11 Comments so far ↓

• Jules // May 14, 2009 at 10:38 am

  The issue boils down to one thing… how many technical, high-paying jobs are there in Birmingham outside of the local colleges? Sure, there are some, but not a heck of a lot.

  Langford supposedly “courting” a nanotechnology firm to entice them to Birmingham is promising, but who knows if it will fall through or not?

• Tammy Hart // May 14, 2009 at 11:04 am

  I can understand defending the city from an outsider, but how can the future happen unless you question the present?

• Curtis // May 14, 2009 at 11:18 am

  >Jules…

  I beg to differ with your assessment. There are, in fact, many many many “technical, high-paying jobs” in the Birmingham region. Our tech economy is actually quite strong, even though you don’t hear much about it outside of what TechBirmingham does. One challenge we face is matching up *actual* needs of the employers with expectations of the potential employees. The local colleges need to turn out graduates who have a clue what job openings there are.

• steve_hartley // May 14, 2009 at 1:38 pm

  I think Mr. Hartley (BTW – no relation) struck a nerve with the Mayor. Why else would Larry fly off the handle the way he did?

  As for the “brain drain,” given that everything else is draining away from Birmingham (corporate HQ’s, car dealerships, a tax base, general population, etc.) it’s not hard to imagine smart young people leaving Birmingham for greener pastures.

  After all, they’re smart.

• Alli // May 14, 2009 at 2:10 pm

  I think the mayor flew off the handle because he doesn’t actually understand what the phrase “brain drain” means. I thinks he thought that Hartley was saying that people in Bham are “brain dead.” From reading the article in today’s paper, it seems that the mayor completely missed the meaning of the issue being discussed.

• Brad // May 14, 2009 at 3:02 pm

  As someone who grew up in the Birmingham area, graduated from UAB and then left partly b/c of a lack of job opportunities, I think Hartley was spot on. Outside of a few key industries (healthcare, banking, etc) the opportunities for upwardly mobile professionals is slim. It becomes even slimmer when you take Over the Mountain out of the equation.

• Patrick // May 14, 2009 at 3:30 pm

  Personally, I don’t think Birmingham is suffering from brain drain. It’s easy to think of the people who have grown up here and left, but consider how many people have moved here since college. 95% of my friends are not originally from Birmingham. Most of us moved here for college at Samford and stuck around. I think things probably even out.

• Adelaide // May 15, 2009 at 11:11 am

  Jerry Hartley is my hero.

• barry // May 15, 2009 at 5:52 pm

  First, regardless of whether there is or isn’t brain drain, since when is making a single simple remark that is critical of the government grounds for an outburst of rage or even disappointment? If the remark is untrue, then reality will see that the person making the remark is shown a fool. It seems to me that there is only need for outburst when one is trying to protect a fragile illusion.

  Admit there is a problem is not the same as saying that everyone in the city is stupid. But to say that there is no problem is to deny the need for future progress. We’ve made a ton of progress just since my parents generation, but at the same time we have a very long way to go and the mayor should have a coherent plan of how to work on it in the present.

  Second, @curtis

  > One challenge we face is matching up *actual* needs of the employers with expectations of the potential employees.

  Smart people like doing what _they_ think is cool. They don’t like being told what is cool. They work on what they like and they will move to do so. That is the entire reason brain drain exists.

  Not to diminish the work your organization has done, but as you admit, the fields available in Bham are limited and require somewhat malleable minded people.

  Unfortunately it is the people who are strong minded that are being drained. The people who know what they want and have the skills to get it.

  This says it well, albeit very completely: http://paulgraham.com/gh.html

• Todd // Jun 8, 2009 at 12:31 pm

  According to “Mr. Creative Class” himself, Birmingham has been ranked 9th most creative city overall, in urban areas of its size.

  I applaud the Terminal for creating a nexus of opportunity to share ideas. My friends call me “Andy Roony Jr.” because I tend to rail against the mind-numbing social attitudes here- but THEY ARE CHANGING. Maybe not as fast as I’d like personally, but maybe that’s a good thing.

  I think when the county government collapses, and the mayor’s federal trial starts in September, we’re going to see a tremendous amount of social/political/economic upheaval that will usher in a lot of substantial change. Change that will hopefully put this issue front-and-center with the mainstream population here.

• Todd // Jun 8, 2009 at 12:32 pm

  Note: “Mr. Creative Class” being Richard Florida.