Greater Memphis Chamber President’s Update (6/29/23)

Thursday, 29 June, 2023

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Tuesday, June 29, 2023) — The Greater Memphis Chamber has had a busy first half of 2023, President & CEO Ted Townsend said in a video update today. Watch the update here:

Here are some of the updates that were shared at the Chamber’s recent Mid-Year Chairman’s Forum, which was the largest yet with 230 in attendance:

• The Chamber has landed more economic development projects than in all of 2022. Those six projects represent $435 million in capital investment and 512 new and retained jobs with an average salary of more than $79,000.
• The Chamber has more economic development projects in its pipeline than ever before. As of last week, we were up to 55 active prospects representing 18,000 new jobs (average wage of $57,000) and $15.1 billion in cpaital investment.
• Our President & CEO Ted Townsend met with more than 100 business leaders in his first 100 days to talk about their needs and expectations. No surprise here, but one of the big issues raised was public safety. Ted announced that the Chamber has formed a Public Safety Advisory Group to discuss how the business community can offer pressure and support to make a difference. For more on Ted’s first 100 days, check out this Daily Memphian feature.
• We revealed a strategic framework for achieving the goals of Prosper Memphis 2030, our first strategic plan in 20 years. If you need a refresher, we are aiming to create 50,000 jobs, add 700 advanced industry firms, and grow the number of people annually receiving STEM degrees/certificates to 20,000 by the end of 2030. Those are the numbers that will move the needle for Memphis, making us more competitive for major economic development projects.
• The Greater Memphis Economic Research Group (GMERG) is releasing monthly industry reports, available at MemphisChamberReports.com.