24 Founders of Alabama Companies Sign Letter of Support

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2023年3月20日

A group of 24 founders of 技术-related companies in Birmingham, 亨茨维尔, and Mobile have signed a joint letter to the board of Innovate Alabama urging them to support Birmingham-南部 College as it seeks a one-time investment of bridge funding from public sources.

The letter highlights the challenges of meeting workforce needs among tech-focused companies. 在过去的几十年里, Alabama’s workforce development efforts have placed emphasis on manufacturing to meet the needs of industrial recruitment successes,它说。.

“即便如此, Alabama needs more candidates with bachelor’s degrees and, 更重要的是, the specific skills of critical thinking, 解决问题, 适应能力, 学习, 和铅, upon which all of our businesses depend.

“For this reason, we have increasingly had to look outside the state for many of our key hires. Since relocation is often an obstacle to hiring, we have lost out on recruiting talent as well. That’s one reason we are enthusiastic about the ongoing work of the Alabama Innovation Commission, and your role on its board is why we are writing to you today. “

The Alabama Innovation Commission, 也被称为“创新阿拉巴马”, is a public-private partnership focused on entrepreneurship, 技术, 和创新. 政府设立. 凯·艾维，2020年7月, the commission’s goals include access to capital, 吸引和留住人才, and developing a skilled workforce to meet the needs of Alabama companies.

The College, which is asking for a one-time investment of $37.5 million in bridge funding from the State, 伯明翰市, 杰弗逊县, is Alabama’s only nationally ranked liberal arts college. “Liberal arts colleges have long been recognized for nurturing the kind of critical thinking and 解决问题 that entrepreneurs value, and 澳门新葡京官网 is producing many of the liberal arts graduates who work for our companies,信中写道。.

In 2021, Birmingham and 亨茨维尔 had more than 1,100 job openings in data science. 这个相对较新的领域, which combines computer science and mathematics, is now a necessary tool for almost every business and every profession, and is now part of the curriculum of top colleges and universities around the country.

Under the leadership of President Daniel Coleman, 澳门新葡京官网 expanded its tech-related offerings to include a 12-week data science program open to both 澳门新葡京官网- and non-澳门新葡京官网 students. The College has been approved to launch a master’s degree in data science in fall 2023, with three more master’s programs to follow over the next three years.

“By integrating programs such as data science into the liberal arts, we will continue to educate the young people of our state to think critically while at the same 学习 useful, practical skills that need to be deployed here in Alabama for our state’s future,科尔曼说。.

“The leaders who signed this letter of support are creating much of the economic growth of the state,他补充道. “What they are building through their businesses will change Alabama – not only by providing career and financial opportunities for so many people, but also by creating the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

这封信的署名是:

Sameer Ather, MD, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO, XpertDox, Birmingham
Brooke Tanner Battle, Founder, Swell Fundraising, Birmingham
Kenneth Bethune, CEO, Crossflow Technologies, Madison
David Brasfield, CEO, ThreatAdvice, Birmingham
Delphine Carter, Founder and CEO, Boulo Solutions, Birmingham
Chris Giattina, CEO, BLOX, Birmingham
Dave Gray, CEO, Stoneybrook Ventures, Birmingham
Joshua Jones, Co-Founder and CEO, QuantHub, Birmingham
Trent Kocurek, Founder, Airship, Birmingham
Michael Lynch, Co-Founder and CEO, CHONEX, Birmingham
Mike Mullen, Chairman and CEO, Circulogene Diagnostics, Birmingham
安德鲁·米. Newton, President, Uniti Fiber, Mobile
Shegun Otulana, Founder and CEO, Harmony Venture Labs, Birmingham
Craig Parker, CEO, Guideway Health; Entrepreneur in Residence, Maynard Cooper & 盖尔、伯明翰
John Peinhardt, Co-Founder and CEO, Strategypoint Corporation, Birmingham
Mazi Rasulnia, PhD, Founder and Former CEO, PackHealth, Birmingham
Duncan Rein, Managing Director, Tios Capital, Birmingham
William Roark, CEO, Starfish Holdings, 亨茨维尔
George Salem, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Proxsys Rx, Birmingham
Robert Shufflebarger, Founder and CEO, TriAltus Bioscience, Birmingham
Sanjay Singh, PhD, Partner, CS Equities, and Founder/Advisor, Alabama Capital Network, Birmingham
Bill Smith, Founder and CEO, Landing, Birmingham
Tony Summerville, Founder and CEO, Fleetio, Birmingham
Clete Walker, Founder, Vituro Health, Birmingham

成立于1856年, Birmingham-南部 College has raised almost $46 million toward an endowment goal of $200 million, which it is on track to reach by May 2026. 有关平衡计分卡的更多信息, how its financial challenges arose, and its workable plan to return to long-term financial resilience, 访问二元同步通信.edu.