Matt Bowers (’92), of New Orleans, was selected as Copiah-Lincoln Community College’s 2024 Alumnus of the Year, and Jarvis Wilbert (’12), of Hattiesburg, formerly of Brookhaven, was selected as the inaugural Young Alumnus of the Year. They will be recognized during Homecoming on Thursday, Sept. 26 at the Alumni Association Awards Reception at 3:15 p.m. in the Thames Center on the college’s Wesson campus.
Matt Bowers
Bowers attended Co-Lin in 1992 where he was a member of the Wolf Pack baseball team under Coach Keith Case. After Co-Lin, he received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mississippi.
Bowers serves as president, founder and chairman of Matt Bowers Auto Group. He is responsible for the development of strategic operational initiatives that promote revenue growth and profitability across the company, including strategic acquisitions.
Matt Bowers Auto Group is comprised of 11 award-winning franchise car dealerships doing business in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. His conglomerate of dealerships produces revenue over $1 billion annually and employs over 900 employees.
In addition, Bowers was appointed by the governor to the Board of Commissioners for the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District. In his role at LSED, he is commissioned to manage the states’ assets in Metro New Orleans which include the Caesars Superdome, Smoothie King Center, TPC of Louisiana, and others.
In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two teenage sons, going to sport events, and relaxing on his ranch in Oxford.
Jarvis Wilbert
Wilbert graduated from Co-Lin in 2012, where he was a member of the Wolf Pack baseball team under Coach Keith Case. After Co-Lin, he received a Bachelor of Science in business administration and a Master of Business Administration at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Wilbert is a senior territory Manager with Eli Lilly and Company, where he advocates for patients with chronic illnesses. He also gives back to his community through Lily’s Global Day of Service. He has worked in food kitchens serving underprivileged people in the Delta and assisted with the construction of an orphanage in Gulfport. He also has coordinated a 5K in Hattiesburg to promote suicide prevention. Wilbert was recognized as USM’s Young Alumni of the Year in 2021 and named to the Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 40 under 40 in 2023. He received territory manager of the year and platinum performer for the Gulf Coast area in 2023.
“To receive any accolade, I credit the people that helped me get there,” he said. “Whilst I may not be the wealthiest person from a financial standpoint, I’m wealthy in the fact that people notice my humbleness. They notice that I’m a hard worker. They notice I will go above and beyond to help the next person get to where they need to be.”
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