World Games inks TV pact, grant to boost bioscience, Birmingham gets a ‘Squadron’
This month in City Beat, The World Games 2022 in Birmingham has signed a deal for network TV coverage of the event.
A federal grant will help local officials identify ways to boost the Magic City’s bioscience sector.
A local entertainer and entrepreneur finished second in a national business pitch competition.
And Birmingham’s new professional basketball team has been given a name.
The World Games 2022, an international sporting event affiliated with the International Olympic Committee, will be held in Birmingham from July 7-17, 2022, in the 11th edition of the event. About 3,600 athletes will come to the Magic City to take part in more than 30 different unique sports.
The event is “a great opportunity to show off Birmingham’s growth and vibrancy to the world,” Jay Kasten, the event’s vice president of operations, told Iron City Ink recently.
That opportunity to show off a revitalized Magic City recently received a big assist.
The Birmingham Organizing Committee announced a television agreement with CBS Sports, which will air one-hour highlight shows after each day of competition.
The CBS Television Network will also broadcast a pair of one-hour specials, with broadcast coverage also streaming on Paramount+ Premium.
For information about the games, including tickets, go to twg2022.comtwg2022.com.
Boosting bioscience
Thanks to UAB and local start-ups, Birmingham has made some inroads in the growing biosciences sector.
Now the Birmingham Business Alliance — working with Jefferson and Shelby counties — has obtained a federal grant worth $450,000 to study ways to increase bioscience job growth in the seven-county metro area.
The grant comes from the Economic Development Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce, according to a BBA news release.
The funding comes from the federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act.
The market study, to be led by the BBA, will identify local bioscience assets, chances for growth and investment, opportunities for existing bioscience businesses to grow capacity and opportunities for economic developers and communities to attract bioscience businesses.
“Based on the role (UAB) played in building a COVID-19 treatment and on the work of local companies like BioGX around testing, we will create a comprehensive plan for our region to work with bioscience companies to address the immediate needs of a post-pandemic world and grow jobs as a result,” said BBA CEO Ron Kitchens in the release.
“The Birmingham Region of Jefferson County is fortunate to call many quality health care systems home,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons. “These systems have drawn, and continue to draw, assets to our region. This grant will help us map out those assets and tailor our recruiting efforts by identifying companies that would be an agreeable addition to our ecosystem.”
By the end of the year, the BBA and its partners will publish a request for proposal and select a consultant to begin the study.
Prize-winning entrepreneur
Birmingham’s Cassandra King — better known as Comedienne Joy — recently won the $7,000 second-place prize in the national YWomen Start It Up Pitch Competition held in July.
The owner of Eat. Drink. Ride Food Tours, King was the only Alabama entrepreneur in the competition, according to a news release from YWCA Central Alabama.
King and the other entrepreneurs presented to a panel of judges via Zoom.
“I would tell any woman entrepreneur to hop on any opportunity that will help your business,” King said in the release. “If you say, ‘I won’t win anyway’ and don’t apply, then you’ve already lost.”
She was chosen as part of the first cohort of local entrepreneurs to take part in the YWCA Central Alabama’s WE360 program — a partnership between YWCA USA and Ureeka that launched locally in March.
“I absolutely loved my YWCA WE360 Ureeka mentor,” King said.
King said she also appreciates the efforts made by YWCA Central Alabama on behalf of women and minorities in business. “The YW is in my blood,” she said.
To learn more about the YWCA WE360 program, call 205-322-9922 ext. 206 or contact angelasar@ywcabham.org.
To learn more about King’s popular local food tours, call 205-482-6999 or go to diningoutwithcomediennejoy.com.
‘More than just a name’
The New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association and the NBA G League — professional basketball’s minor league — announced in late July that Birmingham’s new G League affiliate will be called the Birmingham Squadron.
The “Squadron” is synonymous with a flock of pelicans and also refers to a group that works together with a shared mission, officials said in a news release.
“The ‘Birmingham Squadron’ is more than just a team name,” said David Lane, the team’s general manager of business operations. “It’s a brand and identity rooted in the passionate pursuit of bringing sustained success to the Pelicans.”
The Squadron will begin play in November for the 2021-22 season and will have home games in the Legacy Arena at the BJCC.
Legacy Arena is currently undergoing a $123 million renovation that will be completed in December.
“We’re looking forward to the arena being the best in the G League and even rivaling some NBA arenas,” Lanes aid.
Formerly called the NBA Development League, or D League, the G League was renamed in 2017 after the NBA expanded a partnership with Gatorade.