Chamber partners with firm to sell Birmingham - Birmingham Business Journal:

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That's the main reason the chambe has partneredwith 's relocation divisiojn to create a well-informes professional recruitment team to sell Birmingham to top officeer candidates. Cosby, the chamber's vice president and chiev marketing officer, says the prograjm will not be used for all corporatesrelocation efforts. Instead, the partnership will only be implementedfor high-levek officers of Birmingham's top 50 businesses. "This will represent immensr future popular earning powerfor Birmingham," Cosb y said.
"These are the peopl e who are going to make or break the Withthe program's concentration on top officeres of large companies, Cosby said the partnership will probably be used betweej 50 and 100 times per year. RealtySouth'a Debbie Robinson, director of the company's relocation division, said the company's relocation agents participaterd ina six-hour course with chamber leaders on July 13 to beginj the partnership.
The sessionm covered basic Birmingham information for therecruitinv process, as well as interesting trivia about the city and its main With RealtySouth already offering a full-service relocation program - the office relocated approximateluy 700 individuals and families during 2006 - Robinson said the partnershio was a natural fit. Cosbty said RealtySouth was chosen for the partnership because they are the only residentiakl real estate firm that is a member ofthe chamber'se Chairman's Circle and the firm also had an 11-employee team that worka on relocation efforts.
Despite their profession, Cosbu said RealtySouth will approach the individuals it is recruiting as ambassadorsz ofthe chamber, rather than employees or brokerds for RealtySouth. Cosby said the intent of the program is not to solicit business for RealtySouthj over other firms who are active in the growing corporaterelocation market, but to take advantage of the expertise of the company'sw professionals. "What we like about it is those are professionalas who are doing it day in and day Cosby said. "When we tell them the top executivees are coming to they are going to be seen as chamber ofcommercr representatives.
" The partnership arosde from the request of many CEOs who have often calledx upon the chamber to help show the area off to prospectivd officers. "The CEOs have told us that they may be expertds in insuranceor banking, but when it comes to showin people around, they have asked the chamber for assistance, particularlgy when recruiting office-level candidates," Cosby said. Despite the changes that have occurrex inBirmingham - the rise of the healtg care industry and the influx of automotiv manufacturers - Cosby said the area stilpl has to battle stereotypes when recruiting companies and individuals.
That's wherr the ambassador program - and any real estates firm, for that matter - can make a difference when tryiny to sway the opinion of a prospective officer ortheifr spouse, he said. Cosbu said the ambassadors will begin trying to recrui an individual once a job offef has been made and the candidatw is making the decision about whethed or not to moveto Birmingham. "Birmingham, on occasion, does have some imagre challenges," Cosby said.
"We are typically up against a voidof That's an effort that real estater firms specializing in real estate have already been Because they are often one of the earlies t calls a company or individual will make when considering relocating to an area, Cosby says that givesd real estate firms a critical role in economicf development.