Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Memphis Business Group Sells Memphis in NYC
Memphis chamber courts New Yorkers at Griz game
When the Memphis Grizzlies take to the court tonight in New York, a special contingent will be on hand touting Memphis.
The Greater Memphis Chamber has rented a double suite in Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, to wine and dine New York business executives.
The contingent, led by chamber chief executive officer Phil Trenary, reflects a chamber initiative to recruit office jobs to the Memphis area.
About 65 people are expected to be in the suite for the game including a large group of commercial real estate brokers and site relocation executives based in the New York area, chamber spokeswoman Christina Meek said.
Scheduled to join Trenary at the game are a group of Memphians that include real estate executives Kevin Adams, chief executive of CBRE Memphis; Darrell Cobbins, chief executive of Universal Commercial; Larry Jensen, chief executive of Cushman & Wakefield / Commercial Advisors; and Brad Murchison, vice president of Colliers International.
Last year, the chamber hosted a similar meeting in Los Angeles at a Grizzlies game.
“We’re going to be out recruiting in those high-cost markets,’’ Mark Herbison, the chamber’s senior vice president of economic development, said in a recent interview. “We’re doing a lot more external recruiting around the country.”
The chamber has pointed out land costs, office leases, utility rates and wages and salaries are significantly lower in the Memphis area, which attracted the Connecticut headquarters of International Paper Co. in 2006.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Universal Commercial President Helps Leads Push for Greater Inclusion & Participation
Push for Broader Minority Business Participation Grows
By Bill Dries
A larger share of business for minority- and women-owned local businesses should begin with an inventory that matches existing businesses with existing opportunities.
100 Black Men of Memphis Chairman Ron Redwing, Latino Memphis Director Mauricio Calvo and Darrell Cobbins, CEO of Universal Commercial Real Estate, discussed minority contracts and business on "Behind the Headlines" Friday, Aug. 29.
And three leaders of the recently revived effort to build that share of business say from there the local Memphis economy overall can grow.
“We are talking about opportunities for the majority of this community at the end of the day,” said Ron Redwing, president of the group 100 Black Men on the WKNO-TV program “Behind The Headlines.” “This is not just business for business sake. We’re talking about issues of drugs and violence, particularly youth violence. What we are looking at is a systemic problem with young folk with no hope, who are in despair and don’t believe that things can get better for them.”
The program, hosted by Eric Barnes, publisher of The Daily News, can be seen on The Daily News Video page, video.memphisdailynews.com.
Redwing and Universal Commercial Real Estate CEO Darrell Cobbinsbegan talking about a more aggressive and active push for minority-owned businesses to have a share of public and private contracts earlier this year.
Some of it was a reaction to comments Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks made chastising a Hispanic business leader for comparing the hardships facing Latinos in Memphis to those faced by African-Americans.
Mauricio Calvo, director of Latino Memphis Inc., was among those who reacted to the criticism by attempting to shift back to the issue of minority business.
“While that was a really awkward moment, I think the good things out of that is that people are talking about it. I’m not saying she created this,” Calvo said. “But it did create a sense of let’s regroup and talk about this issue. I think it was an invitation to go back to the table.”
Cobbins noted that a 1994 disparity study – the last comprehensive study done on the disparity in how much business goes to minority-owned businesses – put gross receipts for businesses owned by minorities and women at approximately 1 percent for the Memphis metropolitan area. U.S. Census data in 2007 put it at .08 percent – about a year before the onset of the national recession.
“I think we can probably assume that number is even worse,” Cobbins said of the impact of the recession. “The impetus for this recent push was that we need to examine as a community that issue as a priority.”
The urgency is in local poverty rates for African-Americans in Memphis that is 32 percent higher than the national rate and 72 percent higher for Latinos than the national rate.
The effort includes private business efforts outside of government contracts for which the Shelby County Commission earlier this year commissioned another disparity study as another part of the fallout from the comments by Brooks.
Redwing initially was concerned the disparity study would mask or obscure more immediate efforts to address the problem directly and more rapidly.
“These numbers can’t be reached through government alone,” he said. “It has to be a partnership with the private sector. … We’re not talking about reinventing the wheel. The one thing we know is there has to be a change for Memphis to become the city of choice and to make the kind of differences that we are talking about.”
Calvo said a push to use more local businesses gets at the disparity faced by minority-owned businesses because those minorities are the majority in Memphis.
“I go back to a push for local businesses to have an important share,” he said. “If you make a push for local businesses, you are automatically sharing that wealth with the people here who are minorities and otherwise.”
Cobbins also called for different priorities in education.
“When we are educating our young people, we are educating them not to be laborers and workers. But we should be educating and empowering them to be entrepreneurs and innovators,” he said. “The Memphis that we are looking to create should be one of innovation and entrepreneurship. … Where I went to school – Memphis University School – they’re not talking to them about being workers. They are talking to them about being leaders.”
Cobbins, who is on the board of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, touts the utility as a model of how diversity in contracting can work with a local bidding preference with a goal of making sure dollars spent by the utility circulate in the local economy.
That doesn’t make the utility immune from discussion about its commitment.
The Memphis City Council, in August, voted down an $8.8 million contract the utility board approved with a Lexington, Ky., construction company for three years’ worth of construction to meet federal standards for utility reliability. The council’s decision was based on concerns that the work wasn’t going to a local firm or to workers employed already at the utility.
Universal Commercial Represents BlueCross Blue Shield of TN in Establishing First Customer Information Center
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has leased corner storefront space at 100 Oaks Mall for its first Nashville-area brick-and-mortar consumer information center.
Six licensed insurance advisers who speak Spanish and English will staff the center. They will help educate consumers about health insurance in general and BlueCross’ own health plans.
The space at 719 Thompson Lane — most recently occupied by health care uniform retailer Life Uniform — is being renovated with a grand opening set for Nov. 1. Open enrollment starts Nov. 15 for the federal online marketplace, where consumers can buy insurance using federal subsidies.
Mary Danielson, a spokeswoman for Chattanooga-based BlueCross BlueShield, said the state’s largest health insurer considers the location a pilot site. “Depending on how the public responds to the center (it will) help us make a decision whether to expand the concept statewide or not,” she added.
The consumer information center will include a community room where workshops and other educational sessions will be held on health and wellness topics and feature community groups and BlueCross’ network providers including doctors.
Alex Tolbert, founder of Bernard Health, which has an insurance retail store at 720 Thompson Lane near BlueCross’ planned center, called the insurer’s consumer information center a smart move. “A lot of people can reach a far better outcome in planning for their health care when working with someone face to face,” he said.
Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @Getahn.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Minority Business Owners Push for Access, Opportunity, and Accountability
Coalition Vows Push for Minority Business Gains
By Bill Dries
For decades, goals and percentages have been set for minority business participation in city and county governments.
Both governments have compliance offices. Elected officials look at percentages and ask questions about participation on particular projects.
A coalition of business leaders have announced they will push for more minority business participation in not only local government contracts but private business contracts.
(Daily News/Andrew J. Breig)
But a new coalition of business leaders announced Tuesday, June 10, that they plan to make the issue more of a political priority.
“We come in peace,” said Darrell Cobbins, president and CEO of Universal Commercial LLC. “But we also come in purpose.”
Cobbins and a group of 100 business and political leaders gathered in the lobby of the National Civil Rights Museum to say they intend to push beyond studies and systems to monitor progress to grow minority business participation in city and county government contracts and in private-sector contracts as well.
“We’re at a breaking point. … We’re not coming here with our hands out. We’re not asking for handouts,” said Ron Redwing, president of 100 Black Men of Memphis. “The people who’ve joined in this are people who are doing well. We’re saying as we move forward, the gap is way too large. We cannot and will not accept mediocrity or non-action as we move forward.”
Cobbins said such economic development is about building a larger middle class in Memphis.
“I think it’s more than reasonable to participate in the economic activity and prosperity of this community,” Cobbins said. “This group intentionally has no name. It has no tagline. It has not catchphrase because we are Memphians. … We believe in Memphis and all of its ideals and aspirations.”
The coalition is part of an ongoing reaction to the issue of minority contracts with Shelby County government that the Shelby County Commission debated in May.
The debate included Commissioner Henri Brooks berating a Hispanic businessman for comparing his status in Memphis as a minority to that of African-Americans.
The exchange between Brooks and Pablo Pereyra got most of the attention. But within a week, Mauricio Calvo, the director of Latino Memphis, and Keith Norman, the president of the Memphis branch NAACP, said the larger issue is the share of county contracts that minority business owners as a whole are getting.
That, in turn, prompted Cobbins to begin working toward the coalition via a Facebook-fueled discussion. Cobbins and others in the effort want to develop a plan of action that rises above the technical aspects of monitoring minority business to get at political will – in the business sector as well as the political arena.
“The next step is to understand the issue,” Cobbins said. “Our next step is to begin to sit down with the leaders who can impact the issue across the community … and beginning the process of really digging beneath the surface of the disparity studies to really understand what are the logjams.”
Redwing said the goal is to “spotlight these disparities in a way that brings about swift and significant change.”
“Twenty years later, we are still having this conversation,” Redwing said.
The 1994 disparity study that documented a disparity in contracts with minority-owned businesses was a necessary step for local governments to maintain goals for minority business in the wake of a landmark 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving the use of minority set-asides by the city of Richmond, Va., in awarding government contracts.
The court ruled the preference for minority-owned businesses was unconstitutional and that Richmond leaders did not identify the need for remedial action.
The disparity study was a way of identifying the need by confirming a disparity.
And Redwing was adamant that more studies documenting the disparity are not what the coalition has in mind.
“This is not about programs. This is not about studies. This is about having the will,” he said. “We don’t need any studies. There are no studies needed or wanted here. We’ve been bogged down for too long in the practice of paying consultants a heckuva lot of money to tell us what we already know.”
Universal Represents Gestalt Community Schools in Major Facility Lease
Gestalt Schools Signs Lease in Hickory Hill
By Amos Maki
A charter school operator has inked a lease for space on Winchester Road in Hickory Hill.
Gestalt Community Schools has leased 57,000 square feet of space at 5360 Winchester Road inside the Mendenhall Square shopping center.
Shelby County Schools previously leased the space for a school and some administrative offices. The expiring lease presented a perfect opportunity for Gestalt.
“It’s a space that had previously been occupied by Shelby County Schools and as they sought to reduce their footprint that lease was expiring and fortunately we became aware of that and we were able to put a deal together in a short period of time,” said Darrell Cobbins of Universal Commercial Real Estate, who represented Gestalt. “As they grow, their needs become vast and there aren’t a lot of spaces ready for their needs. It was fortuitous for all parties.”
Gestalt opened the Power Center Academy charter school in Hickory Hill in 2008. Gestalt also operates Humes Preparatory Academy and Klondike Preparatory Academy in North Memphis as part of the state-run Achievement School District and is planning to open a school as part of the Sears Crosstown redevelopment project.
Stan Myers and Morris Thomas represented landlord Belz Enterprises.
Universal represents Memphis Area Legal Services in Falls Building Lease
MALS leases top floor of Falls Building in Downtown Memphis
Memphis Area Legal Services Inc. has leased the long-vacant top floor of the 11-story Falls Building in Downtown Memphis.
MALS will move to the 13,473-square-foot 11th floor of the historic building at 22 N. Front St. – a space law firm Martin Tate Morrow & Marston left in 2004 – beginning July 1.
The 45-employee firm, which provides various legal assistance for people at or below the poverty line, will relocate from a 15,224-square-foot space on two floors
of the Claridge House at 109 N. Main in Downtown.
MALS' lease for the space, not all usable, expires at the end of July. SunTrust Bankforeclosed on the property, which it now owns and manages, a number of years ago.
The 150,853-square-foot Falls Building's owner, Hertz Investment Group LLC, is about to pull permits for a renovation to meet its new tenant's needs, said MALS executive director and CEO Harrison McIver III. Those needs include a redesigned entrance, a separate entrance for its fair housing group and adjustments to the sizes of some of the offices.
The construction should take about 10 weeks, McIver said.
MALS signed a 16-year lease with Santa Monica, Calif.-based Hertz, which bought the building – then nearly 70 percent occupied – in 2012 as part of a larger, $147.5 million portfolio acquisition.
MALS began looking for space at about the same time Pinnacle Airlines Corp. left Downtown in 2013.
"This is condo space," he said of the Claridge House. "So we either had to purchase space or look elsewhere."
But leaving Downtown was never an option, although many law firms have, now that legal documents can be filed online instead of at the courthouse, McIver said. After looking at a number of locations, including One Commerce Square and One Memphis Place, MALS chose the Falls Building, which he said was "just a good fit for us at this point."
He declined to disclose term details, but did say "they gave us a very good deal."
"It was a pretty intense negotiation," he said. "We didn't get everything we wanted, but we got a lot."
Gray Fiser and Alex Stringfellow, both of CBRE Memphis' Downtown office, represented the landlord. Darrell Cobbins, president and principal broker of Universal Commercial Real Estate, represented the tenant.
Ryan Poe covers commercial real estate; transportation and logistics; construction; and Downtown Memphis. Contact him at rpoe@bizjournals.com.
Darrell Cobbins Selected for Leadership Tennessee's Class II
Lipscomb University’s Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership today announced the 2014-15 class for Leadership Tennessee, leadership education program designed to cultivate a network of business, nonprofit, education and government leaders who are committed to addressing the state’s challenges and opportunities, the class includes 31 members from across Tennessee.
“By bringing together top leaders in the business, education, health care and the nonprofit arenas, Leadership Tennessee introduces participants to different perspectives while also helping them understand the collaborative nature of conversation and action that will continue to move our state ahead,” said Cathy Cate, executive director of Leadership Tennessee and director of community leadership programs for the Andrews Institute.
Leadership Tennessee is a 10-month program that provides collaborative learning and dialogue spanning the state’s three grand divisions, issue-specific education for demonstrated leaders, a diverse representation of participants and opportunities to affect change. It will meet several times as a group in addition to participating in other activities, research and projects throughout the program.
The program was launched in August 2013. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said he believes the program is beneficial to the state.
“I strongly believe that this experience will help the participants personally and will help make our state stronger,” he said. “When we learn more about other parts of the state, we understand issues more fully and can make more collaborative, informed decisions. I also appreciate the thought leadership of this group. This is a great program for Tennessee.”
The inaugural class focused on three main issues—education, government efficiency and health and wellness. During the course of the program, the group produced a plan of action designed to impact the entire state, as well as each region. The program took participants to Chattanooga, Memphis and Knoxville among other locations in Tennessee. The 2014-15 Leadership Tennessee class will also meet throughout the state and examine important issues facing Tennessee. The class will begin the program with a retreat in August.
“One of the biggest benefits to me has been learning about other areas of the state,” said Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, a member of the inaugural Leadership Tennessee class. “I have also met a great group of leaders from across Tennessee and the relationships we are building are very valuable. Leadership Tennessee has broadened my horizons and has helped me fully realize what a great state we live in.”
J. Laurens Tullock, president of Cornerstone Foundation of Knoxville, agrees.
“It has been an incredible opportunity to meet folks from across the state,” said Tullock. “We’ve gotten to see places across the state in new ways. It’s great that is was more than just networking through the projects we worked on. This really has the opportunity to be meaningful long term.”
Finding common ground has been another benefit for participants in the first class.
“We are getting acquainted over the issues that are common to us across the state,” said Blair Taylor, president of Memphis Tomorrow. “This program raises awareness and plugs us in to what is going on across the state. It helps us leverage our opportunities better. This program is a great way to help us to that.”
Members of the 2014-15 Leadership Tennessee class
Chattanooga: Sarah Morgan, president, Benwood Foundation
Collierville: Carolyn Chism Hardy, CEO, Chism Hardy Investments LLC
Greeneville: Nancy B. Moody, president, Tusculum College
Knoxville: Doug Banister, pastor, All Souls Church; Joan Cronan, women’s athletic director emeritus, University of Tennessee; Joe DiPietro, president, University of Tennessee; Carol Evans, executive director, Legacy Parks Foundation; Jim McIntyre, superintendent, Knox County Schools; Madeline Rogero, mayor, City of Knoxville
Memphis: Calvin Anderson, senior vice president of corporate affairs, BlueCross BlueShield Tennessee; Darrell Cobbins, president/principal broker, Universal Commercial Real Estate; Dorothy Gunther Pugh, CEO/founding artistic director, Ballet Memphis; Teresa Sloyan, executive director, Hyde Family Foundations; Michael Ugwueke, president/COO, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare; AC Wharton, mayor, City of Memphis
Nashville: Charles Robert Bone, Bone McAllester Norton PLLC; Bo Campbell, attorney, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP; Mark Cate, chief of staff to the governor, State of Tennessee; Jen Cole, executive director, Metro Nashville Arts Commission; Jaynee Day, president/CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee; Jose Gonzalez, finance director/instructor of management and entrepreneurship, Conexion Americas/Belmont University; Tre Hargett, secretary of state, State of Tennessee; Beth Harwell, speaker of the House, Tennessee General Assembly; Henry Hicks, president/CEO, The NMAAM (Nashville Museum of African American Music); Bob Higgins, president/CEO, Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon; John Lowry, vice president of external affairs, Lipscomb University; Robert J. Martineau Jr., commissioner, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation; Joelle Phillips, president, AT&T Tennessee; Michael Skipper, executive director, Nashville Area MPO; Remziya Suleyman, director of policy and administration, American Center for Outreach
Pulaski: Ted Brown, president, Martin Methodist College
For more information about Leadership Tennessee visit www.leadershiptennessee.org or contact Cate at 615.966.5180 catherine.cate@lipscomb.edu.
About the Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership: Founded in October 2010 to build on the legacy of Nashville leader Nelson Andrews, the Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership engages current and emerging leaders in academic and community programs to create thriving communities. These include a master’s in civic leadership, one of only two in the nation; Citizen Leadership Academies and customized leadership classes serving organizations, counties and cities statewide. The institute’s newest initiative is Leadership Tennessee, the only statewide leadership education program in Tennessee created to cultivate a network of business, nonprofit, education and government leaders committed to addressing the state’s challenges and opportunities.
Universal Commercial President Listed Among Business Who's Who?
Universal Commercial President Darrell Cobbins has been honored with a fourth consecutive selection to the annual Memphis Business Quarterly's "Power Players" list. This distinction is afforded to those business leaders recognized at the top of their field in Memphis & Shelby County.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
"BRIGHT SPOT": Universal President Featured on WREG/News Channel 3
To view the full interview/profile click the link below:
Tenant Representation: Universal Commercial Represents Hagler, Bruce & Turner Law Firm Merger
Universal Commercial recently represented Hagler Bruce & Turner law firm in the search and selection of 4,500 sf office space for its newly-merged firm. The partners settled on Thousand Oaks Business Park for its new location.
More details were covered in the Memphis Business Journal:
http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2013/09/12/newly-formed-law-firm-find-new-space.html
For more on Hagler Bruce & Turner, visit their website: http://www.hbtlaw.net/index.php
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Monday, November 26, 2012
Universal President Honored
Darrell Cobbins was honored by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and the Hobson-Goodlow Foundation at its 18th Annual African-American Male Image Awards on November 10, 2012 at the Memphis Marriott-East. Cobbins received the honor for contributions in the area of Business.
Other award recipients were: Minister Charles Fulbright, Germantown Road Church of Christ (Religion), Martavius Jones, Shelby County Unified School Board (Community Service), William Phillips, Ph.D, Methodist-LeBonheur Healthcare (Corporate Executive), Les Smith, Reporter-WHBQ/Fox-13.
A special Service for Humanity Award was presented to Sixth Circuit-U.S. District Court of Appeals Judge Bernice Donald for her historic accomplishments in the field of law/justice in a career spanning more than 30 years.
The event's Keynote Speaker was City Councilman Harold Collins and Mistress of Ceremonies was WDIA Radio Personality- Bev Johnson.
Other award recipients were: Minister Charles Fulbright, Germantown Road Church of Christ (Religion), Martavius Jones, Shelby County Unified School Board (Community Service), William Phillips, Ph.D, Methodist-LeBonheur Healthcare (Corporate Executive), Les Smith, Reporter-WHBQ/Fox-13.
A special Service for Humanity Award was presented to Sixth Circuit-U.S. District Court of Appeals Judge Bernice Donald for her historic accomplishments in the field of law/justice in a career spanning more than 30 years.
The event's Keynote Speaker was City Councilman Harold Collins and Mistress of Ceremonies was WDIA Radio Personality- Bev Johnson.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Universal Commercial Profiled in Memphis Business Journal
Date: Friday, June 29, 2012, 5:00am CDT - Last Modified: Thursday, June 28, 2012, 12:20pm CDT
Staff writer- Memphis Business Journal
A look inside five minority-owned Memphis businesses
Darrell Cobbins remembers his grandfather
working six days a week as a residential real estate broker. Cobbins’
grandfather started his company in 1959, and Cobbins’ mother, as well as
Cobbins and his brother Donnell, grew up around the business. While all
three eventually got into real estate, Darrell Cobbins took it a step further by
launching Universal Commercial in 2007.
His brother and mother joined the company soon after.“I’d say 90
percent of our business comes from people we’ve gotten to know over the years,”
Cobbins says. “In Memphis
Cobbins began his career with Cushman & Wakefield Commercial
Advisors, where he learned the philosophy of “working with whatever came
through the door.”
“You just don’t
show up and somebody hands you their business,” he says. “The smallest real
estate transaction could represent hundreds of thousands of dollars, and people
are trusting you with a big part of their business.”
Universal
Commercial currently has four brokers, but Cobbins wants to grow to 10. The
company is beginning to work in the nonprofit sector after starting in the
private sector. Until the economy consistently improves, Cobbins sees more
competition for fewer deals around the city. And while the familiar business
practices are loosening up a little, he says the community can truly grow if it
continues to evolve. “We need to speed
it up,” Cobbins says. “There needs to be more examples of complete success
through inclusion. The more inclusive we can be from an economic standpoint, a
lot of the other issues in the city will take care of themselves.”
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