David Sher comeback town To give a voice to the people of Birmingham and Alabama.
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Today’s guest columnist is Tom Cosby.
He says that Coach Saban has a “war room” next to his office in Tuscaloosa.
Like the White House Situation Room, which tracks worldwide threats to our country, in this room Saban tracks all the top high school athletes across the country; Some even internationally.
He knows all of his key metrics – his academic history, height, weight, speed, leadership ability, you name it. These prospects are tracked and visited repeatedly if they fit the emerging UA football team he envisions.
By the time Signing Day arrives, it’s inevitable: Saban will have signed yet another top-ranked class.
Meanwhile, here in Birmingham, once the largest and fastest growing city in the state, I’m not aware if we have a “war room” (or anything like that). I’m talking about a war room to identify, track and sell top economic growth prospects on the benefits of moving or expanding to Birmingham.
Unlike Saban, we appear mostly satisfied with whatever new business shows up on our doorstep or expands here because of UAB’s presence — while we expect more homegrown wonders like Shift or Landing to emerge.
We have long given up the ghost of competing with Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte for growth and now we see Huntsville marching ahead of us. Inquisitive minds want to know: Did we try to compete with Huntsville to land the multi-billion dollar FBI campus that will eventually mean 5,000 jobs there? How much effort did we try to win the Toyota-Mazda project for Birmingham?
When was the last time our city sent a delegation to meet with Greg Canfield to urge that Birmingham get a bigger piece of the new industry pie from the efforts of the Alabama Department of Commerce? Have we already sent a Blue Chip delegation to meet Sen. Katie Britt to advise her on how she can help Birmingham grow?
Inside Saban’s war room, there is reportedly a grease board that covers an entire wall where all of Alabama’s top players are listed. The board includes information such as the aforementioned important of each possibility but also school names leaning towards each possibility. “There are no secrets,” Saban said of the recruiting business. “It’s about one thing, man, one thing: hard work.”
In fact, Saban and his staff devote time every working day of the year to recruiting, whether it’s writing letters, making phone calls or meeting with potential clients. Before Saban stepped into prospects’ homes or invited a recruiter into his office, Alabama would have delved “seven deep” into the player’s life, meaning he contacted his friends, family, teachers, coaches. is – literally anyone who has had a significant interaction with that player and shaped his development.
Saban is a driven competitor and is acutely aware of his competition. Needless to say, Birmingham also face stiff competition; It is estimated that there are approximately 15,000 economic development groups in the US, each targeting and soliciting new employers for their communities while doing their best to favorably influence site selectors.
imagine if birmingham had saban,Like a “war room” tracking the top economic prospects for Magic City. Who will be listed on our Greece Board of Top Economic Prospects? Imagine going “seven deep” into the profiles of these target companies, regularly sending them updated, tailored information on Birmingham. Imagine recruiting trips to their current headquarters. Then again, maybe that’s all it’s going to be; If so, I’m sure the Birmingham Business Journal and Al.com will report on it.
Some say that the era of “buffalo hunting” in economic development is over and there is no need for such a sales effort in this day and time. But this cannot be true as every year we hear about the relocation of major corporate headquarters like Hewlett Packard, GE, Fluor and Honeywell.
In addition, there are thousands of “gazelles” (young, fast-growing, mostly tech-oriented companies) across the country that are looking to expand — and possibly even relocate their headquarters. Are they all getting regular good news about Birmingham and in-depth, multi-touch sales messages on the benefits of moving here?
There will never be another Nick Saban. But don’t we need to reset our tempo – before our city’s employment and population decline further than our competition? Do we need more dealers and more closers to aggressively move to sell Birmingham?
Cervantes famously wrote “The faint heart never won a fair maiden.” Being polite… or worse, being passive… will not help our city achieve success.
Tom Cosby worked for the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (now BBA) for 35 years. In addition to being their VP Marketing and COO, he was instrumental in saving Rickwood Field and Vulcan and was involved in several projects such as the funding of Corridor X/I-22 and the hiring of nonstop flights for BHM. Since retiring from the Chamber, he has raised funds for various civic projects in Birmingham, including the Lyric Theatre, the Alabama Theatre, and the Veterans Day Parade.
David Sher is the founder and publisher of comeback town, He is past president of Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham) and City Action Partnership (CAP).
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