Where is civic leadership when needed ? Not in Memphis. Outside of rhetorical talking points, needed advocacy and action is missing from Memphis Corporate Community Leadership (MCCL) or their players on core issues of democracy, connected workforce development, small business development and public transit. MCCL consists of Memphis Tomorrow, Greater Memphis Chamber and the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE).

The big idea of this blog is that if public officials are interested in evolving the community, they should listen to corporate elites only sparingly. Focus on good policy for the community benefit and not philanthropic dog bones, statue removal or public-private partnerships at the cost of more important work. The corporate elite are paid to serve their shareholders and customers; not the community. So, they should not be viewed as economist or community developers but only as invested community stakeholders. This article will discuss the following:

• Examples of Corporate Elitism
• Local Challenges
• FedEx / Workforce Development / Tax Policy

Corporate Elite

Unfortunately, when business leaders present themselves or are viewed as objective economic / community developers efforts suffer. Most often, corporate advocacy consists of request of government funding based on the premise that corporate leadership can more efficiently allocate capital for the common good. But this has not been the case in Memphis.

Some of the players of the MCCL consist of Fred Smith, Pitt Hyde, Richard Smith, Carolyn Hardy, Spence Wilson, Jr., Jack Moore, Johnny Moore and Duncan Williams. Do you remember any of these civic organizations or players of late speak out or write about current challenges that would have forwarded democratic principles by allowing people to vote for their City Council representative replacement, expedite the appointment  for the open District 1 City Council seat or propose thoughtful solutions to disconnected workforce development efforts or public transit funding solutions ?

Like other cities, organizations of the social elite wield considerable influence and when properly used can propel a city forward. But public advocacy from the Memphis elite for issues that matter for the overall good just has not occurred. Instead, the corporate elite consistently get their way on things that matter only to the select few in for example corporate/real estate tax abatements as the city devolves in aspects that matter to the common good in for example public transit, workforce and small business development. Given local concerns of small business vitality, does anyone remember even an ad campaign to support transacting with small business ?

Its not even clear that the MCCL strongly supports democracy given their lack of voice for allowing voters to elect their City Council replacements or subsequently, voice for expeditious District 1 appointment to give citizenry representation. Lack of voice on so many issues that matter to the common good give rise to suspicions of elitism of the corporate elite as their needs for example in PILOTS and TIFS are prioritized. What is clear, is that the corporate elite of Memphis want your federal, state and local tax dollars. Here is the problem as stated by former conservative Federal Reserve Chairman  Paul Volcker and given the outcomes, is more so in Memphis:

“We’ve got an enormous number of enormously rich people that have convinced themselves that they’re rich because they’re smart and constructive. And they don’t like government, and they don’t like to pay taxes.” And then said, “Everybody talks about monetary policy but the lesson of all this is we need better, stronger supervisory powers.”

In other words, the corporate elite need stronger oversight by the people and their elected officials for their own and community good.

Elitism

Unlike being a corporate elite, elitism is the practice that the elite knows what is best for all. But the outcome data for Memphis shows that is not the case as elitism reigns supreme at the cost of the overall community with unfilled council seats, disconnected workforce development, challenged small business vitality, below peer average total wage growth and inadequate public transit. The former occurs as corporate/real estate tax abatements for the few have thrived. The above has occurred under the control of the  Memphis Corporate Community Leadership complex. Here are some specific examples of elitism at work at significant cost to Memphis/Shelby taxpayers:

As the education czar of Memphis Tomorrow, Joseph Reeves “Pitt” Hyde III, while enabled by FedEx, chose not to intervene or have a sense of urgency in addressing disconnected workforce development efforts. This inaction left educators and some 60,000 learners under-served at an estimated $15M in recurring Memphis/Shelby revenue shortfalls. FedEx will be discussed later.

Memphis Chamber of Commerce lack of public policy position on funding adequate transit thus placing less priority on it for overall economic development and those in need following the release of the transit study two years ago.

Jack Moore’s decision not to hold regular EDGE / Greater Memphis Alliance for Competitive Workforce (GMACW) to support connected workforce development efforts as he met every month with the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) to administer corporate/real estate tax abatements

Lack of statement from Memphis Tomorrow or Chamber to advocate for the election of vacating Council seats or expeditious appointment of seats to afford citizens of representation

Spence Wilson, Jr’s implication that citizens must “EARN” their right to question performance of taxpayer funded initiatives under the control of the Memphis Tomorrow / Chamber Corporate Community Leadership complex.

Chamber / Richard Smith’s request for government pension fund proceeds to be invested in the small business Epicenter nonprofit without any corporate percentage matching pension fund commitments while the Epicenter lacks any published outcome data or the support of a local ad campaign to promote the idea of increasing local small business transactions by the corporate establishment.

The Greater Memphis Chamber dismissing membership and renewal rights without cause.

The EDGE Board’s persistent use of incomplete bogus accounting to support excessive retention payment-in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) program for existing companies.

Such deficient corporate community leadership practices are estimated to cost taxpayers $124M in recurring annual Memphis Shelby revenue shortfalls. The above resembles a closed rigged Crump like economic system of the 1940s and supports a $1.5 billion one time upfront ask of the Memphis Tomorrow complex to make up the recurring Memphis/Shelby taxpayer revenue shortfall.

So What About FedEx ?

Fred Smith is arguably the greatest CEO on the planet having been one of the few primary architects of the global economy through the founding of FedEx. But he is paid to serve global customers and maximize shareholder value; not to build community economic prosperity. His view of the economic and community development is through the lens of a CEO and not an economist or community developer.

If public officials listen to CEOs too much, it puts at risk the societal foundation on which businesses thrive. Memphis public officials, apparently starstruck, listen too much to the corporate elite as evidenced by misplaced economic development priorities.

In a recent interview, in response to questions regarding many left behind by global trade, Smith said “Equip them [people] with the tools needed to land in-demand jobs”. Representing shareholders, this answer makes sense for FedEx shareholders and their communities. And FedEx has responded with progressive employee benefit programs to fuel their talent pipeline development needs in paid college degree programming at the University of Memphis. This programming is scaling throughout the country through a high quality online offering.

But other FedEx career pathways efforts have fallen flat in support of connected workforce development efforts while local small business offers to address disconnected efforts have been obstructed and directed to remote providers. In fact, Richard Smith of FedEx and the Greater Memphis Chamber just recently took the proposed approach of a local small business and transferred it to the Talent Pipeline Management offering in Washington DC thereby thwarting Memphis small business.

This thwart follows another miss by FedEx in concert with Memphis Tomorrow and Pitt Hyde that left the community behind with disconnected workforce development and  60,000 under-served learners. The miss awarded a contract to a Canadian company that lacked a track record of United States experience and could not effectively deliver for taxpayers. The Canadian contract award was conducted in concert with the Federal TechHire program  that was to reduce the number of foreign technology workers while boosting domestic employment in technology fields.

This makes the Canadian contract award especially strange while bypassing proven US domestic providers that could have expedited connected workforce development efforts over the last 4 years for a Memphis community that has been left behind. In fact, in reviewing the FedEx Career Pathways brochure, the only local Memphis outcome, in the home of FedEx, is the relatively small  Memphis Challenge program as disconnected workforce development conditions persist in a Memphis community left behind.

On federal tax matters, the highly effective Fred Smith representing shareholders, successfully advocated for federal corporate tax cuts. In addition to current concerns regarding foreign trade and corresponding FedEx cutbacks, Smith must know that with rising debt levels, the United States taxpayer is tapped out under corporate rule.

In fact, the just released report to the Governor regarding the 2019 State of Tennessee Economic Outlook, states  under corporate tax cuts, “deficits will raise interest rates, the volume of the dollar and contribute to large international trade deficits, all of which will weaken growth.”

All of this to say, CEOs are equipped to be stakeholders in economic and community development endeavors but given their responsibilities to shareholders, in most cases, they lack the objectivity to be effective economic and community developers. In fact their rosy “trickle down” policies are taking a toll on the society with widening income inequality of the type that more effective education will not solve. Please see the New York Times graph of widening annual income increases for the economy’s top earners since 1980. “Trickle down” is a scam.

Conclusion

For whatever reason, on a personal level, my small business pursuits in the area of workforce development in Memphis have been stifled by the Memphis Corporate Community Leadership complex and specifically by the Hydes, Wilsons and Smiths as 60,000 learners have persistently gone under-served with disconnected workforce development efforts.

To public officials, Quit Listening To These Guys So Much !! While they have the power to rig the system, they lack the objectivity to positively evolve the Memphis ecosystem.

Chief Wiseman,

Being from here in Memphis, you might think the culturally normed devolution of the Memphis ecosystem under the Memphis Tomorrow Corporate Community leadership complex is normal, but its not. The devolution has occurred with positive talking points all while pummeling the taxpayer using labels like “economic development” and “workforce development”.

When one fully understands, through both research and experience, the debauchery by the elitist Crump like Memphis Tomorrow social construct of the 1940s of a community already in need, its enraging. Its a closed rigged system. With the lack of an investigative press, effective legislative oversight or needed advocacy, the Shelby County taxpayer is hung out with no representation. The best thing going in Memphis is Memphis Raise Your Expectations (MRYE).  Formerly, I thought FedEx was the best thing going in Memphis. FedEx is up there but MRYE is the best thing going.

So here are my slam dunk ideas for the state to consider as a Tennessee taxpayer intervention in Memphis:

Democracy – Democracy is a sound under-girding support for economic development. Memphis Tomorrow, Chamber and even FedEx could have spoke up in favor for allowing the public to select City Council replacements, but they didn’t.

Small Business – Finding a way for the corporate establishment to transact with local small business. Government can do only so much as they represent only about 10% of the economy. In my personal experience, top establishment players like to stifle small business while shipping orders off to Canada and Washington, DC while furthering disconnected workforce development efforts leaving 60,000 learners under-served. The establishment here does not know how to transact with local small business as they prefer to set up bureaucratic programs.

Negotiation – Help the Mayors negotiate with the complex. Right now, the complex is asking for a Memphis/Shelby pension proceed investment for yet another Memphis non-profit in the Epicenter small business engagement. The elitist establishment complex is asking for .3% or $10M of proceeds. Makes sense but we are talking about retiree money not wealthy venture capitalists. As a counter, have Mayors ask for .3% of FedEx, International Paper, St. Jude and Auto Zone of their employee retirement funds. As an example, with Memphis as one of the US cradles of global commerce and FedEx Headquarters, .3% of FedEx $24B pension fund would be $72M.

Its cultural here. Getting over on taxpayer is seen as cool and slick by the establishment but in the end is good for no one while stifling growth.

Connected Workforce Development – The County Workforce Ad Hoc committee adjourned without having 2019 goals or plan for workforce development. This marks the fifth year in a row of such an occurrence as educators scream out for a connected approach. This occurs as the establishment complex remains unable to select a common commercial job board such as Indeed or articulate an alignment protocol to direct the local workforce development system.

Excessive Incentives – Get a new EDGE Board that uses complete accounting to justify incentives. The current elitist EDGE Board has used incomplete bogus accounting to justify excessive corporate / real estate incentives for existing companies as true economic development efforts in workforce development, small business development, site development and public transit have suffered. Probably 70% of the deficiency in total wage growth vs Shelby County’s peer average can be linked to deficient small business and workforce development.

Stop Printing Tax Payer Money – Abating boards are creating new tax incentives without local legislative approval. Not only that, abating boards are commissioned with fees to give out taxpayer money. At a recent EDGE Board meeting, the Board awarded a $2.3M abatement using $2.0M of existing property taxes for 30 warehouse jobs at a $500K loss to taxpayers while pocketing $51K in fees. Where did this crazy design come from. How about the Memphis Tomorrow Corporate Community Leadership complex? This is  NUTS !

Also establish a benefit/cost ratio greater than 1.0 to inform smart incentives. A 1.0, which EDGE uses, assumes there is not a benefit to investing in the community. If this is the case, public officials might as well go home…..

Public Transit – Get Memphis Tomorrow/Chamber to come out with a funding position in support of adequate public transit as opposed to having Justin Davis of the Bus Riders Union perform the heavy lift  of determining adequate funding in County Public Transit Ad Hoc.

NAACP – With a majority African American population, encourage the NAACP to become a taxpayer advocacy organization. Encourage them to hand off the symbolic endeavors to the National Civil Rights Museum. NAACP will dramatically increase membership and importance. Heck, send a grant down here for that work and give me the job as taxpayer advocate after the Memphis Tomorrow / Chamber complex has stifled my small business.

Join – Join the $1.5B Memphis Tomorrow ethical debt ask to pay back Memphis/Shelby taxpayers

Fiscal Conservatism – Finally, I am a fiscal conservative. George H.W. Bush was the last one that considered both revenues and expenditures that set the table for our last balanced budget. Can we quit smoking this “Trickle Down” dope and thought process. Trickle down is a lie and everyone knows it. All it does is set us up for a crisis to crisis framework while further exploding income inequality when each crisis occurs. We got allot CEOs who know allot about history but use it only very selectively. That’s too bad for the society.

Hope these ideas help….

The problem with the proposed $10M Memphis/Shelby government pension fund ask by the Memphis Corporate Community Leadership (MCCL) complex  for the Epicenter local small business initiative is that the culture and policy environment do not exist in Memphis for small business success. Otherwise, the ask would make complete sense. This blog is a response to Evanoff’s recent Epicenter article.

Memphis/Shelby government should counter the offer with a request for the MCCL to support a policy environment and culture that supports small business and for “Big Daddy” Fred Smith to come up with another $6M on top of Smith’s $10M investment for the fund. Using “Big Daddy” as an example in this case, Smith has reported net worth of $5.4 billion. $16M would be .3% of Smith’s reported net worth which mirrors what is being asked collectively of City of Memphis and Shelby County pension funds valued at $3.3B resulting in the $10M ask.

CONGRATS TO ALL ON INDIGO !

Waddell Premise Off

While David Waddell’s big idea of investing in Memphis small business makes complete sense, his premise is off as reported in the Commercial Appeal. Waddell says in the article, “What I think we should do is pick five businesses and make them huge,”

Why concentrate on only five companies? How about instead, focus on building out a more vibrant and diversified economy that has Memphis ranked at least 53^rd out of 106 metros in small business vitality? That type of culture is what is going to attract entrepreneurs and new business to the City. In the last publication of the Memphis Business Journal Small Business Vitality Index, the Memphis MSA was dead last out of 106 metros. 53^rd out of 106 metros would be average, is achieveable and would require many more local small business establishments.

In fact, the data proves that the MCCL establishment does not support transacting with local small business much less loaning them money or investing in them. The data indicates the establishment is reluctant to give a poor bastard an order. In line with the Crump machine of the 1940s, what the Memphis establishment does, is create bureaucratic programs that say they support community needs as the community fails to realize community benefit from government funding.

While Waddell’s premise falls flat, his Epicenter design makes sense. The design, in part, resembles a self-sustaining and investable Memphis small business cap fund that would provide fee based back office services, loans and venture capital with the first $100M perhaps looking like this: $22M in back office, $60M in loans and $20M in venture capital which could easily yield investors 10% to 13% provided that the culture and policy environment supports Memphis small business.

Policy Environment

MCCL has traditionally supported, in practice, policy that benefitted corporate/real estate interests and not small business. This is evidenced in a locally excessively rich tax incentive environment that benefits corporate/real estate interests. In a Good Jobs First survey report, many of the respondents say “spending on incentives for big businesses strain the tax base for public goods such as education and infrastructure that benefit all employers and truly form the bedrock from which small businesses can grow.”

For whatever reason, local Memphis economic developers, in practice, believe rich incentives for corporate/real estate interests optimize economic development outcomes at the expense of true economic development in the attraction and  demand drivers of workforce development, public transit and site development. The former is work that supports small business as well as corporate/real estate interests. Vibrant communities attract investment; not incentives. Incentives only help close the deal.

Examples of a deficient small business policy environment include:

EDGE – The Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) retention payment-in-lieu of taxes PILOT program that uses incomplete bogus accounting to justify excessive tax abatements for existing local corporate/real estate interests. The program comes at a estimated cost of $250M+ to Memphis/Shelby taxpayers as opposed to the $600M+ gain as claimed by EDGE. The Best of the Worst of EDGE can be found here.

Real Estate Development as Economic Development – At the most recent EDGE meeting, a real estate deal labeled as “economic development” cost Memphis/Shelby taxpayers $500K for 30 warehousing jobs while abating $2M in existing property taxes as EDGE pockets $51K in fees.

Workforce Development – Deficient and disconnected workforce development efforts that are 4 years behind schedule. The MCCL has been unable to select a common commercially available job board, promote a common occupational assessment or articulate an alignment protocol on behalf of employers to help direct local workforce development efforts. STUNNING…..

Public Transit – Two years after insufficient funding was identified as the primary obstacle to adequate public transit, efforts are only now getting started with addressing the problem while having Justin Baker of the Memphis Bus Riders Union, perform the heavy research lift of coming up with a funding solution for public transit.  This is currently occurring in County Public Transit Ad Hoc committee work.

Abating Authority – Although Indigo is news, tax abatement organizations, such as the Downtown Memphis Commission as well as other abatement boards are creating new taxpayer funded incentives that are apparently unknown to the public . 

Besides the culture, the policy environment is not in place to support small business based on the findings of the Good Jobs First report. Therefore, investing in small business will likely not generate an adequate return for Memphis/Shelby County government pension funds.

Memphis/Shelby Government Counter Offer

Memphis/Shelby government should aggressively consider investing $10M in the Epicenter small business initiative should the MCCL support a supportive culture and policy environment for small business to thrive. Memphis/Shelby Government should counter with the following requests:

Memphis Tomorrow – Request for Memphis Tomorrow to come up with a committed plan to immediately identify and  invest $270M in the community in  small business/Epicenter, workforce development, public transit and public infrastructure to support success for small business. The $270M ask is based on the $9B in investment income generated locally as shown in Evanoff’s CA article. This assumes a 10% return on $90B in invested assets.  Currently, the effective .3% being floated as an investment amount in the Memphis/Shelby government ask would be $270M based on .3% of $90B. The additional $1.2B of the $1.5B ask of Memphis Tomorrow for excessiveness that has overly concentrated wealth with  corporate/real estate interests will be addressed in a later blog.

Greater Memphis Chamber – Memphis Chamber should support getting started now with connected workforce development with funding support coming from the above $270M while advocating an alignment protocol on behalf of employers to help direct connected workforce development programming.

Excessive PILOTS– End retention PILOTs for existing business and focus incentives on new business.

Public Transit – Memphis Tomorrow/ Chamber should publicly advocate for a specific funding solution in support of adequate public transit with public transit funding supplemented by the $270M above ask.

Approval – Have all new incentive instruments approved by local legislative bodies.

Benefit / Cost Ratio – MCCL should collaborate with local government to derive benefit/cost ratio for community investment and above a 1.0 to inform the development of a hurdle rate of sorts and smart taxpayer funded incentives. If there is no taxpayer benefit in community investment as implied by a 1.0 benefit/cost ratio, public officials might as well go home.

With the above funding and policy commitments from MCCL, a supportive small business culture should evolve in Memphis which would make $10M in pension funds proceeds a smart taxpayer investment.

Conclusion

Without a supportive culture and policy environment, investing in a Memphis small business cap fund won’t work for taxpayers. The right policy environment will help insure cultural evolution in support of local small business and the evolution of the community as a whole through the implementation of balanced economic development policy.

The Joint Shelby County Workforce / Education Ad Hoc committee met yesterday for the first time since 10/31/18. While there were a few bright spots toward the end of the meeting by County CAO Patrice Thomas and Commissioner Tami Sawyer, meaningful progress to connect local workforce development efforts did not occur.

The goal of the committee is to optimize and connect workforce and educational programming with employer and individual student/worker needs. The committee consists of Shelby County Commission members, Greater Memphis Chamber representatives as well as other civic organizations.

Meeting Summary

The meeting seemed to be a repeat of former meetings with civic organizations discussing their respective workforce development programs without any common language supports to facilitate productive communication.

The meeting comes after the Greater Memphis Chamber, once again, touted workforce as the #1 economic development priority at their annual Chairman’s luncheon. But nothing of significance was accomplished at this meeting that would facilitate a running start for workforce in 2019. In fact, this meeting set up more of the same in reports and homework for committee members as the Chamber remains unable to articulate an alignment protocol on behalf of employers to direct local workforce development efforts and programming.

Bright spots included Thomas and Sawyer at the end of the meeting. Thomas, brand new to the committee, smartly summarized the need for a convergent database website to connect workforce development efforts. And Sawyer, less concerned about web-based technology, focused on the need for a coherent workforce development plan deliverable.

Both Thomas and Sawyer are right on target. Web-based technology provides the delivery framework to cost effectively deliver connected workforce development programming. And a coherent plan provides a research based articulation for workforce development stakeholders to coordinate their efforts to meet employer demand and individual student/worker needs.

While new to local workforce development efforts, what Thomas and Sawyer don’t know is that solutions in web-based database technology and a coherent research- based plan are ready to go now. But such needed fundamental elements have been blocked for the past 4 years by Memphis Tomorrow, Greater Memphis Chamber and EDGE in what appears to be an ongoing assault on Memphis/Shelby County taxpayers.

Local workforce development efforts have been hobbled by a lack of a research-based plan, common job board technology, marketing plan, incomplete career navigation technology or data to quantify employer skill or knowledge demand.

Taxpayer Assault

The assault on the Memphis/Shelby taxpayer, over the course of 4 years, works something like the following. Workforce development contracts are awarded to vendors that lack meaningful domestic United States workforce development experience. Those efforts fail. Local small business proposes proven research-based solutions while joining the Greater Memphis Chamber. The Chamber kicks the small business out of the Chamber while stifling the proposed solutions to fix failed workforce development efforts.

EDGE takes over failed workforce development initiative and doesn’t hold regular board meetings while meeting every month to award excessive corporate/real estate tax incentives. Connected workforce development efforts suffer. EDGE arrogantly ignores formal state level reports in the Complete Tennessee report that documents Memphis/Shelby workforce development disconnects in June 2017. As a result, 60,000 learners go under-served for a community in need at a estimated cost of $10-15 Million in recurring Memphis/Shelby taxpayer shortfalls.

Other examples of the ongoing assault on Memphis/Shelby taxpayers can be found in a previously written blog that features the Memphis Tomorrow Fast Forward initiative that dis-served local public safety, workforce and economic development needs while using taxpayer funds.

Missed Opportunities – Low Hanging Fruit

While there are several requirements for coherent plan implementation, low hanging fruit exists to facilitate a quick start for connected 2019 Memphis/Shelby workforce development implementation. Examples include,1)  just the mere selection of a common commercially available job board such as Indeed or CareerBuilder to promote job openings and 2) a decision on the widespread use of a common occupational career readiness assessment such as ACT WorkKeys.

Its not going to get any better for connecting workforce development efforts than Indeed, the world leader in job board technology and ACT WorkKeys, the National leader, for occupational assessment. ACT WorkKeys has been adopted by the Strickland administration but unfortunately remains, for the most part, unimplemented. Other elements in robust web-based database technology are ready to go now as well.

On the other hand, CareerBuilder could be adopted for the job board. CareerBuilder works with EMSI who is part of the “shiny new” Talent Pipeline Management Washington DC, conglomeration to which Richard Smith of the Greater Memphis Chamber just punted workforce development again while stifling local small business. The challenge with CareerBuilder is that implementation costs for local business would likely be higher given the current heavy use of Indeed and the much lighter CareerBuilder use by local business. This conclusion is based on a comparison of current Memphis job listings on Indeed and CareerBuilder.

But in the end, for whatever reason, none of the above low hanging fruit opportunities were acted upon by the committee.

State Intervention / SCORE / Complete Tennessee

As previously written about, State intervention will be needed to confront that taxpayer assault of the arrogant elitist Crump like Memphis Tomorrow Corporate Community Leadership complex. The taxpayer assault looks more like kleptocractic “economic cannibalism” labeled as “economic development”. In the absence of an investigative press and more rigorous legislative oversight, taxpayers in Memphis and Shelby County lack a check on the elitist Memphis Tomorrow complex. For this reason State of Tennessee intervention is needed.

Further, social justice organizations such as NAACP and National Civil Right Museum appear in many ways to be aligned with corporate interests. In Memphis, these organizations fail to object to policy and implementation practices that go to explode economic inequality while seeming to be distracted toward more symbolic endeavors. With a majority African American population, on a local basis, both the NAACP and NCRM would likely better serve their constituency and community, as a whole, by just becoming taxpayer advocacy organizations.

As far as the statewide educational organizations of SCORE and Complete Tennessee, based on the results, those organizations need entirely new representatives for Memphis. In fact, when the Complete Tennessee report was released, nothing was done locally in Memphis to address “labor market priority” concerns. SCORE is a high level educational policy organization and Complete Tennessee promotes increasing post-secondary completion rates. See below partial Complete Tennessee report findings:

Any questions on why the workforce development disconnect exists in Memphis ?

Conclusion

There is no sense of urgency to address local workforce development concerns in Memphis all while local small business solutions to address the local need are stifled by the arrogant and elitist Memphis Tomorrow complex. Memphis Tomorrow Corporate Community Leadership lacks the will to educate its population or support local small business. And, there is no indication of an “economic opportunity for all” environment in Memphis. Any questions on why Memphis/Shelby economic development suffers and income inequality soars ?