Big Dawgs

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MCNEAL, SPORTS & WILSON

BIG DAWGS BIG DAWGS

McNeal, Sports & Wilson Named to UGA Alumni Association’s BULLDOG 100 LIST OF FASTEST-GROWING BUSINESSES Owned by UGA Alumni

story by JOHN RIDDLE / photography by JOY SUMNER PHOTOGRAPHY

Based in Waycross, McNeal, Sports & Wilson Risk Advisers has been named to the University of Georgia Alumni Association's 2021 Bulldog 100, a list of the 100 fastestgrowing businesses owned or operated by UGA alumni. UGA received 429 nominations for the 2021 list. The alumni association hosted the annual Bulldog 100 Celebration virtually on February 11, 2021.

Dutch McNeal, Sam Sports, and Will Wilson, UGA graduates, are co-owners of McNeal, Sports & Wilson Risk Advisers. They work with business owners to control the issues that drive the cost of insurance. They also work with individuals to protect their personal assets.

Dutch and Sam are natives of Blackshear, where they attended Pierce County High School. Will is from Waycross and is a Ware County High School alumnus. Dutch and Sam have been friends since high school and were in the same fraternity at UGA. Will attended Valdosta State University, where he played baseball before transferring to UGA. While Dutch and Sam knew Will, they didn't become friends until he moved back to Waycross after college.

Dutch and Sam both graduated from UGA in 2009 with degrees in Risk Management & Business and moved back home. Sam was selling life insurance products and, with the encouragement from Dutch’s dad, partnered with Dutch to purchase an existing insurance business in February 2010. After Will graduated in 2016, he worked for a different insurance business in Waycross before joining Dutch and Sam in 2018.

While they didn’t all see themselves returning to their hometowns to live and work, they are all glad they did. "I used to think in college that I didn't want to move back home, but now, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Everywhere you go, you see a friendly face, and we're geographically close enough to bigger cities for business and pleasure without having the headache and expenses of living there," Dutch explained.

They are also glad they had the opportunity of graduating from UGA's Terry College of Business, which they credit for much of their success. "We certainly would not be where we are today without the knowledge and experience we gained from the Terry College of Business," Dutch said. "It is a great honor to be recognized as one of the fastest-growing businesses' among UGA's proud alumni, and we are incredibly proud of our firm."

However, he added an important caveat saying, "Our success would not have been possible without the support and relationships in our local communities."

Bulldog 100 applicants are measured by their business’ compounded annual growth rate during a three-year period. This year's list is based on submitted financial information for 2017-19. The 2021 Bulldog 100 includes companies from over two dozen industries, including agriculture, construction, health care, nonprofits, and software. Of the 100 businesses, 81 are located within the state of Georgia.