Almost two years in, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin reflects on biggest initiatives

November 28 will mark two years to the day when Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin was sworn in as the Magic City’s 30th chief executive.

After beating then-incumbent Mayor William Bell in an October 3, 2017 runoff, Woodfin has made quite the splash, staying true to his campaign promise of focusing on the wellbeing of each and every of the city’s 99 neighborhoods.

In a video posted to Woodfin’s Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon, the mayor reflected on the progress made by his top initiatives — as well as key work that still is ongoing.

Neighborhood revitalization, the Birmingham Promise initiative and creating enhanced opportunities for minority- and women-owned small businesses were major talking points in the video.

Speaking specifically about the Birmingham Promise workforce development efforts, Woodfin said every student should exercise one of three options upon graduating from high school: going to college, joining the military or entering the workforce.

He explained that Birmingham Promise is about making real investments in preparing students for two of those three options — college and workforce.

“[W]e wanted to be very, very intentional about creating a path forward for our young people, who not only have dreams we should support, but as a city, we have to really focus on our future workforce,” he advised.

RELATED: Shift to knowledge-based economy driving Birmingham’s workforce development efforts

Later in the video, the mayor also underlined what he recognized as “a big statement.”

“I think the City of Birmingham has the opportunity to be the premier destination in America for any woman or any black woman or any minority who wants to open and/or start a business,” Woodfin emphasized.

He outlined, “I am convinced that there are women throughout this nation who go to bed at night having a dream of opening up their business. And in whatever city they live in, it’s possible that a door has been slammed in their face or they can’t get the support — they can’t get the capital, they can’t get the resources, encouragement — they need from the city and/or that community. What I want to say as mayor of the City of Birmingham is that that woman — she’s welcome here… whether she already lives here or she’s anywhere else in America, that she can start or open a business here, that she will be successful, because we’re creating the ecosystem that supports [her and her dreams].”

Watch:

Over the past two years, three key initiatives have defined my administration – neighborhood revitalization, the Birmingham Promise, and creating opportunity for minority and women-owned small businesses. Here’s an update on how we’re serving #All99. pic.twitter.com/X3eTEaMpQu

— Randall Woodfin (@randallwoodfin) November 5, 2019

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn