By Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Steve Ammons practically grew up at the Jefferson County Courthouse, as the son of former Jefferson County Finance Director Don Ammons frequently accompanied his father to work.
“Saturdays and sometimes in the summer, during the day,” the younger Ammons, who later became a county commissioner, said. “He always wanted to expose me to different things. He always thought about, ‘What can I teach you? What can I expose you to that will help you look at something you might be interested in doing in the future?’”
Don Ammons conveyed that lesson to his son’s children as well. The son said his father’s legacy was always about being kind but always building on relationships.
“Relationships is where everything is,” said the younger Ammons, who left his commission post in May to become president and CEO of the Birmingham Business Alliance. “Sales, everything is done by relationships. And he was very, very good at it. He was very well respected because of how he built his relationships and how people trusted him.”
Steve Ammons said relationships have brought him to where he is today, from the Vestavia Hills City Council to the Jefferson County Commission to the alliance and other stops in between.
“Trust is at the core of everything,” he said. “People have to know that you’re competent, that you have capacity and that you’re trustworthy. It makes everything work so much easier.”
Some who have worked with Ammons say he learned that lesson well.
“Steve Ammons is a wonderful person,” said Rebecca Leavings, the city clerk of Vestavia Hills, where Ammons served two terms on the city council. “He was always an excellent, excellent councilor. He learned about planning and zoning and things like that here at Vestavia and served us very, very well.”
Leavings said Ammons was always mild mannered and smiling in his time on the council. She said he helped her a lot with technology.
“There’s nothing bad I could ever say about Steve Ammons,” she said.
Jefferson County Manager Cal Markert gave a similar perspective, saying Ammons was very professional, good hearted and an extremely good networker.
“He knew so many people and he liked to get things done,” Markert added. “He was just a pleasure to work for.”
Ammons is a veteran of the U.S. Navy whose service included being a radio man, a teletype repairman and his ship’s photographer.
“All because of the relationships I had built,” he recalled. “I showed I had capacity, I was competent and I could do those things.”
The former county commissioner isn’t slow in starting his day leading the Birmingham Business Alliance, arriving at his second-floor office each day at 6:30 a.m. He describes himself as more of a morning person.
“I like to get here (when it’s) quiet time,” he said. “I can think. I’m more thoughtful when I’m thinking about overall strategy or what we need to be doing or what we’re looking at. Between 7:30, 8 o’clock and the end of the day, I have a whole lot of people I need to be meeting with to understand what their role has been, what their expectations are for us, where they see us going or meeting with other organizations like us.
Ammons said the BBA has lacked consistency in its leadership in the past several years. He hopes to change that.
“I’m hoping to be that consistent factor,” he said.
