When the Memphis-Shelby County Industrial Development Board meets Wednesday, July 20, it will have on its plate six projects to consider that could bring 259 new jobs to the city, millions of dollars of new investment to the area and keep some of an existing employer’s operations in the city.

But Wednesday’s IDB meeting also is important for another more fundamental reason.

It will be the board’s last meeting at which tax breaks will be granted. The board will hold one more special meeting solely for the purpose of approving the minutes of Wednesday’s meeting. At the end of the month, the board will essentially dissolve.

And starting in August, the area’s economic development efforts will move into a new sphere.

The IDB meets Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Memphis City Hall, 125 N. Main St. Six payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) awards are on the agenda, including a retention PILOT for McKesson Corp. so it can keep jobs in Shelby County.

The IDB is the agency that grants tax incentives to businesses that expand their operations in Memphis, relocate their operations from point to point within the area or that move here from outside the area.

The IDB’s disbanding signals the start of the long-awaited EDGE (Economic Development Growth Engine) board, an umbrella entity whose creation was meant to streamline the area’s economic development efforts, consolidate various agencies and make the process of working with them more efficient.

Kim Hackney, senior policy adviser to Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, said the new EDGE board members will move into their roles in early August.

Local economic development officials said preparations are being finalized for the board. Yet to be chosen, for example, is a president who will serve as an economic development point person.

The EDGE board also will be getting a physical office. And various economic development staffing could change.

For example, the current IDB attorney could be retained. But other attorneys with different specialties also could be added, since the EDGE board’s new work will include duties handled by agencies other than the IDB.

Among the items on tap Wednesday is a four-year PILOT being sought by Jordan Aluminum for a $7.2 million expansion project to include building a 40,000-square-foot building and creating 17 new jobs.

Memphis Specialized Operations is seeking an eight-year PILOT for a $21 million project that would include building a 26,000-square-foot lab to serve as a research and development facility for biotechnology. That project would create 22 new jobs.

In addition to McKesson’s retention PILOT, chemical company Pennakem is seeking a 15-year PILOT for a $28 million project involving new machinery for its Memphis location, which would bring 49 new jobs.

Trane, a provider of residential and commercial HVAC equipment, is seeking an eight-year PILOT to help offset the cost of a $15 million expansion that includes building a warehouse and distribution facility in Memphis that would mean 146 new jobs.

And finally, industrial gas company Praxair wants to build a new air separation and storage facility in Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park. The company wants an 11-year PILOT for that $46.4 million project, which would create 25 new jobs.