CHALLENGES TO CHANGE BUILDING CORPORATE LEADERSHIP Blueprint stands in shadow of Vulcan By THOMAS SPENCER News staff writer NEWS STAFF/JOE SONGER Vulcan — commissioned by business leaders a century ago as a symbol of Birmingham’s vitality — overlooks ongoing construction at Children’s Hospital at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the metro area’s economic engine When the Birmingham Business Alliance rolled out itsBlueprint Birmingham last year, its realistic appraisal of regional problems and its moderate goal “to turn our region’s potential into reality” stood in stark contrast to the dizzy enthusiasm Birmingham leaders felt a century ago The Commercial Club — that era’s version of the Chamber of Commerce — commissioned Vulcan for the 1904 World’s Fair The dedication plaque included the iron giant’s prophecy: “Just as my stature towers above the sons of the earth so shall The District exceed all others in Times March.” They had reason to believe that Birmingham, with its vast mineral resources, would be America’s next great city That decade saw the construction of Terminal Station and the four skyscrapers that formed what they christened as the “World’s Heaviest Corner” at 20th Street and First Avenue North U.S Steel Corp.’s 1907 purchase of Tennessee Coal & Iron Co brought a huge infusion of capital that modernized plants and improved the working and living conditions of miners and mill workers Thanks to a 1910 annexation election, Birmingham’s population leapt from 38,351 to 132,686, a 245 percent jump that allowed the city to claim it was the fastest growing city in the U.S Why, a century later, is Birmingham still hoping to capitalize on its potential? One answer cited by historians is that, after an early generation of industrial buccaneers dedicated to building industry, Birmingham failed to develop a homegrown class of business leadership committed to building a city Instead, for most of the 20th Century, the biggest players in the local economy — U.S Steel, Sloss and Republic Steel — were all owned by people living elsewhere who were mostly concerned with protecting their own interests UAB historian Tennant McWilliams said that not until the 1960s — with the civil rights movement, the waning dominance of steel and the rise of the health and financial sectors — did a true, indigenous leadership class begin to arise Progress has been fitful, but James McManus, CEO of Energen Corp and chairman of the Birmingham Business Alliance, believes the moment has arrived “The majority of companies who are involved in BBA have substantial operations outside of Birmingham,” McManus said “But the reason that we’re all in this with a passionate perspective is this is home and we really love Birmingham We want Birmingham to be all that it can be It’s not so much of a return on investment from a dollar perspective as it is a return on investment to make the place better that we care about.” Mitch Reid of the environmental group Alabama Rivers Alliance said he was impressed with the new engagement from business, with Blueprint Birmingham’s support for transit, education and “regional stewardship” initiatives like parks and the cleanup of old, polluted industrial sites However, he is skeptical of whether the business community’s actions will follow their words He expected the group to support the $4.7 billion Northern Beltline, which many environmental groups oppose, but was surprised that several of the BBA’s priority items spoke against environmental regulation as impeding economic growth Reid sees such laws as being for the greater good, and thought a group that represents businesses across the region would see the benefits for the community as a whole: “No one wants to move to a city that has dirty water and a dirty environment.” EMAIL: tspencer@bhamnews.com SEIZING UAB’S POTENTIAL NEWS STAFF/JOE SONGER The University of Alabama at Birmingham is the state’s largest employer Seizing UAB’s potential is a key opportunity for leaders By JEFF HANSEN News staff writer Ada Long recalls the University of Alabama at Birmingham of the early 1980s While the medical center thrived, the college end of campus had no student center, no campus green, no full-service dining hall “All I remember is Building One, Building Two, Building Three,” the retired UAB teacher said “There were no trees Campus was like a huge parking lot with three ugly buildings.” UAB had no student center “There was a mini-cafeteria where we all gathered on the third floor of the humanities building, Building Three,” Long remembers “It had three ladies: One to take orders, one to cook, one to take up the money.” UAB President Carol Z Garrison remembers a similar scene as a nursing graduate student in Lots of progress since days of Buildings One, Two, Three 1974-78 “My recollection of the west side of the university was Building One, Building Two, Building Three and the Sterne Library,” she said Today it is all different, part of the growth that has made UAB the prime economic hope of metro Birmingham And if the Birmingham region is to truly prosper, observers say, UAB must be at the center of moving the area forward The school has come a long way in recent years The 17,543student university now: y Has a four-block college green built over closed-off 15th Street South Surrounding the green are a necklace of buildings: Blazer and Camp dorms for freshmen, the University Dining Facility, the Campus Recreation Center, and the high-tech Heritage Hall y Has discontinued open admission and broad efforts in remedial teaching Instead, in-state students need to earn advanced high school diplomas and the average ACT score is 24.4, up from 22 in 2002 The mean high school GPA of UAB students is 3.5, and UAB has record enrollment and record numbers of students living on campus y Touts itself as the region’s economic dynamo, with an economic impact of $4.6 billion that directly and indirectly creates 61,025 jobs in the state An investment in UAB, Garrison said, by the state or local government, businesses or philanthropic donors, is one of the wisest steps the community can take, because it will yield a high rate of return in an enterprise that will never leave the state “The mayor (of Birmingham, William Bell) and I are fond of saying, ‘As Birmingham goes, so UAB goes, and as UAB goes, so Birmingham goes,’ ” Garrison said Yet UAB also preserves the pride and zest for excellence that marked the school from its start “The average age of students was something like 27, 28,” Long said of the college side of campus “There were people who worked in the steel mills, in shopping malls, mixed in with regular students They were diverse, intergenerational and intensely idiosyncratic.” A broad base of people interviewed earlier this year agreed that UAB is rich with opportunity for metro Birmingham — if the region’s leaders can capitalize on its potential to drive redevelopment in the central city and to grow as the region’s economic powerhouse EMAIL: jhansen@bhamnews.com