Jimmy Rutland

Jimmy Rutland

Single-Family Division President

James (Jimmy) W. Rutland, IV is a third-generation home builder and developer that has been in the residential construction, development and real estate sales business in Alabama for the past 29 years.  A native of Montgomery and graduate of Auburn University, he currently serves as President of Lowder New Homes, Inc., which has been named numerous times to the Builder 100 by Builder magazine and Giant 400 by Professional Builder magazine.  He became a Certified Graduate Builder in 2004 and a Certified Green Professional in 2009 through the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and has been a Green Energy Key Builder as designated by the Home Builders Association of Alabama (HBAA) since 2007.

Jimmy is a member of the Greater Montgomery Home Builders Association (GMHBA) where he has served many roles on various committees including President in 2005 and was named Builder of the Year that same year.  In 2019, Jimmy was inducted into the GMHBA Hall of Fame.  Currently, he serves as GMHBA’s Governmental Affairs Chair.  In his role, Jimmy works with numerous local municipalities on an ongoing basis to help amend and adopt new building and energy codes that are applicable to the area.

At the state level, he has served in several positions on the HBAA Executive Committee, including Governmental Affairs Chair and Public Relations Chair.  In 2012, Jimmy was named the HBAA’s Shannon Lowder Builder of the Year, the Association’s highest honor.  Most recently, he served as the President of HBAA in 2018. 

On the national level, Jimmy has served as a member of the NAHB Board of Directors since 2005 and in 2018 was elected to a Life Directorship. In 2019, Jimmy testified before Congress about the resiliency and energy use within residential buildings and its impact on our nation’s housing affordability crisis.

In addition to his service with the local, state and national HBAs, he currently serves on the State of Alabama Energy and Residential Codes Board (AERC), where he works with various industries and regulators involved in Alabama’s residential and commercial construction industry to adopt and amend energy and building codes for the entire state. Jimmy also serves as a Board Member and the Treasurer of the Alabama Housing Finance Authority and was appointed as a Trustee for the Alabama Home Builders Self Insured Fund in 2019.

Outside of home building, Jimmy gives of his time and resources as a member of the Board of Directors for the Metro YMCA, a Deacon at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Board member at Trinity Presbyterian School and a member of the Committee of 100 for the Chamber of Commerce.

Jimmy has been married to his high school sweetheart, Rachel, for 29 years, and they have three children, Wells (23) and daughter-in-law Millie (Herndon), Gray (21) and Ella (18).