News

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.