City Beat: COVID-19 vaccination sites, Birmingham Promise, SBC

City Beat is a regular series of posts in which Iron City Ink highlights recent news from city government, as well as a wide variety of news and other items from around the Magic City. 

To suggest an item we should include in the next City Beat, email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

The Birmingham City Council unanimously approved a resolution at its regular meeting for Feb. 2 to allow COVID-19 vaccination sites to be set up at Legion Field and at city recreation centers, according to a council news release. Legion Field has already been used for COVID-19 testing.

Council President William Parker said the Coronavirus Pandemic Response resolution will allow for testing, vaccination and related activities at these sites. 

Parker said the council believes all of 99 Birmingham neighborhoods should have access to vaccination distribution. “

We are entering into a very crucial time in our fight against COVID-19. As we’ve seen a spike in the number of cases, nationally and on a local level, it’s critical that vaccines are distributed as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” he said. “It’s going to take cooperation from the federal level down to our residents coming to get vaccinated. Legion Field has been a very successful testing site and we believe that success can be translated into getting these vaccines to our residents.”

KEEPING THE PROMISE

Applications are being taken until March 1 for The Birmingham Promise, a program that pays tuition and fees for graduates of Birmingham city schools who attend Alabama’s two- and four-year public colleges and universities.

The Birmingham Promise is in its second year. In September, the program announced that its first group of 500 students who graduated from Birmingham City Schools in spring 2020 would receive college tuition support for the fall.

To get all the details or to submit an application, go to birminghampromise.org.

SMALL BUSINESS COUNCIL

The city’s Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity is accepting applications through March 4 from small business owners, start-up founders, ecosystem builders and others who wish to serve on the city’s 22-person Small Business Council (SBC)

The SBC will act as an advisory group to Mayor Randall L. Woodfin and the Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity and will recommend policies and programs to boost small businesses in the Magic City.

“Uplifting small businesses – specifically women and minority-owned businesses – has long been a top priority of my administration,” Woodfin said in January. “That priority takes a renewed focus now as we continue to rebound from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Applications may be found at birminghamal.gov/smallbiz. Applicants are required to upload a resume, a letter of interest, and two letters of recommendation. 

Questions about the process should be sent to smallbiz@birminghamal.gov.