Located on the Mississippi River, the metropolitan area of Memphis is one of the largest in the Southeastern United States, ranking 42nd in the United States according to the 2010 census.^[1] The city has historically been one of the largest shipping hubs in the Mid-South, dating back to the Civil War, when the port was one of the largest on the Mississippi River and served as a shipping hub for the Confederacy.^[2]

As transportation methods developed, Memphis has continued to hold significance as a transportation hub. Now the city is home to the second largest cargo airport in the world, Memphis International Airport,^[3] and the world’s busiest domestic airport with 3.9 million metric tonnes. Memphis International Airport and Memphis have had huge significance in the railroad industry. The city has the 3rd largest rail center in the U.S. behind Chicago and St. Louis.^[4] It is also one of only four U.S. cities with five Class 1 railroads.

Because Memphis has been such an important city for transportation and shipping, it is attractive to businesses, especially those producing goods shipped nationwide. Three Fortune 500 companies, FedEx, AutoZone and International Paper Co. call Memphis home. These significant businesses have brought a large manufacturing industry. Of the 607,900 jobs in Memphis in July 2014, 209,900 are in the manufacturing and transportation industries, around 34.5 percent.^[5]

Over the years, the city has become less dependent on its manufacturing and transportation sectors and has diversified its economy especially in services. The Gross Domestic Product of the private sector good-producing industries have grown from $8,309 million to $11,459 million from 2003 to 2013.^[6] Over that same time period, the private sector service industries grew from $39,354 million to $48,641 million.^[6]

Companies

Government entities

• Internal Revenue Service, two service centers: Accounts Management Center and Compliance Service Center.^[29]
• Memphis Light, Gas and Water ("MLG&W") is also one of the largest municipal utilities in the United States.
• Naval Support Activity Mid-South (Millington)^[30]
• Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The Med), an acute-care teaching hospital operated by Shelby County.^[31]

Entertainment industry

The entertainment and film industry has also developed in recent years in the city. Major motion pictures filmed in Memphis include Making the Grade (1984), U2: Rattle & Hum, (1988) Mystery Train (1989), Great Balls of Fire! (1989), Trespass (1991), The Firm (1993), A Family Thing (1996), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), The Rainmaker (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Queens of Comedy (2001), 21 Grams (2003), Hustle & Flow (2005), Walk the Line (2005), Forty Shades of Blue (2005), Black Snake Moan (2007), Nothing But the Truth (2008), and The Blind Side (2009).

Further reading

• Finger, Michael. Big Empties: Memphis landmarks that have stood vacant for years, waiting for someone to bring them back to life. The Memphis Flyer, December 4, 1997.
• Rushing, Wanda. Memphis and the Paradox of Place: Globalization in the American South. Archived 2014-05-02 at the Wayback Machine Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
• Rushing, Wanda. Memphis: Cotton Fields, Cargo Planes, & Biotechnology. Southern Spaces, August 28, 2009.

References