Matt Fowler (William M Fowler)
Shortest
Matt has been a commercial appraiser, CEO of a technology company for twenty years, was listed on Inc500 list twice, is a cancer survivor, an advocate for land stewardship and fair housing advocate, and is now serving as the Executive Director of Triangle MLS, the 8th largest MLS in the South Atlantic Region and 33rd largest in the US.
Shorter
Matt Fowler is a technology executive from Huntsville, Alabama now based near Raleigh, North Carolina. His first job in real estate was working as a Commercial Appraiser in 1993 when Matt and a business partner also developed one of the first Automated Valuation Models (AVMs). The same group also developed one of the first Internet-based MLSs in the country and grew to be a competitor nationally. In 2018 Matt sold Solid Earth to competitor FBS where he served as Vice President for three years. In 2020 Matt negotiated the sale of an FBS product to TRIBUS, another property technology company, and as part of the deal, Matt went with the product team to become a Director at TRIBUS. A year later, Matt was recruited to be the first independent director of Triangle MLS, the 33rd largest MLS in the US and the 8th largest in the South Atlantic Region. Married for almost 40 years, Matt and his wife Julie have two adult daughters: Hannah Arky and Dr. Sarah Fowler, and one granddaughter.
Long
Matt Fowler is a technology executive from Huntsville, Alabama now based in North Carolina. His first job in real estate was as a General Certified Appraiser doing appraisals of Commercial Real Estate. Clients included The Tennessee Valley Authority, the USPS, The State of Alabama, as well as dozens of banks and developers.
In 1993 Matt and a business partner developed one of the first Automated Valuation Models (AVM) in the banking industry. ValueWizard was launched statewide in Florida and Tennessee and grew into a national vendor. The company, known as Banton Research, was acquired by TransUnion in 2006.
Just prior to the sale, the company also developed one of the first Internet-based MLSs in the country and grew to be a competitor nationally. Matt was President of that division which spun off of Banton Research before the sale to TransUnion. That company, Solid Earth, operated for 19 years becoming the third largest MLS vendor in the country, twice making the Inc500 list of the fastest growing private companies in the US.
In 2018 Matt sold Solid Earth to competitor FBS where he served as Vice President for three years. In 2020 Matt negotiated the sale of an FBS product to TRIBUS, another proptech company, and as part of the deal, Matt went with the product team to become a Director at TRIBUS.
In 2021, Matt was recruited to be the first independent Executive Director of Triangle MLS, the 33rd largest MLS in the US and the 8th largest in the South Atlantic Region. Matt’s started with a 36 month plan that included, in the first year: a new Agile methodology for project management, the addition of full motion video as a supported media type, taking the company’s two dozen workers remote, and orchestrating a merger with a nearby MLS reducing overlapping dues payments for hundreds of brokers.
Married since 1987 years, Matt and his wife Julie have two adult daughters: Hannah Arky, and Dr. Sarah Fowler. Matt believes deeply in community engagement and has served in numerous leadership positions. Among them:
- Village of Promise: a data-driven secular effort to interrupt the cycle of generational poverty using the education of 4-year-olds and their mothers as the starting point. Based on the foundational work of The Harlem Children’s Zone and its leader Geoffrey Canada. Matt was Co-Founder and Chair for several years. https://www.villageofpromise.org/
- Lincoln Village Preservation Corporation: a faith-based real estate project based in an old mill village. LVPC began buying dilapidated tenement housing in 1995 surrounding a failing public elementary school. After years of mentoring and hard work the organization owns almost 100 houses, each with families in some form of recovery, and the school. Today, Lincoln Academy is an accredited Pre-K through 8th Grade Private school. Matt was Board Chair for several years. https://www.lincolnvillage.org/
- Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama: a private 501c3 organization dedicated to supplementing public creation of park land and open space. With over 5,000 acres, the Land Trust is one of the most successful in the south. Matt was a long-time support and Board member, and Board Chair in 2000. https://www.landtrustnal.org/
- The Nature Conservancy: an international land preservation and conservation organization, the Nature Conservancy protects wild lands and habitats around the world. Matt served for one term on the State Board of Directors for Alabama. https://www.nature.org/
- Village Marketplace: a 501c3 Thrift Store serving the Lincoln Village neighborhood from 2016 until 2020. Employees were people from the neighborhood who needed work, and all proceeds went to the neighborhood school. Matt and his wife Julie owned and managed the store.
