Libby Adams
Shelby County, Ky. IDF

Beth Alexander
Crossville-Cumberland County, Tenn. Chamber

Lamar Alexander
Governor of Tennessee; U.S. Senator

I got to know Mr. Alexander, not as the governor of Tennessee, but rather as a Senator. I knew Ned Ray McWherter,
who followed Lamar as governor of Tennessee, very well. 

Julie Allen
Newport, Ark. Area Chamber of Commerce

Robert Allen
Fort Worth, Texas EDP; Texas Attorney General; Texas Economic Development Corporation

Tim Allen
Fort Smith, Ark. Chamber

Angelos Angelou
Angelou Economics (Austin, Texas)

Lyn Arnold
Tunica County, Miss. Chamber

Newell Baker
Norfolk Southern Corp. (Atlanta, Ga.)

Patrick Barker
Frederick County EDA (Winchester, Va.)

Vince Barnett
Virginia Economic Development Partnership

Jack Belz
Belz Enterprises (Memphis, Tenn.)

Philip Belz
Belz Enterprises (Memphis, Tenn.) 

Ron Belz
Belz Enterprises (Memphis, Tenn.)

The Belz family is and was Memphis development. They own the hotel with the ducks, where I have stayed many times. Here are the details: “The hotel in Memphis famous for its ducks is The Peabody Memphis, a historic luxury hotel known for its daily ‘Duck March’ where five Mallard ducks parade from their rooftop palace to the lobby fountain at 11 a.m. and back at 5 p.m., a tradition started in the 1930s. Visitors gather to watch the ducks waddle across a red carpet into the fountain, a unique Memphis experience.”

Cyrus Ben
Tribal Chief Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (See Chief Phillip Martin in this issue.)

John Gustavo Blair
Fairfax County, Va. EDA; eBenefits Network; Bretton Woods

Now a semi-regular at SEDR@Rosemary Beach, John is a major player. He works for Victor Hoskins, CEO of the Fairfax County, Va. EDA. Blair has a fine future ahead of him and the Fairfax County EDA is one of the best ones out there, going all the way back to the decades of Dr. Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D. Gordon was CEO of Fairfax EDA for 35 years. He was previously honored in the Southern Economic Development Hall of Fame. Victor Hoskins was honored in the summer 2025 edition of the SEDHOF. Fairfax County, Va., currently has 8,844 tech firms and 148,801 tech jobs. 

Michael Bobroff
EDC of Mid-Florida; Metro Orlando EDC

Keith Boswell
Virginia's Gateway Region; Virginia Economic Development Partnership; McGuireWoods

Keith Bowers
Tallahassee-Leon County, Fla. OEV 

Daniel Bowman
Allen, Texas EDC; San Antonio, Texas Economic Development 

Terri Bradshaw
Kentucky Association for Economic Development; Kentucky Capital Development Corp.

Terri Bradshaw, I have been told, is a treasure in Kentucky with her work in Frankfort and at the Kentucky Association of Economic Developers. I have, unfortunately, never met her, even though I have visited just about 75 percent of all counties in Kentucky under Secretary Larry Hayes and former governor, Steve Beshear. I am about to set up a trip to Kentucky, so maybe in 2026 I will get a chance to meet Terri. 

Joe Brandon
Lewisburg, Tenn. Economic Development; Tennessee DECD

Jim Breitenfeld
Okaloosa County, Fla. EDC

David Bronner
Retirement Systems of Alabama

A true legend in Alabama. Deservedly so. 

John Brown
Governor of Kentucky; Kentucky Fried Chicken

Before my time, if that is possible. 

James M. Buchanon
Thomas Jefferson Center for Studies in Political Economy (Nobel Prize) 

Dale Bumpers
Governor of Arkansas

Raymond Burns
Rogers-Lowell, Ark. Chamber

Jeb Bush
Governor of Florida 

I knew Jeb back when he and Sena Black of Enterprise Florida were forcing down the 50,000-job Scripps deal in Palm Beach County way back when. It didn’t happen, but Scripps does have a nice presence in South Florida. 

Rick Byars
Florida Power & Light; Gulf Power, Entergy

Adrian Cannady
Temple, Texas EDC; Victoria, Texas EDC

Maureen Carpenter
Barren County, Ky. Economic Authority; Bowling Green, Ky. Chamber of Commerce; Commerce Chenango (N.Y.) 

Helen Cauthen
Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development; Team Volusia County, Fla.; Greensboro, N.C. EDA; Louisville, Ky. Area Chamber

Jon Chadwell
Newport Economic Development Commission; The Partnership Prescott-Nevada County, Ark.; Camden, Ark. Area Chamber

I visited Jon about 12 years ago. What I remember was the country club next door to the high school football stadium. The fence was cut (not a gate) because that is all the club members needed to get a drink in the club at halftime. 

Anna Chafin
Savannah Rise; Development Authority of Bryan County, Ga.; Liberty County, Ga. Development Authority

Lawton (‘Walkin’ Lawton’) Chiles
Governor of Florida; U.S. Senator, Florida; Florida House of Representatives

First governor I ever met. He embarked on a 1,003-mile walk from Pensacola to Key West for his campaign, earning him the nickname "Walkin' Lawton." It was successful and Chiles defeated his opponent William C. Cramer by a 53.9 percent to 46.1 percent margin. Chiles was re-elected with relative ease in 1976 and 1982. He retired from the United States Senate in 1989.

Chris Chung
Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, IEDC

J. Steve Clark
Fayetteville, Ark. Chamber; Arkansas Attorney General

V. Lee Cobb
Region 2000 (Lynchburg, Va.)

Leigh Cockram
Rockingham County, N.C. Economic Development

Adrienne Cole
Greater Raleigh, N.C. Chamber

Angie Cognevich Collins
Mississippi Development Authority; SEDC Chair

Ryan Combs
Research Triangle Regional Partnership; U.S. Sen. Richard Burr; U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole

This economic developer has a very bright future ahead of him as he is the primary marketing arm for the Research Triangle Region of North Carolina.

Scott Connell
Allen, Texas EDC; Killeen, Texas Chamber 

Jennifer Conoley
Florida’s Great Northwest; Southern Company; Gulf Power

Jennifer is another outstanding young economic developer and her region of Northwest Florida is hot right now. Aerospace deals are flying in the Florida Panhandle. 

Tom Cousins
Cousins Properties (Atlanta, Ga.)

Tom Croteau
Maxis Advisors; Georgia Department of Economic Development

Fred Trammell Crow
Trammell Crow  (Dallas, Texas)

Bryan Daniels
Blount County, Tenn. Partnership; Tennessee DECD

Mallory Darby
“Cotton-to-Steel” (Mississippi County, Ark. Economic Development); City of West Memphis; Golden Triangle Development LINK (Columbus, Miss.) 

Mallory Darby’s career has taken off. She has worked for two great ones in Joe Max Higgins and currently under Clif Chitwood in Mississippi County, Ark., where more steel is made than any other county in America. 

Mallory has also been a bright star at SEDR, along with her boss, Clif Chitwood. There might be more happening in Mississippi County, Ark., than any county its size in the South; really, the entire country. In fact, in 2025, U.S. Steel announced another steel plant in the county that is now marketed as “Cotton-to-Steel.” 

E. Will Davis
Virginia Economic Development Partnership; Chesterfield County, Va. EDA; American Electric Power

Michael Dell
Dell Technologies

Fred Denton
Alabama Development Office; Alabama Power

Julius “Bud” Denton
Virginia Peninsula EDC 

Kim Korzen Denton
Oak Ridge, Tenn. Economic Partnership; University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services 

Tad Deriso
Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities (Virginia)

Tad, along with David Hudgins of Richmond-based Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, were visionaries in high-speed internet in rural Virginia way before it was cool. 

Sue Dick
Tallahassee, Fla. Chamber

Justyn Dixon
North Louisiana Economic Partnership; TVA; Mississippi Development Authority

Ron Drew
Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance

Over the decades, Ron has been one of the best marketing directors in economic development in the South. He and Bob Swindell, even Robin Ronne back in the day, knew and know exactly how to sell Lauderdale. 

Bernie Ebbers
LDDS; MCI; WorldCom

You don’t have to be a hero in economic development to make the “Southern Economic Development Hall of Fame.” Case in point: The late Bernard Ebbers was a Mississippi business legend, as he founded a small long-distance company called LDDS, which soon became WorldCom. Then he purchased MCI for $47 billion, almost all of it debt-driven. MCI was the most active deal maker in the South in job deals in the 1990s. There was one year in the late ’90s when MCI announced 15 of the top 100 job generating projects in the South. 

The Canadian-born Ebbers attended Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss., and that is where WorldCom built its world headquarters. Things began to unravel for Ebbers during the dot-com bust as questionable personal loans from WorldCom alerted the company’s board. 

In 2022, WorldCom admitted to nearly $4 billion in accounting misstatements, which eventually grew to $11 billion. On June 25, 2002, WorldCom filed for bankruptcy. 

In 2004, federal authorities indicted Ebbers on securities fraud and conspiracy charges. A year later, he was found guilty and spent 13 years in federal prison. The “telecom cowboy” later said, “I know what I don’t know. To this day, I don’t know technology, and I don’t know finance or accounting.” Ebbers was released from prison shortly before his death in 2020 in Brookhaven, Miss. 

Dave Echols
Alabama Development Office

Dave Echols worked with Neal Wade, Linda Swann and others at the Alabama Development Office in Montgomery, now the Alabama Department of Commerce. His contributions to economic development in Alabama resulted in the creation of the “Dave Echols Award.” The award recognizes the exemplary performance and leadership of an Alabama economic developer at the local, regional or state level. It is one of the most prestigious awards given in the economic development practice in the state. 

John F. England
Butler Snow

P. Scott Eubanks
Virginia Division of Industrial Development

Mary Fallin
Governor of Oklahoma 

Ray Farley
Alliance Pickens (Pickens County, S.C.)

Walt Farrell
Georgia Power

J. Mark Farris
Greenville, S.C. Area Development Corporation; York County, S.C. EDB; Sustainable Consulting Solutions

Gerry Fedchun
Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association of Canada

Fedchun is the second Canadian we have honored in the “Southern Economic Development Hall of Fame.” We noticed him when Toyota announced it was building its seventh North American assembly plant in Ontario in 2005. 

Gerry Fedchun, then president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association of Canada, said after capturing the Toyota deal, “Automakers in the South have resorted to using pictorials to train some of their illiterate plant workers on how to use high-tech equipment.” 

Fuming, I wrote in an SB&D cover story titled “Battle Brewing between Ontario and the South,” “It is unfortunate that in 2005 some people still hold outdated views of the South. I guess we are going to have to start using ‘pictorials’ to educate those last remaining folks who still believe in the stereotypes on how attractive the South is to industry.” 

That quote and this one were used in a story in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. I called my friend, Dennis Cuneo, who sited just about every one of those Toyota plants back in the day, including the one in Ontario. Cuneo told me, “Michael, I can tell you without equivocations that our workers in the South are literate, well-trained and productive.” 

James Fenton
Gallatin, Tenn. Economic Development Agency; Vantage Point Investments; Cheatham, Tenn. Connect

Chris Finn
South Carolina I-77 Alliance

Don Fites
Former Caterpillar CEO 

During a strike by union workers in the 1990s, Fites began his “Southern strategy” of locating non-union plants in the South for the Illinois-based corporate giant. 

Henry Florsheim
Cedar Hill, Texas Economic Development; Wichita Falls, Texas Chamber; EDC of El Dorado and Chamber

Henry is a great talent wherever he practices. I know him well. I visited him in El Dorado, Ark., and in Wichita Falls, Texas. His morning Facebook videos about the goings on in Cedar Hill are outstanding. He did the same thing in Wichita Falls. Very talented dude. 

Thomas Ford
Greenville, S.C. Chamber; Orangeburg, S.C. Chamber

Bob Fouts
Bullitt County, Ky. EDA

Kevin Franklin
Randolph County, N.C. EDC

There’s lots of action, including Toyota, in Randolph County, N.C. I first walked that Liberty site with Dennis Cuneo and Sec. Jim Fain of the North Carolina Department of Commerce shortly after the new millennium. Toyota wanted it then and 20 years later they finally built their EV battery plant in Randolph County, where my friend Walter Sprouse worked during his last gig. 

George Freeland
Jackson County, Miss. EDF

A legend in Mississippi. I never got to know the guy. In over 30 years, he never responded to one of my emails, but I am pretty sure (not 100 percent) that George is real. 

Lindsay Frilling
Obion County, Tenn. JEDC

Burdette “Pete” Fullerton
Kansas City Aviation Department; EDC of Kansas City; Platte County, Mo., EDC 

James Garver
Broward County, Fla. EDC; IEDC

Michael Gayman
Columbus, Ga. Chamber

Joe Geddie
North Mississippi IDA; TVA

Mike George
Blaine Construction, Knoxville, Tenn.

Charlie Giffen
Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development; City of Smyrna, Tenn. (see Marvin Runyon write-up in this issue)

Tim Giuliani
Orlando Economic Partnership; Raleigh, N.C. Chamber

Tate Godfrey
Industrial Asset Management Council; North Alabama IDA

W. Porter Grace
Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce

Brynn Grant
Liberty County, Ga. Dev Authority; Savannah EDA; World Trade Center Savannah; The Creative Coast

April Gray
Alabama Department of Commerce; EDPA

Valerie Gray
Chambers County, Ala. Development Authority; Valor Strategies

Lewis Grizzard
Author, Humorist, Atlanta Journal Constitution

Everyone now over 60 knew Lewis Grizzard, the writer with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, author of 25 books, lecturer and humorist. He became the sports editor of the AJC at age 23. Lewis was a huge Georgia Bulldogs fan. 

He moved on to the Chicago Sun-Times and later recalled it was the most miserable period of his life as Grizzard was a true Southerner. In 1997, he returned to the AJC. Some of Grizzard’s quotes are: 

1. “I know lots of people who are educated far beyond their intelligence.” 

2. “There’s no such thing as being ‘too Southern.’”

3. “Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and give her a house.” 

4. “On a New York subway you get fined for spitting. But you can throw up for nothing.” 

Grizzard, who would be astounded by the massive Northerner migration to all parts of the South in the last 40 years, would tell Yankee immigrants who found fault with the South, “Delta is ready when you are.” 

Paul Grossman
IBG Global; Virginia Economic Development Partnership

Ted Hackney
Coffee County, Tenn. Industrial Board

Tray Hairston
Butler Snow

Tray is a really talented attorney that knows economic development in the South. We loved his presentation at SEDR in December titled “Economic Development and The One Big, Beautiful Bill from a Lawyer’s Perspective.” His employer, Butler Snow, knows economic development as well as any law firm in the South. 

George Halford
Cookeville-Putnam County, Tenn. Chamber; Clarksville-Montgomery, Tenn. EDC

George took me to the biggest honkytonk I had ever seen in Cookeville in the late 1990s. I think it was Cotton-Eye-Joe’s, but now it may be Revolver Dance Hall & Saloon. They love ‘line daintcin’ in Cookeville. 

Brian Hamilton
Montgomery County, Va. Economic Development; Roanoke County, Va. 

Scott Hamilton
Golden LEAF Foundation; Appalachian Regional Commission; AdvantageWest (Asheville, N.C.)

Scott is a true intellectual in economic development. I have known him for almost 40 years.

Jack Hammontree
Knoxville, Tenn., Chamber; McMinn County, Tenn. EDA; Alabama Development Office

Ron Hammontree
Tellico Reservoir Development Agency, Vonore, Tenn. 

Bill Hannah
East Mississippi BDC (Meridian, Miss.); JESCO; Ashland, Ky. Alliance

Becca Hardin
Bay County, Fla. EDA; Columbus Ga. Chamber

Mike Harvey
Northwest Arkansas Council (Springdale)

Clay Hathaway
American Electric Power; SWEPCO

Verdell Hawkins
Florida Power & Light; Gulf Power; Mississippi Power

A really talented dude. FPL is one of the major sponsors of SEDR@RosemaryBeach. Verdell gets it. 

John Hendrix
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians 

Brandt Herndon
Effingham County, Ga. IDA; Savannah EDA; Fayette County, Ga. Development Authority 

J. Britt Herrin
Delta Strong (Leland, Miss.); Tate County, Miss. EDF; Pike County, Miss. EDD; Webster Parish, La. 

I think it was Britt Herrin who I got into a discussion with regarding the best gas station fried chicken gizzards in Mississippi. We both agreed on the same spot, one I have tried several times during my road warrior days. 

R. Kent Hill
Dominion Energy

Sharon Hillstrom
Bradenton EDC; Manatee County, Fla. EDC

G.C. Hixson
Joint ECD Board of Wilson County, Tenn.

Jim Hodges
Governor of South Carolina

Marc Hoenstine
Duke Energy (Florida); Progress Energy; Enterprise Florida

Sandy Holifield
Economic Development Authority of Jones County, Miss.

Lori Huguley
City of Opelika, Ala.; Valor Strategies

Lynn Huff
The Austin Company; The Haskell Company

Jack Hutchison
Partners EDC, Horry County, S.C.;
H&G Consulting Services

Old Jack and I visited a few bars in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina back in the day. He is still kickin’ after 15 years in Horry County and 25 as a consultant. 

Kay Ivey
Governor of Alabama

A true Southern pragmatic governor. Gov. Ivey and her Secretary of Commerce, Ellen McNair, have made a great team three years running now. 

Mark James
American Electric Power

Corey R. Johns
Joint ECD Board of Wilson County, Tenn.

Crystal Johnson
Batesville, Ark. Chamber

Peggy Jolley
Savannah EDA; Georgia Power; Live Oak Concepts

George Kaiser
Kaiser-Francis Oil Company, Tulsa, Okla.; George Kaiser Family Foundation

Deana Epperly Karem
Jeffersontown, Ky. Chamber of Commerce; Greater Louisville Inc.; Oldham County, Ky. Chamber 

Judy Keller
City of Maumelle, Ark.

Angie Kellett
Mecklenburg County, Va. ED

Vernon R. “Randy” Kelley, III
Three Rivers Planning and Development District (Tupelo, Miss.)

John Kilgore
Scott County, Va. EDA 

Dr. Eloisa Klementich
Invest Atlanta; U.S. Department of Commerce; California Economic Development and Commerce; State of California

Adam Knapp
Leaders for a Better Louisiana; Louisiana Committee of 100; Baton Rouge Chamber; Louisiana Economic Development 

David Knight
Walker County, Ala. Development Authority

George Kosinski
Clarendon County, S.C. Economic Development

Jen Kostyniuk
Dominion Energy (Richmond, Va.)

Brooks Kracke
North Alabama IDA

Griffin Lassiter
Alabama Power; City of Birmingham; Alabama Department of Commerce

Lee Lawson
Baldwin County, Ala. EDA; PowerSouth Energy; Jefferson County, Ala., EIDA

Lee has a great future ahead of him. He captured a “Big Kahuna” in Novelis in Baldwin County on the former South Alabama Megasite first developed by Robert Ingram, also a Hall of Famer, when he worked there. 

Doug Lawyer
The Christman Company, Knoxville; Tenn. Chamber

Gena Lentz
Mississippi Development Authority; Mississippi Power; GRL Coaching

Jim Lentz
Toyota North America

Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) officially opened its new headquarters in Plano, Texas, within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, in July 2017. The move consolidated operations from California, Kentucky and New York into a new $350 million, 2.1 million-square-foot campus located at Legacy West. Lentz was CEO at the time and said that most of the workers would relocate with the company to Texas for this one reason: “Our California workers can sell their houses in Southern California and buy two houses in Texas.”

Irving Lafayette “Ted” Levi
Alabama Power

Hilda Lockhart
Alabama Department of Commerce; Florida Department of Commerce 

Hilda is another very talented economic development professional. From the Alabama Department of Commerce: “Hilda Lockhart, the international business expert who helped countless Alabama companies explore new markets and opportunities in every corner of the globe, is retiring from her position at the Alabama Department of Commerce. 

“For the past 24 years, Lockhart has served as director of Commerce’s Office of International Trade, which is responsible for the state’s trade promotion and development efforts in an effort to sell Alabama-made products and services throughout the world and to create jobs for citizens.” 

Robert Long
Chester County, S.C. Economic Development; Cumming- Forsyth County, Ga. Chamber; Gwinnett County, Ga. Planning & Development; Darlington County, S.C. EDP; Economic Development Partnership (Aiken, S.C.)

Pat Lyle
Joint ECD Board of Wilson County, Tenn.

Back in the days when economic development was pre-regionalism and so competitive from one county to the other, Pat ran ads with SB&D that featured a cut-out coupon. 

The ad was so creative in that it had a headline that read, “Free Farm with Coupon for the Purchase of an Industrial Site.” Pat was a bulldog. He had four organ transplants before he passed away, but did all kinds of deals in Wilson County and in Gallatin, Tenn. He essentially started the deal parade east of Nashville along with Charlie Giffen in Smyrna. 

Griffith “Griff” Lynch
Georgia Ports Authority

Mark Benjamin Malphrus
Morehead State University

Ben simply stunned me one day when I visited him in 2012. Morehead State University and his department in East Kentucky made tiny satellites that are now used by SpaceX. 

Mark Manning
Murray-Calloway County, Ky. EDC; Delta Council, Stoneville, Miss. 

Mark has one of the longest tenures of any local economic developer in the South. I first met him in Stoneville, Miss., decades ago. 

Phillip Martin
Tribal Chief Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

In about 1991, maybe 1992, I met Chief Phillip Martin of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians at the request of Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott’s office. U.S. Sen. Lott made sure with a personal call that I would go meet Chief Martin. 

So, I drove over to Philadelphia, Miss., to the Choctaw Nation and met with Chief Phillip Martin. He showed me all kinds of activity ongoing there, including new businesses the Choctaws had invested in to move into their industrial parks. Then he said, “Oh, I forgot Mike, we are also opening a casino.” And they did in 1994. The Pearl River Casino, which has expanded two dozen times. 

The Choctaws had their own police department. So, as Chief Martin and I were driving around the reservation, he pointed out the make and model of the police department’s cars. 

They were all Lincoln Town Cars with blue lights on the roof! I asked Chief Martin what’s the deal with that? He said, “Michael, only the best for our nation and the protection of it.”

When Phillip Martin was elected Chief, the Mississippi Choctaw Nation’s unemployment rate was 30 percent or more. Today, it is 4 percent. 

Other contributions by Chief Martin: 

• Tribal Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians from 1979 to 2007, a visionary leader who took his tribe from poverty to prosperity by establishing numerous businesses, including casinos.

• Established 23 tribally-owned enterprises, including the Pearl River Resort (with casinos, golf and water park), making the tribe a major employer in Mississippi.

• Created the Choctaw Tribal Scholarships Program, ensuring all students could pursue higher education, and significantly improved the tribe's education levels.

• Championed the doctrine of Choctaw Self-Determination, empowering the tribe to control its own destiny.

• Martin was often called "Moses" for leading his people out of poverty.

Scott Martinez
Tyler, Texas Chamber and EDC; North Louisiana EDP; Hutto, Texas EDC; Mississippi Development Authority

Warren McCullars
Energen; Alabama Gas Corporation; Spire

Dr. Mike McGrevey
BSS Global; Mississippi Development Authority

Gary R. McLaren
Henrico County, Va. EDA; Virginia EDP

Peggy Bowers McLean
Kershaw County, S.C. EDO

Linda McMahon
Dallas Economic Development Corp.

Stuart C. McWhorter
Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development; Deputy Governor State of Georgia; Clayton Associates

Laura Meadows
Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia; Georgia Office of the Secretary of State; OneGeorgia Authority

Lori Melancon
Baton Rouge Area Chamber; Virginia Economic Development Partnership; Louisiana Economic Development

Lori is another rising star who has worked all over the South for some of the best and brightest in the business. Now she has her own shop. Watch for great things in Baton Rouge. 

Bill Mendenhall
Baker Donelson (Jackson, Miss.)

Larry Merihew
Warrior Tombigbee Waterway; First Alabama Bank-Regions Bank

Janet Miller
Nashville Area Chamber, Colliers Nashville

Janet is another legend of economic development in the South. She followed the great Fred Harris at the Nashville Chamber, who once had the greatest advertising budget of any community in the South, according to Janet the last time I visited her — over $1 million a year. 

Fred said to me once in 1999, “Mike, I have never seen anything like this in my career in Nashville. We have people working in Nashville that don’t even want to work!” 

That, folks, is as close to full employment as a community can get, as some states in the South have a 40 percent non-participation workforce rate. Janet is now Vice Chairman & Principal at Colliers Nashville. 

Rodrick Miller
Beacon Council; Ascendant Global Consulting; Invest Puerto Rico; Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; New Orleans Business Alliance

Zell Miller
Governor of Georgia; U.S. Senator

Jay Moon
Mississippi Manufacturers Association; Mississippi Development Authority

Mary Ann Moon
Prosper, Texas EDC; Competitive Solutions; Entergy

Ted Moore
Humphreys County, Tenn. EDC

Elizabeth J. Moran
Virginia Community College System; Columbia Gas; Virginia Department of Economic Development

J. Michael Mullis
JM Mullis, Inc.

Michael Mullis of Memphis and I go way back. We have been to all kinds of red carpets in states all over the South, including the Kentucky Governor’s Derby Train. Regarding incentive negotiations, the Hall of Famer Glenn McCullough, Jr. said, “Mullis is as tough as a $2 steak.” 

Michael Mullis
JM Mullis, Inc., Farnsworth Holdings, Memphis Area Chamber

Maceo Nance
South Carolina Department of Commerce

Maceo is a legend working for decades for SC DOC and promoting the Palmetto State’s rural regions. Like others, such as Jim Rogers (Duke Power), George Freeland (Pascagoula) and Maceo, I am sure we were ships crossing in the night. 

Al Nash
Development Authority of Fulton County; The Pendleton Group

Michael Neal
Tulsa Regional Chamber; Nashville Area Chamber; Monroe, La. Chamber

Allen Neel
East Tennessee Economic Development Agency; Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

Burris Nelson
Anderson County, S.C. Economic Development; EDA of Pickens County, S.C. 

Amy Blaylock New
Cookeville-Putnam County, Tenn. Chamber

Allen Newton
Sevier County, Tenn. EDC

Amanda Nobles
Kilgore, Texas EDC

John Osborne
Lubbock, Texas EDA/Market Lubbock; San Antonio EDF; Guthrie, Okla. Chamber

Trisha Ostrowski
Southern Business & Development; Carolinas Natural Gas Coalition; South Carolina Department of Commerce

Trisha wrote a lot of content for SB&D back in the day. She has been behind the scenes working for some other Hall of Famers all her life, including Wayne Sterling and her former cohort, Beth Braswell. Trisha is very organized, succinct and really an outstanding human being. 

We know who the important folks are behind the scenes and we have placed many in the first four Volumes of the Southern Economic Development Hall of Fame. Trisha in every way is an outstanding and talented mother, writer and organizer. She is not the entrepreneurial type as she once said to me, “Michael, how do you come up with all these ideas? I just can’t do that part of your job.” 

See, honest as the day is long. More than anyone I know, though, she has helped so many careers, especially mine, and I am so grateful to know Trisha Ostrowski. 

Matt Parker
Dothan, Area Chamber

Nelson Peacock
Northwest Arkansas Council (Springdale)

Lucienne Gaufillet Pears
Babcock Ranch, Fla.; Charlotte County, Fla. EDO

Dr. Ray Perryman
The Perryman Group (Texas)

Keith Phillips
Alabama Community College System; Wallace Community College (Dothan, Ala.)

Mike Preston
CDI Contractors (Little Rock, Ark.); Arkansas Economic Development Commission; Enterprise Florida

Ronnie Price
Weakley County, Tenn. EDB; Hawkins County, Tenn. Industrial Board; Tennessee Economic Partnership 

Marshall Ramsey
Morristown, Tenn. Chamber

Cynthia Reid
Greater Oklahoma City Chamber 

I first met Cynthia in Oklahoma City shortly after the terrorist bombing there in 1995. When I asked her what the bombing was like, she said, “Michael, it was like a copy machine fell from two floors up and landed on my desk here at the office of the Chamber.” The bombing took place four blocks away. 

John Reid
Oklahoma Department of Commerce; The Reid Group

Jack Rhodes
Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi; Mississippi Agriculture and Industrial Board; Mississippi Development Authority

Buddy Rizer
Loudoun County, Va. Economic Development; Northern Virginia Community College

I don’t know Buddy, but I know he is really talented. We have been trying to get him to SEDR@Rosemary for a dozen years. 

David Roberts
PowerSouth Energy; Goodwyn Mills & Cawood

Mike Roberts
Morgan County, Ala. IDA

Tommy Ed Roberts
Morgan County, Ala. EDA; Alabama State Senate

William “Bill” Robinson, III
BE NKY; Northern Kentucky Tri-County EDC

David “Rocky” Rockett
Greater Bossier, La. EDF

Stephen Roddey
Central SC Alliance; South Carolina Department of Commerce; Terracon Consultants

Bill Rogers
Springdale, Ark. Chamber

Lyle Roggow
Duncan Area EDF; Oklahoma Department of Commerce

Sandy Romenesko
Mount Sterling-Montgomery County, Ky. IDA; Kentucky IDC

Robin Ronne
Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance 

Jim Rowland
Forcum Lannom Contractors, Dyersburg, Tenn. 

Jeff Ruble
Columbia, S.C. ADP; Richland County, S.C. Economic Development; South Carolina Power Team

Marvin Runyon
Nissan Motor Manufacturing Corporation; U.S. Postmaster General; Tennessee Valley Authority

Does anyone remember Marvin Runyon, the former CEO of Nissan and the assembly plant in Smyrna, Tenn.? Mr. Runyon was also a former U.S. Postmaster General and Chairman of TVA. Marvin died in 2004. 

And Charlie Giffen, who passed away in 2025 and was a serious racquetball player in the ’80s and ’90s. Both were colleagues and friends and now both are in the Hall of Fame. 

I got a story about both and it is a short one:

In about 1995, I was riding in a very expensive Nissan sedan around Smyrna, a suburb of Nashville where Nissan operates one of its largest plants in the world, if not the largest. I am in the back seat and Marvin Runyon and Charlie Giffen (City of Smyrna, Tennessee DECD) are riding up front. Charlie is driving. 

Runyon was yapping and smoking his customary cigar, window open, cigar smoke blasting me in the face in the back seat. Charlie and I are listening to a bunch of Marvin’s ramblings (and Nashville country music on the radio) when he says to Charlie, "Oh, Chah-lee, Chah-lee; this town is ****** up and we gotta do sumpin' about it!" Charlie says, "Yes sir! We will start first thing in the morning!" 

I laughed so hard I told Charlie to stop the car and let me out for a minute! I just had to gather myself.

Chandler Russ
Natchez, Miss. Inc.; Mississippi Development Authority; TVA

A Mississippi and Natchez legend. I have always loved Chandler; known him for almost 40 years. He is an outstanding developer. 

Griff Salmon
VisionFirst Advisors; Enterprise Florida; Mississippi Development Authority

Michael Sanders
Forcum Lannom Contractors

Larry Sassano
Okaloosa County, Fla. EDC

Scott Satterfield
Wilmington, N.C. Business Development

Harvey Schmitt
Greenville, S.C. Chamber; Greater Raleigh, N.C. Chamber; Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce; Schmitt Consulting

Andrea Schruijer
Gideon Construction; Valdosta-Lowndes County, Ga. Industrial Authority; Albany-Dougherty, Ga. EDC

Jay Schwedler
Sumter, S.C. Economic Development; Florence County, S.C. EDP; Michigan Economic Development 

Larry Scott
Okaloosa County, Fla. EDC 

Chuck Sexton
Strategic Location Advisors; One East Kentucky

Susie Shannon
South Carolina Council on Competitiveness (SC Competes); McNair Law Firm

Ray Shaw
American Cities Business Journals; Dow Jones & Company; Associated Press

Whitney Shaw
American Cities Business Journals 

We sold the Birmingham Business Journal to Whitney’s father, Ray Shaw, of American City Business Journals in the ’90s. Best thing I ever did. 

Shelley Short
Arkadelphia, Ark. Alliance-Chamber; Arkansas State Chamber; Arkansas Economic Development Commission 

George “Bill” Shuff
Middle Tennessee IDA; McMinnville-Warren County, Tenn. IDB

Brian Shull
City of Harrisonburg, Va. Economic Development

Bob Shurtleff
Kentucky Power, American Electric Power

Crystal Sircy
Orlando Economic Partnership; Enterprise Florida 

Rob Sitterley
AR-TX REDI; Merit Advisors; Enterprise Florida

Natalie Slate
Emporia-Greensville County, Va. Economic Development

Kelly Smallridge
Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, Fla. 

Doug Smith
Hampton Roads Alliance; City of Norfolk; Doug Smith Group; City of Virginia Beach; Kaufman and Canoles Consulting

Lamar Smith
Alagasco; Energen; Spire

Tom Seth Smith
Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma, Durant, Okla. 

Phillip Sorrell
City of West Memphis, Ark. 

Brad Sowden
Winchester-Clark County, Ky. Industrial Authority

Nathan Sparks
One Okaloosa EDC; Golden Isles, Ga. Development Authority; St. Joe Company; EDP Alabama

William M. Stafford
Stafford County, Va., VEDA

Gil Staley
The Woodlands, Texas Area EDP; Origin Bank

Crystal Stiles
NextEra Energy Resources; Florida Power & Light; Martinsville-Henry County, Va. EDC; Virginia International Raceway; BDB of Martin County, Fla.; Juno Beach, Fla. Economic Development

Crystal is a great economic developer, smart, great writer; worked for some outstanding folks like Mark Heath, Wayne Sterling and FP&L. Still does. 

Terry Stiles
Stiles, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Kenneth Stiles
Stiles, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 

Jim Stock
Belz; Memphis, Tennessee IDC; Mississippi EDC

Tammy Stokes
Joint ECD Board of Wilson County, Tenn. Development Council

David Stone
Solid Stone Fabrics, Martinsville-Henry County, Va. EDC

Keith Taylor
James City County, Va. Economic Development

Benjy Thompson
Development Authority of Bulloch County, Ga. 

David Thornell
Small Town Solutions; C3 of Northwest Alabama; Jackson County, Ala. EDA; Opelika Chamber; Greater Starkville DP

Daniel E Tobergte
BE NKY; Northern Kentucky Tri-County EDC

Ron Tolley
Liberty County, Ga. Development Authority 

Mark Thomas
City of Georgetown, Texas; Taylor, Texas EDC; Waco, Texas Chamber 

Patrick Topping
Macon, Ga. EDC; Topping Economic Development Consulting; Cumming-Forsyth County, Ga. Chamber

John Truluck
Dorchester County, S.C. Economic Development; Clarendon County, S.C. Development Board 

Truluck is a SEDR member. I visited him in Clarendon County to see his I-95 Mega-Site back in the day, probably 2014 or so. His middle name is Moultrie, as in the American Revolution War general. 

So, Truluck and my son Matthew drove the I-95 Mega-Site that stretched from Clarendon County, S.C., into Sumter County. It had rained the previous day, and we were in John’s minivan. 

The minivan got stuck once, twice and the third time, the back wheels disappeared in the mud. It was dusk and I had a speech in Charleston that night. I didn’t make it. 

Why? Well, John called the public works department of Turbo, S.C. They brought a truck that also got stuck. So, Truluck and the works employee called the fire department and in about an hour of trying to free both the minivan and the public works truck, the fire truck got stuck in the mud. 

Finally, around dark, a huge wrecker the size of a small oil tanker drove up. The firetruck was pulled out first, then the public works vehicle and finally our minivan. I never made that Charleston speech and refunded them the money. 

Ross Tucker
EDA of Jones County, Miss.; Greater Jackson Partnership; Rankin First

Marjette Upshur
City of Lynchburg, Va.; Lynchburg EDA

Brian Useforge
Mississippi Power

Gary Vest
Paris, Texas 

In 1994, I took a trip to Dallas and met with a bunch of leaders of the Big D, Plano, Richardson, McKinney and Fort Worth. It was my first sales and educational trip to Texas since SB&D was only two years old. Back then, I was making a point to learn the business and remember every damn word, visual and experience that was said and seen by me as much as selling ads. 

We had just added Texas to our coverage as the state was not included in our first two years. Not because it was not in “the South.” Texas at the time was simply too far to work when I had closer states who demanded that I come see them in the early 1990s as I started this magazine, soon to be SouthernBusiness.com. 

So, I walk in the Paris, Texas EDC office on my dime and felt right at home. Prominently displayed was a copy Southern Business magazine in the lobby. 

Gary then told me he had purchased subscriptions of SB&D for his prospects (remember, no internet), some in California and some in the Midwest as SB&D has always had an agenda of seducing industry from outside the region by targeting CEOs from outside the South. 

Why Paris and Gary Vest? Well, then Alabama football coach Gene Stallings lived there during the off season and I wanted to see his farm. While Coach Stallings was in Tuscaloosa, at least Vest drove me by so I could see his Texas spread. 

Gary Vest insisted we go into town because he wanted to show me something important about Paris. So, we park in a nice, small CBD and walk together into a very old cemetery. I am baffled and Gary Vest said “just wait” as we walk to the center of the old graveyard. 

We stop at one large gravestone from the mid-1800s featuring a life-size statue of Jesus Christ. Jesus is dressed in the traditional robe, all carved from marble. 

Gary Vest asks me, “Do you see anything different about that statue of Jesus on that gravestone?” I looked at it from a foot away, stood back, top to bottom. It was old and weathered. I didn’t see anything “different” or “unusual.” 

Gary then asked me to look at Jesus’ feet. Poking out of the robe, Jesus was wearing cowboy boots and spurs!

Ted VonCannon
Metropolitan Development Board (Birmingham, Ala.); Jefferson County, Ala. Economic and Industrial Development Authority; Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development

Ted is a legend in Tennessee and Alabama. He met with me when he got the Birmingham job in the 1980s, when I owned the Birmingham Business Journal. 

What I remember about Ted, other than his great prowess, was when he got a haircut, he got his money’s worth. Some folks in Alabama will remember that. 

Dr. Michael L. Walden
North Carolina State

Ryan Waldrep
Georgia Power; Dublin-Laurens County, Ga. Development Authority; Georgia Department of Economic Development

Clay Walker
NETWORKS Sullivan County, Tenn. Partnership; Gallatin, Tenn. EDA; West Kentucky Corporation 

Rick Walker
Clements Bernard Walker (Atlanta, Ga.); Georgia Automotive Manufacturers Association (GAMA); Southern Automotive Manufacturers Alliance (SAMA); Baker Donelson 

We finally met Rick this year in December. Great guy. Smart, too. 

Aundra Wallace
JAX USA (Jacksonville, Fla.) 

Jacksonville may be the most underrated economy in the entire South. It has only taken four decades, but their Cecil Field is now gaining great traction in the aviation/aerospace division. 

Chuck Whipple
ECS Limited (Columbia, S.C.); New Markets Partners; Midlands Technical College; County of Lexington, S.C. Economic Development; South Carolina Jobs EDA

Chuck was an attendee at the first SEDR. He and Raul Peralta are so talented and great supporters of SEDC and SEDR. ECS Southeast is lucky to have both. 

H.W. “Rip” Wiley
Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism 

Kristen Reese Williams
Greater Paducah, Ky. EDC; KRW Strategies; Cleveland-Bradley County, Tenn. EDC

Will Williams
Western SC Economic Development Partnership; South Carolina Department of Commerce; ReadySC

Oh, the stories I could tell about Will and Ellen Williams. There is no better couple. And Will following Fred Humes, a great friend of mine back in the day, and filling those shoes was no easy matter. Will did it. 

Pat Wilson
CEO, Georgia Department of Economic Development; Office of Gov. Sonny Perdue, Greenberg Traurig

Sarah Davasher-Wisdom
Greater Louisville Inc.

Charles Wood
Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce; Greater Pensacola, Fla. Chamber; City of College Station, Texas

Cal Wray
Augusta, Ga. EDA; Clarksville-Montgomery County, Tenn. EDC; Dublin-Laurens County, Ga.; Cullman, Ala. EDA

Steven Wright
Chesapeake, Va. Economic Development

Andrew Young
Politician, activist

Name another African American that has done more for the South other than Martin Luther King? Add Andrew Young right next to him. 

Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. 

A member of the Democratic Party, Young later became active in politics, serving as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia, United States Ambassador to the United Nations in the Carter Administration, and 55th Mayor of Atlanta. 

Rick Youngblood
Tennessee Automotive Manufacturer’s Association

Stacey Zawacki
Lafayette, La. Economic Development Authority

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you would like to nominate someone to be considered for the Southern Economic Development Hall of Fame, simply email their name and title to Michael Randle at michael@sb-d.com.