With his business growing and his Brooks Road location landlocked, Dick Sweebe had every reason to move his business out of the airport area.

After nearly three decades of selling heavy-duty trucks at Diamond Cos. Inc., Sweebe could have easily packed up and moved shop to another part of town. East Memphis offered plenty of high-trafficked spots, and there was the option of nearby DeSoto County.

But thanks in part to a growing Aerotropolis movement, the Memphis Airport Area Development Commission and a timely real estate deal, Sweebe instead decided to invest $6 million into a renovation and expansion and keep Diamond on Brooks Road.

"I really didn't want to leave even though I could have," Sweebe said. "But this area has a lot of momentum. We've been here 28 years and I've seen more cooperation (between airport-area businesses) in the last four years than in the last 24 years. There are a lot of good things going on in this part of town."

Diamond's expansion represents what city economic development and government officials hoped the Aerotropolis movement would create – a reason not only for new businesses to develop in the airport area, but a motivator for current businesses to stay and invest in the community.

Thanks to Diamond's expansion at the former Chuck Hutton auto dealership, the key airport-area intersection of East Brooks and Millbranch has a new life. And Sweebe's two other buildings have also been completely renovated.

"We have had great support from local government and the Chamber," Sweebe said. "We really have some momentum going in this area and it's not just because of us, but through (the community's) combined efforts. Just look at how much more aesthetically pleasing the Brooks Road area looks."

A big boost to the area's aesthetics has come through the Aerotropolis Greening our Gateways movement,which is providing landscaping makeovers for many of the major entrances to the airport area.

In June, volunteers and Aerotropolis board members planted more than 300 trees around Plough Boulevard, an airport gateway.

Improvements are bringing back businesses all over the airport area, said Larry Cox, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority president and CEO.

"The need for landscaping improvements has been a real problem in the past for companies who bring in customers to the airport ," he said. "A lot of people's first impression of the city is out of the car window. If they see tall grass and debris, that gives a very unfavorable view of our community."

Plough Boulevard is but one entrance Aerotropolis officials have targeted for upgrades. Airways and Elvis Presley boulevards – both airport-area thoroughfares – have seen similar improvements, and more are being planned for the future.

When completed, more than 2,200 trees will be planted as part of the Greening our Gateways project.

"We believe how things look physically creates a better image of this city," said Shirley Raines, University of Memphis president and chair of the Aerotropolis gateway and beautification workgroup. "If we can create a better image, people feel better about where they work, and it shows pride in how we manage visitors' interaction to our city."

While there is still work to be done, Sweebe says people tend to notice when the president of the city's largest university is out planting trees in your area.

"(The Aerotropolis movement) is involving businesses like mine," he said. "We are not as big as FedEx by any means, but they recognize that we are all stakeholders in the airport area."