On the Record: With Barry Copeland of the Birmingham Business Alliance

Barry Copeland.JPGBarry Coppeland, interim president of the Birmingham Business Alliance. (The Birmingham News/Bernard Troncale)

Barry Copeland took the reins at the Birmingham Business Alliance at one of the organization's most critical junctures and after the sudden, unexpected departure of original president and CEO Dalton Smith.

With almost two months under his belt, Copeland took a rare pause to discuss how BBA is faring just over a year after it was formed through the merger of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Development Board.

Copeland and other BBA staff and board members have been visiting key organizations that had a hand in shaping Blueprint Birmingham, a far-reaching, five-year economic strategic plan for the seven-county metro area that will be unveiled Sept. 23 at a public launch party at the Railroad Park.

Q: It's been a busy two months to be the head of the BBA. What's it like to be steering BBA at this time?

A: I need to come up and take a breath. I will just be honest, it is a rare privilege to lead a group that is so involved in what promises to be a great future in our region. I've been in other groups in my career that have had elements of that. This one is in the center. It's an honor to be asked to lead this organization even on an interim basis. Is there a lot of work going on? Yes there is. We are hard at work trying to prepare the region for the launch of this plan.

Q: What does that preparation entail?

A: There are probably over 100 different groups that would be strategic working partners whose work is either referenced in the plan or they are mentioned by name in the plan. To connect with those groups before the roll out on the 23rd is important, but to plug in with them after the roll out to gain their advice and their help going forward is going to be critical to the success of the effort.

Q: You were with the chamber before it merged with MDB to create the BBA. What seems different about the organization from your perspective?

A: The alignment of the economic development recruiting piece with the aspects of a chamber of commerce is what makes the difference. It's that way in so many other regions of the country that we compete with for economic development. What a joy to finally be both structurally and now strategically aligned to have all of those efforts working together. If you take that and layer on top of that the regional aspects and the diverse input that came in through this plan, that's really indicative of where the future of this region lies. It's not just a business group plan or just an economic development group plan, it is truly a plan for this region for the next five years for its economic prosperity.

Q: The business community took the lead in both the formation of BBA, but also in the formulation of Blueprint Birmingham. That degree of involvement can be both a blessing and a curse and I'm sure expectations have never been higher. Do you and the staff feel any pressure?

A: The expectations are high and I come down on the blessing side rather than the curse side. I definitely think it's a blessing having gone through the days when there might not have been consistency in strategy. I remember so well the days when we were good friends with the folks at MDB, but our strategy was just non-existent. You might have a quick hallway conversation or you would meet them at some event, but they weren't part of our team and we weren't part of their team. That is different and that difference is the world of difference in terms our competitive as a region against other regions. It's great to have your volunteer leadership this engaged and this supportive.

Q: Does having that economic development component help bring more of them to the table and keep them engaged?

A: Absolutely. It was easy to look at if you just put side by side the two boards of the organizations, you could see there was some overlap and it was likely people were working on duplicative efforts. I think you will see going forward much more of a coordinated business community approach to these regional issues in the plan and that, in itself, would be very powerful. But if you can add to that engaged public sector, elected leaders and then engaged community, non-profit leaders, that's where the power comes in and that's where the magic occurs.

Q: The steering committee of BBA's board has approved Blueprint Birmingham and the executive committee and the full board are expected to approve it on Thursday. Then what?

A: Assuming approval on the 16th, one week later on the 23rd is the big public launch that evening from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Railroad Park. That will be one week after the park opens. The park itself is a physical manifestation of a lot of what this plan envisions. It was the business community working together with the non-profit community and elected leadership to create a regional amenity that is an economic development tool the likes of which we have not had here in many, many years. That we're having the public opening of this plan in a place that reflects that kind of cooperation and sense of regional growth potential to me is very symbolic. It's just the tip of the iceberg because there is so much more that can come from that Railroad Park and there is so much more that can come from this plan.

Q: How are you envisioning the launch on the 23rd?

A: A party. A festive celebration with just a dose of serious, pay-attention-for-a-moment program. I think you're going to see acknowledgement of work done. I think you're going to see a good healthy dose of awareness of these goal areas in the plan and where strategic working partners come together around those goals. I expect a fun and festive atmosphere with a big emphasis on whether the community is ready to open itself to the world for growth, for working together and new concepts of working together. You might even see a little bit of cheerleading as we literally count down the opening of this plan and this region to the world. I've never thrown a party for 600 or 1,000 or who knows how many people before, so it should be fun. We will have music and then after our event, the Railroad Park is starting its series of movies in the park. In honor of Blueprint Birmingham, the first film will be "The Blues Brothers."

Q: Will Birmingham mark this day as a significant event in the history of the region?

A: When you stand in the park and you're surrounded by this manifestation of what can be possible, at about 7:30 when you're looking out at the stage where the band is going to be and you're getting ready for the movie and you see that city skyline twinkling in the background . . . Wow! That is going to be a moment. It may be a benchmark moment. There is nothing substantive at the event in that we're holding up placards of the plan. But the fact that we're saying we are now officially open to the world and a new plan is rolling out and we're all here because we're engaged in it could be what makes it a benchmark moment.

Q: You've been involved in other major strategic plans and initiatives before. What makes Blueprint Birmingham so unique other than the fact that it does seem to be much broader to include the seven-county metro area?

A: There is this whole spirit that I feel is internal about this. We've seen it for the past year in the level of input that went into the plan from every facet of our community and I expect we will see it after the launch. There is just a spirit in the region that is just eager to go. Maybe the 23rd is when we flip that switch and go.

Q: I know you want to keep details of Blueprint Birmingham under wraps for now, but what elements can you share with us now?

A: I think the four goal areas would be important to share and to know that all of the strategies in the plan and the action items all cluster under those four areas. Some are traditional in many chambers of commerce, though the tactics may differ and they might call them something different. Those are goal areas like workforce development - 'What are we doing to move people into the availability of jobs in the future?' Then there economic prosperity - 'What are the growth areas and how are we providing and encouraging opportunities for growth?' Community and regional stewardship is another goal and stewardship is important because it speaks to each of us and the responsibility we have in caring for this place we call home. But also in this plan you will see a goal area specific to our region that you might not find in other community plans and that's public and private leadership. It speaks not only to elected leadership but also private industry leadership, non-profit leadership, young professional leadership and all of the structures and encouragement we need to have in place so leaders talk and truly begin to communicate across those artificial boundaries that have so long kept us separate in so many ways. I like our plan because it has a little something extra in it. In Louisiana they would call it 'lagniappe.' I think that makes it unique and a great, great plan.

Q: It's also telling that Birmingham needs to single out leadership as an objective.

A: It is telling. It says it's important. You can't do it without them. You can't do it without elected leaders. You can't do it without private industry leaders. You can't do it without community leaders. They all have an important role to play as strategic working partners. If this plan is going to succeed, people will have to look at this and say, 'There's something in there that interests me and I'm willing to work on it by coming to a table with someone of like mind and if we find some solution and reach consensus on a way to go forward.' There is then a partnership there. It doesn't mean they endorse the whole plan 100 percent. There may be other elements of the plan they don't like or are not interested in, but for those things that are strategic that we find partnership on, this concept of strategic working partners is going to be the secret sauce that will make this plan have durability and gives it a better chance for success.

Q: Any surprises in the targeted industry clusters that were identified for economic development?

A: The four core ones, we could have picked in a brainstorming sessions. Metal and steel manufacturing? Yes. Finance and insurance? Absolutely. Health care? Duh. Trade and distribution? Maybe that one I had taken for granted with the transportation nexus we've become. Everything from our interstate structure - which, with I-22's completion in a year and a half or two years, we will have six interstate spokes - and by that time we should be starting on the Northern Beltline. Add to that an airport with a two-mile runway and a strategic plan of its own that is charting an incredible course for its future with potential for cargo and passenger growth. Who, really, before the McCalla project thought of the fact that we have three Class I railroads in Birmingham? Because of our other transportation, this is a place where rail lines will intersect with other forms of trade and distribution. The plan envisions there could be significant growth in that area in the next five years. When I would think of manufacturing in the past, I would think of traditional manufacturing. This concept the plan envisions of diverse manufacturing is really forward thinking. It says to take the industries we're already doing well and think of ways we can advance them into advance manufacturing or green manufacturing that will benefit those regions going forward. Clearly we're going to look at traditional industries.

"The community is ready to open itself to the world for growth, for working together and new concepts of working together."


Job: Interim chief, Birmingham Business Alliance.

Age: 61.

Family: Wife, Kathy, with three adult children and one grandchild since May.

Education: Bachelor's and master's degrees in communications, University of Alabama.

Experience: Television news for 12 years. BellSouth for 17 years and Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce/BBA for nearly 10 years.

Hometown: Considers Birmingham home, but was born in Athens, Ga.

Currently reading:
Three-part trilogy of Civil War by Shelby Foote.

On his iPod: Everything from the Beatles to Eric Clapton to Wild Sweet Orange. There is not a genre of music he doesn't like.
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