The Rise of Birmingham as a New Hot Spot in Tech

  HC3, a data-driven communications design company, has been in Birmingham, AL, since 2001 when it was called High Cotton. The VP of the company, Griffin McGahey, along with CEO Thomas McGahey, saw an opportunity in Birmingham from the start. Today, their faith in the region seems to be paying off, as the company sits squarely in a burgeoning tech hub. Griffin McGahey is looking forward to leveraging Birmingham’s growth in the interests of the business.

MarketWatch ranked Birmingham, Alabama, second on a list of places emerging as America’s new tech hot spots. The city has seen the launch of several successful startups in recent years and been acknowledged as a good place for tech ventures to thrive. The growth has been attributed in part to several business incubators present in the city. One such group is Innovation Depot, a firm that works to connect startups with investors and mentors and helps guide their success. Birmingham shares this spot with Huntsville, another city in Alabama experiencing a similar tech boom. Tech companies that are already established in the area, such as HC3, will likely have access to broader markets in the future.

A Frank Lloyd Wright House in Alabama

  Residing in Birmingham, AL, Griffin McGahey serves as president of HC3, a data-centric tech firm providing customer communication solutions primarily to financial services companies. In this position, he is responsible for ensuring that the vision of CEO is executed by the senior management. Outside of work, Griffin McGahey’s varied interests include architecture.

One of Alabama’s architectural treasures is the Rosenbaum House in the City of Florence. Designed by acclaimed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it was built in 1939 for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum. It is considered one of the purest embodiments of a Usonian house. An innovation of Wright, it is a small house concept that is simple, fashionable, and intended for the middle-class American.

The Rosenbaum House is characteristically L-shaped, and is constructed of brick, cypress wood, and glass, with cantilevered roofs spanning the living areas and the adjacent garage. The Rosenbaum family donated the house to the City of Florence in 1999, and the city restored the house and opened it as a public museum in 2002. It is the Southeast’s only Wright house that is open to the public.