Category: Economy
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.
Birmingham Council Urges Truist Bank to Keep Roebuck Branch Open
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution urging Truist Bank to reconsider plans to close its Roebuck branch in March. “A great deal of residents in that area benefit from that branch, rely on that branch and would be negatively impacted if that branch were to close,” said Councilor Clinton Woods, adding that investments are going into the immediate area. Read more.
4 Factors Besides Cold Weather That Explain Expensive Winter Power Bills
Like many in the Gulf South, Will Burt’s power bill spiked in January due to extreme weather. But how much of the increase can be attributed to the cold? Read more.
How Jefferson County Pulled Off a Billion-Dollar Refinancing to Help Stabilize Sewer Rates and Regain Trust
Jimmie Stephens remembers he wasn’t proud of Jefferson County when he took office as a county commissioner in 2010.
“I was embarrassed and ashamed of what Jefferson County had become and what its reputation was, in the state and in the nation,” recalled Stephens, now the president of the commission.
Jefferson County had become by most accounts one of the worst financially managed governments in the nation laying off more than 1,000 of its employees and filing the then-largest municipal bankruptcy in November 2011.
But Stephens, his fellow commissioners, county manager and department heads no longer feel that sense of shame and embarrassment, they say.
Last month, Jefferson County got positive reviews from investors and financial publications that would have been unimaginable more than 10 years ago. Read more.
Birmingham Council to Sell Old Scott Elementary, Nearby Community Center to Group to Establish a Community Health Center
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday voted to sell the old Scott Elementary School and a neighboring community center to a group planning a health clinic at the property. The measure passed despite some pushback from community members, particularly those already involved in operating a community center there. Read more.
A Call to Call: BSC Alumni Again Urged to Appeal to Legislators to Save Their School
Alumni of Birmingham-Southern College have again received a call to contact state legislators, this time to seek a rewrite of last year’s legislation that had been designed to provide a reprieve from the college’s possible closing. Read more.
Southern Research Opens New Biotech Incubator
Southern Research this week expanded its efforts to encourage the growth of the biotech industry in Birmingham by opening its Station 41 biotech incubator. Read more.
The Long Decline: Population Declines Hit Rural Counties
Population is declining in Alabama’s rural counties, particularly in the Black Belt, even as urban and suburban counties are growing.
As the population has dropped off, good-paying jobs have left. The population has gotten older and sicker, but hospitals have closed and doctors have left the area. With fewer students, schools have become fewer and farther between.
The Alabama Reflector investigated these issues and produced a three-part series:
The Long Decline: How Depopulation Hurts Alabama’s Rural Communities
The Long Decline: In Depopulating Counties, What Happens to Schools?
The Long Decline: Health Care Access Grows Difficult in Shrinking Rural Communities
