Quattlebaum Development Company

Alex Quattlebaum, Jr., CEO of Quattlebaum Development Company, was born with engineering in his blood. His father, a well-known philanthropist, was a professor of engineering at Clemson University and eventually opened Harllee Construction Company in 1927 in Florence with his brother. Alex’s family lived throughout the state of South Carolina during his childhood, and he attended college at Clemson University, earning a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.

Alex, who has traveled, worked and lived across the world, made his first entry on the international scene as one of the original 35 members of the Peace Corps in 1961. During his service, he was responsible for surveying, as well as design and construction of roadways, bridges and infrastructure in the Southern Province of Tanganyika (now Tanzania).

Back on U.S. soil and after graduating from Clemson in 1965, Alex began working for his family's construction company, which moved to Charleston in 1974, in a variety of roles, rising from assistant superintendent to president. He left the Harllee-Quattlebaum Company in 1986 to pursue development work on his own, but in 1996 took over the company after the death of his uncle, renaming it Quattlebaum Development Company. Today, he has handed the reigns over to his sons, Alex, III, and Scott Quattlebaum.

Alex's knowledge and experience have taken him all over the world to almost 35 countries in Europe, South America, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, and he speaks Swahili, Spanish and is conversant in other languages. He has consulted on development projects and the creation of Foreign Trade Zones for different governments and organizations that include the World Bank; the CIA; the Free Zone division of the Services Group in Washington, D.C. (of which he was a founding board member); the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and more. During the early 1970s, Alex was instrumental in creating the first Foreign Trade Zone in South Carolina and has owned and operated Foreign Trade Zones since 1974.

Alex is a member of a variety of professional organizations that include the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, the Southern Industrial Development Council, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones.

When he isn't doing business across the globe, he keeps himself busy with an assortment of hobbies. He participates in six to eight races a year driving vintage racecars as part of the Sportcar Vintage Racing Association, which he founded. A certified pilot, he has flown across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. He also enjoys hunting, fishing, collecting antique wooden boats, anything that involves being on the water and good wine.

Alex and his wife, Pamela, live half the year in a 1700's Georgian House in Scotland and half the year on South Battery in historic downtown Charleston, S.C. Between the pair, they have four children and two grandchildren.

:: Alex Quattlebaum, Jr., CEO