The Story of the BBRC, Part 1: Thirty Years and Still Counting

As the Birmingham Business Resource Center marks its 30th year, I find myself returning once again to the question of how to tell a story that is still unfolding. Time has a way of changing the texture of memory. What once felt like immediate experience now sits in layers of reflection, relationships, and results that can only be understood in hindsight.

And yet, even after three decades, the most honest way to tell this story is still in the first person. Not because the BBRC is about one individual, but because its origin, evolution, and persistence are inseparable from lived experience—mine included. The organization has always been both institutional and personal, structured and relational, formal in function yet deeply human in practice.

A Question Still Being Answered

When we last paused at the 25-year mark, the BBRC certainly was an already established, credible, and trusted intermediary in Birmingham’s small business ecosystem. It had proven that a nonprofit could operate at the intersection of capital access and capacity building, and that technical assistance and lending were not separate worlds but parts of a single ecosystem. The question then and now is whether such an organization could sustain itself beyond its founding generation of relationships and early momentum through adaptation, pressure, and continued relevance in a rapidly shifting economic landscape.

Before There Was a BBRC

To be clear, the roots of the BBRC, stretch far deeper than its formal founding in 1996. They extend into my time working with the iconic A. G. Gaston and Citizens Federal Savings Bank, where I first began to understand how entrepreneurship, banking, and community development intersect in ways that are both structural and deeply personal. It was during that period that I helped establish the Birmingham Association of Urban Bankers, an affiliate of the National Association of Urban Bankers, created to expand professional development opportunities for people of color in financial services.

That experience was formative not simply because of what it taught about banking, but because of what it revealed about access—who has it, who does not, and what systems determine the difference. It was also during that time that relationships formed with civic and business leaders, including Mayor Richard Arrington, Jr., whose administration provided both intellectual and institutional space for community-based economic development ideas to take root.

A Prototype Takes Shape

Those early professional experiences led to the creation of the Birmingham Community Investment Partnership, which brought together CRA and community development officers from multiple financial institutions. The goal was straightforward but ambitious: to align financial institution community reinvestment activity with the broader economic development priorities of the City of Birmingham.

In hindsight, that initiative was a prototype for what the BBRC would eventually become—a convening and intermediary organization designed to connect capital, policy, and small business needs in a structured, ongoing way.

The Fragmentation Problem

By the early 1990s, it had become increasingly clear that Birmingham had no shortage of programs or capital, but rather a fragmentation problem. Institutions existed, but coordination did not. Loans were being made, but capacity was uneven. Technical assistance existed, but it was inconsistent and often disconnected from financing. Small businesses were being served, but not being built.

In conversations with city leadership and economic development officials at the time, I began to advocate for a different model—one that combined capital access with technical assistance under a single organizational framework. The idea was not simply to provide loans or counseling, but to ensure that businesses had access to three essential elements: capacity, capital, and customers.

That concept became the foundation of the Birmingham Business Resource Center.

November 25, 1996: The Doors Open

In March of 1996, formal work began to establish the organization. By November 25, 1996, the BBRC opened its doors.

From the beginning, the challenge was not only programmatic, but existential: could an organization built around integration rather than specialization survive in a system that rewarded silos? The answer, over time, has been yes—but only through constant adaptation and relationship-building.

Built on Credibility

The early years were defined by credibility. We had to demonstrate that a nonprofit could engage banks as a peer in certain functions, not as a subordinate or outsider. We had to show that technical assistance was not ancillary to lending, but essential to it. And we had to prove that small business development was not a transactional activity, but a long-term developmental process.

Much of that early credibility came through people—professionals who brought experience, trust, and institutional knowledge into a young organization that needed all three.

The People Who Helped Build It

Rodney Evans and Lisa Cooper were among the first to join, bringing banking experience that allowed us to speak credibly within financial institution circles. Jan Roberts and Nicole Reed brought deep expertise in SBA lending and conventional financing structures, particularly through Birmingham City Wide Local Development Company, our SBA 504 lending arm. Herman Williams added further lending depth during a critical period of expansion into microlending and technical assistance for microenterprises.

And then there was Connie Lowe, whose presence represents something more enduring than programmatic contribution. Having known her since childhood, her transition from early part-time support into a decades-long full-time commitment reflects what the BBRC has always depended upon: people who grow with the organization rather than simply pass through it.

Additionally, leaders such as Shirley Hill, Ken Sanders, and Stan Neuhaus provided governance, oversight, and strategic direction through affiliated boards and development entities. Their contributions helped stabilize programs and ensure continuity during periods of transition and growth.

A Connector in Birmingham's Economy

As the organization matured, so too did its role in Birmingham’s broader economic development ecosystem. BBRC became not only a service provider, but a connector—linking banks, government agencies, corporations, and entrepreneurs in ways that were often informal but consistently impactful.

That role has become even more important over the last five years.