Today marks my first day as the new Chief Executive Officer for the Birmingham Business Alliance. It is an honor to step into this role for an organization whose mission I deeply believe in, and whose team I deeply admire.
Steve Ammons has been named CEO of the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA), the region’s primary economic development agency. Ammons will be responsible for leading collaboration between BBA and its community partners across the seven-county region to ensure the alignment and achievement of strategic objectives. He will begin his new role on May 30.
We are thrilled to announce that Tquila Automation, a leading automation software company, is expanding its map to the Greater Birmingham Region. This new location will create 200 new high-quality jobs with an average wage of $65,000 and expects to generate up to $21.51 million in overall economic impact over the next 20 years.
Did you know that Birmingham is home to eight Fellows from the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) – more than three times the national average?
This is important to economic development growth because these Fellows bring with them an understanding of academic technology and innovation and the role it plays in growing a community. The NAI encourages Fellows to disclose intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate inventions to benefit society.
Innovation Depot, has been a proud partner of Innovation Week since it began four years ago, and has an invaluable impact on the Magic City. Devon Laney spoke with the BBA about the significance of Innovation Week and how Innovation Depot is helping boost technology advancement in Birmingham.
World renowned Southern Research is a partner for 2017 Innovation Week Birmingham. Art Tipton, president and CEO of Southern Research, talked with the BBA about why the cutting-edge research facility is a technological resource in the region and why Innovation Week is beneficial for the city of Birmingham.
America’s First Federal Credit Union is a proud sponsor of Innovation Week. Mike Northrup, Senior Vice President and Chief Operation Officer at America’s First Federal Credit Union, discussed how his company is supporting innovation and technology resources in the region and why Innovation Week is beneficial for Birmingham.
The Birmingham Business Alliance recently invited U.S. Senator Luther Strange to speak with BBA Executive Committee members about his priorities in Washington, D.C., and provide insight into current policy issues that stand to impact Birmingham businesses, such as tax reform, infrastructure spending and health care. Following the meeting, the BBA sat down with Sen. Strange to talk about his work in Congress. This is the first in a series of Q&As to come with our legislative delegation.
Shipt launched in the summer of 2014 in the heart of the Magic City. Through a user-friendly app and a local network of reliable shoppers, Shipt connects members to fresh groceries and everyday essentials. Saving time, fuel and head space, next-hour, same day grocery delivery is quickly becoming an everyday necessity for people looking for an extra few hours and a variety of food choices.
Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPT) is a real estate investment trust that has carved a unique niche in the largest and fastest-growing segment of the economy, making it the second largest owner of hospital beds in the U.S. Unlike other real estate investment trusts, MPT focuses exclusively on providing capital to acute care facilities of all kinds through long-term triple-net leases.
The BBA spoke first with Birmingham’s Dr. Bruce Irwin, CEO of American Family Care, about his business. Ranked as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., American Family Care has spearheaded the importance of non-emergency room urgent care since its inception in 1982. It is the nation’s leading provider of urgent care, accessible primary care, and occupational medicine, with more than 170 clinics and 500 in-network physicians caring for 2 million patients a year.
The BBA takes a leadership role in building business growth by implementing an aggressive program for economic development for the seven-county region, which includes Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby and Walker counties. The BBA builds a strategy around “target clusters” making them applicable to elements of the economic development process, including business retention and expansion, workforce development, infrastructure improvements and more. The target clusters are in areas where Birmingham is the strongest and where there is the most potential for growth: automotive; finance and insurance services; information technology and analytical instruments; life sciences; machinery manufacturing; metal manufacturing; aerospace; and chemicals.
Birmingham’s XpertDox has raised nearly $400,000 from local investors to fund its future growth, helping the tech startup and 2016 Alabama Launchpad winner quickly reach half its goal of $800,000 in venture capital.
German automotive supplier MöllerTech is on the road to securing talent for its $46.3 million manufacturing facility in Bibb County, with five to six Operator positions already filled, according to AIDT. The company is expected to create 222 jobs upon completion of the facility.
The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) reported that 75 economic development projects were announced in 2016, accounting for 2,014 jobs and $586,539,076 in capital investment in the Birmingham region in 2016, during its 2017 Economic Growth Summit this week, presented by Sirote & Permutt PC.
Brian Hilson, president and CEO of the BBA, presented economic development highlights from 2016 and talked about Birmingham’s strengths, challenges and areas that require improvement.
In 2016, he said, MollerTech in Bibb County had the highest number of announced jobs, with 222, followed by Eissman Automotive (200), Atlas RFID (110) and BLOX (114). Auto supplier Gestamp had the largest capital investment of the year, with $131.7 million.
Of the 75 announced projects, 51 percent were manufacturing companies, while 15 percent were in the life sciences and information technology, and 13 percent were in finance and insurance. The report also illustrated that 56 percent of the jobs created were in Jefferson County, and 37 percent were located in the City of Birmingham.
Birmingham received 42 national media accolades in 2016, and 138 since 2011, a record in rankings and positive mentions for the region.
Also during the summit, Dr. Ray Watts, president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and 2017 chairman of the BBA, updated the crowd of more than 300 on Innovate Birmingham, the initiative to create an innovation district in Birmingham. Volunteers led the charge in 2016 to get the initiative off the ground, he said, and an official launch of Innovate Birmingham is expected in May.
“Technology touches every business,” said Dr. Watts. “We’ve created the Innovate Birmingham Initiative to boost opportunities to grow businesses and help prepare students in the technology field. There are 1,000 IT jobs that have gone unfilled in Birmingham. We need to prepare young people graduating from high school or college for these opportunities.”
Hilson said the BBA will continue in 2017 to also focus on four areas to boost continued growth in the region: availability of financial capital, infrastructure improvement, workforce development programs and the Innovate Birmingham initiative.
Don’t miss the BBA’s 2017 Regional Economic Growth Report, which details the 75 projects announced in 2016 and more. Also included in the report is Birmingham’s performance metric comparison to its peer cities, where the Magic City improved in nine of 12 economic indicators such as employment, population, degree attainment, cost of living and personal income.
Birmingham continues to be an affordable place to live. New scores from the 2016 Cost of Living Index showed Birmingham’s annual average cost of living score decreased over the previous year – from 91.7 in 2015 to 88.5 in 2016 (a lower score = lower cost of living; a score of 100 = national average) – and outpaced many of its peer cities.
