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.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese heads to a second 3-year term
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years. Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat.
After paying people to leave, one federal agency is scrambling to fill positions
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has opened up 73 jobs to internal candidates. They include roles just vacated by people who are receiving full pay and benefits through September.
The most exciting two minutes in sports is a show of ‘Latino excellence’
Latinos, many from outside the U.S. mainland, have risen in prominence in horseracing, from the grooms to some of the winningest jockeys.
For Homewood’s spotted salamanders, a win and a warning
A grassroots effort successfully pushed back on a development in that would have destroyed a critical salamander habitat. Still, amphibians face constant risks.
Can’t-miss interviews: Mohsen Mahdawi, Steve Bannon and Maura Healey on Harvard cuts
A lot happened this week, and NPR has you covered. Catch up on the big news and culture moments you might have missed.
Federal judge strikes down Trump order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is the first to permanently block an executive order issued by President Trump punishing a law firm for representing clients or causes he dislikes.
