Excerpted from BBJ release by S. Rebman. Read the BBJ release.

Harbert College of Business alumni Brett Lankford (supply chain management ’13), Neal NeSmith (master of real estate development ’23) and Cameron Thompson (aviation management ’12) were recognized as up-and-coming contributors to the Birmingham, AL, business scene on Birmingham Business Journal’s (BBJ’s) 2025 Top 40 Under 40 list.

Every year, BBJ honors 40 individuals under the age of 40 who have made significant contributions in the Birmingham, AL, business landscape.

Lankford is director of strategy and innovation at Fetch Freight, a freight brokerage company that offers shipping and logistics solutions to businesses of all sizes across North America. In this position, Lankford helped develop Fetch IQ, an AI-driven system used to optimize the company’s shipping and logistic solutions. In the company’s first two years of business, Lankford tripled Fetch Freight’s annual revenue from $7.7 million to $23 million.

NeSmith is senior director of real estate at Southern Veterinary Partners, where he oversees the company’s real estate portfolio of over 425 hospitals nationwide. He has been a key figure in expanding the company, managing more than $35 million in net new development and roughly $40 million in capital expenditure growth initiatives. NeSmith’s expertise led to the successful launch of over 50 projects in 2024, including nine new market entries for the Livewell Animal Hospital brand.

Thompson is vice president of airport operations at Birmingham Airport Authority. In this position, Thompson oversees operations, safety and security at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. He is responsible for the safety and security of all airport customers, employees and visitors, and he is the on-site incident commander during emergencies.

Five other Auburn alumni were recognized on the 40 Under 40 list:

John Martin (spanish ’07) at United Way of Central Alabama

Dane Pemberton (building construction ’10) at CBI Construction Services

Jessica Bennet (architecture ’08) at ArchitectureWorks LLP

Lisha Graham (biomedical sciences ’06) at White Arnold & Dowd

Jeff Jantz (building construction ’08) at Brasfield & Gorrie