(Greensboro, N.C.) December 2, 2008 — Everybody may appreciate hard, cold cash, but the Triad seems partial to a different sort—Algenon Cash, to be precise. The managing director of boutique investment banking firm Wharton Gladden & Company recently was chosen by Business Leader Magazine as one of the top 24 real estate leaders.

Cash has defined his career, not only through his professional duties, but also his connection to the Triad community. While Wharton Gladden & Company has thrived under his direction, the community has benefited from his outreach; Cash frequently speaks locally about success and leadership, even serving as the voice of financial authority over the airwaves at WQMG 97.1. “I see community involvement as one of the biggest factors in my life,” Cash says.

Even in the real estate arena, Cash believes community is key. He created the Triad Deal Makers Symposium, encouraging a unity of regionalism within the diversity of six neighboring counties. The symposium held its first event in Fall 2007, establishing itself from the first moment. “When you put together an event, you’re not only educating, entertaining and empowering your own community, but you attract others as well,” he says. The event drew more than 200 people, including professionals from Atlanta and New York. This year’s event—a bus tour focusing on Triad commercial properties—filled two buses with agents, developers and investors, some from as far away as Ohio.

Cash sees the role of real estate as pivotal to community development in the economic sense as well. “At the very center of economic development is real estate,” he says. As his industry creates the places people live, work and play, he believes industry professionals need to be front and center, leading regional growth. “As companies come to this area, the developers should be there for them, to help give direction.”

Cash was chosen from a pool of nominated area real estate professionals including architects, contractors and agents. The broadly-defined real estate group is one of Business Leader’s awards, as it focuses on one industry a month. Cash also received the 2008 Movers & Shakers award from the publication.

About Wharton Gladden & Company:

Wharton Gladden & Company is a uniquely designed boutique investment banking firm that specializes in providing strategic advisory services, underwriting, capital placement and private equity for a diversified client base that includes corporations, real estate developers, financial institutions, investors, municipalities and high net worth individuals.