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 typically a small group of business leaders, politicians, and staff fly to DC to make their request. Continue reading Go home and get your act together!
I was eating lunch at Rotary and I couldn’t believe the table conversation.
A Rotarian who is also a business owner said, “I am so disappointed in Birmingham. I hope when my children graduate college they’ll move to another city where they have greater opportunities.”
Another responded, “I feel the same way. In fact, if I could move my business, I would move tomorrow.” Continue reading We’re losing our children
On August 5, 2011, Standard & Poor lowered the U.S. debt rating saying, “The downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges.”
On November 9, just three months later, our Jefferson County filed the biggest U.S. municipal bankruptcy in history after an agreement among elected officials and investors to refinance $3.1 billion in sewer bonds fell apart. Continue reading What’s killing America is killing Birmingham
I’m absolutely thrilled we are building a new baseball stadium downtown. When I was a child my dad took me to see the Barons play at Rickwood Field. Watching baseball with my dad created memories I will never forget.
I saw the Barons play teams like the Nashville Vols, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Memphis Chicks, and the Atlanta Crackers. Continue reading Look how far we’ve fallen
Let’s blame Jim Carns for our occupational tax disaster.
Or how about other local House members who voted to pull the tax bill– Reps. Mary Sue McClurkin, Mary Moore, Arthur Payne, or Elwyn Thomas. Continue reading Let’s blame Jim Carns for our occupational tax disaster
The Roach Motel—“the bugs check in but they don’t check out.”
I know you think this is going to be a negative piece about Birmingham, but hang in there.
One of the biggest obstacles Birmingham companies face is recruiting high level employees from out of state. Continue reading Birmingham–like the Roach Motel
When I first started writing these blogs, I was immediately introduced to the Birmingham haters.
You know the Birmingham haters. They are the stars of talk radio and the first to comment on al.com. They hope Birmingham’s annihilated by the Bubonic Plague, that Vulcan suffers from herpes, and that the Mayor gets dandruff. Continue reading This should make the Birmingham haters salivate
Between 2003-2006 five CFO’s of HealthSouth were convicted of fraud.
Would it be appropriate to assume all CFO’s in the Birmingham area are crooked?
I think we can agree there was something in the corporate culture or structure at HealthSouth that created such blatant fraud. Continue reading Is political corruption rampant here?
I hear it regularly, “The problem with Birmingham is racism.”
One of my first blogs, Let’s move to the suburbs and attack the city, quickly attracted two comments. One was from (I assume) an African American blaming Birmingham’s problems on whites, “The racism is so obvious and so thick you can cut it with a knife.” Continue reading Is racism the problem with Birmingham?
Birmingham has always been known as a “steel” town. Now we should be known as the “steal” town.
While our peer cities are recruiting companies from other regions, we steal businesses from each another. Continue reading Let’s spend $125 million stealing from one another