JPMorganChase on Monday announced support of Alabama’s small businesses through a $2 million commitment to help companies across the state succeed by improving capital access, assisting entrepreneurs in running their businesses more efficiently and offering technical assistance for local capital providers.   The Alabama Capital Access Collaborative will help small business owners, including Birmingham Business Resource Center (BBRC) […]

Edward Eaton can’t wait to welcome his new neighbor “with open arms,” he said.   Eaton, vice president of the Druid Hills Neighborhood Association, and other residents got their first look at the $46 million Coca-Cola Amphitheater, which is nearing completion and opens next month, not far from where they live.   “It’s going to be beautiful,” said […]

Emondre Johnson, owner of The Bark Park in Birmingham, knew he made the right decision to open his own business, but it wasn’t until he won the 2023 Birmingham Small Business Week Pitch Competition that he got an additional boost.   “Winning the pitch competition set the trajectory for where I am now,” Johnson, 26, said. “It […]

Jefferson County Schools’s Walter B. Gonsoulin Jr., Ph.D., has been named the National Superintendent of the Year by the School Superintendents Association. Gonsoulin is the first educator from Alabama to win the award. The announcement was made during the recent National Conference on Education in New Orleans.   “To me, this is one of the greatest […]

The Birmingham City Council recently approved a $2.69 million funding package for two agencies to operate separate pallet shelter groups as part of Birmingham’s Homes for All, Safe Sleep program. Faith Chapel Care Center will receive nearly $1.2 million to host and run services for 15 of the homes on its property at 921 Second Ave. […]

Bobbie Knight has been named permanent president of Miles College by the school’s board of trustees. Knight, who had served as interim president since last summer, becomes the college’s 15th president, effective immediately. The decision was announced during the spring board meeting. “I am honored that the board of trustees has confidence in me to take a […]

It may have been the turning point for the return of University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) football. And it came with support — and, more importantly, money — from the metropolitan Birmingham business community. The meeting, held in a large conference room in the office of UAB President Ray Watts, M.D., was attended by about 30 […]

It’s halftime of the game against the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers are facing a tough conference opponent on the road. “We went into halftime. It was close. I can’t remember the score,” said UAB Head Football Coach Bill Clark. “One of those feelings coming out in the second half, […]

The Jefferson County Commission voted last week to rezone land in the existing Jefferson Metropolitan Park in McCalla that could bring thousands of additional jobs to the Birmingham metro area and have a substantial impact on economic development in the region. The commission unanimously approved rezoning of about 410 acres to industrial from agriculture on […]

With the recent announcements of thousands of jobs coming into Jefferson County in connection with Amazon’s advanced robotics fulfillment center, DC BLOX’s data center and Shipt’s decision to keep its corporate headquarters in Birmingham, local officials are working from a playbook that has four steps, they say. It all begins with Alabama’s business climate that […]

More than 3,500 jobs have been recruited to Jefferson County in the past 12 months and officials expect that number to increase by year’s end. “I expect another 200-job announcement soon and we’re a finalist in another more-than-a-1,000-job project that could be announced later this year,” said Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington, chair of the […]