Eight Birmingham mid-level managers sat around a table trying to come up with a group project for the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Project Corporate Leadership. The task was to create a project that could benefit Birmingham. The group, called Plugged-In, agreed the Birmingham region has a poor image not only externally, but internally. The light bulb went off when the group learned some fun, unbeknownst-to-them facts about Birmingham such as country singer Tammy Wynette was discovered on Birmingham’s “Country Boy Eddie Show” on WBRC. It was after that amazement, someone said, “Birmingham,Who Knew?” That’s when www.birminghamwhoknew.com was born.

The purpose of this website is to get the word out about the great people, research and business going on right in our own backyard. Remembering just one fact on this site is something you can tell to a co-worker, a friend, a visitor or the person sitting next to you on a plane the next time the subject of Birmingham comes up. Word of mouth is the cheapest and easiest way to improve Birmingham’s image. It all starts with a grassroots effort. It can start with you. Help us spread the word.

               Also, check out our MySpace page at www.myspace.com/birminghamwhoknew and become our friend. 

Plugged-In, PCL Group 4 members:

James Bolles, Southern Natural Gas Company

Antiqua Cleggett, Birmingham Boy Scouts

Melanie Davis, Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce

David George, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama

Reese Kincaid, Compass Bank

Leesa Shackelford, Regions Financial Corporation

Stephen Walsh, Adams and Reese LLP

Mike Whitt, Compass Bank

This project could not have been possible without the support from El Paso Corporation to fund the setup of the site, Luckie & Co. for the logo design, and ImageWorks for the products.  The maintenance of the website is done voluntarily by various members of the project group.