Our Team

Ben McCollum is a fifth-generation resident and native of Thomasville, Georgia, with a lifelong connection to the land, its history, and its culture. The Red Hills of South Georgia and North Florida are internationally known for their rolling terrain, rich soils, and world-class habitat and hunting. Subsequently, the area is home to the largest concentration of traditional quail hunting plantations in the world. Recognizing the importance of thoughtful representation of these distinctive and historic properties, Ben founded The Wright Group to serve discerning buyers and sellers who value the outdoor lifestyle and the creation of legacy land holdings .

Ben holds a bachelor’s degree in Forest Resources and brings a strong land management perspective to every transaction, with particular insight into timber, wildlife habitat, and recreational use. Deeply involved in the Thomasville community, he serves on several boards and foundations, including Landmarks, the Thomas County Museum of History, and the Pidcock Foundation. Ben is married and the proud father of Parker and William. The name “Wright,” drawn from his mother’s family, reflects the personal history and values that inspired the founding of the company.

The Wright Group is pleased to announce the addition of Eric J. McCollum to our firm. Eric, a Thomasville native, has an extensive background and knowledge of large properties, plantations, timberland, farmland, waterfront, development, and investment properties throughout Georgia and the Southeast. He has over 12 years experience working with multiple private investment companies where he handled the acquisition and disposition of all types of real estate assets as well as property management and construction. His knowledge of the marketplace and his range of industry contacts in both the institutional and private sectors make him a tremendous asset in serving individuals and investors looking for large acreage, recreational, development, and timberland investment property. Eric will serve as the Director of the firm’s Timberland Investment Division.

Eric, an avid outdoorsman, has a B.S. in Forest Management from the University of Georgia and is licensed in both Georgia and Florida. For more information on how Eric can serve you with your real estate needs and for a complete inventory of all of our properties, please contact our office.

For over 30 years Hunter has served as a respected manager and dog trainer for several of the area’s premier plantations. During this time, Hunter has developed a management regime that creates a balance of farming, timber, and wildlife.  For decades Hunter has worked as a consultant to acquire and  implement management programs on plantations and other private land holdings throughout the southeast to optimize habitat and sustainable forestry practices.  Hunter has a distinguished reputation amongst landowners and managers alike as one of the leading authorities on cultivating wild bobwhite quail hunting programs. A passionate dog handler, Hunter cofounded the Georgia/Florida Plantation Shooting Dog Field Trial where the area’s top dogs compete each year. An active member of the community, Hunter has been involved with the Georgia Fire Council, a board member of the Georgia Agricultural Extension, and the Thomas County Fire Department. 

Since 1977, Charlie has successfully sold over $500 million in real estate and personal property at auction, has served as an executive with two national auction companies and is past president and chairman of The Georgia Auctioneers Association. His experience has involved developing specific marketing techniques for all categories of real estate and personal property from agricultural to commercial to residential. Clients have included individuals, financial institutions- such as Rabobank, Farm Credit Service and Travelers Insurance Company, government agencies-such as the U.S. Marshalls Service and U.S. Small Business Administration, corporations, partnerships and estates. He has conducted auctions in Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Out of the One Oak Kennel, Max and Judge collectively serve as our in house wildlife biologist. They have effectively assisted in wild quail studies, conducting covey count analysis across both the Red Hills and Albany Plantation belts. Max, our Brittany, is well qualified with a bloodline tracing back to Nolan’s Last Bullet. He is adept as both a pointer and retriever and enjoys spending long days in mature upland forest and cold mornings in the duck blind. His protege, Judge, is an English Cocker who posses the rare ability to both point, flush, and retrieve. He is already winning accolades in the field and took home the Red Hills Spaniel Trial blue ribbon in the puppy division. When not in the woods, both dogs can be routinely found at The Wright Group office in historic downtown Thomasville and welcome you to stop by for a quail consultation and a scratch behind the ears.