Special Feature
Modeled after VETLANTA, Al Wood, the Regional Director of the non-profit Still Serving Veterans, recently founded VETBHAM to strengthen the community of Birmingham through empowering veterans and recognizing their individual and collective skills. As the Atlanta club has done, VETBHAM will focus on fostering collaboration among Birmingham area businesses to support veteran-orientated initiatives. “The design is to support with ideas, actions, and the influence of our Birmingham area businesses,” explains Woods. “There are no member financial obligations. VETBHAM is just a venue to leverage influence to help Veterans, and it’s good for business – a way to enhance a company’s Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) factors.”
VETLANTA began three years ago, when Atlanta based Fortune 100 companies formed the club to collaborate and share best practices in assisting Veterans. Once established, they realized a broader participant base was eager to participate, including small and medium companies, veteran affiliated nonprofits, government agencies, academia and transitioning veterans.
Woods began in February to establish an initial core of VETBHAM businesses. The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) and the Birmingham Business Journal endorsed the initiative and support the effort and last month Danny Noles, Managing Partner of Penn Mutual Alabama, stepped up as VETBHAM President. He and Woods are seeking to appoint an Executive Committee and fill six Executive Team Pillars (Employment, Healthcare, Housing, Education, Community, and Business). For more information or to become a part of VETBHAM, contact Al Wood, [email protected], 334-695-6731. †
