User:Smcnelley/Scott mcnelley

Early years Scott Taylor McNelley was born in Mobile, Alabama, on June 19, 1965, to Hazel and William McNelley, and has a half-brother, Bill. William was a program analyst for the federal government and was called on to move often. The family moved to Birmingham and Atlanta before his parents divorced, a major event in Scott McNelley’s life that caused him much turmoil in his early years. At the age of fourteen, he moved to Montgomery to live with his grandmother and attended Lanier High School, graduating in 1983. He sang in several choirs, solo and ensemble, both at church and school. In school, he was cast as a main character in the senior class play, No, No, Nanette, and in church he was chosen to sing several duos in the ensemble with his future wife, Jackie. Scott found much solace and meaning in music, a theme throughout his life.

As a young student McNelley had little success in school. He was poorly disciplined and had a wandering mind. After high school graduation, he had several odd jobs and realized furthering his education would be beneficial. At Auburn University Montgomery, he taught himself to study and focus and realized he had a slant toward the natural sciences. McNelley chose a biology major and wanted to be a dentist. His aspiration to go to University of Alabama at Birmingham to go to dental school was dispelled on his second trip with friends when, after reflecting on his future, he realized for many reasons it wasn’t the right direction.

At the time, Scott knew exactly which direction was wrong but didn’t know which direction was right. He continued going to school and supporting himself as a runner for the law firm Copeland Franco. He also worked nights with a band called Klass doing anything that needed to be done, but mostly enjoying the lifestyle. The band, managed by Martin Brassfield, included Derek Welch (lead vocals), Greg Shafer (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), and Chris Welch (drums), with McNelley occasionally singing backup.

An idea in the making After unloading the trucks one night for the band, Brassfield and McNelley saw an opportunity: the empty trucks were an untapped resource and the band needed money. The band could use the trucks at night to ferry their equipment, and during the day the trucks would be used to do apartment moves. Thus began First Klass Movers, enabling McNelley to quit his job with the law firm.

After Klass, the band, recorded their second album, they were on the road often, but McNelley stayed behind to do small residential moves and run the ever growing business. McNelley soon realized the benefit of the full time moving business. He built a business plan to raise enough capital to start another division for office moving, and in return wanted a controlling interest in the company and an employment agreement for the life of the loan. However, dissension was brewing within the band, and life took another turn.

The beginning of Admiral Movers One evening McNelley was shooting pool at the home of a friend, Zach Azar, and was chatting about his ideas and interest in office moving. Zach’s father, George Azar, always up for a good business venture, offered to finance McNelley’s business idea, but felt it was risky to finance a band. After listening to Azar’s counsel about launching a company of his own, McNelley’s entrepreneurial spirit took flight. The two went into business as equal partners in 1989, but Azar and McNelley understood that Azar was a silent partner; McNelley was to do the legwork.

“Admiral Movers” was chosen as the perfect name for this business venture because it would put the company at the front of the Yellow Pages movers section, and it made reference to the military, a presence in Montgomery. McNelley and Azar took a trip to Atlanta to visit Ed Katz, the “Office Moving Guru,” of Peachtree Movers whom they had read about in Direction Magazine, an American Moving and Storage Association publication. The two observed how Katz ran his state-of-the-art office moving business, and Katz shared his marketing plan and business strategies. On March 28, 1989, Admiral Movers became affiliated with American Red Ball, giving them license to perform long distance, interstate, residential moves.

For the first six months, business was very slim. Scott did all the legwork to promote his business through one-on-one marketing since they did not have even an ad in the Yellow Pages. He would spend his evenings walking door to door introducing his company to anyone who would listen. The first year saw $28,000 in business revenue, but the sweat and determination paid off. The next year Admiral Movers pulled in $180,000 worth of business.

Set backs and disappointments While doing a move in Mobile, Admiral’s only truck caught fire. Azar had financial control and was heavily contemplating dissolving the company because of the debt. McNelley was scared to death of losing his company and his heart was broken.

But Scott fought for what he wanted. He wrangled with Azar, finally persuading him not to dissolve the company. For 18 months McNelley operated his moving business without a truck. He paid for a rental truck, for labor and materials everyday, and he learned how to maximize his margin. Slowly Admiral Movers began to be known as the office moving alternative in Montgomery by delivering first rate service. The mantra was, “bring jobs in on time and on budget.” They never failed to get an office up and running on schedule after a move.

The first big office move McNelley did was for AmSouth Bank. The job was large and the deadline was tight, and the move was completed over two successive weekends. Scott’s economy of effort was taking shape in all facets of moving, from planning to getting a business up and running after a move. A few months after the AmSouth job, Admiral Movers’ next big move was Colonial Mortgage (it was the largest move in the city and Admiral’s largest move to date). They performed it with rented trucks and a lot of manpower. It was the first use of the box-less gondola system and Admiral’s trademark AirGlide system. Within a month, they moved Colonial Bank and were under an intense time frame to keep the bank operational with no downtime.

Admiral was doing household moves at the same time. Its visibility in the community was growing, as was its reputation for great service in an industry known for sub-par performance. Scott McNelley and George Azar made enough money that year to put a down payment on another truck, a 1997 International, which the company still owns and uses today.  Early milestones McNelley got married in 1995 to Jackie Wright, and their son, Noah, was born in 1997. That same year, Scott graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Although Scott had proven a college degree was not necessary for his success, he knew understanding business finance would be helpful. His graduation was a personal goal and milestone.

In 1997 Scott McNelley’s company moved Jackson Hospital, their first hospital move, and it took about 45 days over a three month period. The many fragile electronic pieces and intricate technical areas took great expertise. Admiral Movers’ success with Jackson enabled them to purchase a second truck and referred them to their next move, the Maxwell Air Force Base Hospital (now the Ambulatory Clinic) which was even larger and took more manpower. McNelley was building a reputation for himself and his company with each large move. His entrepreneurship has kept Admiral Movers at the forefront of its industry and has created a name for his company as “The Hospital Mover.”

Then, in 2000, an even greater milestone was reached. McNelley bought out Azar’s half of the business, a step that took McNelley into independence and Admiral Movers into a new era. In 2001, Admiral was awarded the second best residential mover in the country for American Red Ball.

An industry leader and entrepreneur McNelley has always been forward thinking in his moving methodologies. He developed the AirGlide system, a box-less gondola system of rolling bookshelves that simplifies office moving by allowing files to be held in the same order as on their shelves in their home offices, and do not have to be shuffled for transit. The AirGlide system is also used for moving computers. Each computer station is secured on one computer cart with anti-static bubble wrap, then labeled and shrink wrapped in place so transportation and reassembly are easy and painless. Anti-static, spongy wheels ensure no damage will be done to the components.

In 2004, Admiral Movers moved from a small cotton warehouse in downtown Montgomery, to a 25,000 foot warehouse with 28 employees. Also that year he formed Redwood Properties, an LLC, to hold the real estate. Shortly afterward, a big break came for Admiral Movers. In 2006 they affiliated with the moving giant Mayflower, owned by UniGroup located in Fenton, Missouri.

Scott McNelley’s most recent foray into entrepreneurship is the entrance into records management in 2006 after the Prism Conference.

Community involvement McNelley has been a Kiwanis Foundation executive board member (2009-2012), the Affiliate Council president of the Association of Board of Realtors (2005, 2008), Alabama National Fair board member (2007-2009), 2nd vice president Kiwanis Club (2009), Board member Kiwanis Foundation (2003-2004, 2007-2009), Member of Administrative Board (2000-2001,2003-2004) and Member of Finance Committee First United Methodist Church (2000-2004), a Sales and Marketing Executives of Montgomery executive board member (1995-2003), a member of the Auburn University of Montgomery Alumni board, a member of the Jimmy Hitchcock Award Committee (since 1999), and a UniGroup (parent company of Mayflower and United Van Lines) stockholder.

Scott is a philanthropist as well. After Hurricane Katrina, his company donated several trucks to the clean-up effort in New Orleans, and every Thanksgiving season, Admiral has a drive to fill a Mayflower truck with canned goods for the Food Bank of Montgomery to feed homeless people in the area.
 * Extreme Makeover Home Edition cite Press Release (Feb 23, 2009)

Personal Life Scott lives in a horse community outside Montgomery, called Pike Road, on two and a half wooded acres with creeks, populated with deer and other wild life. He is an avid supporter of Auburn University athletics, especially football, and he greatly enjoys gardening and music.

McNelley dabbles in Schutzhund, a dog sport that tests German Shepherd training. His first German Shepherd was Atticus Vom Leerburg and was from the Leerburg Kennels famous for breeding working bloodline German Shepherd puppies. Atticus was killed in traffic on a busy road in Montgomery, and his death was very hard on Scott. He now owns an imported German Shepherd, named Eicke, from renowned trainer Rinus Bastiaansen in Belgium. While Schutzhund is McNelley’s preferred method of training, he has tried his hand at many other methods as well.

In the summer of 2006, McNelley’s mother died from cancer. Though they had not been close, her death was a catharsis for him and brought closure to issues that had been difficult for him since his initial move to Montgomery in the eighth grade.

For many years Scott was a runner, running ten kilometer races, ten mile races and a half marathon. He enjoys all types of exercise including weights, biking and walking. Music still moves him greatly, taking him, in his words, “to a place that makes him whole again.”

Honors and Awards Forty under forty, Montgomery Advertiser award, 2002. Emerging 30, business honor by the Montgomery Advertiser. Number 2 Commercial Mover by American Red Ball Affiliate of the Year, for Women in Business. Best Mover of the River Region, nine times. Small Business of the Year by the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce