Hoover’s R&D sector already booming, but there’s room for more

From left to right, properties on South Park Drive, Data Drive and Meadow Brook Corporate Parkway in Hoover are now zoned to include R&D facilities.

As the City of Hoover created a comprehensive plan for the next 10 to 20 years, fostering and supporting diversification of its economy to include more research and development (R&D) was a key item addressed.

Earlier this year, the Hoover City Council voted to modify the Zoning Ordinance of Hoover to add R&D facilities, further encouraging growth in that industry within the city.

This amendment permits R&D in commercial districts where it would have been previously not permitted due to laboratory, light manufacturing and distribution components, clearing a hurdle for those companies looking to locate or expand.

“The long-term strategy of the comprehensive plan is to be resilient over time and being more diverse in our offerings,” said Mac Martin, Hoover’s city planner. “Having a robust tech industry sector is certainly a major component of that.”

Hoover is no stranger to R&D companies – it is already home to companies like BioHorizons, ProctorU and Doozer Software in Riverchase Business Park; Command Alkon in International Park; and McLeod Software and NXTsoft in Meadow Brook Office Park, to name a few.

“Hoover is a community that embraces tech and STEM-based industries,” said Greg Knighton, economic development manager for the City of Hoover. “We have the workforce for it and amenities as a community in terms of the best-ranked school systems in the state, and fine recreational and cultural facilities make it a place people want to live. We wanted to provide further location opportunities for businesses to be in the city and for people to be able to live, work and recreate all within the same municipality.”

Specific areas in Hoover where there is property zoned for R&D use include the U.S. Highway 31 corridor, the U.S. Highway 280 corridor including Meadow Brook and Inverness Office Parks, International Park, Riverchase Business Park, and the Interstate 459/Alabama Highway 150 corridor.

Doozer Software, a software development R&D company, has been in Hoover’s Riverchase Business Park since 1999. Four of the five largest software development firms in the Birmingham region are located in Hoover, said Sandy Syx, Doozer Software’s president.

“From the volume of great jobs to great neighborhoods to quality of life, I think there’s simply no better place in the MSA to be, especially for families,” he said. “That’s probably why there are so many already here. We often recruit new employees from outside Birmingham, and they are almost always shocked at what this area, and Hoover in particular, has to offer.”

Though Hoover’s R&D space is already solid, there is ample room for growth, Knighton said – and he hopes for just that.

“We are very fortunate in Hoover that we already have a great R&D capacity within life sciences companies, financial institutions and software development companies,” he said. “We want to foster that and continue to grow that ecosystem. When you have that, more begets more.”

Planned development properties like this are advantageous for cities like Hoover and companies looking to locate, said Brian Jennings, vice president of economic development at the Birmingham Business Alliance.

“The best part about a planned development property, or properties in this case, is that it provides companies the upfront zoning that they require to not only do business but ensure continuity of operations because they fit in the overall scheme of the development,” he said. “Zoning property takes time and is an uncertain process. Because these properties are already zoned for a specific use, it eliminates time in the development process. Time is money and pre-zoned properties should be seen as a valuable incentive just as cash is for job creation or any other economic development incentive out there. Certainty is vitally important in these difficult times and that means the world to prospective companies.”

Kenneth E. Coleman named president and CEO of the Birmingham Business Alliance

Kenneth E. Coleman has been named president and CEO of the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA), the region’s leading economic development organization. Coleman will be responsible for developing collaborative efforts between the BBA and its community partners to lead economic growth and expansion for the seven-county region, in addition to the day-to-day operations of the organization. He will begin his new role in Birmingham on July 20. 

Coleman is currently interim president and CEO for the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce in Metro Atlanta. His 25-year, senior-executive career – mostly with Southern Company and its subsidiaries Georgia Power, Alabama Power, Mississippi Power and Southern Company Gas – has yielded significant accomplishments in stakeholder engagement, regulatory and legislative affairs, public policy, brand identity and economic development.

“I am excited to lead the Birmingham Business Alliance at such a pivotal time,” said Coleman. “The partnerships we strengthen, the jobs we help create and the support we provide to all businesses moving forward will shape Birmingham’s future as a leading metropolitan area. I look forward to working closely with the public and private sector – old friends and new - to make that happen.”

Coleman’s early career was spent in Birmingham, first playing professional baseball with the Birmingham Barons and later working in business development for the Metropolitan Development Board, a predecessor organization to the BBA. He started with Southern Company in 1999 and held numerous senior executive roles during his time with the company. Among his many accomplishments, Coleman points to positioning Georgia Power as a leader in solar generation; developing a successful Smart Cities partnership between Georgia Power and the City of Atlanta; and serving as chairman of a $1 billion community-wide economic development program in Montgomery, which led to more than 10,000 new jobs and over $2 billion in new capital investment.

He received a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of New Haven, in New Haven, Connecticut and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Alabama. He is married to     Dr. Prentiss Coleman and they have two sons, Kamden and Kyle. 

“Kenny will be able to hit the ground running as he is well known to many people in the region and is a proven leader” said Jim Gorrie, CEO of Brasfield & Gorrie LLC and 2020 BBA Chairman.

Coleman joins the BBA as the economic development organization is developing its four-year strategic plan to drive growth in the seven-county region. This process was spearheaded by BBA’s interim president and CEO Fred McCallum, who joined the organization in March 2019 and will help Coleman transition into his new position.

“Fred has done a tremendous job leading the BBA and the Board of Directors can’t thank him enough for all his hard work,” said Gorrie. “He has built a solid foundation in a short amount of time that will allow Kenny and the BBA to accelerate efforts to build a more prosperous region.”

Hiring Coleman is the culmination of a six-month search process that was led by Mark Tarr, president and CEO of Encompass Health and a member of the BBA Executive Committee.

“Kenny stood out from what was a sizable list of very qualified candidates interested in leading the BBA,” said Tarr. “His track record of success, experience in a number of different markets, along with a familiarity of Birmingham made him the top pick to lead the BBA at such a critical time.”

The Birmingham Business Alliance is the lead economic development organization for the Birmingham region. For more information about the BBA visit its website at www.birminghambusinessalliance.com.

Precision Grinding marks 50 years with a rebrand

Precision Grinding, Inc. (PGI) will celebrate 50 years in 2021 and will change its name to PGI Steel to reflect the company’s top revenue driver.

Precision Grinding, Inc. (PGI) – one of many companies that represent Birmingham’s strength in manufacturing – will celebrate 50 years in business with a new moniker.

PGI will celebrate its 50-year anniversary next year and to celebrate will change its name to PGI Steel and debut a new logo, said CEO Miles Cunningham. He said the name change reflects the fact that steel is PGI’s top revenue driver and helps clarify that the company does more than just grinding.

The company, which employs 90, ships to about 45 states annually and does extensive work in the Birmingham region, including on the recently completed Interstate 20/59 bridge project, where it has become a leader in the metro’s robust manufacturing industry.

And the custom steel processing company is now officially recognized as a company that does its work at the highest level. PGI received its ISO 9001:2015 certification this month, the highest level of certification in manufacturing.

“To get this certification, we had to fully implement a quality management system,” said Lee Higginbotham, business operations manager at PGI. “In order to do that, we looked at every process and every procedure from the time materials come in the door to how we process it to the invoice leaving the door. Once you get ISO-certified, you have the stamp of being among the elite and being a company that does manufacturing at the highest level.”

Recently, PGI was commissioned to manufacture custom steel base plates for the production of machines that produce N-95 respirator masks for COVID-19. Because it is a one-stop shop for custom steel plates and custom steel parts, this allows the company to turn jobs around swiftly, Cunningham said.

“Very few people can react and process custom steel parts as quickly as we can,” he said. “We can process things in days quite often, while others take a significantly long period of time. Not as many have the ability to react and process as quickly as we can do it and with outstanding quality and dependability.”

Mark Brown, vice president of business retention and expansion at the Birmingham Business Alliance, said PGI represents the best of manufacturing in Birmingham.

“PGI is a foundational center for excellence because of what the company does nationally,” Brown said. “Birmingham has such a strong location quotient of manufacturers, and companies with expertise like PGI have really put Birmingham on the map.”

BBA, partners apply for grant to grow Birmingham’s health care jobs, companies

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.”

A statement from the Birmingham Business Alliance Executive Committee

As an organization headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama and focused on the future growth and health of our city and region, we are keenly aware of our civil rights history and its impact on our people and our business community. The recent deaths of George Floyd and others and related events are a stark reminder that we have profound issues in our country and our communities that need to be confronted. We are experiencing history and have a real opportunity for great and lasting progress if issues of racial inequality and social injustice are honestly and directly addressed. 

The Birmingham Business Alliance exists to promote growth, economic development and prosperity in our region. We believe that diversity, inclusion and economic equality are critical to our success as an organization and to the long-term success of our region and our State. We also believe that we will not achieve our goals if racial inequality and social injustice are allowed to continue. 

The leadership of the BBA is committed to being a leader in the Birmingham region in the effort to create positive change, and we are confident that our business community fully supports this commitment. The BBA has been working hard to develop a new strategic plan, and diversity and inclusion will be a key part of every aspect of that plan. Despite our deep sadness over recent events and current unrest, the BBA is optimistic about the opportunity we now have to make this a period of progress - one that will create more opportunity for all of our citizens and make us a better and stronger city and region for the next generation.

Magic City Summer goes virtual to feature the best Birmingham has to offer

Magic City Summer, though not in person this year as in years past, will still give participants a feel for the best of Birmingham.

Magic City Summer, the Birmingham Business Alliance’s (BBA) annual series of free social events that connects summer interns and local college students to Birmingham’s culture, communities and influencers, will be held virtually this year and kick off at 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 11.

“Since most employers have taken their internships virtual this year, we’re taking our talent attraction events virtual, too,” said Karla Khodanian, manager of talent and higher education partnerships at the BBA. “Just because students might not physically be in Birmingham doesn’t mean we should hold back from showing them all the amazing things our region has to offer.”

Click here to learn more.

Online applications open for Birmingham Business Relief Fund

Online applications are now open for the Birmingham Business Relief Fund, which was formed to aid businesses affected by the unrest that occurred in downtown Birmingham the night of Sunday, May 31.

The fund is a collaborative effort between the Birmingham Business Alliance, REV Birmingham, Urban Impact, the City of Birmingham and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, and applications will be reviewed by a panel comprised of representatives from each partnering organization.

The funds will be administered by REV Birmingham and will be made in the form of grants. While all downtown businesses that sustained damage are encouraged to apply, this relief fund will prioritize:

• Small business or property owners with less than 25 employees

• Women, minority and disadvantaged owned businesses

• Affected nonprofit organizations

• Businesses located in downtown Birmingham’s City Center

• Businesses headquartered in the City of Birmingham or Jefferson County

• Businesses that hold City of Birmingham business licenses

• Businesses or owners who have not had their needs met by donations from other funds or campaigns

Grants will be awarded weekly through July 31, 2020.

Initial support for the fund came from Spire and has been bolstered by almost 200 individual and corporate donors. To donate to the fund, click here.

BBA partners in relief fund for small businesses

The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) is a partner in the creation of a new Birmingham Business Relief Fund, administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham to aid businesses affected by the unrest that occurred in downtown Birmingham the night of Sunday, May 31.

This fund will support small businesses and storefronts that sustained damage and vandalism during the riots, which took place following a peaceful protest to pay respects to George Floyd.

With seed money provided by Spire, the fund is a collaborative effort between REV Birmingham, Urban Impact, the City of Birmingham, the Community Foundation and the BBA.

This fund will help downtown small businesses and storefronts, many already suffering from the effects of the pandemic, as they look to thrive again. The BBA is committed to helping businesses rebuild and prosper, and this fund is vital in that cause.

You can find out more information and make a donation here.