The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) has partnered with the City of Birmingham to lead the City’s VITAL (Valuing Inclusion to Accelerate and Lift) initiative, which seeks to be transparent about how much business in Birmingham is currently going to diverse vendors and suppliers and how to improve those efforts going forward.
Recently 10 Birmingham companies and institutions recorded their hiring of hiring minority and female vendors in a one-year period. Alabama Power Co., Birmingham Business Journal, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Hoar Construction, Mayer, Protective Life Corp., Regions Financial Corp., Shipt, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and The World Games 2022 were the participating entities.
Collectively, the companies reported $663.05 million in spending with minority- and woman-owned and other disadvantaged businesses, which is 12 percent of what was spent in a total available spend of $5.72 billion for one year.
“I applaud the businesses and institutions that had the courage to take this journey with us,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. “These reports give us an honest foundation that we can build on to create a better future with opportunity for all.”
Victor Brown, vice president of business development at the BBA, said the diverse spend reports are the first step in a strategic and deliberate effort to build a more inclusive economy, part of which will include the BBA convening an inclusive Procurement Roundtable where companies can share best practices to increase opportunities for diverse and disadvantaged entities.
“Creating a more inclusive procurement process is not just about improving the fortunes of minority- and woman-owned businesses,” Brown said. “Our entire economy benefits when we expand opportunities, build a stronger middle class and strengthen the tax base.”
Other companies are invited and encouraged to join the VITAL pledge. For more information, contact Victor Brown.