MEMPHIS, Tenn — Thursday, at the Annual Chairman’s Luncheon, the Greater Memphis Chamber announced two major investments into building up Memphis businesses.
One of them is the opening of the first accelerated job training center in the state of Tennessee. The other is a new partnership between the Chamber, the National Civil Rights Museum, Lemoyne-Owen College and the Black Business Association of Memphis.
The “Prosper Memphis Accelerated Training Center” will offer training programs lasting between four to 22 weeks that will equip Memphians for high-demand jobs and career fields to elevate both themselves and Memphis as a whole.
The 104,000-square-foot $15-million facility will go up in the Gateway Shopping Center on Jackson Ave. The center’s courses are designed to give Memphians the chance to become certified in fields such as logistics, manufacturing, construction and technology.
The Chamber said there will be 600 available spots for participants each of the first two years it is open, expanding to 1,000 spots per year after that. The facility will also feature support services like childcare, laundry machines and showers.
Sylvester Tate, president, CEO and founder of Tate Computer Systems, said this type of high-demand training is necessary to help both Memphis residents and businesses take a permanent step forward.
“It's about creating jobs and opportunities for the community, not just minimum wage jobs,” he said. “We're talking about career jobs that we're looking at creating.”
The Chamber said admittance fee into the job training programs will be based on income, but adds that for most people, especially those from low-income backgrounds, this service will be free.
Renovations are expected to start in early 2024, according to Chamber staff.
The other major development, involving the Chamber’s new partnership, is part of an effort to expand diversity, equity and inclusion in order to help elevate the many minority-owned businesses across the city.
Each one of the institutions brings something unique to the table.
Lemoyne-Owen College is the only Historically Black College and University in Memphis and aids in the training and education of the high-demand workforce.
The National Civil Rights Museum provides a context and historical perspective on the discrimination minority-owned businesses have dealt with and continue to deal with.
The Black Business Association has its finger on the pulse for issues those businesses face, such as access to capital.
Tate said he has experienced this himself when just starting his computer repair business over 30 years ago, when his normal bank denied him a loan.
“I went to a black bank that was here in the city, never did have no account with them, nothing else, and they gave me the money. They told me all I had to do was open an account and they gave me the money,” Tate said. “It was just a great opportunity because they understood the struggle of trying to find funding.”
For Tate, he said that he has seen initiatives promoting diversity and inclusion for businesses in the past that have failed to deliver on their promises. He said local businesses need to have a seat at the table.
The Chamber said that hearing from business owners about their individual needs is one of the main priorities of this initiative.