Georgia Wildlife Federation

Rob has been a lifelong resident of Newton County. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1960 with a B.S. in Industrial Management. He then served in the U.S. Army's National Guard for several years. During the early years of his banking career, he also received a degree from the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University.

Rob began his banking career with the C & S National Bank (now Bank of America) in Atlanta, but returned to Covington to his family's business, The Bank of Covington, in 1967. It was through his foresight and vision for the future that the bank formed a holding company, Main Street Banks Incorporated, in December, 1988 and began to make acquisitions which facilitated its expansion into six different counties: Newton, Walton, Clarke, Barrow, Rockdale and Gwinnett. A merger with First Sterling Banks in May of 2000 made Main Street Banks the largest community bank in the metro Atlanta. Main Street Banks, Inc. was acquired by Branch Bank and Trust Co. of Winston-Salem, North Carolina on June 1, 2006. Rob will serve on the primary Board of Directors for BB & T.

For the past 40 years, Rob has been very active in the Covington community. He served as a Covington City Councilman for 20 years and was President of the Newton County Chamber of Commerce during the 1980's. He has also been a member of the Covington Kiwanis Club, Chairman of the Downtown Development Authority and member of the Oxford College Board of Counselors for many years. He currently serves as Chairman of the Newton County Industrial Development Authority and has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Georgia Wildlife Federation for several years as well as member of the Board of Directors for Project Adventure, an organization devoted to assisting troubled youth.

Mr. Fowler also served as Chairman for the Arnold Fund, a charitable foundation established by his late aunt and uncle, Florence and Robert O. Arnold. In 2004, he stepped down as Chairman of the Fund, but remains an active Trustee. The Arnold Fund is focused primarily on programs and organizations that benefit the citizens of Newton County, Georgia, such as the local board of education, Georgia Wildlife Federatin, Salvation Army, hospital, library, etc. During the last six years, the trustees of the Arnold Fund have also begun to concentrate heavily on efforts to save Covington/Newton County from the plight of urban sprawl with emphasis on planned growth, preservation of green space, parks, walking trails, and traditional neighborhood developments.

Rob is currently working with GWF staff member David Waller on the Rails to Trails (PATH Foundation) program.

Rob is an active hiker and completed his ten year quest to completely hike the Appalachian Trail (Georgia to Maine) in July 2006.