Magic City Marketplace
Outlook on Alabama’s Economy Splits from National Picture
The U.S economy has been growing for almost seven years and analysts are debating when it will inevitably return to recession. One report from the bank BBVA Compass says it probably won't happen in 2016, but its prediction about Alabama's economy is less upbeat. We explain in this week's Magic City Marketplace.
Fiber Internet Coming to Birmingham
For many workplaces having a fast Internet connection is critical. That’s why a recent announcement that fiber Internet would be coming to the Birmingham area has economic development leaders excited. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Birmingham Rolls Out its Land Bank
The abundance of dilapidated and abandoned properties around Birmingham is something city leaders have struggled to deal with. A new tool to attack the problem is getting off the ground. It’s called a land bank. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Community Banks Increase Lending to Small Business
We sort of know the broad outlines of starting a business. You have an idea, find an investor or lender for funding, then go at it. Around Birmingham community banks are increasingly getting in on that small business lending action. That's where we start the conversation in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
UAB — Going More Dense and Vertical
UAB has been jokingly referred to as the university that ate Birmingham because of the steady growth its campus has seen through the decades. It’s an anchor of the region’s economy and a new master plan outlines where university leaders want to take Birmingham’s largest employer. We talk about it in this week's Magic City Marketplace. Birmingham Business Journal editor Ty West also discusses plans for development around Birmingham's CrossPlex and why lower oil prices are bad news for banks.
Metro Birmingham’s Growth Hotspots
The Birmingham metro area has seen steady, albeit modest population growth since the great recession. However, that growth though isn’t even with some communities seeing growth rates far higher. We talk about this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Business Community Watching Bills in the Alabama Legislature
With the Alabama legislative session in full swing, the business community has a number of bills they’re watching closely. These bills could have a significant effect on companies around Birmingham. We highlight a few of them in this week's Magic City Marketplace.
Why this Coal Industry Downturn may be Different
Alabama’s coal industry has faced its ups and downs through the decades. It’s clearly down now. Walter Energy, for instance, is embroiled in bankruptcy. While the industry has bounced back before, this time might be different. That’s where we start this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Alabama’s Aging Infrastructure
Many economic development groups in Alabama consider infrastructure such as roads, bridges and railways essential for spurring growth and jobs. But when it comes to assessments of the state’s infrastructure, Alabama scores poorly. That’s where we start the conversation in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
A College Football Edition of Magic City Marketplace
University of Alabama fans are pulling for a win in tonight’s national college football championship game in Phoenix. Meanwhile, Auburn University finished its season much closer to home in the Birmingham Bowl last month. This year’s bowl game drew almost 60,000 to Legion Field. That’s something city leaders cheered, but they also put a lot of money into the game. We talk about that this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
What to Watch for in 2016 Birmingham Business
With 2015 in the books, a new year lies ahead with hopes and possibilities. To kick off another year of Magic City Marketplace, Birmingham Business Journal editor Cindy Fisher Crawford explains what to watch for in 2016 as it relates to Alabama’s business community.
What Will 2017 Bring for Birmingham’s Economy?
We talk about what is expected in the Birmingham area economy in this week's Magic City Marketplace.
Birmingham’s Forgotten Innovation District
Drive along First Avenue North, just on the other side of the railroad tracks from Regions Field downtown, and you might notice Innovation Depot. This is a business incubator that’s done a lot in recent years to spur entrepreneurship in Birmingham. But it’s actually part of a larger innovation district. Most people haven't heard of Birmingham's innovation district, but some city boosters say it is finally ready to take off. We talk about that in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Where Birmingham’s Business Community Sends its Campaign Cash
Alabama has seen at least seven presidential candidates make stops in the state. Much of the credit for raising Alabama’s profile on the campaign trail is given to the fact the state banned together with other southern states to hold their primaries on March 1st. It's been dubbed the SEC primary. While candidates are seeing votes, they’re also seeking donors. That’s where we start in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
What Expanded Gambling Could Mean for Alabama
State lawmakers took three legislative sessions to craft a bare-bones budget this year. Next year’s budget picture isn’t any rosier so calls are increasing for Alabama to expand gambling or start a lottery. Such a move would certainly mean revenue for the state, but just as with a roll of the dice, there’s risk. We start with that in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Potential Threats to Alabama’s Automotive Industry
Alabama leaders love to tout the state’s automotive industry. What started with the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa County in the mid-1990s now includes Honda and Hyundai plants plus numerous suppliers. While the auto industry has increasingly moved to the Deep South, Alabama’s success could be threatened by a place further south. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Blueprint Birmingham After Five Years
Five years ago this fall, the economic development group Birmingham Business Alliance announced Blueprint Birmingham. With a big marketing push it was hailed as five-year strategic plan that would change a region that so often lags behind. With that time frame over we talk about what the plan did in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
The Financial Confidence Gap
Surveys show women make the majority of purchasing decisions in any given household. But when it comes to confidence with money, they trail men. We talk about that in this week’s Magic City Marketplace. Birmingham Business Journal editor Cindy Fisher Crawford tells WBHM’s Andrew Yeager about this Vanderbilt University study and what it reveals about a financial confidence gap.
A Potential Change for Credit Unions has Banks Unhappy
One winner in the recovery since the Great Recession has been credit unions. They’ve seen growth in membership and lending activity. And that’s put them at odds with those who traditionally handle services like this – banks. We hear about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace. Birmingham Business Journal editor Cindy Fisher Crawford tells WBHM’s Andrew Yeager about what drove that growth for credit unions.
Reopening VictoryLand
Alabama casino developer Milton McGregor won a legal victory earlier this month which appears to put to rest a five-year court battle over his Macon County casino VictoryLand. A judge said the state had no grounds to seize thousands of electronic bingo machines from VictoryLand. So McGregor is working to reopen the facility. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Alabama Launchpad
Let’s say you have a great business idea. That’s a good start but it takes funding to get the idea off the ground. One of the ways Alabama entrepreneurs have been receiving funding for their ventures is the Alabama Launchpad competition. We talk about it in this week's Magic City Marketplace.
Trinity Medical Center Moving and Taking on a New Name
This weekend Trinity Medical Center will become Grandview Medical Center as it moves from Birmingham’s east side to the busy Highway 280 corridor. It’s a move that’s been more than 10 years in the making and one that developers expect to bear fruit beyond just a new hospital. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
The Future of U.S. Steel
What remains of Birmingham’s steel industry took a major hit this summer when U.S. Steel announced it would be idling its blast furnace in Fairfield. About 1,100 workers were laid off. Thousands of more workers have lost jobs there through the decades, but U.S. Steel is trying to stay ahead in a very competitive economy. That’s where we start this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Daughters and the CEO
Women make up half the world, but men still dominate in the business world. That's particularly true when it comes to executive positions. While women certainly have made progress, one factor in their efforts may be unexpected -- the daughters of executives. We explain in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
A New Leader for the University of Alabama System
The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees is set to vote this month on a new leader for the three-campus system. Chancellor Robert Witt announced recently he’ll retire next August. He’s recommended current vice chancellor of finance and operations Ray Hayes for the job. We talk about what that next chancellor faces in this week's Magic City Marketplace.
Gay Marriage’s Legal Ripples
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision earlier this summer upholding same-sex marriage seems simple enough, but the ruling prompts a wave of new legal questions. Those questions could keep lawyers busy for some time. We talk about some of those questions in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Sports Medicine, Physical Therapy Business Booming in Birmingham
Birmingham's becoming a hub for sports medicine, and as more clinics open, providers of orthopedics and physical therapy are competing for their piece of the market. Providers are also buying real estate, creating jobs. That's where we start this week's Magic City Marketplace. Cindy Fisher Crawford is the editor of the Birmingham Business Journal.
How the Business Community Sees the Birmingham City Schools
Birmingham City Schools students are back in class for another year. It’s a district Birmingham educators say has made progress in the last few years, but one that still faces a poor reputation in the wider community. We talk about how the business community sees the Birmingham schools in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Birmingham Companies Starting to Spend their Piles of Cash
After the recession many American companies were holding onto tons of cash. Birmingham companies were no different. But even with an improving economy, those reserves at Birmingham firms are still growing. We talk about it with Birmingham Business Journal editor Cindy Crawford in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Birmingham Financial Planners Try To Woo Millennials
There are more than 80 million of them, and one day they could be very rich. They're the Millennials, people born between 1980 and 1999. And while they're still early in their careers, the Birmingham Business Journal's Cindy Fisher Crawford says financial planners are trying to secure their business early. In the process, they're learning some surprising things about millennials money habits.
Repairing Interstate 20/59
Interstate 20/59 through downtown Birmingham is aging and something needs to be done about it. Most people can agree on that. The Alabama Department of Transportation has a plan they could start implementing this fall, but there are opponents who say that plan is shortsighted and should be scrapped. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Improving Birmingham’s Mass Transit
Mass transit is a point of frustration for many Birmingham boosters, who see the bus system as woefully under developed and underfunded. But with the World Games coming to Birmingham in 2021 and the city going after other tourism events, the public transit system gains new importance. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
