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James H. “Jimmy” Shumock
Chair pro tempore
State at Large
Business Administration
Appointed 2010
James H. Shumock earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of South Alabama in 1980. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Prior to stepping down from a leadership role at Thompson Holdings Inc., a Mobile firm that includes Thompson Engineering, Watermark Design Group and Thompson Consulting Services, Shumock was the board chairman and chief executive officer. Shumock is currently a member of Thompson’s board and is leading the owner advisor team for the Alabama Department of Transportation’s procurement of the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, as a public-private partnership.
Shumock’s career began in public accounting and he joined Thompson in 1983. His tenure there spanned more than three decades, during which he filled various roles and was instrumental in developing the company’s transportation services business throughout the Southeast. Shumock’s leadership in transportation included his service on the Alabama Commission on Infrastructure and his participation in a study of the financing of innovative mega projects in several European countries for the Federal Highway Administration.
Shumock served six years on the USA National Alumni Association Board, received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the USA National Alumni Association and is the president of the Jaguar Athletic Fund, a Mitchell College of Business fellow and serves on the USA Foundation Board.
Shumock has served the Mobile community with his participation on the Mobile Area Sports Commission, Coastal Conservation Association, Mobile Preschool for the Sensory Impaired, Mobile Baykeepers, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, Mobile Jaycees, the Greater Gulf States Fair, and he is a past president of the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. Shumock is also a graduate of Leadership Mobile.
Shumock and his wife, Debbie, live in Daphne. They have one daughter, Amanda, who lives in Alpharetta, Ga.

Sheriff Sam Cochran
Sam Cochran is a native Mobilian who graduated from the McGill Institute and went on to attend the University of South Alabama where he holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in criminal justice and public administration. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
He began his law enforcement career with the Mobile Police Department as a police cadet where he spent 31 years working his way through the ranks, serving the last 10 years as Chief of Police.
In 2006, Sam Cochran was elected Sheriff of Mobile County and re-elected in 2010, 2014, and 2018.
Sheriff Cochran serves the community on numerous agency boards, including the Penelope House, the Drug Education Council, and the Alabama Safety Institute. He was appointed by the Governor in 2015 to serve as a Commissioner on the Alabama Police Officers Standards and Training Commission. He has also served on the board of the Boy Scouts of America and the Child Advocacy Center.
Sheriff Cochran and his wife Sabrina have four children and four grandchildren.

Owen Bailey serves as chief executive officer and senior associate vice president of USA Health. His leadership responsibilities include the University’s two hospitals, USA Physicians Group and the Mitchell Cancer Institute.

A fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives, Bailey currently chairs the board of directors for the Alabama Hospital Association. He also serves on several other boards including the Business Council of Alabama and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mobile. He has also served on the boards of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and the University of Mobile. In addition, he has chaired the Southwest Council for the Alabama Hospital Association, Mobile Area Education Foundation and the Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council.

His previous healthcare roles include administrator of USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, president and chief executive officer of Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, and an executive vice president for Infirmary Health System.

Bailey has received numerous awards, including the Up and Comer Award from Modern Healthcare magazine and the Young Healthcare Executive of the Year and the Regent’s Award from the Alabama Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He earned a bachelor’s degree in health administration from Auburn University and a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Bailey is an active member of the First Baptist Church of Fairhope. He and his wife, Genie, have four children.

Program Coordinator

Cade grew up on beautiful Guntersville Lake in North Alabama. After earning his B.S. from Auburn University he took a position with the U.S. Forest Service as a backcountry wilderness restoration intern in Washington; however, sweet home Alabama called and Cade returned to get his M.S. from Auburn University. Soon afterwards he followed his wife to her home in Baldwin County and has been exploring the treasures of the Gulf coast since. In his spare time Cade likes to kayak and bike with his wife. Cade is thrilled to have the opportunity to work for the citizens of the Alabama Gulf coast and preserve the environment of this majestic area.

As program coordinator Cade researches local projects in regard to their environmental impact. He assists in carrying out existing Mobile Baykeeper programs and designing and implementing new programs to educate citizens on environmental issues. He also addresses citizen concerns on environmental issues.

A native of Enterprise, Katie Boyd Britt is a graduate of The University of Alabama with a degree in Political Science and Blount Liberal Arts. Katie’s career began in Washington, D.C., as Senator Richard Shelby’s Deputy Press Secretary and later Press Secretary, serving as head of the department at only 23. Katie then served as Special Assistant to then-University of Alabama President Robert Witt. After obtaining her law degree, she practiced law with Butler Snow LLP.

In 2015, she took a leave of absence to serve as Senator Shelby’s Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director before rejoining his team as Chief of Staff in 2016.

Katie was then selected as President and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama in December 2018, where she works to build a stronger business community. In this role, she serves on numerous committees and task forces, including Montgomery United Transition Committee, Alabama Technology Network Advisory Board, Leadership Council of the Alabama Law Alumni Society, the Montgomery Area Committee of 100, Stillman College Board of Trustees, and both Governor Ivey’s Coronavirus Task Force and Broadband Working Group.

Katie resides in Montgomery with her husband, Wesley, and their two children, Bennett and Ridgeway. She is involved in numerous civic, educational, and leadership organizations.

SHAYLA JONES BEACO
Shayla Beaco is Mobile’s Executive Director of Build Mobile, a new City department that lays
the initial foundation for the City to serve everyone who wants to do business, create jobs and
grow Mobile. As executive director of Build Mobile, she oversees planning and zoning,
historical development, long-range planning, urban design, inspecting and permitting. As the cochair of the Map for Mobile development process, and with a background in both planning and
community outreach, as well as her understanding of the vision set forth by the mayor for
Mobile’s future, she is working to provide continuity and further develop the City of Mobile’s
implementation strategies with the new comprehensive plan.
Beaco first stepped onto Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s executive team in 2013 as the Senior Director
of Community Affairs charged with public outreach and citizen engagement. In January 2016,
she was promoted to Senior Director of City Planning; and less than a year later, in October
2016, Mayor Stimpson recognized her abilities as a leader and promoted her to her current
position of Executive Director of Build Mobile.
Before coming to the City in 2013, she worked in the City of Mobile’s long-range planning
division where she coordinated the Mobile’s Smart Growth initiative and land-use planning
efforts. From there, she was hired by the City of Prichard as the director of community and
economic development, and later went on to work for the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce
charged with long-range strategic planning efforts for the coastal Alabama region.
Shayla graduated from Spring Hill College in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in political science
and from Auburn University with a master of community planning in 1999. She is married to
Rory Beaco, and they have two children.

Alabama’s Gulf Coast Zoo

Bio – Joel M. Hamilton

Mr. Hamilton joined the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo with a long history of zoo-related work.  Prior to moving to Gulf Shores, Joel served as the Vice President and General Curator of the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans. In this leadership role, Mr. Hamilton managed the animal collections of Audubon Zoo and the Freeport McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center providing guidance and direction to all animal care staff.  Prior to his work with Audubon, Mr. Hamilton worked for many years as a licensed landscape architect designing a variety of animal facilities and served as the Zoo Director of Salisbury Zoological Park from 2008 to 2012 where he directed overall operations, increased park visitation, and improved community support.  He received his master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Texas at Arlington after earning degrees in biology and exotic animal training and management.  Joel has been a bird keeper and the Supervisor of Birds at the Dallas Zoo.  Joel also worked at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, in Providence, Rhode Island, as the Curator of Australasia and Tropical America. 

Some of Joel’s favorite zoo memories are of his participation in field conservation projects.  He delivered the Dallas Zoo’s first Andean condor egg to the Los Angeles Zoo for inclusion in the Condor Project.  He lived in a tent for a month in the Amazon forest of Peru while collecting data for a population study of understory birds.  Joel also traveled to Cuba to assist with a field population census of the Cuban Amazon parrot and the Cuban crane.

Joel enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.  Traveling, observing wildlife and experiencing the world around us are important past-times.  As an avid fly fisherman, a fly rod is never far from his reach!

Mr. Hamilton is excited to join the Gulf Coast team and glad to be your new Executive Director!  With more than thirty years of experience as a zoo professional, Mr. Hamilton is passionate about educating guests about wildlife conservation and the environment.