Former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
On January 12, 2004, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco became the first woman to serve as governor of Louisiana. In her long, distinguished career, Governor Blanco has served the people with a vision of creating a new Louisiana, filled with hope and opportunity for all citizens.
During the first year of her Administration, Governor Blanco launched an ambitious legislative agenda. She spearheaded comprehensive ethics reform and reorganized state corrections, creating a national model in separating juveniles from adult offenders. She was the first Louisiana Governor to devote state funding to quality Pre-K programs for at risk children, and her commitment catapulted Louisiana to the national forefront in early education.
A former educator, Governor Blanco understands the importance of keeping Louisiana’s best teachers in Louisiana. In addition to raising pay for school support workers, she achieved multiple pay increases for certified teachers, this year bringing their salaries to the Southern Regional average.
Governor Blanco has made substantial investments in advanced technology infrastructure needed to diversify Louisiana’s economy and make our research institutions competitive. Through one of the most aggressive economic development efforts in state history, she brought in 41,000 new jobs on her watch. As “The Economic Development Governor,” she is successfully strengthening Louisiana’s economy and cutting taxes for Louisiana businesses.
One of Governor Blanco’s top priorities was providing accessible and affordable healthcare for all citizens. Today, more than 90 percent of Louisiana’s children have health insurance, despite national trends showing increases in the number of children without health insurance.
Perhaps the largest challenge of Governor Blanco’s administration came on August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina roared into Louisiana. The state’s evacuation plan she created, featuring contra flow on the interstate system, is credited with saving lives and moving more than 1.3 million people to safety in 36 hours before the storm’s arrival – the greatest evacuation in history. Less than a month later, Hurricane Rita ravaged southwestern Louisiana. These terrible storms produced the worst catastrophe in United States history.
Governor Blanco commanded more troops than any governor in U.S. history, deploying tens of thousands of National Guardsmen to storm-impacted areas across south Louisiana. She led a 10-month fight to secure an additional $4.2 billion in funding from the U.S. Congress and continues fighting for Louisiana’s fair share of federal recovery dollars. The Governor has disbursed more than $10 billion in recovery dollars so far.
Governor Blanco began her career as a public servant in 1984, when she became the first woman ever elected to represent the people of Lafayette in the state Legislature. Five years later she was elected to the Public Service Commission. She was the first woman elected to the Commission as well as the first woman elected by her peers to chair it. First elected lieutenant governor in 1995, Governor Blanco was overwhelmingly re-elected to her second term in 1999, winning 80 percent of the vote.
Before joining the public sector, Governor Blanco taught at Breaux Bridge High School, a public school in Southwest Louisiana, not far from the community of Coteau, where she was born.
The Governor is an avid hunter and fisher. She and her husband, First Gentleman Raymond S. Blanco, have been married since 1964. They are the proud parents of six children and grandparents of eight.
Luther Strange
Luther Strange has a general practice of law with a special focus in the area of advising corporations, small businesses and municipalities on economic development matters. His experience includes incentive negotiations for the $1 billion Hyundai automotive plant in Montgomery, Alabama and the $80 million Hudson-Alpha Research Institute in Huntsville.
Luther has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyer’s in America in the specialty of Government Relations Law. He has been named Best of the Bar by the Birmingham Business Journal and recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in Alabama by Birmingham Magazine.
Luther is a frequent lecturer on economic development and legal issues. He is the author of The Lawyer as a Lobbyist, published in The Alabama Lawyer (Vol. 49, No. 1).
In the year between college and law school, Luther worked in the Merchant Marine in the North Sea between Aberdeen, Scotland and Stavanger, Norway. Prior to that he played four years of Division I basketball at Tulane University.
Jay A. Garner
Jay A. Garner, CEcD, CCE is the President and founder of the Competitive Strategies Group, LLC, an economic development consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta, GA. His firm has assisted clients throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe on a wide variety of projects, offering innovative, yet real world solutions to achieve success. He is a frequent lecturer and consultant on strategic planning, organizational analysis and best practice recommendations for economic development organizations and chambers of commerce. Jay often lectures and provides counsel on creating and implementing proactive global business development strategies and tactics. His firm is also busy providing assistance to corporate clients in their site selection process, such as Anchor Glass, Academy Sports, Hatfield Quality Meats, and many others.
Jay Garner is a leader and innovator in the economic development profession, having served for 28 years as both an award winning economic development and chamber practitioner, and as a consultant to the profession.
Jay is a graduate of West Virginia University with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Administration degrees. He is also a graduate of both the Economic Development Course at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma, where he is an instructor in international prospecting. Jay has led over 25 trade and business development missions on four continents leading to the creation of thousands of jobs and several billion in capital investment. He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a Fellow Member and an Honorary Life Member, the three highest professional designations awarded to those in the economic development profession by the International Economic Development Council. He is also a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE), a professional designation awarded to Chamber professionals by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Association.
He was selected as one of ten outstanding leaders in economic development in the United States by Site Selection magazine while leading the economic development program in Mobile, Alabama. The same publication also recognized him for running one of the ten best development organizations in the U.S for six consecutive years. As the CEO of the Asheville, NC Chamber, the organization became the first Chamber in the U.S. to win a Quality Award by the North Carolina Quality Foundation based on the national Malcolm Baldrige criteria. He was honored in 2002 by his alma mater, West Virginia University with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Political Science. In 2003, the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University honored him with the College Alumni Recognition Award.
Jay is a past chairman of the International Economic Development Council, the largest economic development professional trade organization in the world. He is also a past chairman of the American Economic Development Council.
Michael J. Olivier
Regional President of the Americas, Future Pipe USA and former Secretary
Louisiana Economic Development
Michael J. Olivier was named Regional President of the Americas by Future Pipe USA in December after serving four years with the Blanco administration in Louisiana. Michael Olivier was appointed as Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco in 2004. His appointment won praise from Louisiana business leaders, who have called him aggressive, experienced and knowledgeable. Olivier’s expertise in recruiting and reputation for deal-closing won him the position in an extensive nationwide search.
Prior to returning to his home state of Louisiana, Olivier served over 17 years as the Executive Director and Chief Executive of the Harrison County Development Commission in the casino and industrial region of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Involved in all aspects of regional economic development he has been recognized locally, regionally and nationally. He won the American Economic Development Council's Distinguished Service Award in 1995, 1996 and 1997 and was twice appointed to the Mississippi Business Finance Corporation by Governor Kirk Fordice and Lt. Governor Amy Tuck. He has been president of the Southern Economic Development Council and a ten year board member and officer of the American Economic Development Council to which he was named a Fellow Member. In 2001, Olivier led the effort to secure the Accredited Economic Development Organization designation for the Development Commission, the first in the State of Mississippi. Business Week named him Mississippi's Economic Developer of the Year in 1999, and in 2002, Southern Business and Development magazine named him one of the Top 10 economic developers of the decade. In 2006 and 2007, Olivier was named as “One of the Top10 in the U.S. to make a difference in Economic Development” by Southern Business and Development magazine. The International Economic Development Council named Olivier as the 2006 winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Economic Development. CORENET Global gave Louisiana Economic Development the 2007 Economic Development Leadership Award in Strategies and Innovation for the business recovery work accomplished after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Michael and his wife Penelope have two daughters who graduated from Ole Miss and Millsap's College and now reside in Memphis.
David P. Rumbarger
David P. Rumbarger serves as president/CEO of the Community Development Foundation; a position he has held since August 2000. CDF is a 59-year-old comprehensive economic development organization comprised of the Lee County Council of Governments, Tupelo Area Chamber of Commerce, Bluebird Utilities, the IDEA Center incubator, and Lee County’s industrial parks and economic development program. Under his leadership Tupelo/Lee County was ranked #2 in 2006 and #3 in 2007 in the U.S. by Site Selection for micropolitan projects, capital, and job growth. He is the team leader for the location of the Toyota Highlander plant #8 located at the Wellspring Project Site in Pontotoc, Union and Lee Counties.
Prior to coming to CDF, David was employed as president and chief operating officer of Conway Data. Previously, he was with Progress Energy and was promoted from vice president of economic development to vice president of sales and service. In that role, he was responsible for more than $1.3 billion in direct electric sales. His past work experience includes a stint as president/secretary with the Area Development Partnership in Hattiesburg, MS in the early nineties. He also served as a member of the governor’s cabinet in Alabama and directed the Department of Economic and Community Affairs. His career in economic development began at Alabama Gas Corporation in the eighties.
Mr. Rumbarger completed his undergraduate studies at Auburn University where he received a bachelor’s of science degree in public administration in 1982. He completed Duke University’s advanced management program in 1999 and holds a masters degree in Economic Development from the University of Southern Mississippi. He received his Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) in 1989 from the International Economic Development Council.
David serves on a variety of boards including: U.S. Federal Reserve Board, Memphis Branch; Yocona Area Boy Scout Council; CREATE Foundation.
Professional awards include: designation as Top Ten Developer by Raleigh’s Triangle Business Journal in 1997; Top 40 Under 40 by the Mississippi Business Journal in 1995; Hattiesburg Sales and Marketing Executive of the Year in 1995; Top Young Developers by Expansion Management Magazine in 1995; Top Deals in U.S. and Top 20 Area Development Partnership by Site Selection in 1994.
Mr. Rumbarger is married to the former Donna Adkinson of Auburn, AL, and they have two children, Rudy, age 20 and Mary Larkin, age 14. He is an active member of First Baptist Church of Tupelo where he serves as Sunday School Director.
Robert E. Leak, Jr.
President, Winston-Salem Business
Appointed: September 1991
Responsible for: Leadership of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County economic development effort:
- Works closely with business leaders and elected officials to recruit
companies to locate in the Winston-Salem area.
- Supervises WSB staff in planning, marketing, client location visits,
direct sales and administration.
- Directly responsible for the development of Union Cross Business
Park.
Professional Background
1989 - 1991 - Director of Economic Development Winston-Salem Business
- Responsible for developing active clients for recruitment
and coordinating site visit locations; working closely
with state economic development contacts; site analysis;
marketing and sales planning and execution.
1988 - 1989 Broker - Carolantic Realty, Inc.
1985 - 1988 Vice President/Director of Economic Development - First Union National Bank
1983 - 1985 Executive Director - Rome, GA Industrial Development Commission
1981 - 1983 Assistant Manager of Economic Development - Greater Greenville (SC) Chamber of Commerce
Educational Background
1981 B.S. in Business Administration - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1984 Economic Development Institute (Norman, Oklahoma)
1997 MBA - Wake Forest University Babcock Graduate School of Management
Professional Associations
Certified/Economic Developer, October 1990
International Economic Development Council
- Board of Directors, 1985 - 1989
- Economic Development Institute Graduate
- Chairman, Information Resources Committee, 1986 - 1987
North Carolina Economic Developers Association
- Board of Directors, 1994 - 1997
- 1995-1996 Economic Development Practitioner of the Year
- Secretary/Treasurer 1997-1998
- Vice President 1998-1999
- President 1999-2000
North Carolina Economic Development Board
- Appointed by Governor Hunt, 2000-2001
Southern Economic Development Council
- Board of Directors, 1993 - 1995
- Executive Committee, 1994 - 1995
- President’s Award, 1995 & 1998
Personal
Born: 5/7/59
Lafayette, LA
Raised in Raleigh, NC
Married, 2 Daughters
Mike Wheless, Chairman and CEO, Wheless & Associates Executive Search, Birmingham, Ala.
Mike brings a track record of success for recruiting top-level national candidates to premier client organizations. Mike launched his career in the field of executive and management search in 1986. Since that time he has successfully recruited senior-level executive leaders into nearly every segment of industry and commerce. For the tenth consecutive year, Mike’s leadership has resulted in the firm being named in the sentinel guide to the executive search industry, Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1,000,000+, as one of North America’s most outstanding executive search firms. Mike brings a passion for excellence and a gift for recruiting top candidates.
Michael C. Randle
Mike Randle is the editor, publisher and owner of Southern Business & Development magazine and its affiliate Web sites SB-D.com, SouthernAutoCorridor.com and BioIndustrySouth.com. He has founded and owned several business publications in his 25-year publishing career, including the Birmingham Business Journal and Business First.
He has run Southern Business & Development magazine since 1992 and has plans to launch two new Web sites in 2008. Those are SmallTownSouth.com and InnovationSouth.com.
Randle is one of the most quoted people in economic development today, appearing on CNN and CNN.com in 2007 and on a special on the South's economy on PBS' Nightly Business Report in 2007. He or SB&D has also been quoted or written about in the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, CFO Magazine, The New York Times and more than 100 other newspapers and media outlets throughout the South and the world.
Randle and his two sons, Matthew and William, live in Mountain Brook, Ala.
Joe Max Higgins
Joe Max Higgins is CEO of the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link. He has served in this capacity since the formation of the consolidated organization in June of 2003. In the 16 years prior to assuming his present position Higgins served as CEO of two other economic development organizations, operated a consulting firm and worked for a consulting engineering firm.
His consulting company specialized in environmental, planning, community and economic development services. His client base included power companies, municipalities, financial institutions, industrial/commercial developers and real estate companies. Services provided include environmental audits, retail analysis, economic modeling, incentive negotiations, industrial park planning and site evaluation, lobbying as well as strategic planning for community and economic development activities.
Higgins has completed over 120 major community and economic projects resulting in the creation of nearly 14,000 manufacturing jobs and in excess of 3.5 billion dollars in industrial investments. He has also worked on numerous commercial/retail developments as well as hundreds of millions in community development improvements which have included water, wastewater, solid waste, street, drainage, airports and healthcare facilities.
Higgins is a graduate of Arkansas State University with a B.A. in Geography, the Institute for Organization Management at The University of Notre Dame, the Community Development Institute at the University of Central Arkansas and the Arkansas Environmental Academy. He is nationally certified as a planner, community and economic developer and an environmental consultant and was named to Arkansas Business’ prestigious “40 under 40” list in 1999. In 2006 Higgins was named Economic Developer of the year by the National Rural Economic Developers Association and for the last two years the Columbus Lowndes Development Link has been named one of the outstanding Economic Development Organizations in Mississippi by Mississippi Business Magazine.
He is married to his wife Tammy (19 years) has a daughter Hannah age 14.
Jubal Smith
Jubal Smith is a Manager in the Dallas, Texas office of PricewaterhouseCoopers where his work is focused on corporate site selection and working with companies seeking to leverage public financial support through innovative public/private partnerships. Jubal's experience consist of 12 years of working for state, local, and private economic development entities and assisting many types of industries across all sectors. Jubal has created and implemented economic development programs at the state and local level - programs designed to take advantage local and state economic development strengths by matching the right programs with qualified companies considering expanding or establishing new operations.
Prior to joining PwC, Jubal worked as Manager of Economic Development for the City of Austin, Texas where he was responsible for creating programs and implementing policies resulting in new jobs and investment for the City of Austin.
Jubal’s work in Austin included consulting with companies considering Austin as a prospective location for business, working with existing employers considering expansions, and partnering with entities, both private and public, to develop economic development strategies and marketing initiatives for the Austin Region. His department also created internal economic development policies and guidelines for the City of Austin.
Jubal also worked as Project Manager for Entergy’s Office of Economic Development in Little Rock, Arkansas. Entergy is a Fortune 500 investor owned electric utility serving four states in the South including Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. In this capacity, Jubal worked throughout the state of Arkansas with both the state and many local economic development groups offering the necessary services required to promote business development. Jubal worked closely with many industry types in navigating state and local economic development programs designed to assist job creation and private investment. This position afforded Jubal the opportunity to work with many electric intensive companies seeking guidance in reducing energy costs and maximizing energy efficiency.
Jubal began his career with the Mississippi Development Authority, the economic development arm for the State of Mississippi. In this capacity, Jubal worked with several communities in developing proactive economic development strategies for business development.
Jubal is a Certified Economic Developer, a member of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and The Texas Economic Development Council.
Jubal earned his Master of Science degree in Economic Development from the University of Southern Mississippi and his bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University.
James William (Jay) Chesshir, Jr.
On May 19, 2006, Jay Chesshir became the 15th President and CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce in its 141-year history.
Jay began his career at the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2005, serving as Economic Development Team Leader, Senior Staff Executive for Fifty for the Future, and Executive Director of the Metro Little Rock Alliance, an eleven county marketing coalition dedicated to central Arkansas becoming recognized as the premier location for new and expanding business within the mid-south.
He previously served as President of the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce and Garland County Economic Development Corporation.
In 1999, Governor Mike Huckabee appointed him to the Arkansas Task Force on Non-Baccalaureate Postsecondary Education to study workforce development issues facing the state. He is a former chairman of the Arkansas Economic Developers and continues to serve as the group’s Legislative Committee chairman. In 2001, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas recognized him for his outstanding representation of the Arkansas business and economic development community during the 83rd Legislative General Assembly.
In December of 2003, Governor Huckabee appointed him to the Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Higher Education. He also served as Campaign Secretary for the 2004 statewide Amendment 2 Campaign Committee which was successful in creating “Super Projects” incentives for Arkansas.
In 2006, Jay was named Arkansas Economic Developer of the Year by the Arkansas Economic Developers. He currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Arkansas Partnership, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) Economic Forecast Advisory Board, and the U. S. Chamber’s Committee of 100. He is a Ford Foundation Fellow in the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Regionalism and Sustainable Development Program.
Jay received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas. He has been designated as a Certified Chamber Executive by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives and is a graduate of both the Institute for Organization Management and Economic Development Institute. He is married to the former Lara Dunn of Hot Springs. They have three children – Claire, Will and Sam.
J. Mac Holladay
J. Mac Holladay is the founder and CEO of Market Street Services, Inc., a community and economic development consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm was founded in 1997 to help cities, counties, states, regions, chambers of commerce, corporations and other clients proactively shape their own future. Market Street’s comprehensive development strategies take into account every dimension of economic opportunity and quality of life. In each project, the firm advises its clients about how to manage and influence the community and economic development process to affect real and positive change. Market Street’s clients are as diverse as Austin, Texas; Bluefield, West Virginia; and Greensboro, North Carolina. In the past ten years the firm has worked in over seventy-five communities in Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, Missouri, and Alabama. The firm has also led major state level projects in Indiana, West Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Wyoming and North Carolina. Two international projects in the states of Western Australia and Victoria, Australia round out Market Street’s client list.
Previously, Mr. Holladay served as Chief Operating Officer for the Governor’s Development Council of Georgia from June 1993 to July 1997. Prior to 1993, Mr. Holladay served as the State Director for both the Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development (1988-1992) and the South Carolina Development Board (1985-1988). Since 1972, he has been involved in community and economic development in five states and has served local Chambers of Commerce in Columbus, Indiana; Memphis, Tennessee; and Charleston, South Carolina.
His professional honors include being named a certified chamber executive (CCE) in 1982 and serving as president of both the Indiana and South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Executives. Mr. Holladay was a member of the Commission of the Future of the South from 1986 to 1992 and was the Chairman of the Board of Regents of Leadership South Carolina from 1984 to 1988. He was selected as a member of the 1986 class of the International Business Fellows and has served on the Board and Executive Committee of the Society of International Business Fellows. He was Co-Chairman of the Southern Technology Council of the Southern Growth Policies Board in 1991.
Mr. Holladay currently serves as a member of Southern Growth Policies Board’s Council on the Southern Community; the boards of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta Educational Telecommunications Collaborative (AETC), and the Atlanta Regional Civic League; and the Editorial Board of the Journal of Multi-State Taxation and Incentives. Mr. Holladay speaks across the country on the topics of community and economic development and has been quoted in a wide variety of publications including Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal Constitution and many other local newspapers.
Mr. Holladay is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and is a former U.S. Navy aviator. Mr. Holladay holds an honorary doctorate in business from Johnson and Wales College. He has been named the outstanding faculty presenter at the Basic Economic Development Courses in Nashville, Tennessee, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Auburn University, and the Universities of North Carolina, Kentucky, Southern Mississippi, and Arkansas at Little Rock. He is married to the former Carolyn Gordon Howe and has two daughters, Sarah and Jennifer.
Lamar Smith
Lamar Smith is Director of Economic Development for Alabama Gas Corporation, Alabama’s largest natural gas distribution company. He has been involved in Economic Development for more than seventeen years and has been employed by Alagasco for 25 years.
Lamar is a Past-President of the Economic Development Association of Alabama, a Board Member of the Japan-America Society of Alabama, Secretary/Treasurer and Past Chairman of the AlabamaGermany Partnership and a Board Member of C.L.E.O (Community Leaders’ Educational Opportunity). He recently completed a four-year term on the Board of Directors of the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC)—the last two years he served as Regional Director on the Executive Committee representing five southeastern states. He is currently the Chair of SEDC’s Strategic Planning Committee.
Other memberships include the the Steering Committee of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Existing Business Team and Executive Committee member and Treasurer of the Alabama Communities of Excellence (A.C.E.) program.
Active in the Birmingham community, Lamar is Vice President of the Triple Play Baseball Club and a board member of the “Friends of Rickwood” working to preserve Rickwood Field---America’s oldest professional baseball park. He has been involved with the Birmingham International Festival in various capacities for thirty years and was a board member of the Birmingham Broadway Series and Birmingham’s chapters of the American Heart Association and the American Marketing Association. He is a life member of the Jaycees International Senate and was President of the Roebuck-Center Point Jaycees and Regional Director of the Alabama Jaycees. Lamar is an avid collector of vintage baseball memorabilia.
Lamar’s primary responsibility at Alagasco is to serve as a team member to assist in recruiting industry to Alagasco’s service area (185 cities in 27 counties) and to the State.
A native of Alexander City, Lamar lives in Vestavia Hills. He, his wife and two grown children are all graduates of Auburn University.
Gene Stinson
Since March 1998 Gene has served as the President of the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC). SEDC is a professional association for economic development practitioners and serves 17 states in the American South. In the role of President Gene is responsible for overall operations of the association and for the implementation of the association’s annual program of work.
In the twelve years prior to joining SEDC Gene served as the chief staff member of three Chamber of Commerce/Economic Development organizations in Tennessee and Georgia.
Gene is a graduate of The University of Tennessee, the Economic Development Institute, and the US Chamber’s Institute for Organizational Management. In April, 1993 he earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from the American Economic Development Council (AEDC). In May, 2002 he also received the designation of Certified Association Executive (CAE) from the American Society of Association Executives.
He also serves as a committee member of the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund and as Certification Secretary for the Community Development Council’s Professional Community & Economic Developer (PCED) certification.
Bruce P. Ely
Bruce Ely received both his B.S. degree in Accounting and his law degree (with honors) from the University of Alabama and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law (1981). He is Chairman of the State and Local Tax Practice Group and a partner in the Birmingham, Alabama office of the multistate law firm of Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP.
Mr. Ely serves as State Tax Editor of RIA’s Business Entities Journal and as Alabama Editor of both State Tax Notes and CCH’s State Income Tax Alert. He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a member of the BNA Multistate Tax Advisory Board, and a Trustee of the American Institute on Federal Taxation. He has been included in Best Lawyers in America for the past 14 years.
In his capacity as state tax and incentives adviser, he has served on the teams that successfully recruited JVC America, Mercedes-Benz and several of its Tier I suppliers, and Hyundai and several of its Tier I suppliers, to the State of Alabama, along with numerous other new or expanding industries. He recently served as chief counsel to the Governor’s Commission on Existing Industries, focusing on ways to retain and grow Alabama’s existing industries and attract new ventures.
Bruce is also involved in various civic and bar association activities, serving as Vice-Chairman of Public Policy of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and Vice-Chairman of the Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee of the 5,000 member Business Council of Alabama. He is a frequent lecturer for the Alabama Society of CPAs, New York University School of Law and the Council on State Taxation (COST).
K. Wood Herren
Wood Herren received his B.S. degree in Accounting from Auburn University, his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law, and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Theodore Tannenwald, Jr., of the U.S. Tax Court. Wood is a partner in the Birmingham, Alabama office of the multistate law firm of Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP and the Chair of its Tax Practice Group.
Wood concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate and transactional law, emerging businesses, economic and industrial development, exempt organizations and local, state and federal taxation. He has extensive experience representing companies locating new facilities in Alabama or expanding existing facilities operating in the State. Wood regularly assists clients in the negotiation, documentation and implementation of incentives packages for new and expanding businesses and works with local, state and federal governmental agencies involved in recruiting new industry to Alabama.