In 2021 the Greater Memphis Chamber launched a new tool to help better inform businesses that are considering locating to the Memphis region.The Memphis Moves dashboard provides a variety of employment and education data that employers can use to decide if Memphis is a good fit for them. This data includes information on the existing jobs in the region for various occupations, the number of graduates receiving an industry certificate or a degree, and an interactive map to help employers visualize where universities, colleges, and vocational and technical schools are located.¶
It’s the type of information most workforce organizations and chambers of commerce provide when asked by potential employers, but the Greater Memphis Chamber took the extra step of making that data quickly available on a public facing website.Chamber Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Vice President of Workforce Development Amity Schuyler says the dashboard gives Memphis an advantage in the competition for jobs.“We know that our public facing information is no doubt being consumed by businesses and site selectors who then are requesting further information,” said Schuyler. “The grain size of the data that they’re asking about for workforce development has been incredibly instrumental in keeping the conversations going, in keeping Memphis in contention for new business attraction and ultimately final decision.”¶
The Chamber's Greater Memphis Economic Research Group (GMERG) led by Executive Director Tecora Murray is responsible for gathering the data and keeping the dashboard updated annually.Schuyler says the information not only answers common questions, but it also helps workforce leaders sell the advantages the Memphis region has in the engineering and manufacturing sectors. The data is also useful for families and education leaders who want to learn more about what jobs actually exist in the region. That way they’re not focusing attention on fields where job prospects are slim.“Really just trying to take a data driven approach to workforce development so that first, our businesses have what they need when they need it. I like to call it a speed of need workforce. And second, we’re setting up students especially, whether they’re high school or in university, for success and they’re getting good guidance, and they have access to good information about the jobs of the region,” said Schuyler. “We don’t want anybody driving blind. Workforce development is first and foremost a math equation. What do we need, how much of it do we need, and where are we going to get it from.”
