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Opinion | AutoZone steps up to the civic plate and hits a home run for Memphis | Richard Ransom

“AutoZone stepped up in a big way to help open our city back up for business,” said Local 24 News anchor Richard Ransom.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In Thursday’s Ransom Note: Give it up for AutoZone! It's one of only three Fortune 500 companies in Memphis, and Thursday we learned it stepped up in a big way to help open our city back up for business. In late September, AutoZone's three-day national sales meeting will be at the newly  renovated Renasant Convention Center.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the $200 million project wasn't able to open with the fanfare originally hoped for, which is why today's announcement is a big deal. Three thousand employees will fly in from all over the country, filling up our downtown hotels and restaurants with an economic impact estimated at almost $2 million.

We've been reporting how tourism is rebounding, but companies have been more careful when it comes to business travel. They have to be. That's why AutoZone's decision is so important, for symbolic reasons as much as economic.

Join the conversation by email (rransom@localmemphis.com), Facebook, or Twitter.

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