VOL. 126 | NO. 35 | Monday, February 21, 2011
One of the most famous aphorisms about politics is that all of it is local. Bankers and other inhabitants of the finance world know the same often goes for them too.
Memphis investment firms see strong growth
From wealth management to accounting to investment firms, plenty of financial services companies in Memphis are enjoying a robust level of growth that might seem surprising to an outsider.
Whenever Bryan Jordan, the president and CEO of Memphis-based First Horizon National Corp., gives a presentation to analysts or other financial industry types, he repeatedly stresses the company’s focus on its two core businesses.
For 30 years, business partners Ron Lazarov and Marty Kelman of Kelman-Lazarov Inc. have taken financial planning and turned it into something people can holistically approach.
Optimism is in the eye of the beholder in the commercial real estate industry. In a city plagued with high vacancies and scarce speculative development, investors have Memphis on its radar – and Memphis should too.
The court-appointed receiver who’s unwinding the now-defunct operations of Stanford Financial Group – once fueled by money from a giant Ponzi scheme – is preparing to sell off Stanford property in Collierville.
Bill Strickland is widely admired for the many hats he wears; CEO, social entrepreneur, writer, speaker and visionary.
In the Bartlett Station Municipal Center last week, Memphis City Council member Shea Flinn asked for a show of hands among the several hundred people at the Mid-South Tea Party forum on schools consolidation.
The biggest of small businesses would be that of a professional athlete or movie star. These may be companies with just one employee but revenues of $20 million-plus. More importantly, the $20 million is net. Compare that with the salary of a CEO, a Fred Smith, who runs a global company with 300,000 employees for a mere $5 million salary.
Last week, we discussed ways you can partner with Memphis Recovery Centers, which is helping adolescents and adults fight drug and alcohol addiction. This week let us grab a spoon and learn how eating soup Feb. 27 can benefit a local nonprofit dedicated to helping emotionally and behaviorally troubled children and their families live successfully.
THE MEMPHIS NEWS
Memphis voters have 22 words to weigh as they decide what is to become of Shelby County’s two public school systems.
The most important part of a high-stakes, convoluted political drama started Feb. 16 when Memphians began casting early ballots on the schools consolidation question.
Arts organizations will collaborate to produce a joint production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in a format never before seen in the Mid-South.
It’s not that the salt has lost its savor but that it has been keeping company with pretty unsavory characters, like high blood pressure, heart disease and a host of other ills.
One understands the appeal of the Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay, the best-selling chardonnay in America. Sipping the 2009 version, the current release, a few days ago, I felt the immediate draw of its sunny ripeness and blatant tropical scents and flavors; it feels almost optimistic.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) – FedEx Corp. broke ground in Norcross for a distribution facility the company expects to employ 240 workers and 75 contractors when it opens next year.
NEW YORK (AP) – Flying is rarely seamless. Hoping to hit the Pick Four of a low fare, uninterrupted trip, great service and unscathed luggage is wishful thinking.
NATIONAL POLITICS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Casting about for innovative job-creation ideas, President Barack Obama is naming one of his critics to an advisory council responsible for finding new ways to promote economic growth and bring jobs to the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Upping the ante in the budget faceoff, the Obama administration warned Friday that workers who distribute Social Security benefits might be furloughed if congressional Republicans force cuts in federal spending.
PARIS (AP) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday urged countries with large trade surpluses like China to let their currencies rise in value to help prevent another global financial crisis.