Memphis Regional Megasite

Success is more than making great products. With a central location and quick access to all modes of transportation and a nearby Foreign Trade Zone, the Memphis Megasite makes it easy to get your products to market.

Eight highways and more than 95,500 miles of highway put Tennessee within a day’s drive of a majority of U.S. consumer markets. Tennessee is the third largest rail center in the U.S., with five Class 1 railroads in Memphis alone. Rivers and lakes thread throughout the state, providing more than 1,000 miles of navigable waterways and access to another 4,500 miles through the Tennessee-Tombigee Waterway.

There is no better place than the Memphis Megasite for getting your products to market.

Air: Memphis International Airport is the busiest cargo airport in the Western Hemisphere and serves 300 national and international destinations.

Road: Seven major highways go through Memphis, including I-40, the third busiest trucking corridor in the U.S. Memphis is the halfway point between Canada and Mexico on I-69, a “NAFTA Superhighway.” In fact, more major population centers can be reached overnight from Memphis than any other city in the U.S., and more than 600 motor freight companies make it happen.

Rail: Memphis is one of only four U.S. cities served by five Class 1 railroads. Four of those are adjacent to the site, and 24-hour rail access is available through nine fully operational rail yards with a total container capacity of more than 2 million annual lifts.

Ports: The Memphis Regional Megasite allows easy access to two major ports: Port of Memphis and Port of Cates Landing. The Port of Memphis, the second busiest port on the Mississippi River, ships and receives more than 11 million tons of goods each year. The fifth busiest inland port in the U.S., Port of Memphis is always free of ice and is centrally located, 400 miles from St. Louis and 600 miles from New Orleans.

Foreign Trade Zone: Located on the Mississippi River north of the Memphis Regional Megasite, the Port of Cates Landing allows ease of access to major markets with no customs duties on merchandise. This designated foreign trade zone is accessible to barge traffic and is ice-free year round.

Utilities: The 2,000-year-old Memphis Sands Aquifer provides plentiful pure water, filtered through clay and sand, which offers industrial utility customers access to some of the least expensive water in the nation.

A new Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) will be developed on the Memphis Regional Megasite in conjunction with Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation’s Blue Oval City.

The new TCAT will provide customized training developed in conjunction with Ford and SK Innovation. This high-quality training will focus on electric vehicle and battery manufacturing and repair with the curriculum concentrating on mechatronics engineering and automechanics.

To make great products, you need great people. Tennessee is the place to find them—dedicated, skilled, passionate about quality. That is why we are working to become the most aligned state in the nation for workforce and education. We’re making it clear to both Tennessee families and prospective employers: A strong, educated workforce is our priority.

With 2.1 million people within a 90-minute drive, the Memphis Regional Megasite is ideally situated to provide the workforce you need. Our game-changing education and workforce alignment reforms give you a steady pipeline of qualified employees.

The Governor’s Investment in Vocation Education (GIVE) initiative, part of Governor Bill Lee’s legislative agenda, is a two-pronged approach to expand access to vocational and technical training for Tennessee high school students.

In addition, Tennessee’s Drive to 55 initiative works to increase the number of residents with postsecondary degrees or certifications to 55 percent by 2025. To reach that milestone, we’ve created several groundbreaking programs.

The Governor’s Investment in Vocation Education (GIVE) Initiative: The GIVE initiative invests $25 million in competitively awarded community grants that will fund regional partnerships between high schools, industry, and Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs) to build new work-based learning/apprenticeship programs, market-driven dual-credit opportunities, and the expansion of industry-informed career and technical education offerings.

Tennessee Promise

Beginning in Fall 2015, high school graduates can attend one of our 13 Tennessee Community College or 27 Tennessee College of Applied Technology College completely free of tuition and fees.

Tennessee Reconnect

Tennessee the first state in the nation to offer all citizens, both high school graduates and adults, the chance to earn a postsecondary degree or certificate free of tuition and fees and at no cost to taxpayers

Regional Employers

The area’s major employers include: Fedex, International Paper Company, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Autozone, Nike, Delta Faucet, Smith & Nephew Inc., Medtronic, Electrolux, Microport Orthopedics Inc., Toyota Bodine Aluminum and TBDN Tennessee Company

Overall Employment

Over 928,000 people employed within a 90-minute drive.

Advanced Manufacturing

Over 62,000 advanced industry jobs within a 90-minute drive.

Education

1.2 million people within a 90-minute drive have a high school diploma or higher.

Overall Job Growth

6.2% over the last five years.

Advanced Industries

25.7% growth of workforce within a 90-minute drive, over the last ten years.

Job Placement 

85.6% job placement rate for Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology graduates in West Tennessee.

Dream big and live large.

Here, you can choose the life you want to live. West Tennessee’s rich and varied culture and unique mix of urban and rural settings give you endless options—all of them affordable. After all, Memphis is the most affordable big city in the U.S., and housing prices are 30 percent below the national average.

The artistic and cultural resources, storied music history and famous food combine to make Memphis a city on the move. Nearby Jackson offers the same big-city amenities, while farms and rural communities dot the wide-open spaces in between.

The abundant outdoor recreation and famous historic sites give you plenty of reasons to get outside and enjoy the mild climate. And our love of sports puts you in the middle of the excitement year round.

Whether you choose city living, a countryside estate or a laid-back small town, you’re in the perfect spot to visit one of the nation’s top-ranked zoos, join millions of visitors on world-famous Beale Street, become a die-hard sports fan or trace the footsteps of Elvis Presley, B.B. King and other greats as they helped forge the beginnings of blues, soul and rock music.