New Industrialization Campaign of Memphis Mega Site to Generate Thousands of Jobs
West Memphis has made the announcement of a marketing campaign aimed at generating the development of a 1,800-acre industrial site located on Interstate 40. The land is one the largest single tracts in metropolitan Memphis that is yet to be industrialized.
As revealed, the marketing strategy is to find a single user, such as an auto assembly plant, or users for the property, which is distinguishably positioned at the Arkansas 147 intersection- just west of the West Memphis campus of Arkansas State University. The property is the one piece of land of such size that is still available for development in all of Memphis and Shelby Counties.
Based on the original plan outline, the campaign would get into full operation in November 2020, starting with an official announcement sent out to notable industrial site selectors and corporate executives across the country. The land is served by water, rail, and sewer, and that guarantees that it is not deficient in attention. According to the words of Nick Coulter, the director of communications for the city of West Memphis, there is a possibility of the property being divided into little pieces to accommodate multiple occupants.
The primary purpose of the campaign is to relieve the continuous increase in the rate of unemployment across metropolitan Memphis. In August 2020, the unemployment rate in West Memphis measured up to 10.9%, compared to the 11.9% measured across the nine-county metro area. A large part of that increase is credited to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The pandemic has significantly slowed down the rate of business investment, but Coulter still believes that a lot of companies that had plans for an expansion would remain committed to that vision, with the hope that the vaccine would soon be available globally.
Alongside the West Memphis property, there is also a 4,100-acre Memphis Regional Mega site that requires more advanced infrastructural work. The regional mega-site is located on I-40, around 30 miles northeast of Memphis, and it has been in the custody of the state of Tennessee since 2009.
In Memphis/Mississippi suburbs, the BNSF Railway has already licensed the project of a 1,220-acre Springs Industrial Park at Holly Springs. The whole expense of the land is close to the 1,800 acres superintendent by the Marshall County Industrial Development Authority. That is the same board that is in charge of the 3,200-acre Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park. Also, not too far, the private Gateway Global Logistics Center owns 2,000 acres of land that is available for development, northwest of Holly Springs.
The West Memphis officials plan to deploy the 1-40 intersection that the Mega site has with Interstate 55 as one of the best-selling points. Not just that, they will utilize the facts that the property is just a 10-minutes’ drive from Downtown Memphis and in the neighboring vicinity of the Memphis International Airport. Even more, the location is accessible from the Union Pacific rail service.
To divulge further strategic details of the campaign, Coulter revealed that the campaign would creatively implement digital approaches such as search engine optimization (SEO), Facebook advertising, and much more digital procedures.
The aim of the marketing campaign is very definite and without doubt, the plan is a good one. However, whether or not the growth will go according to plan, only time will tell.
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