Mayor Frank Brocato
Happy New Year to all of you! I hope everyone had a festive, restful and safe holiday season!
Hopefully you are refreshed and ready to head into 2025 with renewed energy!
As we start this new year, I want to take a moment to share with you a large vision I have for our city as we press through the next 12 months. Every day, it becomes more and more evident the critical role technology plays in our society. One area where it is most notable is in the health care field. The rate at which procedures, like hip operations, take place is astounding.
It used to be that you would spend several days in a hospital recuperating after such a procedure. These days, those types of operations can take place at an ambulatory surgical center (ASC), and the patient can go home the same day. Research shows that in many of those cases, the patient has a faster, more comfortable recovery because they are in familiar surroundings sooner.
It is because of these types of advances that the city chose to create an ambulatory surgical center in the new Riverwalk Village that is coming to Riverchase. But it is so much more than just that. I believe Hoover is and will continue to be a breeding ground for various types of cutting-edge, high-tech businesses and industries.
We already have several of these businesses within our city. But my vision is to recruit more of them. We rely heavily on retail sales, but as our economy changes due to online sales, we want to continue to diversify our economy through the creation of more STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)-based businesses. Bringing more people to work in our city helps bring dollars that support our local mom-and-pop businesses that are the city’s economic backbone.
I’d love for you to hear more of what I believe we can accomplish this year while we also look back at all of the great things that took place in 2024. You can do so by attending the annual State of the City address, which is sponsored by our Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce. The event will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — Wynfrey Hotel. If you would like more information, please go to hooverchamber.org for details.
I hope you have a wonderful and prosperous 2025! Happy New Year!
