Danny Garrett

He represents the 44th House District in Jefferson County, which includes the cities of Trussville, Clay and portions of Pinson.

Garrett is the oldest of four children born to John Ray Garrett, Jr. and Shirley Ferguson Garrett.

Danny Garrett (born October 11, 1957) is a businessman and an American politician who has served District 44 in the Alabama House of Representatives since 2014.

A member of the Republican Party, Garrett currently serves as the House majority whip.

He was born in Memphis, Tennessee and his family moved to Decatur, Alabama on his first birthday in 1958.

In 1962, the family moved to Center Point, which was then a suburb of Birmingham.

Garrett attended Erwin Elementary School, Erwin Junior High School and Erwin High School (now Center Point High School), graduating in 1976.

He was elected class president in both his junior and senior years.

From 1976 to 1978, Garrett attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

In 1978, he transferred to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree.

In 1983, Garrett joined Sonat oil and gas company as a tax analyst.

In 1984, Garrett married Carol Sisson of Haleyville, Alabama.

The couple first met as students while at the University of Alabama.

They have three married adult sons and one grandchild.

In 1986, he was named director of finance and planning for Birmingham Steel Corporation, a mini-mill steel producer.

He worked for Birmingham Steel for sixteen years in a number of positions.

For two years, he relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he oversaw the acquisition and assimilation of American Steel & Wire Corporation, a steel rod and wire producer.

Following a series of management changes that began in 1997, Birmingham Steel's chairman/chief executive officer was removed from office as a result of a proxy contest.

Garrett, then vice president of finance, was promoted by the new management and board of directors to executive vice president and CFO.

During most of his tenure with Birmingham Steel, Garrett was the company's primary contract for Wall Street investment and banking firms, institutional investors, and shareholders.

In 2002, Birmingham Steel was sold to Nucor Corporation for $550 million.

In 2003, Garrett joined NABI (North American Bus Industries) as the chief financial officer for North American operations.

The company primarily sold buses to transit authorities located in the United States, and the company's assembly plant was located in Anniston, Alabama.

During his tenure with NABI, Garrett worked with numerous European banks and investors.

Garrett was named interim chief executive officer of North American Operations and CFO for the worldwide group.

He led efforts to restructure and turn around operations, which ultimately led to the sale in 2005 of NABI to Cerberus Capital Management, a private investment firm headquartered in New York.

In 2005, Garrett joined Progress Rail Services, a $1 billion provider of repair and maintenance services to the U.S. railroad industry, as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Progress Rail, headquartered in Albertville, Alabama, had recently been acquired by One Equity, an affiliate of J.P. Morgan, from Progress Energy for $400 million.

Garrett was hired to help organize and structure the company to enable a possible public offering of the company's shares within a three- to four-year time frame.

In 2010, Garrett was appointed by the Trussville City Council to the Trussville City Schools Board of Education.

He was named vice president of the Board in 2012.

In 2014, Garrett ran for the open seat of State Representative for House District 44, which had been held for 36 years by Arthur Payne.

In 2018, Garrett was re-elected without opposition.

Garrett currently serves as House majority whip, a position he was selected for in 2018.

He serves as vice chair of the Education Ways and Means Committee and Education Policy Committee.

He also serves as a member of the Fiscal Responsibility Committee and previously served as a member of the Small Business and Commerce Committee.

Garrett served as co-chair of the Joint Task Force on Budget Reform and Co-Chair of the Joint Task Force on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he was named chair of the Emergency Small Business Task Force subcommittee of the Executive Branch Small Business Commission, which prepared detailed plans, procedures and recommendations for reopening the state's economy.

Garrett also was appointed to the Lieutenant Governor's Workforce Development Task Force.

Upon graduation from college, Garrett began his career with the Birmingham office of Ernst & Young, during which time he passed the Certified Public Accountant exam.