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FEB. 2023

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GOLDEN CHINNABEE SILENT TRAIL, BUILT NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO BY TERRY DAHLGREN AND DOZENS OF OTHER DEAF BOY SCOUTS AT AIDB, IS AMONG THE STATE’S MOST POPULAR HIKING TRAILS

Page 24 20 RENOVATION REVOLUTION 32 VIBRANT VENUES SPOTLIGHT ON

43 SHELBY COUNTY

Volume 38 / Number 2

FEBRUARY 2023

CONTENTS

Auburn University's Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center provides students with hands-on hospitality knowledge. Photo by Julie Bennett.

Features 12

CONSTRUCTION BE OUR GUEST Auburn’s Rane Center takes a big step forward in hospitality management.

A LEGACY BY DESIGN TRO Jung|Brannen survives a merger and divergence to come out on top.

RENOVATION REVOLUTION AnotherStory pioneers a process that is changing the way homeowners build up.

TOURISM & THE GREAT OUTDOORS A PIECE OF QUIET In the 1970s, a group of deaf Boy Scouts from AIDB forged the popular Chinnabee Silent Trail.

4 | BusinessAlabama.com February 2023

RIDING THE WAVE OF TOURISM AND RETAIL Owa’s big splash in the tourism waters continues to provide dividends to its owners and the community around it. MEETING FACILITIES VIBRANT VENUES From racing to rockets to resorts, Alabama boasts an array of intriguing sites to host your event. PLANNING AN ATTRACTION Experts offer tips for organizing a meeting people want to attend. RETROSPECT THE HAYNES RAZOR STROP CO. African American entrepreneur called Selma home.

On the Cover: Terry Dahlgren and other Boy Scouts at AIDB built the Chinnabee Silent Trail nearly 50 years ago. Photo by Cary Norton.

28: Tropic Falls at Owa offers a year-round aquatic adventure plus rides for all thrill levels. 24: Chinnabee Silent Trail follows a creek to a lovely waterfall, then climbs to join the Pinhoti and Skyway Trails in Talladega National Forest near Cheaha State Park. Photo by Cary Norton. 16: Birmingham's Kirklin Clinic is one of the many iconic structures designed by architects at TRO Jung|Brannen.

TOP RANK 37 ALABAMA’S LARGEST MEETING FACILITIES

Departments

GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT 43 SHELBY COUNTY SPECIAL SECTION 61 BUSINESS COUNCIL OF ALABAMA

65 68 70

BENCHMARKS: MONTHLY BUSINESS NEWS BRIEFING COMPANY KUDOS: A MONTH OF ACHIEVEMENTS CAREER NOTES: WHO’S MOVING UP BA INDEX: HUNDREDS OF LEADS EACH MONTH HISTORICAL ALABAMA: A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE ALABIZ QUIZ: TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

February 2023 BusinessAlabama.com | 5

FEBRUARY 2023 BusinessAlabama.com Volume 38 / Number 2

PUBLISHER Walker Sorrell / wsorrell@pmtpublishing.com ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Stephen Potts / snpotts@pmtpublishing.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Alec Harvey / alec@pmtpublishing.com EDITOR Erica Joiner West / ewest@pmtpublishing.com COPY EDITOR Nedra Bloom / nedra@pmtpublishing.com ART DIRECTOR Vic Wheeler / ads@pmtpublishing.com DIGITAL EDITOR Kathryn Bell / kbell@pmtpublishing.com CIRCULATION Anita Miller / anita@pmtpublishing.com ACCOUNTING Keith Crabtree / acct@pmtpublishing.com ADMINISTRATION/OFFICE MANAGER Lauren Sullivan / lsullivan@pmtpublishing.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Birmingham: 205-802-6363 Hal Cain / Ext. 111 / hcain@pmtpublishing.com Lee Mills / Ext. 102 / lmills@pmtpublishing.com Mobile: 251-473-6269 Joe Hyland / Ext. 214 / jhyland@pmtpublishing.com DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MEDIA & EVENTS Sheila Wardy / swardy@pmtpublishing.com BIRMINGHAM OFFICE 3324 Independence Drive / Homewood, AL 35209 205-802-6363 MOBILE OFFICE 166 Government Street / Mobile, AL 36602 251-473-6269 CORPORATE T.J. Potts, President & CEO Thomas E. McMillan, Partner & Director Business Alabama is published monthly by PMT Publishing Co., Inc. Copyright 2023 by PMT Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission prohibited. Letters to the editor are welcome. Moving? Please note US Postal Service will not forward magazines mailed through its Bulk Mail unit. Four to six weeks before moving, please send old mailing label and new address to Business Alabama, P.O. Box 43, Congers, NY 109209922 or call 1-833-454-5060.

6 | BusinessAlabama.com February 2023

Benchmarks UAB to build $76M biomedical research building THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM’S BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND PSYCHOLOGY BUILDING has re-

ceived Stage 1 approval by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees. The building is supported by a $76 million federal appropriation. Pending additional approvals by the UA board, the building will house the College of Arts and Sciences’ department of psychology and research-intensive departments from the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine. “Interdisciplinary collaboration is a longtime strength and hallmark of UAB. State-of-the-art facilities like this advance the aims of our strategic plan, Forging the Future, make UAB more competitive globally and bring better health and quality of life to the people of Alabama and

B U S I N E S S TIK NOT Gov. Kay Ivey has banned the use of the social media app TikTok on state devices and internet networks. She cited security threats from China as her concern. The FBI last month said the Chinese government could use the app to collect data on U.S. citizens. TAX CUT ON HORIZON Alabama House leaders say a big cut in unemployment insurance taxes announced by the Alabama Department of Labor will help the economy in the coming months. The Labor Department said Alabama employers will see a 54% reduction in unemployment insurance taxes in 2023. HOT MARKET The National Association of Realtors has named Huntsville among the top 10 real estate markets to watch in 2023. The 10 markets are expected to outperform other metro areas in 2023.

beyond,” said UAB President The UAB campus is growing with the addition of the Ray Watts. Biomedical Research and Psychology Building, just U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby north of University Boulevard and west of 16th Street played an instrumental role South. in addressing critical societal needs across the University of Alabama System, said UA System Chancellor Finis St. John. “We have great appreciation for Senator Shelby’s unwavering commitment to advancing scientific research and education and his invaluHall, will include wet and dry research able leadership in securing critical federal laboratories and research support space, funding that will bring this project to providing flexibility for investigators. life,” said St. John. The activity-based layout is designed to The six-story, 165,000-squarepromote collaboration, creativity and foot building, located across from the productivity.  Heersink School of Medicine’s Volker

B R I E F S MAGNETIC BIRMINGHAM The Birmingham Business Alliance says that in 2022, nearly $200 million in capital investments were made into the Birmingham metro area. Those investments produced nearly 1,400 jobs. LOCAL JOBS Southeast AlabamaWorks has unveiled what it says is a first-of-its-kind regional jobsearch tool. The tool focuses on the agency’s 10-county territory, including Barbour, Butler, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike counties. The tool can be accessed via southeastalabamaworks.com. PEAK NEWS Peak North America has announced plans for a manufacturing and fabrication plant in Mobile County to serve the wood products industry. It’s a $24 million investment at the site of the Endurance Equipment Co.

WORKFORCE WOW Alabama is at the top of the list of the 2023 Regional Workforce Development rankings in the South Central region. The list, from Site Selection Magazine, ranks each state’s workforce development using a number of sources, including CNBC’s Top States for Business and U.S. News & World Report’s Best States for Education ranking. BRITT ON THE JOB Alabama’s Katie Britt was sworn in as a U.S. senator in early January. She is the first woman elected to the Senate from Alabama and the youngest Republican woman ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. STRAIGHT TO THE BIG APPLE American Airlines is adding a non-stop flight from Birmingham to New York effective the first week of May. The flight will leave Birmingham daily for LaGuardia airport at 6:05 a.m. A return flight will leave LaGuardia each night at 7:29 p.m.

SOCIAL IMPACT Monthly, which won the $25,000 concept stage, and VB Ideas, which won $50,000 in the seed stage competition, are the two Alabama-based winners of Alabama Launchpad’s inaugural social impact competition. Applications for the next Alabama Launchpad competition opened Jan. 6. GROUNDBREAKING Ground was broken in early January for the $120 million Cooper Green Mercy Health Clinic. The new building on Sixth Avenue South will be five stories tall and encompass 211,000 square feet. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2025. Birmingham-based Brasfield & Gorrie, as general contractor, has broken ground on a $37.5 million expansion of lacrosse, gymnastics and rowing facilities at Clemson University. BIGGER & BETTER Aer-Flo Sports is opening a new facility on a 22-acre site in Lincoln, enabling the company to more than double its space

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