The life sciences sector is getting a heavy push from John Threadgill, president of the Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce.

John Threadgill, president of the Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce, has worked in economic development for decades. He has been instrumental in bringing new businesses and helping to expand existing businesses in the Bartlett area.
(Photo: Lance Murphey)

Under Threadgill’s leadership, the life sciences industry has become a core focus for BACC’s ambitious economic development plan, a first for Bartlett and the Northeast Corridor of Shelby County.

Plans are quickly moving forward on a new $3 million life sciences job training center, which Threadgill believes will act as a catalyst for attracting more businesses to an area that is already an epicenter for life sciences companies.

“Things are actually progressing faster than we anticipated,” Threadgill said. “We expect the new job training facility to be a magnet for other companies interested in coming to the area.”

Threadgill took over as president of BACC in 2006. He began his career in economic development more than 30 years ago in Nashville working for the state of Tennessee doing international recruitment of capital investment.

He helped recruit Brother to Bartlett during the 1980s. Threadgill next moved to Memphis in 1990 to head up the international program for the Greater Memphis Business Chamber, and he eventually became the chamber’s chief administrative officer.

“When I came to Bartlett in 2006 and began to access the market, I realized that there were a large number of very successful home-grown businesses that have set up facilities here that I simply did not know about,” he said. “It was quite an eye opener for someone that’s been in the business as long as I have. It gave me a lot of encouragement and optimism about the level of entrepreneurship in our community.”

The BACC, which has six full-time employees, covers territory encompassing as many as 5,000 businesses, of which the chamber counts 600 members. Their goal is to hit 1,000 members, or 20 percent of the market.

Phase II of the BACC’s current economic development plan (labelled Vision 20/20) launched in July 2010, and 10-year performance goals include raising $2 billion in new capital investment, creating as many as 20,000 new jobs, and 30 percent population growth resulting in $2.5 billion in total new income.

To accomplish those things, the plan targets four focus industries, including life sciences, agribusiness, retail and tourism, and growth industries. More than 40 life science companies currently call the Bartlett area home, with the majority being medical device companies such as Smith & Nephew, Wright Medical Technology Inc. and Medtronic Inc. The BACC hopes to grow that number to at least 60 companies in the next 10 years.

“What we have right now in our area is an industry cluster (life sciences) that many economic development departments across the country would love to have,” said Threadgill. “What we need to do is ensure it is sustainable and then help it to grow.”

To find out about its members’ concerns, the BACC went door to door and talked to each company. One recurring thing they heard about from life sciences companies was the need for a job-training center, where companies could send current employees as well as prospective employees to be trained to enter the workforce.

“Just in our market, there are at least 200 jobs waiting to be filled, and could be filled right now, if there were qualified employees for those positions,” Threadgill said. “Right now there is no training facility for those specialized skill sets.”

So the BACC presented its findings to Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, and his support led to a proposal from the BACC for a new facility. Next Threadgill and the BACC will meet with Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. in early February to make their presentation. Wharton has labelled the project a joint initiative between Shelby County and city of Memphis governments.

“Our hope is that it will help perpetuate the growth of the industry since companies will see that we are producing a pipeline of trained employees to meet their needs,” said Threadgill, who points out that people with medical device training can easily crossover into the automotive or aerospace fields.

It’s still early, but if legislation passes later this year the funds for the new facility might be available as early as July.