting the 2025 Business Alabama Award nominees

Forty businesses, business people and projects have been selected as finalists for the 2025 BUSINESS ALABAMA AWARDS.

After taking nominations from the public, we chose finalists in seven categories. Five Lifetime Achievement winners will also be announced in January, and they will be honored, along with winners of the award categories, at a ceremony in Birmingham on Feb. 28, STARTUP OF THE YEAR 2025. › Etch, Huntsville › Forsee, Prattville Finalists for the Business Alabama Awards are: CEO OF THE YEAR › Jim Gorrie – Brasfield & Gorrie, Birmingham › Billy Harbert – BL Harbert International, Birmingham › Macke Mauldin – BancIndependent Inc., Sheffield › John Turner – Regions Bank, Birmingham › Ray Watts – University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham LARGE COMPANY OF THE YEAR (300 EMPLOYEES OR MORE) › Austal USA, Mobile › Honda, Lincoln › Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville › PCH Hotels & Resorts, Mobile › Robins & Morton, Birmingham

ALABAMA EXPAT OF THE YEAR › Karan Dyson, vice president, Global Grooming Process & Engineering, Procter and Gamble › Janet Gurwitch, founder of Gurwitch Products › Vicki Hollub, president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum › Sara Rademaker, CEO and founder of American Unagi › Michielle Sego-Johnson, vice president of Inflight Operations and Catering Services, United Airlines PHILANTHROPIC PROJECT OF THE YEAR › Black Belt Community Foundation, Selma › USA Health’s Doc Rock, Mobile › Kinetic’s Kinetic Cup, Birmingham › Baldwin Bone & Joint’s Many More Miles Shoe Drive, Fairhope › Thompson Burton’s Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Huntsville

SMALL COMPANY OF THE YEAR › Challenge Testing, Mobile › ProxsysRX, Birmingham › Rolin Construction, Spanish Fort › WM Grocery, Wedowee › Y’all Sweet Tea, Hayden

B U S I N E S S

B R I E F S

GENEROUS The Dothan nonprofit Our Community Inc., an affiliate of the Dothan Housing Authority, has received a $1.25 million grant from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez through the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund.

It’s the largest gift ever to the organization that fights family homelessness in southeast Alabama. The Regions Foundation has presented $100,000 to Mobile-based Innovation Portal to support its accelerator program for underresourced business owners.

redevelopment of the former Ft. McClellan base be transferred to the city of Anniston. The McClellan property is within the city limits of Anniston.

ANNISTON TAKES MCCLELLAN REINS The McClellan Development Authority Oversight Committee has voted to request that the MDA be dissolved and that responsibility for the

STEEL SALE STOP? President-elect Donald Trump said in early December that he opposes the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel Corp., saying he’ll use tariffs and tax incentives to help revive the American steelmaker. U.S. Steel has a major operation in Fairfield near Birmingham.

BETTER BRIDGEWORK The Alabama Department of Transportation will begin work to replace the westbound span of the Tensaw River Bridge on U.S. 90 in January. The nearly $80 million project is expected to take about two years to finish.

10 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

› Nephsol, Tuscaloosa › Wunderfan, Birmingham › Zone Protects, Decatur PROJECT OF THE YEAR › Alabama Community College System Workforce Development Centers, Gadsden State, Snead State and Northeast Alabama Community College › Bryce Hospital renovation from hospital to welcome center and museum, Tuscaloosa › First Solar opens, Lawrence County › Hood-McPherson building renovation, Birmingham › JM Smucker plant opens, McCalla › MartinFed’s $8 billion FBI contract, Huntsville › Rickwood Field renovation and Major League Baseball game, Birmingham › Runergy opens, Huntsville › Samkee opens, Tuskegee › Toyota builds 10 millionth engine, Huntsville

JOB WOES Boeing plans to lay off 158 employees in Huntsville in 2025, part of a plan to cut its U.S. workforce by 10%. The layoffs will begin on Jan. 17, according to a notice filed with the Alabama Department of Commerce.

FABARC ESOP Oxford-based FabArc Steel Supply has transitioned to 100% employee ownership via an employee stock ownership plan.

In addition, Tom Adams has been named chairman of the company.

MALL WITHOUT STORES Five Guys, the only remaining tenant at Birmingham’s oncepopular Brookwood Village mall, has closed. Plans are under review to repurpose the mall as

Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center.

TRAVEL DESTINATION Birmingham has been selected to host the International Inbound Travel Association 2027 Summit, which brings together organizations that provide services for international travelers. Birmingham was among five destinations bidding on the event.

HOUSING IN PROGRESS Financing arrangements have been finalized on a $3.7 million loan that will enable construction of Summerfield, a 66-acre, 130-home development in Summerdale in Baldwin County.

BENCHMARKS

Elbit wins $89M Air Force contract for work in Talladega Elbit is providing headsup display replacements for USAF F-16s, like this one shown at Nellis Air Force Base.

ELBIT SYSTEMS OF AMERICA has been awarded a contract to

supply heads-up display replacements for U.S. Air Force F-16 planes. Work is being performed in Talladega.

The contract is valued at up to $89 million and the first task

order, received in September, was valued at $57.5 million.

The display module sits atop the F-16 instrument panel, providing information that can be processed quickly by airmen.

“The Wide-Angle Conventional Head-Up Display replacements provide modernization, but also commonality across the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 fleet,” said Scott Tumpak, senior vice president of electronic systems at Texas-based Elbit America. “This commonality benefits the pilots, maintainers and supply chain, as the single configuration is easier to manage and maintain across the entire F-16 fleet.”

Jimmy Johns, vice president of operations and head of Elbit’s Talladega site, added, “Our Talladega workforce is the perfect choice to conduct this replacement work for the U.S. Air Force. We know the F-16 aircraft well, having supported the majority of aircrafts’ avionics and Head-Up Displays for decades. We look forward to this multi-year program and the continued expansion of our aftermarket services.”

Elbit’s Talladega facility provides sustainment, service and repair of complex military systems. 

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 11

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS Once a member of Auburn's track team, Ellen McNair now thrives on the competition and teamwork involved in economic development as leader of Alabama's Department of Commerce.

A LONG TIME IN DEVELOPING Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair has spent her career promoting economic advancement

By CARY ESTES — Photos by STEW MILNE

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 13

A

thletics brought Ellen McNair to Alabama from her hometown of Boston in the late 1970s. That same desire for competition has kept her in the state ever since.

McNair, who has just completed her first year as the State of Alabama’s Secretary of Commerce, surprised her family back in the ’70s when she announced she had an opportunity to run track for the new women’s team being formed at Auburn University. McNair’s parents were so unfamiliar with the college that they had to look at a map to find out where it was located.

“I really fell in love with economic development right from the beginning.

I’ve always loved the team aspect of sports, and this is a lot like that. You have different roles for different projects. Sometimes you’re the quarterback, sometimes you’re in a support position.

But you are always part of that team, and everybody has to do their job well.”

— Ellen McNair

“I was a 17-year-old Boston girl moving to Auburn, and I didn’t know anybody there,” McNair recalls with a smile.

But McNair quickly met people during her time at Auburn, where she graduated with a degree in economics. Those connections led to the opportunity to interview for a job with the Alabama Department of Commerce (then known as the Alabama Development Office), where McNair discovered a competitive excitement to economic development that she found to be similar to the world of sports.

“I really fell in love with economic development right from the beginning,” McNair says. “I’ve always loved the team aspect of sports, and this is a lot like that. You have different roles for different projects. Sometimes you’re the quarterback, sometimes you’re in a support position. But you are always part of that team, and everybody has to do their job well.

“If you like to compete, this is a great job. Because it is compe14 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

tition. The successes are awesome, the defeats are tough. But we always learn from it together as a team.”

McNair soon found herself settling in Montgomery with her husband and eventually their two children. She initially bounced back and forth a few times between ADO and the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Along the way she met and worked with current Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who served as assistant director of the ADO from 1982 to 1985.

“She took me under her wing and made the time to mentor me,” McNair says. “That whole experience was such a great opportunity for a young person out of college. I was at the table with some major companies from around the world, and right away I could see the impact that bringing these quality jobs to a community can make.”

McNair finally landed at the Montgomery Chamber in the 1990s as its chief economic developer officer.

Over the ensuing decades, she worked on nearly 600 national and international recruitment projects with a capital investment of more than $8 billion. But one project in particular stands out.

In 2001, it was announced that the South Korean Hyundai Motor Company was looking for a site to build its first United States manufacturing facility. Montgomery joined a long list of more than 100 communities throughout the country — including in Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas and neighboring Georgia — that were competing for the lucrative project.

It easily was the most expansive economic development effort of McNair’s career. Yet throughout the year-long recruitment process of Hyundai, McNair says she never thought much about it actually being successful.

“You can’t think about winning when you’re working on a project like that,” McNair says. “All you’re thinking about at the moment is to just not get eliminated (from consideration). Stay in the game, be patient and keep working. You just kept focusing on the next play, the next goal that you had to hit.”

Finally, in April of 2002, McNair and other Chamber members gathered to learn Hyundai’s site decision, which because of the time difference from South Korean was being announced at night in Alabama. During the day-long wait, McNair says she began thinking for the first time that Montgomery had a chance

to be chosen.

And win it did.

“That project was such an intense, group effort,” McNair says.

“To win it was so huge for this community. It really changed Montgomery in so many ways. More than 15,000 jobs in the Montgomery area are associated with Hyundai and their suppliers.”

Having become firmly established in Montgomery, McNair says she was content to finish her economic-development career at the Chamber. Her children still live in Montgomery, and she now has six grandchildren to keep her busy.

But when Greg Canfield announced in October of 2023 that he was stepping down after 12 years as Alabama Commerce Secretary to return to the private sector as managing director of economic development at the Burr & Forman law firm, Ivey tapped her former mentee at the old ADO to replace him. Much to McNair’s surprise.

“I was not at all expecting that. It hadn’t even crossed my mind,” McNair says. “I loved what I did at the Chamber. Loved the team there and the job. But this was such a great opportunity.

I have huge shoes to fill. But Greg had built an amazing team, and I’d worked with so many of them before. They made the transition easy. I’m so thankful for the team Greg built.”

At the request of Ivey, McNair spent much of her first year as commerce secretary working to develop a new long-term economic strategic plan called Catalyst. The plan was officially

announced in October, replacing the state’s previous framework known as Accelerate Alabama.

McNair says the new plan doesn’t make a bunch of drastic changes to the state’s current approach to economic development.

Instead, it focuses on what needs to be done to remain competitive in the years ahead. McNair says it all starts with continued and improved collaborations with such statewide organizations as the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, Innovate Alabama, the Business Council of Alabama, the Economic Development Association of Alabama and the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

“We all have our own goals and objectives, but there are ways we can work together even better,” McNair says. “We want to establish this collaboration across the state for years to come, so we’re all in the same boat rowing in the same direction. The power of collaboration is so tremendous. It really makes a difference when you can work with a group where everybody is onboard.

“This organization (the Department of Commerce) has been very successful. But you want to always strive to continue improving. You should never be happy with where you are. Because as soon as are, somebody is going to pass you.”

And as a former track athlete, McNair never likes to be passed.

Cary Estes and Stew Milne are freelance contributors to Business Alabama. Estes is based in Birmingham and Milne in Auburn.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 15

GOVERNMENT

Alabama’s Congressional Members SENATOR

SENATOR

502 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5744 Britt.senate.gov 321 Federal Bldg.

1800 5th Ave. N. Birmingham, AL 35203 205-731-1384

Russell Senate Office Building Suite 445 Washington, DC 20510 202-224-4124 Tuberville.senate.gov Frank M. Johnson Jr. Annex One Church St., Ste. 500-B Montgomery, AL 36104 334-523-7424

U.S. SENATORS

KATIE BRITT (R)

Committees: Appropriations; Banking, Housing and Urban Development; Rules and Administration Chief of Staff: Clay Armentrout Communications Director: Amy Hasenberg-Elliott

SHOMARI FIGURES (D)

District 4: Blount, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Marion, Marshall, Walker, Winston and part of Lauderdale and Tuscaloosa

District 2: Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Macon, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Russell, Washington and part of Clarke and Mobile

272 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-4876/Fax: 202-225-5587 Aderholt.house.gov 247 Carl Elliot Building 1710 Alabama Ave. Jasper, AL 35501 205-221-2310 Committees: Appropriations Chief of Staff: Michael Lowry Press Secretary: Ben Martin

Elected in November 2024. District and Washington, DC, address information unavailable as of press time.

MIKE ROGERS (R)

TERRI SEWELL (D)

BARRY MOORE (R) District 1: Baldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston and part of Mobile

1504 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-2901 Barrymoore.house.gov 217 Graceland Dr., Ste. 5 Dothan, AL 36305 334-547-6630 Committees: Agriculture, Judiciary Chief of Staff: Madison Green Communications Director: Emery Washington

District 3: Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah, Lee, Randolph, St. Clair, Tallapoosa and part of Talladega 2469 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-3261/Fax: 202-226-8485 Mikerogers.house.gov 149 E. Hamric Dr., Ste. D Oxford, AL 36203 256-236-5655/Fax: 844-635-4276 Committees: Armed Services Chief of Staff: Christopher Brinson Communications Director: Carrie Cole

Committees: Armed Services; Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Veterans’ Affairs; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chief of Staff: Mary Blanche Hankey Communications Director: Mallory Jaspers

Photo by AP Images

ROBERT ADERHOLT (R)

U.S. REPRESENTATIVES

TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R)

DALE STRONG (R) District 7: Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Wilcox and part of Clarke, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa

1035 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-2665 Sewell.house.gov 908 Alabama Ave., Fed. Building, Ste. 112 Selma, AL 36701 334-877-4414 Committees: Ways and Means, Armed Services, House Administration Chief of Staff: Hillary Beard Press Secretary: Christopher Kosteva

16 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

District 5: Jackson, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan and part of Lauderdale

1337 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-4801 Strong.house.gov 2101 Clinton Ave. W., Ste. 302 Huntsville, AL 35805 256-551-0190/Fax: 771-200-5717 Committees: Armed Services, Homeland Security; Science, Space and Technology Chief of Staff: Payne Griffin Press Secretary: Madison Neal

GARY PALMER (R) District 6: Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Elmore, Shelby and part of Jefferson and Talladega

170 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-4921/Fax: 202-225-2082 Palmer.house.gov 3535 Grandview Pkwy., Ste. 525 Birmingham, AL 35243 205-968-1290/Fax: 205-968-1294 Committees: Republican Policy, Energy & Commerce, Oversight and Accountability Chief of Staff: William Smith Communications Director: Hope Dawson Alabama Congressional Races: Total Amounts Raised Listed in order of amounts raised Caroleene Dobson (R) $3,816,839 Terri Sewell (D) $3,009,793 Mike Rogers (R) $2,862,334 Shomari Figures (D) $2,580,215 Gary Palmer (R) $1,709,984 Robert Aderholt (R) $1,465,202 Dale Strong (R) $1,280,679 Barry Moore (R) $1,062,045 Elizabeth Anderson (D) $206,624 Robin Litaker (R) $41,934 Thomas Bethune Holmes (D) $17,694 Based on Federal Election Commission data available electronically on Dec. 12, 2024.

Sources: Center for Responsive Politics, opensecrets.org

G OV E R N M E N T

Alabama’s Constitutional Officers GOVERNOR KAY IVEY

LIEUTENANT GOV. WILL AINSWORTH

State Capitol

11 S. Union St. # 725

600 Dexter Ave.

Montgomery, AL 36130

Montgomery, AL 36130

334-261-9590

334-242-7100

ltgov.alabama.gov

Fax: 334-353-0004 governor.alabama.gov

SECRETARY OF STATE WES ALLEN

STATE AUDITOR ANDREW SORRELL

600 Dexter Ave.

600 Dexter Ave.

Suite S-105

Room S-101

Montgomery, AL 36130

Montgomery, AL 36130

334-242-7200

334-242-7010

Fax: 334-242-4993

Fax: 334-242-7650

sos.alabama.gov

auditor.alabama.gov

ATTORNEY GENERAL STEVE MARSHALL

COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE & INDUSTRIES — RICK PATE

STATE TREASURER YOUNG BOOZER III

501 Washington Ave. Montgomery, AL 36104 334-242-7300 / Fax: 334-242-4891 alabamaag.gov

1445 Federal Drive Montgomery, AL 36107 334-240-7100 / Fax: 334-240-7190 agi.alabama.gov

600 Dexter Ave., Room S-106 Montgomery, AL 36104 334-242-7500 treasury.alabama.gov

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 17

G OV E R N M E N T

Alabama’s State Senate

Compiled by NEDRA BLOOM

GREG ALBRITTON

GERALD ALLEN

WILL BARFOOT

BILLY BEASLEY

LANCE BELL

THOMAS BUTLER

JOSH CARNLEY

CLYDE CHAMBLISS

DONNIE CHESTEEN

MERIKA COLEMAN

LINDA COLEMAN-MADISON

CHRIS ELLIOTT

VIVIAN DAVIS FIGURES

SAM GIVHAN

SEVERAL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALABAMA SENATE.

General address to reach all state senators in Montgomery is Alabama Legislature, 11 S. Union St., Montgomery, AL 36130.

SENATOR/PARTY/ DISTRICT

Listed in alphabetical order.

BIOGRAPHICAL

MONTGOMERY PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

GREG ALBRITTON, R 22: Washington, Monroe, Clarke, Baldwin, Escambia

Attorney

334-261-0483

810 S. Pensacola Ave., Atmore, AL 36502 gregalbrittonsenate22@gmail.com

GERALD ALLEN, R 21: Tuscaloosa, Pickens, Lamar

Owner, Cashco Marketing

334-261-0889

P.O. Box 70007, Tuscaloosa, AL 35407 gerald.allen@alsenate.gov

WILL BARFOOT, R 25: Crenshaw, Elmore, Montgomery

Attorney

334-261-0895

11 S. Union St., Ste. 733, Montgomery, AL 36130 will.barfoot@alsenate.gov

BILLY BEASLEY, D 28: Russell, Macon, Bullock, Barbour, Henry, Houston

President, Pratts Station LLC

334-261-0868

P.O. Box 606, Clayton, AL 36016 billy.beasley@alsenate.gov

LANCE BELL, R 11: Talladega, St. Clair, Shelby

Attorney

334-261-0789

lance.bell@alsenate.gov

TOM BUTLER, R 2: Madison, Limestone

Pharmacist

334-261-0884

P.O. Box 653, Madison, AL 35758 senbutler@aol.com

JOSH CARNLEY, R 31: Pike, Coffee, Dale, Covington

Insurance, farmer

334-261-0845

josh.carnley@alsenate.gov

CLYDE CHAMBLISS JR., R 30: Coosa, Elmore, Tallapoosa, Chilton, Autauga

Principal engineer, Chambliss Engineering

334-261-0872

clyde.chambliss@alsenate.gov

DONNIE CHESTEEN, R 29: Dale, Geneva, Houston

High school coach

334-261-0879

P.O. Box 39, Geneva, AL 36340 donnie.chesteen@alsenate.gov

MERIKA COLEMAN, D 19: Jefferson

Miles College faculty

334-261-0793

merika.coleman@alsenate.gov

LINDA COLEMAN-MADISON, D 20: Jefferson

Americans with Disabilities compliance coordinator

334-261-0864

lcolemanmadison926@yahoo.com

CHRIS ELLIOTT, R 32: Baldwin

Small business owner

334-261-0897

1100 Fairhope Ave., Fairhope, AL 36532 chris.elliott@alsenate.gov

VIVIAN DAVIS FIGURES, D 33: Mobile

Advocate for children, health care, education

334-261-0871

P.O. Box 7985, Mobile, AL 36670 vivian.figures@alsenate.gov

SAM GIVHAN, R 7: Madison

Real estate attorney

334-261-0867

sam.givhan@alsenate.gov

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 19

GARLAN GUDGER, R 4: Winston, Marion, Lawrence, Cullman

WES KITCHENS

STEVE LIVINGSTON

SHAY SHELNUTT

BOBBY SINGLETON

KEITH KELLEY DAVID SESSIONS APRIL WEAVER

JACK WILLIAMS

ANDREW JONES

JAY HOVEY RANDY PRICE LARRY STUTTS BIOGRAPHICAL

DAN ROBERTS

KIRK HATCHER ARTHUR ORR ROBERT STEWART

SENATOR/PARTY/ DISTRICT

J.T. “JABO” WAGGONER

GARLAN GUDGER TIM MELSON RODGER SMITHERMAN

G OV E R N M E N T

MONTGOMERY PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

Owner, Southern Accents Architectural Antiques

334-261-0855

garlan.gudger@alsenate.gov

KIRK HATCHER, D 26: Montgomery

Teacher

334-261-9001

P.O. Box 6213, Montgomery, AL 36106 kirk.hatcher@alsenate.gov

JAY HOVEY, R 27: Tallapoosa, Russell, Lee

Banker

334-261-0865

jay.hovey@alsenate.gov

ANDREW JONES, R 10: Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah

Farmer, coffee roaster

334-261-0857

andrew.jones@alsenate.gov

KEITH KELLEY, R 12: Talladega, Calhoun

Businessperson

334-261-0846

keith.kelley@alsenate.gov

WES KITCHENS, R 9: Blount, Madison, Marshall

Former state legislator; former Chamber of Commerce executive

STEVE LIVINGSTON, R 8: Madison, Jackson, DeKalb

Businessperson

334-261-0858

P.O. Box 8, Scottsboro, AL 35768 steve.livingston@alsenate.gov

TIM MELSON, R 1: Madison, Limestone, Lauderdale

Physician; farmer

334-261-0888

P.O. Box 550, Florence, AL 35631 tim.melson@alsenate.gov

ARTHUR ORR, R 3: Morgan, Madison, Limestone

Attorney, VP at Cook's Pest Control

334-261-0758

P.O. Box 305, Decatur, AL 35602 arthur.orr@alsenate.gov

RANDY PRICE, R 13: Randolph, Lee, Cleburne, Clay, Chambers

Business owner, farmer

334-261-0874

P.O. Box 429, Opelika, AL 36801 randyprice.sd13@gmail.com

DAN ROBERTS, R 15: Talladega, Shelby, Jefferson

Real estate developer, Realtor

334-261-0851

P.O. Box 43186, Birmingham, AL 35243 dan.roberts@alsenate.gov

DAVID SESSIONS, R 35: Mobile

Farmer

334-261-0882

104 Lawrence St., Mobile, AL 36602 d.r.sessions@att.net

SHAY SHELNUTT, R 17: St. Clair, Jefferson, Blount

Realtor

334-261-0794

P.O. Box 120, Trussville, AL 35173 shay.sd17@gmail.com

20 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

wes.kitchens@alsenate.gov

G OV E R N M E N T

SENATOR/PARTY/ DISTRICT

MONTGOMERY PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

BOBBY SINGLETON, D Consultant 24: Tuscaloosa, Sumter, Pickens, Marengo, Choctaw, Green, Hale

334-261-0335

bsingle362@gmail.com

RODGER SMITHERMAN, D 18: Jefferson

Attorney

334-261-0870

2029 2nd Ave. N., Birmingham, AL 35203 rodger.smitherman@alsenate.gov

ROBERT STEWART, D 23: Butler, Clarke, Conecuh, Dallas, Lowndes, Marengo, Perry, Washington, Wilcox

Former aide to U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell

334-261-0860

robert.stewart@alsenate.gov

LARRY STUTTS, R 6: Marion, Lawrence, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin

Physician

334-261-0862

1120 S. Jackson Hwy., Ste. 104, Sheffield, AL 35660 larry.stutts@alsenate.gov

J.T. "JABO" WAGGONER, R 16: Shelby, Jefferson

Attorney

334-261-0892

P.O. Box 660609, Vestavia Hills, AL 35266 jabo.waggoner@alsenate.gov

APRIL WEAVER, R 14: Shelby, Chilton, Bibb

Former regional director, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

334-261-0886

P.O. Box 2050, Alabaster, AL 35007 april.weaver@alsenate.gov

JACK WILLIAMS, R 34: Mobile

Farmer

334-261-0829

10095A Wilmer Georgetown Rd., Wilmer, AL 36587 jackwilliams55@icloud.com

BIOGRAPHICAL

**Editor's Note: District 5 is vacant because Greg Reed resigned from the Senate in November to join the staff of Gov. Kay Ivey; an election for his successor will be slated after January 1, 2025.

CUSTOMER SERVICE At ServisFirst Bank, you get a customized approach to commercial banking, private banking and cash management. Your personal banker works with you to tailor your account to fit your individual needs and vision of success.

Corporate Headquarters 2500 Woodcrest Place Birmingham, AL 35209 866.317.0810

www.servisfirstbank.com Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 21

G OV E R N M E N T

Alabama State Representatives Compiled by NEDRA BLOOM

BRYAN BRINYARK DANNY CRAWFORD

CHIP BROWN

NAPOLEON BRACY JR. BROCK COLVIN

BARBARA BOYD TERRI COLLINS

RON BOLTON STEVE CLOUSE

RUSSELL BEDSOLE PRINCE CHESTNUT

CHRIS BLACKSHEAR

ALAN BAKER JIM CARNS

ADLINE CLARKE

CYNTHIA ALMOND

MACK BUTLER

MANY PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALABAMA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OR ALABAMA RURAL ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION OF COOPERATIVES

General address to reach all state representatives in Montgomery is Alabama Legislature, 11 S. Union St., Montgomery, AL 36130.

Listed in alphabetical order.

REPRESENTATIVE/PARTY/ DISTRICT

BIOGRAPHICAL

MONTGOMERY/ DISTRICT PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

CYNTHIA LEE ALMOND, R: 63: Tuscaloosa

Attorney, business owner

334-261-0558

2704 8th St., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 cynthia.almond@alhouse.gov

ALAN BAKER, R: 66: Baldwin, Escambia

Former teacher

334-261-4240

P.O. Box 975, Brewton, AL 36427 staterep@co.escambia.al.us

RUSSELL BEDSOLE, R: 49: Shelby, Bibb, Chilton

Shelby County Sheriff's captain

334-261-0491

417 Sterling Park Circle, Alabaster, AL 35007 russell.bedsole@alhouse.gov

CHRIS BLACKSHEAR, R: 80: Russell, Lee

Senior manager, TSYS

334-261-0428

P.O. Box 1178, Smiths Station, AL 36877 chris.blackshear@alhouse.gov

RON BOLTON, R: 61: Tuscaloosa, Pickens

First elected 2022

334-261-0403

11240 Davis Place, Northport, AL 35476 ronaldbolton1@gmail.com

BARBARA BOYD, D: 32: Talladega, Calhoun

Retired educator

334-261-0592

P.O. Box 4085, Anniston, AL 36204 barbara.boyd@alhouse.gov

NAPOLEON BRACY JR., D: 98: Mobile

Diversity manager, Austal USA

334-261-0556 251-327-2794

104 S. Lawrence St., Mobile, AL 36602 napoleon@napoleonbracy.com

BRYAN BRINYARK, R: 16: Fayette, Jefferson, Tuscaloosa

Attorney

334-261-0482

31 McFarland Blvd., #200, Northport, AL 35476 bryan.brinyark@alhouse.gov

CHIP BROWN, R: 105: Mobile

Realtor, business owner

334-261-0447

104 S. Lawrence St., Mobile, AL 36602 chip.brown@alhouse.gov

MACK BUTLER, R: 28: Etowah

First elected 2022

334-261-0490 256-312-3128

P.O. Box 7184, Rainbow City, AL 35906 mack.butler@alhouse.gov

JIM CARNS, R: 48: Shelby, Jefferson

Engineer

334-261-0429

1713 Pump House Ln., Vestavia Hills, AL 35243 jwcarns@gmail.com

PRINCE CHESTNUT, D: 67: Dallas, Perry

Attorney

334-261-0598 334-874-2569

P.O. Box 628, Selma, AL 36702 chestnut4house@gmail.com

ADLINE CLARKE, D: 97: Mobile

Small business owner

334-261-0549 251-208-5481

P.O. Box 40748, Mobile, AL 36640 adline.clark@alhouse.gov

STEVE CLOUSE, R: 93: Houston, Dale

VP, Clouse Marketing

334-261-0488 334-774-7384

P.O. Box 818, Ozark, AL 36361 steve.clouse@alhouse.gov

TERRI COLLINS, R: 8: Morgan

Formerly marketing and sales

334-261-0472 256-260-2146

2128 6th Ave. SE, Ste. 504, Decatur, AL 35602 terri@terricollins.org

BROCK COLVIN, R: 26: Marshall, DeKalb

First elected 2022

334-261-0438

412A Gunter Ave., Guntersville, AL 35976 brock.colvin@alhouse.gov

DANNY CRAWFORD, R: 5: Limestone

Crop insurance contractor

334-261-0516 256-871-1944

113 Lindsay Ln. N., Athens, AL 35613 Danny.F.Crawford@gmail.com

22 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

BIOGRAPHICAL

CHRISTOPHER ENGLAND

PHILLIP ENSLER

TRACY ESTES

JUANDALYNN GIVAN

DONNA GIVENS

JEREMY GRAY

CORLEY ELLIS MARK GIDLEY

BRETT EASTERBROOK DANNY GARRETT

BARBARA DRUMMOND BOB FINCHER

SUSAN DUBOSE

KELVIN DATCHER JENNIFER FIDLER

REPRESENTATIVE/PARTY/ DISTRICT

BERRY FORTE

ANTHONY DANIELS DAVID FAULKNER

G OV E R N M E N T

MONTGOMERY/ DISTRICT PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

ANTHONY DANIELS, D: 53: Madison

COO, Premier Dental

334-261-0522 256-539-5441

726 Madison St., Huntsville, AL 35801 anthony.daniels@alhouse.gov

KELVIN DATCHER, D: 52: Jefferson

First elected 2024

334-261-0387

214 24th St. N., Birmingham, AL 35211 kelvin.datcher@alhouse.gov

BARBARA DRUMMOND, D: 103: Mobile

Owner, B-Inspired Marketing and Consulting

334-261-0564 251-208-5481

1266 Horton Dr., Mobile, AL 36605 drummondbarbara@att.net

SUSAN DUBOSE, R: 45: Shelby, Jefferson

First elected 2022

334-261-0527 205-612-2433

5378 Greystone Way, Hoover, AL 35242 susan.dubose@alhouse.gov

BRETT EASTERBROOK, R: 65: Washington, Choctaw, Clarke

First elected 2018

334-261-0402

633 Escatawpa Rd., Fruitdale, AL 36539 brett.easterbrook@yahoo.com

CORLEY ELLIS, R: 41: Shelby

Owner, Ellis Properties

334-261-0560

P.O. Box 1177, Columbiana, AL 35051 corley.ellis@alhouse.gov

CHRISTOPHER JOHN ENGLAND, D: 70: Tuscaloosa

Assistant city attorney, Tuscaloosa

334-261-0503 205-248-5140

2201 University Blvd., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 cengland1@hotmail.com

PHILLIP ENSLER, D: 74: Montgomery

First elected 2022

334-261-0569 334-235-9814

P.O. Box 20185, Montgomery, AL 36120 phillip.ensler@gmail.com

TRACY ESTES, R: 17: Winston, Marion, Lamar

News editor, Marion Journal Record

334-261-0434

202 Arrowhead Village, Winfield, AL 35594 jtracyestes@gmail.com

DAVID FAULKNER, R: 46: Jefferson

First elected 2014

334-261-0442 205-250-6604

505 N. 20th St., Ste. 1800, Birmingham, AL 35203 david@davidfaulkneral46.com

JENNIFER FIDLER, R: 94: Baldwin

First elected 2022

334-261-0409 251-620-9384

1100 Fairhope Ave., Fairhope, AL 36532 jennifer.fidler@alhouse.gov

BOB FINCHER, R: 37: Chambers, Cleburne, Randolph

Retired educator

334-261-0538 256-201-0154

11823 County Rd. 59, Woodland, AL 36280 rsfincher77@gmail.com

BERRY FORTE, D: 84: Randolph, Barbour, Bullock

American Buildings

334-261-0566

620 Davis Ln., Eufaula, AL 36027 berry.forte@alhouse.gov

DANNY GARRETT, R: 44: Jefferson

CFO, Vulcan Threaded Products

334-261-0524 205-410-4637

P.O. Box 531, Trussville, AL 35173 dannygarrett44@gmail.com

MARK GIDLEY, R: 29: Etowah, DeKalb, Calhoun

First elected 2022

334-261-0432

P.O. Box 2671, Gadsden, AL 35903 mark.gidley@alhouse.gov

JUANDALYNN GIVAN, D: 60: Jefferson

Owner, Givan & Associates Law Firm

DONNA GIVENS, R: 64: Monroe, Baldwin JEREMY GRAY, D: 83: Russell, Lee

334-261-0584

63 Greenleaf Dr., Birmingham, AL 35214 juandalynn.givan@alhouse.gov

First elected 2022

334-261-0445 251-952-2210

P.O. Box 8261, Loxley, AL 36551 donnagivens64@gmail.com

CEO, Elevate Your Grind

334-261-9505 256-247-5059

P.O. Box 1834, Opelika, AL 36803 jeremy.gray@alhouse.gov

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 23

BIOGRAPHICAL

JIM HILL

FRANCES HOLK-JONES

ROLANDA HOLLIS

MIKE KIRKLAND

BILL LAMB

MARILYN LANDS

TRAVIS HENDRIX JAMIE KIEL

KENYATTÉ HASSEL SAM JONES

COREY HARBISON REED INGRAM

BEN HARRISON

MATTHEW HAMMETT STEVE HURST

REPRESENTATIVE/PARTY/ DISTRICT

THOMAS JACKSON

LAURA HALL LEIGH HULSEY

G OV E R N M E N T

MONTGOMERY/ DISTRICT PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

LAURA HALL, D: 19: Madison

Retired educator

334-261-0517 256-539-5441

726 Madison St., Huntsville, AL 35801 annihall19@gmail.com

MATTHEW HAMMETT, R: 92: Coffee, Covington, Escambia

First elected 2022

334-261-0421 334-496-3649

24901 County Rd. 62, Dozier, AL 36028 matthew.hammett@alhouse.gov

COREY HARBISON, R: 12: Cullman

First elected 2014

334-261-0578 256-385-5510

P.O. Box 472, Cullman, AL 35056 corey_harbison@yahoo.com

BEN HARRISON, R: 2: Limestone, Lauderdale

Former Limestone County commissioner

334-261-0476 256-614-9087

23029 AL Hwy. 89, Elkmont, AL 35620 votebenharrison@gmail.com

KENYATTÉ HASSELL, D: 78: Montgomery

Urban director, Young Life; Heritage Barbershop manager

334-261-0506 334-834-8494

1200 Hugh St., Montgomery, AL 36108 ken.hassell@alhouse.gov

TRAVIS HENDRIX, D: 55: Jefferson

First elected 2023

334-261-0452

Jefferson County

JIM HILL, R: 50: St. Clair

First elected 2014

334-261-0494 205-838-1990

2603 Moody Pkwy., Moody, AL 35004 jimhill@stclairlawgroup.com

FRANCES HOLK-JONES, R: 95: Baldwin

First elected 2022

334-261-0523 251-620-7470

315 E. Laurel Ave., Ste. 101, Foley, AL 36535 frances.holk-jones@alhouse.gov

ROLANDA HOLLIS, D: 58: Jefferson

Real estate broker

334-261-9520

524 Red Lane Rd., Birmingham, AL 35215 rolanda.hollis@alhouse.gov

LEIGH HULSEY, R: 15: Jefferson, Shelby

First elected 2022

334-261-0474

1134 County Services Dr., Pelham, AL 35124 leigh.hulsey@alhouse.gov

STEVE HURST, R: 35: Calhoun, Clay, Talladega

Businessperson

334-261-0415 334-280-3276

155 Quail Run Rd., Munford, AL 36268 repstevehurst98@gmail.com

REED INGRAM, R: 75: Elmore, Montgomery

Former Montgomery County commissioner

334-261-0507

85 Meriwether Rd., Pike Road, AL 36064 reedingram75@gmail.com

THOMAS E. JACKSON, D: 68: Clarke, Conecuh, Monroe, Marengo

Upward Bound director at Alabama Southern College

334-261-0437 334-222-0111

P.O. Box 636, Thomasville, AL 36784 jthomase69@gmail.com

SAM JONES, D: 99: Mobile

Former mayor of Mobile

334-261-0963

1 Southern Way, Mobile, AL 36619 SL Jones@ballhealth.com

JAMIE KIEL, R: 18: Colbert, Lauderdale, Franklin

Owner, Kiel Equipment

334-261-0521

14696 Hwy. 43, Russellville, AL 35653 jamie.kiel@alhouse.gov

MIKE KIRKLAND, R: 23: Jackson, DeKalb

First elected 2022

334-261-0551 256-218-3090

100 E. Peachtree St., Scottsboro, AL 35768 kirklandmike75@gmail.com

BILL LAMB, R: 62: Tuscaloosa

Former Tuscaloosa County CFO

334-261-0481 205-361-5262

7402 Marigold Ln., Tuscaloosa, AL 35405 lambbama@gmail.com

MARILYN LANDS, D: 10: Madison

First elected 2024

334-261-0483 256-539-5441

726 Madison St., Huntsville, AL 35801 marylin.lands@alhouse.gov

24 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

BIOGRAPHICAL

RHETT MARQUES

A.J. McCAMPBELL

PATRICE “PENNI” MCCLAMMY

KENNETH PASCHAL

PHILLIP PETTUS

CHRIS PRINGLE

JOE LOVVORN MARCUS PARAMORE

JAMES LOMAX ED OLIVER

PAUL LEE PARKER MOORE

CRAIG LIPSCOMB

NATHANIEL LEDBETTER MARY MOORE

REPRESENTATIVE/PARTY/ DISTRICT

TASHINA MORRIS

KELVIN LAWRENCE

ARNOLD MOONEY

G OV E R N M E N T

MONTGOMERY/ DISTRICT PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

KELVIN LAWRENCE, D: 69: Wilcox, Lowndes, Autauga, Montgomery

First elected 2014

334-251-0536 256-638-6397

P.O. Box 1010, Hayneville, AL 36040 kelvinj73@gmail.com

NATHANIEL LEDBETTER, R: 24: DeKalb

First elected 2014

334-261-0505 334-792-0022

P.O. Box 725, Rainsville, AL 35986 nathaniel.ledbetter@alhouse.gov

PAUL W. LEE, R: 86: Houston

Director, Wiregrass Rehab Center

334-261-0488 334-792-9682

304 Ashborough Circle, Dothan, AL 36301 pleed86@gmail.com

CRAIG LIPSCOMB, R: 30: St. Clair, Etowah

Architect

334-261-0546 334-501-7133

422 Chestnut St., Gadsden, AL 35901 craig.lipscomb@alhouse.gov

JAMES LOMAX, R: 20: Madison

First elected 2022

334-261-0444 256-503-6088

P.O. Box 875, Huntsville, AL 35804 jamesoliverlomax@gmail.com

JOE LOVVORN, R: 79: Lee

Firefighter, small business owner

334-261-0540

515 Ogletee Rd., Auburn, AL 36830 joe.lovvorn@alhouse.gov

RHETT MARQUES, R: 91: Coffee

Small business owner

334-261-0473 334-289-5664

1161 Geneva Hwy., Enterprise, AL 36330 rhett.marques@alhouse.gov

ARTIS "AJ" MCCAMPBELL, D: 71: Tuscaloosa, Sumter, Marengo, Greene

Insurance

334-261-0547 334-261-0580

P.O. Box 487, Demopolis, AL 36732 aj.mccampbell@alhouse.gov

PATRICE "PENNI" MCCLAMMY, D: 76: Montgomery

Attorney

334-261-0580 334-414-7345

530 S. Union St., Montgomery, AL 36125 patrice.mcclammy@alhouse.gov

ARNOLD MOONEY, R: 43: Shelby

First elected 2014

334-261-9512 205-620-6610

1134 County Services Dr., Pelham, AL 35124 arnoldmooney@alhouse.gov

MARY MOORE, D: 59: Jefferson

Retired medical technologist

334-261-0508

1622 36th Ave. N., Birmingham, AL 35207 mamoore48@bellsouth.net

PARKER MOORE, R: 4: Morgan, Limestone

Marketing, Encore Rehabilitation

334-261-0579 256-227-6674

304 Dominion Dr. SE, Hartselle, AL 35640 parker.moore@alhouse.gov

TASHINA MORRIS, D: 77: Montgomery

Nonprofit director

334-261-0597 256-328-1653

1320 Jordan St., Montgomery, AL 36108 tashinamorris1@yahoo.com

ED OLIVER, R: 81: Tallapoosa, Coosa, Chilton

Former military pilot

334-261-0471

P.O. Box 277, Dadeville, AL 36853 ed.oliver@alhouse.gov

MARCUS PARAMORE, R: 89: Pike, Dale

First elected 2022

334-261-0592 334-546-1242

P.O. Box 211, Troy, AL 36081 marcusforhouse@gmail.com

KENNETH PASCHAL, R: 73: Shelby

Retired military

334-261-0469 205-626-9458

1134 County Services Dr., Pelham, AL 35124 kenneth.paschal@alhouse.gov

PHILLIP PETTUS, R: 1: Lauderdale

Retired Alabama State Trooper

334-261-0591 256-757-6679

771 County Rd. 144, Killen, AL 35645 phillip.pettus@alhouse.gov

CHRIS PRINGLE, R: 101: Mobile

Realtor, builder

334-261-0489

4 Princess Anne Rd., Mobile, AL 36608 chris.pringle@alhouse.gov

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 25

JEANA ROSS

PATRICK SELLERS

CHRIS SELLS

JEFF SORRELLS

SCOTT STADTHAGEN

DAVID STANDRIDGE

CHAD ROBERTSON IVAN SMITH

BEN ROBBINS MATT SIMPSON

REX REYNOLDS RANDALL SHEDD

PHILLIP RIGSBY

RICK REHM MIKE SHAW

REPRESENTATIVE/PARTY/ DISTRICT

MARK SHIREY

NEIL RAFFERTY GINNY SHAVER

G OV E R N M E N T

BIOGRAPHICAL

MONTGOMERY/ DISTRICT PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

NEIL RAFFERTY, D: 54: Jefferson

Former Marine, health care advocate

334-261-0543

P.O. Box 321579, Birmingham, AL 35232 reprafferty@gmail.com

RICK REHM, R: 85: Houston, Henry

First elected 2022

334-261-0513 334-797-7770

2115 Cecily St., Dothan, AL 36303 rrehm46@gmail.com

REX REYNOLDS, R: 21: Madison

Former Huntsville police chief

334-261-0571 256-582-0619

P.O. Box 18743, Huntsville, AL 35804 reynoldsdist21@gmail.com

PHILLIP RIGSBY, R: 25: Madison, Limestone

First elected 2022

334-261-0514 256-714-6376

800 Dr. Joseph Lower Blvd., Ste. D, Huntsville, AL 35801 reprigsbydistrict25@gmail.com

BEN ROBBINS , R: 33: Clay, Coosa, Talladega

Attorney

334-261-0477 205-907-5091

29 W. 3rd St., Ste. C, Sylacauga, AL 35150 ben.robbins@alhouse.gov

CHAD ROBERTSON, R: 40: Calhoun

First elected 2022

334-261-0496 256-201-1116

21 Anna Faith Ln., Heflin, AL 36264 ChadrobertsonD40@gmail.com

JEANA ROSS, R: 27: Marshall, DeKalb

First elected 2024

334-261-0539 256-582-0619

524 Gunter Ave., Guntersville, AL 35976 jeana.ross@alhouse.gov

PATRICK SELLERS, D: 57: Jefferson

First elected 2022

334-261-0589 205-370-5370

3428 Maple Ave. SW, Birmingham, AL 35221 sellersfor57@yahoo.com

CHRIS SELLS, R: Owner, Sells Medical Equipment 90: Montgomery, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Crenshaw

334-261-0568

271 N. Mt. Zion Rd., Greenville, AL 36037 csea@centurytel.net

GINNY SHAVER, R: 39: DeKalb, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne

Municipal government

334-261-0413

P.O. Box 348, Leesburg, AL 35983 ginny.shaver@alhouse.gov

MIKE SHAW, R: 47: Jefferson

First elected 2022

334-261-0439 205-541-6542

P.O. Box 660082, Vestavia Hills, AL 35266 mike.shaw@alabama47.com

RANDALL SHEDD, R: 11: Morgan, Cullman, Blount, Marshall

Retired director, Cullman County Commission on Aging

334-261-0530

P.O. Box 345, Baileytown, AL 35019 randall.shedd@alhouse.gov

MARK SHIREY, R: 100: Mobile

Optometrist

334-261-0563

312T Schillinger Rd. S., Box 301, Mobile, AL 36608 mark.shirey@alhouse.gov

MATT SIMPSON, R: 96: Baldwin, Mobile

Attorney, county attorneys office

334-261-0424

109 Tomrick Circle, Daphne, AL 36526 MattSimpsonAL96@gmail.com

IVAN SMITH, R: 42: Autauga, Chilton

Teacher, farmer

334-261-0459

2223 County Rd. 19 N., Prattville, AL 36067 vansmith53@gmail.com

JEFF SORRELLS, R: 87: Houston, Geneva

Former mayor of Hartford

334-261-0542 205-620-6610

101 3rd Ave., Hartford, AL 36344 jeffs@fnbhartford.com

SCOTT STADTHAGEN, R: 9: Morgan, Cullman, Marshall

Owner, Hagen Homes Inc.

334-261-9506

P.O. Box 114, Hartselle, AL 35640 alhouseleader@gmail.com

DAVID STANDRIDGE, R: 34: Blount, Marshall

Former law enforcement and probate judge

332-261-0446 205-543-0647

P.O. Box 76, Hayden, AL 35079 david.standridge@alhouse.gov

26 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

BIOGRAPHICAL

PEBBLIN WARREN

TIM WADSWORTH

KERRY UNDERWOOD ERNIE YARBROUGH

ALLEN TREADAWAY MATT WOODS

CURTIS TRAVIS RANDY WOOD

TROY STUBBS MARGIE WILCOX

ONTARIO TILLMAN

SHANE STRINGER RITCHIE WHORTON

REPRESENTATIVE/PARTY/ DISTRICT

DEBBIE HAMBY WOOD

JERRY STARNES ANDY WHITT

G OV E R N M E N T

MONTGOMERY/ DISTRICT PHONE

DISTRICT ADDRESS EMAIL ADDRESS

JERRY STARNES, R: 88: Elmore, Autauga

First elected 2022

334-261-0499 334-549-0782

1695 Windstone Way, Prattville, AL 36066 jerry.starnes@alhouse.gov

SHANE STRINGER, R: 102: Mobile

Police chief, Satsuma

334-261-0594 251-208-5480

104 S. Lawrence St., Mobile, AL 36602 shane.stringer@alhouse.gov

TROY STUBBS, R: 31: Elmore

Small business owner

334-261-0595 334-451-4589

1761 E. Main St., Prattville, AL 36066 troy.stubbs@hotmail.com

ONTARIO TILLMAN, D: 56: Jefferson

First elected 2022

334-261-0529 205-417-1032

2326 2nd Ave. N., Birmingham, AL 35020 ojtillman@gmail.com

CURTIS TRAVIS, D: 72: Perry, Marengo, Hale, Bibb, Greene

First elected 2022

334-261-0559 205-349-9183

620 Haymarket Ln., Tuscaloosa, AL 35405 cltravis620@charter.net

ALLEN TREADAWAY, R: 51: Jefferson

Police captain, City of Birmingham

334-261-0585 205-384-4357

P.O. Box 126, Morris, AL 35116 allen.treadaway@alhouse.gov

KERRY UNDERWOOD, R: 3: Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence

Retired law enforcement

334-261-0435 256-248-4891

102 N. Main St., Tuscumbia, AL 35674 kerryucpa@me.com

TIMOTHY WADSWORTH, R: 14: Winston, Walker, Jefferson

Attorney, CPA

205-300-4008

1175 Helicon Rd., Arley, AL 35541 wadsworth.tim654321@gmail.com

PEBBLIN WALKER WARREN, D: 82: Tallapoosa, Macon, Lee

First elected 2005

334-261-0541

P.O. Box 1328, Tuskegee Institute, AL 36087 tiger9127@bellsouth.net

ANDY WHITT, R: 6: Madison, Limestone

Banker

334-261-0404 256-539-5441

P.O. Box 306, Harvest, AL 35749 andy.whitt@alhouse.gov

RICHIE WHORTON, R: 22: Madison, Jackson

Businessperson, All Star Pools

334-261-0553 256-679-6490

134 Rock Spring Rd., Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763 richiewhorton@gmail.com

MARGIE WILCOX, R: 104: Mobile

First elected 2014

334-261-0577

104 S. Lawrence St., Mobile, AL 36602 margie.wilcox@alhouse.gov

DEBBIE HAMBY WOOD, R: 38: Lee, Chambers

Real estate broker

334-261-0532 706-773-9404

3011 20th Ave., Valley, AL 36854 debbie.wood@alhouse.gov

RANDY WOOD, R: 36: St. Clair, Calhoun, Talladega

Owner, Wood's Auto Body Shop

334-261-0552 256-239-9190

P.O. Box 4432, Anniston, AL 36204 strep36@gmail.com

MATT WOODS, R: 13: Walker, Blount

First elected 2022

334-261-0495

P.O. Box 1627, Jasper, AL 35502 matt.woods@alhouse.gov

ERNIE YARBROUGH, R: 7: Talladega, St. Clair, Shelby

Engineer

334-261-0454

1332 Old Hwy. 24, Trinity, AL 35673 yarbrough4house@gmail.com

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 27

AGRICULTURE

GREEN GROW THE GRASSES Wayne (left) and Jimmy Bassett grow the sod that lushes the lawns of central Alabama and beyond.

28 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

Beck’s Turf Farm has been supplying sod since 1938

By DEBORAH STOREY — Photos by JULIE BENNETT

AG R I C U LT U R E

J

immy Bassett looks out the window, watching the big irrigation pivot roll past as he talks about the oldest zoysia sod farm in the country.

Beck’s Turf opened in 1938. The Beck family grandfather, an Auburn professor, started the farm back in the days when workers chopped out squares of grass with a machete.

Bassett and his brother, Wayne, purchased it from the original owners in 1994. They chose to keep the well-established Beck name even though no Beck family members are still involved.

The sod farm on Wire Road between Auburn and Tuskegee has five locations throughout Macon and Lee counties. And though the namesake family connection is gone, the Auburn connection remains strong – the university does agricultural research there and students visit frequently.

The Bassett brothers grew up in Union Springs, close to the sod farm. Jimmy graduated from Auburn in 1987 with a degree in business administration. Wayne graduated from Troy University in 1986 with a marketing degree. Wayne worked in sales for another sod farm and Jimmy was a banker when they decided to buy the well-established, family-owned farm.

Some original employees stayed through the owner transition. A few of their 45 workers have been there almost 50 years.

The amount of sod growing at any one time takes up about 800 of the farms’ 1,800 total acres. Their sales region extends about 200 miles, Bassett says, mostly north.

“Atlanta and Birmingham are our two biggest markets,” he says. “We go to Huntsville. We’ll go all the way to Athens, Georgia. We go to Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Montgomery.”

Beck’s sells sod to large and small customers, both commercial and residential — mostly to landscapers or contractors.

“We really do it all,” Bassett says.

Their products include the oddly named centipede grass, one of the most widely used lawn grasses in the Southeast; Tifway 419 Bermuda, a warm-season grass used mostly on sports fields and commercial sites; the sports and recreation variety Celebration Bermudagrass; Meyer Zoysia, a strain first grown in 1940; and drought-resistant Emerald Zoysia.

Sod experts say that a turfgrass lawn needs no special care because it’s healthy and mature when installed; whereas a sprigged, plugged or seeded lawn requires years of nurturing to reach maturity.

The biggest problem homeowners create when they install a beautiful new sod lawn is loving it too much.

“What we see in the long run is folks are watering the grass too much,” says Bassett. “Sometimes folks water it every day for 15 minutes when you’d be better off watering twice a week for an hour.”

By the same token, “when you first put the grass down sometimes they under water, and that is an issue.”

Another rookie mistake by both residential and commercial customers is not preparing the ground.

“If it’s not smooth, your grass is not going to look smooth,” Bassett says.

Soil samples help determine what kind of grass or fertilizers are best for specific land. Most county extension services in Alabama offer free testing.

TOP RIGHT: Delivering turf at Auburn. Photo courtesy of Beck's.

BOTTOM RIGHT: On the Beck-supplied lawn during the filming of "Big Fish." Photo courtesy of Beck's.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 29

AG R I C U LT U R E

A major nemesis for the suburban owner is the lowly armyworm, which can turn a showcase lawn brown in just days. The critters usually seek out the best lawns – not the weedy ones.

That kind of invasion doesn’t happen at a professional grass-growing operation like Beck’s.

“We’re out there checking them every day,” says Bassett. “We stay on top of it.”

The 2024 drought was indeed a challenge, though, and kept the Beck’s Turf Farm irrigation systems running overtime.

“We try to get an inch of water a week, especially during growing season,” says Bassett.

They pump water from creeks, ponds and anywhere else they can find it. Still, “our electric bill gets pretty high.” It’s a way of protecting their investment because companies don’t insure grass.

The price of sod has increased in the past few years as fertilizer, chemical, labor and diesel fuel prices have gone up.

“We’ve got about 40 employees. We’re mowing 800 acres two to three times a week,” often in 100-degree temperatures, says Bassett. “It takes a lot of people to do all that, a lot of equipment.

We’re starting from bare dirt all the way to delivering and collecting the money.”

Decades ago, sod growers would spread fertilizer everywhere and hope for the best. Now, grid soil sampling reveals what’s needed where. Other changes through the years include better irrigation and chemical-spreading drones. Harvesting machines, not sweaty men with machetes, cut sod into slabs and 42-inch rolls.

Beck’s is fortunate to have a world-class agricultural research university with its own turfgrass management program just down the road, Bassett says.

“We’re only seven or eight miles from Auburn University. Auburn does a lot of research out here,” Bassett says, such as a recent nutsedge test trial. Students visit throughout the academic year to see a working sod farm in operation. The AU Turfgrass Club met at Beck’s last spring.

Steve Hague, head of Auburn’s Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, called Beck’s an integral part of the Auburn turfgrass program.

“They provide a valuable research site for Dr. Scott McElroy’s weed science program,” Hague says. “Wayne Bassett keeps us in touch with the trends and needs of the turfgrass industry in Alabama. In addition, they provide meeting facilities for learning and professional development events for Auburn students.”

Beck’s Turf grows NorthBridge Bermuda, the type used on both 30 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

TOP RIGHT: Issac Chagolla, left, and Allen Robinson harvest sod squares at Beck's Turf Farm. Photo by Julie Bennett.

TOP LEFT: Acres of turf at Beck's Turf near Tuskegee. Photo courtesy of Beck's.

Auburn and Alabama football fields. Beck’s supplied grass for the Jane B. Moore Field, home of Auburn softball, and for the 2003 movie “Big Fish” that filmed in Alabama.

It seems strange to think of grass as a legacy product spanning generations, but with proper supervision and conditions it can be.

“Most of our grasses have been around for a long time,” Bassett says.

A Birmingham homeowner wanted to replace some damaged Emerald Zoysia purchased from Beck’s in the early 1950s. The replacement sod Beck’s sent, the customer reported, matched perfectly 50 years later.

The Wildlife Group Nursery division of Beck’s sells nut and fruit trees used by hunters to make land attractive to animals. Apparently, deer can’t resist a charcuterie with apples, pears and more, which can turn private hunting property into a whitetail buffet.

Sod isn’t much of a conversation starter, but fruit is another story.

“When you start talking about apples and pears they really start talking,” Bassett says of his customers. “They’ll send us pictures of deer eating the acorns.”

The Beck’s nursery division sells 10 kinds of old-fashioned apples like Arkansas Black, six kinds of crabapples, plums, more than a dozen types of pears, berries, persimmons and “any kind of nut tree we can think of,” Bassett says.

They offer hardy disease-resistant legacy plants chosen with absentee landowners in mind. Like heirloom roses, old plant varieties are naturally resistant to pests and disease. Beck’s’ old-fashioned apples include the Yates, which dates to Georgia before 1860; Carter’s Blue, started by a Montgomery colonel in the 1840s; and the Shell, which originated north of Brewton in the late 1800s.

Planting fruit and nut trees to attract deer and other wildlife wasn’t really a popular idea when Beck’s started doing it, Bassett says, but has really caught on in recent years.

Hunters, he says, “will come by and buy 200 trees, or 500 trees, or a thousand trees and just go plant them in the woods.”

Deborah Storey and Julie Bennett are freelance contributors to Business Alabama. Storey is based in Huntsville and Bennett in Auburn.

HEALTH CARE

POWER IN COLLABORATION Huntsville Hospital Health System uses its size to bring better care and financial options to hospitals across north Alabama and southern Tennessee Jeff Samz, CEO of the Huntsville Hospital Health System.

By GAIL ALLYN SHORT Photo by DENNIS KEIM

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 35

H E A LT H C A R E

I

n Huntsville back in 1895, a group of women, concerned about health care access in the city, founded Huntsville Infirmary.

Today, the hospital, renamed Huntsville Hospital, is the flagship for the Huntsville Hospital Health System, a not-for-profit entity that provides patient care across north Alabama and part of southern Tennessee. The system administers health care through a network of clinics and 14 community-based hospitals, including Decatur Morgan Hospital, Helen Keller Hospital, Red Bay Hospital, Highlands Medical Center and DeKalb Regional Medical Center.

“It’s very hard these days to be an independent, stand-alone hospital,” says Jeff Samz, CEO of the Huntsville Hospital Health System. “You simply don’t have the scale to negotiate with payers, to buy things at a discount, to purchase the expensive capital items and training programs you need to be successful.”

In fact, these days, fewer single, stand-alone hospitals exist than in the past.

According to the American Hospital Association, in FY 2022, 68% of community hospitals were “system affiliated” while only 32% were independent.

Furthermore, the association reports that mergers and acquisitions are ways health systems are endeavoring to keep financially strapped hospitals open. Such transactions allow hospitals to provide more services, increase patient access to medical specialists and provide scale to lower the costs of obtaining medical services and even prescription drugs, the AHA says.

In 1994, Huntsville Hospital acquired another Huntsville institution, Medical Center Hospital.

But in the late 2000s, Huntsville Hospital launched a plan to acquire more small hospitals, medical systems and specialty clinics in the region.

“The regional hospitals in North Alabama started approaching us about being partners, and we tried to help them,” Samz says.

In 2007, Athens-Limestone Hospital joined the Huntsville Hospital Health System. Then the system acquired Decatur Morgan Hospital, followed by Helen Keller Hospital and Red Bay Hospital in 2014, Marshall Medical Centers in 2018 and Scottsboro’s Highlands Medical Center in 2021.

In 2022, the system acquired Lincoln Health System, its first facility in Tennessee.

The system’s most recent acquisition was the DeKalb Medical Center in 2024.

“Today, we have 14 across North Alabama, one in southern Tennessee, and we all are now working on connecting those hospitals and making them function as an integrated health system and taking full advantage of the scale that we have,” he says.

Being part of the Huntsville Hospital Health System comes with many benefits for the smaller hospitals, Samz says.

“The biggest thing they gain is they come on our balance sheet and they’re part of our company,” says Samz. “So, they go from being an independent hospital that doesn’t have the resources to replace their capital and keep the hospital up to date to joining our health system, where we will help fund their capital. We’re fully responsible. The hospitals in Scottsboro and DeKalb and

36 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

Decatur are just as much part of our health system as the big hospital,” Samz says.

Under the Huntsville Hospital Health System, for example, physician recruitment is a joint effort throughout the system, he says.

“We’re trying to recruit well trained physicians to rural communities. We do that together, so we’re not competing for the same candidates,” Samz says.

And at system-affiliated hospitals, patients in the region can have access to specialty services such as labor and delivery, Samz says.

One of the facilities that benefits from the system is Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield. The hospital struggled financially prior to its acquisition, says its president, Kyle Buchanan. At the time, Buchanan was vice president of business development.

“Our trajectory as a small hospital was concerning. We were struggling to see, in the town our size with multiple hospitals in this area, enough patients just to make ends meet,” Buchanan says.

“And there were lots of projects that we knew we needed to take on, with getting new equipment, renovations in our hospital, keeping up with being competitive with compensation for our staff,” he says.

So, in 2010, Helen Keller entered a management agreement with Huntsville Hospital Health before officially joining the system in 2014.

Buchanan says one major way his hospital has benefitted from being part of the Huntsville Hospital Health System is through Huntsville’s electronic medical records system, which gives patients in small towns like Sheffield access to various specialists.

“Just last February, we rolled out a new electronic medical record, which was a multi-million-dollar investment in our information systems, which allows us to better document, to better track and to better care for our patients,” Buchanan says.

Soon after the rollout, Buchanan says, a patient arrived at Red Bay Hospital’s emergency room with a gynecologic ailment. There were no gynecologists in that community, so the ER physician in Red Bay called Helen Keller Hospital to consult with the gynecologist on call. After the consultation, the gynecologist suspected the patient was in danger, he says.

“Our gynecologist here in Sheffield contacted a gynecologic oncologist in Huntsville, and the three physicians in Red Bay, Sheffield and Huntsville were able to look into the medical record together on the phone and agreed that the patient needed to be transferred to Huntsville Hospital as soon as possible because her life was in danger,” Buchanan says.

Without the medical records system, what took just minutes might have taken three or four days for the doctors to reach that conclusion, Buchanan says.

Samz says, “We do everything together, from supporting them with staffing and training programs and trying to support them with government affairs and a whole host of other things.”

For example, the hospital system recently negotiated a new contract with the insurer UnitedHealthcare.

“When we do those negotiations, we’re doing it on behalf of all

H E A LT H C A R E

The Huntsville Hospital Health System has received state approval for a $150 million expansion. Plans include additional beds, more private rooms and two intensive care units. Rendering courtesy of Huntsville Hospital.

14 hospitals in our system, and that gives additional leverage to those small hospitals that they would not have if they were trying to do that on their own,” Samz says.

Buchanan says that prior to joining the health system, Helen Keller Hospital had little leverage over the big insurance companies.

“Often, there was no negotiation. There was no discussion. Big nationwide Fortune 100 companies would present us with a contract that we knew wouldn’t fulfill the needs of our community, but we had very little leverage to work with them to get a better contract, to better cover the services in this county,” Buchanan says.

“In our current health system, we have a lot more success having this very real negotiation and making sure we work together to get the resources to our community that our folks need,” Buchanan says.

Though the 14 hospitals and clinics are part of the Huntsville

Hospital Health System, Samz says each maintains its own identity within its community.

In fact, the system is governed by the Health Care Authority of the City of Huntsville, a volunteer board whose members, all from Huntsville and other communities the system serves, provide advice and counsel, Samz says.

“We’re all part of the hospital health system, but health care is inherently a local thing,” Samz says. “It’s their community hospital. People who live in that community work there. So, we’re very intentional about trying to maintain the local identity of the hospital.”

“In my opinion, you’re fully a member of the system, and you have our brand and our logo, and you are part of us, and we all do it together, but you’re also part of your local community.”

Gail Allyn Short and Dennis Keim are freelance contributors to Business Alabama. She is based in Birmingham and he in Huntsville.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 37

H E A LT H C A R E

MAKING A DIFFERENCE Family care physician and advocate Dr. Steven Furr works to care for his own patients and those across the country

By KATHLEEN FARRELL Photos by MIKE KITTRELL

S

teven P. Furr, MD, FAAFP, began college at the University of South Alabama (USA) as a history major. Though he loved history and thought he’d go on to teach, during his sophomore year, he began considering other ways he could work directly with people to make a difference in their lives.

“Over the next year or two, I started thinking about medicine, and during that period of time, they were actually building a new medical school at USA,” Furr says. Instead of continuing with history coursework, he opted to take science courses including comparative anatomy, which he discovered that he loved. “I decided that medicine was where I could make the biggest impact,” Furr says.

During his time at the USA College of Medicine and subsequent residency at the University of Alabama Huntsville Family Practice Program, Furr enjoyed all aspects of family medicine — particularly preventative care.

He also knew that he would prefer to practice in a rural area.

“My dad was a Methodist minister, so we moved around a lot, but we did grow up for five years in a small town called Clopton, Alabama,” says Furr. “I saw the difference that family doctors made in the community, both in leadership and helping take care of people’s needs that may not be met otherwise.”

That’s exactly what he and the team at the Family Medical Clinic of Jackson, the practice he co-founded, have been doing 38 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

for 40 years. The clinic also admits patients to the hospital and provides care to residents in the local nursing home, where Furr serves as medical director.

He recently finished a year as chief of staff at Jackson Medical Center. For 25 years, the Family Medical Clinic of Jackson provided obstetric services.

“We’ve treated everyone from newborns to adults,” says Furr.

To him, being able to follow people in their care over the years is the real appeal of family medicine. “You hear a lot about people in medicine burning out with all the stresses and hardships that are there, but I think the biggest thing that makes our practice enjoyable is the long-term relationship with the patients, as well as the excellent nurses and administrators who are a joy to work with,” says Furr.

Patient-centered care is what makes family practice unique, he notes. “We’re not focused on an age group or a disease. We’re really focused on the person and trying to do all we can to make their life meaningful, happy and healthy.”

Furr recently completed a term as president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), which represents 130,000 physicians and medical students across the nation. Currently, he is involved as board chair, running meetings and helping to make decisions.

“The purpose of associations like this is to advocate for their members, but I think what makes the AAFP unique is that when

H E A LT H C A R E

we’re advocating for our member physicians, it’s also beneficial to the patients,” says Furr. “It’s really exciting when we go to Congress and advocate. We feel like we’re not just doing it on a personal level, but we’re doing it for the health of America.”

This benefit is especially impactful when it comes to rural health care because of the preventative care provided by family practices.

“The unique thing about family medicine is that by increasing this specialty in any area, and by increasing the number of physicians in that area, you could actually “I don’t think people realize improve outcomes and lower costs what happens when you at the same time,” Furr says. lose your rural hospital.

“We’re not just about treatOften the medical providers ing diabetes and hypertension after they have it, but our goal go, too, and you have is to keep them from losing that a hard time recruiting leg they might have lost to their doctors because, often, the diabetes or, if there’s severe hyperhospital helps with that.” tension, controlling that so they don’t have renal failure and need to — Dr. Steven P. Furr undergo dialysis,” he says.

Rural America is facing difficult times when it comes to health care teaching centers on a year-to-year basis, and the AAFP has made accessibility. Furr cites younger people leaving for urban areas and efforts to secure continual funding for multiple years to make not coming back, older people not staying around when they retire sure they are stable. and rural hospitals closing as reasons contributing to this struggle.

Furr is also a trustee of USA, having served as chair of the “I don’t think people realize what happens when you lose your board of trustees in the past. He notes that it’s unusual for a rural hospital,” says Furr. “Often the medical providers go, too, university to have a medical school and hospital, including a and you have a hard time recruiting doctors because, often, the children’s hospital and cancer center, associated with it. hospital helps with that.” Without a hospital, a community loses “Being able to participate in decisions and seeing how a large access to emergency room and ambulance services that can’t aftertiary care center operates, as well as watching the university ford to stay. If a person is having a stroke or heart attack, instead grow, has been very rewarding.” of getting care quickly, they may have to wait, resulting in loss of In the past, Furr has taught medical students and residents life for something that could have otherwise been taken care of from the university at his office, but he has taken a pause from locally. that to accommodate his work with the AAFP. As last year’s board The AAFP is working to make rural health care more attractive president, he was on the road more than 150 days out of the year. to physicians. On the state level, the Alabama Academy of Family Furr also has served in leadership positions with the Alabama Physicians has advocated for a state income tax refund for doctors Academy of Family Physicians, the Medical Association of the who come to a rural area and stay at least five years. Gov. Kay State of Alabama, the State Board of Medical Examiners and the Ivey’s policy office has developed an incentive that repays loans State Board of Health.

— up to $50,000 a year for three years — for physicians that What makes it worth his time? Each leadership situation has practice in designated rural areas. taught him something new about a truly multifaceted profesAnother area of focus for the association has been supporting sion, he says. “I’ve learned things about medicine, the practice of funding for teaching health centers. “We’ve found that a resimedicine and taking care of patients that have made me a better dent usually tends to practice within 50 or 100 miles of the area doctor — and along with that, maybe a better person, also.” where they train,” says Furr. By locating training sites in rural areas, the hope is that physicians will be more likely to stay in Kathleen Farrell and Mike Kittrell are Mobile-based freelance contributhe surrounding communities. Congress has been funding these tors to Business Alabama.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 39

S P EC I A L A DV E R TI S I N G S EC TI O N

HEALTH CARE IS VITAL TO INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES, STATES AND THE NATION. In Alabama, thousands of people are working to move health care forward in their dayto-day activities. On the front lines are the doctors and nurses that use their knowledge and research to provide the best care for their patients. This month, we celebrate all of those people and the work they perform.

All Business. All Alabama.

If you are not receiving your own copy of

BUSINESS ALABAMA,

subscribe online now at

businessalabama.com 40 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

42 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Helping middle schoolers recognize STEM career options in agriculture

By GAIL ALLYN SHORT lot of America’s farmers today are getting older and retiring. Others are quitting the profession altogether.

The question is, who will take their place?

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture reports that by 2026, a quarter of the American agricultural workforce will be 55 and older, nearing retirement age. Moreover, the NASDA report states that the agricultural and food sectors make up more than 21 million fulland part-time jobs — and that number is increasing.

“But agriculture doesn’t just affect food. It affects water and a lot of other things like animal health and not just plants. So, this is a problem, and there is a real need to increase people’s awareness of these careers and interest in going into them,” says Virginia Davis, the Daniel F. and Josephine Breden Professor in Auburn University’s Department of Chemical Engineering.

In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the employment outlook for both conservation scientists and foresters is expected to grow 5% between 2023 and 2033 while the job outlook for agricultural engineers is expected to rise 8% in the same period.

So, Davis and a team of experts are working to boost middle school teachers’ and students’ awareness about the variety of agriculture-related career paths through a new initiative called Project FARM, which stands for Fostering Agricultural

Research and Mentoring.

Project FARM is a three-year inquiry-based program administered by 10 Auburn University faculty members, staff and county extension agents. The Auburn team will collaborate to assist 14 seventh- and eighth-grade science teachers in incorporating agricultural-related activities into their classroom curricula and mentoring students who enter various science fairs.

ciplines affects societal needs,” Davis says.

“STEM isn’t only about sitting behind a computer or working in a plant. STEM, in fact, affects things like our health, our infrastructure, clean water and the need for food.”

And while Alabama seventh and eighth grade science classes currently address topics like water quality, the carbon cycle and the nitrogen cycle, the classes often lack an agricultural career context to

“But agriculture doesn’t just affect food. It affects water and a lot of other things like animal health and not just plants. So, this is a problem, and there is a real need to increase people’s awareness of these careers and interest in going into them,” — Virginia Davis, the Daniel F. and Josephine Breden Professor, Auburn University’s Department of Chemical Engineering

The idea for Project FARM came following numerous conversations between Davis and several other scientists on how to tie agriculture and its related careers to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, she says.

“For a number of years, I had been interested in showing young students how careers in engineering or other STEM dis-

them, she says.

To add the context, Project FARM, a program supported by a $500,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIF) grant, will promote agricultural literacy among middle school students and introduce them to careers in agriculture, forestry and other related fields. In addiJanuary 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 43

WO R K FO RC E D E V E LO PM E N T

tion, Project FARM leaders say all of the science activities in the program will align with the current state and national science standards.

Project FARM allows school administrators in Pike and Elmore counties to select 14 middle school teachers to participate in the program that starts this summer, Davis says.

44 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

The teachers selected for Project FARM will meet with regional extension agents on field trips related to food, water and forestry, then use those experiences to write lesson plans incorporating agriculture with the Alabama Course of Study for Science and the Next Generation Science Standards, she says.

The teachers will then use their new

lesson plans to guide their middle school students in inquiry-based learning and independent science and engineering fair projects on topics related to agriculture.

“A lot of studies have shown that inquiry-based learning is more effective,” says Davis. “Inquiry-based learning gets students engaged in asking questions and trying to answer them. It gets them more involved in the learning process and gives them better feelings of self-efficacy and confidence.”

Besides Davis, the other co-principal investigators on Project FARM include Mary Lou Ewald, outreach director at Auburn’s College of Sciences and Mathematics; Becky Barlow, associate dean for extension and assistant director for Agriculture, Forestry & Natural Resource Extension Programs; Jess Gilpin, assistant director of the College of Sciences and Mathematics Outreach; and Eve Brantley, a professor in the College of Agriculture and associate director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System at Auburn University.

During the first year of the grant, Brantley will lead a Project FARM workshop that will focus on water, using a statewide program called Alabama Water Watch.

Alabama Water Watch is a program based at Auburn University that instructs teachers and other everyday citizens about current water issues, watershed stewardship and even the skills needed to collect water samples, test them, interpret data and monitor water quality in their communities.

“Agriculture is dependent on having water at the right time and at the right place,” Brantley says.

“As you work with students, teachers and everyday citizens on getting those data in place, now you can build a database where you can talk about historical trends, and you start bringing in science and math and looking at even history and what may have happened 10 years ago that could have created an impact to this stream, or what happened that caused the stream to bounce back and recover,” she says.

“Alabama Water Watch has a very robust youth component through our 4H

WO R K FO RC E D E V E LO PM E N T

Youth Water Watch program, and we’ll work with teachers on some of the existing work that we’ve done with teachers and lesson plans and then build on that to use experiences from the existing Exploring Our Living Streams curriculum to develop formal lesson plans that align with their classroom needs,” Brantley says.

Gaining an in-depth understanding of water resources as it relates to agriculture could result in some students pursuing careers in, for example, the fisheries industry, Brantley says.

In fact, Auburn University is home to the School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences.

During Project FARM’s second and third years, the program will focus on forestry and food with hands-on projects and a look at career possibilities such as working for agriculture companies, working in forestry conservation or for businesses that produce pulp, paper and forest products.

“Alabama Water Watch has a very robust youth component through our 4H Youth Water Watch program.”

— Eve Brantley, professor in the College of Agriculture and associate director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System at Auburn University

Meanwhile, Davis says that after the teacher workshops end, an external evaluator will analyze the teachers’ lesson plans and assess the program’s effectiveness.

“We’ll do assessments based on the workshops, based on teachers’ interest and confidence in teaching agricultural literacy, and their knowledge of the careers, and then we’ll measure students’ growth in their knowledge of agricultural science and careers,” Davis says.

“What we hope to do is reach a large number of teachers,” says Davis. “Once we have these curricula developed, we’re going to disseminate them through what’s called Agriculture in the Classroom.”

Watching as the launch of Project Farm draws near is thrilling, Davis says.

“It’s exciting to be part of this idea that STEM is everywhere and seeing where these programs lead.”

Gail Allyn Short is a Birmingham-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 45

WO R K FO RC E D E V E LO PM E N T

Cutline

Driver Training New simulators enhance career prep options at Ingram State

By NANCY MANN JACKSON

M

ost successful businesspeople know that past mistakes don’t have to determine a person’s future. And at J.F. Ingram State Technical College (ISTC), convicted offenders have opportunities every day to take a different path. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) recently provided 10 state-of-the-art commercial truck driving and forklift simulators to the college, offering new opportunities for students to perfect their skills and be prepared for new careers in transportation.

ISTC was established in 1965 to provide education and rehabilitation services to justice-involved individuals in Alabama. Based in Deatsville, the college offers classes and training at 32 sites across the state.

“It’s the only accredited technical college in the United States where the classrooms are inside the prison compound or behind razor wire and the entire student population is incarcerated or under state supervision,” says Annette Funderburk, president of Ingram State Technical College.

The new truck driving and forklift sim-

ulators will help ISTC further its goal of preparing incarcerated students for bright, productive future careers.

NEW SIMULATORS STRENGTHEN EXISTING PROGRAMS

ISTC launched its commercial driving license (CDL) training program in 2019 with one truck driving simulator. The college later secured a grant to provide a second CDL simulator for female students at the Tutwiler Instructional Service Center in Wetumpka, Funderburk says.

The CDL program allows students to earn Class A or Class B Alabama Commercial January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 47

WO R K FO RC E D E V E LO PM E N T

LEFT: ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell checks out a simulator with ACCS and Ingram State officials. RIGHT: New simulators help incarcerated individuals prepare for careers as truck drivers and forklift operators.

Driver Licenses with endorsements.

All students enrolled in an ISTC program also receive forklift operator certification training. While Ingram provides technical training at 13 of its 32 sites across the state, the school only possessed three simulators, three CDL trucks and a handful of forklifts for training — until ADECA’s donation.

The new simulators were originally acquired through an Appalachian Regional Commission grant in 2023 to support a driving academy program in north Alabama, but they were returned to ADECA in 2024. ADECA identified ISTC to repurpose the equipment, allowing it to continue serving Alabamians in high-demand fields.

“The Alabama Community College System is doing great work to prepare and train Alabamians of all backgrounds for productive careers in the workforce,” said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell, who presented the simulators to ISTC staff. “We are pleased that these simulators could be repurposed and given to Ingram State for use in the college’s commercial driver’s license and forklift training programs.”

The new equipment includes the SimuRide Professional Edition-Full Setup 3, SimuRide Forklift-Full Setup and Simu-ShiftKnob-2. All systems come pre-installed with necessary software, drivers and protective equipment to ensure a seamless training experience.

“The CDL program is one of our most popular and fastest growing programs,” Funderburk says. “The addition of these new driving simulators will provide our students with a safe, controlled environment to learn basic machinery mechanics. These advanced simulation technologies will enhance the popular CDL program and forklift training by allowing students to practice

skills before hands-on equipment training. The simulators will improve student confidence, safety and preparedness during the credentialing process. With the simulators, we can expand the program while also allowing our students to hone their skills by giving them more time with their hands on steering wheels and feet on gas pedals.”

Ingram State leaders are enthusiastic about distributing these advanced training tools across the state, which will help facilitate forklift certification training and provide more accessible and technologically innovative learning opportunities for students.

“By providing access to state-of-the-art simulation equipment, these tools will help bridge training gaps and enhance workforce development for students in various educational settings,” Funderburk says. “With immersive, hands-on learning experiences within institutional settings, these simulators enable students to gain critical technical credentials like forklift certification, which can significantly enhance their employment prospects during the critical transition back into society.”

Advanced training tools like ISTC’s newly acquired simulators represent a strategic approach to workforce development that empowers individuals to acquire marketable skills that can be pivotal credentials in competitive job markets, Funderburk says. When students acquire forklift certification, they aren’t just equipped with practical technical abilities, but they also demonstrate their commitment to professional growth. That may give them a competitive advantage when they seek sustainable employment upon release.

BUILDING ON A SUCCESSFUL FOUNDATION

The new simulators will add to a long tradition of successful January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 49

job training for ISTC. For nearly 60 years, the college has provided education services to Alabama’s incarcerated population within the Alabama Department of Corrections.

The college is focused on reducing recidivism and strengthening the Alabama workforce. To those ends, it partners with the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Parole (ABPP) to provide a career technical education in high-wage, high-demand fields to all justice-involved individuals in Alabama. Through this partnership of agencies, Ingram State currently serves justice-involved individuals from 20 correctional institutions and 12 ABPP locations.

During the 2023-24 academic year, Ingram State demonstrated significant educational achievements, serving more than 2,700 students with a strong focus on career and technical education, Funderburk says. The institution earned 1,658 credentials, maintained an impressive 83% term-to-term retention rate, and supported 1,489 adult education students. Notably, the correctional education program reached 22% of the population at Tutwiler Prison for Women, and the National Center for Construction Education and Research credentials saw a remarkable 202% increase from 2023 to 2024. These figures highlight ISTC’s commitment to comprehensive and expanding educational opportunities.

As an accredited member of the Alabama Community College System, Ingram State is an important part of the state’s educational efforts.

“Our job in the community college system is to present every student, no matter who they are or what they may have done in the past, the best opportunity to make their life better,” says Jimmy Baker, chancellor of the Alabama Community College System. “These donations from ADECA will allow these men and women, who have decided they want to do better, the opportunity to compete for a job in the career field of their choice upon their release.”

Nancy Mann Jackson is a Madison-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.

50 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

SPOTLIGHT

Montgomery County

Montgomery County

by KATHERINE MacGILVRAY

A downtown view of Montgomery.

M

ontgomery County is the fifth most-populous county in Alabama, and the Montgomery metropolitan area is the center of the state’s tri-county River Region. The state capital is home to state and regional government and to Maxwell Air Force Base, the educational and technological center of the U.S. Air Force. It’s also a hub for business, culture and recreation.

Montgomery’s role in trade and logistics is set to expand with the introduction of the Montgomery Inland Intermodal Transfer Facility Port in 2025. The project is projected to create 2,618 direct and indirect jobs and generate $340 million in business revenues and more than $14 million in state and local taxes.

That’s the next step in a series of economic wins. The Montgomery Chamber of Commerce concluded its 2023 annual meeting by celebrating a record-breaking four years of growth that included investment of 122 major projects totaling $3.6 billion in capital investment and 4,641 announced new jobs.

Continuing that momentum, in March 2024, the Chamber’s Economic Development Program received dual grants for new industrial site development totaling $2.2 million from the State of Alabama Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy Act (SEEDS) grant program. The site assessment SEEDS grant will support future development plans for Kershaw Investment Properties LLC, a 190-acre site on the east side of Montgomery.

The development SEEDS grant will support the Montgomery Water Works & Sanitary Sewer’s 230-acre CSX Select Gold site.

In May, foodservice packaging manufacturer Genpak LLC, which has operated out of Montgomery County since 1982, celebrated the re-opening of its 400,000-square-foot facility after a $22.8 million expansion.

In response to strong market demand, last summer HD Hyundai Power Transformers USA Inc. also announced a $14 million expansion of its manufacturing facility that is

52 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

TechMGM provides hands-on STEM experiences through its CampIT.

expected to bring 50 new jobs and increase productivity by 10%.

Montgomery continues to strategically develop infrastructure and partnerships to attract and support technology-driven companies, including investing in fiber optic infrastructure and smart city technologies to meet the high connectivity needs of businesses. Initiatives like TechMGM support tech startups as well as established firms through key collaborations with Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base and with Alabama universities. And it’s paying off, as demonstrated by Meta’s recent announcement of an $840 million investment in a 715,000-square-foot data center, one of the largest tech investments in the city’s history. The city also hosts tech-focused events like the annual Department of Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower Conference, which draws industry leaders, military personnel and tech enthusiasts together to share ideas and facilitate growth opportunities.

Montgomery County is one of the top five most-visited counties in the state, and the city of Montgomery is the #1 interna-

S P O T L I G H T: OV E R V I E W

M E D I A N H O U S E H O L D I N CO M E

P O P U L AT I O N Total Alabama Population: 5,108,468

Madison County: $78,058 Elmore County: $73,258 Baldwin County: $71,039 Autauga County: $68,315 Jefferson County: $63,595 Montgomery County: $56,707 Mobile County: $55,352 Crenshaw County: $48,557 Pike County: $42,616 State of Macon County: $41,206 Alabama Bullock County: $36,136 $59,609 Lowndes County: $33,125 Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Jefferson County: 662,895 Madison County: 412,600 Mobile County: 411,640 Baldwin County: 253,507 Montgomery County: 224,980 Elmore County: 90,441 Autauga County: 60,342 Pike County: 33,137 Macon County: 18,370 Crenshaw County: 13,101 Bullock County: 9,897 Lowndes County: 9,717 Source: U.S. Census Bureau

tional tourist destination in Alabama. It was named one of the New York Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2024.”

Also making headlines is Montgomery Whitewater, an outdoor adventure park that opened in 2023 and was named one of Time magazine’s “World’s Greatest Places 2024.” The park features an Olympic-standard recirculating whitewater course and offers a variety of whitewater and other outdoor activities to people of all ages and skill levels. The park recently introduced an aerial ropes course with zip lines and a seasonal ice-skating rink.

The Legacy Museum welcomes an average of 30,000 visitors each month and is the state’s second most-popular paid attraction. The museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, which opened in 2024, are three Legacy Sites operated by the Equal Justice Initiative.

Katherine MacGilvray is a Huntsville-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.

All Business. All Alabama.

If you are not receiving your own copy of

BUSINESS ALABAMA,

subscribe online now at

businessalabama.com January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 53

Economic Engines manufacturing employer in the county, is the largest Tier 1 supplier to HMMA and Kia Motor Manufacturing Georgia.

In October 2024, the company broke ground on a $52 million, 460,000-squarefoot facility in Montgomery designed to support the aftermarket parts needs for Hyundai’s and Kia’s national dealer networks.

Additional automotive suppliers in Montgomery County include Mountain Top Industries, DAS North America, Gerhardi and Lear CorporationMontgomery.

MILITARY INSTALLATIONS AND MISSIONS

Hyundai Mobis broke ground in October on a $52 million expansion.

HYUNDAI MOTOR MANUFACTURING / AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIERS

With a workforce of 4,200 employees, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) stands as Montgomery County’s largest manufacturing employer.

An independent operation of the Seoulbased Hyundai Motor Co., HMMA produces the Hyundai Tucson, Santa Fe and Santa Fe Hybrid SUVs, as well as the company’s first-ever Santa Cruz Sport Adventure Vehicle.

In 2023, the facility expanded its production lineup with the launch of the Genesis Electrified GV70 SUV in February and the gas-powered Genesis GV70 SUV in May. The Genesis Electrified GV70 is particularly notable as the first Genesis model to be assembled in the United States and outside of South Korea.

In August 2023, HMMA announced a $290 million investment to expand its

B U S I N E S S [NOVEMBER 2024: DC Blox announces it will add a new hyperscale edge node data center site in Montgomery. The facility will initially support 5 MW for an anchor tenant, with the capacity to expand up to 40 MW to accommodate other tenants.

SEPTEMBER 2024: The City of Montgomery starts construction

production line. Of this, $190 million was allocated to prepare for the next generation of the highly popular Santa Fe SUV, marking its first full model update since 2018. Assembly of the new model began in January 2024. The remaining $100 million will support the continued production of the Tucson SUV and the Santa Cruz Sport Adventure Vehicle.

HMMA has the capacity to produce 390,000 vehicles annually, and approximately 40% of Hyundai vehicles sold in the United States are manufactured at the Montgomery facility.

The company spends approximately $6.3 billion annually to support its manufacturing operation, $3.1 billion of which is spent with Alabama-based businesses. The company supports 14,436 direct and indirect jobs in Alabama and has a total economic impact of approximately $4.8 billion per year.

Hyundai MOBIS, another top

In 2023 the Association of Defense Communities and USAA recognized the Montgomery River Region as a Great American Defense Community, placing it among a select few other communities nationwide that are celebrated for their support of military personnel and their families.

Montgomery County is home to Maxwell Air Force Base and Gunter Annex. Maxwell is home to the 42nd Air Base Wing and more than 14,500 active duty, reserve, civilian and contractor personnel that have a significant economic impact on the region. Gunter Annex houses the Air Force Business and Enterprise Systems Directorate, the 26th Network Operations Squadron and the Defense Information Systems Agency.

In 2024, MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters touched down at Maxwell AFB, ushering in a new chapter in the base’s operational history. The MH-139’s Formal Training Unit trains aircrew in providing security and support for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile

B R I E F S on the Calmar Community Center. The $2.5 million, 5,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in spring 2025.

OCTOBER 2024: HD Hyundai Power Transformers USA receives 2024 Manufacturer of the Year Award from the Business Council of Alabama

and the Alabama Technology Network.

JULY 2024: Montgomery-based Sabel Steel Service names Sean Sabel its president and CEO. Sabel is the 6th generation of the Sabel family to run the company. His father, Keith Sabel, was president and CEO for 35 years.

JULY 2024: Montgomery Whitewater, which opened in 2023, is named one of Time Magazine’s World’s Greatest Places 2024. The park offers rafting, kayaking and a variety of outdoor activities for people of all ages and skill levels. It also features recreational walking trails, dining, craft beer and live entertainment experiences.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 57

S P O T L I G H T: ECO N O M I C E N G I N E S

fields. The arrival of the MH-139A Grey Wolf will boost the local economy with a projected increase in economic impact on the Montgomery-River Region from $55 million to approximately $75 million annually.

In August 2024, the Department of Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower Conference returned to Montgomery, signaling the area’s growing influence as a hub for cybersecurity and IT innovation and strengthening its reputation as a central player in the nation’s defense and technology system.

Air University is headquartered at Maxwell AFB and provides a full range of Air Force education from precommissioning programs for new officers to graduate programs in specialized military disciplines to all levels of professional military education. More than 25,000 resident and 49,000 nonresident officers, enlisted and civilian personnel graduate from Air University each year.

The Alabama National Guard is headquartered in Montgomery and consists of two major commands: Army National Guard and Air National Guard.

The 187th Fighter Wing, based at Dannelly Field in Montgomery, is an Air National Guard unit known as the Red Tails. The wing traces its lineage to the legendary Tuskegee Airmen and continues their tradition of distinction in air combat operations. In 2024, the unit celebrated a historic milestone with the arrival of the first of an expected 20 F-35 Lightning II aircraft, marking the beginning of a new era in its mission capabilities. This transition underscores the 187 FW’s critical role in advancing U.S. airpower and national security.

B U S I N E S S OCTOBER 2024: Hyundai Mobis breaks ground on a $52 million, 460,000-square-foot facility that will serve the aftermarket parts needs for Hyundai and Kia’s national dealer networks. The expansion is projected to add 27 jobs.

JULY 2024: HD Hyundai Power Transformers USA Inc.

In total, Montgomery County’s military installations have a $2.6 billion impact on the region, are responsible for more than 68,000 jobs and represent 20% of GDP. TECHMGM

Montgomery is positioning itself to be a hub for tech innovation and has been making strategic investments to attract and support technology-driven companies through initiatives like the Chamber’s TechMGM, a collaboration of local industry, education and government entities working to create partnerships and leverage the city’s unique assets.

Examples of the initiative’s success include Meta’s recent $840 million investment — one of the largest in Montgomery history — for a new data center. And in 2023, Premier Tech unveiled the new headquarters for its systems and automation business group in Montgomery, a $33 million investment.

Montgomery-based Business and Enterprise Systems Product Innovation (BESPIN) is a critical Air Force software factory driving innovation and modernization through rapid, secure and user-centered software solutions for the Department of Defense worldwide.

Locally, it strengthens Montgomery’s tech ecosystem, attracting talent, fostering economic growth and collaborating with the Montgomery Chamber’s TechMGM and innovation hubs like MGMWERX. The city is also investing in fiber optic infrastructure and smart city technologies to meet the high connectivity demands of modern businesses. It hosts tech-focused events like the annual Department of Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower Conference.

TAXES PROPERTY TAX MONTGOMERY COUNTY 12.5 MILLS OUTSIDE MONTGOMERY 7.5 MILLS INSIDE MONTGOMERY 7.5 INSIDE PIKE ROAD STATE OF ALABAMA: 6.5 MILLS

SALES TAX MONTGOMERY COUNTY: 2.5% CITIES WITHIN THE COUNTY: MONTGOMERY: 3.5% PIKE ROAD: 2.25% STATE OF ALABAMA: 4% Source: Alabama Department of Revenue

WAREHOUSE / DISTRIBUTION

Strategically located to quickly access markets across the Southeast, Montgomery County continues to expand its warehouse and distribution sector and plays a vital role supporting supply chains for food service and other industries. UPS, Glovis Alabama, Big Lots Stores, U.S. Foods, the Coca-Cola Bottling Co., W.L. Petrey Wholesale and DG Fresh Distribution AL are among the top employers in the county.

GenPak LLC, an innovator of food service packaging, has been operating out of Montgomery since 1982 and recently celebrated a $22.8 million expansion of its manufacturing facility. The company anticipates 155 new jobs.

ALABAMA STATE GOVERNMENT

With more than 10,000 employees, the state government is the second-largest overall employer in Montgomery County and makes significant contributions to

B R I E F S announces it will invest more than $14 million to expand its Montgomery facility. The expansion is expected to increase production by 10% and create 50 new jobs.

MAY 2024: GenPak LLC reopens its Hope Hull manufacturing facility after a $22.8 million expansion. The 400,000-squarefoot renovated facility is located in Montgomery Industrial Park.

MAY 2024: Maxwell Air Force Base welcomes MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters.

MAY 2024: Meta, Facebook’s parent company, announces plans for an $840 million, 715,000-square-foot data center

58 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

in Montgomery. The facility will bring 150 jobs to the city.

FEBRUARY 2024: Montgomery Regional Airport adds two chargers, a Level 3 aircraft charger located on the field and a Level 2 charger for public EVs. The charging system is designed by Vermont-based Beta Technologies.

S P O T L I G H T: ECO N O M I C E N G I N E S

Business Alabama magazine.

Anchored by a world-class Olympic-standard recirculating whitewater course, one of only three of its kind in the country, the 120acre center brings whitewater and other outdoor activities to people of all 2024 Department of the Air Force Information ages and skill Technology & Cyberpower Conference. levels. The park also features the local economy by attracting related recreational walking trails, dining, craft businesses and services to the area, and beer and live entertainment. Future it plays an important role in generating development plans include rock climbing tourism revenue. and bouldering areas, zipline and ropes The county is also home to the courses, flatwater activities, an on-site Retirement Systems of Alabama, which hotel and retail spaces. consists of the Teachers’ Retirement Montgomery is also home to the state’s System, the Employees’ Retirement second-most popular paid attraction.

System, the Judicial Retirement Fund The Legacy Museum, which opened in and the Public Education Employees’ 2018 and expanded in 2021, draws an Retirement System Board. average of 30,000 visitors each month. It is one of three Legacy Sites operated by TOURISM the Montgomery-based non-profit Equal Montgomery County ranks among the Justice Initiative along with the National top five most visited counties in the state.

Memorial for Peace and Justice, which The state capital is the #1 international also opened in 2018, and the Freedom tourist destination in Alabama and Monument Sculpture Park, which opened recently made the New York Times’ list of in early 2024.

52 Places to Go in 2024.

To accommodate the increasing The highly anticipated Montgomery flow of visitors to the city, two new Whitewater outdoor adventure park hotels recently have opened. Spark by opened in 2023 and was named one of Hilton opened in June 2024, and the Time Magazine’s World’s Greatest Places Trilogy Hotel Montgomery, operated by Marriott, opened in April 2023.

2024 and named Project of the Year by

B U S I N E S S AUGUST 2023: Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama announces plans to invest $290 million in its Montgomery assembly plants to add the nextgeneration Santa Fe SUV to its assembly line.

JULY 2023: Montgomery Whitewater opens. In addition to whitewater activities, the $90 million, 120-acre park

Largest Industrial Employers HYUNDAI MOTOR MANUFACTURING ALABAMA Automobile manufacturing 3,530 employees

KOCH FOODS

Poultry processing • 1,250 employees

HYUNDAI MOBIS ALABAMA Automobile chassis supplier 1,010 employees

RHEEM WATER HEATERS Water heater manufacturing 920 employees

DAS NORTH AMERICA INC.

Automobile seat components manufacturing • 600 employees

HD HYUNDAI POWER TRANSFORMERS USA

Power transformer manufacturing 371 employees

LEAR CORP.-MONTGOMERY Automobile seat manufacturing 373 employees

STERIS CORP.

Hospital equipment manufacturing 370 employees

FLOWERS BAKERY OF MONTGOMERY LLC

Breads and rolls • 332 employees

SEOYON E HWA

Door trim parts manufacturing 300 employees

SMITH INDUSTRIES INC. / JAY R. SMITH MANUFACTURING CO. Commercial plumbing equipment 265 employees

Source: Economic developers

B R I E F S includes a restaurant, outdoor bar, walkways, yoga, vendors and live music.

JUNE 2023: Premier Tech opens a new headquarters for its systems and automation business group in Montgomery. The $33 million, 167,000-square-foot facility will be the Canadian company’s new

solution hub for its Americanbased clients.

MARCH 2024: The Montgomery Chamber and its economic development partners receive two grants totaling $2.2 million from the state to support the development of new industrial sites in the county.

FEBRUARY 2023: Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama joins the electric vehicle market, rolling out its first Genesis Electrified GV70, a luxury SUV. It is the first Genesis model assembled outside of South Korea.

Source: Economic developers

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 59

In Focus

Pete Taylor, chairman and CEO of Standard, center, with President Kristine Mantle and Derrick Burnett, executive vice president and COO.

Building for the future Standard Roofing has adapted to serve growing needs

By ALEC HARVEY

I

n his 40 years at Standard Roofing, Pete Taylor has seen a lot of changes, including the family company’s shift from strictly roofing to including other specialties.

“We’ve expanded the business quite a bit over the years,” says Taylor, whose grandfather, Henry Watson Taylor, started Standard Roofing in Montgomery 80 years ago.

Recent rebranding as Standard Commercial Roofing & Envelope Solutions has better defined what the company is today.

That shift began around 1996, when Pete Taylor assumed company leadership from his father, Watson Robbins Taylor. The younger Taylor shifted away from strictly new construction work and

60 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

emphasized reroofing and related tasks, including scaffolding, asbestos abatement, waterproofing, masonry repair and other related areas of the building envelope.

“We’ve had several stages in the company,” says Taylor, now chairman and CEO of Standard. “We started in the ’40s, and in the ’50s began to delve into military work, which carried it into the ’60s with work in places like Michoud space center in New Orleans, Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral.”

The ’80s saw Standard moving into industrial work for companies like Philip Morris, Charmin Paper and Miller Beer.

“They were all building plants in the South, and we followed that,” Taylor says.

In 1984, after graduating from the University of Alabama, Taylor came to work for the company and soon started leading the shift from new construction to roof replacement and, later, asbestos abatement and other areas.

“We work on the building envelope, which consists of the exterior walls, the windows, the doors, the room, mechanical systems — the entire thing that would wrap a building up to protect its occupants from moisture infiltration that would lead to mold and mildew and things like that,” Taylor says.

Today, Standard has offices in Montgomery and Birmingham, with a client footprint that includes Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Northwest Florida and the

S P O T L I G H T: I N F O C U S

‘‘

Nashville area. Clients are largely institutional, including colleges such as the University of Alabama, Auburn University, Troy University, Samford University and the University of South Alabama, as well as school systems in Huntsville, Blount County, Montgomery County, Jefferson County and Shelby County.

As important as that client base is to Taylor, his employees are just as important. That includes Kristine Mantel, the company’s first female president; a number of professional managers who run each division of Standard Roofing; and others, including the subcontractors who do the daily work on the projects.

“We treat our subcontractors just like the people who are on payroll,” Taylor says, adding that the company has provided scholarships, money to take care of funeral expenses and other things.

“If they’ve been doing a good job, they deserve the help the company can give them,” he says. “If they’re working to

The first thing is servicing the customers and making sure our employees are well taken care of. If you don’t have dedicated employees and you don’t have committed, dedicated customers, then you haven’t got much.”

— PETE TAYLOR

make sure the company is profitable and successful, then we’re going to make sure that their families are fed and that they are taken care of whatever the issue might be.”

As Standard enters its 80th year, Taylor, whose son, Pete Jr., is now working at the company, is looking further down the road.

“When I turn 83, the company will be 100, and we will be working to reach that milestone, but in a profitable way — not just volume for volume’s sake,” he says.

“We’ve made big changes over time, and they were great changes, and there will be other things. We may pick up more disciplines that customers request from us. …

The first thing is servicing the customers and making sure our employees are well taken care of. If you don’t have dedicated employees and you don’t have committed, dedicated customers, then you haven’t got much.”

Quality and commitment are key, Taylor adds.

“We have a little catchphrase here, ‘We’ll never let you down,’” he says. “To me that’s the kind of thing we should be committed to. We should never let a customer down.”

Alec Harvey is executive editor of Business Alabama. He is based in Birmingham.

Your Next Adventure Alabama’s Black Belt

www.alabamablackbeltadventures.org January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 61

Higher Education Students watch a home game at Alabama State University.

sities. It offers more than 64 academic programs in its seven colleges, including 35 undergraduate and 29 graduate degree programs.

ASU also offers opportunities for an active student life. It is a Division 1 member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and has 18 intercollegiate athletic teams. It is also home to a large number of sororities and fraternities, a student government association, the Mighty Marching Hornets Band and an acclaimed performing arts program.

Dr. Quinton T. Ross has served as ASU’s 15th president since 2017 and has enhanced traditional, online and hybrid learning.

John Jefferson Flowers Memorial Hall was the first building constructed on Huntingdon College’s Montgomery campus.

AUBURN UNIVERSITY AT MONTGOMERY

Auburn University at Montgomery offers more than 90 areas of study at the undergraduate and graduate level in its five colleges and is the city’s largest four-year college. The university awarded 1,343 degrees for the 2023-2024 academic year, the largest number in recent memory, and had 5,219 students enrolled for fall 2024.

AUM has been recognized as one of the best regional universities in the South

by U.S. News & World Report, placing 32nd among all public regional universities in the South and 65th overall among its peers. It has also been recognized as one of the best undergraduate universities in the South by the Princeton Review.

The school is highly regarded for its work with military members and families and has been awarded gold status among Military Friendly Schools.

Other academic accolades include a 100% pass rate for AUM nursing students 62 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

FAULKNER UNIVERSITY

who are first-time takers of the National Council Licensure Exam and a 100% pass rate for the certification exam for family nurse practitioner graduate program students. And for the sixth consecutive year, education students had a 100% pass rate on the Praxis test.

AUM has converted a former Alabama State Forensic Lab into a $36 million, 57,000-square-foot Science and Technology Complex slated to open in January 2025.

New programs at AUM include a master's in biochemistry and molecular biology; a business master's in artificial intelligence and a doctorate in education focusing on instructional technology, instructional systems and learning sciences.

ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1867, Alabama State University is one of the country’s oldest historically Black colleges and univer-

Faulkner University is a private Christian liberal arts university that offers degree programs online and in-person at campuses throughout the state. The university’s campus in Montgomery caters to working adult students by providing daytime, evening and weekend class options as well as online courses.

Construction is underway on the third and final phase of the university’s College of Health Sciences in Montgomery. In 2020, Faulkner purchased the 13-acre former Montgomery East Plaza Shopping Center and has been renovating it to create labs, classrooms and a community clinic. The nearly $3.6 million final phase includes an exterior facelift, landscaping the parking lot area and adding a bridge that will connect the main campus with the east campus, where the College of Health Sciences is located.

In June 2024, Faulkner signed a partnership with the Montgomery Police Department that provides tuition discounts for MPD officers, staff and their families, as part of an ongoing effort to boost the number of police officers in the city.

Faulkner University has also recently added degree programs in computer engineering and digital media.

In October 2024, the university announced the addition of The Stumbaugh School of Risk Management and Insurance to the Harris College of Business. The program will begin by offering students an accelerated online degree

S P O T L I G H T: H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N

and micro-credentials starting in January 2025. A traditional four-year degree will be available in the fall of 2025.

HUNTINGDON COLLEGE

Founded in 1854, Huntingdon is affiliated with the United Methodist Church with a liberal arts academic tradition that prides itself on being one of the South’s premier pre-professional colleges. The college offers 31 academic majors, 25 minors, nine educator preparation programs and a master’s degree in athletic training.

The student body is just under 1,000 with a 14:1 student to faculty ratio that gives students an opportunity to work closely with their professors and get hands-on learning experience. In addition, the Huntingdon Plan ensures that each full-time undergraduate is provided a laptop computer that is theirs to keep at graduation, books and course resources, career services and travel abroad opportunities during their senior year. The last four Huntingdon graduating classes have achieved a 90% placement rate in graduate programs or employment in a professional field.

Outside the classroom, the college offers 21 NCAA Division III athletic teams plus more than 50 clubs and organizations.

In July 2024, Huntingdon welcomed its 15th president, Dr. Anthony Leigh.

Leigh previously served as senior vice president for student and institutional development and dean of students at the college. Leigh is a strong supporter of the Heart of Huntingdon Campaign, a fundraising initiative the school launched in the fall of 2023 to add a wellness facility and pool to the campus. In November, the college broke ground on the new pool that is expected to open in the fall of 2025.

TROY UNIVERSITY MONTGOMERY CAMPUS

Located in historic downtown Montgomery, Troy University’s Montgomery Campus has been serving students in the River Region since the mid-1960s with a particular focus on meeting the needs of working adults looking to advance their careers or find a new career path.

The Montgomery Campus Associate of Science in Nursing program has been enjoying the spotlight.

The campus expanded the ASN program in 2022 to include nighttime classes, and the first evening ASN cohort group graduated in May 2024 and achieved a 100% firsttime pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam.

Nurse practitioner students receive some hands-on training at Auburn University at Montgomery.

The Montgomery Campus is also home to the Rosa Parks MuAir University provides a full range of Air seum, which welcomes visitors from all Force education from pre-commissioning over the world. The museum recently reto all levels of professional military educeived a series of technology upgrades that cation, including professional continuing included converting all analog technology education and graduate education for to digital, high definition and completeofficers, enlisted and civilian personnel ly reproducing the video reenactment throughout their careers. of Mrs. Parks’ 1955 arrest that sparked The university operates out of four the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Made military installations. In Montgomery, possible in part by a $150,000 grant from AU provides officer and enlisted PME the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, the and officer accession programs at Maxwell project is the first phase of a larger plan to AFB and Gunter Annex, and the univerupgrade the museum to include the imsity’s distance-learning PME programs are portant roles women and local churches housed at the Maxwell-Gunter campus. played in the success of the boycott.

The university’s engineering, science and technology college is located at TRENHOLM STATE Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, and the COMMUNITY COLLEGE Air Force Test Pilot School is located at The comprehensive two-year commuEdwards AFB in California. nity college operates two campuses in More than 50,000 resident and Montgomery and is among the state’s 160,000 non-resident officers, enlisted fastest-growing community colleges, with and civilian personnel graduate from Air an 18.3% enrollment increase in 2024.

University each year.

Trenholm State offers associate transfer degree opportunities as well as a variety of AMRIDGE UNIVERSITY associate degrees and certificates. Top deAmridge University is a private university clared majors include computer informaaffiliated with the Churches of Christ tion systems, business administration and whose primary focus is distance management, manufacturing engineering learning. The university offers 40 online and child and human development. In programs and hundreds of courses addition, the school provides adult learnat the undergraduate, graduate and ing and personal development opportunidoctorate level through its College of ties and business and industry training in General Studies, College of Business and support of the economic development of Leadership, School of Education and Montgomery and the surrounding region.

Human Services and Turner School of Theology. The university also offers dual AIR UNIVERSITY enrollment opportunities for eligible high Headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base, school students for up to 16 credit hours.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 63

Movers & Shapers KINDELL ANDERSON was named

Montgomery County administrator in November 2024 and has been in municipal leadership for more than 15 years, including serving as the deputy administrator for the county. The LaGrange, Georgia, native is a graduate of Alabama A&M University. Anderson is a member of the 100 Black Men of Montgomery, Leadership Montgomery’s Legacy Class and has held leadership roles within Emerge Montgomery and the Landmarks Foundation for Old Alabama Town.

LABARRON BOONE has been an

attorney with the Beasley Allen Law Firm since 1995 and was the first Black partner at a major law firm in Montgomery.

Boone serves on the boards of Cleveland Avenue YMCA, Resurrection Catholic Church, Child Protection, Medical Outreach Ministries and the Central Alabama Community Foundation. He works with the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Foundation and is a member of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100. The Mobile native attended Auburn University and the University of Alabama.

DERRICK CUNNINGHAM is sheriff

of Montgomery County. A Troy University graduate, he holds a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix. He is also a graduate of the F.B.I. National Academy and the 64 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

National Sheriffs Institute, with additional credentials from the American Crime Prevention Institute. He served for 24 years in the Alabama National Guard.

Cunningham serves on the United Way community council board and is active in the Alabama Sheriffs Association, the National Sheriffs Association, Boy Scouts of America Tukabatchee Council, Exchange Club of Montgomery, Kiwanis Club of Montgomery, Leadership Montgomery and the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

LIZ DOWE FILMORE is chief of staff

to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.

Filmore earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in public administration at Troy University. Filmore has worked as an adviser to the governor since Ivey ran for reelection as lieutenant governor in 2013.

CARYN HUGHES is the market

president for ServisFirst Bank in Montgomery and has been in banking for more than 35 years. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama and is a Certified Public Accountant. Hughes serves on various charitable boards and committees, including chairman of the board for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

JAMES LOCKE is a professor at Auburn

University at Montgomery, where he founded the college’s Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory to focus on the impact of AI on organizational leadership, applications and ethics. He also initiated the AI and machine learning curriculum

for both undergraduates and graduate students and led the development of the nation’s first Masters of AI degree program in a non-engineering field. Locke co-authored a textbook on AI for nonengineering students, “Introduction to AI and Machine Learning,” which will be available in 2025. A Montgomery native, Locke was educated at Auburn University and Harvard Business School.

LORA MCCLENDON is governmen-

tal and public affairs representative at PowerSouth Energy Cooperative.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina and her master’s degree from Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business. After college, she worked as a congressional staffer for South Carolina and Alabama congressional delegations in Washington D.C. She also previously served as chief of staff for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

She serves on boards for River Region Trails, the Alabama FFA Foundation and Goodwill Industries of Central Alabama and is an advisory board member of the Alabama Trails Commission.

ELLEN MCNAIR is secretary of the

Alabama Department of Commerce.

Before taking that role in January 2024, she served as the chief economic development officer for the Montgomery Area Chamber

S P O T L I G H T: M OV E R S & S H A PE R S

of Commerce where she helped bring 600 national and international projects with a combined capital investment exceeding $8 billion and almost 30,000 new jobs to the community. McNair attended Auburn University and is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma.

CARMEN MOORE-ZEIGLER

represents District 2 on the Montgomery County Commission.

The Montgomery native attended Troy University Montgomery. In 2006, she and her father launched the MooreZeigler Group, a business consulting company that specializes in advising and assisting small minority business owners.

She regularly supports the Montgomery Public Schools and funds several projects.

STEVEN L. REED is mayor of Mont-

gomery, the city’s first Black mayor. Earlier, Reed served as probate judge.

Reed is a Morehouse College graduate with an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Honors include the Dr. Martin Luther King Leadership Award for Governmental Service and selection as a New Deal Leader and for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. Reed is active in the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He serves on the boards of the River Region United Way, the Montgomery Area YMCA, Trustmark Bank and Valiant Cross Academy.

SHERON ROSE is executive vice presi-

dent of external affairs at the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce. She has served on the chamber’s senior leadership team since 2015. Prior to joining the chamber, Rose held human resources and governmental affairs roles at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. She also has extensive experience working in governmental and legislative affairs for associations and elected leadership at state and federal levels. Rose is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute with a master’s degree from Troy University.

DOUG SINGLETON is chair of the

Montgomery County Commission. He has also served as chairman of the Central Alabama Aging Consortium and the Montgomery American Youth Baseball and Softball Committee and served on the Committee of 100 board of control and economic development. He founded Montgomery Miracle League and serves on the board of the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Garrett Coliseum Cooperative.

GORDON STONE is mayor of the

Town of Pike Road. When he first became mayor in 2004, the town had 350 residents and covered a two-mile area.

Today, it has grown to 8,000 residents and covers a 16mile area. Stone is an Auburn University graduate with an MBA from Auburn

University at Montgomery. He is executive director of the Higher Education Partnership, an advocacy group dedicated to strengthening the standing of four-year public universities in Alabama and the role higher education plays in the state’s economic well-being. He is also executive vice president of the National Young Farmer Educational Association.

COL. SHAMEKIA TOLIVER is the

commander of the 42nd Air Base Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, where she leads operating, infrastructure and services support for 42,000 active duty, reserve, civilian and contract personnel, students and families.

Toliver has served in the Air Force since 1994. Her awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters, Air and Space Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Air and Space Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Army Achievement Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal with one service star.

JAMIE WILSON was named interim

superintendent for Montgomery Public Schools in November 2024.

Prior to that she held various leadership roles, including chief of staff for the district, director of human resources for Reynoldsburg City Schools and middle school principal.

Wilson earned her bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University and her master’s degree from Governors State University in Chicago, and she completed the Superintendent Licensure Program at Ohio State University.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 65

Health Care

Baptist Medical Center South has 492 beds.

BAPTIST HEALTH

Baptist Health is the largest health care system in central Alabama and an affiliate of the UAB Health System. Baptist Health has a regional service area of 14 counties and operates three hospitals.

Baptist Medical Center South was founded in 1963 and is Montgomery’s largest medical facility. The 492-bed facility provides cardiovascular, orthopedic, neurology and surgical services as well as specialized services.

Baptist Medical Center East is a 176bed acute care hospital that specializes in services for women and children.

The campus is also home to the Baptist Breast Health Center, the Sleep Disorders Center and the Endoscopy Center.

Prattville Baptist Hospital is an acute care, 107-bed community hospital that offers a full range of services to residents in Autauga and Elmore counties.

Other Baptist Health care facilities include a regional cancer center, a free-standing psychiatric hospital, a joint venture surgical center, a network of ambulatory clinics, outpatient imaging center, urgent care facilities, wound care services, rehabilitation and home care services.

In September 2024, Baptist Health 66 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

Jackson Hospital has 344 beds and provides comprehensive services.

launched a mobile cancer unit staffed

by Montgomery Cancer Center medical professionals that will serve Autauga, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Crenshaw, Dallas, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Pike and Wilcox counties.

The unit, called Hope, will provide general cancer screenings and education.

Hope launched one year after another Montgomery Cancer Center and Baptist Health initiative, a mobile mammography unit called Joy. The 24-foot mobile cancer screening and health unit is the first of its

kind in central Alabama. It has traveled more than 6,000 miles and served more than 350 women since it began operating in October 2023.

CENTRAL ALABAMA VETERANS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System operates two facilities in Montgomery.

The Central Alabama VA Medical Center-Montgomery is a hospital that provides primary care and specialty health

S P O T L I G H T: H E A LT H C A R E

services including mental health, cardiology, urology and dementia and Alzheimer’s disease treatment.

The Central Alabama Montgomery VA Clinic also provides primary care, and its specialty services include women’s health, dental, optometry and lab services.

JACKSON HOSPITAL

Licensed for 344 beds, Jackson Hospital is a community not-for-profit hospital that provides comprehensive health care services to Montgomery and the surrounding River Region.

In 2024, the hospital’s Family Birth Center expanded to a Level II Special Care Nursery, meaning it is equipped to provide specialized care for premature and full-term babies who need additional medical support.

The hospital is accredited by the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality (CIHQ), and CIHQ recently named Jackson Hospital a primary stroke center and a primary heart attack center.

Both accreditations are effective until 2027.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has designated Jackson Hospital as a Tier 1 hospital for achieving the highest level of compliance in fiscal, quality and outcomes measures. The hospital is also designated as a Level 3 trauma center within the Alabama Trauma System and has been recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence through the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, as well as a Blue Distinction Centers+ for Bariatric Surgery. In addition, it has been named the state’s first dementia-friendly hospital by Dementia Friendly Alabama.

Jackson Hospital works with the Alabama Organ Center and Donate Life America, and the Department of Health has awarded the hospital its silver Medal of Honor for organ donation. It is one of four Alabama hospitals to earn that distinction.

clinical care after a short-term ICU stay.

The Montgomery facility is located within Jackson Hospital.

ENCOMPASS HEALTH REHABILITATION HOSPITAL OF MONTGOMERY

Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Montgomery provides inpatient rehabilitation services for

neurological and orthopedic conditions, including stroke, brain injury and hip fracture. The hospital’s team consists of physical, occupational and speech therapists as well as physicians, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists and case managers.

Birmingham-based Encompass Health runs more than 160 rehabilitation hospitals in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

NOLAND HOSPITAL MONTGOMERY

Noland Hospitals is the largest system of specialty hospitals in Alabama and serves patients that require extended January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 67

Community Development

A downtown view of Alabama's Capitol in Montgomery.

The Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce wrapped up its 151st annual meeting at the end of 2023 on a high note — celebrating a record-breaking investment of 122 major projects totaling $3.6 billion in capital investment and 4,641 announced new jobs since 2019.

And the momentum continues.

In March 2024, the Montgomery Chamber and its economic development partners received two grants totaling $2.2 million from the State of Alabama Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy Act (SEEDS) grant program — one for site assessment at Kershaw Investment Properties LLC, a 190-acre site on the east side of Montgomery; the other to support the Montgomery Water Works & Sanitary Sewer’s 230-acre CSX Select Gold site.

Several other developments continue to fuel economic growth in Montgomery County.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced in May that Montgomery will be home to a new 715,000-square-foot AI-optimized data center. The data center represents an $840 million investment and is expected 68 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

to support approximately 150 jobs. It will be entirely supported by renewable energy and will achieve LEED Gold Certification once operational.

HD Hyundai Power Transformers USA Inc. announced in July it will invest $14 million to expand its manufacturing facility in Montgomery, creating 50 new jobs. The expansion includes building a new warehouse, expanding yard storage and acquiring a new modular transporter to facilitate moving parts and materials.

In May, Genpak LLC, a leading foodservice packaging manufacturer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, celebrated a $22.8 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in the Montgomery Industrial Park.

Montgomery serves as a logistical and administrative hub for the Port of Alabama, which is set to expand when the Montgomery Inland Port opens in 2025.

The project is expected to create 2,618 direct and indirect jobs and generate $340 million in business revenues and more than $14.2 million in state and local taxes.

Montgomery Whitewater has been making a big splash in Montgomery

County. The park, one of only three Olympic-standard recirculating whitewater facilities in the country, opened in 2023 and offers a variety of outdoor activities for people of all skill levels.

Montgomery Whitewater was also the first venue in Alabama to host the U.S. Olympic Trials for canoe and kayak slalom in April 2024. In addition to rafting and kayaking, the 120-acre adventure center includes walking trails, restaurant and bar and ample green space for live entertainment and other activities. The park has recently introduced new attractions, including an aerial ropes course with zip lines and a seasonal outdoor ice-skating rink. Future plans include rock climbing and bouldering areas, additional scenic trails for hiking and biking, flatwater activities, an on-site hotel and retail spaces.

Development of the River Region Trail project is underway in Montgomery. The first phase of the planned network of recreational trails throughout the city is a 30-mile connected loop of pedestrian trail that will link downtown to east Montgomery. At the same time, the project plans to build a trail system, nature center and boardwalk in the 260-acre Cypress

S P O T L I G H T: CO M M U N I T Y D E V E LO PM E N T

Nature Preserve.

In July 2024, the Montgomery Lions Club opened a Children’s Sensory Trail that connects Riverfront Park and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park.

The trail, which when fully complete will connect Maxwell Air Force Base to the Montgomery Marina, is designed especially with sight-impaired youth in mind and features interactive sound stations, tactile pathways, scent gardens and visual stimuli displays.

Construction is underway on the Calmar Community Center, a $2.5 million, 5,000-square-foot facility that will include meeting rooms and classrooms for pre-K programming, workforce development and continuing education programs. The facility will also host activities for senior citizens, high school students and more. It is expected to open in the spring of 2025.

In addition to the new community center, the city has recently completed or is wrapping up construction and renovations of four other community centers, the Crump Community Center, the Sheridan Heights Community Center, the Chisholm Community Center and the TRC Community Center.

In March 2024, the city was awarded a $36 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that will be used to revitalize historic West Montgomery by providing more transportation options.

In August 2024, the Department of Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower Conference returned to Montgomery, signaling the area’s growing influence as a hub for cybersecurity and IT innovation and strengthening its reputation as a central player in the nation’s defense and technology ecosystem. The conference brought together nearly 5,000 military, tech and IT leaders from around the world and funneled an estimated $8.6 million into the local economy.

Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama has developed a strong relationship with Montgomery Public Schools over the years and supports a number of STEM-related initiatives. Most recently, HMMA partnered on a middle school STEM unit based on automotive manufacturing that offered 190 students from

nine middle schools a challenge to design and build prototype for vehicles in 2050. HMMA also partnered on a program that introduces middle school students to robotics, sustainability and emerging technology in the automotive industry.

Capitol Heights Middle School will soon have a new campus, including gymnasium, band room, auditorium, weight room Montgomery Whitewater. and media center.

Construction is expected to be complete by 2026. a new 577-acre residential neighborhood In other school news, Loveless Acain Pike Road that will feature pickleball demic Magnet Program (LAMP) High courts, a dog spa, dog parks, a splash pad, School ranked 21st nationally and first pool and fitness center. in the state for best magnet high schools In April 2024, local leadership adopted according to U.S. News & World Report. a multi-project capital improvement initiative called Onward Town of Pike Road.

TOWN OF PIKE ROAD Proposed projects include roundabouts in Located in eastern Montgomery CounWaugh Town Center; pedestrian facilities; ty, the Town of Pike Road is one of the road and sewer improvements; public fastest growing municipalities in the state safety improvements; a new economic and added hundreds of new residents in development park; additional sports facili2023, bringing its population up to just ties and trails; an arts district centered on more than 11,000. the historic McFadden Home; a livestock Inevitably, with growth come infrateaching barn; and a new amphitheater. structure needs, and the town is at work “The Town of Pike Road exudes enthuon several projects to address this issue siasm,” says Mayor Gordon Stone. “Our – two new roundabouts on U.S. Highcitizens are active participants in each of way 80, a turn lane at the intersection our key pillars: planning, quality of life, of Marler Road and Highway 110 and services and education. We are thrilled to more. The roundabout, a joint effort by honor the commitment of our residents the town and the Alabama Department of with the many new and exciting projects Transportation, is slated for completion that are a part of Onward Town of Pike in 2026.

Road.

In May, the town broke ground on the “We congratulate our local businessnew Pike Road High School. Located on es on a successful year, the Pike Road 73 acres, the 200,000-square-foot facility Schools for their ‘A’ on the Alabama Dewill have more than 55 classrooms, a capartment of Education State Report Card, reer tech center with STEM labs, science and our citizens for their support of our labs and two gymnasiums. The project is arts, agriculture, athletics and charities. expected to be completed in August 2026.

The Town of Pike Road is blessed by its In June 2023, construction began on residents every single day.”

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 69

Culture & Recreation GET WET

TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY

Kayak the rapids, paddle your canoe or chill out on a raft at Montgomery Whitewater. Opened in 2023 and winning kudos near and far, the attraction keeps adding more — ziplines, ropes courses and a seasonal ice-skating rink are among the newest attractions.

Alabama Shakespeare Festival is ranked as one of the largest Shakespeare theaters in the world, drawing more than 300,000 people annually. The theater celebrates 40 years this year.

ADVENTURES IN ART

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts has a collection of 19th and 20th century American paintings, old masters, Southern regional arts and more, including an interactive gallery for children called Artworks.

Surrounding the museum is the John and Joyce Caddell Sculpture Garden.

CAPITOL ATTRACTIONS

The Alabama State Capitol is one of the few designated as a National Historic Landmark and offers self-guided tours.

And the 1907 Governor’s Mansion – still the residence of governors – is open for tours by reservation.

Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

CELEBRATE RIGHTS

The Civil Rights Memorial honors the achievements and memory of those who died during the modern civil rights movement, while the Civil Rights Memorial Center offers interactive exhibits and learning spaces. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is dedicated to victims of lynching and racial terror. The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, built on the site where enslaved people were once warehoused, also offers a sobering look at racial inequality.

Newest is the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, which opened in 2024 and pays homage to the experience of enslaved people trafficked by riverboat and railroad to the city’s slave auctions. The 17-acre site is located on the banks of the Alabama River and features historical artifacts, like original dwellings once inhabited by enslaved people, as well as modern sculpture and artworks.

For a more active look, retrace elements of the Selma-to-Montgomery march, from downtown Selma to the capitol, including the final camping site at The City of St. Jude. In Montgomery, also visit Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church & The Dexter Parsonage Museum, with memorabilia from the days when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor. In the old Greyhound Bus Station, visit the Freedom Rides Museum. On the campus of Alabama State University, visit the Montgomery Interpretive Center, with exhibits on the voting rights 72 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

movement and march. And visit the Rosa Parks Library & Museum, which includes a replica of the bus at the start of the bus boycott of 1955.

HAIL TO HISTORY

The Museum of Alabama, located in the Alabama Department of Archives & History, is the oldest state-funded archives in the nation. It features a genealogical research facility and exhibits on Alabama history. Or walk the streets of Old Alabama Town — six blocks of history with a one-room schoolhouse, grist mill, doctor’s office, tavern and more — all brought to life by costumed interpreters.

You can see another side of Alabama history at the First White House of the Confederacy, home to Jefferson Davis when Montgomery was the capital of the Confederacy.

COUNTRY ROADS

Alabama’s Black Belt, 23 counties including Montgomery, is widely known for its excellent hunting and fishing opportunities, cultural destinations and antebellum homes.

UNEXPECTED TREASURES

Alabama Cattlemen’s Association “MOOseum” shows off the region’s agriculture, with activities for children. The Alabama Safari Park offers unforgettable memories as you feed giraffes, gaze at gazelles or admire the stripes of a zebra.

PLAY BALL

The Montgomery Biscuits, an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, play at Riverwalk Stadium downtown.

ANIMAL ANTICS

The Montgomery Zoo and Mann Wildlife Learning Museum introduce hundreds of animals in natural habitats, with paddleboats and a train besides.

festivities and events: MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION — January HONDA BATTLE OF THE BANDS — February SELMA TO MONTGOMERY RELAY AND BIKE RIDE — March SLE RODEO — March RED BLUFF MUSIC, ARTS & FOOD FESTIVAL — May RIVERBEND BREWFEST — May JUNETEENTH — June MONTGOMERY KICKOFF CLASSIC — August ALABAMA NATIONAL FAIR — Fall RIVERWALK WINE FESTIVAL — October GLASSNER AUTUMN CHALLENGE BIKE RIDE — October CAMELLIA BOWL — December

Career Notes

by ERICA JOINER WEST

JOSH CARPENTER

BEBE GOODRICH

OWEN PARRISH

SAMARPREET SOHI

LESLIE SHELOR

ANDY NEWTON

RUSTY YEAGER

DAVE GRAY

LORRIE HARGROVE

STEPHEN ADAMS

GENE MILLER

PENNY HUGHEY

SCOTT ALLEN

STUART APPLE

KIRSTEN GRAY

JAMES HOFFMAN

RYAN MCGOWIN

TINA STEWART

BANKING First Horizon Corp., of Birmingham, has named Josh Carpenter, Bebe Goodrich and Owen Parrish to its Birmingham advisory board.

CONSTRUCTION Billy Harbert, chair and CEO of BL Harbert International, has been elected to the Emory University board of trustees.

CREDIT UNIONS Redstone Federal Credit Union has named Samarpreet Sohi as its chief financial officer and executive vice president. He succeeds Wayne Sisco, who plans to retire in March after 38 years with the credit union.

EDUCATION Leslie Shelor has been hired as mental health counselor at Calhoun Community College.

ENGINEERING Andy Newton has joined the board of Thompson Holdings, the parent company of Thompson Engineering, Watermark Design, Thompson Consulting Services and Meyer Engineers.

HEALTH CARE Encompass Health Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Rusty Yeager has been recognized by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives as chief information officer of the year.

HUMAN RESOURCES Arizona-based Arcoro has appointed Dave Gray as chief executive officer. Gray is

a graduate of Auburn University and is the former CEO of Daxko, which has a location in Birmingham.

LAW Azzie Melton Oliver, a native of Selma and graduate of Alabama State University and Jones Law School, has been appointed district attorney of Montgomery County.

Baker Donelson has added five associates in its Birmingham office — Caroline Dean, Elise Helton, Brock Lavely, Naomi Migova and Nic Vandeventer.

Jack Harrington, a partner with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, has been named chair of the firm’s newly launched Financial Crime & Economic Sanctions team. Emma Duke McBurney and George Smith II, attorneys with the firm, have been recognized by Madison County Volunteer Lawyers Program for their pro bono contributions.

Motion Industries has promoted Eric Gonzalez to senior vice president of Mexico, Canada, Industry Segments and Business Developments.

ORGANIZATIONS Lee Charities Inc., a Baldwin Countybased family foundation, has appointed Penny Hughey as director of community development.

POLITICS Shannon Whitt has been named executive director of the Alabama Republican Party, succeeding Reed Phillips.

REAL ESTATE EBSCO Industries has reorganized its real estate platform and appointed Jimmy Adams as CEO of Income-Producing Real Estate and Jay Page as CEO of Community Development.

Maynard Nexsen has added the following associates to its Birmingham office: Paul Brock; Michael Clark; Spencer Haynes; Chotsani Holifield; Demarcus Joiner; Gracie McCraney; Sadler McKeen; and Emily Shin. The Huntsville office has added Hunter Drake, Holdon Guy and Carolyn Weeks.

TECHNOLOGY

Lorrie Hargrove has joined Thompson Coburn’s Birmingham office. She joins Tres Cleveland, Brandt Hill and Evan Moltz in the firm’s Higher Education Practice.

The Alabama Fiber Network has added Stuart Apple as senior field engineer; Kirsten Gray as senior accountant; James Hoffman as vice president external and customer affairs; Ryan McGowin as vice president of accounting, controlling; and Tina Stewart, as senior director, project manager.

MANUFACTURING Stephen Adams has been named chief financial officer and Gene Miller has been hired as vice president of operations at Austal USA.

Impact Technology Group LLC Partner Scott Allen is one of eight finalists for the Dell Expert Network Top MSP Award in its Titans of Industry Awards, presented

by MSP Success.

UTILITIES

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 73

RETROSPECT

A

midst the warehouses of the massive Chicago produce market in 1944 were hints of an ambitious partnership between Alabama farmers and businesses.

Attractive, tri-color labels made the 50-pound wooden crates stand out from the others, as did the unusual word printed at the top: ALARICO. The setting for this unheralded but sweet history dates to the depths of the Second World War. During a time of nationwide rationing of items like sugar and butter, American kitchens looked for naturally sweet alternatives. One of the best options was the humble sweet potato, and Alabama farmers in the 1940s grew tons of them. Yet sometimes the path from farm to table proved too complex. Excess produce went to waste before it could be sold, either locally or to out-of-state wholesalers. In 1943, officials banded together to create an efficient, statewide effort to better market the bounty of Alabama farmers.

The architect of the plan was P. O. Davis. A native of Limestone County, Davis had a decades-long career in agricultural education by the time he was tapped to lead the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service in 1932. Davis understood well the task at hand. His office put forth a thorough plan for expanding the ways Alabama produce was marketed and fixed an annual cost at $75,000.

The project drew nearly a dozen partners, including the Alabama Chamber of Commerce, Farm Bureau, Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, Alabama Power Co. and the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co. With support from Gov. Chauncey Sparks and the state’s legislative leadership, the plan quickly became law.

74 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

Luther B. Sprott stands besides crates of Alarico yams and, left, T.J. Jones is surrounded by crates of the yams, both in Sprott, Alabama, in 1944. Photos courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives & History.

R E T RO S PE C T

In the fall of 1943, representatives of Alabama agriculture and business toured markets in several northern cities. In the Windy City, they confirmed that there was high demand for quality sweet potatoes. The men returned to Alabama and made plans for a pilot program. Among the types of copper-skinned spuds that grew best in the Alabama soil was the “Porto Rico” variety. Thus, it took but a few churns of the marketing cauldron to settle on a state-specific branding plan: The “Alarico” was born.

It was not some Yellowhammer State augmentation of the Porto Rico, but rather a simple, colorful stamp of approval acknowledging these were the absolute best sweet potatoes Alabama farms had to offer.

In mid-February, the first truckloads of Alaricos arrived at the Chicago market.

Approximately 3,000 top-graded bushels comprised this historic shipment. They came from Sprott, a Perry County hamlet located a few miles east of Marion.

Any prior knowledge of Sprott by most Americans likely came from the book “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,” published in 1941 by Walker Evans and James Agee.

The documentary record of Depressionera Alabama sharecroppers included a photograph of a small, wooden building that housed the Sprott Post Office and general store.

The man who owned the store — and who served as postmaster — was Luther B. Sprott. His father had been the first postmaster of the eponymous locale when it was established in 1881. Luther took over the job in 1917 and by the 1940s also farmed alongside his son-in-law, T. J. Jones. Extension service agents were on hand to assist Sprott and Jones in the grading and packing, along with T. C. Reid, a representative with the Alabama Chamber of Commerce, who would accompany the shipment to the Chicago market.

Reid or an unknown photographer snapped portraits of Sprott and Jones on that auspicious day. Wearing a woolen suit, a vest and tie, his arm propped upon a tall stack of Alarico-branded crates, the scion of Sprott stares directly into the camera lens. The portrait of Jones is more casual. He sits in the back of a truck

The Walker Evans and James Agee classic “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” included this Evans photograph of the Sprott post office and Crossroads store, taken in the 1930s. Photo courtesy of the United States Library of Congress.

Alarico yams were the focus of a newspaper advertisement.

loaded down with sweet potatoes, his cap pushed back on his head. The sleeves of his worn work shirt are rolled past his elbows.

At the moment the photograph was taken, Jones looks away, an earnest, “aw, shucks” smile fills his face. This was the photograph that appeared in dozens of newspapers touting the launch of Alarico, the visage of handsome, hardworking T. J. Jones: The face that launched a thousand yams.

In Chicago, the Alaricos brought $4 a bushel, besting similar products from other southern states by 10%.

Alabama boosters heralded the success.

“It pays to raise quality products,” the Alabama Journal wrote.

By mid-March, four more truckloads left Perry County bound for markets in Chicago and Detroit, along with the first shipment from three Bullock County farms. Not to be outdone, Cullman farmers packed a load in mid-April. “This is a dream car of potatoes,” said one of the agents who graded them before shipment.

“This is the best car of potatoes that we have ever received.”

True to their word, extension agents and other Alarico supporters worked to expand beyond sweet potatoes. One of the first efforts was in the Wiregrass town of Ashford, where they established a tomato market.

State funds paid for new packing machinery and local farmers banded together to create their own produce association.

By late June, two carloads of tomatoes a day — comprising 700 of the 30-pound crates, called lugs, left Ashford under the Alarico brand.

“Pretty soon they will be asking for Alabama products all over the nation,” predicted one observer.

Farming is an act of faith. Few are the professions with more external factors that determine success — the weather, equipment malfunctions, commodity markets and geopolitics to name only some. The same fields that offer prosperity one year can yield misery the next.

After a few successful years, Alabama’s sweet potato crop in 1945 experienced an $8 million shortfall. Poor-quality seed was to blame, experts said. Extension agents worked to harvest better seeds for the coming year.

The Alarico program persisted for a few years more, though most of its successes thereafter went unheralded. In a postwar era of mass consumerism, there was much to draw away the attention of the press and the public. Away from the spotlight, then as now, Alabama farmers continued to feed the nation.

Historian Scotty E. Kirkland is a freelance contributor to Business Alabama. He lives in Wetumpka.

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 75

Index 100 Black Men of Montgomery.........................64

BancIndependent Inc........................................10

Coca-Cola Bottling Co........................................57

Freedom Rides Museum...................................72

16th Street Baptist Church..................................9

Bank Independent...........................................78

Freeman, Calandra.........................................................8

Accounting Today.............................................78

Baptist Health..................................................66

College of Healthcare Information Management Executives..............................73

Adams, Jimmy..............................................................73

Baptist Medical Center East...............................66

Adams, Stephen...........................................................73

Baptist Medical Center South............................66

Adams, Tom..................................................................10

Barlow, Becky...............................................................43

Aerojet Rocketdyne............................................8

Bassett, Jimmy.............................................................28

Agee, James.................................................................74

Bassett, Wayne.............................................................28

Air Force Test Pilot School..................................62

Bay Theatre, Red Bay........................................79

Air University............................................. 57, 62

Beasley Allen Law Firm.....................................64

Alabama A&M University..................................64

Beck's Turf Inc..................................................28

Alabama Academy of Family Physicians............43

Benefield, Lewis.............................................................9

Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Parole.............47

Best Companies Group.....................................78

Alabama Cattlemen's Association MOOseum.....72

Beta Technologies............................................57

Alabama Chamber of Commerce.......................74

Bezos, Jeff.....................................................................10

Alabama Community College System.......... 10, 47

Big Fish, movie.................................................28

Alabama Cooperative Extension Service............74

Big Lots Stores..................................................57

Alabama Cooperative Extension System............43

Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center...........9

Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries....................................................74

Birmingham Racecourse and Casino....................9

Alabama Department of Commerce....8, 10, 13, 64 Alabama Department of Corrections..................47 Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs................................47 Alabama Department of Education....................68 Alabama Department of Public Health..............66 Alabama Department of Transportation....... 10, 68 Alabama Development Office...........................13 Alabama FAME.................................................78 Alabama Fiber Network....................................73 Alabama Journal..............................................74 Alabama National Guard............................. 57, 64 Alabama Organ Center.....................................66 Alabama Power Co............................................74 Alabama Republican Party................................73 Alabama Safari Park.........................................72 Alabama Shakespeare Festival..........................72 Alabama Sheriffs Association............................64 Alabama State Capitol......................................72 Alabama State Port Authority............................68 Alabama State University...................... 62, 72, 73 Alabama Technology Network...........................57 Alabama Trade Commission..............................64 Alabama Water Watch.......................................43 Alabama, State of....................................... 52, 68 Alarico sweet potatoes......................................74

A guide to businesses (bold) and individuals (light) mentioned in this month’s issue of Business Alabama.

Birmingham-Southern College...........................7 BL Harbert International............................. 10, 73 Black Belt Community Foundation....................10 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.............66 Boeing Co........................................................10 Boone, LaBarron...........................................................64 Boswell, Kenneth..........................................................47 Boy Scouts of America.......................................64 Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP...............7, 73 Brantley, Eve.................................................................43 Brasfield & Gorrie.............................................10 Brock, Paul....................................................................73 Brookwood Forest Elementary School, Mountain Brook...............................78 Brookwood Village...........................................10 Bryan, Stephanie............................................................9 Bryce Hospital..................................................10 Buchanan, Kyle.............................................................35 Bureau of Labor Statistics..................................43 Burr & Forman..................................................13

Conners Island Business Park.............................8 Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority....8 Coosa Harbor, Gadsden.......................................7 Cover Alabama...................................................9 Craft, Tony.......................................................................7 Crestline Elementary, Hartselle.........................78 Crestline Elementary, Mountain Brook................7 Crump Community Center, Montgomery...........68 CSX Corp.................................................... 52, 68 Cunningham, Derrick...................................................64 Cypress Nature Preserve...................................68 Daniel Foundation of Alabama..........................62

Furr, Steven P................................................................36 Garrett Coliseum Cooperative...........................64 GCB Inc............................................................78 GenPak LLC.......................................... 52, 57, 68 Gerhardi Inc.....................................................57 Gilpin, Jess...................................................................43 Glovis Alabama................................................57 Gonzalez, Eric................................................................73 Goodrich, Bebe.............................................................73 Goodwill Industries..........................................64 Gorrie, Jim....................................................................10

Dannelly Field, Montgomery............................57

Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada...................78

DAS North America Inc................................ 57, 59

Governor Kay Ivey Correctional Complex.............7

Davis, P.O......................................................................74

Governor's Mansion.........................................72

Davis, Virginia...............................................................43

Governors State University, Chicago..................64

Daxko LLC........................................................73

Gray, Dave.....................................................................73

DC Blox........................................................7, 57

Gray, Kirsten.................................................................73

Dean, Caroline..............................................................73

Gulf Coast Challenge........................................78

Decatur Morgan Hospital..................................35

Gunter Annex...................................................57

DeKalb Regional Medical Center.......................35

Guntersville, City of............................................8

Dexter Avenue King Memorial Foundation............................ 64, 72

Gurwitch Products............................................10

DG Fresh Distribution AL...................................57 Dollar, Leigh...................................................................8 Donate Life America..........................................66 Dorris, Jay.......................................................................9 Dothan Warehouse.............................................8 Drake State Community & Technical College......78 Drake, Hunter...............................................................73 Dreskin, Ronald..............................................................8 Dyson, Karan................................................................10 East Elementary School, Cullman......................78 EBSCO Industries..............................................73 Economic Development Association of Alabama................................13

Business Council of Alabama.................. 9, 13, 57

Economic Development Partnership of Alabama...............................13

Calhoun Community College............................73

Elbit Systems of America...................................11

Calmar Community Center, Montgomery.... 57, 68

Emerge Montgomery........................................64

Canfield, Greg...............................................................13

Emory University..............................................73

Capitol Heights Middle School, Montgomery.....68

Encompass Health Corp.............................. 66, 73

Carpenter, Josh.............................................................73

Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Montgomery..............................66

Carver School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, Dothan.....................................78

Funderburk, Annette....................................................47

Gurwitch, Janet.............................................................10 Guy, Holdon..................................................................73 Hague, Steve................................................................28 Hall, Philip......................................................................7 Harbert, Billy..........................................................10, 73 Hargrove, Lorrie............................................................73 Harrington, Jack...........................................................73 Haynes, Spencer...........................................................73 HD Hyundai Power Transformers USA Inc..................52, 57, 59, 68 Health Care Authority of the City of Huntsville.........................................35 Helen Keller Hospital.......................................35 Helton, Elise.................................................................73 Higher Education Partnership...........................64 Highlands Medical Center, Scottsboro...............35 Hill, Brandt...................................................................73 Hoffman, James...........................................................73 Holifield, Chotsani........................................................73 Hollub, Vicki.................................................................10 Honda Alabama Auto Plant...............................10

EPIC Alternative Elementary School, Birmingham....................................78

Hood-McPherson Building................................10

Equal Justice Initiative............................... 52, 57

Hughes, Caryn..............................................................64

Central Alabama Aging Consortium..................64

Etch, Huntsville................................................10

Hughey, Penny.............................................................73

Central Alabama Community Foundation..........64

Evans, Walker...............................................................74

Huntingdon College.........................................62

Central Alabama VA Medical Center-Montgomery....................................66

Ewald, Mary Lou...........................................................43

Huntsville Hospital .................................... 10, 35 Huntsville Hospital Health System....................35

Anderson Family Care, Demopolis.......................9

Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System.................................................66

Exchange Club.................................................64 FabArc Steel Supply..........................................10

Huntsville Infirmary.........................................35

Anderson, Kindell.........................................................64

Chagolla, Issac..............................................................28

Facebook/Meta Platforms Inc.................. 7, 57, 68

Huntsville Skybridge..........................................8

Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center......................................10

Challenge Testing.............................................10

Family Medical Clinic, Jackson..........................43

Huntsville, City of..............................................7

Farm Bureau....................................................74

Hyundai Mobis........................................... 57, 79

Anniston, City of..............................................10

Charmin Paper/Procter & Gamble......................60

Faulkner University......................................9, 62

Hyundai Motor Co............................................57

FBI National Academy.......................................64 Federal Bureau of Investigation........................10

Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama..........................13, 57, 59, 64, 68, 78

Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education.............................78

Impact Technology Group LLC............................73 Innovate Alabama............................................13

Filmore, Liz Dowe.........................................................64

Instagram/Meta Platforms Inc...........................68

First Horizon Corp.............................................73

International Conveyor and Rubber....................8

First Metro Bank...............................................78

International Inbound Travel Association..........10

First Solar.........................................................10

Ivey, Gov. Kay................................................7, 13, 43, 64

First White House of the Confederacy................72

J.D. Power and Associates Inc............................78

Five Guys Enterprises LLC..................................10

J.F. Ingram State Technical College....................47

Flowers Bakery of Montgomery LLC...................59

Jackson Hospital..........................................8, 66

Forsee, Prattville...........................................................10

Jackson Medical Center....................................43

Founder's Fest, Red Bay....................................79

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management.............78

Freedom Monument Sculpture Park...... 52, 57, 68

James, Michael...............................................................8

Allen, Scott....................................................................73 American Academy of Family Physicians...........43 American Banker Magazine..............................78 American Crime Prevention Institute................64 American Hospital Association..........................35 American Unagi...............................................10 Amridge University..........................................62

Appalachian Regional Commission...................47 Apple, Stuart.................................................................73 Arcoro Holdings Corp........................................73 Ashford, City of................................................74

Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality.......................................66

Chamber of Gadsden & Etowah County................7 Child Protection...............................................64 Children's Sensory Trail, Montgomery...............68 Chisholm Community Center, Montgomery.......68

Associated Builders and Contractors....................7

Choccolocco Research, Education, Arts and Technology Experience............................8

Association of Defense Communities.................57

Churches of Christ................................................

Athens-Limestone Hospital...............................35

City Harbor, Guntersville....................................7

Auburn University ...... 7, 9, 13, 28, 43, 60, 64, 73

Civil Group LLC...................................................8

Auburn University at Montgomery.............. 62, 64

Civil Rights Memorial.......................................72

Austal USA................................................. 10, 73

Clark, Michael...............................................................73

Baker Donelson................................................73

Cleveland, Tres..............................................................73

Baker, Jimmy................................................................47

Clopton, Dale County........................................43

Baldwin Bone & Joint.......................................10

Coca-Cola Amphitheater.....................................7

76 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

Hotel Red Bay..................................................79

Jay R. Smith Manufacturing Co.........................59 Jefferson County..............................................78 JM Smucker Plant............................................10 Johnny's Bar-B-Q, Cullman.................................9 Johns, Jimmy...............................................................11 Johnson Space Center......................................60 Joiner, Demarcus..........................................................73 Jones Law School.............................................73 Jones, T.J......................................................................74 JST Corp.............................................................8 Kershaw Investment Properties LLC............ 52, 68 Kia Motor Manufacturing Georgia.....................57 Kinetic's Kinetic Cup.........................................10 Kiwanis International.......................................64 Koch Foods.......................................................59 Landmarks Foundation of Old Alabama Town....64 Lavely, Brock.................................................................73 Lawler, Patrick.................................................................7 Leadership Montgomery..................................64 Lear Corp.................................................... 57, 59 Lee Charities Inc...............................................73 Legacy Museum................................... 52, 57, 72 Leigh, Anthony.............................................................62 Lennar Corp.......................................................8 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.........................74

Montgomery Inland Intermodal Transfer Facility Port............................... 52, 68

Red Bay, City of................................................79

Thompson Engineering....................................73

Redstone Federal Credit Union..........................73

Thompson Holdings.........................................73

Reed, Steven L..............................................................64

Time Magazine........................................... 52, 57

Regions Bank............................................. 10, 78

Toliver, Shamekia.........................................................64

Regions Foundation.........................................10

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama...............10

Reid, T.C........................................................................74

TRC Community Center, Montgomery...............68

Resurrection Catholic Church............................64

Trenholm State Community College..................62

Retirement Systems of Alabama................. 13, 57

Trilogy Hotel Montgomery/Marriott..................57

Reynoldsburg City Schools...............................64

Troy University..................................9, 28, 60, 64

Rheem Water Heaters.......................................59

Troy University - Montgomery..................... 62, 64

Rickwood Field.................................................10

Trump, President Donald..........................................7, 10

Riley, Joe........................................................................8

Trustmark Bank................................................64

River Region Trail Project..................................68

Tudor, Nathan.................................................................7

Riverfront Park, Montgomery...........................68

Tumpak, Scott...............................................................11

Robins & Morton..............................................10

Turner, John..................................................................10

Robinson, Allen............................................................28

Tuskegee Airmen..............................................57

Rogers, Mike...................................................................7

Tuskegee Institute............................................64

Rolin Construction............................................10

Tutwiler Prison for Women...............................47

Museum of Alabama........................................72

Rosa Parks Library & Museum..................... 62, 72

U.S. Air Force........................................ 11, 52, 68

National Association of State Departments of Agriculture..........................43

Rose, Sheron................................................................64

U.S. Conference of Mayors.................................64

Ross, Quinton T.............................................................62

U.S. Department of Agriculture.........................43

National Center for Construction Education and Research...............................47

Runergy Alabama.............................................10

U.S. Department of Defense..............................57

Ryuichi Ashizawa...............................................8

U.S. Department of Education...........................78

Sabel Steel Service............................................57

U.S. Department of Transportation....................68

Sabel, Keith..................................................................57

U.S. Feeds........................................................57

Sabel, Sean...................................................................57

U.S. News & World Report..................7, 62, 68, 78

Montgomery Marina........................................68 Montgomery Miracle League............................64 Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts....................72 Montgomery Public Schools........................ 64, 68 Montgomery Regional Airport..........................57 Montgomery Water Works & Sanitary Sewer.................................... 52, 68 Montgomery Whitewater................52, 57, 68, 72 Montgomery Zoo..............................................72 Montgomery, City of........................52, 57, 64, 78 Moore-Zeigler Group........................................64 Moore-Zeigler, Carmen.................................................64 Morehouse College..........................................64 Morell Engineering............................................8 Mosley, Philip.................................................................8 Motion Industries........................................8, 73 Mountain Top Industries...................................57

National Institute of Food and Agriculture.........43 National League of Cities..................................64

Lincoln Health System......................................35

National Memorial for Peace and Justice...................................... 52, 57, 72

Lions Clubs International..................................68

National Sheriffs Association.............................64

Samford University..........................................60

U.S. Olympic Trials............................................68

Locke, James................................................................64

National Sheriffs Institute.................................64

Samkee Corp....................................................10

U.S. Space Command..........................................7

Loveless Academy Magnet High School, Montgomery...........................................7, 68

National Young Farmer Educational Association................................64

Samz, Jeff.....................................................................35

U.S. Steel Corp..................................................10

Madison County Volunteer Lawyers Program....73

SCI Technology...................................................9

UAB Health System.......................................8, 66

Nephsol, Tuscaloosa.........................................10

Major League Baseball.....................................10

SDAC, Selma.......................................................9

United Airlines.................................................10

New York Times.......................................... 52, 57

Mantel, Kristine............................................................60

Sego-Johnson, Michielle..............................................10

United Bank.....................................................78

Newton, Andy...............................................................73

Marshall Medical Centers.................................35

Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March......72

United Methodist Church..................................62

Nippon Steel Corp............................................10

MartinFed........................................................10

Seoyon E-Hwa..................................................59

United Way......................................................64

Noland Hospital Montgomery...........................66

Mauldin, Macke............................................................10

ServisFirst Bank...........................................8, 64

University of Alabama.......................... 43, 60, 64

Northern Illinois University..............................64

Maxwell Air Force Base....................52, 57, 64, 68

Shelor, Leslie................................................................73

University of Alabama at Birmingham...............10

O'Neal Steel.......................................................7

Maxwell Air Force Base/Gunter Annex......... 57, 62

University of North Alabama.............................78

Oakworth Capital Bank.....................................78

Sheridan Heights Community Center, Montgomery...............................................68

Maynard Nexsen..............................................73

Occidental Petroleum.......................................10

Shin, Emily...................................................................73

McBurney, Emma Duke................................................73

Ohio State University........................................64

Singleton, Doug...........................................................64

McClellan Development Authority....................10

Old Alabama Town............................................72

Sisco, Wayne.................................................................73

McClendon, Lora...........................................................64

Oliver, Azzie Melton......................................................73

McCraney, Gracie..........................................................73

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity..................................64

Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy Act............................68

McElroy, Scott...............................................................28

Our Community Inc., Dothan............................10

McFadden Home, Pike Road..............................68

Page, Jay.......................................................................73

McGowin, Ryan.............................................................73

Palomar Insurance Corp......................................7

McKeen, Sadler.............................................................73

Parnell, Jodi....................................................................7

McNair, Ellen..........................................................13, 64

Parrish, Owen...............................................................73

Medical Association of the State of Alabama......43

PCH Hotels & Resorts........................................10

Medical Outreach Ministries.............................64

PCI Gaming........................................................9

Meta Platforms Inc............................7, 52, 57, 68

Philip Morris Companies Inc.............................60

Metropolitan Planning Organization.................64

Phillips, Reed...............................................................73

Metzger, Rick..................................................................7

Pike Road High School......................................68

Meyer Engineers..............................................73

Standard Commercial Roofing & Envelope Solutions...................................60

Pike Road, Town of..................................... 64, 68

Michoud Assembly Facility - NASA.....................60

Standard Roofing.............................................60

Pinnacle Financial Partners...............................78

Migova, Naomi.............................................................73

State Board of Health........................................43

Pizitz Middle School, Vestavia.............................7

Miles College.....................................................7

State Board of Medical Examiners.....................43

Poarch Band of Creek Indians..............................9

Miller Coors Beverage Co..................................60

Steris Corp.......................................................59

PowerSouth Energy Cooperative.......................64

Miller, Gene..................................................................73

Stewart, Tina.................................................................73

Prattville Baptist Hospital.................................66

Mobile Sports Authority...................................78

Stone, Gordon........................................................64, 68

Premier Tech....................................................57

Moltz, Evan...................................................................73

Stringfellow, Shelby.......................................................7

Prewitt Group, The............................................78

Monroe County Hospital.....................................7

Summerfield Development, Summerdale.........10

Prewitt, John R. Jr.........................................................78

Montgomery American Youth Baseball and Softball...................................64

Taylor, Henry Watson....................................................60

Prewitt, Johnny.............................................................78

Taylor, Pete...................................................................60

Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.....................7, 13, 52, 57, 64, 68

Princeton Review.............................................62

Taylor, Pete Jr................................................................60

Procter & Gamble.............................................10

Taylor, Watson Robbins................................................60

Montgomery Biscuits.......................................72

Project Farm, Auburn University........................43

Tech MGM.................................................. 52, 57

Montgomery Bus Boycott.................................62

ProxsysRX........................................................10

Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co....................74

Montgomery County............................ 52, 64, 73

Pugh, David....................................................................7

Tensaw River Bridge, U.S. 90.............................10

Montgomery East Plaza Shopping Center..........62

Rademaker, Sara...........................................................10

Thompson Burton............................................10

Montgomery Industrial Park....................... 57, 68

Rausch Coleman Homes.....................................8

Thompson Coburn............................................73

Red Bay Hospital..............................................35

Thompson Consulting Services.........................73

Smith Industries..............................................59 Smith, George II...........................................................73 Sohi, Samarpreet..........................................................73 Southwestern Athletic Conference.....................62 Spark by Hilton, Montgomery...........................57 Sparks, Gov. Chauncey..................................................74 Sports Destination Management.......................78 Sprott, Luther B.............................................................74 Sprott, Perry County.........................................74

University of Oklahoma....................................64 University of Phoenix.......................................64 University of South Alabama....................... 43, 60 University of South Carolina.............................64 Uphues, Jeff...................................................................7 UPS/United Parcel Service.................................57 USA Health .......................................................7 USA Health Doc Rock.........................................10 USA Health Providence Hospital..........................7 USAA/United Services Automobile Association...57 Valiant Cross Academy......................................64 Vanderbilt University.......................................64 Vandeventer, Nic..........................................................73 Vehicle Assembly Building NASA, Cape Canveral....................................60 Victoryland Casino.............................................9 W.L. Petry Wholesale........................................57 Wallace Community College-Dothan...................9 Watermark Design...........................................73 Watts, Ray.....................................................................10 Weeks, Carolyn.............................................................73 Whitt, Shannon............................................................73 Williford, Jim..................................................................7 Wilson, Jamie...............................................................64 Wind Creek Hospitality.......................................9 Wiregrass Wealth Management, Dothan.............9 WM Grocery, Wedowee.................................9, 10 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base........................62 Wunderfan, Birmingham..................................10 Y'all Sweet Tea..............................................9, 10 Yeager, Rusty................................................................73 YMCA...............................................................64 Zone Protects, Decatur......................................10

January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 77

Company Kudos

by ERICA JOINER WEST

FEBRUARY Alabama’s Automotive Sector Rolls On The Construction Industry: Building Alabama Geographic Spotlight: Shelby County

MARCH Business Alabama Awards Get Out — Into Alabama’s Great Outdoors Credit Unions Around the State All You Need To Plan a Company Meeting Geographic Spotlight: Dale, Coffee & Geneva Counties

Check BusinessAlabama.com for daily business headlines and additional content

Follow us: Business Alabama @BusinessAlabama

78 | BusinessAlabama.com January 2025

Alabama FAME is now the largest partner in the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education program with the announcement in December of its newest chapter at Drake State Community & Technical College. Drake State will offer the two-year Advanced Manufacturing Technician program, allowing students to receive classroom instruction alongside hands-on experience.

American Banker and Best Companies Group have named the 2024 Best Banks to Work For. Alabama banks making the list are: No. 2 Oakworth Capital Bank, in Birmingham; No. 25 Bank Independent of Sheffield; No. 55 First Metro Bank of Muscle Shoals; and No. 61 United Bank in Atmore.

The city of Montgomery has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, issued by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.

Five Alabama schools have been named 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.

They are EPIC Alternative Elementary School in Birmingham, East Elementary School in Cullman, Carver School of Mathematics, Science and Technology in Dothan, Crestline Elementary School in Hartselle and Brookwood Forest Elementary School in Mountain Brook.

The Gulf Coast Challenge Powered

by The Mobile Sports Authority, produced in cooperation with GCB Inc., has been named to Sports Destination Management’s 2024 Champions of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism ranking. The event contributed more than $7.8 million to the Mobile economy.

Hyundai’s Santa Fe has been recognized as the highest-ranked Midsize/Large vehicle in J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Multimedia Quality and Satisfaction Study. The company’s SUVs also were

recognized with the Best SUV Brand

by U.S. News & World Report. This includes the Santa Fe and Tucson models, which are manufactured at the company’s plant in Montgomery.

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management has surpassed $2 billion in assets under management. It recently was named to the 2024 Wealth Magnets list by Accounting Today.

Jefferson County’s Series 2024 sewer warrant refinancing has been awarded The Bond Buyer’s Southeast Region Deal of the Year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners, for a sixth time, has been named to Great Place to Work's 2024 Best Workplaces for Parents listing. Pinnacle has four locations in Alabama.

The Prewitt Group is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Birminghambased risk management firm, which was started in 1974 by John R. “Jack” Prewitt Jr., is now led by the third generation of the Prewitt family with Johnny Prewitt serving as president.

Regions Bank has been designated a 2025 Military Friendly Employer by Military Friendly.

The University of North Alabama Band is celebrating its 75th anniversary. It also has been invited to participate in the 2025 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

Historic Alabama

Celebrating Red Bay

A 1929 photo shows the 22nd anniversary picnic in Red Bay, an event celebrating the city’s founding in 1907. In the photo is the Hotel Red Bay, which has been refurbished and is still operating today, and the Bay Theatre building, which is no longer

there. Founder’s Fest is now celebrated on the fourth Saturday of September in Red Bay, which is in Franklin County on the Mississippi state line. Do you have a photo you’d like us to consider for Historic Alabama? Send it to Erica West at ewest@pmtpublishing.com.

Alabiz Quiz

Challenge yourself with these puzzlers from past issues of Business Alabama magazine. Beginning Jan. 20, work the quiz online and check your answers at businessalabama.com.

January 2025:

January 2024 (one year ago):

January 2015 (10 years ago):

Q: For the past year, Ellen McNair has served as Alabama’s Secretary of Commerce. Where did she work before moving to the state’s top economic development job?

Q: Beyond its focus on genomics in relation to human health, Huntsville’s HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology also has long researched agricultural issues. Not long ago, it opened an additional facility with a special focus on agriculture. Where?

Q: Food entrepreneur Keith Richards started his career in a Kmart cafeteria and worked his way up to launching his own restaurant chain. At the time of our 2015 feature, his chain had just celebrated a $28 million year and was growing. What’s the name of the Mediterranean chain he founded?

A) Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce B) Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama C) Mississippi Department of Agriculture & Commerce D) Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce

December 2024 (one month ago): Q: APM Terminals kicked off a fourth expansion at the Port of Mobile, enabling the firm to double its capacity, which is measured in 20-foot equivalent units — basically rail-car size units. How many will it be able to handle in a year, after the expansion?

Hint, the port is growing very rapidly.

A) 50,000 B) 100,000 C) 1 million D) 10 million

A) Dothan B) Foley C) Scottsboro D) Tuscaloosa

January 2020 (five years ago): Q: We looked at two cities and their decisions about public spaces. One city chose a preserve on Chapman Mountain; the other a walkway along the Black Warrior. Which two cities?

A) Auburn and Mobile B) Dothan and Birmingham C) Huntsville and Tuscaloosa D) Muscle Shoals and Gadsden

A) Gyro Gourmet B) Jewel of Cyprus C) Mediterranean Munchies D) Taziki’s

January 2000 (25 years ago): Q: Our first cover story of the millennium featured the governor in a helicopter, where he was hosting Yashuo Saito, Consul-General of Japan for the Southeast, on a tour of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Who was the governor of Alabama in 2000?

A) Robert Bentley B) Fob James C) Bob Riley D) Don Siegelman

Answers from December: C, C, A, A, A, C January 2025 BusinessAlabama.com | 79