Yesterday, we sponsored a Leadership in Diversity & Inclusion roundtable held at The Lakeshore Foundation. The third in a series, this session focused on inclusion for our international community, a particularly poignant topic since The World Games will be in Birmingham next month. Carlos Alemán, CEO of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (¡HICA!), served …
This may not be the sexiest post, but I think it’s one that is close to all of our wallets. We have been working toward getting a really cool adaptive reuse project started, converting a steel plant to mixed-use space with offices and restaurants. Once again, commodity pricing is an issue, steel in particular. Our …
Earlier this week, I was in Las Vegas for the 2022 ICSC conference. I’ve heard this referred to as the ”Super Bowl” of retail. It’s certainly the premiere retail conference for the U.S. and maybe beyond. The conference was on quarantine for a couple of years, so it was really nice to see colleagues again. …
The “urban renewal” trend is still going strong, and showing no hints of changing anytime soon. As we build and re-develop downtowns, architectural diversity is one of the major benefits. Tax credits provide even more motivation to adaptively reuse some of these treasured vintage buildings. We’ve been privileged to work on several redevelopment projects in …
Talking about yourself, or in our case, speaking up to promote your business, is easy. Stepping back and listening is much more difficult. To me, there is a delicate balance between being a good listener and sharing your own good news. Here’s what I mean. I would have to have many hands (and fingers) to count …
Last Saturday, I felt like a trip to the Black Belt of our state for a couple of stops. Greensboro was first up. I had visited this small town several years ago when my friend Pamela Dorr led a hand-built bamboo bike shop called HERObike and Pie Lab. Greensboro is a sweet town, still beautiful, …
I recently read an article from Microsoft tracking the productivity of knowledge workers. Traditionally, there have been two peaks where people really focus and get things done: They come around 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. When Microsoft revisited their research recently, they found that for many, there is now a third peak, which comes around 8 …
With the exception of the last couple of years, I have visited Augusta on several spring trips. I have seen a lot in that time spent here–trials and tribulations and some great golfers. If you have not been to Augusta National, you might not know that the topography sets it apart from most other PGA …
Several years ago my daughter, Chappell, and I participated in “Our Story,” sponsored by NPR and StoryCorps. The premise is preserving oral history through storytelling. Two family members can interview one another over a 30-minute conversation that is later catalogued with the Library of Congress for future generations to learn about their family. The initiative has been …
For the last few years, I’ve served as one of the directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Birmingham Branch. This country is fortunate to have a strong central bank. When congress founded the Fed in 1913, it was explicitly stated that goals should be “maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates.” …
A long time ago, I made the decision to vocalize the good I see by giving genuine compliments as often as possible. I don’t mean, “You look nice today,” compliments. While those are valuable, they are at surface level. I means something more like, “I watched you in that meeting and you have a real …
I recently read an article from the Rotary magazine about resilience. This sentence from the opening paragraph stuck with me: “Each of us is genetically hardwired to recover after a failure, some more quickly than others…Whatever degree of resilience we possess, we can always work to increase it.” The piece goes on to discuss practical ways …