‘New era’ begins for Tuscaloosa business hub
The Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama celebrated the opening of the newly renovated West Alabama Workforce and Community Development Center.
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Chamber officials, city leaders and community members gathered Sept. 10 at 2222 Ninth St. in downtown Tuscaloosa for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the refurbished facility.
Renovations include a refreshed design, a new roof, a catering kitchen, an atrium named in honor of Mercedes-Benz, which operates a manufacturing plant in Tuscaloosa County, and the GAF Vault, the chamber’s newest boardroom.
Officials said the project represents a new era for the chamber’s economic and workforce development efforts.
“This facility gives us the opportunity to better serve our members, to serve our partners and to better serve the people and communities that make up West Alabama,” said Kyle South, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, during the ceremony.
The West Alabama Workforce and Community Development Center opened in May 2021. The facility serves as a hub for workforce development, community development and business growth.
South said the facility stems from a yearslong vision to create a central gathering place for the community.
“This is a vision that was brought about a number of years ago, prior to my time here at the chamber, to really create a place for the community to convene, and that’s what we see ourselves as at the chamber, as conveners of the community,” said South, who was named the chamber’s leader in April 2023 after serving in the Alabama Legislature.
South said he believes the renovated space will help the chamber better serve its business partners, members and the broader community.
“This gives us a better opportunity to fulfill the mission that we have within the community for both our business partners and members, but also the community at large,” he said.
The 47,000-square-foot building, formerly home to Regions Bank, has been transformed into a hub for workforce development and economic growth. Regions relocated to a new facility next door.
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Elizabeth Winter, a wealth adviser at Regions Bank, said the idea for a community-focused workforce development hub originated in 2018 after Tuscaloosa leaders learned about a similar facility in Lexington, Kentucky.
Winter said Regions recognized the need for such a facility in Tuscaloosa and supported its creation.
“I’m so thankful to work for a company that really saw the need in the Tuscaloosa community to do something really special, which is create this economic development workforce development facility for the chamber, and I’m thrilled that we were able to be part of that,” Winter said.
The facility serves as a shared home for several organizations, including West Alabama Works, Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement of Tuscaloosa County and the Junior League of Tuscaloosa.
Donny Jones, the chamber’s executive vice president and chief workforce officer, said the building was designed to be more than office space. Instead, he said, it was built to create opportunities, support business growth and strengthen partnerships that improve West Alabama and the state.
“This facility is not about offices. It’s not about meeting rooms. It’s not about the new home of the chamber and West Alabama Works. It was always supposed to be about people,” Jones said.
“It is about creating a place where businesses can grow, where partnerships can be formed, where people can find opportunities and where organizations can come together and make West Alabama and the state of Alabama a better place to live,” he said.
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This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: ‘New era’ begins for Tuscaloosa business hub
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Reporting by Jasmine Hollie, Tuscaloosa News / The Tuscaloosa News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 5:15 AM.
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