Reviewed by: Patience Itson
How this minority-owned company is cleaning up Birmingham one blighted building at a time
Reading time: 5 minutes
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Did you know the locally-owned CJ’s Ventures is demolishing and cleaning up blighted buildings throughout The Magic City?
Bham Now met up with company owner Clinton “CJ” Harris III at an active job site to learn more about the company, its work in Birmingham and why it means so much to him.
Meet Clinton Harris III of CJ’s Ventures
- CJ’s Ventures: 205.436.5121 | Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
- Address: 3417 Davey Allison Blvd, Bessemer, AL 35023
Born and raised in The Magic City, Clinton Harris III started running CJ’s Ventures after graduating from the University of South Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in business management and a concentration in entrepreneurship.
“We’re a minority- and family-owned company based out of Hueytown. I’ve been here all my life, and my parents grew up in Birmingham too.
We’ve been around for 20 years and are known for our good customer service.”
Clinton Harris III, Owner, CJ’s Ventures
How CJ’s Ventures is making Birmingham better
Wondering what a “blighted” structure is?
Here’s a closer look:
- It’s a structure that’s fallen into such disrepair that it causes problems for the surrounding area.
- It adversely affects the property value of neighboring buildings. This reduces the health of the community’s housing market and property tax revenue.
- It can pose safety hazards for the community.
Buildings can become neglected for a number of reasons, such as the death of the owner, a natural disaster, delinquent taxes and financial setbacks.
One of CJ’s Ventures’ most recent projects was demolishing Dudley Elementary School—an abandoned structure in Birmingham’s Inglenook neighborhood.
“Demolishing these neglected buildings can really improve a community; it helps lower crime rates, improves the environment and makes the area a safer place for people to live.”
Clinton Harris III, Owner, CJ’s Ventures
Whatever the reason, blighted structures have to go. That’s where CJ’s Ventures comes in.
They offer demolition services in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa for commercial, industrial and residential customers.
Currently, their team is working on expanding its services to more Alabama cities.
“When it comes to demolition, our goal as a company is to nurture the relationship with the client while quickly and effectively removing the blighted structure.
The result is a better, cleaner and safer property.”
Clinton Harris III, Owner, CJ’s Ventures
Bonus: CJ’s Ventures handles all aspects of demolitions, including transferring all waste to dumpsters then hauling it to a landfill.
More than demolition
Demolition is just one area of expertise of CJ’s Ventures.
For the past four years, they’ve contracted with Alabama Power to install high-speed, fiber optic cables throughout the state to help bring better internet services to communities in the state that don’t have good reception.
According to CJ, they will soon expand these services to utility providers in Mississippi and Georgia.
While most of their work is in parts of rural Alabama, CJ’s Ventures just finished a big city project.
“Recently, we completed a nine-mile-long project installing long haul fiber infrastructure in downtown Montgomery.
Usually, our infrastructure work is in rural areas, so working in a heavily populated area was a new experience.
But we pulled it off—a huge accomplishment for our team.”
Clinton Harris III, Owner, CJ’s Ventures
In addition to demolition and infrastructure development, CJ’s Ventures offers waste collection services to its customers.
“To me, waste collection is the heart of our company.
We own roughly 400 dumpsters and offer them to customers in a 30- to 40-mile radius. We deliver, pick up and dispose of the waste in our landfill in Birmingham.”
Clinton Harris III, Owner, CJ’s Ventures
Fun fact: CJ’s Ventures offers a 10% discount on roll-offs for the Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders.
Why diversity and inclusion matters to CJ’s Ventures
Recently, CJ launched a podcast that is dedicated to interviewing industry thought-leaders and residents as a means to highlight the efforts of CJ’s Ventures in the communities served.
In one of the podcast’s latest episodes, CJ interviewed Cici Thomas, a supplier inclusion and sustainability consultant at Southern Company.
Cici Thomas discussed her role in helping minority-owned businesses get opportunities with big companies and shared how her experiences as a black female professional have shaped her advocacy.
Learn more about CJ’s Ventures
“Birmingham is my home. Anything we can do to improve the community is worth it, whether its demolition, waste removal or building infrastructure.”
Clinton Harris III, Owner, CJ’s Ventures
Learn more about CJ’s Ventures by checking out their website and following them on Facebook and Instagram.
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