Photo by Jacob Cole
Homewood Chamber of Commerce
From left to right: Meredith Drennen, Emily Jerkins, Rich Campbell and Kim Barelare participated in a panel discussion at the Homewood Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Outlook 2020 on Dec. 17 at The Club.
The Homewood Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Meeting and Business Outlook 2020 on Dec. 17 at The Club.
The meeting featured a panel of three speakers: Emily Jerkins of the Birmingham Business Alliance, Rich Campbell of Veritas Medical Real Estate and Kim Barelare of Keller Williams Realty.
Jerkins said the area was down in a couple of categories in 2019, adding there is a lot of work to do in recruiting and growing companies.
“We saw a little bit of slow down,” she said. “We had about 1,100 jobs that were announced and nearly $500 million in capital investments. It was a good year, but we realize we have to do a better job. We still rank 89th among the top 100 metros in post-profession job growth. As we look ahead to next year, we will be focusing on three major areas: life science, technology and advanced manufacturing.”
Campbell said the amount of business in commercial real estate feels good, but the numbers have not been able to hit their goals.
“There’s actually a ton of capital in the market,” he said. “People are looking for a place for people to put their money to work to get it active on our side [commercial real estate]. The activity feels good. You see things happening, you see the announcements, but the numbers for the last 16 years that I’ve lived in the city have been stale.”
Campbell said he hopes a lot of the investments and activity that is being seen now will help Homewood in 2020 and beyond. He also said the product in Homewood is better than it has ever been, and that the vacant spaces around the city—with the right marketing—can help change Homewood for the better.
“I don’t think we’ve really had the product we have had in the past,” he said. “We certainly do now.”
Jerkins said finding and hiring talent is one of the problems Homewood faces. Homewood’s unemployment rate is at 2.2%, which is causing some businesses to hesitate from coming to Homewood, according to Jerkins.
“We have had a lot of activity in companies that are very interested [in Homewood] from out of market,” she said. “The challenge we have right now is the No. 1 thing facing every community and the No. 1 thing your companies worry about, which is talent. Talent is a huge issue.”
The residential real estate market, meanwhile, has flourished in Homewood, Barelare said.
“The numbers are really great for Homewood,” she said. “You know that. You’ve seen the houses come on the market and not stay on the market very long.”
Barelare said the average home in Birmingham stays on the market for 69 days. But in Homewood, the average is 33 days. One thing Barelare said the residential real estate market is having to overcome is the affordability of living in Homewood.
Also at the meeting, the chamber announced its new members for 2020 and new president Jodi Newton.
