Our speaker this week is Jud Savelle, a Georgia-Tech alumnus (B.S. & M.S. in Industrial Engineering) who has built a career bridging engineering, entrepreneurship, and community leadership.

He began his career in industrial engineering and operations, including roles with Delta Air Lines, where he applied process improvement and lean-engineering principles. In 2009-10, he returned to Albany, Ga., and assumed leadership of his family’s business, Bishop Clean Care (a third-generation commercial cleaning and disaster restoration company). Under his stewardship, the business emphasized operational excellence, technology adoption and community impact.  He currently serves as Startup Catalyst for the Albany region for ATDC (the startup incubator affiliated with Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute), helping entrepreneurs and startups access coaching, resources and networks. He also co-leads initiatives in robotics and automation (via “Cobotics”), aimed at integrating collaborative robotics into workforce and business growth. 

Jud is deeply committed to his hometown region in Southwest Georgia. He emphasizes service, integrity, and employee-focused operations in his business philosophy. He lives in Albany with his wife Jenny and their children, and remains engaged in regional economic development, workforce initiatives and startup ecosystem building.By combining his engineering background, hands-on business leadership, and startup-ecosystem work, Jud serves as a bridge between traditional industry, entrepreneurship and community development. He is especially relevant in efforts to build innovation capacity in non-urban regions and to bring advanced manufacturing/automation tools into small businesses.