On March 2, 1964, when Harry B. Brock, Jr. and a group of his friends opened the first new bank in Birmingham in 18 years, no none could have predicted that this small beginning would change the structure of banking in Alabama and lay the foundation for Birmingham to become a major regional banking center.
The new bank was an instant success in making a profit the first year. Harry Brock has said that this early success of Central stemmed from the fact that he is as much a salesman as a banker. The bank’s motto was, “Ask for business.” Everybody at Central – from directors to employees – sold the bank and its services.
This “unabashed salesman,” as he has been called, spearheaded the multibank holding company concept in Alabama. In 1968, Harry Brock announced that he and a group of investors consisting almost entirely of his board of directors had gained voting control of the State National Bank of Alabama … the only bank in Alabama that enjoyed the right to operate branches outside its home county … and planned to merge it into Central.
Almost all the banks in Alabama, including the ones in Birmingham, tried to stop the merger while the Alabama Bankers Association filed a bill in the legislature that would not only prevent merger across county lines but would prevent the creation of multibank holding companies.
Harry Brock worked almost singlehandedly to kill the bankers’ bill. His determination and perseverance prevailed and the bill that might have bankrupted him and fossilized banking in Alabama failed to come out of the banking committee of either house.
While Harry Brock battled in the courts and in the legislature, some of the plaintiffs began to form a holding company of their own. Brock’s vision for banking change in Alabama and his dream for Central came true, but another holding company was the first in Alabama by three months.
Harry Brock was instrumental in the passage of the statewide Bank Merger Bill in 1980, and in 1981 was finally able to merge his banks into one bank with branches throughout the state.
In 1987, Central Bancshares of the South became the first bank in Alabama to own a bank in another state and the first out-of-state bank to own a bank in Texas. Brock named the Texas operation Compass Bancshares of Texas. Today, the assets of the Compass Banks in Texas compose almost 25 percent of Central Bancshares’ assets.
Harry Brock retired as an active officer of the Central Bank family in 1991, on his 65th birthday. He remains on the boards of the bank and holding company and holds the honorary title of Founder Chairman. At the time of his retirement, Central Bancshares ranked 98th in assets, 60th in profits, and 19th in return on equity among the top 500 banks in the United States. During his last ten years as Chairman and CEO, his stockholders enjoyed a total rate of return of 1,281 percent, the highest of any major bank holding company in the Southeast.
Harry B. Brock, Jr. was born in Fort Payne, Alabama, on March 31, 1926 – the son of Harry Blackwell and Cornelia Macfarlane Brock. The family moved to Gadsden, Alabama when he was very young. In 1944, he graduated from Tennessee Military Institute and joined the U.S. Navy. He volunteered for submarine duty and served on three submarines.
Harry Brock graduated from The University of Alabama in 1949 with a B. S. degree in Commerce and Business Administration. He returned to Gadsden where he worked in the family oil business and as a car salesman. (That same year he married Jane Hollock of Birmingham and they have three children, Stanley M. (Skip), Barrett (Mrs. Richard M. Mackay) and Harry, III (Buck), and six grandchildren.) In 1953, he took a job with Socony Vacuum Oil Company in Rochester, New York.
In 1955, he accepted a job with Exchange Security Bank in Birmingham to organize its first business development department. He was Executive Vice President when he left in 1964 to become co-founder of Central Bank and Trust Company.
Harry Brock has long been a leader in the banking industry. In 1957 – only two years after entering the banking profession – he was the first recipient of the Alabama Outstanding Young Banker Award presented by the Alabama Bankers Association.
In 1973, when the legislature adjourned without passing the budget, he prevented a complete shutdown of state government by offering state employees interest-free loans to equal their salaries until the legislature could reconvene and restore financial order. All but three state employees accepted the offer.
In addition to his leadership role in banking, Brock has given unstintingly of his time, expertise, and financial resources to help make Birmingham, Jefferson County, and the State of Alabama a better place in which to live and work.
He has been a trustee of Samford University for 30 years and served four terms as Chairman. He is currently Chairman of Samford’s Sesquicentennial Campaign with a goal of $80 million. He is a Past President of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham and founded the Kiwanis Foundation during his term. As a certified instructor in the Dale Carnegie course for eight years, he helped hundreds of Alabamians achieve their personal goals. He is President of the Daniel Foundation of Alabama and the Brock Foundation. He is a trustee of Southern Research Institute, a member of the President’s Cabinet at The University of Alabama, and served as Chairman of the Challenge fund Division of the University’s Sesquicentennial Capital Campaign in 1980. The division exceeded its goal by 25 percent.
He was a member of the Young President’s Organization, an international group of business leaders who become President of their companies before the age of 40. He later served as President of the Chief Executives Organization, the YPO leadership graduate organization.
He was a charter member of the Metropolitan Development Board and served two terms as its President. He was also a member of Operation New Birmingham whose main purpose was to provide an avenue of communication between black and white communities and to improve race relations. He has served as Metro Chairman of the National Alliance of Businessmen, established by President Nixon to help find jobs for the hardcore unemployed and unemployed Veterans. He has served as President of the Diabetes Trust Fund and of the Governor’s Cost Control Survey. He served as co-chair of the Business Division of the Governor’s Task Force on Tax Reform.
Harry Brock has also given his time as a director or trustee of such worthy undertakings as Junior Achievement (serving on its National Board), the Jefferson County Community Chest, the Anti-Tuberculosis Association, the Jefferson County Society for Crippled Children, and the Supporters of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. He has, and continues to be, supportive of and involved in United Appeal; and has been active in many worthy projects of the Chamber of Commerce (including the development of the Civic Center).
For his professional and civic leadership as well as his many contributions to his community, Harry Brock was elected to the Alabama Academy of Honor in 1983. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American History, and the Marquise Who’s Who in America.
According to a colleague, Harry Brock exhibits qualities that standard biographical data do not necessarily reflect. He has always been a fierce and formidable competitor who does not shrink from controversy. (Harry Brock’s leadership at Central Bank of the South and his involvement in the restructuring of banking in the state would support this assessment.) “He has been a leader and a motivator, and people have followed him because they wanted to,” said his colleague, and Harry Brock is “altogether larger than life.”
