Published On: 07.13.23 | 

By: Alabama News Center Staff

Birmingham Business Alliance partners with national agency to promote greater Birmingham region

Development Counsellors International, a national global economic development and destination marketing firm, has joined the Birmingham Business Alliance's efforts to promote the greater Birmingham region to national media outlets by telling the region's unique and compelling stories. (Getty Images)

Representatives from a national economic development and destination marketing firm arrived in Birmingham this week to start work on a promotion that will help the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) showcase the Greater Birmingham region to national media outlets throughout the year ahead.

A day before the team’s arrival on Wednesday, the BBA announced its new partnership with Development Counsellors International (DCI), which has more than 60 years of expertise in promoting places.

According to the BBA, DCI representatives are engaging with business owners, community members, influencers and leaders across the metro area for three days this week. With its experience and established relationships with national media and trade publications, DCI plans to pitch compelling regional storylines to bolster the BBA’s business and talent attraction efforts.

“Marketing is a critical component of our competitive economic development strategy,” said Karla Khodanian, chief communications officer at the BBA. “The Greater Birmingham region is overflowing with stories worth sharing and telling broadly. We look forward to working with our local and national partners to uncover those stories and shine a spotlight on the message that Birmingham has more to offer for everyone.”

The partnership and media push are an integral part of BBA’s overarching regional branding initiative and “Birmingham Has More” campaign. The effort has been in development by the economic development agency and its key local partners for more than three years. BBA engaged Big Communications to develop the regional brand, and a full website is set to launch later this year. Initial seed funding from Jefferson County set the ongoing plan in motion.

“It’s often been said that if we could get someone to visit Birmingham, they would see the overwhelmingly positive quality of life here and choose to stay as a result,” said Steve Ammons, president and CEO of the BBA. “From our friendly business atmosphere to our abundance of livability options, we know that the greater Birmingham region has a compelling message and we’re ready to share it with the world.”