Posted on April - 26 - 2010
Memphis Chamber team keeps existing businesses happy, growing
The biggest splash seems often to come from the recruitment of new business and industry into Shelby County.
But 80 percent of the nearly 4,000 new jobs in Memphis last year came from the growth of existing companies.
That’s why the Greater Memphis Chamber fields an Existing Business Team, which caters to the needs of existing employers as the recruiting team does for prospective new businesses.
Some members of the 26-person team make visits to big and small businesses, chamber members and nonmembers alike.
For example, the team visited an East Memphis steakhouse April 13, a medical supply company in Whitehaven on April 14, and a large nonprofit agency last week.
It played a key role last year in helping Owens Corning, which makes roof shingles at a North Memphis plant. The company got tax incentives and training money from the state for a $22 million expansion.
Otherwise, the company might have moved the operation to an Owens Corning facility in another city.
About 60 people from businesses already established in Memphis packed a Greater Memphis Chamber “Lunch and Learn” session last week. They heard how the chamber’s Existing Business Team can help them flourish.
Bethel University’s Memphis campus, 5885 Ridgeway Center Drive, hosted the event.
Insurance companies, logistics firms, janitorial services, assisted- living facilities, courier services, office supply stores, pharmaceutical enterprises, a public relations firm, executive coaches and a development company were among the businesses sending representatives to the workshop.
Susan Hadley Maynor, the chamber’s managing director of economic development, could have started her remarks with “make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.”
Instead, she told how chamber representatives make those visits to 400 firms each year to learn about their operations and help address any issues they may have.
Whether it’s an issue with utilities, taxes, expansion, financing or employee training, the chamber can expedite solutions, Maynor said, adding with a smile, “We have a cheat sheet.”
“You don’t have time to stay on the phone to get to the right person,” she said.
The chamber also can help existing business obtain financial incentives related to growth, similar to the kind newly recruited businesses often receive, Maynor said.
The Existing Business Team comprises 28 public and private agencies.
For more information or to schedule a visit from the chamber, businesses can call (901) 543-3520 or e-mail cfranklin@memphischamber.com.
— Tom Bailey Jr.: 529-2388
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