“Bridges don’t hold unless they are supported.”
This quote from Bob Dickerson, Executive Director of the Birmingham Business Resource Center, reflected many of the themes explored at the sixth Mastercard Strive USA Summit, convened in Alabama. The event brought together leaders from government, philanthropy, the private sector, and other partners to spotlight success stories, share learnings, and identify new opportunities in the state’s small business ecosystem.
Speakers highlighted how economic growth in Alabama, as well as broader economic changes, are creating both new opportunities and new challenges. For example, while new investments are being made in the state, uneven access to resources and fast-changing technologies risk leaving many small businesses behind unless the local small business support ecosystem can bridge the gap between today’s realities and tomorrow’s potential.
As Coreata R. Houser, the Interim Director of the Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity for the City of Birmingham put it: “Frankly, in economic development, making the numbers work on paper is the easy part. The harder part is making sure your constituents can access the resources they need to grow their businesses,” he said, listing investments in roads, childcare infrastructure, and workforce development as examples of what Birmingham is doing to broaden access to opportunity.
Building a more coordinated ecosystem in Birmingham
In a city that has at least 65 small business support organizations, as well as a diverse community of public, private, and philanthropic sector funders and partners, what does building better bridges look like? And how can these efforts be better coordinated into a more holistic strategy for supporting entrepreneurs?
Part of the answer is the Entrepreneurship Center for Growth and Excellence, a new entrepreneurship center in Birmingham that has already mapped the opportunities and gaps in the city’s small business ecosystem. The Center is now focusing on developing a shared vision among the city’s many stakeholders as well as a data-driven roadmap — in addition to a front door where small businesses can get support.
John Turner, CEO of Regions Bank, spoke about why his bank has gotten so involved in supporting and scaling this new center.
“Our businesses can only be as good as the health of the communities where we operate, and the health of communities is largely about jobs, job growth, and people’s ability to earn a good wage,” he said. “We have a lot of small businesses that I think have a real opportunity to scale up. But they can benefit from some tailored advice and guidance in doing that sustainably, and we think can help provide that.”
As Kendra Key, the Executive Director of the Center and a loaned executive from Regions Bank, put it: “This is infrastructure building. It is about coordinating our ecosystem and enabling work that serves our shared customer — Birmingham’s small businesses.”
Deep dives on rural entrepreneurship and manufacturing
Other panels spoke to the challenges of supporting small businesses in rural areas and manufacturing specifically. For example, while there are more than 65 small business support organizations in Birmingham, there are few in Alabama’s rural counties despite the depth of entrepreneurial potential.
“Capital flows down the path of least resistance every time, so the question is how to remove the friction of capital flowing into rural communities,” said Alex Flachsbart, Founder & CEO of Opportunity Alabama, a nonprofit dedicated to developing an impact-centered Opportunity Zones ecosystem across the state. “We have seen that if you create the right support infrastructure for dynamic people in rural communities, and you keep showing up, great things can happen.”
Claudia Pettway Charley, Co-Founder of Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders, a community-based nonprofit organization located in the heart of the rural community Gee’s Bend, also spoke about the impact that organizations can have in communities like hers.
“When there are a lot of needs, almost anything you do will be helpful,” she said. “What we don’t need is a lot of things going out of the community as much as we do [resources] coming into the community.”
In the panel discussion on manufacturing, the focus was on the trainings and investments necessary to unlock further growth — with a particular focus on the needs of small businesses. The role of technological training was one example.
“We have seen that technology is accelerating faster than many small businesses can keep up,” said Lee Mathews, the COO of Innovate Alabama, the first statewide public-private partnership focused on entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. “So it is very important to provide small businesses in manufacturing with early exposure to cybersecurity, data, and AI, especially as the role of computer science increases in manufacturing.”
Mathew’s fellow panelist Lauren Hyde, Executive Director of the Alabama Business Intelligence Center — Alabama’s first dedicated business research hub focused on economic development — spoke on a similar topic: her organization’s work creating Birmingham AI, an initiative that convenes people to make AI accessible, and connects new companies entering the state with local partners, including many small businesses.
Cybersecurity was also a major discussion topic given the increasingly digital nature of manufacturing.
“Any system that can be accessed or operated remotely introduces potential cybersecurity risks,” said LaVada Varner, Center Director of the Alabama Technology Network, a statewide organization dedicated to advancing training and innovation within Alabama’s manufacturing sector. “Manufacturers are increasingly being targeted through equipment that is connected to the Internet and unsecured networks, which makes proactive cybersecurity education and training essential to protecting their operations.”
Varner also emphasized the growing importance of certification and standards compliance for smaller manufacturers. “Many large companies now require ISO or similar certifications as a prerequisite for partnership,” she said. “ISO standards have become the common language of manufacturing, providing the structure and assurance that larger firms expect from their suppliers.”
The call to action
Despite the turbulent times, panelists across the board were optimistic about what lies ahead. The Mayor of Birmingham, Randall L. Woodfin, spoke to this optimism in the closing conversation.
“All of our successes in Birmingham have been rooted in public-private partnerships,” he said. “And based on the momentum we have, there’s never been a better time to invest in supporting our small businesses. Everyone is stepping up to the plate, leaning in, and being vulnerable enough to say, ‘how can we get this ecosystem of supporting and building our small businesses better?’”
John Turner added, “We’re fortunate to have solid leadership in Birmingham, from City Hall to the business community, including business development centers and nonprofits. Increasingly, we see a clear and common vision for growth — and a network of organizations ready to support it. If we can keep building on this unity and collaboration, there truly is no limit to what we can accomplish — together.”
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