Birmingham’s health care industry has received ample attention during COVID-19.
The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) is looking to grow quality health care jobs and companies in the region, and is applying for a $450,000 planning grant to help make that happen.
The BBA is the lead partner on the grant application, submitted to the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Disaster Recovery Program, to help fund the execution of a health care market intelligence study, strategy and implementation plan. BBA’s partners in the grant application include the Jefferson County Commission, 58 INC., the local economic development organization for Shelby County, and the Birmingham Regional Economic Development Alliance, a partnership of more than 45 economic developers across the Birmingham seven-county region. The effort was overwhelmingly endorsed by key stakeholders who provided 18 letters of support.
On this project, all partners came to the table with the same goal – for Birmingham to emerge as a vital health care hub nationwide. Even before the pandemic there was increased regional cooperation happening among economic developers, but COVID-19 has brought the region’s professionals closer together, with the BBA emerging as a key convener in collaborative efforts.
“Through this project we hope to grow and retain existing regional companies, attract prospective businesses and talent, and improve the region’s competitiveness in health care,” said Fred McCallum, interim president and CEO of the BBA. “By successfully executing this project, the BBA and its partners aim to not only build a regional cluster of health care innovation, but a regional cluster of resilient and sustainable job growth.”
Applying for this grant is part of the BBA’s continued mission of fostering a sustainable and resilient economy in the Birmingham region, zooming in specifically on Birmingham’s health care industry, which has received a robust amount of attention during COVID-19.
“The intensifying impacts of COVID-19 have spotlighted the region’s groundbreaking scientific contributions on the world stage,” McCallum said. “The current attention on Birmingham’s existing health care industry is accelerating existing efforts to build a stronger and sustainable economy comprised of more quality health care jobs, building upon growing and timely opportunities in the region’s health care industry.”