Glenn L. McCullough Jr. (born December 18, 1954, in

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. With an estimated population of 38,300, Tupelo is the sixth-largest city in Mississippi and is considered a commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of North M ...

) is a Mississippi businessman, Republican Party politician, and economic development professional. He is currently the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, and has previously served as chairman of the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

and executive director of the

Appalachian Regional Commission The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Congress established A ...

Early life

McCullough is a sixth generation Mississippian. He attended

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

where he received a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Economics in 1977. He was vice president of McCullough Steel Products, Inc. and served on the staff of Mississippi Governor

Kirk Fordice Daniel Kirkwood "Kirk" Fordice Jr. () (February 10, 1934 – September 7, 2004), was an American politician and businessman who served as the 61st Governor of Mississippi from 1992 to 2000. He was the first Republican governor of the stat ...

. From 1993 to 1997, McCullough was the executive director of the Appalachian Regional Commission, a Federal-state partnership that supports economic development efforts across 13 states in the eastern United States.

Tennessee Valley Authority

After his time at ARC, McCullough was elected mayor of Tupelo in 1997. He resigned in 1999 when President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

appointed him to the board of the

. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

nominated McCullough as chair of the board on July 19, 2001. His term expired on May 18, 2005. During this time he also served in an advisory capacity to several Energy related U.S. institutions. During his tenure with TVA, the utility earned national recognition for its economic development efforts and launched its megasite program. McCullough's efforts at TVA were critical to securing Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi, Mississippi's second original equipment manufacturer in the automobile industry, which is located on a TVA megasite.

Run for Congress

McCullough was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives when the seat became vacant due to the appointment of Congressman

Roger Wicker Roger Frederick Wicker (born July 5, 1951) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Mississippi, in office since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, Wicker previously served as a member of the ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. After coming in first in the Republican primary, McCullough narrowly lost the Republican runoff to Southaven Mayor Greg Davis who was then defeated in the general election by Democrat

Travis Childers Travis Wayne Childers (born March 29, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2008 to 2011. The district included much of the northern portion of the state including New Albany, Columbus, Oxford, Southa ...

Mississippi Development Authority

In May 2015, McCullough was appointed by Governor

Phil Bryant Dewey Phillip Bryant (born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 31st lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 2008 to 2012 and 4 ...

as the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority. In this role, McCullough is the chief administrator responsible for coordinating the state of Mississippi's efforts in economic development, business recruitment, trade promotion and development, and the Momentum Mississippi campaign. McCullough is married with two sons and lives in Tupelo. McCullough has been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for Governor of Mississippi in 2019.

References

External links

Glenn L. McCullough, Jr. Official Website
1954 births American manufacturing businesspeople Living people Mayors of places in Mississippi Mississippi Republicans Mississippi State University alumni Politicians from Tupelo, Mississippi Tennessee Valley Authority people {{Mississippi-mayor-stub