David Richardson “D.R.” Dunlap

• October 4th, 2021

In a memorial to its co-founder, president, CEO, and chairman for more than 50 years, the newsletter of Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company said:

“The high esteem in which David Dunlap was held by every worker at this company, by members of the marine industry throughout the nation, as well as by the entire local community, is evidenced in the numbers of people from all walks of life who paid this last tribute to this remarkable man. For those closest to him, the loss will be immeasurable. But the legacy of high ideals which he leaves will sustain us in our grief and challenge us to greater endeavor throughout the years to come.”

David R. Dunlap was born in Mobile on June 19, 1879, to David R. Dunlap and Virginia Wheeler Dunlap.  He was educated at University Military School where he was a commanding officer of the first graduating class. He received a bachelor’s degree with honors from The University of Alabama at age17 and completed his education in law.

In 1916, Mr. Dunlap, then president of Alabama Iron Works, joined his cousin, George Dunlap, who led Mobile Marine Ways, to consolidate holdings and buy Ollinger and Bruce Dry Dock.  Gulf City Boiler Works became a part of the shipyard operations which became Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company (ADDSCO) in 1917.

Mr. Dunlap married his wife of 50 years, Tallulah Gordon Sage in 1918.  This was followed in the next three years by two children, Tallulah Sage Dunlap and David Richardson Dunlap Jr.  Five grandchildren followed.

World War I brought challenges for ADDSCO, which trained some 4000 workers and eventually built three minesweepers, two steamers, and two large sea-going barges for the U.S. government.

Following facilities and property expansion, in 1941, ADDSCO contracted to build and outfit 20 Liberty-type ships.  Eighteen months after the first keel was laid all 20 ships were ready for duty.  To do its part for World War II, ADDSCO maintained 36,000 employees at its peak, built 102 tankers and repaired or converted an additional 2800 vessels.

In years that followed, ADDSCO helped build Mobile’s Bankhead Tunnel, jumbo-sized tankers and pioneered other structural and equipment conversions.  Ultimately 700 new ships were constructed and 24,000 vessels were repaired or converted during Mr. Dunlap’s career at ADDSCO.

Mr. Dunlap was as much a part of ADDSCO as its foundations and crossbeams. His vision brought together the capital and workforce to form a successful all-around ship repair and construction facility in the Port of Mobile. An original capitalization of $600,000 created a billion dollars of income during his leadership.

Mr. Dunlap loved to fish and hunt and he faced tough assignments or near impossible undertakings with courage and determination.  His contributions to his city, state, and nation spanned two world wars, a depression, and changing times.

He was the original cashier and an original stockholder of Merchants National Bank (now Regions Financial Corporation) where he served as a director for many years.  Other directorships included Waterman Steamship Corporation, Mobile Towing and Wrecking Company, Alabama Power Company, Shipbuilders Council of America, and the Mobile and Alabama Chambers of Commerce.

Mr. Dunlap served on the Board of Governors of Spring Hill College from which he received an honorary degree.

Upon the loss of his son in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, Mr. Dunlap established an education trust to benefit Mobile and Baldwin County students.  The David R. Dunlap Jr. Memorial Trust has provided deferred payment, low-interest education loans to more than 1000 students.

The Mobile Press-Register editorialized about Mr. Dunlap at his death in November 1968:

“His name came to be known almost synonymously with ADDSCO because of his prime role in its success.  His sphere as a builder extended beyond ADDSCO and his other business interests….He made himself an outstandingly valuable citizen in helping to build Mobile into the famed industrial seaport it has become during his eminent career.  His long and useful citizenship is one of the good fortunes from which Mobile benefits and for which all can be thankful.”

Fred Hahn

• October 4th, 2021

When Fred Hahn was growing up, he was known to have a pretty good fastball, a talent he parlayed into pocket money in semipro baseball until he threw his arm out by pitching three games in three days.

So Hahn turned his attention to business, and in so doing over the years created, expanded, and sold multiple companies throughout the Southeast, building a far-flung business empire that stretches from the Gulf Coast to central Kentucky.

Now, at age 80, Hahn focuses much of his time on First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa, where he serves as deacon; the Helen Hahn Hospice House, named for his wife, and the Hahn-da-rosa, a sprawling, 1000-acre spread in Hale Country that has been recognized as a TREASURE Forest Award winner for southwest Alabama.

And like many successful businessmen, Hahn insists that most of the credit for his business success goes to his faith, his wife, his family, and friends.

“All the children and my wife have been very instrumental in the growth of the company,” Hahn said.

Hahn attended Mississippi College in Clinton and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1952. He spent his first 10 years after college working in sales and public relations with the Illinois Central Railroad.

Hahn then settled in Tuscaloosa in 1963 and started a small trucking company named Service Express, Inc. Hahn’s emphasis on the family’s involvement began there where his wife worked alongside him.

Always one to take advantage of an opportunity, in 1968, Hahn formed Tuscaloosa Warehouse, Inc. and followed that by taking over Indec, a waste handling company, in the early 1970s. His foresight, creativity, and concern for the environment helped him establish and reorganize several different types of waste disposal facilities for both hazardous and solid waste. About that same time, in 1970, Hahn became an agent for United Van Lines in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham and sold that company in 1977.

In 1979, he sold Indec to Waste Management, Inc., the leading firm in the field, and Hahn and sons Philip and Gregory formed Seapac, Inc. in Mobile. Seapac packages, re-packages, warehouses and distributes large shipments of chemicals overseas. The company includes a paper converting division. Philip Hahn developed and manages the packaging plants, and Gregg Hahn developed and manages the paper converting plants.

Throughout the 1990s, Seapac opened divisions in Baytown, Texas, Atlanta, Bastrop, La., Eddyville, Ky., and St. Mary’s, Ga.

With his sons operating and expanding Seapac, Hahn turned his efforts to Tuscaloosa Warehouse and Industrial Warehouse Services Trucking Company.

In 2005, Hahn’s companies employed about 450 people and today employ nearly 350.

Mississippi College, a Baptist University, has had a guiding influence on Hahn, and his alma mater and his church have a special place in his heart. “My church work and my faith are very strong with me,” Hahn said.

He is a member of the board of trustees at Mississippi College where he has been active on the university’s financial committee, a member of the DCH Foundation Board, and the Hospice of West Alabama. He is a member of the United Way’s Alexis de Tocqueville Society.

Hahn believes very strongly in the mission of Hospice and helped raise money for the facility named after his wife, a decision his sons and daughter made to honor their mother.

“He cares deeply about others and is always there to give of himself and his resources to those in need,” said Leroy McAbee, a Tuscaloosa businessman who nominated Hahn for the Alabama Business Hall of Fame.

Hahn has also been a member and officer of the Birmingham Traffic and Transportation Club, West Alabama Traffic and Transportation Club, Toastmasters Club, Alabama Industrial Association, The Boys Club of West Alabama, Boy Scouts of America, the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, the Industrial Development Authority, the Business Council of Alabama, and the Tuscaloosa Country Club.

D. Paul Jones, Jr.

• October 4th, 2021

Paul Jones Jr. has been a major force instrumental in the growth of Compass Bancshares, Inc., now BBVA Compass, in addition to his work in law and with other organizations.

Upon his retirement, Compass said, “Paul has provided the leadership necessary to allow Compass to enjoy financial success through a variety of economic environments. His track record of increased profitability while creating shareholder value is unmatched throughout the financial services industry.”

Jones graduated from The University of Alabama in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in commerce and business administration and completed a J.D. degree from the Alabama School of Law in 1967.  He also received an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University.

In 1967, Jones joined the predecessor to the Birmingham law firm of Balch & Bingham and practiced there for some 10 years.  While with Balch & Bingham, he served for a number of years as the principal legal counsel to Compass Bancshares, Inc.

While engaged in the practice of law, Jones was a member of the Board of Bar Examiners of the Alabama State Bar and a frequent lecturer on banking and corporate law.  He served as the chair and as a member of numerous law revision committees and participated in work on the Alabama Banking Code, the Alabama Business Corporation Act, the Alabama General, and Limited Partnerships Acts, and revisions to the Alabama Uniform Commercial Code.

Jones joined Compass in 1978 as its senior vice president, general counsel, and a member of its board of directors.

In 1991, Jones became chairman and chief executive officer of Compass.  At that time, only 10 percent of its $5 billion in assets was outside Alabama.  Under Jones’ leadership, Compass acquired 60 banks, insurance agencies, and asset management firms; however, much of the company’s growth was organic, with acquisitions serving primarily as entry points into desirable, high-growth markets.

When Jones retired in March of 2008, the bank had grown to $47 billion in assets, had 622 offices in seven states, employed more than 12,000 employees, and ranked as the 26^th largest bank in the United States based on deposits.  When Compass was purchased by the Spanish bank BBVA in September 2007 for $9.6 billion, approximately two-thirds of its assets were located outside Alabama.

During his time as a banker, Jones was involved in the formulation of legislative policy for the banking industry through the Government Relations Council of the American Bankers Association. He also was president of the Alabama Bankers Association, and a director of the Association of Bank Holding Companies, the Financial Services Roundtable, and its predecessor, the Reserve City Bankers Association.

Jones also served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta from 1993 to 2000, after being appointed by the board to fill an unexpired term.  He was subsequently elected by banks in the Sixth District to two additional three-year terms.  During his tenure, he served variously as chair of the personnel committee and as a member of the audit committee.

In addition to his professional contributions, Jones has been an active supporter of education, particularly at The University of Alabama, where he has served as a member of the President’s Council at both the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa campuses.  He is a member of the Board of Visitors of the Culverhouse College of Business Administration.  Two endowed chairs, established jointly by Jones and his late wife, Charlene Jones, together with resources from Compass, have been funded at the Culverhouse College of Commerce and the Law School.

Active in civic affairs, Jones has served as chairman of the Business Council of Alabama, and as a director of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, the Alabama Symphony, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, and the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

On the charitable front, Jones has supported the United Way through the Alexis de Tocqueville Society, the Salvation Army, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and the Alabama Liver Foundation.

Sidney McDonald

• October 4th, 2021

Sidney McDonald has been a major force in bringing the people of Alabama and the Southeast the latest technologies in telecommunications.

Born in Springville, Ala., and educated in Arab, McDonald graduated from the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration at The University of Alabama in 1961.

He assumed the presidency of Brindlee Mountain Telephone Company, a family-owned enterprise, and became a leader in adapting technologies that enabled him to capitalize on opportunities in the communications industry.

The company was the first rural telephone company in the country to offer its customers an alternative to AT&T’s long-distance service.  Brindlee Mountain Telephone Company was sold to CEA Capital Associates of New York in July 2000.

McDonald, along with Olin King of Huntsville, co-founder of CSI Systems, Inc., also created Deltacom which offered an alternative to AT&T throughout the Southeast.  Deltacom is the largest Alabama-owned telecommunication company and operates in Alabama and eight other states.

The company implemented ground-breaking technologies that allowed Deltacom to enter markets far ahead of its competitors.  It was acquired by ITC in the late-1990s and subsequently taken public by the acquirer.

McDonald then turned his attention to Intergraph, a software development and services company whose stock had dropped to less than $5 per share.  McDonald joined the board of directors, and along with two other outside board members, forced the resignation of the founder and several other top-level managers.  He became chairman of the board and led the search for a new CEO.  After several years with McDonald as its chairman and under the new CEO, the company was sold for approximately $40 per share.

McDonald also was co-owner of the Huntsville-based group that purchased Pentastar Corporation from Chrysler in 1995, which designed and built complex testing systems for the Department of Defense.  After the purchase and re-negotiation of a union contract, the company became very profitable and was sold 18 months later.

In addition to his business career, McDonald has a distinguished record of civic affiliations.

He was a member of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education when it was first created in 1970 and served on the commission until 1978.

He also served in the Alabama House of Representatives for two full terms starting in 1966.  He was then elected to the Alabama Senate in 1974 serving as chairman of the Senate Education Committee.  He served as the State Finance Director from 1980-1982.

“Sid’s impact on the state of Alabama goes well beyond the telecommunications industry. He shared his business expertise with the state, devoting his valuable time and energy to serving as State Representative and one term as a State Senator,” said Dr. Robert Witt, president of The University of Alabama.

In 1992, McDonald was named to The University Of Alabama System Board Of Trustees.

“In a time when higher education has become a major generator of economic growth, Sid McDonald’s expertise will be an important resource for the faculty, students, and staff of the University of Alabama System,” Trustee Yetta Samford, Jr. said at the time of McDonald’s election to the board.

McDonald served two terms as president pro tempore of the Board and chaired the Executive Committee, while also sitting on other key committees.

McDonald became a member of the Alabama Space and Rocket Center Commission at the request of Gov. Don Siegelman during a time when the commission had engaged in numerous questionable financial affairs.  He helped lead the effort to save the organization and headed the search for a new CEO.

McDonald resides in Union Grove, Ala., is married to the former Jane Plunkett of Cullman. Together they have five children and 12 grandchildren. The whole group enjoys “Big Daddy’s” New York apartment.