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Memphis, Tennessee, a HUD Community Challenge grantee, held a forum last week to  re-energize its regional economic and redevelopment strategy, which promises to generate over 1,500 new jobs with over $500 million worth of investment. 60 public, private, and non-profit groups are working together to bolster the regional job market, rehabilitate vacant and blighted housing, and improve transportation opportunities.

The Memphis area “aerotropolis,” the largest of its kind in the nation, is an economic hub that extends from a large airport to distribution centers, offices, hotels, and convention centers through a network of interconnected road and rail lines. Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander has supported the project since it began, saying, “You have an unmatched air cargo center… Aim for the top, there’s more room there.”

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan also spoke at the forum, lending his support to the regionally-based strategy:

“Memphis knows what’s best for Memphis. Our job in Washington isn’t to tell you how to create jobs – you’ve proven you know how to do that. It’s to ensure what we’re doing isn’t working against the needs of the regional economies your businesses depend on – but in support of them. That is the goal of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities HUD forged with the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency.”

The Secretary’s full remarks can be found on HUD’s website and more information on the Aerotropolis can be found on the Greater Memphis Chamber’s website.