Business
Profile: Herman Russell founder and Chairman of H. J. Russell & Company
Herman Russell (pictured), is the founder and chairman of H. J. Russell & Company – one of the largest minority owned construction and real estate firms in the United States.
Russell founded the company in 1952, and under his stewardship, the company has grown and presently attains revenues of US$300 million annually and a workforce of over 1500 employees and offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee.
According to the company’s website, H. J. Russell & Company, is a conglomerate that includes communications, construction, property management, real estate development, and airport concessions. The company has been involved in the development of land mark structures in the United States, including: the Carter Presidential Center; the Coca-Cola Company world headquarters; Georgia Power Company headquarters building; the Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, and the Georgia Dome Stadium to name a few.
Russell’s beginings were relatively humble – before attending high school, he worked odd jobs for his father, a plasterer who instilled in Russell an ethic of hard work and prudence, and the smarts to success. While in high school, Russell purchased his first property, which he later developed and leveraged to pay his college tuition. After graduating from high school, he proceeded to the Tuskegee Institute (later Tuskegee University), where he earned his degree in building construction.
On completion of his studies at Tuskegee, he joined his father’s plastering business, which specialized in renovations of residential homes. He quickly gained a reputation for producing high quality work and was thus able to compete successfully against competitors. He took over the company after his father died, then overhauled and renamed it the H. J. Russell and Company.
During the 1960s and 1970s Russell’s construction empire grew and diversified, paralleling the changing racial status quo of African Americans. His track record of successful joint partnerships on large-scale projects bolstered his business reputation. During this period Russell owned several construction and real estate companies, among them the H. J. Russell & Company; the H. J. Russell Construction Company, H. J. Russell Plastering Company, Paradise Management Inc., DDR International, and Southeast Land Development Company.
In addition to being an entrepreneur, Russell does give back to his community. Examples of his philanthrophy include: A donation of US$ 4 million to the Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University, and MoreHouse College – HBCUs (historically black college and universities), towards the development and expansion of educational programs in entrepreneurship; US$1 million towards the expansion of a new facility Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding; the creation of the Herman J. Russell Entrepreneurial Scholarship Foundation and a host of may others.
