Category: Economy
Commissioners Grant Tax Break to Keep Distribution Center in JeffCo
In an effort to keep a longtime business in the county, the Jefferson County Commission agreed to reimburse Red Mountain Distributing for 60% of the 1-cent sales tax the company pays to the county.
Red Mountain, which does business as Ashley Furniture, has outgrown its warehouse in Bessemer. That warehouse serves four stores in the northern half of Alabama. Read more.
Celebration Marks Beginning of Construction on New Downtown Amphitheater
The construction equipment left no doubt that the ground had already been broken behind the former Carraway Hospital.
But the lack of virgin soil took nothing away from the celebratory feel of the ceremonial groundbreaking Monday morning for the planned amphitheater that’s coming to Birmingham’s Druid Hills Neighborhood. Read more.
Good Night, BSC: Alumni and Friends Reunite to Bid Farewell to Their Alma Mater
Hundreds of alumni, family and friends of Birmingham-Southern College filed into Bill Battle Coliseum Thursday night.
Across the academic quad, more who couldn’t get a seat in the stands where Panther basketball teams played gathered in the auditorium of Munger Hall.
All returned to the college that they have known so long to bid an official farewell in a closing ceremony. Read more.
The Long View: Coca-Cola CEO Discusses New Project as JeffCo OKs $2M Investment
Mike Suco said Coca-Cola United looks well beyond the present when it looks into the future.
“We are a company that thinks not in a year or two or three years,” the president and CEO told the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday. “We think in 50-year increments.”
The Jefferson County Commission invested $2 million in that long-term vision for an estimated $330 million, multifaceted Coca-Cola Bottling Company United headquarters that is expected to create as many as 50 new jobs and retain more than 750 jobs. Read more.
JeffCo Considering $2M for New Coca-Cola Development
Jefferson County during its meeting Thursday will consider being part of an economic development project that will create a new gateway in and out of Birmingham.
Representatives of Coca-Cola Bottling Company United asked the commission for an economic incentive package of $2 million as the company looks to relocate from its longtime home north of Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport to the former Stockham Valves and Fittings location in Birmingham’s Kingston Neighborhood. Read more.
Birmingham Council Approves Incentives for Coca-Cola to Redevelop Former Stockham Valve Site
The old Stockham Valve & Fittings site in Kingston could be rehabilitated under a plan presented to the Birmingham Council on Tuesday. The council approved an incentive package for the $340 million redevelopment project in which the Coca-Cola Bottling Company United of Birmingham intends to build a new campus at the Stockham site. Read more.
Birmingham Council Approves $421K in Tax Incentives for Japanese Restaurant
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved $421,833 in incentives for a planned Japanese restaurant in downtown Birmingham, and it changed landscaping, buffering and screening ordinances to increase landscaping requirements and protect trees, among other changes. Read more.
Two Economic Development Agencies Set to Get $100,000 Apiece From JeffCo
The Jefferson County Commission on Thursday is set to provide $200,000 to a pair of organizations to bolster small businesses in the county.
Central Alabama Redevelopment Alliance and Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama each is in line for $100,000 to aid with innovation, economic development and building a strong workforce to support the growth and development of Jefferson County. Read more.
Commission OKs Incentive for World Police and Fire Games, Prez Says Don’t Let World Games Problems Deter Investment
Jefferson County can’t let the issues that followed The World Games keep the county from being involved with other economy-impacting events, Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said Thursday.
During the County Commission’s meeting, commissioners supported a piece of legislation that exempted the World Police and Fire Games, which are slated for Birmingham in 2025, from taxes. Read more.
Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Announces $14.5M Award to Turn 4th Avenue North Into a Two-Way Street
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stopped traffic on Fourth Avenue North on Wednesday to announce a $14.5 million grant to help reconnect parts of the community that have been divided by transportation decisions of the past.
The announcement, staged in the middle of the downtown thoroughfare, outlined a grant to Birmingham to convert Fourth Avenue North — which includes the historic Fourth Avenue Black Business District — from a one-way road to a two-way. Read more.
