FedEx Extends Contract With US Postal Service

FedEx Corp. announced Thursday that its FedEx Express subsidiary has extended its express air transportation contract with the U.S. Postal Service originally executed April 23, 2013, through Sept. 29, 2024.

The modified contract is expected to generate revenue of approximately $1.5 billion per year for FedEx Express. FedEx Express will provide airport-to-airport transportation of USPS Priority Mail Express and Priority Mail within the U.S.

“We are pleased to be able to extend this agreement and to continue the outstanding service that FedEx Express has provided to the USPS for more than 16 years,” said David J. Bronczek, president and chief operating officer of FedEx Corp. “This contract provides USPS with the operational reliability and flexibility they have come to expect from FedEx.”

Memphis-based FedEx provides a portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services worldwide. With annual revenues of $58 billion, the company employs more than 400,000.

– Daily News staff

Jenny Bush Named To Youth Villages National Board

Youth Villages, one of the largest providers of children’s behavioral health services in the country, has named Jenny Bush, president of Cummins Mid-South and Southern Plains, to its national board of directors.

Bush, a native of England who now lives in Germantown, has held a series of leadership positions for Cummins around the world. She became involved with Memphis-based Youth Villages after taking the Mid-South position in 2014.

“In addition to personally volunteering her time, Jenny encouraged her employees to do so, and Cummins Mid-South now has a monthly outing to spend time with our youth,” said Patrick W. Lawler, chief executive officer. “She secured support from the Cummins Foundation for our Food With Class vocational program and has created an apprentice program for young people who age out of foster care and participate in our YVLifeSet program.”

Said Bush: “Personally, I have a huge desire to try to help young people who are disadvantaged. Our employees have made meaningful connections with the children and young people being helped by Youth Villages, and I look forward to being a part of the leadership team.”

– Don Wade

Third Universal Parenting Location Opens in Memphis

Shelby County residents now have increased access to the services of Universal Parenting Places with the opening of the third UPP facility at Perea Preschool, a Ministry of Church Health, at 1250 Vollintine Ave.

The location is funded by the Memphis-based ACE Awareness Foundation and is open immediately.

UPP sites are dedicated to delivering practical information, guidance and emotional support for family-related issues or concerns. In addition to one-on-one parenting counseling, open events that will be available include daily meditations, yoga for adults and more.

The Perea Preschool site will be led by Molly Crenshaw, as parent coach and counselor; and Dot Phillips, as hospitality and community liaison coordinator.

Additional UPP sites are available in Shelby County through founding partners Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women and Knowledge Quest. Plans are to open a fourth UPP site in the second quarter.

– Andy Meek

White Station Nightclub To Remain Closed

A White Station nightclub closed as a public nuisance by an Environmental Court order last week will remain closed for at least another six months.

The court order against the Las Vegas Bar and Grill, 745 N. White Station Road, was extended this week by General Sessions Environmental Court Judge Larry Potter.

The extension came after Potter wasn’t satisfied that the owners, Osman Ruby Zelaya and Lester Munguia Zelaya, would take the necessary steps to eliminate criminal activity there if allowed to reopen.

Most businesses closed as a public nuisance reopen at some point after agreeing to conditions that usually involve security issues.

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich and city chief legal officer Bruce McMullen sought the closing because police were called to the bar and grill 31 times in 18 months, including a robbery kidnapping call and three aggravated assaults.

The same location was closed in 2011, when it was called La Stempeda, for drug dealing and other illegal activity.

– Bill Dries

ServiceMaster’s Net Income Slightly Lower in 2016

Memphis-based ServiceMaster Global Holdings reported net income for 2016 of $155 million compared to $160 million for 2015.

The earnings statement released Thursday, Feb. 23, showed fourth-quarter net income of $31 million, or 23 cents per share, versus $17 million, or 12 cents per share, for the last quarter of 2015.

Income for the quarter beat analyst estimates by about 4 cents a share.

American Home Shield showed an increase in revenue for the quarter as the home warranty business focused on streamlining and integrating recent acquisitions.

Terminix showed growth in year-over-year sales and revenue.

“Challenges remain in our pest control business,” ServiceMaster CEO Rob Gillette said in a prepared statement. “But we are confident the operational changes we are making will improve customer service and retention and result in solid growth in the future.”

– Bill Dries

DIY Network to Aid Aretha Franklin Home

The Memphis home where soul music legend Aretha Franklin was born may get some love from the DIY Network, officials said Thursday, Feb. 23.

Jeffrey Higgs, president of the LeMoyne-Owen College Community Development Corp., told a judge he has been in discussions with a producer at the remodeling and home improvement cable network on a plan to repair and move the house for one of its programs.

Higgs hopes to move it to a safer location and make it more attractive for visitors. He told Shelby County Environmental Court Judge Larry Potter there’s no timetable for a plan, but he heard from the producer on Wednesday that the network was interested in moving forward. The network has been to Memphis to scout locations, Higgs said.

The boarded-up house sits in a blighted section of the Soulsville neighborhood filled with abandoned homes and vacant lots. Crime is a problem in the area. Potter had ordered the house demolished, but he put that order on hold after preservationists worked to stabilize the house last year.

“I would like to see this house saved,” Potter said. “I want to see it in a secure location.”

The house, which has been empty for years, has been placed in receivership, with Higgs as steward.

Higgs said the house needs a new roof and he’s looking for funds to help shore up the property. The DIY Network could help pay for the move, he said.

Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” was born in the house in 1942. Her family moved to Detroit about two years later.

– The Associated Press