Engineered Plastic Components to invest $8.05 million in second Birmingham plant, add 75 jobs

Engineered Plastic Components currently has a facility in Leeds (pictured), and will soon invest $8.05 million in a second facility in Bessemer.

Engineered Plastic Components (EPC) is investing $8.05 million in a 125,000-square-foot facility in Bessemer, its second facility in the Birmingham region. The company is a provider of thermoplastics and thermoset products that serve automotive, appliances, consumer products and medical industries. Specific products include automotive instrument panels, medical products like test tube holders and more.

EPC acquired the second facility from INOAC in September 2020 and plans to add 10 injection molding machines ranging in size from 200 tons to 3,000 tons. The company will bring 75 new jobs to the Bessemer facility, many of which are skilled technical jobs like engineers and technicians.

The company’s first facility is located in Leeds, where it has serviced automotive and consumer products through injection molding and assembly since 2014 and doubled in size in 2018.

“Alabama is attractive because of the automotive OEM and other customers in the area,” said Reza Kargarzadeh, president and CEO of EPC. “We are expanding to provide the most efficient injection molding and thermoset processes to all automotive OEMs in the area.”

Founded in 1994 in Iowa, EPC has 17 locations across North America, predominantly in the Midwest and Southeast. It currently employs 100 in the Bessemer facility and plans to add 75 new jobs in the next several years.

The Birmingham Business Alliance’s Vice President of Economic Development Jeff Traywick assisted EPC in this expansion.

“The Birmingham Business Alliance and Jeff have been instrumental in providing guidance and information on programs to incentivize businesses to locate in Alabama,” Kargarzadeh said. “The Alliance’s expertise has been very valuable to EPC to initially come to Alabama and, as well, to expand to a second location.”

In its seven years in the Birmingham region, EPC has grown substantially, Traywick said.

“Since locating within our region in 2014, Engineered Plastic Components has been a key member of our business community and its growth in our area has created a large number of quality jobs,” he said. “We are excited to see the company continue that success with its second facility to be located in Bessemer.” 

EPC is but one example of the growing business community in Bessemer, said Bessemer Mayor Kenneth Gulley.

“We would like to welcome Engineered Plastic Components to our growing business community here in Bessemer,” he said. “The selection of Bessemer for this newest facility is another example of the business-friendly climate we have created here in Bessemer and the success it has yielded in recruiting quality businesses and jobs to the Marvel City. We look forward to EPC’s success here in Bessemer over the coming years.”

Birmingham companies weigh in on statewide mask requirement

This Friday, April 9, the statewide mask requirement will be lifted by Governor Kay Ivey, and the Birmingham Business Alliance polled its Investor companies on how they will handle this change. Over 300 Alliance Investors responded to the call – a 51 percent response rate – and gave an update on how their business will operate and shared their opinions, many strongly held. See below for a breakdown of the findings.

"Lifting or continuing the mask requirement is a tough decision for our state and local elected officials and we understand the gravity of those decisions," said Ron Kitchens, CEO of the Birmingham Business Alliance. "As you can see from the results below, our local businesses and service providers feel the weight of those decisions, too, and have provided great input that we'll continue to share with our public and elected leaders through our public policy efforts."

Question #1: Following the lift of Alabama’s mask requirement on April 9 and if it is required by a public health order, will you continue to require your employees to wear face masks?

Noteworthy responses:

• ­Continuation of wearing facemasks will be optional and up to the individual employee.

• ­Yes and no. It depends on their role in the company and how closely they work with each other and our customers.

• ­Until all of our employees have had a chance to receive a vaccine plus waiting period, all COVID precautions remain.

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Question #2: Will you continue to require your customers to wear face masks?

Noteworthy responses:

• Wearing of facemasks will up to the discretion of the customer.

• At least until May 31. Not all of my clients are not or will chose to NOT be vaccinated, so I’m hopeful our state infection rates are much lower by then.

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Question #3: Do you anticipate a negative reaction and resistance from customers if you do continue to require face masks in your place of business, in the absence of a public health order?

Noteworthy responses:­

• ­I'm not sure if the customer reaction will be negative, but that is not a factor in our decision to continue the policy.

• Possibly. We have to get back to a more normal at some point.  People can use their own judgement and do what’s best for them.

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Question #4: Would the continuation of a public face mask order be helpful or harmful to your business?

Noteworthy responses:

• ­Helpful – by having the force of a public mask order, it makes it easier for leadership to require masks in the workplace, particularly for customers/guests.

• Harmful – Especially if the state order is lifted. We already get a good number of customers complaining and it would be very difficult if it was only in force for Birmingham and/or Birmingham.

• ­Not sure – Lots of people have already had it or have been vaccinated. People are using their own judgment as to whether to wear them or not and that's fine with us.

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Question #5: How many employees do you have?

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Question #6: What industry is your company?

Hospitality/Restaurant/Retail: 64 (21%)
Finance & Insurance: 39 (13%)
Government & Education: 15 (5%)
Manufacturing: 13 (4%)
Technology: 13 (4%)
Distribution & Logistics: 10 (3%)
Life Sciences: 6 (2%)
Other: 146 (48%)

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Question #7: Are any of your employees working remotely?

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Question #8: If yes, when do you plan to return to your office?

Noteworthy responses:

• ­When most have been vaccinated.

• Their decision when they are comfortable; otherwise, remote working is not causing a decline in business.

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Question #9: If yes, what percentage of your employees will you bring back in the first wave?

Note: The below percentages are based on companies who answered yes to question #7 (are any of your employees working remotely?) – a total of 92 companies.

Why I Choose Birmingham: Chef and Season 18 Top Chef cheftestant Roscoe Hall

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Birmingham has been on the nation’s radar as an emerging food scene for years, but only now does the Magic City have its first “cheftestant” on Bravo’s hit show Top Chef – Roscoe Hall. Hall will compete against 14 other renowned chefs for the Top Chef season 18 title beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 1 on Bravo.

Originally from Chicago, Hall – currently the Culinary Director for Post Office Pies and formerly the executive chef for Rodney Scott’s BBQ – made stops in St. Louis, Portland and New York City before arriving in Birmingham seven years ago, though his family roots in Alabama run deep. Here, learn how Hall got to Birmingham, and why, after a sojourn away, he returned to stay – and what he likes to eat while here.

My grandfather started Dreamland Bar-B-Que in Tuscaloosa. My mom and father went to college in L.A., moved to Chicago and had me; at age 14, my grandparents got sick, and we had to move back to Alabama. I went to high school here and started cooking at 18. I left Birmingham probably in 2000, with my last job being at Bottega Café, where I got my chops. I didn’t come back until seven years ago.

Birmingham is definitely an affordable city, and the culinary progress I’ve seen is insane here, the driving forces being Frank Stitt (Highlands Bar & Grill, Bottega and Chez Fon Fon), Chris Hastings (Hot & Hot Fish Club and Ovenbird) and new faces like Rob McDaniel (Helen), Adam Evans (Automatic Seafood & Oysters) and John Hall (Post Office Pies). There is a good vibe here. When I first got here, I did pop-up dinners like I did in New York City and Portland. The reception was amazing. I was shocked that people would be willing to do a secret menu for their dining experience.

I think, if anything, the Birmingham influence I bring to Top Chef would be a new outlook on food; the new outlook of a seasoned chef that’s been around for a while – mind you, I’m a 43-year-old chef that has been cooking for 26 years – and knows things about food and being able to express the mentality of a Black chef. OutKast said it best – “The South’s got a lot to say.”

Last night, I had a chance to go out to eat, and I went to Helen. There is such a voice in Alabama in these chefs who take all aspects and methods of cooking – it’s insane. They’re such a huge voice for creativity. They’re telling a story.

The Southeast is looked at as having great food in America’s eyes and in the history of food, but the contemporary Birmingham cuisine will be a shock to everyone. Birmingham has access to some of the best seafood in the United States, and don’t mention the tomatoes! There are so many secrets no one knows about Birmingham. I’d like Birmingham to be kept a secret, but it’s about to blow up. I have a feeling.

As told to Rachel Burchfield

Carvana facility opens doors, with four other logistics facilities not far behind

Amazon

Carvana

FedEx

Lowe’s Home Improvement

Graham & Co. undisclosed development

Carvana has cut the ribbon on its $40 million distribution and fulfillment center on Lakeshore Parkway in Birmingham. It is expected to create more than 450 jobs and is one of four anticipated projects along the busy Lakeshore corridor that represent more than $166 million investment and nearly 1,000 jobs for the region.

By the end of 2021, facilities for Amazon, FedEx and Lowe’s Home Improvement should be up and running, said Jeff Traywick, vice president of economic development at the Birmingham Business Alliance, who assisted on all four of these economic development projects.

“Despite the wider economic downturn in 2020 related to the pandemic, the Birmingham region has seen a high level of activity in the logistics sector,” Traywick said. “Much of that activity has been centered on the Lakeshore corridor, and these four facilities along with the quality jobs they bring represent a high level of economic impact. These projects are helping put Birmingham on the map as a hub for modern logistics activity, especially activity related to e-commerce.”

And the corridor is expected to get busier as a 187,000-square-foot facility is being developed by Graham & Co. for an as-yet-undisclosed tenant on about 11 acres across from the Dollar General distribution facility, according to the Birmingham Business Journal. The Birmingham Business Alliance has been working with Graham & Co. on this project.

Why I Choose Birmingham: Ashlee Ammons, Cofounder and President, Mixtroz

Ammons reacts to winning the Rise of the Rest competition in Birmingham, securing $100,000 in funding for her company, Mixtroz.

Ashlee Ammons’ journey took her from Cleveland to New York City to Nashville and, finally, to Birmingham in 2018, when Mixtroz – an event management software company – became a part of Innovation Depot’s Velocity Accelerator. Since then, the tech startup won the Rise of the Rest pitch competition and went on to close a $1 million round of funding, making she and her cofounder and mother Kerry Schrader only the 37th and 38th Black females to ever close such a round. This is how Ammons got to Birmingham, and why she has stayed.

What attracted me to Birmingham was the city’s position on who could be an entrepreneur – and the answer to that is everyone. I felt it to be a more inclusive environment in the tech space.

As a tech founder, I look at how far my funds would have gone in New York City compared to how far they’ve gone in Birmingham, and you can’t compare the two. Living in Birmingham affords you a level of comfort that other metros don’t. It’s interesting to be here at this stage where Birmingham is figuring out what kind of city it wants to be – I feel like I am part of that conversation, which is pretty cool.

I’ve lived in such a big city before, and Birmingham reminds me of Cheers – everyone knows your name. I feel that back when we were out and about [pre-COVID], it was rare to go somewhere and not know somebody, from Target to a coffee shop to wherever. If you are a hustler, you can get networked into the city extremely fast and become one degree of separation from anyone you need to be connected to in Birmingham.

Birmingham is a city that gave us a chance. The Birmingham ecosystem let us actually explore this business idea and actually turn it into some semblance of an actual business. Birmingham will always have quite a spot in our [Mixtroz’s] story, no matter which way the journey goes. Birmingham gave us a chance and believed we could do this; I always tell people, part of your job as an entrepreneur is to find where your people are – and Birmingham is where our people are.

As told to Rachel Burchfield

Birmingham’s CCR Architecture & Interiors celebrates 25 years

Birmingham’s CCR Architecture & Interiors is responsible for many buildings across the region, like 20 Midtown, pictured above.

The Birmingham-based architecture firm behind buildings like 20 Midtown and Lakeview Green turns 25 this year.

CCR Architecture & Interiors is a small, women-owned business that was founded in Birmingham in 1996 by Tammy Cohen. Located in office space on bustling First Avenue South, it now boasts 19 employees and has literally left its mark on Birmingham through designing structures that make up the skyline of the Magic City.

“The ease of meeting people and starting a business would not have happened in [a city like] Atlanta, for me, personally,” said Cohen, the firm’s president. “Relationships here are easier to make and its easier all around to get to know the community. Instead of working anonymously in a big city, it’s been great.”

The company provides architecture, interior design, construction administration services and more, and projects it has worked on include office buildings, multi-family developments and mixed-use projects. Additionally, CCR has completed over 50 historic renovation projects across Alabama.

Cohen said the key to 25 years in business is flexibility, communication and, above all else, service.

“We provide good service to clients so we can keep them coming back,” she said. “Repeat clients are always our best clients.”

CCR’s mission is to take the spaces it works with and improve them for the future.

“We transform spaces to have an impact that attracts new people and creates an atmosphere that keeps them coming back,” Cohen said. “We believe that our work is about relationships – the relationship between us and our clients, the relationship between us and our vendors and, finally, the relationship between the space and the people that use it. All of these relationships have to work in order to have a successful project.”

As a small business owner, one often has to do it all, Cohen said. In addition to being CCR’s president, she is also an architect and an interior designer. And, though she has no plans to retire anytime soon and hopes to be with the company well into its next 25 years, she’s actively training and transitioning younger employees to keep the firm headed in the right direction for the next quarter-century and beyond.

“We are intentionally training our architects and designers to be future leaders of the firm and community,” Cohen said.

Germany, Japan lead the way in Birmingham foreign direct investment

Birmingham has investment from companies all over the world.

Foreign-based companies continue their investment in Birmingham at a steady pace, led by companies based in Germany and Japan that serve Central Alabama’s booming automotive industry, propelled by nearby Mercedes-Benz U.S. International and Honda Manufacturing of Alabama.

Companies like Japan’s Unipres, a global leader in stamping technology, announced a $6.3 million expansion at its production facility in Steele last August, and Germany’s Heiche US Surface Technologies announced it is creating 73 jobs in Walker County in December, adding to the more than 80 foreign-based companies from 21 countries across the globe already located in the Birmingham region.

According to the Birmingham Business Alliance, German-based companies have the strongest presence here with 28 companies, followed by 22 Japan-based companies.

Foreign-based investments provide our region economic growth, increased jobs, development of human capital, an increased tax base and a more diversified economy, said the Birmingham Business Alliance’s Vice President of Economic Development Jeff Traywick, who works to recruit many foreign-based companies into the region. They are also attracted to a low cost of living – only 87 percent of the national average, much lower than competing metros across the Southeastern U.S.

German-based companies have grown tremendously over the past few years, Traywick said. ThyssenKrupp Materials announced its first location in the Birmingham region in 2012, and, in 2016, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International announced several major expansions that would launch the company into manufacturing electric vehicles. MollerTech also announced its presence in the region in 2016, and Heiche US Surface Technology LP announced an expansion in the region.

Four of the 28 German companies with a presence in Birmingham – Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Eissman Automotive, Evonik Industries and WKW Erbsloeh Automotive – have brought nearly 2,000 jobs and over $613 million to the region.

Japanese foreign investment also has grown steadily over the last few years, Traywick said. Three of the 22 companies with a presence in the region – Unipres Alabama, Yorozu Automotive Alabama and HTNA – have brought over 750 jobs and $200 million in capital investment.

Foreign direct investment from life science companies is also on the rise. German specialty chemical company Evonik has invested $50 million since 2014 in its health care facility in Birmingham, and recently acquired the Birmingham-based product line of pharmaceutical giant DURECT to the tune of $15 million.

Project activity remains strong from foreign-based companies in 2021, particularly in the automotive and life science industries, Traywick said.

In addition to German and Japanese-based companies, foreign direct investment in Birmingham comes mostly from European countries – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom – while Australia, Asia (China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea), North America (Canada and Mexico) and South America (Brazil and Colombia) are also located here.

Innovation Depot’s new programming seeks to run the gamut from idea to exit

Innovation Depot is launching new programming in 2021, aiming to meet entrepreneurs wherever they are on the continuum from idea to exit.

Two new programs are coming online at the Depot in addition to its flagship program, Velocity, an accelerator that has been in existence for the past five years and where the Birmingham Business Alliance’s Vice President of Innovation and Technology Jon Nugent serves as the Investor-In-Residence for Velocity companies, helping them become capital ready.

This month the Depot will launch Vision ID, a seven-day e-mail campaign that exists to be the entry point for burgeoning entrepreneurs into the startup ecosystem. Voltage, the other new program offering from the Depot, is a nine-week program that kicked off on February 8 and meets those at the idea stage.

Kellie Clark, Innovation Depot’s director of programs, said after extensive time spent listening to tenets in the building and beyond, it became evident that there was room to grow within programming at the Depot and a need to meet people earlier in their entrepreneurial journey.

“[Vision ID] is easy, on-ramp content, a tool to continue to educate the market and to invite people into the space that may have had interest, but don’t know what Innovation Depot is about,” Clark said. “And people need spaces and opportunities and resources to figure it out, and that’s what Voltage is.”

Clark said those who complete Voltage can leave at stages ranging from still deciding whether the idea is worth pursuing to being ready to pitch their idea for funding.

Clark compares Innovation Depot’s three-pronged programming pipeline to building a house: Vision ID is the foundation, Voltage is the house’s frame, and Velocity is an unfurnished house, ready to go to the next level towards completion.

“These programs exist, essentially, to cultivate entrepreneurs and support them from idea to exit, if they choose to exit,” Clark said. “We don’t want any founders in our ecosystem to be left behind – we want to make sure founders have a place to land no matter where they are on that continuum.”

Nugent said Vision ID and Voltage are solid additions to an already robust programming lineup at the Depot.

“These two programs will be invaluable resources to Birmingham’s growing and vital entrepreneurial community,” he said. “Voltage and Vision ID are two great examples of the tremendous work that’s happening at Innovation Depot to move our community forward.”

What Birmingham companies can expect from COVID relief bill

Credit: USA TODAY

On Wednesday, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law yesterday.

The law is multi-layered and has impacts reaching from individuals and families to businesses and nonprofits. Key components are that it will provide $1,400 per person in additional stimulus checks; provide direct financial assistance to cities and counties; extend unemployment benefits through September 6, 2021; and launch a $20 billion national vaccination plan that includes setting up community vaccination sites across the country. There will also be new incentives for states like Alabama that have not yet expanded Medicaid programs.

It also supports small businesses and communities struggling with the economic fallout, specifically minority- and women-owned businesses, with Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) grants and expanded Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) eligibility, including the eligibility addition of most 501(c) nonprofits and an additional $7.25 billion in funding.

Projected allocations for Jefferson County top $127 million, and for Shelby County, over $42 million. Click here to see the full list of projected allocations for all counties across the Birmingham region, the state of Alabama and the U.S. as a whole.

BBA program visits more companies than ever in 2020

Even in the midst of COVID, the Birmingham Business Alliance’s (BBA) Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) team made substantially more site visits to local companies in 2020 than in 2019.

In 2020, the BRE program – comprised of BBA staff – made 220 site visits, nearly 100 more than the 125 site visits made in 2019.

The BRE program, led by the BBA’s Vice President of Business Retention and Expansion Mark Brown, provides onsite, one-on-one visits to identify expansion opportunities, business trends and obstacles to growth. The BRE program allows the BBA to keep a pulse on local businesses, said Brown, and can inform priorities for workforce development, public policy and image enhancement.

“The insights gained through our Business Retention and Expansion initiatives provides opportunity for future existing business growth, future strategic entrepreneurial development and business recruitment opportunities,” he said.

Brown said BRE visits were also able to support companies with information on federal loan programs like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) and COVID-19 safe operating guidelines.

The BRE program also had a particular focus on information technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing scaleups – young companies identified as having significant growth potential – in 2020. The BBA worked one-on-one with 47 scaleups in that particular focus area in 2020, 10 of which are minority-owned, and 15 that are women-owned.

These touchpoints with local companies make a difference, said Davies Hood, president of Induron Coatings.

“The BBA has been instrumental in supporting the growth of Induron Coatings,” he said. “They have provided connections which assisted in expanding our facility, opportunities for local business development, R&D relationships in UAB’s chemistry department and they have addressed key issues that we manufacturers face. The BBA helps make Birmingham a great place to do business."

Other data gathered from these visits include:

• 61 percent of the companies visited reported seeing an increase in sales and market share in 2020; 24 percent reported stable growth, and 16 percent reported a decline.

• 35 percent of companies stated plans to expand in facilities or equipment.

• The top five concerns amongst these employers are education, lack of skills, work ethic, drugs and alcohol, and union activity.

• Inadequate supply of qualified job applicants, punitive regulations, unavailable land at current site, age and condition of equipment and facility, and crime were reported as the top five barriers to growth.

• Technology, education, advanced manufacturing, health care, transportation, finance and access to capital, and biomedical and life sciences were identified as the top local business drivers in the Birmingham region.

In total, the Birmingham region saw 24 expansion projects that announced 423 jobs and over $265 million in capital investment, the data shows.

“As we look forward into 2021, we will continue our efforts to serve and equip more companies within the region with resources to compete in our global marketplace,” Brown said.

Click here to learn more about the BRE program and click here to contact Mark Brown.

Birmingham Black Techies encourages members to ‘embrace their inner techie’

Launched in January 2020, Birmingham Black Techies has grown to nearly 300 members and counting, says the group’s founder Niesha White. White said one of the group’s best assets is there is no gatekeeping – anyone who enjoys engaging with technology and considers themselves a techie is a techie, she said. The group – which is free to join – began in an effort to build community and eliminate isolation amongst Black techies. The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) partnered with the group on its first-ever conference, Black Tech Takeover, which attracted 1,030 registrants and 15 participating companies, including Shipt, Regions Financial Corp., BBVA, Protective Life Corp. and others. The BBA sat down with White to learn more about the work the group does.

Describe the work of Birmingham Black Techies. What do you do?

The purpose of the group is that we exist to build a supportive community of local black tech. If you’re new to tech, here you’ll find a supportive techie BFF that will hand-guide you along your tech career. Ultimately, we want to empower people to embrace their inner techie.

Because of COVID the primary way of connection is digitally. Virtual events may range from tech topics and learning, and we also do things that are just fun and engaging, like a tech game night. We talk about what we’re doing in tech and get first-hand answers to whatever questions [members] may have.

In 2021, we’ll start doing more partnerships with more companies and organizations, because we really want to make sure we’re keeping Birmingham Black Techies thriving in the tech ecosystem. We’ll have a lot more joint events happening this year, and cater to career development and soft skills.

What sparked the idea to start this?

I am a Birmingham transplant – I moved to Birmingham six years ago. I was just a workaholic; all I did was go to work. If it wasn’t happening at work, I didn’t know what was going on. It was all I was doing. I thought “I bet there are other groups of Black people in tech feeling like they lack community” because we are so underrepresented in tech fields. It started as a way for us to meet up with each other and network, and it has grown into something beyond socializing. The focus is still connecting with people, and another big focus is being supportive of people new to tech as they learn their way.

Why is diversity so important in tech?

Tech is usually people creating some sort of product because they want everyone to use it, but oftentimes the people building and designing things are not representative of everyone. You can’t have a truly innovative, accessible product if the team behind it isn’t diverse with different ways of thinking, different thoughts, different walks of life. Diversity in tech is necessary if you want to build the best things possible. You have to have a diverse group of people behind it.

What makes for a healthy tech ecosystem?

When people think about a thriving tech ecosystem, sometimes they only focus on corporate tech jobs or startup jobs. To have a really great tech ecosystem, we need freelancers and contractors spinning up things and building things on their own. A tech community can have all the jobs in the world, but if they don’t have the talent and take the time to develop that talent, then it goes nowhere. To have a really good tech ecosystem, there needs to be a lot of learning resources accessible to people; no matter if they’re working full-time [in tech] or not, people can engage in tech while also doing other things that are important to them. 

Another thing that makes a strong tech ecosystem is a lot of word of mouth, doing things new and innovatively. Tech innovation is a buzzword, but a lot of times people are forgetting to do something different. Try to do new things – throw it out there. People may not have a full-fledged startup idea, but throw it at the wall, and see if it sticks. It’s all necessary to a creative, flowing tech ecosystem.

What’s next for the tech landscape of Birmingham as a whole in 2021?

I am definitely seeing more startups on LinkedIn, so I hope [in 2021] we’ll see even more new startups. I hope Birmingham Black Techies helps bring even more Black-owned startups. I hope that happens. I hope to see even more free learning resources – you can never have enough. I except to see the Birmingham tech ecosystem continue to thrive this year, definitely capitalizing on remote opportunities and things of that nature.

The group meets monthly; click here to learn more.

Building (it) Together announces Leadership Council

Central Six AlabamaWorks! has announced members of the Leadership Council for Building (it) Together, an initiative aimed at aligning education, economic development and workforce development to increase job growth in the Birmingham seven-county region.

The comprehensive Building (it) Together report found a substantial misalignment in education, economic development and workforce development in the region, and the initiative seeks to unite the three areas with an eye on increasing not just the number of jobs in Birmingham, but citizens’ quality of life. Building (it) Together is co-led by the Birmingham Business Alliance and Central Six AlabamaWorks!

The newly announced Building (it) Together Leadership Council is as follows:

• Cynthia Anthony, Lawson State Community College

• Melanie Bridgeforth, Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham

• Keith Brown, Jefferson State Community College

• Paul Carruthers, Regions Financial Corp.

• Brandon Glover, Alabama Power Foundation

• John Hackett, KAMTEK

• Rachel Harmon, Birmingham Promise

• Waymond Jackson, Ed Farm

• Felyicia Jerald, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International

• Bill Jones, Retired (O’Neal Industries)

• Zhaundra Jones, Community Foundation of Birmingham

• Paul Kennedy, Walker Area Community Foundation

• Mitchie Neel, Blount County Education Foundation

• Sara Newell, United Way

• Ruffner Page, McWane Industries

• Jason Roberts, St. Clair County EDC

• Chandra Scott, Alabama Possible

• Sanjay Singh, Pack Health

• Andrea Smith, BBVA USA

• Tony Smoke, Alabama Power Co.

• Cornell Wesley, City of Birmingham

• Melody Whitten, 58 inc.

• Emily Wykle, University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Katherine Zachara, Innovate Birmingham

The Leadership Council will work with Building (it) Together as it moves into implementation of the plan.

Central Six also announced the hiring of Michael Bejarano, who has joined its team as Project Manager for Building (it) Together. As part of his work, Bejarano oversees the Leadership Council.

“This is just the beginning of the process for Building (it) Together, and to succeed we will need the full engagement of our business and community partners,” Bejarano said. “We are still actively recruiting business and industry and community and education partners for subcommittees to further support the strategies set forth by the implementation plan. Interested partners can contact me via email regarding subcommittee participation or visit our website to learn more about the initiative.”

Additionally, Bejarano is responsible for the implementation and management of Building (it) Together’s goals, including career awareness, upskilling, and talent attraction and retention in the region. Bejarano began his work with Central Six at the end of July.

“Michael’s deep expertise in leadership training, program design and workforce development made him an ideal candidate to continue to take Building (it) Together from ideation to implementation,” said Antiqua Cleggett, executive director of Central Six AlabamaWorks!. “We believe the Building (it) Together initiative has the potential to dynamically change the Birmingham region for the better, and I am eager to see how it will continue to blossom under Michael’s leadership.”

Karla Khodanian, manager of talent and higher education partnerships at the Birmingham Business Alliance, leads Building (it) Together’s talent attraction and retention subcommittee, and the Birmingham Business Alliance also leads research efforts related to the entire Leadership Council and Building (it) Together.

Birmingham’s presence felt in nearly $1T cybersecurity sector

David Brasfield is CEO of NXTsoft, one of the region’s leading cybersecurity companies.

Thousands of law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges from all 50 states and five U.S. territories have traveled to the Birmingham region for one reason over the last 12 years – and it may not be the reason you think.

Inside a 32,000-square-foot facility in Hoover is the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI), where law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges from every corner of the country travel to receive training on cybercrime cases – everything from how to investigate network intrusions to how to prosecute these cases if they occur.

How did such an Institute make it to Hoover? In 2007, the State of Alabama proposed what became the NCFI to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service. This unique collaboration with the U.S. Secret Service and the State of Alabama is rooted in the idea of providing comprehensive cyber education and top-notch equipment and empowering digital evidence processing across the country. The NCFI is now a full headquarters division within the U.S. Secret Service expressly dedicated to its cybersecurity mission, but based in Alabama. Since its opening in 2008 the Institute has trained over 13,100 state and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges from over 2,500 different law enforcement agencies. This state-of-the-art facility currently employs 26 federal employees and three state employees, though its reach is far beyond that.

The Institute is but one example of Birmingham’s growing cyber and information security sector, a sector that, globally, is predicted to hit $1 trillion by next year. In addition to being home base to the NCFI, there’s the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) Center for Cyber Security and UAB’s Computer Forensics Research Center, which fights cyber crime and is led by renowned cybersecurity and computer forensics expert Gary Warner, who has worked on cases for Microsoft and Facebook, among others.

The Birmingham region is also home to leading cybersecurity companies like NXTsoft and an active networking and professional scene in the field, leading to Birmingham hosting the CyberNow Summit last year. And, as the industry grows globally, more are recognizing Birmingham’s impact than ever: The NCFI pivoted to virtual trainings in 2020 because of COVID-19 and hosted an all-time high of 85 classes, training 2,886 individuals.

Cyber and information security threats are at an all-time high as the U.S. continues to work from home and more business than ever is being done online because of COVID-19. In a nod to its increasing importance, in 2008 the U.S. Secret Service budgeted $4 million and a staff of four for the NCFI; in 2021, its budget is $34 million with a staff of 26.

“The NCFI has a huge impact on our country,” said Ben Bass, Special Agent in Charge and director at the NCFI. “We train for all types of cases, everything from hacking cases, ransomware attacks, to digital evidence cases involving murder, crimes against children and financial data breaches. We now have graduates of NCFI in every state and all U.S. territories out there working to protect their communities.” 

The unfortunate upward trend of cybercrimes means local companies like Birmingham’s leading cybersecurity startup NXTsoft and its secure data solutions software platform have the opportunity to grow through mitigating cybersecurity risk, and, according to David Brasfield, CEO of NXTsoft, there is no end in sight.

“[Cyberattacks] have grown across all sectors; there’s not one sector that’s immune,” Brasfield said. “Small businesses, especially, are low hanging fruit. The health care sector, the financial sector, all different sectors across the board in Birmingham and the Southeast have been affected by various types of cybersecurity threats.”

The company, founded in Birmingham in 2016 and employing 145, is committed to helping people across Birmingham and the entire U.S. understand through education what the threat of cyberattacks are and what they should and shouldn’t do in regards to cybersecurity.

“We matter today more so than ever before,” said Brasfield, who has worked in the industry for over 30 years.

The industry’s growth shows no signs of stopping – as long as there are cyberattacks, there will be an ever-advancing need for cybersecurity. With its technology prowess and robust workforce, Birmingham stands increasingly prepared to respond to that need as it has for years, said Jon Nugent, vice president of innovation and technology at the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA).

“Birmingham continues to be a hub of cybersecurity initiatives and NXTsoft is an incredibly important part of that ecosystem,” Nugent said.  “Our international presence is highlighted by leaders like NXTsoft and the valuable work it does. Young cybersecurity companies are growing in Birmingham, and we expect the local industry to expand significantly in the next several years.”

VITAL companies report 12 percent of spend is to MWDBEs

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.