Universal Hosts 2nd Regional Power Breakfast (July 2011)

From the Commercial Appeal:


About a dozen years ago, concerns about his approaching retirement led Circuit Court Judge George Brown Jr. to pursue a new career.
Wanting to provide a lasting financial legacy for his family, Brown decided becoming a small business owner would serve him -- and them -- well.
"It wasn't that I had a business degree or any experience, but I wanted to leave something behind and the truth is, you can't leave your family a judgeship in your will," Brown said. "So I put together a good team, we bought an existing business and today we're doing OK."
In fact, Brown is doing better than OK. After purchasing Memphis Chemical & Janitorial Supply Company in 2000, Brown worked part time with the business until he retired from the bench in 2005. Since then, he's taken the company from yearly sales of around $500,000 when he bought it to more than $7 million in annual sales today.

He shared some of the lessons he's learned during "Keys To The C-Suite: Competitive Strategies for Winning Corporate Contracts" at the University Club on Friday. The event was sponsored by the Universal Commercial real estate company as part of its regional power breakfast series.
Joining Brown at the event, which attracted more than 100 business and community leaders, was retired FedEx vice president Mary McDaniel. In addition to putting together a solid business team, Brown advised entrepreneurs to develop strategic alliances with other small business owners and maintain strong relationships with bankers and financial advisers. And be sure to fully understand corporate culture before trying to secure big business contracts, Brown added. "The bottom line is that corporations are in the business of making money, they're not charitable organizations," Brown said. "That means you don't need to go in there saying that you're black and proud or owned by a woman or that you've been discriminated against. Go in with a value-added proposition that'll help a company save money and that will get you the account."

McDaniel, who spent three decades at FedEx, agreed. "Never in my many years at FedEx did I ever see anyone get a contract who came in simply presenting themselves as minority or female-owned," McDaniel said. "If that's all you've got going for you, it's not enough. You've got to be the best at what you do and offer a better service or product than your competition."
There are no shortcuts to business success, the two agreed, but the outlook will be brighter and the possibilities greater for those who are willing to work hard and be involved in their communities.
And that's a message that City Council member and Memphis City Schools math teacher Edmund Ford Jr. said he tries to impress upon young people.


"At the end of the day, you have to make sure you're the best at what you do in order to compete successfully, whether it's in Memphis or nationally or even internationally," Ford said. "I tell my students at Central High School that their world is not finite and confined to a single neighborhood. There are a lot of opportunities out there, but you've got to be prepared to capitalize on them when they arise."

-- James Dowd: (901) 529-2737

Regional MBE Power Breakfast
What: Forum focusing on banking and access to capital for minority and women-owned businesses
When: 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 5
Where: University Club, 1346 Central
Cost: $15
Details: Call (901) 414-3315, ext. 2

Universal Commercial Represents Memphis-Based 'Fortune 60' Corporation in Office Lease

Memphis Business Journal
by Andy Ashby

FedEx division nets office lease | Memphis Business Journal
When Memphis needs new office absorption, it apparently can absolutely, positively count on FedEx Corp.
The Memphis-based company has signed a 25,000-square-foot lease at Boyle Investment Co.’s Marsh Center to bring a work group closer to its East Memphis corporate headquarters.

Much of the recent office leasing activity in Memphis has been renewals, expansions or companies moving within the market, so this kind of net gain tightens up the market.

The group, called Customer and Business Transactions, currently operates mainly at FedEx World Headquarters. The nine-building complex at Hacks Cross Road in Southeast Memphis predominantly houses employees of FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp.

The main executives of FedEx Corp., a holding company, have offices on Shady Grove Road.

“The move from our corporate headquarters in Hacks Cross to the Marsh Center will consolidate and bring closer a group that reports to the FedEx Corp. management,” Sally Davenport, spokesperson with FedEx, says. “It will eliminate a lot of the travel time in terms of meetings in particular. They’ll have to walk across the street as opposed to getting in a car and driving 15 to 20 minutes for meetings. It just improves the accessibility of the group with their immediate management.”

The legal group works on customer agreements, internal review of communication materials and general business transactions for FedEx. Some of those employees will be staying at FedEx World Headquarters.

“We still have some remaining legal people who are not moving because they report up through FedEx Express, so I don’t know if the use of that space has yet been determined,” Davenport says.

Boyle developed, owns and manages the six-story, 155,000-square-foot building at 1000Ridgeway Loop. Built in 1995, the property counts Marsh USA Inc., Evans Petree PC and Landmark Community Bank as tenants. The lease brings the building to almost full occupancy.

Traditional Construction Co. Inc. is building out the office space.

Darrell Cobbins, president of Universal Commercial Real Estate LLC, helped broker the lease.

Mark Halperin, executive vice president with Boyle, handles leasing at the property.

“We’re extremely excited to be continuing our relationship with FedEx,” he says. “We also think it’s very positive for the marketplace as it’s a net gain for the market.”

The overall Memphis market registered 69,178 square feet of net absorption in 2010, according to Xceligent Inc.’s fourth quarter report. The market, which has 257 office properties with 19.5 million square feet, ended the year with a 19.5 percent vacancy rate. There are 37 Class A properties with 5.2 million square feet, according to this report.

These types of properties, which include the Marsh Center, lost 95,761 square feet of absorption through full-year 2010. This could be due in part to Highwoods Properties Inc. delivering the 148,000-square-foot Triad Centre III in early 2010.

Much of the recent office leasing activity has been companies moving around the city.

“There has been a lot of musical chairs, but we have seen growth,” Halperin says. “We’re seeing some new deals right now which would be net gain for the overall market. We’ve got more prospects right now than we have had in quite a while. We’re pretty optimistic.”