#BhamStrong
#BhamStrong is a public-private partnership formed to build, link and coordinate people, projects and resources to strengthen Birmingham’s COVID-19 response.
#BhamStrong exists to:
Strengthen small businesses – By offering the #BhamStrong loan program and connecting them to technical assistance for federal aid.
Redeploy displaced workers – By creating the Birmingham Service Corps, we are redeploying displaced workers as paid volunteers in our community.
Build a resilient community – By listening to residents and connecting with community businesses, we are working to build a better Birmingham post-COVID-19.
For more on #BhamStrong and how you can get involved, visit here!
BHAMSTRONG 2021 Profiles
Jerome Williams
Veterinarian Jerome Williams considers himself lucky, even though COVID-19 created real challenges for his Red Mountain Animal Clinic
“I was more fortunate than many businesses because we were able to stay open,” Dr. Williams said of the business he has owned for 45 years. But while veterinary clinics continued to operate as “essential” businesses during the COVID shutdown, they still experienced hardships, he said.
There were physical changes at the clinic on Green Springs Highway to protect his 11 employees and his customers. There were added supplies. Importantly, there were a limited number of customers he could see every day — and during the early days of the outbreak, many people simply put off veterinary care anyway.
The combination of unplanned expenses and lower revenue strained Dr. Williams’ clinic. But he received help from the federal Paycheck Protection Program and from the local BhamStrong emergency loan fund.
The local relief fund was among the programs launched through the city of Birmingham’s Office of Innovation and Economic Opportunity to help businesses and workers impacted by the pandemic. The BhamStrong loan fund included $1.2 million approved by the City Council and an additional $1 million from area businesses.
Dr. Williams said the emergency programs were critical during an economic storm unlike anything business owners have experienced for generations.
“It gave me assurance that I could meet my obligations, and I think it really assured my employees,” Dr. Williams said. “It made my life a whole lot easier, and it was quite a relief for them.”
Robert Hill
Robert Hill was small in high school, so small he couldn’t find clothes to fit him. It was the inspiration for a career that eventually led him to 3rd Avenue North in Birmingham, where he has operated Robert Hill Custom Tailors for 37 years.
Hill saw fashions come and go over that time. He experienced good economic times and bad. But he never faced anything that came close to COVID-19.
“We’ve had struggles before, but nothing like this,” Hill said. “This pandemic took us down a bad road. It’s been a tremendous impact.”
Hill received help from the federal Paycheck Protection Program and the BhamStrong emergency relief fund, which was launched last spring through the city of Birmingham’s Office of Innovation and Economic Opportunity.
“I enjoy having my own business; it’s really nice to be your own boss,” he said. “But you’ve got all the responsibility.”
Hill said all he can do is to try to outlast the pandemic, and it has helped to have more time to start BhamStrong repayments. “That makes me feel a whole lot better,” he said.
Brandi & Robert Mitchell
Four years ago, Brandi Mitchell left behind a secretarial job to own and operate a home-improvement business with her husband, Robert. Their Birmingham company flourished enough to provide steady work for the Mitchells, at least two other people and sometimes more.
But when COVID-19 hit, the Mitchells went abruptly from having enough work to share, to having no work at all.
“We had jobs lined up, but because of COVID, it came to a screeching halt,” Mrs. Mitchell said. “A lot of our clients are elderly, and of course, they were scared, as were we. There was so much uncertainty and things we just didn’t know.”
Mitchell & Mitchell Contracting got through those tough early weeks of the pandemic with help from BhamStrong, a local relief fund launched last spring through the city of Birmingham’s Office of Innovation and Economic Opportunity.
When the pandemic struck, and the number of cases started rising, and especially when the lockdown occurred, the family’s whole livelihood was in jeopardy. They tried to get help through the Paycheck Protection Program, but they weren’t successful. That made them all the more thankful for the help they received from BhamStrong.
“Being able to get the loan was essential for our business to stay afloat,” Mrs. Mitchell said. “Birmingham Strong, it was really a godsend. It really helped us.”
Kimber Sherrod
Kimber Cares Homebound Activity is more than a business for owner Kimber Sherrod. It’s a personal passion to help seniors live their best lives.
Kimber Cares offers a team of 8–10 vetted and skilled caregivers that provide assistance to private clients who have dementia, who have recently had surgery or who otherwise need help with daily activities.
But with COVID-19, some existing clients discontinued outside caregivers in their home for a time. Sessions were placed on hold. Unexpected expenses for personal protective equipment and sanitizing products began to add up. The mail slowed down, and delayed payments created cash-flow worries.
She credits the federal Paycheck Protection Program and the BhamStrong local loan fund for getting her business through the rough patches created by COVID.
“This helped me sustain myself; it helped me sustain my caregivers,” Sherrod said. “If I didn’t have it, I would have been in trouble.”
Between her own efforts and business assistance programs, Sherrod kept her team in place and kept serving clients at a time when many seniors were cut off from the world. She believes COVID underscored the importance of her services — and is grateful her business is still here to provide them.
Selena Rodgers Dickerson
Selena Rodgers Dickerson created SARCOR, her engineering services firm, during the country’s worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. Laid off from her engineering job, Rodgers Dickerson became her own boss full-time in 2010.
As the firm entered 2020 and approached its 10th anniversary, SARCOR faced a threat that had never once crossed Rodgers Dickerson’s mind. “I could not imagine a pandemic,” she said.
COVID-19 did not pose the same kind of immediate threat to SARCOR that it did to some businesses. The firm’s civil engineering and inspection services primarily involve government and/or transportation projects that were not initially interrupted by COVID; however, Rodgers Dickerson did have cash-flow concerns early on as government offices closed down and left outstanding payments in limbo. As the pandemic wore on, she saw a string of future projects postponed or canceled outright.
She is grateful for the help she received through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and the local BhamStrong emergency relief fund for businesses.
“My team has dug in deep and persevered through the challenges faced during this pandemic. I try to be a mentor and be there for my team and others. I believe you reap what you sow. We must keep planting and harvesting.”
L’ Tryce Slade
After completing law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, L’Tryce Slade came to Birmingham to work for a law firm on a case. When that case ended, she did what people do: She set out to find another job. But again, and again, the suggestion came back that she should create her own firm based on her unique expertise and experience, which includes communications, regional planning and environmental law.
Slade Land Use, Environmental, and Transportation LLC was born. It has evolved into being one of few woman-owned general contracting firms in the South, specializing in construction management, environmental, construction material testing, geotechnical and urban planning services.
Slade has worked tirelessly to build the reputation of her firm, one project at a time. “We’re still in business all of these years later because our clients trust us as the foremost experts in our industry,” she said.
Like many others, Slade’s business was tested early this year as COVID-19 swept through the country. Recalling a philosophy embraced by the late A.G. Gaston — find a need and fill it — Slade created a COVID Response Division. The division focuses on providing social distancing products, COVID-19 remediation cleaning, personal protective equipment, innovative technology to detect COVID-19 in facilities within 90 seconds, and cameras that provide temperature readings for groups of people at one time.
Slade navigated this period with help from emergency funds provided through BhamStrong. The local relief fund was launched last spring through the city of Birmingham’s Office of Innovation and Economic Opportunity.
The funds allowed Slade to sustain and expand her business during this challenging year — and allowed her to provide valuable services that help other businesses keep their doors open as well
Shelby Pearson
Faith, family and community are the hallmarks of a successful business, according to Shelby Pearson, who has owned and operated Pearson Brothers Tire Center in the North Birmingham Community for over a decade.
While previous years provided substantive growth for Pearson Brothers Tire Center, 2020 presented a challenge as COVID-19 hit the small business community hard and heavy. At the pandemic’s peak, Pearson Brothers had to eliminate most of its staff for about two months. That was one of Pearson’s hardest moments as an entrepreneur.
The BhamStrong emergency relief fund ultimately helped Pearson navigate through the unprecedented time. The program was launched last spring through the city of Birmingham’s Office of Innovation and Economic Opportunity.
BhamStrong funds allowed Pearson to bring back 75 percent of his team to begin serving the needs of Birmingham customers again.
“Right now, we are swimming on our own due to the Birmingham Strong fund,” Pearson said. “We are now able to operate day to day and out of the slump we were once in.”
Janice McShan and Ava Young
For mother-daughter team Janice McShan and Ava Young, running Metropolitan Day School is a natural fit for their experience, knowledge and passion.
Before opening the school in west Birmingham, McShan had taught kindergarten for 20 years and served as pre-K director for Birmingham City Schools. Young had taught kindergarten 14 years. Both have master’s degrees in early childhood development. With their expertise, Young and her mother created structured days full of activities that are age-appropriate, educational and fun.
As Metropolitan Day School entered its fourth year of operation in 2020, more than 50 children were enrolled, four teachers and a cook were employed, and preparations were being made for the grand opening of an annex to accommodate future growth.
Then, COVID-19 arrived.
Childcare centers were among the businesses ordered to close during the early attempts to contain the virus. Over five months of the shutdown, Metropolitan Day School’s income stopped while expenses, naturally, continued.
Fortunately, they got help through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and also through BhamStrong, a local relief fund launched last spring through the city of Birmingham’s Office of Innovation and Economic Opportunity.
“BhamStrong helped us out tremendously,” Young said.
Now reopened, Metropolitan Day School is working to recover lost ground and adapt to a world still shaped by COVID.
Andre Moore
Andre Moore has spent decades in Birmingham preparing students for lifelong careers in cutting hair, fixing nails and helping other people look their best.
Most recently, he has owned and operated Southeastern School of Cosmetology & Barbering, an institution in western Birmingham where he worked 20 years before venturing out to run his own school.
He had operated Andre’s Hair Styling and Barber Training Center for eight years when his retiring former director, Jim Cunningham, offered him a chance to purchase the Southeastern name. Moore happily said yes.
The transition included a short gap in operation when Moore relocated the school from Five Points West to a building he owns in nearby Central Park. He was just clearing the required state inspections at the new location when COVID hit.
Helping Moore survive the pandemic’s early days was @bham.strong, a local relief fund launched through the city of Birmingham’s @ieobirmingham. At least 85 local businesses received assistance, and Moore is grateful that his school was among them.
“BhamStrong really saved me,” he said. “That helped me keep the lights on. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
