A town hall will give attendees the first opportunity to ask business and city leaders about the new Blueprint Birmingham, a 5-year economic development plan from the Birmingham Business Alliance. The free 2-hour event takes place at 6 tonight at Alabama Power, 600 18th St. N., downtown [map].

Panelists include Birmingham Mayor William Bell and Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos, who both appeared at Thursday’s kickoff event at Railroad Park.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

The Birmingham Association of Black Journalists is the event sponsor.

Update: Full list of panelists …

Part 1: The Blueprint and Leadership

• William Bell, mayor of Birmingham
• Ann Florie, Leadership Birmingham
• Jay Grinney, chief executive officer of HealthSouth and co-chairman of the Birmingham Business Alliance Steering Committee
• Tony Petelos, mayor of Hoover

Part 2: Economic Development

• Bob Dickerson, Birmingham Business Resource Center
• Bill Ivey, TechKnowledge
• Patrick Murphy, senior vice president of Economic development at the Birmingham Business Alliance
• Lashunda Scales, Birmingham City Council

Also:

• Read Blueprint Birmingham.

At a glance: Blueprint Birmingham is a well-considered plan, peppered with great ideas and perhaps a few pie-in-the-sky objectives. Achieving most of the goals in 5 years will make the region far more competitive with an economic impact in the billions of dollars. Two critical components remain unknown for now: the price tag, and the willingness of enough citizens and investors to make it fly.

A new view of Birmingham, from
the recently opened Railroad Park.

Birmingham has never run short on problems, or even solutions to those persistent problems. But what the city and its leaders have often lacked is action.

Today marks the start of a significant 5-year action plan called Blueprint Birmingham, assembled by the Birmingham Business Alliance with consultants from Atlanta’s Market Street Services.

Business leaders will unveil the economic development plan to the public today at 5:30 at the new Railroad Park, but a copy of the plan was furnished to me last week.

The mere existence of a plan — good ideas welded to action steps and deadlines — is a small miracle unto itself. (The Blueprint already distinguishes itself from the feel-good do-nothing approach of Region 2020 or the tax-and-dome policy of the MAPS proposal.) It should be an easy sell to those yearning for progress, any progress.

Let’s dig deeper into the plan itself, after the jump …

(more…)

Blueprint Birmingham, the regional plan for development, will be shown to the public on Sept. 23 at the new Railroad Park. So says our insider at the Birmingham Business Alliance for this Wade on Birmingham exclusive.

Originally set to be revealed in May, the plan from the Birmingham Business Alliance and Atlanta’s Market Street received so much public input that more time was needed to put it together, officials said.

Currently, the plan is in its final stages. Blueprint Birmingham is an economic development plan for the seven-county region. After input from the public, the plan will require funding and action during the next 5 years to succeed. No word yet on the price tag or other plan details.

Update: Dalton Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Birmingham Business Alliance, resigned today, just a little more than a year since the organization was formed. He plans on forming an ethics reform advocacy group.

A look back at all things and people and events 2009 …

Video: William Bell and Patrick Cooper
head to mayoral runoff election.

Dec. 1 | Our never-ending Vote 2009 coverage of the Birmingham mayoral runoff continued with a forum and a town hall, the sudden death of a candidate from Hoover, our final assessment of the contenders and the anti-climatic Election Night 1-2 finish of runoff hopefuls William Bell and Patrick Cooper. One debate will be Jan. 10 at Alys Stephens Center, airing on ABC 33/40 and WBHM (90.3 FM); another will be 9 p.m. Jan. 14 on Fox 6 and MyFoxAL.com.

Look for more Vote 2009 stories in … 2010.

Dec. 1 | The Birmingham Leadership Awards winners? We have ’em.

Dec. 1 | Birmingham’s Bobby Bowden announced his retirement from Florida State football, wrapping a 44-year career in coaching. His final game will be the Gator Bowl taking on No. 18 West Virginia. The game airs noon Friday from Jacksonville, Fla., on CBS 42.

Dec. 5 | More football news: Alabama wins the SEC Championship to advance to the BCS National Championship game. The next week, the school would have its first ever Heisman Trophy winner thanks to running back Mark Ingram.

Dec. 15 | In economic news, Birmingham and Alabama have endured tough times, indeed, with the highest unemployment rate in more than 25 years. A study found that the state’s low tax burden doesn’t really trickle down to the poor. The Birmingham Business Alliance sought input through an online survey for the next step in its economic development plan, Blueprint Birmingham.

Hyundai in Montgomery built its 1 millionth vehicle. And Birmingham’s McWane Inc. plead guilty to violations of the Clean Water Act, resulting in a $4 million fine.

Dec. 17 | The newly seated Birmingham school board selects Craig Witherspoon, superinten­dent of Edgecombe County Public Schools in Tarboro, N.C., as the new superintendent. The board had previously had problems picking a president, then faced accusations of bias during the superintendent search.

Dec. 18 | The feds take over New South Federal Bank in Irondale after big losses in loans. A Texas bank has taken over operations.

See all of our December coverage.

• • •

Haiku flashback

predictions for the next decade [Dec. 8]

Flying cars, yoga
weddings, telepathic phones,
wars without borders.

• • •

365 days of Birmingham’s best and worst: Wade on 2009

The Birmingham Business Alliance is looking to the future in a city with a very troubled recent past. At its annual meeting Tuesday, the organization focused on Blueprint Birmingham, its effort to develop a regional plan for economic development.

The playbook has been similar to Opportunity Austin, the successful program that made the Texas city more competitive.

• Step 1: Hire Atlanta firm Market Street.
• Step 2: Ask for input on education, infrastructure, quality of life and other aspects through a survey.

Those interested can take the survey online or print the 69-page version to send in.

The survey deadline is Monday.