Shelby County Chamber holds 10th annual Business Outlook Conference

Published 5:10 pm Thursday, January 30, 2025

By Dave Domescik

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By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

PELHAM – The Shelby County Chamber held its 10th annual Shelby County Business Outlook Conference and 44th annual investors’ meeting luncheon on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena.

The program was co-presented by the Chamber, 58 INC—Shelby County’s Economic development corporation—and the University of Montevallo’s Stephens College of Business. The event had a panel discussion from business leaders in Shelby County in the morning followed by the luncheon in the afternoon with the results of the annual outlook survey.

The panel featured business leaders from the financial, economic development, healthcare, manufacturing and technology sectors.

Kevin Morris, the CEO of AmFirst, represented the financial sector. Lauren Lambiase, a senior project manager at Alabama Power, represented the economic development sector. Tim Puthoff, the CEO of UAB Ascension, represented the healthcare sector. Steven Smith, the president and CEO of Specification Rubber Products, represented the manufacturing sector. Finally, Austin Senseman, co-founder of Birmingham AI, represented the technology sector.

Before the panelists spoke, Micah McLaughlin, a media consultant with Irons Media Group and the 2025 chair of the Shelby County Chamber Small Business Work Group, introduced the panelists and what they would be discussing.

“This morning’s event is designed to give an outlook on the year ahead, specifically for Shelby County’s local economy,” McLaughlin said. “Many of you have probably seen the 2025 forecast for the global and domestic marketplace. However, while our county’s economy is tied into what happens around the metro area, states, nations and indeed the world, we feel that it is important to focus on what’s happening locally and to give some of the Shelby County business leaders a platform to share what they see on the horizon for both their own company and our county.”

Morris was the first panelist to speak. He touched on both the perspective on the economy from the financial industry and shared AmFirst’s position as a credit union. Morris also shared his company’s vision statement.

“Our vision statement in America’s First is to improve the lives of our members in the communities that we serve,” Morris said. “We’re fortunate that in our environment, we’re more people-centric than profit-centric.”

Morris then broke down some numbers that left attendees of the panel optimistic.

“85 percent of the CEOs in this country think that we should be at least very optimistic about our economy,” Morris said. “That’s a successful opportunity for you to believe in your financial success and know what we’re going to do every day. And I think that’s key in our growth.”

Morris then shifted his focus to Shelby County.

“The foundation that this county has built in its management style, the way it recruits businesses, the way it enforces quality of life, the way that we make sure that our school systems are operating at the highest of levels, no matter with which path you choose you should find success in Shelby County,” Morris said.

Lambiase was the next featured panelist. She broke down the various services Alabama Power provides in the economic development sector, including its partnerships with automotive companies and how the wildfires in California affected the global economy.

After Lambiase, Puthoff broke down the healthcare system and the challenges it faces.

“Healthcare impacts everybody, but I think our challenges are somewhat different in that we’re not a purely market-driven industry,” Puthoff said. “Our services are pretty much needed no matter what, and our biggest challenge is our labor force.”

Puthoff further expanded on the labor force challenge and how it plays out practically.

“If you look at where healthcare has gone, really over the last two decades in particular, so much is shifting to an outpatient setting,” Puthoff said. “I can go get my hip replaced now and go home the same day… it’s a much easier lifestyle than having to work as a nurse in a hospital on a night shift, for example. You might work weekends from time to time. Most people don’t want to do that.”

Smith was the next panelist to speak, and he spoke about his company’s history.

“Specification Rubber Products is a molder of engineered elastomeric products for various industrial markets with a heavy focus on the waterworks sector,” Smith said. “We opened our doors in 1968 and we were acquired by American Cast Iron Pipe Company in 1969. Our global headquarters is in Alabaster.”

Smith then outlined what his company looks at economically when forecasting and planning for the future.

“We’re in constant contact with all of our trade associations and our customers,” Smith said. “We service all of North America and beyond… We’re definitely looking at policy impacts on the state and federal level.”

Finally, Senseman outlined his company’s aims.

“Our mission really is to make sure that Birmingham benefits from the opportunities that AI is going to present to us,” Senseman said. “We want to make sure that AI is something that happens for us, not to us. We’re concerned that businesses and civic leaders aren’t aware of what’s happening and the pace at which things are happening.”

Senseman proceeded to outline how current AI models are performing in a variety of fields, and argued that companies should begin to adopt AI to stay ahead of the curve.

“I think people should get started (with AI) now,” Senseman said. “I think you should find some project to start and finish in the next 90 days. Something simple. What I see is a lot of people are just standing on the starting line. And it just takes one little step to get over it… it’s really easy to get started with this stuff.”

After the panel concluded, a Q&A session began led by Dr. Sara Robicheaux, a professor at the University of Montevallo’s Stephens College of Business. One of the questions asked regarded the recent emergence of the Chinese AI company DeepSeek. Senseman was able to clear up some misconceptions about the company.

“The DeepSeek app is free,” Senseman said. “So a lot of people are getting on that app and they’re like ‘Man, this thing is a lot smarter than ChatGPT,’…. (DeepSeek) hasn’t released a model that’s better than the models that are around today. They have released one that’s as good and is free.”

Senseman added that the fear of AI is misdirected in a later response to a different question on the topic.

“It isn’t AI that will take your job,” Senseman said. “It’s someone that’s using it or an organization that’s using it that will.”

Following the panel session came the 44th annual investors’ meeting and luncheon. April Harry, the 2024 chamber chair of The Shelby County Chamber, called the meeting to order and noted that this would be her last meeting as the chamber chair. Harry gave the 2024 annual report from the Shelby County Chamber in her remarks, which included giving Charmaine Dye the ambassador of the year award for her efforts in representing the Shelby County Chamber.

Morris was then announced as Harry’s replacement as the 2025 Chamber Chair. Following Morris’s recognition and a few remarks, Robicheaux took the stage to present the results of the chamber’s 2025 Business Outlook Survey.

The results of the survey showed that most expect progress on inflation to be slow in 2025 and for the current unemployment rate of 4.1 percent to hold steady. Most economists also expect a growth in the United States’ GDP, and that President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on the economy are unlikely to cause meaningful inflation.

Out of those surveyed in Shelby County, 73 percent agreed that the economy is heading in the right direction, citing President Trump’s business-friendly policies and overall growth in the economy. On a more localized level, survey takers agreed that Shelby County’s leadership and economic growth contributed to their positive feelings about the economy.

The companies surveyed tend to expect that their profits and revenues will increase in 2025, but also agreed that their expenses will increase as well.

The last part of the survey focused on artificial intelligence, with most survey takers saying that they have not yet implemented artificial intelligence in their business.

Overall, the Shelby County Chamber’s business outlook conference and luncheon provided Shelby County business owners and consumers a chance to look at what 2025 holds economically for Shelby County while providing updates on various economic sectors.

For more information on the Shelby County Chamber, visit Shelbychamber.org.

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