{"id":198672,"date":"2025-04-22T12:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T12:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/birmingham-to-roll-out-a-heros-welcome\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T12:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T12:46:12","slug":"birmingham-to-roll-out-a-heros-welcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=198672","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham to roll out a hero\u2019s welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"Matthew<\/a>
Matthew Dent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today\u2019s guest columnist is Matthew Dent.<\/p>\n

Folks in Birmingham may have taken a momentary pause when they heard that Birmingham is preparing for another international event.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m here to tell you, the upcoming World Police & Fire Games (WPFG)<\/strong><\/span><\/a> will bring joy and goodwill to Birmingham.<\/p>\n

Back in 2020, Birmingham business leaders felt a big confidence boost when we learned our city won the bid to host the 2025 World<\/strong><\/span><\/a> Police & Fire Games <\/strong><\/span><\/a>a prestigious, international, multi-day, multi-venue sporting event, where more than 8,500 first responders from over 60 countries come together from June 27 to July 6 to compete in more than 60 sports and disciplines.<\/p>\n

That means two months from now, athletes along with their family and friends will descend upon our fabulous city for 10 days of competition, camaraderie, and a shared spirit of service that extends beyond borders.<\/p>\n

Avoiding the mistakes of past<\/strong><\/p>\n

As business leaders across the state consider how we will spotlight ourselves during the 2025 World Police & Fire Games, we\u2019re proceeding with caution and working hard to avoid mistakes made in the past.<\/p>\n

Events like this are complex and require significant resources and planning, which is why hard lessons learned from the 2022 World Games are important to have at the forefront of our minds as we work to finalize plans for an event this summer that we can all be proud of.<\/p>\n

With the benefit of hindsight and a renewed sense of collaboration, there\u2019s an opportunity to do things differently, and that is what has been exciting from the beginning. Local businesses will play a vital role showcasing Birmingham\u2019s resilience, hospitality, and ability to host world-class events.<\/p>\n

We can now proceed with confidence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being hesitant is understandable, but we should proceed with confidence because this time around the foundation is strong, the planning is transparent, and the commitment to supporting local businesses is a priority.<\/p>\n

With that, I want to highlight three reasons why the Alabama business community can get excited about participating in the Birmingham 2025 World Police & Fire Games:<\/p>\n

1. WPFG expects more than double the number of athletes participating.<\/strong> With 2.5 months to go, the 2025 WPFG already has nearly 5,000 athletes registered and anticipates bringing in more than 8,500 competitors. WPFG participants will be booking hotels and Airbnbs. The hotel taxes alone that come with WPFG will offer a huge boost to the city, and that\u2019s in addition to a larger volume of food, beverage, entertainment, and souvenir sales. As a result, businesses should feel the positive presence of our visitors.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Birmingham 2025 WPFG is one-third the budget of the 2022 World Games.<\/strong> The 2025 WPFG is a high-volume event at a fraction of the cost, which is intended to offer more impact for the support provided. What is amazing about these Games is that the WPFG events are free and open to the public<\/strong>, which makes being supportive accessible to everyone.<\/p>\n

3. These are \u201cThe Games of Heroes.\u201d<\/strong> WPFG competitors aren\u2019t just sports phenoms. They\u2019re first firefighters, paramedics, police officers, corrections officers, FBI, and other first responders who will show us what it takes to be a community hero. And if free admission to watch the Police Pistol Combat or the Ultimate Firefighter challenge isn\u2019t appealing enough, the friendly trash talk from the dugout between the police and firefighter softball players should really heighten the action.<\/p>\n

Return on investment for decades to come<\/strong><\/p>\n

When organizers tout that events like this can create return on the investment for decades to come, it\u2019s the overall business community support and execution of the events that will make the difference.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the investments and hard lessons from past events, we now not only have the infrastructure but also the insights to successfully host global events.<\/p>\n

The 2025 WPFG is our opportunity now to create that return on investment\u2014and to continue the ongoing work to position Birmingham as a premier destination city.<\/p>\n

Gov. Kay Ivey recently rallied Alabama first responders for a meeting in Montgomery to encourage these talented individuals to get out and compete, saying, \u201cFrankly, I have no intention of seeing us get shown up in our own back yard.\u201d In the last WPFG, in 2023 in Winnipeg, Canada, there was only one first responder from Alabama who competed in the Games.<\/p>\n

To date, 185 Alabama first responders are registered to compete in Birmingham. On top of their jobs, they\u2019re currently spending their free time training for half marathons, cycling, and swim competitions.<\/p>\n

We need to be there for these men and women. We need to celebrate them.<\/p>\n

My ask of Alabama business leaders is simple: please join us in supporting the 2025 WPFG.<\/strong> This is our shared opportunity, inclusive of all business sizes and types, to support Birmingham\u2019s continued progress.<\/p>\n

Matthew Dent, President and Chief Executive Officer of Buffalo Rock<\/strong><\/span> Company. Matthew began his career with Buffalo Rock serving as an intern during his junior year at the University of Alabama where he subsequently received his bachelor\u2019s degree in marketing from the Culverhouse College of Business. His proposed 3-month internship developed into a now\u00a0<\/span>30-year career in the beverage industry, all of which has been with Buffalo Rock. He has served in leadership roles for events in Birmingham in the past, including Chairman of the 2018 USGA Women\u2019s Open at Shoal Creek and as Chairman of numerous Regions Tradition Championships.\u00a0\u00a0Matthew resides in Birmingham.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

David Sher is the founder and publisher of\u00a0ComebackTown<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 He\u2019s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).<\/em><\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here\u00a0to sign up for our newsletter.<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com<\/p>\n

(Visited 14 times, 14 visits today)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Dent Today\u2019s guest columnist is Matthew Dent. Folks in Birmingham may have taken a momentary pause when they heard that Birmingham is preparing for another international event. But I\u2019m here to tell you, the upcoming World Police & Fire Games (WPFG) will bring joy and goodwill to Birmingham. Back in 2020, Birmingham business leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[13518,76658,547],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-198672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-birmingham","tag-heros","tag-roll"],"yoast_head":"\nBirmingham to roll out a hero\u2019s welcome - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=198672\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Birmingham to roll out a hero\u2019s welcome - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Matthew Dent Today\u2019s guest columnist is Matthew Dent. Folks in Birmingham may have taken a momentary pause when they heard that Birmingham is preparing for another international event. But I\u2019m here to tell you, the upcoming World Police & Fire Games (WPFG) will bring joy and goodwill to Birmingham. 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