Bottom-up, grass-roots consensus community processes are the centerpiece of 21st century community building and empowerment. Most successful projects and processes in our Memphis metro area in recent years have addressed the community challenges as inclusive, grass-roots approaches. Most failed projects have ignored these principals.
You only have to look at the board of directors of four organizations in our community to gain some understanding. Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, Memphis Bioworks Foundation, the Crime Commission, and the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce are four examples of boards and leadership comprised of a broad cross section of Memphians: black, white, young, old, male, and female. Furthermore, the leadership of those organizations understands and practices reaching deep into the stakeholder communities to gain opinion, feedback, and participation before decisions are made and projects initiated. The approach and priorities of each of these organizations along with many, many others represents the present reality and the future approach of our community. While many seemingly intransigent issues around economic disparity, poverty, and race remain as significant community challenges, there is a new spirit of success, cooperation, collaboration, and community building emerging and even maturing.
For example, Memphis Tomorrow’s membership is comprised of predominantly white male CEO’s of the largest companies and institutions in the region. Memphis Tomorrow executes its projects and initiatives focused on education, crime, and economic development around the successful principles of deep research, broad community fact-gathering and grass-roots engagement. While comprised of top-down leadership, the approach of Memphis Tomorrow at its core is grass-roots community consensus building and execution.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Killer B's of Memphis
Memphis is a major player in the emergence and transformation of the railroads into a primary transportation mode of business and commerce both domestically and internationally. Iconic, mutual fund investor, Warren Buffett, has added his confirmation of the shift in transportation with an 'all-in wager' in the Berkshire Hathaway $34 Billion dollar acquisition of Burlington Northern (BNSF) railroad, the 2nd largest railroad in the country. In true Buffet fashion, he is quoted on msnbc.com as saying, “Berkshire’s $34 billion investment in BNSF is a huge bet on that company, CEO Matt Rose and his team and the railroad industry. Most important of all, however it’s an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States. I love these bets” (read the entire article here). So what does that have to do with Memphis?BNSF recently opened its $300 million "Memphis Intermodal" sort located on Lamar just north of Shelby Drive. With lift capacity in excess of 500,000 per year, the Memphis operation is reflective of the BNSF preparations for a changing focus of moving goods and products via the more 'green' railroad mode for longer distance shipping and shifting the trucking industry to more short-haul focus. The BNSF/Berkshire/Buffett combination makes a 'killer Bs' alignment for the Memphis economy. According to the BNSF website, “The expansion creates a sort of ripple effect of other new developments and growth in an area buzzing with warehouses, distribution centers and other transportation industries.” These new lifts not only help to fuel jobs and commerce locally, but they further edify Memphis’s role in the global marketplace as a transportation/distribution hub.
During difficult economic times, the major railroad companies continue to invest or have plans to invest more than $1 billion in rail infrastructure enhancements in the Memphis market.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Year-End 2009 Market Reports
Our year-end office and industrial market reports are now available for download. Learn about the trends we are currently seeing in the Memphis commercial real estate market as well as an outlook for future growth.You can visit our website at www.commadv.com/marketknowledge or dowload them by clicking the links below.
Office Report
Industrial Report
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Larry Jensen to Speak at Commercial Real Estate Women Luncheon
Larry Jensen, President and CEO of Commercial Advisors, is the keynote speaker at the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) luncheon this Thursday, March 18th at the Tower Room at Clark Tower. He will be giving his Roadshow presentation with insights about Memphis and the revelation of opportunity that exists within our community.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Wyatt Aiken Quoted in the Memphis Daily News
Commercial Advisors' Executive VP and COO Wyatt Aiken was recently quoted in the Memphis Daily News article: CRE Market Sweats Tight Times. You can read the article by clicking here.
Monday, March 8, 2010
An Open Letter to Our Local Congressmen
The Kauffman Foundation completed a recent study which overviewed the following historical information:
Larry Jensen
- From 1980-2005 almost ALL new jobs were created by small businesses less than five years old
- National Federation of Independent Businesses states 85% of US workers are employed by small business
- Credit is reasonably available
- Tax policy is clear and favorable to small business growth
- Healthcare craziness is settled
Larry Jensen
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Dear Mr. Forbes
Mr. Forbes,
May I ask a question? Did you or your reporter actually visit here before the recent article was written? It might have been good for someone to actually come to our 'miserable' city and discover just how good misery can be.
Just a few examples for your consideration:
1) Consistently, The Chronicle of Philanthropy cites Memphis as one of the 'most generous' cities in America in terms of support for philanthropic endeavors. Much of that focus is the faith community giving time, money, human resources and love into the poor and under-resourced areas of our community. An example might be helpful. For more than 20 years a just one faith-based organization, Neighborhood Christian Centers (www.ncclife.org), has provided caring help and services to our city’s poor and marginalized. Currently serving more than 70,000 residents each year, this organization, for example, provides food, clothing, tutoring, prenatal services, and much, much more. Or how about The Church Health Center (www.churchhealthcenter.org), which serves our city by providing cooperative health care services to many, many people on a free or reduced cost basis? How miserable!
2) There are more than 25 agencies or charter schools in our city with laser focus on 'at risk' kids. Making a difference is proven. In fact, Bill and Mylinda Gates (Read More) determined the efforts being made to address education deserved a $90+ million investment in our education efforts focused on our core city children. Misery loves company, so perhaps you could join the Gates and make a family investment in us? Maybe just writing a fully factual article could be a grand start.
3) Crime is a problem in every major city! Anyone who will take the time to research and understand the subject of national crime reporting knows statistical comparisons of crimes between metro areas are misleading and not factual. Tennessee reports in a most thorough manner, not required in most other states, thus our numbers are more accurate and therefore higher. Not to worry, our miserable crime fighting efforts in Memphis (www.memphiscrime.org) has reduced crime more than 20% in the last year and more than 15% since 2006. (That should have been reported and it is factual!) Seems someone missed those facts in their rush to misery conclusions.
4) Come on down in May and join our miserable month long celebration called Memphis in May (www.memphisinmay.org). Each year for the last 20+ years we have joined together as a community to honor a particular country. This year the country of Tunisia will be honored. There is the International Barbecue Cooking Contest, The Blues Festival, and finally the last weekend The Sunset Symphony. All of these events occur in our miserable downtown (www.downtownmemphis.com) , where more than 28,000 people live in a vibrant and renovated district just south of St. Jude Childrens' Research Hospital (www.stjude.org) campus. St. Jude has more than 4000 people who show up each day for live-saving research and medical work for the children of the WORLD!
5) Almost forgot about our innovation and entrepreneurial environment. If you ever need a bio-device such as a joint replacement you should look closely because it will likely have been made in misery in Memphis by one of the companies which lead the research and innovation globally. Global logistics and transportation have been changed by another miserable business: FedEx. I assume you occasion a grocery store which was pioneered here by Piggly Wiggly or you stay in a hotel, which is an industry developed by another misery loving company, Holiday Inn. How about changing the car parts industry to a retail business—AutoZone? Or how about our biggest employers whose headquarters grow and thrive in this miserable place: FedEx Corp, FedEx Express, International Paper, ServiceMaster, AutoZone, St. Jude, Guardsmark, Helena Chemical, Hunter Fan, ACH Foods, Lucite International and others.
6) Greenbelts and parks are a priority here. Consider how miserable it must be to have 4500 acre public park operated by a citizens' board smack in the middle of the miserable metro area with trails soon to be connecting from all over the area and people using it every for recreation and exercise. Let's see...Shelby Farms Park (www.shelbyfarmspark.org) is five (5X) larger than Central Park. Or how about our zoo (www.memphiszoo.org) which is a critically acclaimed, world class zoo operated by a public-private partnership.
Mayor AC Wharton is a national leader in urban issues and he would be a great feature story sometime. If your reporter had been to Memphis and if he had toured and talk to us, I believe the article would have been more representative. It seems he just took a bunch of research statistics and the result was he wrote a most miserable article. In any event if you and the reporter would like I am certain we could arrange a 'miserable' all expenses paid trip on one of our corporate jets and you can probably stay in the world class, five star Hotel Peabody. We'll leave the welcome mat out for you!
Miserably yours,
Larry Jensen
President & CEO
May I ask a question? Did you or your reporter actually visit here before the recent article was written? It might have been good for someone to actually come to our 'miserable' city and discover just how good misery can be.
Just a few examples for your consideration:
1) Consistently, The Chronicle of Philanthropy cites Memphis as one of the 'most generous' cities in America in terms of support for philanthropic endeavors. Much of that focus is the faith community giving time, money, human resources and love into the poor and under-resourced areas of our community. An example might be helpful. For more than 20 years a just one faith-based organization, Neighborhood Christian Centers (www.ncclife.org), has provided caring help and services to our city’s poor and marginalized. Currently serving more than 70,000 residents each year, this organization, for example, provides food, clothing, tutoring, prenatal services, and much, much more. Or how about The Church Health Center (www.churchhealthcenter.org), which serves our city by providing cooperative health care services to many, many people on a free or reduced cost basis? How miserable!
2) There are more than 25 agencies or charter schools in our city with laser focus on 'at risk' kids. Making a difference is proven. In fact, Bill and Mylinda Gates (Read More) determined the efforts being made to address education deserved a $90+ million investment in our education efforts focused on our core city children. Misery loves company, so perhaps you could join the Gates and make a family investment in us? Maybe just writing a fully factual article could be a grand start.
3) Crime is a problem in every major city! Anyone who will take the time to research and understand the subject of national crime reporting knows statistical comparisons of crimes between metro areas are misleading and not factual. Tennessee reports in a most thorough manner, not required in most other states, thus our numbers are more accurate and therefore higher. Not to worry, our miserable crime fighting efforts in Memphis (www.memphiscrime.org) has reduced crime more than 20% in the last year and more than 15% since 2006. (That should have been reported and it is factual!) Seems someone missed those facts in their rush to misery conclusions.
4) Come on down in May and join our miserable month long celebration called Memphis in May (www.memphisinmay.org). Each year for the last 20+ years we have joined together as a community to honor a particular country. This year the country of Tunisia will be honored. There is the International Barbecue Cooking Contest, The Blues Festival, and finally the last weekend The Sunset Symphony. All of these events occur in our miserable downtown (www.downtownmemphis.com) , where more than 28,000 people live in a vibrant and renovated district just south of St. Jude Childrens' Research Hospital (www.stjude.org) campus. St. Jude has more than 4000 people who show up each day for live-saving research and medical work for the children of the WORLD!
5) Almost forgot about our innovation and entrepreneurial environment. If you ever need a bio-device such as a joint replacement you should look closely because it will likely have been made in misery in Memphis by one of the companies which lead the research and innovation globally. Global logistics and transportation have been changed by another miserable business: FedEx. I assume you occasion a grocery store which was pioneered here by Piggly Wiggly or you stay in a hotel, which is an industry developed by another misery loving company, Holiday Inn. How about changing the car parts industry to a retail business—AutoZone? Or how about our biggest employers whose headquarters grow and thrive in this miserable place: FedEx Corp, FedEx Express, International Paper, ServiceMaster, AutoZone, St. Jude, Guardsmark, Helena Chemical, Hunter Fan, ACH Foods, Lucite International and others.
6) Greenbelts and parks are a priority here. Consider how miserable it must be to have 4500 acre public park operated by a citizens' board smack in the middle of the miserable metro area with trails soon to be connecting from all over the area and people using it every for recreation and exercise. Let's see...Shelby Farms Park (www.shelbyfarmspark.org) is five (5X) larger than Central Park. Or how about our zoo (www.memphiszoo.org) which is a critically acclaimed, world class zoo operated by a public-private partnership.
Mayor AC Wharton is a national leader in urban issues and he would be a great feature story sometime. If your reporter had been to Memphis and if he had toured and talk to us, I believe the article would have been more representative. It seems he just took a bunch of research statistics and the result was he wrote a most miserable article. In any event if you and the reporter would like I am certain we could arrange a 'miserable' all expenses paid trip on one of our corporate jets and you can probably stay in the world class, five star Hotel Peabody. We'll leave the welcome mat out for you!
Miserably yours,
Larry Jensen
President & CEO
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