Something new is happening in Birmingham. It represents the next major step in helping more small businesses succeed.
And it’s based on a clear need.
Growing a small business can be overwhelming. There is so much to do. Identifying new markets. Retaining existing customers. Evolving products to meet changing market conditions. Securing funding. Maintaining public awareness of your product or service. Expanding your a customer base.
And that’s in addition to the day-to-day operations.
On the local, state and national levels, there are resources to help. The challenge is often finding the right ones. A lot of what’s available is geared toward brand-new businesses – those that have a great concept, but are just now forming. Other tools support long-established businesses.
But there’s often a gap. That gap is filled with companies that are off the ground and running – but they could benefit from advice, guidance, business coaching and more to help them go from where they are today – to where they can be in the future. They need something to help jump-start their growth.
Help is on the way.
In the coming months, a new entrepreneurship center will bring together a broad range of tools, training, tactics and experienced professionals as a sort of “one-stop shop” dedicated to helping locally owned businesses build on their foundation for success. This entrepreneurship center will advise and guide entrepreneurs from all backgrounds and any neighborhood around the Magic City, including neighborhoods that historically have had fewer catalysts for economic growth. The common bond for all entrepreneurs served by this center will be that they have a foundation on which to build a larger, more efficient business.
That’s the thinking behind The Entrepreneurship Center for Inclusive Growth and Excellence. Let’s look closer at that name to show the strategy behind it:
The Entrepreneurship Center:
In our experience, one of the most crucial elements of a strong local economy is having a business environment that enables small, locally owned companies to flourish. These entrepreneurs contribute directly to the area’s economy. As they thrive, they provide more jobs and make new investments. They are empowered to grow as far as their ideas, products and services can take them. This new entrepreneurship center wants to further fuel that spirit of entrepreneurship by making it simpler for people to tap into resources that can help them grow.
For Inclusive Growth:
This is about helping people from all walks of life have opportunities to build business success. Really, inclusive means just what it says – working to ensure people are included, not excluded. In any major city, there are neighborhoods, ZIP codes and communities that have seen disinvestment. Boarded-up storefronts. A loss of population. An exodus of employers. But being from a certain area shouldn’t dictate a person’s future. Nor should it limit how they’re able to help an area revitalize. This new entrepreneurship center is designed to help remove barriers so more entrepreneurs can build business growth throughout Birmingham.
And Excellence:
The entrepreneurship center will operate with a spirit of providing top-tier support and guidance, and by connecting more business owners with programs, insights, advice and other tools, it will inspire continued excellence in the operation of local companies. The possibilities are endless – further establishing Birmingham as a place of opportunity where more locally owned companies can benefit from the economic strength of this area.
The Entrepreneurship Center for Inclusive Growth and Excellence will serve as the successor organization to the Birmingham Black Owned Business Initiative. Launched in 2023, the initiative was formed to examine issues impacting business owners, and aspiring business owners, after a Brookings Institution study reported the Birmingham region had the lowest rate among all large U.S. metro areas (53rd out of 53) for Black business ownership of companies that are large enough to have employees in addition to their owner.
For a city that was at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, business and community leaders began looking for solutions that would not only address the data – but truly make a meaningful difference in the lives of business owners, their families, and the city as a whole. So, the Birmingham Black Owned Business Initiative was formed and conducted extensive research on the needs of business owners and found the gap described above – the opportunity to meet unmet needs by providing more information and more collaboration for entrepreneurs. Successful models from other cities were examined. Every bit of learning – every bit of research – was made with the goal of turning that information into action.
And now the time for action has come. The research phase has concluded, and soon, the one-on-one work of connecting entrepreneurs with resources will begin. As this happens, the center has expanded its scope and updated its name to reflect its availability to business owners from all backgrounds, all around the city of Birmingham. The community belongs to everyone. And so does this center.
Regions Bank’s Role:
For many years, Economic and Community Development have been key priorities of the bank’s strategy for Community Engagement. Supporting this new entrepreneurship center represents another important way we’re addressing these priorities.
Kendra Key, Senior Vice President for Community Engagement at Regions, will serve as a loaned executive to help launch and direct the Entrepreneurship Center for Inclusive Growth and Excellence. The center will be an independent nonprofit, and Kendra’s experience will be crucial to helping the center begin serving entrepreneurs. She has also worked closely with the City of Birmingham and continues to work with community partners to secure private and public grant funding in support of the center. This funding will serve as a strategic investment, producing results not only for business owners but also for those who benefit from related job creation and improved economic vitality across the city.
The Bottom Line:
If you’re a small-business owner in Birmingham, you are not alone on the journey to growing your business. Kendra Key will be staffing the entrepreneurship center with experienced professionals and collaborating with additional agencies to ensure business owners can find the right types of insights and guidance to help them reach the next level in their growth. In the coming months, the entrepreneurship center will join community partners to formally announce it’s open for business.
At Regions, we can hardly wait to see what comes next. We know that, based on Kendra’s experience, and the limitless potential that is ingrained in our headquarters city, positive results won’t be far behind.