Mel Stowers

Stowers was born on a North Georgia Farm, the 10th of 11 children, but that didn't hold him back. He was the Class President of his Senior class and Athlete of the Year at Dawson County high school in 1973. His childhood friend, Bill Elliott, the NASCAR driver still calls him by his full given name, Melvin.
After High School, Mel looked at Dawsonville GA in the rearview mirror as he high-tailed it to UGA where he completed Business School while working as a bouncer and bartender. One of Mel's first jobs after college was for the Coca-Cola Company as an undercover investigator for trademark infringement.

In 1980, after a taste of the corporate world, this Georgia boy landed a job with a foreign investment company — spawning his start in Commercial Real Estate working as the General Partner on a sixty million dollar portfolio of projects.

In 1988, Mel started his own Commercial Real Estate firm, Stowers and Company, pioneering the Adaptive Reuse Movement in Atlanta by brokering the first downtown Atlanta loft development. He sold the warehouse at 342 Marietta Street in 1991 that became, and still remains, the Pioneer Neon lofts. Mel recalls that time as 'the wild days…when the security guard would come in and fire his gun to let trespassers know he was armed and ready to use it.'

Northern Telecom played a large role in Stowers and Company's early years — working with them over ten years to lease their research and office facilities in Peachtree Corners.

Mel is a founding member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, has been in the Million-Dollar Club consistently for over 25 years and received the Silver Phoenix Award in 2015 for being in the Million Dollar Club for 25 years.  Stowers has made the Atlanta Business Chronicle's Top Lists several times for his industrial and office deals.

Mel Stowers has three children with his oldest son, Ben, recently joining the family business. His daughter Anna is a teacher in Nashville, TN and his youngest son, Will, is a Freshman at Colgate University. In addition to his active work life, Mel was recently re-appointed by Governor Nathan Deal to Georgia's Workforce Investment Board and was elected to serve as Chairman of the Re-Employment Committee, a division of Georgia's Department of Economic Development.

The North Cobb Rotary Club has been fortunate to have Mel as a member for over 15 years, holding most all positions in the organization during that time.  Currently his special non-profit project focus has been the Mountain Top Boys Home, located on 500 acres on the side of a Georgia mountain. The Mountain Top Home houses boys in the Northwest Georgia area from the DFACS and Department of Justice systems that they have not been able to place in Foster Care. Mel has played a significant role in the organization as President for two years and Treasurer for another two.