Brenda Lathan was known to many for her work as senior vice president of economic development at the Golden Triangle Development LINK.
And while she was a key contributor to the development of four of the region’s Tennessee Valley Authority Megasite projects, former LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins said he will remember her most as an “unreplaceable friend” who loved to have fun and crack jokes.
“Over the years, we got to be friends almost like brother and sister,” Higgins said. “I would tell everybody that we were Rodgers and Hammerstein and Brenda, sometimes, or would say, ‘Dumb and Dumber.’ And then we would fight over who would be (who).”
Lathan, 68, passed away Friday. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with funeral services following at noon at Tenth Street Fairlawn Baptist Church with burial following at Memorial Gardens.
Born June 20, 1957, in Monroe County, Lathan served with the LINK through its various iterations beginning in 1999. Lathan served as a receptionist when the organization was known as the Columbus-Lowndes Economic Development Authority and eventually worked her way up senior vice president of economic development. She retired in 2019.
Lathan’s years of service with the LINK contributed to a lot of the development the Golden Triangle has seen over the last two decades, Higgins said.
“The Golden Triangle community needs to realize that she had a major role in all this development that has taken place,” Higgins said. “… Everybody in the (Golden Triangle) needs to look up in the air and say ‘Thank you Brenda’ because we all owe her.”
Lathan, during her time at the LINK, became one of only about 1,200 people to be recognized as professional economic developers worldwide by the International Economic Development Council.
After retiring, Lathan took up consulting work through her own business BHL Consulting LLC, and as a senior consultant for VisionFirst Advisors. She had also served on the Columbus Redevelopment Authority board since 2023. That board helped negotiate the sale terms for the former Burns Bottom Neighborhood near downtown to Friendly City Development for its mixed-use Parkview project.
Higgins wasn’t surprised that even in retirement Lathan found ways to stay busy locally at Tenth Street Fairlawn Baptist Church and in part-time consulting because she was always dedicated and looking for ways she could keep helping, he said.
“She did her church stuff like she did our work stuff,” Higgins said. “She was large and in charge and got it done.”
Higgins said Lathan’s mentorship of younger colleagues over the years helped a lot of young professionals achieve positions of leadership in companies like Burns Dirt and the TVA that continue to benefit the state.
“There are a lot of young men and women … that work for her that she mentored that actually acted as if she was their second mother,” Higgins said. “And most of them will call her their second mother.”
Chief Operations Officer of the LINK, Meryl Fisackerly in a Saturday email said that Lathan will be remembered for her dedication not only to the development of the Golden Triangle but also for her commitment to those with whom she worked.
“Her leadership, strategic insight, and tireless advocacy helped shape initiatives that continue to benefit our communities today,” Fisackerly wrote.
Lowndes County District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks said since working with Lathan during her entire tenure with the LINK, he believes she is leaving behind a legacy for Black women in the community to similarly take on leadership roles like hers in the future.
“She was a true professional dedicated to the LINK and the job at hand,” Brooks said. “And she worked countless hours behind the scenes, in many instances, to make sure that things were put together that (were) required to try to attract economic development in the community. And I know (Joe Max Higgins) was the face of the LINK, but she was one of the people behind the scenes that made things happen.”
Lathan is survived by her sister, Ouida Lathan; two daughters, Dedra Lathan and Joy Lathan; and her three sons Raymond Deloach, Al Miller and Alonte Abrams.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
