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  #1  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2018, 4:40 PM
jackofalltrades jackofalltrades is offline
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Birmingham incoming / outgoing companies & jobs

I know this is not a popular truth to discuss but I think it's a discussion that needs to be had. Birmingham used to have 30 public companies based within it's metro, now it has 9.

What companies are next?

Will BBVA Compass remain? Why wouldn't they move to Houston?

Will Regions stay? What if either of those leave?

Vulcan and Drummond is here to stay thank goodness but neither of them have a downtown presence to my knowledge.

Are any notable companies greater than 50 employees eyeing us?

Do you see Birmingham attracting any company of notoriety? What do we have that other cities don't have? Perhaps someone else can weigh in on this.

While I am often guilty of being the "homer" of my friends, they always bring up the obvious:

Almost zero population or job growth and companies are leaving faster than they're entering. And the one's we've lost are far more notable than the one's we've gained.

So what's the deal? Are we ok being another Jackson in 10 years?
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  #2  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2018, 5:38 PM
Tourian Tourian is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jackofalltrades View Post
I know this is not a popular truth to discuss but I think it's a discussion that needs to be had. Birmingham used to have 30 public companies based within it's metro, now it has 9.

What companies are next?

Will BBVA Compass remain? Why wouldn't they move to Houston?

Will Regions stay? What if either of those leave?

Vulcan and Drummond is here to stay thank goodness but neither of them have a downtown presence to my knowledge.

Are any notable companies greater than 50 employees eyeing us?

Do you see Birmingham attracting any company of notoriety? What do we have that other cities don't have? Perhaps someone else can weigh in on this.

While I am often guilty of being the "homer" of my friends, they always bring up the obvious:

Almost zero population or job growth and companies are leaving faster than they're entering. And the one's we've lost are far more notable than the one's we've gained.

So what's the deal? Are we ok being another Jackson in 10 years?
Cool first post. Must be a slow day on C/D.

Why would Compass stay? Why would Regions? If they get bought out or decide to move there's nothing anyone can do anything about it. That's just the way it is. What companies are next? What does that even mean? How do you know Vulcan and Drummond are here to stay, and why does not having a "downtown presence" necessary for you to mention?

"Notable." "Notoriety." Those are trap words. What do you consider notable? What's cool enough to move the meter. 50+ people? Autocar and Oxford Pharmaceuticals aren't notable enough? There's a data processing company looking at the Titusville property that was previously going to the Humane Society. If they hire 51 people is that enough? We have lots of stuff that other cities don't and lack lots that others have. Simple answer.

Define please, or don't - either way is fine.

Last edited by Tourian; Mar 22, 2018 at 5:51 PM.
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  #3  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2018, 6:03 PM
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Everything really seems to be in flux right now. I don't think anyone in town could offer a good bet on what Birmingham will be like in 10 years.

I'm not so concerned with companies leaving. If BBVA Compass was going to leave, they'd have done it already. 1) BBVA is a multinational company that operates all over the world, they're used to headquarters being scattered around, 2) there are plenty of flights between BHM and Houston. Why spend the money to move the headquarters when you can literally fly to Houston or Birmingham for a meeting and it doesn't even qualify as a day trip?

I'm more concerned about the downtown office market. It would be ideal for an entity to come and take AT&T City Center off the market.
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  #4  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2018, 6:37 PM
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Originally Posted by tascalisa View Post
Everything really seems to be in flux right now. I don't think anyone in town could offer a good bet on what Birmingham will be like in 10 years.

I'm not so concerned with companies leaving. If BBVA Compass was going to leave, they'd have done it already. 1) BBVA is a multinational company that operates all over the world, they're used to headquarters being scattered around, 2) there are plenty of flights between BHM and Houston. Why spend the money to move the headquarters when you can literally fly to Houston or Birmingham for a meeting and it doesn't even qualify as a day trip?

I'm more concerned about the downtown office market. It would be ideal for an entity to come and take AT&T City Center off the market.
AT&T city center is off the market
http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf...r_buildin.html
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  #5  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2018, 6:51 PM
jackofalltrades jackofalltrades is offline
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Originally Posted by Bamablazer View Post
Yeah I read that they were going to turn that into residential which makes no sense to me given the lack of growth in population and jobs. I understand that some OTM people might want to move DT no one is coming in from other cities. It would a super cool place no doubt because I love that building.

It just feels like the building "boom" is like my parents building on 10 bedrooms in hopes of grandchildren that will never come. Premature and blind-eye'd to what's driving growth in other cities - commerce.

I agree, you gotta attract it somehow! Maybe this is the best way. Build it and they will come. Maybe that works. What doesn't work is doing nothing. Birmingham is certainly not sitting on its hands doing nothing and that's a great thing.

I hope the ATT building will attract a sizable and reputable company to move in. I would love to see somewhere like Vulcan, BSBC, Drummond, or BBVA move into it.
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  #6  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2018, 7:14 PM
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We definitely need to be focusing on our homegrown companies and keeping them here. Like Shipt, for example. I don't think Birmingham is high on many lists for corporate HQ relocation, but smaller regional offices for some of the big tech companies might be worth pursuing.
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  #7  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2018, 7:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jackofalltrades View Post
Yeah I read that they were going to turn that into residential which makes no sense to me given the lack of growth in population and jobs. I understand that some OTM people might want to move DT no one is coming in from other cities. It would a super cool place no doubt because I love that building.

It just feels like the building "boom" is like my parents building on 10 bedrooms in hopes of grandchildren that will never come. Premature and blind-eye'd to what's driving growth in other cities - commerce.

I agree, you gotta attract it somehow! Maybe this is the best way. Build it and they will come. Maybe that works. What doesn't work is doing nothing. Birmingham is certainly not sitting on its hands doing nothing and that's a great thing.

I hope the ATT building will attract a sizable and reputable company to move in. I would love to see somewhere like Vulcan, BSBC, Drummond, or BBVA move into it.
It is my favorite building also. It needs to be mixed use. Hotel, Office, Residential and retail being so close to the BJCC.
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  #8  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2018, 8:00 PM
jackofalltrades jackofalltrades is offline
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Originally Posted by TimCity2000 View Post
We definitely need to be focusing on our homegrown companies and keeping them here. Like Shipt, for example. I don't think Birmingham is high on many lists for corporate HQ relocation, but smaller regional offices for some of the big tech companies might be worth pursuing.
Agree.. What is happening with Shipt? I know they were acquired by Target. Will they keep a corporate presence in town? I figured most of their corporate jobs would go to Minneapolis.

Part of my original post is asking who you think might be next to leave? Hopefully no one obviously, but do you have any ideas of who might be next to relo?
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  #9  
Old Posted Mar 23, 2018, 1:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Bamablazer View Post
That's not what I meant. I meant, someone come in and fill the vacant space.
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  #10  
Old Posted Mar 23, 2018, 1:07 PM
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Originally Posted by jackofalltrades View Post
Agree.. What is happening with Shipt? I know they were acquired by Target. Will they keep a corporate presence in town? I figured most of their corporate jobs would go to Minneapolis.

Part of my original post is asking who you think might be next to leave? Hopefully no one obviously, but do you have any ideas of who might be next to relo?
They said after the acquisition that they planned to remain in their existing offices in Birmingham and San Francisco. Things can always change, though, of course.
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  #11  
Old Posted Mar 26, 2018, 4:57 PM
jackofalltrades jackofalltrades is offline
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Originally Posted by tascalisa View Post
They said after the acquisition that they planned to remain in their existing offices in Birmingham and San Francisco. Things can always change, though, of course.
It just seems like there's a lot of building, updating, and change going on trying to keep up with other cities, yet with no jobs/business infrastructure.

The trajectory of the city, numbers wise and jobs wise is in the negative. Increasing by 2,900 people in 10 years is negative trajectory when considering metro areas all across the US are booming.

So, given the fact that other metros are growing and bustling with young millennials driving innovation and new "cool" things, why wouldn't a large company leave the city and go somewhere with more everything (talented workforce, entertainment, more mid-high-end urban living, etc).

Why wouldn't a company, move to Nashville or Atlanta? Or even better, somewhere in Texas. What would keep them in Birmingham? And will that last? I'm afraid that as the old generations leave management positions, younger people with zero loyalty to Alabama will up and leave, hence moving their companies to greener pastures.

I'm trying to play the devils advocate here. Honestly, I have been looking at some other places and I never realized how poorly Birmingham fairs in comparison to some of these other places. I'm starting to feel disenfranchised by living here so I'm looking for solid reasons to believe in our future. That's all..

Thanks for your input.
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