Category: Past Speakers

Randy Kennedy is program director and host of Sports Drive on Mobile’s WNSP Sports Radio 105.5 FM, the country’s first all-sports FM station.
Kennedy has been a leading voice in the Gulf Coast since becoming sports editor at the Mobile Press-Register in 2002. He was three times named state sports columnist of the year. His responsibilities eventually including supervision of all editorial content proved by the Mobile office of AL.com.
He left newspapers and the web site to work full-time in radio in February 2015.
Kennedy grew up in Birmingham and graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Montevallo.

An investigative reporter for AL.com, Ben Raines has covered environmental issues and natural wonders in Alabama for nearly two decades. He wrote and produced the documentary America’s Amazon, which has been distributed to public schools across Alabama and is airing on PBS stations around the country. His underwater film work has appeared in documentaries on the Discovery Channel and National Geographic TV, and now in The Underwater Forest, which he wrote, filmed, and directed. Ben is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in filmmaking, and is a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain, giving tours of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. He and his wife and son live in Fairhope, Ala.

Today’s Speaker, July 27, 2017: Thaddeus A. Beeker, M.D.
Dr. Thaddeus Beeker is a graduate of Wake Forest University and East Carolina University School of Medicine in Greenville, N.C. He fulfilled a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and has practiced medicine in Mobile for nearly 30 years.
In March of 2007 he joined Southern Cancer Center where he specializes in the fields of hematology and oncology and he has received numerous prestigious awards for his work in those fields.
He and his wife Kelly live in the Oakleigh Garden District where they have been excellent stewards of one of the most beautiful homes on Government Street. They have two adult sons, Curry and T.J.

Stephen McNair, Ph.D. is the owner and senior consultant of McNair Historic Preservation, Inc., a national full-service historic preservation consulting firm. The firm specializes in historic tax credit projects (commercial and residential), National Register nominations (individual and districts), design, materials, compliance, and government relations. Prior to establishing the company in 2015, Stephen has served in various government and non-profit roles furthering the cause of historic preservation in New Orleans, Scotland, and Alabama. Dr. McNair received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alabama, a Master’s in Historic Preservation Architecture from Tulane University, and a Ph.D. in Architectural History from the University of Edinburgh.

Cathy moved from Georgia 9 months ago to take the position of President & CEO of Feeding the Gulf Coast, formerly Bay Area Food Bank.
She has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Georgia Southwestern University, an MBA in Finance from Texas Christian University, and a Master of Arts in Political Science from Georgia State University.
Prior to this position, Cathy was the Executive Director for Meals on Wheels of Middle Georgia in Macon, Georgia where she had lived for 27 years and raised 4 children. She has 3 boys, ages 28, 25 and 22, and a girl 20 who is a Junior at the University of Georgia.
Prior to her position at Meals on Wheels, Cathy was the Community Health Director and Grant Administrator with Susan G. Komen Foundation.
She has been a Middle and High School Math Teacher and flipped houses way back when the economy was good.
Cathy serves as: Feeding Florida, Board Member
Association of Alabama Food Banks, Board Member
Policy, Engagement, Advocacy Committee, Feeding America, Member
She enjoys traveling, reading, playing golf and spending time with family and friends.
Cathy is passionate about helping those struggling with hunger, specifically children and seniors, and is thrilled to call the Gulf Coast her new home.

Travis Randall Short, Founder, Owner, and President of Horizon shipbuilding, Inc., Bayou La Batre, Alabama graduated with a Business Management Degree from the University of South Alabama, Mobile in 1988. His entire career history, before and after graduation, was accrued in the marine industry.
Mr. Short, the son of a career U.S. Navy officer, grew up, learning of ships, boats, and marine equipment. He began an apprenticeship, working in his father’s shipyard at age fourteen and advanced through various shipyard trades. After graduating from the University of South Alabama, he managed the family small-boat manufacturing facility, responsible for manufacturing methods and production control of products in steel, aluminum and fiberglass. Contracts with the U.S. Government and various commercial entities included an aluminum submarine tender for a Cayman Islands company and several high-speed fiberglass river patrol boats for the U.S. Navy. The construction of several 65-Ft. steel Coast Guard Buoy Tenders followed.
In 1997, Mr. Short and his father founded Horizon Shipbuilding Inc., located on the extant Steiner Marine site. As President of the company, Travis was responsible for day-to-day operations. He introduced the company into international markets and constructed the largest steel vessel ever launched in Bayou La Batre at the time. He designed and adapted a vessel haul-out system utilizing an existing marine launch-way and constructed a side-launch capable of handling vessels to 250-Ft. in length and 1200 tons displacement. In 2002, he assumed complete ownership of the company and began expanding manufacturing capabilities, including the acquisition of additional adjacent facilities, which eventually quadrupled the shipyard land holdings, equipment, annual sales, and employment.
During the past ten years, Mr. Short has continued to expand domestic and international markets and the grade of manufacturing methods of Horizon. He redesigned the launching systems and acquired a TravelLift™ for launching vessels up to 700 Tons displacement. In 2007, he constructed and launched a 100 by 200 Ft. crane barge for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Launching of this barge required consultation and cooperation with a renowned salvage and floating crane company. The week-long operation was featured on the History Channel.
For the past three years, Mr. Short, redesigned the buildings and manufacturing facility and made major changes to the shipyard waterfront. Horizon recently purchased the 22-Acre Graham shipyard directly across the Bayou, from Horizon and established a modern fiberglass and aluminum construction facility with upgraded and enclosed manufacturing buildings. These upgrades and those made at its main facility have made Horizon the most versatile and modern shipyard in Bayou La Batre.
Mr. Short and Horizon have received local and state-wide recognition for its contributions to the city of Bayou La Batre and the Mobile County area. In 2010, Horizon received the Governor’s Trade Excellence award for Exporter of the Year as well as recognition from the Alabama International Trade Center for Exporter of the Year as well as numerous Certificates of recognition for supporting community/city/civic organizations.
Travis has lent is expertise and support to numerous activities whose purposes are to improve educational and economic opportunities in Mobile County and the cities of Mobile and Bayou La Batre. He currently serves as President Bayou La Batre Port Authority, Advisory Council Chairman of the Maritime Training Center and Advisory Board Member of Booth Elementary Advisory Board. His participation in other boards and organizations are as follows:
• Board member Mobile Works, Inc. since 2012
• Council Member of Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council (SAWDC) since 2013
• Bayou La Batre Area Chamber of Commerce Member since 2002 and member of the Board of Directors since 2005
• Member Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce since 2009 and member of the Board of Directors and Partners for Growth since 2012. He has served as Vice Chair Workforce Development since 2013 and Vice Chair Small Business Development since 2014
• Member of Oil and Gas Task Force
• Member Gulf Coast Shipbuilders Consortium
• Board Member of South Mobile County Community Development Corporation
Phone: 251 824 1660 Ext. 222
Email: trshort@horizonshipbuilding.com