Mr. Ham Smythe III Honored for his Service to the Shelby County Community
We appreciate you Mr. Smythe!!!
W. HAMILTON “HAM” Smythe, III
On Monday, September 22, 2008 at 1:30pm, the Shelby County Commission recognized Hamilton “Ham” Smythe, III as one of Shelby Count’s Extraordinary Citizens. Commissioner Deidra Malone presented Mr. Ham with a resolution citing his many years of volunteer service to organizations in Memphis, and Shelby County. One of many being his 26 years serving as chairman of the Shelby County Agricenter Commission
In the spring of 1979, several Memphis business leaders began evaluating the feasibility of establishing an “Agricenter” in Memphis. Ned Cook of Cook Industries, Hamilton Smythe III of Yellow Cab Company, B. Lee Mallory of Memphis Compress and Storage, John Barringer of Barringer Cotton Company, Robert Booth of Commercial & Industrials Bank, and a number of others, began serious planning of what an “Agricenter” could be and what economic importance such a center would have for Memphis, the Mid South and the United States. Through the work of these leaders, Governor Lamar Alexander and Shelby County Government, Agricenter International was created. In April of 2004 the Board of Directors of Agricenter commissioned Younger Associates of Jackson, TN, a full-service marketing, advertising, and economic development consulting firm to research the impact of Agricenter International’s operations on the economy of Shelby County. The overall impact of Agricenter International and the business entities operating as tenants within its facilities exceeds $524.3 million annually. Mr. Ham Smythe, as a leader and promoter of this one half billion dollar economic generator, has served as the Chairman of its 7 member Shelby County Agricenter Commission for the entire span of operations form conception to today. Mr. Smythe’s leadership has taken Agricenter from an economic drain on the County to a facility operating fully in the black. While handling the enormity of Agricenter he still found time to successfully run his own business Yellow Cab & Premier Transportation, serve on many business and civic organizations and maintain a sense of humor that those of us who know and love him have come to appreciate.
W. HAMILTON “HAM SMYTHE, III
Business:
- Current Chairman of Southern Transportation Co.
- President of Paratransit Insurance Company.
- Past President International Taxicab association
- Past Chairman International Taxicab Association
Civic:
- Chairman, Shelby County Agricenter Commission
- Founder and Past President, Boys & Girls Clubs of Memphis
- Founder and Past Board Chairman, Porter Leath Children’s Center
- Founder and Past President, Phoenix Club
- Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau (First Chairman following split from C of C)
- Past Chairman, Memphis Arts Council (not founder)
- Founder, Wolf River Society
- Past Board Member, Baptist Memorial Healthcare Foundation
- Past Commodore, Memphis Yacht Club (Commodore)
- Vestry, Grace St Luke’s Episcopal Church
- Past Chairman, Grace St Luke’s Episcopal School
- Serves on the Shelby Farms Conservancy Board of Directors