How can we have UAB and suck?
When our Chamber of Commerce (BBA) visited Charlotte in 2004, we were greeted by the President of the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Charlotte’s a city on fire, but the first words out the...
View ArticleConvoluted government brings us to our knees
The year was 2002. Dave Adkisson, the then Birmingham Chamber of Commerce President, and I were in St. Louis jogging early one morning when we struck up a conversation with a local runner. He asked...
View ArticleGo home and get your act together!
Our BBA (Chamber of Commerce) takes a trip to Washington every year to visit our Alabama Senators and Congressmen and to lobby for legislation and money. The BBA prepares a priority agenda and...
View ArticleA challenge for the Birmingham Business Alliance
“Let’s take one incredibly hard issue and prove we can solve it“ Giant headline front page,–The Birmingham News February 28, 2012, “Let’s take one incredibly hard issue and prove we can solve it.” The...
View ArticleBirmingham powerless again
Let’s talk about the Alabama Department of Transportation’s controversial plan for expanding and reconfiguring Interstate 20/59 through downtown Birmingham. My understanding is the plan calls for...
View ArticleBirmingham’s 50 most influential execs—maybe not?
On August 30, 2013, The Birmingham Business Journal (BBJ) published a list of Birmingham’s 50 most influential executives. (Click here to see BBJ list of 50 most influential executives) The BBJ tried...
View ArticleWhat would Birmingham look like without UAB–Anniston?
To compare Birmingham with no UAB to Anniston is an unfair exaggeration and I apologize to the good citizens of Anniston. I could have selected any mid-sized city, but I Googled “cities in Alabama”...
View ArticleThis number will scare the bejeebies out of you
Do you have bejeebies? If you do, your bejeebies will be obliterated when you see the one depressing statistic that best describes the economic health of metropolitan Birmingham. Please note we’re not...
View ArticleBirmingham punished for being in Alabama
One of the greatest obstacles to metropolitan Birmingham’s growth is too many competing governments, but that’s not the only deterrent. Being located in Alabama is also an obstacle. The Birmingham...
View ArticleBirmingham’s misfortune (and how we’re overcoming it)
Each year from 2002 to 2008 approximately 100 business and political leaders from Birmingham traveled to cities across the U.S. The Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce BIG trips were designed to...
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