Four Auburn University alumni were among the seven people inducted into the 2024 Alabama Business Hall of Fame at Thursday’s 2024 induction ceremony in Birmingham.
The Alabama Business Hall of Fame was established in 1973 to honor individuals who have brought recognition to the state of Alabama through their business contributions. Among the recipients’ were Rob Burton from the Class of ’79, Raymond J. Harbert from the Class of ’82, Thomas A. Harris from the Class of ‘71 and Thomas H. Lowder from the Class of ’72.
Harris founded Merchant Capital
For Harris, that began shortly after he graduated. Harris, a resident of Hope Hull in Lowndes County, first worked for First Alabama Bankshares as head of national accounts and business development.
In 1987, he founded and became president of Merchant Capital, a Montgomery-based investment banking firm that grew to have offices throughout the Southeast. In 2014, Stifel Nicolaus Financial Corp. acquired Merchant Capital, and Harris served as senior managing director at Stifel Nicolaus until 2022.
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“Thomas Harris distinguished himself as one of Alabama’s top executives because he found success in numerous business ventures throughout his career,” said Greenville Mayor Dexter McLendon, who serves on the Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association board with Harris. “I am overjoyed to see him honored as an inductee into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame. I’m fortunate to know him on a personal and professional level, and I know the Hall of Fame could not have made a better choice.”
Thomas Harris, the founder of Merchant Capital and Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association was one of four Auburn University graduates in the 2024 class that was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame on Thursday.
In 2021, Harris founded Birmingham Recovery Center and Longleaf Wellness and Recovery Centers. The centers provide substance abuse and mental health treatment at four facilities in Alabama. In 2023, he partnered to launch YHN Media Group, LLC, which owns several Alabama-based media outlets.
Harris is also an avid conservationist, and he founded and serves as the president of the ALBBAA, which is committed to promoting outdoor recreation and tourism throughout the Alabama Black Belt according to a news release from ALBBAA.
Harris also serves on the national board of directors for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. In 2019, Harris received the Alabama Wildlife Federation’s Governor’s Conservationist of the Year award.
“I am truly humbled to be included in the Class of 2024 for the Alabama Business Hall of Fame,” Harris said in a news release from the ALBBAA announcing his induction. “It’s an honor I did not expect, but one that I will cherish forever.”
Burton serves as the CEO of Hoar Holdings
Rob Burton is the CEO of Hoar Holdings, and he began working in the business for his father at the age of 13, After graduating from Auburn University with a degree in building science, he returned to the family business and held various positions within the company before being named president in 1996 and CEO in 2001.
Under Burton’s leadership, Hoar Construction opened offices in several states and has taken on larger and more complex projects, including ones in health care, entertainment, higher education, government and more. According to an AU news release, the company doubled its revenue in the first 10 years under Burton’s leadership.
In 1997, Burton established HPM, a program management company that offers design and construction expertise to institutions and companies around the country. The company is now top 25 ranked national program management company, according to the news release. In 2021, the company launched RPI Rentals, a construction equipment rental, materials and supplies company with offices in Alabama and Texas.
Rob Burton is the CEO of Hoar Holdings and he was one of four Auburn graduates that were inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame on Thursday.
Burton has also worked to serve the community in various ways, including founding Hoar Community Foundation in 2004. The fund has donated millions to charities that “further the firm’s core values in areas where employees live and work,” according to a news release from Auburn University.
Burton is also currently chairman of the board at The Hope Institute.
Many Auburn students may know the name Harbert, as the Harbert College of Business is named after Raymond J. Harbert. Harbert is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Harbert Management Corporation, one of the largest alternative asset investment management firms in the Southeast. However, this was not the first business he started. When he was just 15, he founded Penbryn Hill Catering, which he ran throughout his high school years.
After graduating from Auburn, he worked for Harbert International, Inc., the construction subsidiary of Harbert Corporation, and the company that was founded and built by his father John Harbert over four decades.
Raymond serves as the president and CEO of Harbert Corporation
Raymond J. Harbert is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Harbert Management Corporation and was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame on Thursday.
By the age of 31, Harbert was promoted to president and CEO of Harbert Corporation.
When Harbert launched the Harbert Management Corporation in 1993, it was the first multi alternative asset investment management firm in Alabama. The HMC manages 10 different investment strategies from eight United States and four European offices with over $8 billion of assets under management.
Harbert serves on the boards and executive committees of the Robert Meyer Foundation, Children’s of Alabama, Birmingham Business Alliance and is chairman of the Newcomen Society of Alabama. He also served as at-large member of Auburn University Board of Trustees, a role he held for over 10 years. In 2006, he was was awarded the regional Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Financial Services, and he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2015.
Lowder became the CEO of Colonial Properties Trust
Thomas H. Lowder is another Auburn alumni that went the family business route. He is the former chairman and CEO of Colonial Properties Trust, a New York Stock Exchange-listed, multifamily-focused real estate investment trust, with commercial assets in the sunbelt region of the United States.
Thomas Lowder, the former chairman and CEO of Colonial Properties Trust, was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame on Thursday.
After he graduated from Auburn University, Lowder assumed a leadership role with Colonial Properties Trust in 1976. He took the company public in 1993 and with Lowder as CEO the company grew from $475 million in total market capitalization to $5.3 billion before he retired from active management in 2006.
He later returned in December 2008 as CEO to lead the company after the financial recession and the crisis on Wall Street. Colonial Properties eventually merged with Mid-America Apartment Communities in 2013 and later Post Properties, Inc to become one of the largest apartment real estate investment trusts on the NYSE with a market capitalization of over $16 billion. Lowder continues to serve on the Mid-America Apartment Communities board.
Beyond his work in the business world, Lowder serves or has served as a member or chair of several boards, including Children’s Hospital of Alabama, the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Quarterbacking Children’s Health Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, the American Red Cross, and United Way of Central Alabama.
He and his wife Susan are active in philanthropic efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, ALS, and other neurological diseases, which took the lives of each of their former spouses, according to the news release.
Marnix E. Heersink, Claude B. Nielsen and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban were the other inductees in the 2024 class.
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