Fred McCallum | President | AT&T Alabama

McCallum, a native of Florence, Ala., took over AT&T’s Alabama division in 2008. He’s ably led the company through a period of rapid transition from being the state’s largest land-line telephone service provider to becoming a force in the wireless, broadband Internet, and cable television sectors.

AT&T is one of the state’s largest employers, with almost 6,000 employees in the Birmingham metro area alone. The sheer size of the company would position McCallum as a powerhouse in the Birmingham business community. But it’s the leadership roles he has taken with some of the state’s most powerful business advocacy organizations that has increased his political influence in recent years. He was elected the 2013 Chairman of the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA), and just began his tenure as the 2014 Chairman of the Business Council of Alabama (BCA). That’s a big deal, especially in an election year when the business community will be spending millions of dollars to protect and grow the Alabama legislature’s pro-business majority.

As for AT&T’s interests in state politics, the company got really active about a decade ago pushing for de-regulation, but have been fairly quiet until recently. They have a couple of issues that are particularly important to them in the legislature this year. They are in good hands with McCallum steering the ship.