Coreata Houser: The ‘Solutions Architect’ for Business in Birmingham

By Javacia Harris Bowser | The Birmingham Times

Coreata Houser believes all his past experiences — both professional and personal — have prepared him for his current role as director of the City of Birmingham’s Department of Innovation & Economic Opportunity (IEO).

“This is the only job where every single experience I’ve had in life, the good and the bad, has come together to really build a foundation for me to stand in the space that I’m standing in today,” Houser told the Birmingham Times.

In this role, which he’s held since November 2025, Houser helps to power the city’s economic engine by overseeing workforce development, real estate management, economic data intelligence and more. One of Houser’s most cherished responsibilities is helping build local businesses.

“Small businesses need to be successful in order for Birmingham to grow,” he said. While he and the IEO team work year-round to help local entrepreneurs, they are currently extra busy preparing for Birmingham Small Business Week, set for May 3-9.

Centered on the theme “Build Big: Elevate Your Vision. Empower Your Journey,” Birmingham Small Business Week is for local business owners at every stage and seeks to connect entrepreneurs to the resources, relationships, and opportunities needed to grow and scale.

“This is time for small business owners to invest in themselves, to get the resources and education needed to go to that next level,” Houser said. He and his team hope to connect with 500 to 600 local businesses throughout the week.

The Solutions Architect

Before his current role, Houser served in other positions with the city and its Department of Innovation & Economic Opportunity. He’s also worked with tech startups and at McWane Science Center. Though each job was different, they all had one thing in common.

“Throughout my entire career, I was always the one who was the solutions architect,” he said.

When working for startups, he managed the client relationship team, solving problems to keep customers happy. At McWane, he managed the visitor experience.

Houser began his career with the City of Birmingham during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That gave me the opportunity to jump straight into solutions because everything we had known about economic development was out the door,” he said.

Turning Pain into Purpose

Though born and raised in Sylacauga, Houser had family in Birmingham and would visit the city often during the summer and for major events such as the Magic City Classic. After graduating from Tuskegee University in 2009 with a degree in biology, Houser eventually made his way to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to study Information Engineering and Management, a concentration that combined his love for science and business.

“I’d always had a business mindset,” he said. He was specifically interested in operations, always eager to learn how to make systems work well.

Houser believes this stems from his younger years when tragedy forced him to figure out much of life on his own.

“I lost my dad at 15, and I lost my mom at 17,” he shared. “Losing your parents that early, you immediately have to go into solutions mode because you don’t have mom and dad to call. I have older siblings, but that parental figure was missing.”

Houser, however, turned his grief and pain into passion and purpose.

“That really started this sort of drive for me, that whatever I could do to help somebody who looks like me or who may be in the same situation, I want to do that,” he said.

A Calling and Responsibility

Other experiences would only deepen Houser’s drive to help others. After college, he worked in the court system and court referral programs.

“It was really an eye-opener for me,” he said. That experience showed him how nuanced solutions needed to be if he wanted to help people better their lives. He saw that a simple program won’t get the job done.

“You’ve got to really roll your sleeves up and change communities in multiple ways,” he said.

This thought was confirmed later when he volunteered with a program through More Than Conquerors Faith Church in Birmingham for youth living in public housing.

“It became more than a program,” he said. “I realized this is my calling. This is my responsibility.”

And this work once again showed him the need for a well-rounded approach when addressing a community’s needs.

“If I’m hungry, if I don’t have water, if I don’t have utilities, I don’t care what program you bring,” he said.

The Big Impact of Small Business

Houser believes that small businesses help address those community needs — and not just by offering people jobs.

“Small businesses are the ones who are giving to the PTOs and the Boys and Girls Club,” he said. “They’re sponsoring baseball bats and a Little League soccer game.”

And as small businesses pour into Birmingham communities, Houser and the IEO team help the City of Birmingham pour back into those small businesses — in part, through Birmingham Small Business Week.

“We really take time to be intentional about the programming,” Houser said. In addition to workshops and networking events aimed at helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses, Small Business Week will also include wellness events, a full day of workshops for nonprofits, and much more.

“This is your city,” Houser said to small business owners. “And this is the City of Birmingham, saying, ‘We see you, and we value you.’”

The full event schedule for Birmingham Small Business Week is available at ieo.birminghamal.gov/bhmup.