MAY 2023
Let them eat cake
APRIL McCLUNG IS COOKING UP PROFITS WITH EMILY’S HEIRLOOM POUND CAKES
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STIRS UP BOTH 26 BBQ APPETITES AND ARGUMENTS
43 WOMEN IN TECH 2023 SPOTLIGHT ON
53 MADISON COUNTY
Volume 38 / Number 5
MAY 2023
CONTENTS
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Will Heaps leads the team that has created the young Merit Bank in Huntsville. Photo by David Higginbotham.
Features
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SMALL BUSINESS REVVING UP A DREAM Mechanic Allen Hartley builds a path to entrepreneurship.
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FINANCIAL PLANNING MARKET MADNESS Finding the right path in a time of financial confusion.
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VIRTUALLY ANYWHERE Mobile’s 3rd Realm Creations uses AR, VR and a talent for film to take users anywhere they need to be.
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BANKING & FINANCE MERIT JOINS STATE’S BANK RANKS 4-year-old bank takes off in Huntsville market.
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LET THEM EAT EMILY’S CAKE April McClung took a family recipe and built it into a budding pound cake empire.
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OAKWORTH CAPITAL’S AUDACIOUS GOAL Alabama-based financial services company seeks to become an iconic brand. RESTAURANTS OMG, IT’S BBQ In Alabama, barbecue can stir up both appetites and arguments.
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DIVERSITY BEYOND POLITICALLY CORRECT Alabama companies find significant value in pursuing diversity.
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RETROSPECT A PLACE AT THE TABLE Soaking up history at Golden Eagle Syrup Co.
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On the Cover: April McClung turned a family pound cake recipe into a growing brand, selling her Emily's Heirloom Pound Cakes near and far. Photo by Cary Norton.
26: Ribs are the star of the show at Full Moon Bar-B-Que. Photo by Art Meripol. 29: Allen Hartley grew up around cars. Now he has an independent mechanic shop in Pelham. Photo by Joe De Sciose. 23: Oakworth Capital Bank Senior Managing Director Forest Whatley, left, and CEO Scott Reed are leading the drive to make their 15-year-old bank the industry's next iconic brand. Photo by Joe De Sciose.
TOP RANK 14 FINANCIAL PLANNING & INVESTMENT ADVISORY FIRMS SPECIAL SECTIONS 36 FACES OF FINANCE 43 WOMEN IN TECH GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT 53 MADISON COUNTY
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Departments 7
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BENCHMARKS: MONTHLY BUSINESS NEWS BRIEFING COMPANY KUDOS: A MONTH OF ACHIEVEMENTS CAREER NOTES: WHO’S MOVING UP BA INDEX: HUNDREDS OF LEADS EACH MONTH HISTORICAL ALABAMA: A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE ALABIZ QUIZ: TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
May 2023 BusinessAlabama.com | 5
MAY 2023 BusinessAlabama.com Volume 38 / Number 5
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 Kathryn Dorlon / kdorlon@pmtpublishing.com ACCOUNTING Keith Crabtree / acct@pmtpublishing.com ADMINISTRATION/OFFICE MANAGER Lauren Sullivan / lsullivan@pmtpublishing.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Birmingham: 205-802-6363 Hal Cain / Ext. 111 / hcain@pmtpublishing.com Lee Mills / Ext. 102 / lmills@pmtpublishing.com Mobile: 251-473-6269 Joe Hyland / Ext. 214 / jhyland@pmtpublishing.com DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MEDIA & EVENTS Sheila Wardy / swardy@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 2023 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.
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Benchmarks State sets economic development record in 2022
Novelis announced and broke ground on a $2.5 billion aluminum plant in Baldwin County in 2022. Photo by Mike Kittrell.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ALABAMA generated more than
$10 billion in new capital investment in 2022, setting a record. The 2022 Alabama Economic Development Impact Report, compiled by the Department of Commerce, puts investment at $10.1 billion last year, topping the previous record of $8.7 billion in 2018. “Strategic economic development has been a top priority of my administration since I first became governor because I fully understand the impact it can have on our citizens, their families and their communities,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “This success is blatant evidence that our efforts are producing a brighter future for the great state of Alabama.” These projects generated 13,078 jobs,
B U S I N E S S OSCAR GLORY Daniel Scheinert, a graduate of the International Baccalaureate School at Shades Valley in Birmingham, won the best director Oscar this year, and Homewood High School graduate Paul Rogers won for best film editing, both for the best picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” SOCKS ANYONE? The owner of a Fort Payne hosiery mill being turned into a sports training facility is giving away 3 million pairs of socks that were left in the mill when he bought it. Tony Hendon is giving socks found in the old Bailey Knit Corp. building to groups that can give them to the homeless and others in need. SCHOOL’S OPEN The board of BirminghamSouthern College announced
up from 10,190 in 2021. Airbus, Hyundai and Toyota all announced major investment projects in Alabama in 2022, as did Novelis (a $2.5 billion aluminum mill in Bay Minette), First Solar (a $1.1 billion factory in Lawrence County) and Advanced ACT (a remote air traffic control tower center in Selma).
Baldwin County led the way with $2.5 billion in new investment in 2022, followed by Montgomery with $1.7 billion, Mobile with $1.4 billion and Lawrence with $1.1 billion. Montgomery topped the county list for job creation, followed by Mobile, Jefferson and Baldwin, according to the report.
B R I E F S in early April that it plans to stay open. The college was hit with financial troubles that caused it to consider closing, but the board says it now has a plan to move forward.
Baldwin County gained more than 7,000 residents from mid2021 to mid-2022, more than any other Alabama county. It’s ranked fourth among the state’s 67 counties.
BAMA BILLIONAIRE Forbes Magazine has published its annual state-by-state list of billionaires. Jimmy Rane, owner of Great Southern Wood Preserving in Abbeville, is Alabama’s lone representative on the list.
DRONE GUARD Huntsville International Airport is one of five airports nationwide testing technologies to protect manned aircraft from unmanned aircraft, or drones. Testing in Huntsville will take place until late September.
BIG HONORS FOR SMALL Selma’s Daryl Thomas, of Thomas Accounting & Income Tax Service, is a national Small Business Person of the Year. The U.S. Small Business Administration picked one winner from each state.
BIGGER & BETTER Alabama-based Milo’s Tea Co. broke ground in mid-March on a $130 million manufacturing and distribution facility in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. The 110,000-squarefoot facility will bring more than 100 jobs to the community. Global Resources International and its subsidiary Advanced
BIGGER BALDWIN New census estimates show that
Product Solutions plan a $1.6 million expansion in Houston County. The Georgiabased firm provides medical devices and industrial products. Birmingham’s ServisFirst Bank has expanded its correspondent banking division into Texas. Northrop Grumman has opened two buildings on its campus near Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, providing more space for its launch and missile defense development projects. Motion Industries, an industrial technology solutions company based in Birmingham, has opened a Motion Ai facility in Beverly, Massachusetts. HOUSING MARKET DIPS Home sales in February 2023 declined 22.3% over the previous February, according to the monthly Alabama Economic and Real Estate Report from Alabama Realtors. In addition,
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