H. J. Russell & Co. Hits Milestone & Launches “We Build” Campaign

ATLANTA – (Nov. 6, 2019) - November marks five years since the passing of H. J. Russell & Company’s founder, Herman J. Russell, Sr. Today, the company he founded, H. J. Russell & Company (Russell), is at number 25 on the BE Top 100 list. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of Russell’s incorporation. The company is responsible for playing a role in erecting or providing construction or program management services for some of the most iconic buildings that define the Atlanta skyline. Some of these structures have truly helped shape Atlanta in terms of providing quality live, work and play spaces – from developing, building and managing affordable housing communities like Maggie Russell Towers for seniors and Capitol Vanira Apartments for families, to constructing office buildings like Georgia-Pacific, Coca-Cola headquarters and 191 Peachtree Tower, as well as public assembly places like The Carter Center, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, State Farm Arena, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium to name a few.

To mark the significance of both occasions, two of Atlanta’s most notable structures, one representing the past (191 Peachtree Tower), and one representing the future (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), both helping to shape the Atlanta skyline, will be lit green the evening of November 6, 2019 to commemorate the milestones.

“As we reflected on how we pressed through the significant economic downturn that started in 2008, we wanted to pause and pay tribute to our founder, a construction pioneer who always saw the possibilities,” said Lonoia Brooks, marketing director, Russell. “Sixty years in business is amazing, and while looking back, we are also celebrating the legacy that the fresh Russell team is carrying forward, helping to not just build structures, but to help build vibrant communities and spaces that make the cities in which we build and operate thrive.”

Herman J. Russell’s legacy and dreams continue along with the new ones of his children, Michael B. Russell, CEO, and H. Jerome Russell, Jr., president, who provide day-to-day leadership of H. J. Russell & Company. Their sister, Donata Russell Ross, serves on Russell’s board of directors while also serving as the CEO of Concessions International, LLC, a sister company their father started in 1979 that provides airport concessions in eight airports in the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“We’ve had the fortune of building off the legacy of two incredible men of their day, our father and our grandfather, coupled with all the support from our mother,” said Michael B. Russell, CEO, Russell. “Since I took the helm in 2003, we’ve had our ups and downs, but what remains true is our steadfast commitment to improving the working, living and playing quality of life for Atlantans and wherever we do business, and doing so with integrity and excellence. Some of our most recent complex projects we’ve worked on with joint venture partners including the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, City of Atlanta Water Supply Program and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, not only make us proud, but lets the industry know that this privately owned firm has all the talent it takes to tackle just about any project on the table.”

During a day of celebration, including the launch of the “We build” campaign at a VIP luncheon at Paschal’s Restaurant within the Russell Hospitality campus, and a bus tour around the city to discuss the iconic landmark structures Russell helped build, the Russell family will also host influencers and supporters at an evening “We build” reception at the future home of the Russell Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, a lasting legacy to the economic power of entrepreneurism.

“Our father always believed in owning your own so you could control your own destiny,” said H. Jerome Russell, president, Russell. “He believed you were bigger than your circumstances and that only you could limit your dreams. Through the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, we plan to help launch many dreams with the active involvement of the third generation of the Russell family as well, making this truly a family affair our father and grandfather would be proud of.”

Russell recently announced the groundbreaking of the Stockbridge Amphitheater, the first-ever amphitheater in Henry County, along with the development of the King Memorial Transit-Oriented Development in conjunction with MARTA and is renovating 23 Fulton-County Library System libraries.

ABOUT HERMAN J. RUSSELL, SR.

Growing up during segregation in the 1930s and 1940s in Atlanta, Herman J. Russell became one of the country’s most successful businessmen and commercial real estate tycoons. It was in the Summerhill neighborhood where he started his first business at age 14 shining shoes. His shoeshining business eventually financed the purchase of his first plot of land at age 16. It was through that land purchase and his building of a duplex, which he rented out, that he financed his own education at Tuskegee University and later started H. J. Russell & Company, a construction firm that has always called Atlanta home.

ABOUT H. J. RUSSELL & COMPANY

Founded in 1952 and incorporated in 1959, H. J. Russell & Company is one of the largest minority-owned construction services and real estate development firms in the United States. A multi-faceted organization providing integrated solutions and an exceptional customer experience, Russell has developed, designed/built, renovated, and managed some of the nation’s most complex, high profile projects involving multiple stakeholders and requiring exceptional diplomacy and skill, including the Mercedes-Benz Stadium with the HHRM JV and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture with Clark Construction and Smoot Construction. Visit www.hjrussell.com to learn more about the firm.

SELECT H. J. RUSSELL & COMPANY PROJECTS IN ATLANTA

• 191 Peachtree Tower
• Atlanta City Hall
• Atlanta Federal Center
• Atlanta Public Safety Headquarters
• Atlanta Public Schools Instruction & Administration Building
• Atlanta Streetcar
• Auburn Avenue Research Library
• The Carter Center
• Centennial Olympic Park
• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Hughes Spalding Hospital
• Coca-Cola Headquarters
• Cosby Learning Center at Spelman College
• Delta Air Lines Worldspan and Operations Centers
• Ebenezer Baptist Church Addition
• Emory Sports Medicine Complex
• High Museum Expansion
• Judge Romae T. Powell Juvenile Justice Center (Fulton County)
• Georgia Dome
• Georgia-Pacific Headquarters
• Georgia Perimeter College Student Success Center
• Georgia World Congress Center, Phase IV
• Grady Memorial Hospital
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
• Lakewood Amphitheater
• Langston Hughes High School (Fairburn, GA)
• The Manhattan (Sandy Springs area)
• Maggie Russell Towers
• Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Home Depot Backyard
• Morehouse College Dining Hall
• Morris Brown College Administration Building
• National Center for Civil and Human Rights
• Philips Arena
• State Farm Arena Transformation
• Target at Atlantic Station
• Turner Field (now, Georgia State University’s Stadium)
• Water Supply Program (Tunnel Project), City of Atlanta
• Woodruff Arts Center Renovation
• Woodruff Park

SELECT H. J. RUSSELL & COMPANY PROJECTS OUTSIDE OF ATLANTA

• Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History & Culture, Washington, DC)
• DFW Terminal Renovation and Improvement Program (Dallas, TX)
• Parkland Acute Care Center and Sky Bridges (Dallas, TX)
• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (Birmingham, AL)
• American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)
• UNC Charlotte 49ers Football Complex (Charlotte, NC)
• National Center for Bioethics at Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL)

# # #