Forty businesses, business people and projects have been selected as finalists for the 2024 Business Alabama awards.
After taking nominations from the public, we chose finalists in seven categories. Five Lifetime Achievement winners will also be announced in January, and they will be honored, along with winners of the award categories, at a ceremony in Birmingham on March 1, 2024.
The finalists for the Business Alabama Awards are:
CEO OF THE YEAR
- Elliot B. Maisel – Gulf Distributing Holdings, Mobile
- Bridget McCaleb – Sentar, Huntsville
- Tom Stanton – Adtran, Huntsville
- Ray Watts – University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham
- Haig Wright II – Byars|Wright, Jasper
BEST COMPANY – LARGE (300 employees or more)
- Sponsor -
- Austal USA, Mobile
- BL Harbert International, Birmingham
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville
- Regions Financial, Birmingham
BEST COMPANY – SMALL
- David Christopher’s, Sheffield
- Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes, Birmingham
- Essnova Solutions, Birmingham
- HPM, Birmingham
- Thomas Accounting and Income Tax Service, Selma
- Vanguard Pacific, Foley
EXPAT OF THE YEAR
- Lloyd Austin, U.S. secretary of defense
- Noopur Davis, executive vice president, Comcast
- Jo Ann Jenkins, CEO of AARP
- Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- Willie Phillips, acting chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
BEST PHILANTHROPIC PROJECT
- Alabama Power Foundation, Birmingham
- Bank Independent Life Without Limits Half Marathon, Florence
- Huntsville Hospital Foundation’s Huntsville Classic, Huntsville
- Full Moon BBQ’s Backpack Blessings, Birmingham
- Redstone Federal Credit Union donation to Boys & Girls Clubs of North Alabama, Huntsville
BEST STARTUP
- AI-Ops, Mobile
- Cahaba Fire Company, Birmingham
- Croux, Birmingham
- Domestique Coffee, Birmingham
- VivoSphere, Auburn
PROJECT OF THE YEAR
- Aerojet Rocketdyne expansion, Huntsville
- Cerrowire expansion, Hartselle
- City Walk BHAM, Birmingham
- New Discovery Life Sciences global headquarters, Huntsville
- Hyundai Genesis, Montgomery
- Montgomery Whitewater, Montgomery
- Nextec, Birmingham
- OWA Tropic Falls addition, Foley
- USA Health purchase of Providence Hospital, Mobile
- Wicker Point Golf Club at Russell Lands, Alexander City
