BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Economic development activity in the seven-county Birmingham metropolitan region resulted in more than 2,600 jobs and nearly $320 million in capital investment in 2013, the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) announced today.
The BBA released the 2013 tallies at this morning’s Blueprint Birmingham Summit at downtown’s Harbert Center. Blueprint Birmingham is the strategic economic development growth plan for Alabama’s largest metro area.
“The goal at the BBA is to grow the region’s economy, and the work of Blueprint Birmingham is enabling us to do that,” said BBA Chairman Grayson Hall, who also is chief executive of Birmingham-based Regions Financial Corp., one of the nation’s largest banking companies.
“Blueprint Birmingham helps make our community a better place to live, work and do business, and our work around the strategic plan has paid off with another year of solid growth in Birmingham,” Hall added.
During 2013, 89 companies announced 2,611 jobs and $319.5 in capital investment in the Birmingham region’s primary business sectors, the BBA said at the meeting.
“As we move into the next year of Blueprint Birmingham, we can all see that the plan is working,” said Ray Watts, president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the BBA’s vice chairman for economic development. “Positive national headlines, improving demographics, an enhanced image of the community and growing regional collaborations are proof that Blueprint is leading the way for continued and solid growth in our community.”
