Harold (Hal) Miller, Jr.
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Howard McMillan, dean of the Millsaps College Else School of Management, recently announced the creation of the Family Business Institute offered though Millsaps College, and the appointment of Harold (Hal) Miller Jr. as director. McMillan has extensive background in family-owned businesses as the president of Deposit Guaranty National Bank and through his wife's family.
“When Hal came to me with the proposal, I gave it my enthusiastic support,” McMillan said. “It’s something that is truly needed in Mississippi. Family-owned businesses have been and continue to be the backbone of our economy.”
The Institute is designed for owners and other management of family-owned businesses. Initially, it will conduct four multi-day seminars each year where formal presentations will be made on critical subjects, followed by discussion and exchange of ideas between attendees.
“The idea is to have a practical seminar built upon exchange of ideas, rather than a totally academic lecture approach,” McMillan said, and noted that other institutions have family business institutes and that he is proud for Millsaps to sponsor the first such institute in Mississippi. Miller has always wanted to create such an institute, and he dedicates his efforts in this venture to his father who was “the best family business owner [he] ever knew.”
Miller is a graduate of Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi Law School. Miller has a unique history with and interest in family-owned businesses, as his father started Miller Transporters 65 years ago. The company is now owned by the second through fifth generations of the Miller family. Miller himself was also one of the founders of Ergon, a conglomerate now owned exclusively by the Les Lampton family. Miller has been a member of Butler, Snow, Omara, Stevens & Cannada law firm for 48 years, during which time he has represented numerous family-owned businesses and has mediated disputes between members of family-owned businesses. Miller and W. A. Wimberly & Associates are consultants to family-owned and closely held businesses.
