BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Atlanta-area business leader will become the first Black chief executive of Birmingham’s regional chamber of commerce, the organization said Monday.

The Birmingham Business Alliance said Kenneth E. Coleman has been named president and CEO of the economic development organization. Coleman is currently the interim president and chief executive of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce near Atlanta.

Coleman has spent most of his career with Southern Co. and its subsidiaries including Alabama Power. Coleman once played professional baseball with the Birmingham Barons, a minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

The Birmingham Business Alliance is the lead industrial recruitment organization for the Birmingham metro area, which includes Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby and Walker counties.