And back to this other breaking news this morning. Starbucks is expected to announce a new corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee. That news is said to come from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. Let's listen in to this news conference now.
Deputy Governor and ECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, he's a strong partner and a great advocate for the state of Tennessee. Stuart.
Thank you, Jeff. Governor, you've got 8 or 9 more months and I think maybe I'm gonna transition out and just start working here because this is probably the best view in Nashville right now. I mean, this is crazy. We just, our department just rolled out a new campaign, marketing campaign, and the tagline is experience high volume. We're just a week into that and I mean, I think we pretty much came out of the gate experiencing high volume today. So, congratulations to Nashville, to Tennessee, to Starbucks. This just represents a continued momentum that we're seeing across the state. We're just so excited about today. And this decision by Starbucks really I think just underscores much of what you all know. A great place to work, a great place to live, access to a workforce, you know, all of these things are adding up, and I think today is just an indication of why Tennessee is not only competing globally, but we're winning. Thanks to all of you in this room. So we're excited for today. But none of this is not possible without some really strong partners here in the room. Obviously, Mayor O'Connell, thank you, sir, for your partnership with you and Jamari and the team. Very excited to continue to work with you all. Also, a shout out to Heidi Smith, TVA, many of their representatives are here. We are such great partners with TVA. They are hand in hand with us on every project we do across the state. To Stephanie, Jeff, and the entire chamber team, national chamber team, they put this event on. Thank you all for all the hard work, not just today but every day. We're so thankful for you guys. And last but not least, certainly is my team. Aaron Hutchins, who heads up our Northern Middle Tennessee group and project manager for Starbucks along with Kaylee Harriman. I've got Alan Borden, Lenny Baronis. Many of my team members are here. We've got a mighty department of 100. They get our jobs done every single day, and we've got such a great team. I think that this is just a meaningful moment, Governor, today. We've been at this for 7.5 years and, you know, there's just been so much success in the state. All 95 counties have seen success, but today just really signifies a lot of things all culminating together with around a strong business environment. Tennessee is the envy of many states, and the reason for that is because of you all and many others that aren't here today, but it's the people of this great state that figure out ways to get stuff done. And we are so excited about today's announcement. I wanna welcome Brian, Kathy, Mike, Dominic with Starbucks. You guys, we're just so grateful and as I said earlier today, today is just the beginning of a long-term relationship with you all and we're very excited about that endeavor. So with that, it is my honor and privilege to introduce our next speaker, my boss, the governor of the great state of Tennessee, Bill Lee.
Stuart said, you know, this is a state that has become the envy of many states, and I get the opportunity today to make an announcement that they'll all be envious of. We are announcing Starbucks' Eastern United States headquarters location, $100 million capital investment, and 2,000 jobs to Tennessee. This is one of the coolest cities in America. This is one of the greatest states in the country. And when we have an iconic American company, a great American company that for decades has been, its brand has been associated with great things across this country, when we see the convergence of all things that are happening in our state and a decision by a corporation, a company, a brand, a leadership team like the team that I've met with, when we see the convergence of that and a decision for them to come here, we should all be very excited. This is because of the people of our state who have created an environment, a business environment, a community, a lifestyle environment that is attractive to people. That's why people are moving here from all over the country. It's why companies like this are making decisions to be here. And we are extremely grateful for you, Brian, for your team, for the Starbucks community to be making this decision. I have spent some time with the leadership team. Remarkable team that has quite a vision for what this company, not only for the legacy and the history of this great company, but for its future and the role that Tennessee has in that future. This is a company that's not only interested in growing and expanding their footprint and being a leader, they're interested in their employees. They're interested in workforce development. They're going to be hiring 2,000 employees and the vast majority of them are going to be coming from right here in Tennessee. They've already begun that recruitment process. They invest in their employees in ways that are unusual and that set them apart from any of their companies. That's good for us as Tennesseans because that will be good for the folks that come to work here. They are also interested in their community. They have a particular interest in investing in benefits for veterans, for example, that work in their company. They have not come into this community saying this is how we're going to be a good corporate citizen. They have said, we choose to be a good corporate citizen. We'd like you to tell us how that can best be executed here. That's the kind of partnership that we're really excited about. We have for many years now we have seen decision after decision from major companies from around the world understand that there's something unique about Tennessee and there's something unique about this city and make their decisions to invest here. We are deeply grateful for that. As the governor of the state, I'm most grateful for that because if you're me, what you care about most is that the people in this state, all the people in this state, have opportunity for a better way of life by decisions that are made locally, by the state, by the community. If the people in our state, the people that live behind those mailboxes that I work for, if they have access to a better way of life than they did yesterday, then we have done well by those people. And when a company like Starbucks decides to make this kind of an investment into our community, our people are going to benefit from that, and Tennessee will take one step closer to being an environment where her people have a better way of life as a result of the actions of the people that are out there in the state. So really exciting day for me. Thank you very much, and it's my honor to introduce Brian Niccol, the leader of this great company. A great corporate team that understands just what it means to be a great company, and we're very excited for your move. Thank you, sir, if you'd come up.
Well, good morning, and obviously, it's great to be here with everybody. It's great to start our morning with a little Starbucks, and to be with everyone. And I would have to agree, this view is pretty darn spectacular. So, I think we're pretty fortunate to be in this location in Nashville, in the state of Tennessee. So, before I get started, I do want to say thank you to Governor Bill Lee, Deputy Governor Stuart McWhorter, obviously, Mayor Freddie O'Connell, and Heidi Smith, I just had the pleasure of meeting. And then Jeff Hite and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. So it's great to be here with all of you. We're really excited. I also wanna thank our Starbucks partners that are here, as well as all the other state and local leaders, community partners. You know, we look forward to meeting all of you, getting to know you, figuring out how we can best be a part of the community while we also give people tremendous opportunities to work at Starbucks and grow their careers at Starbucks. So, you know, some people have asked me, well, why is Starbucks here? And the reason is because we're establishing really a strategic presence and we want to open this office kind of on the eastern side of the country because we believe by investing, you know, over $100 million, creating 2,000 new jobs in this area, it really sets us up for our next leg of growth, the next chapter of growth for us. You know, when we look around trying to figure out where would be the right place to go, some key things for us were, you know, is the talent pool local and available? Is their tech talent local and available? And, you know, what was clear to us is Nashville was that place that had all those things, great access to great talent, great access to a place for people to grow their career and grow their families, and this is a key step forward for us in our back to Starbucks plan. And obviously, it's a key piece of how we continue to grow our global brand. You know, everybody knows, I think Starbucks, what we stand for, right? It's coffee, it's community, it's craft. But I think what a lot of people aren't aware of sometimes is really the opportunities that we present to those that work in our stores and then those communities that we support. So, it's really exciting for us to be here. The other thing that's really exciting for us is to have our global headquarters in Seattle and then have this headquarters here in Nashville. It's just a really exciting opportunity for us because it frankly puts us closer to where a lot of our key suppliers are. It gives us an opportunity to grow talent. And the other piece too is customer demand is growing in this part of the country, and there's a real opportunity for Starbucks to build more stores, build more opportunities as you continue to see us grow our footprint. So, look, we're really proud to grow here with the support of state and local leaders. You guys have created a really strong business climate, a skilled workforce, and frankly, conditions that just are conducive to us being able to expand our footprint. So, we're here because I think we share a vision. You know, I enjoyed spending a little bit of time with the governor this morning and, you know, it sounds so simple, great jobs in great communities that give people the opportunity to grow, but it's not always easy to execute. And so, you know, it's a testament to the leadership of the state and the city that you're setting up that climate where a global iconic company like Starbucks sees an opportunity to do that with you here. So, very optimistic. Our investment reflects frankly the confidence in our partners and in our partnership that I think we're gonna develop and grow together. So, we're investing a little bit ahead of the demand, but we think that's kind of been Starbucks' mantra always, which is we want to be responsible, we want to be durable, and we want to be true to our values. And so, you know, again, I just wanna thank Governor Lee, Deputy Governor McWhorter, Mayor O'Connell, and Jeff Hite. You know, I think your leadership and your partnership is gonna be critical to our ongoing success, and we're proud, frankly, to take this step together with each and every one of you. And to our partners across Tennessee, Seattle, and frankly around the world, you know, a big thank you to all of you. You know, the reason why our company is able to grow and do the things that we do is because we have really passionate, committed partners that make the Starbucks experience. Hopefully, you feel it. I see it and I experience it all the time, and we're really excited about what's ahead and we're committed to building it together. So, excited to be here. Thank you. And, I think it's Jeff that will come back up. So thank you, everybody.
