J. Wayne Smith brings more than six decades of executive leadership in transportation, logistics, and business administration to his role as Chief Financial Officer of the International Committee on Nigeria and the Sahel (ICONS). A graduate of Jacksonville State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management, Smith began his career in July 1964 with Bowman Transportation, Inc. as a billing clerk at age 17, rising over a 27-year tenure to Vice President of Administration — a position he held until the company closed in 1990 following the death of its owner and founder, Ralph M. Bowman.
In 1991, Smith returned to the trucking industry as Vice President and General Manager of Felton Pearson Company and FEPCO Trucking, Inc., later becoming President of both. He went on to start FEPCO Container, Inc., WPS Team Logistics, Inc., G & W Properties Group, LLC, and AAA Truck Sales, Inc. Since 2010, he has served as President Emeritus of FEPCO Container, FEPCO Trucking, and WPS TEAM Logistics, while remaining a part owner of WPS Team Logistics, Inc., the majority owner and General Manager of G & W Properties Group, LLC, and the majority owner of AAA Truck Sales, Inc. — continuing to provide strategic consulting, personnel management, real estate development, and legal and regulatory oversight across these enterprises.
A longtime member of Kiwanis International, Smith received the George F. Hixon Fellow Award for outstanding service to Kiwanis and the community. He has served or is serving on the boards of Covecrest, Inc., Covecrest Properties, Inc., Felton Pearson Company, FEPCO Trucking, Inc., FEPCO Container, Inc., Pearson Trucking, Inc., Lighthouse Team Logistics, Inc., WPS TEAM Logistics, Inc., G & W Properties Group, LLC, Partnerships for Unreached People, Inc. (P4UP), Conley Area Business Association (CABA), Metro South Community Improvement District (MSCID), and AAA Truck Sales, Inc., as an Advisory Board Member of Heritage Bank for Clayton County, and as an Emeritus Director of First Peoples Bank in Pine Mountain, GA.
Smith and his wife, Paula, live in Jonesboro. They have a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, three great-grandsons, and one great-granddaughter. A longtime active member of Fairview Baptist Church, he serves as Associate Pastor of Administration and Small Groups. In spite of his accomplishments, he prefers simply to be called “Wayne” and to be known as a good servant of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Wayne embodies the maxim “Laus Deo” — Latin for “Praise be to God.”
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