Innovation Week Birmingham to showcase local ecosystem

Contact: Dave Rickey and Lauren Cooper, Birmingham Business Alliance

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – September 10, 2014 – Birmingham’s rich ecosystem of trade groups, organizations and initiatives that support the regional innovation community will be highlighted during the inaugural Innovation Week Birmingham, presented by al.com, to be held later this month. Events will be held throughout the week of September 22 through September 26 to draw awareness to the overall breadth of entrepreneurial initiatives across Birmingham, and realize the impact of and synergy among our community’s world-class ecosystem.

Innovation Week Birmingham will kick off with a ribbon cutting and proclamation from the City of Birmingham and end with the Alabama Launchpad final competition and its annual Innovation Conference. In between, organizations such as the Birmingham Business Alliance, Alabama Launchpad, TechBirmingham, the Birmingham Venture Club, Birmingham Entrepreneur, Startup Drinks and Innovation Depot will hold networking events and seminars covering topics such as Birmingham’s technology ecosystem, access to capital for startups, big data, job seeking and more.

A list of events throughout the week can be found at www.InnovationWeekBirmingham.com. Check the site regularly as events may be added closer to the dates.

“Birmingham has an incredibly rich and diverse innovation community, with both human and infrastructure assets that can be counted among the very best in the world,” said Steven Ceulemans, vice president of innovation and
technology at the Birmingham Business Alliance. “Innovation Week will celebrate how Birmingham innovations and innovators are enriching the world by bringing together inventors, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors from around the region, and shine a spotlight on the collective Birmingham knowledge economy they represent.”

Innovation Week Birmingham will put a spotlight on Birmingham’s fast-growing technology community, its innovative ideas and opportunities, said Jennifer Skjellum, executive director of TechBirmingham.

“We have a lot of tech- and innovation-related events happening every week in our city, but Innovation Week Birmingham events give people an opportunity to see a concentrated focus on exposing our business community to innovative ideas, technology and opportunities for collaboration, said Skjellum. “Come out to one event or attend all the events. Showing up not only supports the tech community, but it ensures the audience becomes part of the conversation as this initiative grows.”

The inaugural Innovation Week Birmingham is a partnership between the Birmingham Business Alliance, Alabama Launchpad, TechBirmingham, Innovation Depot and the Birmingham Venture Club. For more information, visit www.InnovationWeekBirmingham.com.