Forbes: Inside Birmingham's Bid To Become The Southern Silicon Valley (Huntsville: how much, house)

[jero23]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zarasto...silicon-valley

It’s no secret that Silicon Valley has been looking east, with a number of entrepreneurs shying away from the high rents and salaries involved in working in the Bay Area. The quality of life might be great in the bay, but home ownership is a struggle, even for those earning six figures; the median house price recently hit $1.2 million. In recent years, new tech hubs have sprouted up across America, including Austin, Seattle, and Boulder. Even these are becoming increasingly pricey. That’s where Birmingham, Alabama’s largest city, sees an opportunity.

In recent years its been home for a number of large companies; Icebox cold brew coffee which sold to Royal Cup in 2017 for an estimated $60 million, and same day delivery service Shipt, bought for $550 million by Target last year. It’s also fertile ground for new talent and allows venture capitalists early access to burgeoning startups. For example, Alabama-based Tennibot, a robotic tennis ball collector, won a CES 2018 Innovation Award earlier this year. And its home for Regions Financial Corporation bank (ranked 312 on the Fortune 500 list) and Books-A-Million.

It's a very impressive yet nuanced article about the ambition, aggressiveness, and determination of the entrepreneurs within the tech scene (and sector) and regional leadership to make Birmingham into a major tech hub. The article breaks down how much occurred within the last 18 months alone while pointing out how diverse this city's tech scene is compared to the one in Silicon Valley itself. The author pointed out that 40% are women and nearly 50% are black or Asian. The Velocity Accelerator is the only one in the state that is assisting startups. Although the naivete of many in the tech scene, but they are determined to make Birmingham a major player in the coming years.

Birmingham is doing the right thing since it is much more affordable and has created a more hospitable economic environment for startup than other Southern cities. This will definitely play a role in the city's economic revitalization and growth.

[JesseRohr]

I stumbled upon this article because of a Google alert I have setup for The Pizitz, as my wife manages the project for Bayer. Originally I skipped to just that part until your post. The article is worth the read in its entirety for those on the fence.

[bfmx1]

Originally Posted by JesseRohr

I stumbled upon this article because of a Google alert I have setup for The Pizitz, as my wife manages the project for Bayer. Originally I skipped to just that part until your post. The article is worth the read in its entirety for those on the fence.

Excellent article! But those on the fence about what?

[cherokee48]

This was a very informative and nuanced article. I was not aware of some of these startups before reading the article. I liked that the article did not shy away from Birmingham's challenges (reputation, crime, young tech scene) and focused on what is happening now with the city's economy and the groundswell that is coming with this growing tech hub(hopefully). It seems we're not the only one's who think that Birmingham can learn from Austin's tech scene and see similarities. I found the comments the involvement of women and African Americans encouraging, both of those populations have a lot of untapped energy. I found the perspective that the smart cities initiatives have played a role in developing this young tech hub (and will in the future) interesting and want to see more grants and programs for infrastructure and economic development in the future. I know it was mentioned but the cost of living benefit to Birmingham versus the Bay Area is a very good sign going forward and for a rising tech hub is a great benefit.

[bfmx1]

This is a great article for the city! It's basically telling young highly educated tech folks you don't have to slum it in SF, that there are other opportunities elsewhere to really make a name for your career and live a more comfortable life.

[JesseRohr]

Originally Posted by bfmx1

Excellent article! But those on the fence about what?

About reading the whole article. I shouldn't post during my insomnia induced web browsing.

[CaptCephus]

I thought the article was balanced but certainly didn't attempt to sell a pipe-dream or an overly glossy image.


As a former senior corporate officer of Regions Financial (which was mentioned in the article), my sole opinion is that Birmingham might indeed become more competitive, thus more attractive, for many reasons, in the not-so-distant future. The difficulty has been a rather slow and untimely evolution when fairly compared to other cities and regions. Can this important shift/evolution happen? well yes it can, and perhaps should have occurred by now. Therein lies the rub. Other cities haven't been exactly standing still, and are also on the move with tech, innovation and manufacturing. Competition is good for everyone.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by CaptCephus

I thought the article was balanced but certainly didn't attempt to sell a pipe-dream or an overly glossy image.


As a former senior corporate officer of Regions Financial (which was mentioned in the article), my sole opinion is that Birmingham might indeed become more competitive, thus more attractive, for many reasons, in the not-so-distant future. The difficulty has been a rather slow and untimely evolution when fairly compared to other cities and regions. Can this important shift/evolution happen? well yes it can, and perhaps should have occurred by now. Therein lies the rub. Other cities haven't been exactly standing still, and are also on the move with tech, innovation and manufacturing. Competition is good for everyone.

I kind of got the same impression. I don't think it was hyperbolic at all. It basically says that Birmingham has a nascent tech sector with some surprising wins and the pieces in place to grow, but needs to go through some maturation. That's not a terribly controversial notion, despite what the cheerleaders and naysayers think.

[Tusco]

I thought Huntsville was already that.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by Tusco

I thought Huntsville was already that.

Huntsville has a good tech sector, fed primarily by defense and aerospace. I don't think anybody's questioning that. But, gotta say it, there's a little bit of neediness and insecurity on the part of the Huntsville peeps who keep popping up when Birmingham tech gets mentioned and saying, "But what about meeeeeeee?"


It's also not the point of the article. It's about how Birmingham has put together a public/private partnership to create a tech industry where it hadn't existed before, and how it has enjoyed some success. It didn't say that Birmingham was the next Seattle or Austin. It simply points out the effectiveness of the effort.