GEORGIA PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
November 26, 2013
Contact Benita Dodd at 404-256-4050 or
Foundation Announces 2 New Board of Trustees Members
Atlanta – The Georgia Public Policy Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of two Georgians to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Macon residents Roy H. Fickling and Robert F. “Robbo” Hatcher.
“The Georgia Public Policy Foundation is an independent, non-partisan think tank that tackles public policy with the goal of improving the lives of all Georgians,” said Kelly McCutchen, President and CEO of the Foundation.
“We are thrilled to add these two accomplished leaders to our Board. Both care very deeply about the future of the state, both are actively engaged at the state and community level and both have extensive public policy expertise and experience.”
Roy Fickling is President of Fickling & Company Inc., a Macon-based regional real estate development, brokerage, management and consulting firm; President of Riverside Automotive Inc. (automobile dealerships), and a director and officer of various closely held operating and investment companies.
Fickling, who graduated from the University of Georgia with a BBA in banking and finance, is also a Founding Director and partner at Beech Street, U.K., Ltd., an international health care administration firm in London; a Founding Director of Rivoli Bank & Trust, a community bank in Macon; director at Piedmont Community Bank, and director at Oxigene Inc., a biopharmaceuticals company.
He serves on the Federal Reserve Middle Georgia Economic Advisory Council and the Macon-Bibb County Consolidation Task Force. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization’s Rebel Chapter and a Founding Board Member of the Macon Downtown Rotary Club. He also serves on the Shield Club’s Board of Directors. An accomplished airplane, seaplane and helicopter pilot, Fickling is on the Board of Advisors of the WRALC Museum of Aviation and Board of Electors of the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.
In addition, he has served on the Georgia Ports Authority (2008-2013); the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority (1995-2012); the Georgia Technology Authority(2004-2008); the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians; the Macon/Bibb County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors (1997-2008); the Macon Economic Development Commission (2003-2006, 2008-2011); the Wesleyan College Board of Trustees (1994-2007) and on the board of directors of the Tubman African American Museum, the City Club of Macon, Mid Summer Macon, the Cherry Blossom Festival, the American Heart Association and Education First, a public-private partnership formed to improve public education in Bibb County. He is married with two sons.
Robert F. “Robbo” Hatcher is President and CEO of H2 Capital, Inc. and Chairman of NanoMist Systems LLC. He is former President and CEO of Palmetto Merchandise Inc., Vice President and CFO of Coleman Meadows Pate Drug Co., and a senior consultant at McKinsey & Co. and at Peat Marwick Main.
Hatcher is a Founding Director of MidCountry Financial Corp., a $1 billion-plus diversified financial services firm, and serves on the Board of Advisors of BB&T.
He is a member of the Wesleyan College Board of Trustees and the Middle Georgia State College Foundation Board of Trustees. Among the boards of directors he serves on are the Georgia Lottery Corporation, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, the Museum of Aviation and Riverside Cemetery. He currently chairs the Macon Economic Development Commission and Mercer University’s Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics Board of Visitors. He is a past chair of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, Stratford Academy, the Museum of Arts & Sciences, Renaissance Housing Partnership and Leadership Macon.
Hatcher attended the University of Essex in Colchester, England, and received his B.A. (Econ/MIS) from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. He is a graduate of Leadership Macon and Leadership Georgia. He and his wife, Betsy, have two children.
For a complete list of the Foundation Board of Trustees, please visit www.georgiapolicy.org/who-we-are/people/.
About the Georgia Public Policy Foundation: Established in 1991, the Foundation is an independent, state-based think tank that proposes market-oriented approaches to public policy to improve the lives of Georgians. The Foundation’s regular events include Leadership Breakfasts and Policy Briefing Luncheons. Weekly publications are the Friday Facts and Friday Idea commentaries. Visit our Web site at www.georgiapolicy.org. Join The Forum at http://forum.georgiapolicy.org/. Become a fan of the Foundation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gppf.