Women-owned businesses get energized by business opportunities at Birmingham conference
Female-owned business learned what it takes to do business with energy companies like Alabama Power at the Women’s Business Enterprise Council South’s Second Annual Power Industry Summit in Birmingham. “This is the first time we’re having this conference in Birmingham,” said Phala Mire, president and CEO of WBEC South. “It’s our second Power Summit, but it was so successful the first time, we wanted to bring it to Birmingham because we felt it was really important to be able to connect with some of our major power companies. “Alabama Power is a huge supporter of the Women’s Business Council. They are absolutely committed to doing business with women-owned businesses across our region.” In addition to Alabama Power, representatives of other Southern Company business units also took part. Glenda Thomas, a board member at WBEC South and supplier relations and diversity manager at Alabama Power, helped bring the event to Birmingham. “I thought it was very important to have an industry-focused group – this is our second annual power summit – and I thought it would be great if Alabama Power hosted and brought our Southern Company partners,” she said. “So, we’re fortunate to have Gulf Power, Southern Nuclear, Southern Company Services and the newly added Southern Gas.” CenterPoint Energy, Entergy, TVA, Mobile Area Water and Sewer System, Cleco and the U.S. Department of Energy were other participants in the conference. The Small Business Administration, Birmingham Business Alliance, South Region Minority Supplier Development Council and Edison Electric Institute Business Diversity were also involved in the summit. Scott Vowels, supplier diversity manager for Apple and author of “Hacking Supplier Diversity: Cracking the Code for the Business Case, Revenue Generation, Economic Impact, ROI,” was the keynote speaker. “This is imperative because this is where we get to meet the diverse suppliers,” Vowels said. “This is where we get to understand who they are. Because I always believe that people do business with people they know and people they like.” Vowels said for small, female-owned businesses, events like the summit can be eye-opening. “I think women-owned businesses have so much power and so much leverage that at times they don’t really understand the power that they possess,” he said. Vowels said he hoped minority businesses came away with a better understanding of the opportunities and that the corporations better understood the business case for hiring these 1q`firms. “Any businesses from staffing to IT to environmental – we have a wide variety of women-owned businesses here today networking together for the Power Industry Summit,” said Kristina Bridgeman, sourcing agent with Southern Company Services. Bridgeman said the conference was successful in making those connections. As for what female-owned businesses can bring to a company like Alabama Power, Vowels said the value of a different perspective should never be discounted. “I think those unique perspectives are what help with innovation because I believe the more inclusive you are, the more innovative you can be,” he said. Republished with the permission of the Alabama Newscenter.
Alabama crews playing a big part in restoring power to Puerto Rico
For more than a month, some Alabama Power crews have helped restore outages in Puerto Rico. The island was hit by a hurricane last fall, causing substantial structural damage to homes and businesses and thousands of power outages. Alabama Power crews joined crews from Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, and Georgia Power leaving out of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport Jan. 20 with the goal of helping get the lights restored. As lights are coming back on, and a sense of normalcy returns, residents are taking time out to say thank you to the crews for their hard work. Republished with permission from the Alabama NewsCenter.
Best of Alabama innovation stories of 2017
As we watch 2017 give way to 2018, it’s a good time to look back on some of the great things that happened in Alabama this year. Alabama NewsCenter has tallied the results in each grouping of stories to see which ones you responded to the most, and we’re sharing your five favorites along with a story (or stories) we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss. If 2017 had a signature buzz word or phrase, it may well have been the “innovation economy.” Alabama cities were certainly touting their own place within the innovation economy, and the evidence was in the actual innovation taking place in the state. Here are the Top 5 Alabama NewsCenter innovation stories for 2017: Researchers believe immunotherapy could be the best way to fight many forms of cancer in the future, but not all patients’ bodies respond to immunotherapy with prolonged, promising results. UAB is spearheading research to better prime the body for immunotherapy so it can achieve better results. For the first time ever, Birmingham hosted Venture for America in its apprenticeship matching event. More than 40 companies interviewed 200 of the best and brightest VBA fellows to find them internships with innovative companies in Birmingham, San Antonio, Nashville and New Orleans. Another major innovation feather in Birmingham’s cap this year was playing host to the national e.Builders Forum. The International Business Innovation Association held the two-day event at Birmingham’s Innovation Depot in September. Innovate Birmingham has been a priority for the Birmingham Business Alliance and its partners for the past few years, but the program took a major step forward with the hiring of Bob Crutchfield as its executive director and an official roll-out during Birmingham Innovation Week. Although it didn’t make the final cut, Birmingham was one of 10 cities on the semifinalist list in the Smart Cities Challenge from the Smart Cities Council. Winners of the Smart Cities Readiness Challenge Grants were Austin, Indianapolis, Miami, Orlando and Philadelphia, but by being in the running, Birmingham signaled its growing presence in the national and global innovation economy. Editor’s choice: While we like to acknowledge big-picture innovation and the state’s place in the innovation economy, the best innovation is in those gee-whiz ideas from the innovators themselves. This year was the inaugural class of Birmingham’s Velocity Accelerator program that helped nurture new ideas from innovative entrepreneurs. Some were from Birmingham or other parts of Alabama, while many were not. We brought you each of their stories. Click here to read more. Republished with permission from Alabama NewsCenter.
