The Greater Memphis Chamber has authored an economic development implosion. The implosion comes as Memphis/Shelby taxpayers shoulder approximately $100M per year in various economic development incentives.

500 Shelby County PILOTs has proven itself not to work when compared to approximately 50 each for the 3 other large municipalities in TN, that each deliver better economic outcomes for their public than Shelby County.

Not long ago, the Chamber said that Memphis/Shelby was the fastest to recover from COVID. There is no public data evidence supporting that assertion, from economic development to public transit. NONE. Chamber data sources, to support such asserstions are most often absent or questionable in for example “Gusto”, a recently used Chamber data source.

In fact, Chamber rhetoric demands that the public operates in a state of delusion believing that public-privates are locally effective to Memphis has momentum to Memphis would be Jackson, MS. if not for Blackjack Fred Smith.

Since 2019, using data compiled by the Taxpayer Justice Institute from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment Wages program, Memphis/Shelby’s employment has contracted by 4%. The Chamber is currently the fiscal agent for the Greater Memphis Workforce Development Board (GMWDB) where the financial books are a disaster due to a Chamber QuickBooks botch.

Really, the best of our business community cannot implement QuickBooks? And don’t say it’s because of the regulations. After all, numerous fiscal agents for public workforce boards could likely have provided the Chamber with an import for QuickBooks implementation.

As far as the table above, Knox County led employment growth, since COVID (2019-24), among a grouping that included Tennessee municipalities and the average of the Peer 10. (Quick note on public transit: Knoxville's ridership exceeds Memphis, while Knoxville is 1/2 the size of Memphis.) 

The Peer 10, selected by the Chamber, consists of the residing counties for these cities: Birmingham, Indianapolis, Louisville, New Orleans, Kansas City, St Louis, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Memphis, Milwaukee.

In addition to employment growth, Memphis/Shelby was also at the bottom of this grouping in total and average wage growth. 

But the primary drag on total wage growth, which otherwise fuels local tax revenue growth, is a Memphis/Shelby employment implosion irritated by a botched educational and workforce development system. The Chamber has been either directly involved with or in close proximity to numerous workforce botches, going back years, to include: GMACW, WIN, UpSkill901, Workforce Mid-South and the current GMWDB botch. After so many botches, the botching must be intentional right?

And the Chamber has not helped with public transit after being a big fan of former MATA CEO Gary Roesenfeld, during his botching of MATA. No City in America that botches both their workforce and transit system, escapes a spiking crime rate.

As far as the pictured above non-evolving permanent fixtures of the Chamber and local public-private complex, they involve an impotent former board member of the TN Board of Regents, that remained silent as the local community college system imploded, a GMWDB Chairman that supported the termination of Amber Covington, former GMWDB Executive Director, for doing her job in reporting transfers of public funds to illegitimate accounts, and a  FedEx executive, whose company seems content with a persistently botched workforce development system.

As one of the State’s largest employers, is FedEx somehow benefiting from a botched workforce development system? As far as public-private efforts, I will never forget back in 2019, I was at one of these collaborative gang bangs, facilitated by Seeding Success and a new nonprofit executive from the medical device community was there.

Jamilica Burke of Seeding Success stated that another year of planning was in the works for workforce. The executive, who had been sitting silent, exclaimed, "Another year of planning! We are having to locate employment elsewhere due to deficient local workforce efforts". This was in the midst of the 3rd local workforce botch directly led by the Chamber entitled "UpSkill901". 

Besides botching the workforce system, the Chamber also devoutly believes that Spooner Twat Boyz, like Blackjack and Mr. Memphis are deserving of having the taxpayer fund their hobbies, business and retail pursuits. Examples are Brooks, Tennis Memphis, Audubon Clubhouse, The Sheraton as well as others. 

Anyway, given the above, it’s clear that public botching is the local standard with the Greater Memphis Chamber playing a lead role. The elitists are so stupid and clearly civic idiots that could have had so much more had they just allowed, away from corporate socialism, free enterprise systems and imperfect public checks and balances to work to fuel economic progress. 

And just know, Councilor Chase Carlisle is the self proclaimed resident City Council expert on downtown development and downtown has imploded ever since Carlisle was elected to the Council. 

But strangely the question persists, why does Memphis have a spiking crime rate? The spiking crime rate starts at the top, that’s all…..