Blueprint Birmingham and Beyond
More than five years after the Birmingham Business Alliance launched Blueprint Birmingham, the BBA is working towards a new strategic plan, called Blueprint 20/20. For more on this and other stories, WBHM’s Rachel Osier Lindley spoke to Nick Patterson, editor of the weekly newspaper WELD. Patterson joins WBHM most Thursdays during All Things Considered.
Brian Hilson, president and chief executive officer of the Birmingham Business Alliance, tells WELD:
We’ve developed a new strategic plan. We’ve talked generally about the plan in public meetings, but we have not released the whole plan and don’t plan to. We don’t want our competitors to know exactly what we are doing. However, we are glad to talk generally about what we are doing, but we won’t be doing that until the appropriate time.
I will tell you the new plan will be called Blueprint 20/20. It’s another five-year strategy. We’ve had significant success with Blueprint Birmingham, so naturally we are following a lot of that. With the new plan we’ve adopted a cluster approach to economic development instead of targeting industry sectors for recruitment purposes.
We’ve identified eight business clusters that are our strongest. The cluster approach was created by Harvard professor Michael Porter. Essentially it says if you build your strengths, such as workforce, around a business cluster, which is a group of related industries, chances of growing those are greater than if we target those individually.
The Winter Olympics gets 8 new events, including its first new sport in decades
Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut this year, the first winter sport to do so since 2002. Skeleton, luge, ski jumping and moguls are also getting new events.
Team USA settles in to athletes’ villages, ‘smash’ pizzas
US Olympic athletes are arriving and settling into their digs for the next couple of weeks in Italy. Curlers are amazed by the mountain scenery in Cortina; figure skaters are plant fostering in Milan; and the big air slopestyle women are "smashing pizzas" in Livigno.
As Trump reshapes foreign policy, China moves to limit risks, reap gains
President Trump's focus overseas may spare China for now, but Beijing still worries that his "America First" rhetoric hasn't softened what it calls U.S. "military adventurism."
Searching for dinosaur secrets in crocodile bones
Until now, estimating how old a dinosaur was when it died has been a fairly simple process: Count up the growth rings in the fossilized bones. But new research into some of dinosaurs' living relatives, like crocodiles, suggests that this method may not always work.
How the new dietary guidelines could impact school meals
Cutting back on ready-to-eat meals won't be easy, and whole milk may make a comeback. One thing that's certain: It'll be a while before the new guidelines trickle down to schools.
Poll: Two-thirds of Americans say ICE has ‘gone too far’ in immigration enforcement
A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds a jump in disapproval of the agency among Democrats and independents, but Republicans are standing by ICE and the president.
