Tag Archives: economic development

Do you want to Occupy Avondale?

Occupy-AvondaleJust when you thought the Occupy meme was going to fade away in 2012, Avondale Brewing Company is inviting folks to join them in their invasion of 41st Street South (a.k.a. the Avondale commercial business district served by Main Street Birmingham).

Occupy Avondale is an opportunity for a new or existing business to move in directly across the street from the brewery – and including six months free rent in the completely renovated space located at 200 41st St. S. The winner will be chosen from five finalists and occupy either 1,800 or 2,400 square feet of space on the ground floor of the building.

Folks interested in the opportunity may apply using the Google docs form through January 31. The winner is scheduled to be announced at an event at the brewery in March.

A recent entry on MSB’s on-site blog goes over some of the criteria being considered among the judges. You also probably wouldn’t want to enter without looking over the contest rules (it’s a PDF).

By the way – if you want to learn a little bit more about memes, check out this site (don’t worry, it’s taking part in today’s blackout too).

Introducing the Birmingham Business Alliance

Yesterday evening a large crowd gathered at The Club for the launch of the Birmingham Business Alliance, the organization resulting from the merger of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Development Board. The entity’s president and CEO, Dalton Smith, shared the vision and mission of the BBA with those in attendance.

They’ve also wasted little time in setting up additional avenues through which the new organization can share information, including a new fan page on Facebook launched yesterday during the event.

On the agenda: delay, delay, delay…

Based on this post on The Birmingham News’ breaking news blog, I’d have to say that today should be an interesting one in Birmingham City Council chambers. The councilors will no doubt have a response to Mayor Langford’s latest campaign. Another thing to watch will be the reaction from councilors to the request being made by residents of the Glen Iris neighborhood that we posted about yesterday

Item 8 is one that could be important to watch as it will be a proposal by the mayor to change the boundaries of the city’s urban enterprise zones. These zones do include large sections on the city’s west side, most notably near the old Ensley Works plant and, interestingly enough, nearby Fair Park. Item 17 asks for approval of a contract with Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $2,819,300.00 for work to finally begin on the city’s long promised Intermodal Transit Facility. The money is available from federal sources, though it may lead to a what comes first question, among others.