Danny Garrett

Danny Garrett (born October 11, 1957) is a businessman and an American politician who has served District 44 in the Alabama House of Representatives since 2014.^[1][2] A member of the Republican Party, Garrett currently serves as the House Majority Whip.^[3] He represents the  44th House District in Jefferson County, which includes the cities of Trussville, Clay and portions of Pinson.^[4]

Personal life[]

Garrett is the oldest of four children born to John Ray Garrett, Jr. and Shirley Ferguson Garrett. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee and his family moved to Decatur, Alabama on his first birthday in 1958. In 1962, the family moved to Center Point, a suburb outside of Birmingham.   Garrett attended Erwin Elementary, Erwin Junior High and Erwin High School (now Center Point High School), graduating in 1976. He was elected  class President in both his junior and senior years.

From 1976 to 1978, Garrett attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 1978, he transferred to the University of Alabama main campus in Tuscaloosa, where he earned a Bachelor's and a Master's degree.

In 1984, Garrett married Carol Sisson, from Haleyville, Alabama. The couple first met as students while at the University of Alabama. They have three married adult sons and one grandchild.   He and Carol are active members of First Baptist Church of Trussville, where they taught Sunday School for fifteen years to 12th grade students.^[5]  He has served as a church Trustee, deacon, teacher, choir member and musician.  He is a former bi-vocational music minister and served on the staff of several churches in the Birmingham area as a young adult.

Political Service[]

In 2010, Garrett was appointed by the Trussville City Council to the Trussville City Schools Board of Education. He was named Vice President of the Board in 2012.^[6]

In 2014, Garrett ran for open seat of State Representative for House District 44, which had been held for 36 years by Arthur Payne.^[7]

In 2018, Garrett was re-elected without opposition.^[8]

Garrett currently serves as House Majority Whip, a position he was selected for in 2018. He  serves as Vice Chair of both the Education Ways and Means Committee and Education Policy Committees.^[9]  He also serves as a member of the Fiscal Responsibility Committee and previously served as a member of the Small Business and Commerce Committee.   Garrett served as Co-Chair of the Joint Task Force on Budget Reform^[10] and Co-Chair of the Joint Task Force on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.^[11] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he was named Chair of the Emergency Small Business Task Force subcommittee of the Executive Branch Small Business Commission, which prepared detail plans, procedures and recommendations for reopening the state of Alabama economy.^[12] Garrett also was appointed to the Lieutenant Governor's Workforce Development Task Force.^[13]

Business career[]

Upon graduation from college, Garrett began his career with the Birmingham office of Ernst & Young, during which time he passed the Certified Public Accountant.exam.  In 1983, Garrett join SONAT Inc, a $3 billion oil and gas company as a Tax Analyst.  In 1986, he was named Director of Finance and Planning for Birmingham Steel Corporation, a mini-mill steel producer who shares were publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.   He worked for Birmingham Steel for sixteen years in a number of progressively responsible positions, including Corporate Treasurer, Corporate Controller, Vice President of Investor Relations, Vice President of Finance and Executive Vice President-Chief Financial Officer.  He prepared financial and operating analysis of  numerous potential acquisitions.  For two years, he relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he oversaw the acquisition and assimilation of American Steel & Wire Corporation, a high quality steel rod and wire producer.   Following a series of management changes that began in 1997,  the Birmingham Steel's Chairman/Chief Executive Officer was removed from office as a result of a proxy contest.   Garrett, then Vice President of Finance, was one of few member of senior management that were retained by the new management team.   Within a few months, he was promoted by the new management and Board of Directors to Executive Vice President and CFO.   During most of his tenure with Birmingham Steel, Garrett was the company's primary contract for Wall Street investment and banking firms, institutional investors and shareholders.  In 2002, Birmingham Steel was sold to Nucor Corporation for $550 million.^[14]

In 2003, Garrett joined Nabi, Inc. (North American Bus Industries) as the Chief Financial Officer for North American operations. Nabi was a company headquartered in Budapest, Hungary with operations in Hungary, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company's shares were traded on the Budapest Stock Exchange and the controlling shareholder was the First Hungary Fund, a investment group that was formed following the collapse of the Iron Curtain to spur capitalism in Hungary. The company primarily sold buses to transit authorities located in the United States, and the company's assembly plant was located in Anniston, Alabama. During his tenure with Nabi, Garrett worked with numerous European banks and investors. Following  a collapse of the US dollar relative to the Hungarian forant, Garrett was named Interim Chief Executive Officer of North American Operations and CFO for the worldwide group.^[15] He led efforts to restructure and turnaround operations, which ultimately led to the sale in 2005 of Nabi to Cerburus, an private investment firm headquartered in New York.

In 2005, Garrett joined Progress Rail Services, a $1 billion provider of repair and maintenance services to the U.S. Railroad industry, as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.^[16] Progress Rail, headquartered in Albertville, Alabama, had recently been acquired by One Equity, an affiliate of J.P. Morgan from Progress Energy for $400 million. Garrett was hired to help organize and structure the company to enable a possible public offering of the company's shares within a 3-4 year time frame. Along with other members of management, Garrett received an equity interest in the company.   With months of Garrett joining Progress Rail, market valuations for the railroad industry significantly increased, and the Board of Directors initiated a public offering process.  Garrett led efforts to effect the IPO and comply with Security and Exchange Commission requirements and stock exchange listing requirements.  Prior to the finalizing of the IPO, Catepillar, Inc made a cash offer in May 2005 to acquire the company for $1 billion. Garrett was offered a senior position with Caterpillar in Peoria, Illinois, but declined in order to maintain his residence in Alabama.

In 2007, Garrett served briefly as Chief Financial Officer for Summit Products, a $35 million toy company headquartered in Birmingham.  Garrett was hired to assist Summit with developing an expansion strategy with the “big box” retailers and toy stores.^[17]  Following a general decline in the overall U.S. Economy in late 2008, the company's plans for expansion were no longer feasible and Garrett resigned and joined Vulcan Steel Products in 2009 as Chief Financial Officer.  

Vulcan, headquartered in Pelham, Alabama was a family owned steel company that had been adversely impacted by the U.S. economic decline. Garrett renegotiated the company's loan agreements and led efforts to develop and implement a turnaround strategy for the company.  Within 12 months, the company streamlined operations, changed its management and operations structure and returned to profitability.   Garrett served as CFO for seven years and led efforts to sell the business at the direction of the owners.  In 2016, the company was sold to Steel Dynamics (SDI), a multi-billion dollar steel producer headquartered in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.^[18]   Garrett, who had been elected to the Alabama Legislature in 2014, was offered a position with SDI in Ft. Wayne, but declined to remain in Alabama.

In 2016, Garrett briefly joined Signature Homes, a residential construction company headquartered in Hoover, Alabama, as Chief Financial Officer. Garrett was asked by Signature's Chief Executive Officer to assist with a management team transition of the current CFO to another role as Chief Operating Officer. Garrett restructured the financial reporting, reorganized the financial staff  while continuing to serve in the Legislature. He resigned in 2018, when a permanent CFO was hired.

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