Business Happenings - August 2022

Coming Soon

D&A Companies recently announced a new major tenant for 2222 Arlington Avenue, its Class A office redevelopment in Birmingham, Alabama. Gresham Smith, a nationally acclaimed architecture/engineering firm, recently signed a 9,600-square-foot lease in 2222 Arlington Ave. and has plans to occupy their new space in early 2023. They are joined by Austin-based tech company Shipshape, and Atlas Senior Living as anchor tenants. 

THRIVE | Coworking, an Atlanta-based hybrid workspace provider, is coming to Urban Supply, the visionary downtown redevelopment project, after signing a lease with Orchestra Partners in May. Designed to be a gathering spot for Birmingham’s urban core, Urban Supply is dedicated to creating and fostering connection, fitting perfectly with THRIVE’s mission to develop coworking spaces that combine design-forward style and thoughtful amenities in walkable neighborhoods.

SRS Real Estate Partners’ (SRS) Birmingham office recently announced a new lease to Ampersand Restaurant and Lounge. Located just off of Rotary Trail at 101 20th St. S. The restaurant and lounge occupy 2,000 square feet of space situated between Avadian Credit Union and UAB Medicine Urgent Care at Advenir at Station 121. Ampersand Restaurant and Lounge is an upscale venue perfect for happy hour and relaxing with friends. Ampersand Cocktails and Cuisine is expected to open in September 2022.

News and Accomplishments

Birmingham-based Ingram Equipment Company (IEC) — an industry-leading environmental, waste management, and commercial equipment company — will be expanding later this fall adding a fifth location in Columbus, Mississippi. The new service center will be housed within the Golden Triangle Waste Services Property and will be fully staffed with multiple mechanics, full-time parts representative and a fully stocked parts department to support customers.

Merry Michael Smith, director of media at Big Communications, has been named to Ragan’s 2022 Top Women in Communications Awards List in the Mentor category for her work establishing Big Growth. Ragan’s annual Top Women in Communications Awards is a national program that celebrates female communications professionals whose dedication and contributions to the communications industry are making a signficant impact in their day-to-day jobs and careers, advancing the profession while accelerating growth for their organizations. Smith has always had a passion for mentorship, and she put that passion into action in creating Big Growth, a cross-departmental mentorship program now in its fourth cycle at Big Communications, 2121 2nd Ave. N., Suite 100.

National recruiting expert, Boulo, recently announced the asset acquisition of Hello Career Guru, a digital career guide to help women advance professionally. With a focus on helping forward-thinking employers hire and retain working mothers for shared success, Boulo will now be able to offer its community of working mothers a personalized professional game plan with priorities, actions, and resources to develop and advance skills and behaviors.

Local Birmingham chef Adam Evans of Automatic Seafood & Oysters was recently named Best Chef: South by the James Beard Foundation. This comes just three years after husband-and-wife-team Chef Adam Evans and Suzanne Humphries Evans opened the restaurant in 2019. The mission of the James Beard Awards is to recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive. Working directly with local vendors, markets, and fisheries.

Kemp Management Solutions (KMS), an African American -owned project management and consulting firm located in Birmingham, Alabama, has been selected to provide project management services to IN8bio, Inc. (“IN8bio”) as they advance a new cellular therapy research and development laboratory located in the Martin Biscuit building in Pepper Place. With technology developed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Emory University (Emory) and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), IN8bio is leading the way in novel cellular therapy approaches for cancer through its innovative gamma-delta T cell platform.

The Regions Foundation, a nonprofit organization funded primarily by Regions Bank, recently announced a $5 million Mission Related Investment (MRI) in Center Creek Capital Group, an organization that is actively addressing affordable housing needs across the Southeast. Center Creek’s approach significantly expands high-quality affordable housing options for traditionally underserved low- or moderate-income residents. Center Creek is able to accomplish its work thanks to funding from various investors. With the $5 million from the Regions Foundation being in the form of a Mission Related Investment, the foundation is able to allocate funding in a way that is designed to produce both a community benefit and a financial return in support of the foundation’s ongoing work.

Personnel Moves

Storyteller Overland, an industry leader in the class B RV and adventure vehicle manufacturing space located at 428 Industrial Lane, Birmingham, is excited to announce Christina Linton as the company’s Chief People Officer. Christina joins Storyteller with more than 18 years of experience in building exceptional teams with sustainable, long-term growth. As CPO, Christina will lead the charge for expanding upon Storyteller’s enviable status as a destination employer for creatives, craftsmen, and technologists alike. “I’m excited for an opportunity to combine my love for new experiences and the great outdoors with a purposeful career,” Linton said. “Growing and developing organizations and the people within the organization is one of my life’s greatest gifts. I love to see people achieve their personal aspirations and career goals. The cross section between these two things is the ultimate fulfillment for me.”

Anniversaries

The O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the only National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Alabama and in a four-state region, celebrates its 50th anniversary this summer. The O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center offers patients a full array of treatment options from multidisciplinary clinics filled with experts from across cancer fields to the latest state-of-the-art technology. The center is home to an outstanding faculty of roughly 400 clinicians, scientists and clinician-scientists, many of whom are internationally and nationally recognized for their expertise in oncology. In 2021, the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center served 9,700 new cancer patients and enrolled 439 participants in clinical trials, which is one way physicians and scientists actively participate in efforts to improve cancer therapies, diagnostic techniques and prevention strategies.