In 1943, Heman Drummond obtained a bank loan of $300 to buy new equipment for his Walker County coal mine. He secured the loan with three mules, one of which was named “Tobe.” “Tobe” still lives, but he lives today in the form of a dragline with a boom longer than a football field and a bucket that holds 115 cubic yards of material.
That parallels the story of Drummond Company, Inc.
If you look at a map of the nation’s coal reserves, you will see a large coalfield that extends from northern Pennsylvania down through Kentucky and Tennessee into northwest Alabama, down into the Jasper area. That’s where Heman Drummond founded the H.E. Drummond Coal Company in 1935, in an area between Empire and Sumiton. Garry Neil Drummond, Sr., one of five sons, is now chairman and chief executive officer of Drummond Company, Inc., which in almost 68 years of operation has become one of the leading coal-producing companies in the nation.
Drummond Company employs more than 3,300 people around the world and has annual revenues of more than $800 million, placing the company in the top 500 of the Forbes list of largest private companies.
The company’s holdings include large coal mines in Alabama, Wyoming, and Columbia, South America; a worldwide coal sales organization, ABC Coke, the largest merchant foundry coke producer in the United States, and a real estate division with major community developments in Alabama, Florida, and California. The company headquarters is located in Jasper, with some executive and staff offices in Birmingham.
Garry Neil Drummond has been actively involved in the company since his graduation from The University of Alabama in 1961, where he earned a civil engineering degree He and his brothers have built the company into a major economic force. The 1960s were a period of growth for the Drummond Company, which leased new reserves, developed new mines, and acquired larger and most efficient equipment. By the late 1960s, the company had coal sales approaching $8 million.
Coal industry observers say the company’s big break came in 1969 and 1970 when Garry Neil Drummond, who had then been with the company eight years, negotiated a contract with, Ataka & Company of Tokyo, a Japanese company, to deliver $100 million in coal over the next 10 years. The Japanese company needed metallurgical quality coal that was found in the eastern half of the Warrior Basin, Drummond Company’s backyard. That was the firm’s first export sale, but it opened the way for what became a major part of the business, and Drummond, after becoming CEO in 1973, has negotiated many more ventures with the Japanese steel industry.
The company expanded rapidly during the 1970s to meet the Japanese demand and to compete for additional business worldwide. A major step in the growth of the company has been the merger of Alabama By-Products Corporation, which was incorporated in 1920. The ABC coke plant at Tarrant is the largest single producer of foundry coke in the United States. Drummond Company acquired majority control of ABC’s voting stock in 1977, and eight years later completed the acquisition of all ABC stock through a tender offer. By the end of 1985, ABC was merged with Drummond and continues to operate as a division of Drummond while maintaining its nationally recognized name.
It was also in 1985 that Drummond ventured into real estate development with Oakbridge, a $500 million residential, commercial, professional office, and business park community in Lakeland, Florida. Rancho La Quinta is located in La Quinta, California, near Palm Springs. The project, a 700-acre golf-oriented residential development, was acquired in 1992. Development activities restarted in 1993 and include residential communities and a country club with two 18-hole courses. Liberty Park is a 3,300-acre mixed-use development in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. Development started in 1991 and includes residential communities, corporate offices, retail space, and Old Overton Golf Course, ranked by Golf Digest in 1994 as “America’s Best New Private Course.”
Garry Neil Drummond has been the chief executive officer of Drummond Company, Inc. since 1973. The four other brothers also have been involved continuously in company operations. E. A. “Larry” Drummond is president of the company, Segal E. Drummond is executive vice-president and assistant to the chief executive officer, Donald D. Drummond is president of the Drummond Coal Division, and John H. Drummond is vice-president management.
Among his many honors, Garry Neil Drummond was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from The University of Alabama and was the UA College of Engineering Distinguished Lecturer for 1987-8 and outstanding Fellow in 1987. He received the Keith-Woodman Award in 19 87 and was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.
He served on the University of Alabama Board of Trustees from 1983 through 2001. during which time he served three years a President Pro Tempore. He and the Alabama Coal Industry established the Garry Neil Drummond Endowment at The University of Alabama in 1985.
He is actively involved in state, national and international organizations within the coal industry and has served on the board of numerous local and state organizations dedicated to charitable causes and economic development. He serves on the board of the National Mining Association, Business Council of Alabama, SouthTrust Corporation, the Center for Energy and Economic Development, and is a past chairman of the board of Economic Partnership of Alabama. He is a member of the Birmingham Rotary Club and was elected to the Alabama Academy of Honor in 1989. He al o has been active in the Boy Scouts of America and in several conservation organizations including Ducks Unlimited.
Drummond is the father of four sons and one daughter. He lives in the Birmingham area with his wife, the former Peggy Snoddy. Ir. Drummond’s father was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in 1990.
