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Photo by Eric Taunton.
Ron Kitchens gives a presentation at the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce Luncheon at Vestavia Hills Country Club on Feb. 8.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
A gallon of Milo’s Famous Sweet Tea is seen on a countertop Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
The Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce hosted Ron Kitchens, author and chief executive officer of the Birmingham Business Alliance, to talk about new business additions to the community and what the alliance does to help the community at its monthly luncheon on Feb. 8.
Kitchens announced that Smuckers, a popular snack company, will be building a location in Birmingham as well as the expansion of Milo’s Tea Company to Homewood and Fetch, a company that allows customers to build points through taking photos of receipts.
He said these new arrivals to the community will create hundreds of new jobs for Birmingham residents and college students.
“We are really excited about these announcements and there will be many more,” Kitchens said.
The purpose of the BBA, he said, is to attract businesses to the community and expand community businesses, currently focusing on expanding businesses that are women and minority owned as part of its partnership with Prosper, a Birmingham-based nonprofit focused on creating equal opportunities for members of the community.
“If we look at this region and the data says that we’re next to last in entrepreneurs of color and we’re not building small businesses and meeting their needs then we’re doing a terrible job,” Kitchens said. “We’ve got to step up and do better.”
Kitchens said BBA aims to provide 20,000 new jobs by 2026, have 10,000 new workers and engage 30,000 participants in leadership programs and grow and support more than 250 scaleable small businesses.
“It’s critically important that every decision we make, every elected official, every body that represents us…understand that if we’re not doing things that create more and better jobs, we’re diminishing our opportunities to win and thrive,” Kitchens said.
