EDGE reports pilot program gains, outlines focus on higher wages and housing partnerships

EDGE President and CEO Dr. Joanne Massey briefed City Council committees on Jan. 21, describing 2023 pilot-program performance and the authority’s strategic priorities. EDGE reported portfolio-wide gains in jobs, wages and capital investment and outlined steps to increase average pay and deepen housing and workforce partnerships.

The presentation highlighted EDGE’s toolbox of incentives — tax increment financing (TIF), industrial revenue bonds, and the Inner City Economic (ICE) loan program — and said the organization is expanding outreach and data-tracking to document economic impact and incentive use. Massey identified small-business technical assistance, port operations and grant-writing as ongoing priorities and named Trey Moore (business development specialist) and Randy Richardson (vice president, EDGE Properties and executive director, Port Commission) as local staff leads.

EDGE said its ICE loan program has financed more than $9,000,000 since inception. The annual pilot compliance report covers calendar-year 2023 and, EDGE said, showed that of the active pilots a majority were post–ramp-up; the portfolio “outperformed in every category” for the year, with figures Massey summarized verbally to the committee for jobs, wages, capital investment and MWBE spending. She said compliance staff audited pilots through desk reviews and 20 on-site inspections in 2023; one pilot was rescored and found in default and EDGE processed termination and recovery of benefits, with repayment routed back to the city treasurer and county trustee.

Council members pressed EDGE on wages and benefits. Councilman Warren and others noted county minimums have risen and asked whether EDGE would target higher hourly pay. Massey said EDGE’s current threshold for counting jobs in a pilot is $15 per hour and reported an average pilot wage “about $17–$18 an hour” in the most recent data; she said the staff and board will analyze raising that threshold and will bring recommendations through committee and board processes. Massey told council members that EDGE requires pilot applicants to list offered benefits and that staff monitor benefits information during audits, but that wages are measured separately from benefits in the pilot scoring.

Council members also asked about housing. Massey said EDGE’s core mission is industrial and commercial development, and that the agency currently plays a limited role on housing compared with Downtown Memphis Commission, the Community Redevelopment Agency and the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development. She said EDGE will work with those agencies and the mayor’s office to expand housing-related activities where appropriate and that staff would include this priority in strategic planning and quarterly updates to council.

Massey said EDGE has been tracking workforce and equity outcomes through partnerships and that she recently joined the Greater Memphis Workforce Board and chairs its Business Services Committee to align employers’ hiring needs with local workforce programs. She said an update on a workforce initiative is coming in a future quarterly report.

Massey closed by noting EDGE was named the 2024 Outstanding Local Development Finance Agency and reaffirmed the authority’s annual compliance presentation requirement to council and county commission.

Ending — Massey said staff will return with quarterly updates and that EDGE will present policy changes — including any proposed wage threshold changes — to its board and to council in subsequent committee reports.