Jim Powell grew up on a 110-acre farm in rural Cub Creek, Tennessee. Through the efforts of his agriculture teacher, G. E. Horne, he received a hardship scholarship given by Sears and Roebuck and became the first member of his family to attend college when he entered UT in 1955 as an agriculture major (later switching to business).
After leaving UT, Powell joined his cousin’s firm, Powell Erection, in Knoxville. He began in the business as a mechanic and worked his way up to superintendent and minority stockholder. In 1969 he moved to Greeneville and started his own business with three employees, an old 30-ton crane, and $2,000 in cash. In 2011 the diverse Powell Companies included a crane division, a steel erection branch, a design-and-construction division for all types of mineral processing facilities, a computer network component, and Decanter Machine Inc. Powell’s 45-foot motor home, Almost Heaven, has an air horn that blares out “Rocky Top” and “Country Roads, Take Me Home.”
Former chair of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, he served as chair of the UT Development Council from 2008 to 2010. Powell and his wife Sandy [Pless] Powell have funded programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine, 4-H, women’s intercollegiate athletics, and made the lead gift toward UT’s becoming an All Steinway School, in addition to establishing the School of Music’s Excellence Endowment with a $1 million gift. In 2001 they established the Powell Foundation, which awards scholarships to deserving students.
Based in Limestone, Tennessee, the Powell Companies have built lots of Tennessee landmarks—including the Bristol Motor Speedway and parts of Neyland Stadium. In June 2011 Chancellor Cheek announced that the recital hall in the new music center would be named the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall in recognition of the Powells’s support for the School of Music.