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I believe our collective work to change the narrative for our city is paying off. This week, I had more conversations about the positive things going on in our city than I did about the negatives. Our positive momentum is growing. Last week, in my weekly newsletter, I asked for our community to step-up the clean and green efforts in downtown as we were getting ready to welcome 20K guests to celebrate the NCAA tournament. This week, MLGW made an all-call to their downtown neighbors to get our core city ready for company - and downtown Memphis delivered. AutoZone, Tower Ventures, Carlisle Co., Clean Memphis, Constellation Properties, Crone Law Firm, DCA, Downtown Memphis Commission, FedEx, Greater Memphis Chamber, Memphis Redbirds. Peabody Hotel, Renasant Convention Center, and both Memphis and Shelby County Governments joined in the action. A big thank you to everyone who picked up and pitched in.
 Downtown delivers on the clean, green, and welcoming efforts!
Continuing the feel-good Memphis moments, I met with Dr. Marie Feagins, our new superintendent of the Memphis Shelby County Schools. We met at my alma mater, East High School, and I was right back in 1997. The energy was amazing, and the students were impressive. We learned a little about the DECA program (DECA was actually founded in Memphis in 1947 at the Peabody Hotel and has grown into an international student organization) and an opportunity for 13 East High students to take part in an International convention related to Marketing and Entrepreneurship later this spring. The students still need a little bit of funding to close the gap on this trip, but we have a good feeling about it. Please check out their work and budding entrepreneurial spirit here. Thank you, Michael Hoots and every other DECA advisor in our system, for encouraging our next generation of business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs.
 Our future looks bright! East High School visit.
I was invited to speak at the Positively Memphis speaker series. Positively Memphis was the brainchild of the late Pat Halloran, and its mission is just as simple as it sounds. It aims to build awareness of all things positive about the city we love. I have heard stories about Pat, in the pre-internet era, regularly sending hundreds of old-school mailings of packets of information to people, including newspaper clippings and magazine articles of good news from our community and beyond. If you were on his list, you were always in the good-to-know.
I also had the opportunity to join a conversation with the Chamber’s Young Professionals group hosted by Jessica Mosley and attend a meeting of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) with Dr. Joann Massey of EDGE and special guest Dr. Dell Gines, Chief Innovation Officer of IEDC. Dr. Gines reminded us all about the importance of economic development as a path to community healing. He also spoke about how impressed he was with the assets in Memphis. His view was that our city had more strengths than weaknesses and more opportunities than threats. I want to encourage all of us to look at Memphis through that lens.
 Economic development and the future of our city.
And, finally, I had the opportunity to meet with the super talented staff at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital. The tour reminded me of how connected everything is; Lebonheur is close to finishing a $95 million addition to expand the Heart Institute and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This economic development project will add jobs and capacity and will also aid in the hospital’s community service mission. They are building the first interventional cardiac magnetic resonance imaging suite in the state of Tennessee, only the eighth in the country. They are also finishing a Virtual Reality Lab that will allow physicians to build a 3D model of a patient’s heart, determine where to place any needed devices, and create a precise plan for procedures and surgeries. This means they will literally be able to step inside a patient’s heart and see the outcome of their procedure. The 128k square foot four-story expansion will create the need for more nurses, social workers, respiratory therapists, and physicians. This is a win-win-win for our community!
 LeBonheur inpsirational site visit.
This week, in the spirit of Pat Halloran, I encourage you to share this newsletter with your neighbors and circles of influence - let's be Positively Memphis.
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