When people think of Crosstown Concourse, they might picture concerts at the Green Room, a coffee run to French Truck, or an afternoon spent wandering the galleries at Crosstown Arts. But increasingly, this building is becoming something else too: a place where Memphians are building real careers.
That was on full display on Thursday, September 10th, when The Collective Blueprint launched NextUp901 right here at Crosstown Concourse, with Memphis Mayor Paul Young in attendance.
The Collective Blueprint, a nonprofit focused on youth economic mobility, created NextUp901 to help young adults ages 18 to 30 build careers in Memphis. The nonprofit estimates that 45,000 young people in the city are currently unemployed and out of school, and NextUp901 is designed to close that gap.
“Talent is everywhere in Memphis, but opportunity, real sustained opportunity, is not,” said Mae Abdelrahman, chief of staff at The Collective Blueprint. “That’s why we’re here today because we’re done waiting for change, and we’re here to build it.”
Through the program, participants receive paid job training and internships in industries including information technology, healthcare, and manufacturing, working with local partners like Moore Tech and Tech901. The goal is ambitious: 1,000 young adults in careers by next year, and 5,000 within five years.
For Brevin Robinson, a young entrepreneur who runs her own baking business, Baked Blessings, the program has already made a difference. “It has helped me build the skills I need to continue my business,” Robinson said. “Before this, I didn’t see how many possibilities were actually out here. I used to think that if one door closed, that was it. Now I know that if one door doesn’t work out, there’s always another one.”
Mayor Paul Young, who said the city has invested around $5 million into the program, called NextUp901 a personal passion project. “When our young people have more opportunity, everything changes,” Young said. “What’s become abundantly clear to me is that there’s nobody coming to save us. We are the troops that are going to change Memphis forever.”
NextUp901’s launch is also a reminder that Crosstown Concourse is already home to organizations doing this kind of work every day. Tech901 is a non-profit that has spent the last decade training Memphis workers to meet the city’s growing IT hiring needs.
Working directly with Memphis businesses, Tech901 creates IT training tailored to local hiring demand, pre-testing applicants for aptitude and removing common barriers to success like training cost, program length, and location. Today, Tech901 graduates are working across organizations throughout the Memphis area, proof that the model works.
Job training at Crosstown Concourse isn’t limited to tech and business, it’s happening in the music industry too. Stax Music Academy partners with Satellite Music Hall for the “Music Employs” program, giving local youth hands-on training and real-world experience in the live-music business.
That partnership was on full display when students and alumni, including the 910 Band and 926 Alumni Band, helped officially launch Satellite Music Hall during a community preview night, a full-circle moment showing young Memphians not just learning the industry, but performing on one of its newest stages.
Job training at the Concourse also comes with a side of fresh-baked treats. Lucy J’s Bakery is a nonprofit operation with a mission to employ parents who are transitioning out of homelessness. Lucy J’s works closely with the Dorothy Day House, which provides transitional housing and support services to homeless families, to hire current and former DDH parents and help them build the skills, work history, and professional references needed for future employment.
For every parent who walks through Lucy J’s doors, the goal is the same: gain real experience, build independence, and move on to even better opportunities down the road.
Also calling Crosstown Concourse home is a local branch of the American Job Center, operated by the Greater Memphis Workforce Development Board (GMWDB). The GMWDB oversees workforce development services across Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, and Lauderdale counties under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), connecting Memphians to training providers, employment services, and partner referrals across the region.
Having a resource like this inside the building means job seekers throughout Greater Memphis have direct access to regional workforce support without ever leaving Crosstown.
Rounding out Crosstown’s workforce ecosystem is Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR), a faith-based nonprofit organization that recruits, trains, and supports effective teachers for Memphis’ under-resourced schools. Residents earn a Master of Arts in Teaching through Lipscomb University, train under a mentor teacher for a full residency year, and receive a living stipend, tuition support, and even housing at Parcels at Concourse, all while committing to teach in Memphis schools for three additional years after graduating.
The results speak for themselves: 89% of graduates complete their three-year teaching commitment, and the median graduate stays in Memphis high-need education for four years. It’s proof that investing in teachers pays off for the whole community.
Between The Collective Blueprint’s NextUp901, Tech901’s IT training, Stax Music Academy’s Music Employs program, Lucy J’s Bakery, the American Job Center, and Memphis Teacher Residency, Crosstown Concourse is quietly becoming one of Memphis’ most active hubs for workforce development. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s a community intentionally built to connect Memphians with real opportunity, one program at a time.
Whether you’re a young adult looking for your next career move or simply curious about what’s happening inside the walls of Crosstown Concourse, there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Come see for yourself!
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