Arthur Fisher Jr.: From a Musical Childhood to Making History in Chelsea AL

By Sym Posey | Birmingham Times

Arthur Fisher Jr. knows what it’s like to multitask. Growing up in a small town in Louisiana, he played piano, drums, violin, and trumpet.

As he got older, he immersed himself in a variety of fields, from engineering to finance, to better understand how companies make money. “I’m in an industry now where I can combine my engineering background with my finance background,” he said.

That space is public policy manager at Grenergy USA. “In the United States, we’re focused on developing solar and battery storage in multiple states in the Southeast, Texas and other states across the country,” he said. “Our business model spans the entire project lifecycle, from development and construction to financial structuring, plant operations and maintenance.”

He added that “Grenergy is making a significant impact on the transition to clean, safe, reliable and sustainable energy.”

As public policy manager, Fisher monitors and analyzes policy issues and developments that impact the renewable energy sector nationwide.

“I also develop and execute policy positions and government affairs strategy, working with the development team (at Grenergy) to prioritize actions at the federal, state and local levels,” said Fisher, who became the first minority seat on the Chelsea City Council in 2023.

Reading Music

He credits his mother, Phyllis Fisher, and grandmother, Ethel Maye Kimble, with providing him with much of the guidance that helped him excel and multitask.

“My mom’s a musician, so I played four different instruments,” Fisher said. His favorite was the drum kit. “That was the first instrument I played, starting at 4. I even played in the school band, starting in the fifth grade. … I could really play. I wasn’t just hitting drums for show … and I was super smooth. I practiced in the mirror every day.”

His mother retired as an early childhood teacher after 34 years. She currently owns and operates an arts center, Bottoms Up Art Center, focusing on teaching music to underprivileged children in the community. She still lives in Opelousas, Louisiana, the small town where Fisher grew up.

His mother taught him to read music, Fisher said. “My parents got me different music teachers for each instrument, but the foundation of being able to read music really helped me a lot.”

His great-grandmother, Ethel Maye Kimble, died in 2012 at the age of 94. “She raised my mother as her own daughter. I always called her ‘Grandmutha.’ I was the youngest of all her grandchildren, and she called me ‘Boochie.’ I always spent time with her at church, at her house, and I was always with her when I went to the same school where she taught.

Grandma’s baby

Fisher attended Opelousas High School, where he played basketball and baseball before graduating in 2008. He has an older sister who currently lives in Washington, D.C.

“My dad was a state trooper for 25 years. He’s the backbone of everything our family does. My great-grandmother spent a lot of time in the education system. She was an elementary school English teacher, adult education teacher and Sunday school teacher for over 60 years. I’ve always been very involved in church (Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church in Opelousas, LA) and anything related to education. My family was involved in our community, from music education in the schools to being on the school board,” Fisher said.

Fisher said he began his studies at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but transferred to Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2015.

“I transferred to SU because there was something I wanted to do for my senior design project that I couldn’t do at LSU. … My first job out of college was in Port Lavaca, Texas, but I lived in Victoria, Texas, which is the hometown of Stone-Cold Steve Austin, the professional wrestler.”

Fisher has lived in Alabama since 2016. “I started working for (Southern Company) in 2016 as a design engineer. It was a great experience. I got to meet a lot of different people and learn about the energy industry, but the job I was doing didn’t really fit my personality,” Fisher said, adding, “I consider myself a very outgoing person and not an office type.”

He earned an MBA in finance from Samford University in December 2020. “I started working on my MBA in 2018, before the COVID pandemic. I was working as an operations analyst at Spire and then in lobbying.

Councilman Fisher

For Fisher, the Birmingham area is known for several reasons.

He was sworn in as the newest member of Chelsea City Council during a regularly scheduled meeting in October 2023 to fill vacancies. He will serve the remainder of his term until the next election in 2025.

“Coming to the state of Alabama, to a county that has historically had strict voting restrictions, even though I was not elected, but appointed by this current council, being the first minority (on this council) in this rapidly growing city, not only would that have been a great joy to me, but to my great-grandmother,” Fisher said.

He currently lives in Chelsea with his wife Jacy Fisher. Although he has no children, he is “looking forward to growing his family.”

He also has an interesting streak. “I’ve been to Disney every year since I was born in 1990,” he said. “I’ve had opportunities like that with my parents, my sister, and I’ve had the same experiences with my wife, and I plan on passing them on to my kids. That would be amazing for me.”

As a “fervent Marvel fan,” Fisher said his favorite character is Falcon, also known as Black Captain America. As a gift to his family, Fisher makes sure each family member has a special T-shirt that matches the theme they choose each year.

“I’ve seen all the phases probably four or five times, and I liked Falcon. He’s my favorite character. I make T-shirts every year when we go on these family trips, so I made him one.”

In January, Fisher was named one of the Birmingham Business Journals 40 under 40 for 2024. “I was surprised I got in. I was very grateful for it,” he said.