Jefferson County commissioners approved a $400,000 award to Innovation Depot for 2026 programming and separately voted to continue funding the Birmingham Business Alliance after hearing presentations on local startup support and job attraction.

County staff introduced the Innovation Depot request, saying the incubator has run more than 200 events with about 15,000 attendees and has distributed grants to founders. “They're requesting 400,000 in funding to assist with our programming and services,” said Speaker 2, the staff presenter.

Brooke Gillis, identified in the transcript as head of integration at Innovation Depot, told commissioners the incubator maintains a roster of roughly 600 founders, with about 300 people on‑site daily. “We have about 600 people what we call on our roster…Every day, there's 300 people actually in our building,” Gillis said, and described new 2026 programs to help founders become investor‑ready and overcome hiring or legal challenges.

Commissioner questions focused on post‑incubator retention. Gillis said 3–5 companies graduate annually, often once they reach about 20 employees, and many remain in Jefferson County by moving to nearby tech buildings or leasing local space.

On the Alliance request, Charter Sutton (introduced in the transcript as 'I'm Charter Sutton') reported five‑year results: “67 total projects that represents over 4,300 new jobs brought to Jefferson County, and 2,700,000,000.0 in capital investment,” he said, and described a continuing pipeline of lead generation and business outreach.

Both funding motions passed by voice vote after motions and seconds were recorded; the transcript records commissioners saying "aye" but does not list individual roll‑call tallies. County staff and Alliance representatives said the funding will support small business assistance, marketing and research functions that the county said operate as an extension of its limited economic development staff.

The commission also approved related community grant items during the same meeting, including a grant for Vestavia Hills' new fire department and support for the Alabama Pregnancy Test Center.