Existing businesses are discovering the advantages of doing business in Memphis. Capital investment in the metro area from major projects continues with five consecutive billion-dollar years and a total of just over $1.6 billion in 2001, involving 160 existing Memphis companies.

This success has reached a substancial international proportions. Memphis is to a growing number of national and multinational comapnies. Approximately 150 firms from 22 countries now have operations in the Mid-South.

The city’s prime location is the key to its business success. Adjacent to the Mississippi River and crossed by seven federal and two interstate highways, Memphis’ natural advantages are further increased by access to the world’s busiest cargo airport. More major metro areas can be reached overnight from Memphis than any other city in the central U.S. European markets are within easy reach as well, with daily nonstop flights to Amsterdam via Northwest/KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Status    
The city is in the top eight of the 50 best major metro areas in the U.S. for starting and growing a business,Inc. magazine, in 2000.
Southern Business and Development magazine ranked Memphis as one of the most successful models for economic development in the south – in fact, Southern Business & Development magazine also recognized Memphis as one of the top ten markets over the past decade.
Ebony Magazine just cited Memphis as a city for its outstanding African-American leadership, in its October 2002 edition.
Finally, Memphis had the highest rate of high-tech start-ups over the last three years among the nation’s 60 largest metro areas, according to Brandow Company research.