‘Collaboration drives success’: Hardware collective creates Iron City Product Council

The Iron City Product Council’s first in person meeting was last month at Hardware Park.

When Ethan Summers was recruited to lead Fledging, a startup that makes consumer electronics, he felt like he was on an island, as most entrepreneurs do.

So he decided to do something about it and found he wasn’t alone.

Summers, Fledging’s CEO, created the Iron City Product Council (ICPC) as a collaborative effort to consolidate Birmingham’s wealth of resources and talent for entrepreneurs in the hardware and product-based space looking to sell a physical product on a national and international scale – a think tank to help work through challenges.

Connection is the goal of the group, Summers said, eventually linking every Birmingham startup or small business that makes, ships, sells or supports physical products with each other.

“I have been very surprised by its success and how much people have engaged,” Summers said. “In Startupland, you spend so much time heads down working that it’s easy to feel like you’re alone and no one else is facing the same challenges as you are. There’s a need to reach out to someone and be a community – let’s help each other, because we have the same problems.”

Since its inception last year, ICPC has grown from nine founding members to 28, from companies like CONSERV, Deft Dynamics, TruSpin, YUVA Biosciences, Fledging, Purilan Technology and more. It boasts 10 partner organizations like Red Mountain Makers, MAKEbhm and Hardware Park, where the council held its first in-person meetup in late September – a shift from the robust email chain that’s been in existence since late 2019. The meeting took a deep dive on product marketing and networking.

“The reason for the creation of the Iron City Product Council is increasing connection amongst member and partner organizations,” said Brian Jennings, vice president of economic development at the Birmingham Business Alliance, which helped support the organization in its formation. “That type of camaraderie and support is what makes Birmingham the unique place to do business that it is, and examples of that like the ICPC help us show companies outside the region that here in Birmingham, we do better when we collaborate and work together. Individually, the members of ICPC are makers, but together they form a knowledgeable collective with a passion for problem-solving and collaboration. The ICPC realizes the value of the people, companies and partnerships within our community and is focused on building the Birmingham maker-space ecosystem.”

It’s free to join and benefits include engineering and design solutions, programming and education, and, probably most important in the COVID-19 era of isolation, social networks. Studies show, Bolus said, that innovation happens faster in cities than in rural communities because of community and crosstalk, noting that resource networks like ICPC can save companies years of work because of collaborations.

“Collaboration drives success,” said Daniel Bolus, community outreach director at Hardware Park, COO at Purilan Technology Inc. and the vice president of the ICPC. “Ultimately, no matter how great your product is, if you don’t have a community of people helping you all the way from making it to selling it, you’ll find it’s really a lot harder to be in business when you’re isolated.”

When Summers moved to Birmingham from Atlanta, he said one of the most attractive aspects of the city was its community. Great networking and partnerships were always out there for the taking. Now, thanks to ICPC, there’s an organized way to connect.

“Community is the secret sauce of Birmingham,” Summers said. “Everyone here is happy to support each other and see each other thrive. No one is possessive or territorial about knowledge and are focused on helping each other succeed. That sense of community covers a lot of gaps.”

Sick of working from home? Try coworking – Birmingham has options

A meme is circulating around social media right now: “Do I work at home, or do I live at work?” For those feeling like their life these days is the latter, consider a coworking space. Birmingham has many, a few of which are profiled here.

Owners of coworking spaces say traffic lately has included people whose offices are closed and who need a break from the confines of their homes – both for productivity’s sake and for their sanity.

There’s no better time than now to check spaces out: Many of the coworking spaces across the city are banding together to launch a coworking collective to match people looking to cowork with the right space for them.

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City Club Coworking Space, 1901 Sixth Avenue North, Suite 3100, Birmingham 35203

People might know the City Club for its remarkable views perched amidst downtown Birmingham’s robust skyline. But now the space is offering coworking, too, with all of the benefits of club membership included.

“We are adapting with the changing world,” said Joe Spellman, general manager of the City Club. “I’ve talked to so many people and they’re all waiting to go back to ‘normal,’ but I don’t think we will. Normal has changed, how we do things. Working from home doesn’t have to be in an office. I see a lot of businesses trying to save money by not paying overhead of $1,000 a month and utilize space better.”

Amenities offered: Members are able to reserve any space available beyond just their desk, like the board room or a conference room. Members also get to take advantage of all the club benefits, like social networking, complimentary coffee and complimentary breakfast each day, cooked to order. Mailing addresses are also available.

COVID-19 precautions taken: Workspaces are at least six feet apart, masks are required in the Club until members are at their respective table or desk and sanitizers and specialized chemicals are used to wipe down every surface after every use.

What sets this space apart: Many Birmingham executives already meet at the City Club for lunch to do business. Now, after lunch, the office is just steps away. Plus, members get to attend City Club events, like happy hours.

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Forge, 120 Nineteenth Street North, #200, Birmingham 35203

On March 15, before anyone knew how common working from home would become thanks to COVID-19, Forge expanded from 9,000 to 13,000 square feet, adding two more private offices, another conference room, three team offices and plenty of open space. Now, said Kim Lee, Forge’s founder and CEO, visitors can be really spaced out and feel safe, yet be surrounded by people.

“I used to always tell people there are perks to being able to work from home, but having to work from home is difficult,” Lee said. “Here, you’re surrounded by people pushing themselves and working hard, and you’re able to collaborate, there’s more people to talk to about your business, you’re able to get feedback from the community and relationships are very big.”

Amenities offered: Members-only events and education, coffee and tea, mailing address, storage, phone booth for private phone calls, gym, pool and sauna, conference rooms, and meeting and event space.

COVID-19 precautions taken: Masks are required in open spaces, coffee is served to patrons rather than serving themselves and constant cleaning after each person leaves and before the next patron arrives.

What sets this space apart: Forge specifically caters to the business community. “We are in the business of growing businesses,” Lee said. “We are successful when our members and their businesses grow and are successful.” Forge has a unique, tight-knit sense of community and Lee said she wants to make sure it’s a good fit before interested parties become members – she suggests coming to work for a day or two before committing.

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Hardware Park, 811 Fifth Avenue North, Birmingham 35203

There’s no better place for a hardware-focused company in Birmingham to cowork than at Hardware Park, which is 140,000 square feet of opportunity.

“Here you have access to resources and people, and we all help each other out as much as we can,” said Daniel Bolus, director of community outreach. “We are bridging the gap for hardware companies to really succeed using community resources.”

COVID-19 precautions taken: Hardware Park is a spacious environment, allowing all of its tenants to spread out – much greater than six feet apart, Bolus said. “There’s no problem spreading out,” he said. Plus, there’s sanitization materials available in all common areas and cleaning happens regularly.

What sets this space apart: There’s nowhere else in Birmingham that comes close to matching its hardware resources, with machines like 3D printers and access to engineering talent that can work on CNC machines. The access to talent is unmatched, Bolus said.

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MAKEbhm, 4000 Third Avenue South, Birmingham 35222

While many coworking spaces are geared towards the business community, MAKEbhm exists for the makers of Birmingham –most of whom work alone.

“Solopreneurs work on their business by themselves and it can be isolating, especially if they’re working by themselves in a location by themselves, too,” said Hannah Mills, managing director at MAKEbhm. “Having other people who are going through the same trenches as you is, even in normal times, the best thing about getting to work here.”

Amenities offered: Shared kitchen with coffee always stocked, meeting spaces, high-speed fiber WiFi, onsite printing services and access to equipment and tools makers might not have at home.

COVID-19 precautions taken: Currently the space is closed to the public and the only people who go in and out are those that have dedicated workspaces there. The building is spaced out anyway, and, like everyone, cleaning has been ramped up. Masks are required in public spaces and sanitization stations are present throughout the space, made specially with soap crafted from one of MAKEbhm’s makers.

What sets this space apart: Designed specifically for makers, MAKEbhm gives its members access to specialized equipment and tools that other spaces don’t. But, with dedicated offices and drop-in coworking, you don’t have to be a maker to become a member – sometimes even lawyers or data scientists need to be surrounded by creatives, too.

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Orchard House, 3613 Sixth Avenue South, Birmingham 35222 (within the Practice Works space – see below for more information)

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Orchard House is Birmingham’s first women-focused coworking space, so it’s fitting that it derives its name from the childhood home of Louisa May Alcott, whose best-known work is a classic called Little Women.

“Our soft seating makes you feel like you’re in a living room, but not your living room and like you’re in a cozy home but not your home,” said cofounder Alex Wolf. “It’s a safe, welcoming spot where women can be fruitful in their relationships, but also in their work.”

Amenities offered: Private meeting room available, private phone booth for calls, lounge and kitchen access, coffee and surface parking.

COVID-19 precautions taken: Everything is six feet apart, and there are acrylic partitions between each workspace with instructions on cleaning. Masks are required in public spaces and the space is sanitized and disinfected.

What sets this space apart: “As a single female in my 20s, I couldn’t go to a coworking space without getting asked for my phone number,” Wolf said. “I thought it would be really cool to have one place where that didn’t have to be on my mind – not having to dodge that. Sometimes it’s a little bit easier to focus on friendships and work and not have to worry about dodging requests, plus, there’s a special camaraderie working with women. We want to create a space where networking can happen organically.”

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Practice Works, 3613 Sixth Avenue South, Birmingham 35222

If you ask Meredith Calhoun, cofounder of Practice Works, your home should be your sanctuary – not where you work.

That’s why she advocates heavily for coworking spaces, not just for the work/life balance benefits, but because they provide flexibility, community and infrastructure to support workers’ professional needs.

“The truth is, not everyone has the infrastructure to support working from home,” Calhoun said. “Many have kids who need to use the bandwidth or the WiFi, and many just don’t have the physical space.”

Amenities offered: Surface parking, coffee and tea, receptionist, waiting area and natural light.

COVID-19 precautions taken: Masks are required inside the building, cleaning supplies and disinfectants are dotted around the space and spaces are completely sanitized before new patrons arrive and after they depart.

What sets this space apart: “It is nice and serene here, and the environment is decidedly more calming than you’ll find in a typical coworking space,” Calhoun said.

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WORX BHM, 324 Commons Drive, Birmingham 35209 and 2081 Columbiana Road, Birmingham 35216

The biggest benefit of a coworking space?

“To me, it’s the opportunity to meet other people in business in Birmingham,” said Lauren Cushman, community manager at WORX BHM. “People are always networking here and walking by and saying hello, asking what somebody else does. Other than increasing productivity, networking and meeting other people in similar or totally different industries than you are in is the biggest benefit.”

Amenities offered: 250 black and white and color prints per month, mailing address, coffee, tea and sparkling water, snacks and outdoor seating.

COVID-19 precautions taken: The entire building is medically grade cleaned three times a week. Private offices have no one entering them but the renter. In the kitchen, conference room and shared coworking tables, masks are required.

What sets this space apart: Unlike niche coworking spaces, the variety of workers diversify the networking pool.

Local companies offer options for parents with virtual learners

Virtual learning is the reality for parents around the metro – including Birmingham City Schools and Jefferson County Schools, which are e-learning for at least the first nine weeks – and local organizations are offering options for parents who are struggling to juggle full-time work and homeschooling.

• Club J All Day at the Levite Jewish Community Center provides children with a managed, safe environment where students can learn virtually and also participate in extracurricular activities. This is offered for students in grades K-6.

• Magic City ePLEX is offering a new eLearning program where students will interact in a school-like setting while children are not in school. In addition to learning, students will have a small group of fellow students to play and socialize with.

• The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is offering a drop-in youth study program, where children of UAB faculty, staff and students in grades K-8 can have a safe, supervised site to work on schoolwork or take part in activities. The program will take place at The Hilton at UAB and does cost money, but financial assistance may be available based on income.

• Wyndy has added a nanny program to its services offered to provide more regular, consistent childcare for families who need it.

• The YMCA of Greater Birmingham School Support Academy supports students’ virtual learning and also offers engaging, camp-style activities to keep students active throughout the day.

Childcare Resources’ Resource and Referral Program is a free service that helps families find quality childcare for those that need it. Take a look at a recent Q&A the Birmingham Business Alliance did with Childcare Resources’ Executive Director Joan Wright.

Know of a resource for school-aged children we left off? Click here to let us know.

OnBoard Birmingham launched to help local companies better promote Birmingham to talent

Birmingham area companies now have a one-stop online tool to recruit and retain talent in Birmingham. The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) has developed OnBoard Birmingham, a dedicated hub for talent attraction, retention and growth that promotes Birmingham as a great place to live and grow a career.

OnBoard Birmingham is geared toward out-of-market talent, talent managers, recruiters, human resources leaders, and colleges and universities across the state. It exists to help local stakeholders attract and retain talent and shift perceptions of local and out-of-market talent to better understand the positive benefits of living and working in Birmingham.

“In working with human resources executives and recruiters across the region, we hear all the time that companies need a tool to sell the benefits of living in Birmingham,” said Karla Khodanian, Manager of Talent and Higher Education Partnerships at the BBA. “OnBoard Birmingham is that tool. This will provide a consistent message about Birmingham and the opportunities here, while highlighting our greatest asset – our people.”

OnBoard Birmingham features a job board with keyword search capabilities that is sorted by our region’s strongest industries (browse more than 28,000 jobs); a Cost of Living Calculator that allows users to compare Birmingham to other cities (your $75,000 salary in New York will go 63 percent further in Birmingham); and a deep dive into Birmingham’s rich culture, amenities and opportunities (browse information on Birmingham neighborhoods).

As the site evolves, OnBoard Birmingham will soon feature a dynamic recruiting toolkit for talent leaders across the region and profiles of local ambassadors who have built a career here.

The BBA will use OnBoard Birmingham as its main workforce development platform to partner with colleges and universities across the state to host virtual events showcasing quality of life in Birmingham and employment opportunities for entry-level graduates, which are two key components of the site.

Birmingham’s Shipt and Regions Bank are key supporters of OnBoard Birmingham and will be its first Featured Employers with company profiles and an opportunity for enhanced job listings. That feature is also open to other companies interested in getting in front of talent that has their eye on Birmingham.  

OnBoard Birmingham is a direct call to action from Building (it) Together, which lists talent attraction and retention as one of its main goals to align education with jobs in Birmingham.

To develop OnBoard Birmingham, the BBA utilized feedback from local HR executives and recruiters, as well as results from an external perception survey that showed roughly half the respondents knew nothing or very little about Birmingham and the opportunities here. A survey of HR leaders indicated that 60 percent said their biggest concern was attracting and retaining talent in Birmingham.

“It became clear that human resources professionals in Birmingham needed help meeting their hiring goals, and the BBA knew it could help in that effort,” said Kenny Coleman, President and CEO of the BBA. “Also, we found that many perceptions of Birmingham appear to be driven by a general lack of knowledge. Through OnBoard Birmingham, we hope to show those who don’t live here why it is a great place to live, and those who do live here why it is a great place to stay.”

Any companies interested in being featured on the OnBoard Birmingham website, being involved with other workforce initiatives or that would like a group virtual tour of the site can reach out to Karla Khodanian here.

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.

Get to know BBA CEO Kenny Coleman

The Birmingham Business Alliance is launching a new video series, Seven Questions, where we ask prominent Birmingham business leaders seven out-of-the-box questions about themselves and their work. In our premiere episode, learn more about the BBA’s new President and CEO, Kenny Coleman.

StrategyWise to remain in Birmingham following acquisition

Birmingham data science and artificial intelligence (AI) consulting firm StrategyWise said it is poised to triple the size of its data science practice through a recent acquisition.

The company was acquired last month by E Source, which provides data science, research and consulting services for over two-thirds of the electric, gas and water utilities in the United States and Canada.

E Source said it acquired StrategyWise as it looks to expand its data science and AI capabilities. Over 20 million Americans directly interact with StrategyWise’s algorithms annually, and the company uses clients’ data to give insights into how to create more value in their business.

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The company has recently seen tremendous growth in its utility practice, said Joshua Jones, now vice president of market innovation for E Source and the founder and former CEO of StrategyWise.

“The utility industry is primed for the types of innovation that machine-learning and AI can offer,” Jones said. “We’re seeing utilities ranging from smaller municipality-owned entities all the way to the largest in the country leveraging new machine-learning tools that are going to really change the way they do business.”

Though E Source is headquartered in Boulder, Colo., Jones and his staff of 15 will remain in Birmingham, where the company was founded 10 years ago.

“We consider Birmingham home,” Jones said. “We’ve received tremendous support from the Birmingham community, and it has been a great place to grow the business.”

This creates a Southeastern hub for E Source, which saw Birmingham as a good choice because of its geographic proximity and accessibility to the entire Southeastern region, Jones said.

Just three weeks into the acquisition, StrategyWise, which officially becomes a part of E Source in name on October 1, is already experiencing growth in revenue and profitability, Jones said.

“I believe this is a time when utilities are really determined to embrace innovation and new technology in a way that we haven’t seen in the past,” he said. “It’s truly exciting to be on the cutting edge of those technologies and able to support our clients through those digital transformation efforts.”

FedEx Ground to build $40M facility set to bring 285 jobs to Birmingham region

The City of Bessemer, the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County have been close collaborators on one of the largest economic development projects this year in the Birmingham region – a proposed $40.6 million FedEx Ground facility that would create 285 full- and part-time jobs within three years of the project’s completion.

FedEx Ground will build a 300,000-square-foot facility on a 46-acre site on Lakeshore Parkway, a growing logistics and distribution corridor that would place the new building next to the Dollar General Distribution Center. The site is currently owned by U.S. Steel Corp., and 94 percent of the facility will be located in Birmingham, with the remaining 6 percent – including office operations, a parking lot and an access road – in Bessemer, both of which are located in Jefferson County.

Click here to learn more.

Key data about underserved businesses to be presented at Demo Day this week

Innovate Birmingham’s eleventh cohort - its first totally virtual cohort - will present their capstone projects at Demo Day this week.

Revealing data about minority-owned, women-owned and small businesses across the Birmingham region will be unveiled by Innovate Birmingham this week.

The results of three surveys that capture a comprehensive list of minority- and women-owned businesses, a snapshot on consumer spending trends and a business impact survey to better understand COVID-19’s effect on Birmingham companies – specifically its small businesses – will be released at Innovate Birmingham’s Demo Day, which will take place virtually at 3 p.m. on August 13.

Innovate Birmingham offers free data analytics and software development bootcamps in an effort to help fill the tech talent gap that exists in the Birmingham region, where there are more tech jobs available than people skilled to fill those roles. Its Demo Day, which is free and open to the public, will showcase to potential employers the skills this cohort’s 45 graduates have learned through the program.

These four organizations partnered with Innovate Birmingham to create three surveys, the results of which will be presented at Demo Day.

Now in its eleventh cohort, for the first time the data analytics group combined forces with community organizations like BE BHM, Bham BizHub and the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (¡HICA!) to craft three surveys for its capstone project that seek to build community through data, with a specific focus on women- and minority-owned businesses in the region.

“Each cohort is encouraged to do something relevant and real-world applicable [for their capstone project] and work with our partners to identify data needs,” said Haley Medved Kendrick, Ph.D., director of Innovate Birmingham. “The students’ interests, as they are living through COVID and the murder of George Floyd and racial injustice, aligned with [Innovate Birmingham’s] mission and values centering around equity and creating an inclusive ecosystem.”

The data analytics students, in a collaborative effort with its community partners and ThinkData Solutions, created these specific surveys to understand the needs and landscape of underserved businesses in the community.

“Small businesses and local business are important for us all,” said Robin Hunt, cofounder of ThinkData Solutions and Innovate Birmingham’s data analytics instructor. “Now more than ever, businesses in their local areas need visibility and not have costs associated with being a part of a comprehensive list that ensures more visibility and promotions.”

This is the first year this collaboration has taken place, Kendrick said – but hopefully not the last.

“This partnership leverages the strengths of the different organizations [we partnered with],” she said. “It emerged as a natural fit for the [data analytics] capstone project, and we’d love to welcome more partners as a fit [in the future].”

The software development group will also present its capstone projects at Demo Day, which historically have included apps and software development tools they’ve built over the course of their 14 weeks in the bootcamp.

Click here to register to attend Demo Day, which is free and open to the public.

Wyndy looks to partner with local companies to serve COVID-19 childcare needs

In addition to its regular babysitting offerings, Birmingham’s Wyndy has added employer partnerships and a nanny program to the services it offers.

Birmingham’s Wyndy was born out of the need to solve a problem.

In 2017, founders Ginger and Tommy Mayfield had two daughters under the age of five and had trouble finding reliable, consistent babysitters. So, they developed an app where users can easily find, book and pay college babysitters that today serves 21 markets around the Southeast.

Now Wyndy is solving a different kind of problem by responding to COVID-19 and the still-limited childcare options available with a new program to help Birmingham employers provide childcare to its employees impacted by school and daycare closures. The program provides flexible options for employers, and Wyndy can manage all of the logistics around implementing the program, including enrolling employees, reporting on utilization and handling reimbursements.

“Childcare is something a huge swath of the workforce needs help with,” said Wyndy’s Tommy Mayfield. “I read a New York Times article that talks about how, in light of COVID, the cost of childcare is so high that it has almost put parents in the position of having a job or taking care of their kids – but they can’t have both. It’s too expensive. Our hope is that more employers will recognize the need and partner with us to provide better childcare benefits to their employees who need help in order to perform their jobs effectively.”

Wyndy has expanded from Birmingham to 21 markets across the Southeastern United States.

Wyndy has also added a nanny program to its services offered to provide more regular, consistent childcare for families who need it. It still offers its on-demand babysitting services via the Wyndy app, enabling families to quickly connect with a vetted, background-checked college student that best fits with their family.

“Historically Wyndy has really been focused more on one-off type needs, but when schools shut down in the spring, we realized more and more parents needed regular help, and, given the public health concerns, many parents preferred to have one sitter come and work for them on a regular basis,” Mayfield said.

Wyndy has been intentional about mitigating risk and partnered with Dr. Ellen Eaton, who specializes in infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), to serve as an advisor to educate the company on the best ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 within the business, not only for sitters and the families they serve but for the community at large.

“This is a priority for us and will continue to be as we move through this,” Mayfield said. “We’re at a place in society where we unfortunately can’t completely eliminate the risk, but we are doing what we can to reduce and mitigate the risk.”

Wyndy has expanded from the Birmingham market to 21 markets across the Southeast, with roughly 20,000 families using the app for over 275,000 hours of care. In Birmingham alone, Wyndy has put almost $3 million in the pockets of local college students who can babysit as much or as little as they would like.

Local accelerator helps grow small businesses amidst pandemic

Thanks to knowledge gained through the Western Small Business Accelerator, Refresh Clothing has grown its business by 20 percent and will soon open a second location.

Only three months into its first cohort, the Western Small Business Accelerator is already producing success stories.

Corey Bishop, founder of Refresh Clothing, is taking part in the first offering of the accelerator, put on by the Western Communities Redevelopment Alliance (WCRA) and the Five Points-West Business Alliance. Since April, Bishop has redesigned his business’ accounting practices through knowledge gained from the accelerator and has grown his business by 20 percent, even amidst COVID-19.

In fact, Refresh Clothing is doing so well it is expanding its footprint and will soon open a second location in north Birmingham, in addition to its current location in Five Points West.

“We were already an established business, and the accelerator helped us renew some things we were doing – some bad business practices,” Bishop said. “They came in and showed us better business practices.”

Helping businesses like Refresh Clothing will spark similar experiences for other businesses, as applications are now open for the second cohort of the Western Small Business Accelerator, said Jeremy Duckworth, executive director of the WCRA.

Duckworth said the accelerator’s target audience are “mature” businesses like Refresh Clothing, which has been in operation since 2005, or ones that have been around for at least 18 months and need an extra push to really taste success.

“We are looking for businesses that are right on the cusp and that have been stuck,” he said. “They can’t get over the hump to expand. We come alongside them and help them get over the hump.”

Participants take part in four phases, each of which are six weeks: Accounting, business model canvassing, marketing and expansion. The accelerator is offered free of charge and, in its first cohort, has eight participants. For the second cohort, Duckworth said the accelerator plans to take 15 participants, and classes will start in September. Though the accelerator’s target area is western Jefferson County, participants do not have to be located there.

The greatest currency the accelerator doles out is knowledge, Bishop said – knowledge that many minority small business owners like Bishop don’t have access to.

“A lot of obstacles underserved businesses have come because we don’t have the right information,” he said. “The WCRA passes out the right information that we were not privy to until now.”

Reginald Davis, sole proprietor of Christian product company Heartful Echoes in east Birmingham, is on track to more than double his revenue thanks to skills he’s learned so far in the accelerator, he said.

“The accelerator has opened me up to a world of possibilities,” Davis said. “The accelerator is set up for you to excel in business, but you have to be willing and open as a person and a business owner to do what’s needed to get to the next tier to reach the ultimate goal of a successful business.”

And when small businesses become successful through programs like the Western Small Business Accelerator, the entire community benefits, Duckworth said.

“The Western Small Business Accelerator is crucial for our growth as a business community,” he said. “Existing small businesses are in the best position to make capital investments back into their business and hire more people.”

Interested in applying for the second cohort of the Western Small Business Accelerator? Email Jeremy Duckworth here.

Birmingham faring better in COVID-19 than many other metros, data shows

Birmingham is less negatively affected by COVID-19 than other metros, two recent national studies show.

Two national studies show that Birmingham’s negative impact from COVID-19 isn’t as substantial as other metros across the country.

In its Metro Recovery Index, Brookings Institution examined 53 very large metro areas with populations over 1 million and found that the Birmingham region was only down 5.8 percent in jobs and down 1.5 percent in job postings. That put Birmingham’s labor market in the top 10 metros least affected by COVID-19 since February 2020 and its jobless rate only up 6.9 percent, placing the region alongside metros like Phoenix and Washington D.C. with relatively lower jobless levels.

And the U.S. Census’ Small Business Pulse Survey showed Birmingham’s small businesses are faring better than others. When asked how their business had been affected by COVID-19, Birmingham had the lowest percentage of small businesses reporting a large negative effect (24.3 percent) among the nation’s top 50 metros.

However, as the pandemic continues to disrupt the economy, Birmingham’s business executives are less confident in the economy than they have been in eight years, according to data from the Alabama Business Confidence Index (ABCI) gathered in the first half of June 2020.

Confidence in Birmingham fell 11.1 points from the second quarter 2020 to the third quarter 2020, clocking in at 44.7 for the third quarter, indicating lessening confidence in economic activity. Specifically, the data shows, business leaders are most concerned about industry capital expenditure, hiring and profits; the outlook on industry sales, meanwhile, is only mildly negative. Statewide, the confidence index was 51.8.

"Since this downturn was caused by a pandemic, Birmingham's economy has been more resilient this time around when compared to other metros and our performance during the Great Recession,” said Emily Jerkins, director of research at the Birmingham Business Alliance. “We think our region's strong health care industry, emerging biotechnology and tech industry, and historical strengths in distribution and logistics and manufacturing, including food and beverage, poise Birmingham for a better recovery this time around."

Interested in learning more about Birmingham market trends? Join the Birmingham Business Alliance at 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 27 for the second Market Insights on the Birmingham Region, featuring Anoop Mishra of the Federal Reserve of Atlanta. Click here to register.

Irwin offers tips on businesses reopening as both a doctor and an entrepreneur

Dr. Bruce Irwin

Dr. Bruce Irwin, founder and CEO of Birmingham-based American Family Care, is both a medical doctor and a successful businessman. The Birmingham Business Alliance sat down with Dr. Irwin recently to get his unique perspective on businesses reopening in the midst of COVID-19.

Birmingham Business Alliance: With your unique perspective, what can Birmingham businesses do to reopen safely?

Dr. Bruce Irwin: The thing every business has to do is to create an atmosphere in their business so their employees and customers feel safe. And some of that, quite frankly, is an illusion. Things we can to do be safe in any business are not foolproof and are very difficult.

Businesses need to analyze their physical structure where they do business and what employees and customers are involved in on a day-to-day basis. I recommend that if your business has been closed for a while to come in and disinfect for the virus. The virus cannot live very long – it will disintegrate on hard surfaces very quickly and has to have a host to continue to multiply in a room. If a room has been empty for hours or days, there’s not much chance of exposure to the virus.

A lot has to do also with educating employees as to the type of behaviors they exhibit and doing behaviors that will make them less likely to become infected by the virus. Social distancing is recommended, so set up your workplace so employees will be at least six feet from each other, and have your customers maintain the same distance. Make masks available for employees to protect people who aren’t infected.

As you go back to the workplace and have examined your physical structure, cleaned it and, as you come back, have your employees maintain social distancing, think about how you should screen employees that have come back. You can test for antibodies, which are typically formed in reaction to a foreign substance.

Employers can test all employees with the standard COVID test, but that’s expensive. It’s wonderful if a company can afford it, but I don’t think it’s essential. The best way to screen is to test for fever and ask if employees have been exposed to anyone with COVID or had any symptoms – fever, dry cough, aches, pains similar to influenza. If employees have not been exposed to COVID and have not exhibited any symptoms, they’re as safe as they can be to come back to work.

Of course, none of these things ensure an employee is not going to get infected outside of the workplace and bring it in, so I recommend screening each day for fever and encouraging employees to keep a high level of awareness of themselves. If they exhibit signs or symptoms of COVID, have an awareness and go home. If they notice others feeling bad, bring it to their attention, and encourage that person to go home.

BBA: What if an employee does get infected?

BI: There’s no treatment at this point. If you are diagnosed and have symptoms, self-isolate for 10 days. We used to say 14, but now we say 10. Before you return, you must have three consecutive days of no fever if inside 10 days; if not, self-quarantine longer. If you take two COVID tests within 24 hours and both are negative, the employee is safe to return.

BBA: Alabama has recently seen a spike in COVID-19 cases since the full reopening. What can we do to flatten the curve?

BI: I don’t know if we can flatten the curve. I think people misunderstood what the government was attempting to do at the beginning. No one said we’d stop people from catching COVID, and no one ever said we would stop people from dying. The concern was that we would overcome the capacity of the health care system, with so many people getting so sick so quickly that the health care system couldn’t handle it. We proved we could keep it from being overwhelmed, and actually we threw the baby out with the washwater – the health care system was put out of work, with 98 percent of doctors and hospitals not used at all to capacity.

It terms of flattening the curve, you can minimize the risk at which people get infected and try to control the rate of infection, but this is a virus, and a virus is going to do what a virus does – it’s going to infect people as long as there are people to infect. Other factors like time of year matter. Viruses fall off this time of year because of the change in weather and change in humidity. This virus will slow down but will not go away. We’ll continue to see this virus for years to come, until there is a vaccine or we develop herd immunity. Even with herd immunity, we will see cases of it. COVID-19 is here to stay for a long time.

BBA: What advice would you give businesses struggling with whether to open to keep afloat but also concerned about the safety of their employees and customers?

BI: The most important thing employers need to know is they’ve got to do the best they can do to ensure employee and customer safety, that your place of business is a safe place to work and to receive services. We all need to know that. We’ll never be 100 percent, but do all you can do. Use sensible precautions and check people frequently for any signs or symptoms.

This interview has been edited for length.

Birmingham economy shows signs of recovery, revealing inequities and opportunities

By Emily Jerkins, BBA Director of Research

The Birmingham metro’s jobless rate fell to 8.7 percent in May, the strongest sign of recovery since coronavirus hit the economy in early March. The worst of joblessness may be behind us, though over 48,000 people remain out of work in the Birmingham region, and both uncertainty and economic opportunity lie ahead.  

The region’s economy gained over 28,500 jobs in May as thousands of workers returned to work in restaurants, stores and health care facilities following Alabama’s reopening in early May.

The bulk of May’s job gains were in industries hardest hit by layoffs in prior months. The region’s leisure and hospitality employers, which contributed to half of April’s job loss, added over 6,100 jobs in May. As outpatient offices reopened and elective procedures restarted in early May, the health care sector gained 2,600 jobs.

This month’s positive news was further complicated by the BLS’s miscalculation error* and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which stimulated the economy, at least temporarily, by incentivizing employers to rehire or retain employees. Without the miscalculation error, the national jobless rate (13.3 percent) would have been an estimated three percentage points higher.

Wholesalers lost 1,000 net jobs in May, but rising consumer demand for home products softened the decline and fueled hiring among local distribution centers, like Home Depot and Amazon. In the coming months, Amazon’s hiring ramp up at its Bessemer fulfillment center should positively impact jobs in wholesale trade. This facility, which received project management support from the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA), is expected to employ at least 1,500 workers at full operation.

May’s jobless rate dropped over three percentage points from 11.9 percent in April. There were over 37,000 jobless claims as of the third week of June, a 32 percent decline since peaking right before Alabama’s reopening two months ago.

While workers are gradually getting back to work, the economic downturn and recovery has not been felt evenly across the region. Black workers and workers without a college degree remain disproportionately out of work as evidenced by national trends and disparities across the region – a high of 15 percent in Bessemer to a low of 5.2 percent in Vestavia Hills.

Uptick in distribution activity

Overall, the region is performing better than most metro economies though, with a jobless rate better than 85 percent of U.S. metros, according to a BBA analysis of May 2020 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. And some industries now employ more workers than they did one year ago. Known as a steady industry, jobs in the insurance industry are also up compared to last May. With more consumers buying groceries and cooking at home, the supply chain is working to keep up with demand by adding more positions and opening new facilities, as reflected by BBA’s current project activity.

“Since COVID-19, the BBA has experienced an uptick in out-of-market companies, specifically in distribution and food-related industries, considering operations in the region,” said Brian Jennings, vice president of economic development at the BBA. “Birmingham’s central location, infrastructure, and existing industry strengths are some of the reasons we are being considered.”

The BBA’s team and its economic development partners are actively managing these opportunities while simultaneously working to build, fund and implement a strategy that creates a more resilient and inclusive economy for the future – one with diverse industries, supply chains and talent.

“Birmingham businesses serve a mix of industries,” said Mark Brown, vice president of business retention and expansion at the BBA. “As you would expect, businesses with a more diverse customer base are more resilient. Some businesses more reliant on specific, hard hit industries, such as oil and gas, have been forced to lay off employees, while others serving a diverse and faster growing set of industries, like medical devices, are adding employees.”

Diverse industry, talent equal resilience

Recognizing the need to better understand and pursue these diversification opportunities, BBA partnered with 58 Inc. and Jefferson County Commission to submit a $450,000 investment request to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to fund a healthcare market intelligence study, strategy and implementation plan.

And it is not just diverse customer bases and industries that drive regional resilience – it is also the inclusion and diversity of talent within companies, according to a recent McKinsey report about inclusion and diversity efforts amid COVID-19.

“Companies pulling back on I&D now may be placing themselves at a disadvantage: They could not only face a backlash from customers and talent now but also, down the line, fail to better position themselves for growth and renewal,” the report said. “Some of the qualities that characterize diverse and inclusive companies — notably innovation and resilience — will be much in need as companies recover from the crisis. Indeed, it could help companies to unlock the power of I&D as an enabler of business performance and organizational health and contribute to the wider effort to revive economies and safeguard social cohesion.”

Interested in learning more about Birmingham’s economic recovery? Join the BBA and Economist Abbey Omodunbi of PNC Financial Services Group at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 16 as he provides key insights on market activity in the Birmingham region and what it means within the context of global and national trends. Omodunbi will also share how the impact of COVID-19 on our local economy compares to other metros across the nation as well as his predictions on our recovery efforts. Click here to register.

*The May 2020 unemployment numbers are lower than expected due to a misclassification error during BLS’s surveying. As a result, some furloughed, or temporary laid off workers, were accidentally classified as employed when they should have been classified as unemployed. For further information, please see page six of the U.S. BLS May 2020 Employment Situation report.

Birmingham’s BioGX producing COVID-19 test kits

Birmingham’s BioGX is manufacturing a large number of COVID-19 test kits in downtown Birmingham.

Work happening inside Birmingham’s Innovation Depot might be the key to getting Americans back to work safely, as a large number of COVID-19 test kits are being manufactured right in the heart of downtown Birmingham.

That’s according to Michael Vickery, Ph.D., chief scientific officer and executive vice president at BioGX, a molecular diagnostics company founded in Birmingham in 2007. Molecular diagnostics applies molecular biology to medical testing to diagnose and monitor disease, detect risk and decide what treatments work best for individuals.

BioGX is manufacturing and distributing COVID-19 test kits with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Vickery believes that in order to get America back to work and to do it safely, there needs to be a public health framework to allow employers to test all employees before they return to work and provide ongoing testing for them once they have returned to work. He said BioGX has the capability to produce tests in very high quantities.

BioGX’s test uses the gold standard method of virus detection – a gene signature amplification method that allows for highly sensitive and specific results within one to two hours, depending upon what instrumentation is used to run it. The company produces a high-volume production version of the test that is presently being supplied in Europe through its European subsidiary, BioGX B.V., based in the Netherlands.

“We were one of the first to apply for and receive EUA approval,” Vickery said. “Our outstanding design and development capabilities, combined with our ability to perform high-volume manufacturing in our unique freeze-dried reagent formats that include all testing components in a single tube, give us a winning combination to help labs get critical testing into their hands in a short period of time. Our tests can be shipped anywhere in the world with no refrigeration.”

Manufactured in the heart of downtown Birmingham, already many hundreds of thousands of these tests have been shipped to hospitals and labs all over the world.

Vickery said BioGX’s staff of more than 70 in Birmingham started working on a test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 as soon as it became evident that the virus would begin spreading outside of China. Within weeks, BioGX and its partner for distribution of this test, Becton, Dickinson and Co., applied for and were granted EUA for its test by the FDA. 

Ever since, the dedicated BioGX staff has been working around the clock, seven days a week to crank out as many test kits as possible every day, and will continue to do so as long as there’s a need.

To get back to normal, widespread testing will be absolutely critical, Vickery said, and BioGX is ready to be a nationwide and global contributor in the return to work effort.

“We believe that if we can screen everyone going back to work, we can reduce the spread of the virus and knock the infection rates down to get back to some level of normal life,” Vickery said. “Of course, the most important reason for testing is to stop the spread of the virus so we can save lives. Everyone at BioGX believes it is an honor to be able to step up and contribute in this way.”

BioGX’s most recent work with COVID-19 is critical, but the company’s reach expands beyond the pandemic, said Mark Brown, vice president of business retention and expansion at the Birmingham Business Alliance, who has worked closely with the company.

“The expertise and products that BioGX has in developing and manufacturing molecular reagents sets the baseline for clinical, pharma, food safety and water quality testing and analysis,” he said. “The team at BioGX has played a critical role in developing a COVID-19 test that is being used worldwide in support of the pandemic efforts. Having the capability to support mass testing is critical in getting people back to work safely. Hats off to the team at BioGX for being a difference maker.”