As Site Selection with this issue celebrates 70 years in business, it’s only natural to notice companies celebrating their own major milestones with major investments.

In Tennessee, two in particular stand out: one from an anchor employer and one from a new arrival.

In January 2023, California-based In-N-Out Burger kicked off its 75th anniversary year by announcing its intentions to open future restaurants in Tennessee with a new $125 million Eastern territory office to be built in the corporate oasis of Franklin.

“We are very excited to provide Tennesseans with our quality burgers, fries and shakes,” said Lynsi Snyder, In-N-Out owner, president and sole granddaughter of Harry and Esther Snyder, who started the company with a small burger stand in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948. As of the date of the announcement, the company had 385 locations in seven Western states and more than 35,000 associates the company says it treats like family — a way of doing business sure to resonate in the Volunteer State as the restaurant company makes its first foray into the Eastern time zone.

“In every decision I make, I always consider what my family would want,” Snyder said. “I have no doubt that my grandparents, dad and uncle would be proud of this decision to grow our associate family and serve even more amazing customers beginning in Nashville and the surrounding areas.”

In-N-Out plans to open its first restaurants in Tennessee by 2026. Its plans for Franklin include an anchor restaurant and around 90,000 sq. ft. of office space.

Connecting the World Through Memphis

On April 17, 2023, FedEx Corp. marked 50 years since the company’s first fully operational night in Memphis. Today the company connects 220 countries and territories and employs more than 530,000 people across more than 5,000 facilities (4,800 of them in the U.S.), moving approximately 14.5 million packages per day.

“It is an honor and a privilege to work with such an innovator like Fred Smith who guided us to where we are today,” said President and CEO Raj Subramaniam of the company’s founder and executive chairman. “Today is a celebration of our dedicated team members who are committed to our Purple Promise of making every FedEx experience outstanding — now and for the next 50 years.” 

Part of those next 50 years is a $1.5 billion expansion and modernization of its World Hub that is expected to be complete in 2025. Among the recent manifestations of that expansion is a planned $220 million, 1.3-million-sq.-ft. sorting facility on Sprankel Avenue at Memphis International Airport right next door to a $212 million sorting facility already under construction that FedEx originally filed a permit for in 2019. The company filed a building permit with the city in August for the newer facility.

In October 2023, FedEx’s annual economic impact report produced in consultation with Dun & Bradstreet found that FedEx contributed more than $80 billion in direct impact to the global economy in FY 2023. Among other findings:

“Analysis of spending with roughly 73,000 unique suppliers over calendar year 2022 revealed that the company’s spending with these suppliers during that time supported 1.1 million jobs.”

“Operational enhancements included opening new facilities across a range of locations such as Ireland, Poland, Australia and South Korea; enhancing many existing facilities by introducing advanced sorting equipment, adding warehouse capacity, and expanding airport ramp and road truck operations; and implementing operational efficiencies in markets like Alaska.”

“In FY 2023, FedEx directly contributed an estimated 8.2% of net economic output to the U.S. transportation and warehousing sector and indirectly contributed $8.7 billion to net output across the U.S. economy.”

The company may benefit from a new $15 million, 104,000-sq.-ft. accelerated training center in North Memphis announced in December by the Greater Memphis Chamber.

Located at a property at Gateway Shopping Center donated by Belz Enterprises, the tentatively named Prosper Memphis Accelerated Training Center will offer adults industry-approved skills certifications within four to 22 weeks, “quickly qualifying them for high-demand jobs in logistics, manufacturing, construction, and technology,” said a Chamber release.