Leland Socrates Garrett, a native of Farmhaven, Mississippi, is a product of the Madison County Public School District and was valedictorian of his junior high school class. That same year, Garrett won a statewide oratorical contest held at Alcorn State College, speaking on the affects of the boll weevil on cotton, the state’s largest commodity at that time. After graduating from junior high school he attended Piney Woods Country Life School, a private boarding school in Rankin County, where he completed his senior high school curriculum. There he studied under Lawrence C. Jones, president and founder of Piney Woods. Garrett continued his education at Alcorn State University where he acquired a B.S. in business education in May of 1968.
Shortly after graduation, Garrett moved to Los Angeles, California. He received a certificate of competence in cost accounting from Los Angeles City College. He then completed his military responsibilities in the United States Army, where he served as a finance officer in Fort Lewis, Washington. After his tour of duty he bagan a career as a cost acccountant for the Pacific Gas Company in Los Angeles.
In 1972, Garrett returned to Mississippi and attended Jackson State Univerisity where he worked on his master’s degree in business administration. He received certificates of completion in business solutions and marketing, basic sales and advanced sales. Garrett is a motivotional speaker, producer and host of Socrates Speaks, a weekly radio program on economics and entertainment. To mention a few accomplishments, Garrett is past chairman of the Metro Chamber of Commerce and a founding member of Jackson Chamber of Commerce. He served as president of the Jackson Medical Mall Business Association and is a commissioner on the Levee Board. Garrett was appointed by former Governor Haley Barbour to serve as chair of the Mississippi Broadband Connection Coalition. As an active community member he has served on numerous boards including 100 Black Men of Jackson, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, United Way of Jackson, Jackson Chamber of Commerce. He is a lifetime member of the NAACP.
He is a founding member of the Business and Ministerial Alliance, an organization that advocates for small black-owned businesses throughtout the country. He is a loyal supporter of Alcorn State University and a member of New Horizon Church International. He has three daughters and one son that have followed him into private enterprise.
In 1973, Garrett began working in sales at Xerox Corporation where he rapidly advanced through the ranks. In 1978 he became branch sales manager. In this position he managed all sales employees in Shreveport, LA, Mobile, AL, Pensacola, FL and Jackson, MS. While at Xerox, Garrett attended Leesburg Training Center where he received certificates in sales management and senior management training.
Garrett has been recognized by Black Enterprise Magazine as a trailblazer opening new markets for African Americans. Garrett continues to open new markets. He tackled the revilization of the Farish Street District, the oldest African-American landmark in the state. He is in a partnership that now owns 250,000 square feet of space (formerly the Belk Building) that currently has a part of the City of Jackson as a tenant.
EXPERIENCE:
1980-present: 1980 president of K&S Chemical Manufacturing Company, 1987 president of Socrates Garrett Enterprises, Inc., 1994 founder of The Mississippi Link newspaper, 1998 founder and president New South Development Non Profit, 2008 joint venture partner managing the City of Jackson Waste Water Treatment facilities, 2011 partner in Retro Metro which purchased the Belk Building at the Metro Center in Jackson, 2016 founder of the Next Level Entertainment Complex, 2017 co-founder The Premiere Supply Link, 2018 president Kaltja Biotics, 2019 president EarthBlend Coffee, 2020 president/CEO SGE COVID Solutions.
HIGHLIGHTED PROJECTS:
- 2006-2011 Garrett held continuous contracts with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) following Hurricane Katrina, a hurricane which caused tragic numbers in the loss of life and $108B of destruction along 90,000 square miles of the United States. Garrett provided Construction Management, QA/QC and Engineering Design Review services for all short and long-term housing programs.
- 2008 The City of Jackson, Mississippi suffered a devastating tornado, referred to as the April 4th Storm. This storm caused $88M in damages and resulted in 4 deaths and 62 injuries. Following the destruction of homes, businesses, infrastructure and roads throughout the city, Garrett was contracted to provide disaster recovery services to ensure that debris throughout the city was removed, quantified, transported and disposed of according to FEMA and EPA standards.
- 2010 Restoration of Public Housing for the Long Beach Public Housing Authority (LBPHA) following Hurricane Katrina. Contracted by CDM Smith, Garrett provided Construction Management services for CDM Smith, LBPHA and the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) throughout the duration of the project to rebuild and restore housing along the Gulf Coast.
- 2011-2012 Minot, North Dakota suffered immense devastation due to the Souris River Flood. The flood demolished thousands of homes and led to the evacuation of over 11,000 Garrett was contracted to provide construction management services to oversee the construction of all new infrastructure on 300 acres of uninhabited land, in order that new temporary homes could be constructed for use by the displaced residents.
2012-2013 The housing needs of Mississippi’s post-Katrina recovery composed more than $3.26B of the state’s entire $5.4B CDBG disaster recovery allocation. The MDA sought to ensure its ongoing Community Development Block Grant-sourced direct housing recovery initiatives were fully funded to meet homeowner assistance demand. Garrett served as construction manager to provide inspection and reporting services for homeowners who had received assistance from other sources which were determined to be inadequate to address the restoration needs.
2019 through the $1.8 million USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) grant (March 2019), demonstrating our novel in-situ Smart Microbiological Targeting (SMT) Nano-Decomposition and Conversion of organic and/or inorganic waste streams and the destruction of chemical, biological, and electrochemical threats.
Mutual participation and joint development of 3 Nanotechnology companies and Alcorn State University – BioEnergy Corporation, Vortex CHC, LLC., New South Development and Training and Socrates Garrett Enterprises.
Principal members – Gregg Montgomery, Socrates Garrett, F. Lee Simmons
Holds 5 patents, 8 patents pending and significant proprietary knowledge.
Garrett has successfully developed and implemented strategies and best practices to ensure the growth, strength and integrity of his companies. He has been instrumental in the management of the overall operations and resources of each company. His companies employ over 60 employees with operating revenues of $50 million annually.
Gamma Pi Alumni Association – 4th Quarter 2020