Management

Director

Ron Drinkard is a lifelong resident of Alabama who graduated from Troy University in Troy, Alabama, with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. He is also a graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Banking in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Drinkard was Director of Area Development for the Metropolitan Development Board of Birmingham, Alabama, before moving to an industrial development position with the Alabama Development Office in Montgomery. From 1979 to 1985, Drinkard was Vice President for Industrial Development at AmSouth Bank in Montgomery and from 1985 to 2005, he served as Senior Vice President of SouthTrust Bank/Wachovia. Upon retirement from banking he started a governmental relations business, The Ron Drinkard Group, LLC. Drinkard's background in banking, economic development and governmental relations combined with his dedicated community involvement and civic and charitable organizations throughout the state of Alabama are strong assets for the Alabama Center for Foreign Investment, LLC.

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General Counsel

Boyd Campbell was born in Germany and has practiced immigration and nationality law in Montgomery, Alabama, since 1988. He is a graduate of Montgomery public schools, the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Columbia University in New York, New York. He received his law degree from Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1987, and served as a law clerk for the Alabama Supreme Court before opening his law practice. Mr. Campbell has worked with individual foreign investors and multinational corporations in order to meet their needs and assist them in complying with U.S. immigration laws. He is a noted speaker on issues involving U.S. immigration law and served on the American Bar Association's Coordinating Committee on Immigration Law from 1994 to 1998. He is a founding member of the International Law Section of the Alabama State Bar. More recently, Mr. Campbell became Vice-Chair of the AILA Investor EB-5 Committee. Mr. Campbell has 19 years of experience in working with foreign nationals to address legal matters involving U.S. immigration laws and is well-suited to serve as General Counsel for the Alabama Center for Foreign Investment.

Both of ACFI-RC's principals are members of the Center for International Business & Economic Developement (CIBED) Advisory Board.

Click here to read the EB-5 article written by Dr. Judson Edwards and Boyd Campbell for the Applied Research in Economic Development, April 2008 issue.

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Legal Representation

The Alabama Regional Center does not handle individual petitions internally. However, the center could provide a list of lawyers in different locations across the U.S. who could assist potential investors who do not already have legal representation. ACFI strongly recommends that potential accredited investors seek a legal representative familiar with the EB-5 program to file their petitions. ACFI is committed to work closely with the investor's attorney and review the petitions to be filed.

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Our Economists

ACFI-RC also has associated with a group of experienced reputable economists including and Dr. Judson Edwards, Director of the Center for International Business and Economic Development at Troy University, and Dr. Samuel Addy, Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at The University of Alabama (UA) who will be performing any necessary economic analysis and developing appropriate econometric models that may relate to ACFI-RC projects. See our economists' bios below.

Judson C. Edwards, Ph.D., EDFP

Dr. Judson C. Edwards is the Director of the Center for International Business and Economic Development and Associate Professor of Economics at Troy University—Troy Campus. He received a B.S. in Economics and Geography from Troy University and M.S. and Ph.D. in International Development from The University of Southern Mississippi. Before returning to his alma mater, Dr. Edwards served as tenure-track faculty at The University of Southern Mississippi and the University of North Dakota. While at Southern Miss, he directed the Economic Development Master’s Degree Program and led numerous applied research projects for economic development organizations and industry. Dr. Edwards specializes in economic impact analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and retail trade studies. Currently, he serves as the Managing Editor of Applied Research in Economic Development and Editor of the Troy University Business and Economic Review. Dr. Edwards is a Board Member of The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) and member of the Special Advisory Committee to the Executive Council of the Alabama Rural Action Commission.

Samuel Addy, Ph.D.

Dr. Sam Addy is Director and Associate Research Economist at the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, The University of Alabama (UA). Sam is a native of the West African country, Ghana, where he obtained a B.Sc. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology. He also holds an M.S. in Mineral Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in Mineral Economics from the Pennsylvania State University. Before pursuing graduate studies, Sam helped small start-up gold prospecting and mining companies set up ore washing and treatment plants. He joined UA in January 1998 after a brief stint with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s program in arms control, disarmament, and international security (ACDIS). At CBER, Sam directs and conducts funded studies that include economic and fiscal impacts; fiscal policy; workforce, economic, and community development; economic forecasting for planning purposes; and environmental and climate change issues.

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