Texas Transformation for Newsweek Magazine

Towns in transformation change the face of Texas In cities across the Lone Star state, innovation and diversity are powering economic growth

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f Texas were a country, Governor Greg Abbott likes to say, it would be the 10th largest economy in the world, bigger than Canada and catching up fast with Brazil. In 2016, the state’s economy continued to expand, defying a fall in oil prices and a slowdown in Mexico by creating new jobs in cutting-edge industries such as aerospace and high-technology manufacturing.

“We want to do everything we can to deliver the maximum number of opportunities for every Texan to participate in the red-hot economy we have down here,” says Bryan Daniel, Executive Director for Economic Development at the Office of the Governor. “When an individual Texan succeeds, Texas succeeds.”

At the heart of the Texan economic success story are the diverse and productive people of the state. Texas produces its $1.59 trillion of economic output with a workforce of 12 million people, fully 50% smaller than the workforce of Canada. As the Texan population grows—at nearly 28 million, it is up by more than 10% since 2010 and is set to double by 2050—the state is becoming a truly global economic force.

“There’s a can-do spirit in Texas,” Daniel says. “A lot of CEOs who bring their companies here say that the low-cost tax and regulatory structure first grabbed their attention, but it is our highly educated, highly motivated workforce that is our greatest asset.”

The high level of motivation of the Texan workforce is partly a reflection of the companies that are creating jobs in the state. Businesses that come here tend to be dynamic, innovative companies in their field, companies which depend on ambitious and forward-looking employees for their growth.

Increasingly, many of these technology-driven companies are feeling the pull of small and mid-sized communities across Texas. Civic leaders in these open-minded and friendly cities share a common goal of investing in education and quality of life to build their workforce, grow their economies and develop their communities. Many major companies now prefer to invest in these smaller cities rather than in the state’s main urban centers.

“The difference between us and the big cities in Texas is that their business leaderships are fractured, with competing interests,” says Ted Houghton, a former Chair of the Texas Transportation Commission who owns a financial services business in El Paso, at the westernmost edge of the state. “In El Paso, we are not fractured. There are people willing to help here, wanting to work, people who are proud of what they do. There is a real sense of community.”

The demographics of El Paso, where an estimated 80% of the population is Hispanic, anticipate a future that is coming fast to the rest of Texas. The state is already “majority-minority” and forecasters expect the Hispanic population to be larger than the white population by 2020. Meanwhile, in Frisco, in northern Texas, more than 11% of residents are Asian, mainly working in the fast-growing technology sector.

Judging by the renaissance of smaller cities across Texas—El Paso is the safest city in the US with more than 500,000 inhabitants—the state has nothing to lose and everything to gain from its continuing social and economic transformation. “Not only is there nothing to be afraid of as the demographics of Texas begin to look more like El Paso, but there’s a lot to be excited about,” El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke says. “Communities will become safer and new entrepreneurs and businesses will arrive, bringing new energy and new perspectives to Texas.”

Top row, left to right: Dr. Diana Natalicio, President, UTEP • Richard Castro, Chairman and Founder, Castro Industries • Barron Casteel, Mayor, New Braunfels • Woody Hunt, Executive Chairman, Hunt Companies • Paul Foster, Chairman, Western Refining • Bryan Daniel, Executive Director, Office of Economic Development and Tourism, Office of the Governor of Texas • Jerry Morales, Mayor, Midland • Bryan Crowe, CEO, Destination El Paso. Middle row, left to right: Oscar Leeser, Mayor, El Paso • Maher Maso, Mayor, Frisco • Pam Welch, Executive Director, Midland Development Corporation • Miguel Fernandez, CEO, Transtelco. Bottom row, left to right: Drayton McLane Jr., Chairman, McLane Group • Monica Lombraña, Director of Aviation, El Paso International Airport • Stephen Jones, COO, Dallas Cowboys • Beto O’Rourke, Member of Congress, Sixteenth District, Texas • Veronica Escobar, El Paso County Judge • Ron Jensen, Mayor, Grand Prairie. produced this report

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Small is beautiful for big ticket investors Fast growing cities in Texas are reaping the rewards of investments in infrastructure and education

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hen legendary Swedish furniture retailer IKEA chose Grand Prairie as the location for its fourth store in Texas, it wasn’t just cost-conscious shoppers who were happy.

“I am very excited not only about IKEA coming to our city but about all the things that will follow IKEA,” says Ron Jensen, Mayor of Grand Prairie, the 15th largest city in the state. “It is going to allow us to attract more stores and more restaurants and it is going to be a major regional draw for development.”

IKEA’s decision to open in Grand Prairie is one of the most visible returns for a development strategy that is shared by many small cities across Texas: invest in schools, education and quality of life, and high-profile companies and their workers will be quick to follow.

While Grand Prairie’s location and road links also make it an ideal location for large retail and distribution businesses, Jensen’s ambitions for Grand Prairie don’t end there. Investments in housing, education, parks and entertainment are gradually transforming the city into one of the most popular places to live in Texas for young parents with jobs all over the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

The arrival of IKEA and the development of The Epic, a $75 million water park and community activity center, will only enhance the city’s appeal.

“Our housing ranges from affordable to affluent, our schools offer campuses of choice and outstanding academies and our parks system is one of the best in the nation,” Jensen says.

Investment in education has been the key to the startling economic success of another North Texan community, Frisco. One of the fastest growing cities in the country, Frisco’s main school district has gone from having just six schools in 1996 to 68 schools today. The healthcare provision has also been transformed; Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children is building a state-ofthe-art ambulatory care center on a 40-acre campus in the city. “We are taking the innovations and accomplishments developed from our main campus over the last 95 years and advancing them at the new campus in Frisco,” hospital President Robert L. Walker says.

Maher Maso, the city’s mayor since 2000, says that many companies, such as restaurant retailer Jamba Juice, are choosing to come to Frisco and other cities in Texas from California, where over-regulation and high taxes have increased the cost of doing businesses. “Frisco’s leaders have worked hard to attract high profile companies and organizations, support

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entrepreneurism and growth and create a dynamic family environment,” says Jamba Juice CEO David Pace.

Such is the strength of the Texan economy says Maso that between the state’s smaller cities there is not so much competition for inward investment as cooperation. “If Texas were a country, it would be the 10th largest economy in the world. It is a very large, diverse state and we try to help other cities do well by sharing information and best practices. We really do stand together.”

Grand Prairie is home to Airbus Helicopters Inc.

A four-hour drive south of Frisco, between San Antonio and Austin, another Texan city is reaping the benefits of economic transformation.

Dominated for much of its history by textile mills, the German-founded city of New Braunfels is emerging as a hub for high technology manufacturing. In 2016, specialist industrial film and fabric producer CGT chose to invest $86 million in a new manufacturing center here.

Barron Casteel, the Mayor of New Braunfels, says CGT’s decision was made possible thanks to cooperation at all levels of the state, from local government entities to the Texas Department of Transportation, which awarded grants for the airport improvements that proved critical to winning the CGT investment.

As with other small cities across Texas, a strategic commitment to high quality technical education has also helped New Braunfels attract the attention of technology businesses. “Location and workforce availability were huge factors for CGT,” Mayor Casteel says. “Austin and San Antonio both have large labor forces and in New Braunfels we have created the Central Texas Technology Center, where local businesses can train their employees in all the latest technologies.”

Oil city looks to the stars for future growth

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he West Texan city of Midland, which has grown prosperous from the oil that gushes from the Permian Basin beneath it, is now turning its attention from the ground below to the skies above.

As home to the Midland International Air and Space Port, Midland is playing a leading role in a new chapter in space exploration—commercial human spaceflight.

The Federal Aviation Administration has licensed the facility for commercial space flights and innovative aerospace companies have already begun operating at the site. Early tenants include Sierra Nevada Corporation, the designer of the Dream Chaser reusable space vehicle, and Orbital Outfitters, a producer of space and pressure suits.

“The spaceport offers an unbeatable opportunity for us to diversify our economy,” says Jerry Morales, the Mayor of Midland. “We are getting in on the ground floor of a huge and growing industry. Just as our oil and gas industry is a global leader, we want to make our spaceport the best in the world.”

There is more in common between the two industries of space exploration and oil production than at first meets the eye. Both require talented engineers and technicians and a strong network of local suppliers, all of which are abundant in Midland as a result of the oil boom.

“Midland has one of the largest numbers of engineers per capita in the nation,” says Pam Welch, Executive Director of the Midland Development Corporation.

“We are also developing talent with a new aeronautical engineering program at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.”

Midland’s other competitive advantages for the commercial space sector include its clear skies, low population density and its wide-open areas, perfect for testing flights.

“In the next 25 years, there will be manned space travel and supersonic flights that will take you wherever you want to go in just a few hours,” predicts Brent Hilliard, Chairman of the Midland Development Corporation. “The commercial space industry in Midland is going to be a major driver of our future economic growth.”

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Texan cities rise to the millennial challenge

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World-class arts, sports and education are strengthening the state’s appeal to the new generation

or people born in the mid-1980s and 1990s, who are now making their way through the workplace, J.R. Ewing and Southfork are just the relics of a previous generation, museum pieces from a time that valued self-interest over community and ostentation over culture.

The Texas of today’s millennials is a very different place. For the new generation, quality of life, a better work-life balance and an enjoyable place to live all count for far more than monthly pay checks and financial status. And as the millennials arrive in Texas from all over the country, they are stamping their own values across the state and changing the face of Texan communities.

“If you were to come to Dallas today with your perceptions shaped by the television series, you would be surprised at the fact that it has become a very cool place,” says Mike Berry, President of real estate developer Hillwood Properties. “New developments have given the city a New York feel with a Texas underpinning. Quality developers have also created very successful suburban communities that are attractive for young people.”

At Hillwood’s mixed-used development in Fort Worth, AllianceTexas, Berry has won a $1 billion data center investment from perhaps the most representative millennial company of them all: Facebook. As well as all the costs and infrastructure advantages of the region, Berry says that quality of life was a huge driver in Facebook’s decision to come to Texas.

When it comes to sports, few states can match Texas for all-round excellence. Fast growing communities in the state are leveraging legendary urban brands such as the Dallas Cowboys to increase their appeal to the millennial generation: the Cowboys have just built a $1.5 billion headquarters and practice facility in Frisco, which is also home to Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. “Frisco is such a dynamic and growing community,” FC Dallas President Dan Hunt says. “It is the place everyone wants to be.”

Texas: an ideal location to live and play

“Moving to Frisco was a unique opportunity for us,” Cowboys Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones says. “We have developed a real economic partnership with the city.”

Historic New Braunfels has also invested strategically in new leisure facilities, such as the legendary Schlitterbahn water park. One of the fastest growing cities in the country, New Braunfels has successfully built on its German heritage to differentiate itself from other towns. “We used our diversity to our advantage a long time before other communities did the same,” says Michael Meek, President of the city’s chamber of commerce.

The flourishing arts scene and high quality schools across Texas are another big draw for millennials. Craig Hall, Chairman and Founder of real estate developer the HALL Group, says that investment in art and education has played a major part in the success of Texan cities such as Frisco. “As millennials get older and have kids they will look at places such as Frisco, which are more affordable but also have great art, architecture and schools,” Hall says.

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Immigration powers renaissance A hard-working and ambitious Hispanic population has turned El Paso into an American success story

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alk to any civic leader or member of the business community in El Paso and they will all agree on what is the city’s greatest resource— its people. The demographics of El Paso, where the majority of inhabitants are Hispanic, have helped provide the region not only with a unique binational and bilingual culture, but also with a population that is deeply committed to building rewarding and fulfilling lives for themselves and their families.

“These are people who may have made the incredibly difficult decision to leave their home country, to move somewhere else, to speak a different language, and adapt to a different set of laws, values and norms,” says Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic congressman for the district.

“They’re doing it so that they can get ahead and ensure that their kids can get ahead. They understand that, in order for that to work, they have to follow the laws of this new country. Not only do the folks who come here follow the law and do well, but they contribute to the American dream and the communities like El Paso. They are the best Americans, because they came here by choice.”

Few people are better examples of the drive and determination of the Hispanic population of El Paso than Richard Castro. After starting out in life as a schoolteacher, Castro is now the owner of more than 20 McDonald’s restaurants in the El Paso region, employing over 1,000 people.

Castro, the Chairman of Castro Enterprises, says he owes much of his success to the emphasis that his parents and his Mexican grandmother placed on the importance of education and entrepreneurship. He now sees those same values in the Mexican immigrants that he trains to work at his restaurants: the same work ethic, the same high levels of motivation and ambition.“We have outstanding, well-educated individuals working for us, with terrific social skills,” he explains. “Many of them start

Hispanic students bring determination and ambition to work and study

working as crew people due to their lack of command of English. We may have lawyers, accountants, teachers, working as crew members. When we include them in our management training programs, they jump at the challenge of learning English in order to be able to move up the management ladder.”

As a strong believer in the power of education, Castro is working hard on a series of initiatives that make it easier for young Hispanics to go to university. He is also the founder of Community en Acción, which brings Hispanic business leaders together to work on improving El Paso through education, arts and culture.

“Richard succeeded in bringing together a large group of people who wanted to join forces for the good of the community and maximize the results of their efforts,” Community en Acción Chair Aliana Apodaca says.

“When Richard takes action, it motivates people to start participating,” says co-Founder Dan Olivas. “We are 85% Hispanic, and it is Richard who motivates us to understand that that is our greatest strength.”

Border spirit gives tech investors a head start in race to the future

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n the latter half of the 20th century, the economy of the El Paso region was dominated by low-wage manufacturing, especially by the garment industry. Now, high technology investors are waking up to the strategic advantages of the region, creating new skilled job opportunities for its diverse and motivated population.

“On both sides of the border, everybody’s on the same path,” says Ricardo Mora, the founder of Technology Hub, a center for innovation and entrepreneurship that has offices in El Paso and in Ciudad Juárez across the border. “We’re looking to help people develop better solutions for manufacturing, get better skilled jobs and improve economic development based on innovation.”

Mora believes that the El Paso border region will be a natural frontrunner in the migration towards advanced manufacturing processes such as additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and robotics. “There are over 340 top manufacturing plants in Ciudad Juárez and we are working with entrepreneurship and innovation programs for them,” he says. “This region is going to be the center of gravity for advanced manufacturing and the companies here are all hungry to automate.”

Technology investors say that being based in El Paso, with its easy access to a bilingual workforce and a thriving cross-border economy, is a source of major competitive advantage for their businesses. The city was the natural place for Miguel Fernandez to establish one of the first telecommunications carriers to provide services in both Mexico and the US. “We realized that the

big opportunity was not to separate things but to bridge the gap,” Fernandez says.

Since starting operations in 2001, Transtelco has expanded to provide services in 18 cities. Fernandez expects to have a presence in El Paso is a hot spot for tech investors over 30 cities in the medium term. The company provides a compelling one-stop-shop offer to manufacturers looking to interconnect their operations all across North America. “Before Transtelco existed, cultural barriers and the lack of infrastructure made this very hard. So we created a true binational culture where the C-level executives are completely binational/bicultural, the rest of the organization is fully bilingual, and we sell you a service from Juárez end-to-end all the way to Dallas or from LA all the way to Mexico City on a single network. It’s two nations, one network—something unique and something that is possible only because of the region.”

Fernandez’s father, prominent local businessman Miguel A. Fernandez, sees a new, outward-looking spirit at work as entrepreneurs look to seize the opportunities of the border area for growth. “There now seems to be a more sophisticated approach to doing business, with a much more global outlook for the future of the border region.”

El Paso sets the pace for growth and opportunity Rising incomes and investments in quality of life projects are transforming this safe and sunny city

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t a time of stagnant incomes and falling industrial investment across much of the country, the dynamic Texan border city of El Paso has found a winning formula for achieving broad-based economic

growth.

Major investments in improving the infrastructure for companies and the quality of life for residents, coupled with an open-for-business attitude, has

San Jacinto Plaza in the heart of downtown El Paso

seen this bustling Texan community succeed where other metropolitan areas have failed. Some of the largest high-tech manufacturers, banks and retailers in the country have moved to El Paso, creating new high value employment opportunities and generating a tangible sense of optimism and confidence.

“We’ve had 100 to 150 companies and their CEOs come to our city to see what we are doing,” says Oscar Leeser, the Mayor of El Paso. “Companies are now investing here that four or five years ago didn’t want to come. They see the value of being in El Paso.”

The effect on the city and the surge in investments has been dramatic.

Unemployment has fallen to as low as 4.1% from a high of 9.1% in 2013.

In each of the last two years, average incomes have risen by 8.7%, almost double the national level.

Nowhere is the increasing prosperity of El Paso more evident than in the thriving retail sector. A growing population, rising employment and higher incomes are fuelling ever higher levels of spending in the city’s stores, malls and restaurants, in turn triggering a boom in the construction of new shopping centers, grocery stores and dining options. “We are seeing record-breaking performances from retailers who are coming to El Paso,” says City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. “The retail market is reacting strongly to our story.”

The expansion of the retail sector has turned El Paso into the undisputed shopping capital of the wider region, attracting deep-pocketed spenders from a cross-border consumer base of some 2.5 million consumers.

According to city statistics, out of the total 8.5 million shoppers who now visit El Paso’s outlet malls every year, 3.9 million are Mexican citizens.

“The purchasing power of the Mexican shopper has had a massive impact on El Paso,” says Cary Westin, the city’s Deputy City Manager, Economic Development and Tourism.

Setting the seal on the economic and social renaissance of El Paso is the redevelopment of the city’s historic downtown region. Financed by innovative state incentives and by private investors such as Paul Foster, the Founder and Chairman of El Paso-based Western Refining, developers are busy revitalizing the district and providing it with new homes and offices, increased hotel capacity and a wide range of cultural attractions.

“Downtown will continue to evolve as people move in and build new lofts, apartments and condos,” predicts Foster, who among other projects plans to rebuild the legendary Plaza Hotel, where Elizabeth Taylor once lived with first husband Nicky Hilton. “Eventually this will be a lively, urban, 24-hour city.”

In the same region, crews are busy laying the tracks for a $97 million streetcar project that will circulate downtown and connect the district to the University of Texas at El Paso. The trolleys will transform urban transit in El Paso and enhance the relaxed and cosmopolitan vibe of the city, which is ranked as the safest city in the country with more than 500,000 inhabitants.

Testimony to the city’s economic appeal and its growing cultural confidence, sports franchises are now making El Paso home. In September 2016, in only their third year of life, the El Paso Chihuahuas claimed their very first Pacific Coast League title. MountainStar Sports, the franchise owner, now plans to build on that success by building a stadium for a United Soccer League team.

Many of the transformative development projects across El Paso have only been possible because of a visionary decision made by city residents back in 2012, when they approved a special $473 million bond issuance specifically to spend on quality of life investments.

Those investments are paying massive social and economic dividends; Mayor Leeser says quality of life is now El Paso’s biggest draw to investors.

“We have quality of life, quality of place and quality of transportation,” he says. “We have had huge results already and we want to create new partnerships with companies to help grow our community even more.”

Resurgent AND back on the map for tourism El Paso is rediscovering its historic role as a regional hub for tourism and business travel

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n the early and mid-20th century, El Paso was known as the jewel of the Southwest, a charming and colorful destination where the well-heeled residents of Dallas, Phoenix and beyond would come for long nights out and weekends away.

Building on the economic prosperity of recent years, the border city is once again emerging as a thriving regional hub for culture, leisure and entertainment.

Ongoing investments in new venues, hotels and transport infrastructure are enhancing the appeal of this safe, sunny and multi-cultural city to tourists and business travelers.

El Paso, with more than 300 sunny days a year, offers a diversity of landscapes

Bryan Crowe, CEO of city marketing body Destination El Paso, says the trigger for the current revival was the $40 million redevelopment and reopening in 2006 of the historic Plaza Theater, an opulent architectural masterpiece built in 1930 in the Spanish colonial revival style. “The theater was the catalyst for starting El Paso on our trajectory of renaissance and for the development of downtown,” Crowe says. “The pace at which we are accomplishing this would take a generation in another community, but it is taking El Paso just a few years.”

Following the opening of the theater, the city has opened or approved a wide range of cultural and sporting venues. Proceeds from the Quality of Life bond issue are being used to develop projects including a children’s museum, a giant multi-purpose arena and the Mexican American Cultural Center. The city also helped finance the construction of the 9,500-capacity ballpark. Other attractions in the pipeline include new parks, pools, aquatic centers and zoo expansion projects.

Meanwhile, private investors are stepping in to build new hotels or redevelop existing buildings, such as the historic Camino Real hotel and the art deco Bassett Tower, which is currently being converted into a Starwood Aloft.

“I want people to think of El Paso as a destination again,” says Paul Foster, the Western Refining Founder and Chairman who has played a major role in the urban revival and is a part owner of the city’s baseball team. “We are adding all these venues and improving our quality of life and we are getting there now.”

“Every corner in this city, from the public sector to the private sector, has taken on the challenge of making our vision reality,” Crowe says. “All of our growth and development is locally led. Other cities are very jealous that our community believes so strongly in the importance of continuing to make these investments.”

The new hotel capacity is increasing El Paso’s competitiveness in the conventions market and helping to bring more events to the border city.

At the same time, El Paso is also improving its air links to the outside world.

Already, five major airlines offer non-stop flights to 13 cities to and from El Paso International Airport, just a short drive from the city center.

“We have expanded our non-stop destinations with the recent addition of Allegiant Air and we are pleased to provide travelers with more options for quick and convenient get-a-ways,” says Monica Lombraña, the airport’s Director of Aviation. “Additionally, many of the non-stop destinations are major hubs with connections world-wide.”

In September this year, passenger traffic at the airport was up 4.8%, as increasing numbers of visitors from outside discover for themselves the secret of El Paso’s enduring appeal.

“We have a unique geography as well as a unique culture, with three states and two countries meeting here,” says Woody Hunt, Executive Chairman of Hunt Companies and a prominent local investor. “This is the historical meeting place of Latino, Spanish and Anglo cultures, which have all coexisted here for a long time.”

“This is a community like no other,” Bryan Crowe says. “There is a level of authenticity here that is like nowhere else, whether it be our mountains, our food, our culture, or our people. El Paso is a truly unique, safe and binational city that can really get into your blood and into your soul.”

The University of Texas at El Paso: Educating Future Hispanic Leaders in STEM

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he University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is located at the heart of the US-Mexico border in one of the largest binational communities in the world and serves 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students UTEP Campus with 167 degree programs.

Its innovative partnerships, particularly in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, are offering students invaluable research opportunities and positively impacting the surrounding economy.

The newest venture involves a collaboration with El Paso County that will help meet the demand for engineers in aerospace and federal labs, particularly in combustion and propulsion. The new MIRO cSETR Technology Research and Innovation Acceleration Park will house

projects from NASA, the US Department of Energy, Lockheed Martin, and the Missile Defense Agency.

UTEP is also the home of the first satellite center for America Makes, the national accelerator for additive manufacturing and 3-D printing. The center involves UTEP’s renowned W.M. Keck Center for 3-D Innovation and is structured as a public-private partnership.

The Keck Center lab features a state-of-the art facility with more than 50 additive manufacturing machines. The lab facilitates fundamental research, allowing for trailblazing discoveries. The center’s innovative work includes 3-D printed electronics, airplanes and satellite components, and bio-printable materials for healthcare applications, including printing of new skin and the development of a heart patch.

With a student body that is 80% Hispanic, UTEP is making a disproportionate contribution to the national priority of increasing diversity among STEM professionals at the highest level.

Border health: new hospitals respond to the changing demographics of healthcare

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s a binational, bicultural metropolitan area, El Paso is on the front line of changing trends in healthcare. Seizing this opportunity, the city has positioned itself at the forefront of investing in medical research and innovation, exploring new ways to treat the majority Hispanic population and to improve border health.

New facilities opened in the city in recent years include the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, the only medical school on the US-Mexico border, the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing, and the recently announced Dental School, all at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso. Meanwhile, Tenet Healthcare Corporation and TTUHSC are jointly developing a vital new teaching hospital, The Hospitals of Providence Transmountain Campus, which will provide advanced training for medical students as well as new clinical research opportunities.

“It is a groundbreaking partnership that will change the healthcare landscape in our region,” the hospital’s CEO Nicholas Tejeda says. “The faculty we are recruiting into this community will bring new ideas on how we can succeed in the healthcare environment of the future. We will lead the way with developing new care delivery models.”

What’s really changed in El Paso is that we’ve begun to think seriously about how to define ourselves.”

Dr. Diana Natalicio President, UTEP

Our area has a history defined by centuries of commerce and cultural interaction.”

Jon Barela CEO, The Borderplex Alliance

We are a melding of two worlds: Mexico and the US, Spanish and English, old and new.”

Veronica Escobar El Paso County Judge

The Perfect Environment for Success Bryan Daniel, Executive Director, Office of Economic Development & Tourism, Office of the Governor of Texas What is the current policy with regard to taxpayer-funded incentives?

With the Texas Enterprise Fund, we’ve made a tool available for any company that wants to come here and it’s competitive. I would say that the minute an incentive program of any kind becomes truly competitive then it is the marketplace that is deciding how things are going to happen.

Can you tell us more about the Governor’s University Research Initiative?

The Governor said that he wanted to create a fund that would allow our universities to become world-class even faster. He wanted to help universities put more resources into recruiting Nobel laureates and members of the Academies of Science, Engineering and Math. From the time the session ended to about a year later, early in summer 2016, we laid out this brand-new program, took applications, and have announced ten awards, totalling just over 35 million dollars, to four different universities The traditional in things like nanotechnology, economic environment and engineering. We put this fund here is very conducive into something that can build up a whole generation in Texas. It’s to business.” been very successful and I think it will continue.

Why come to Texas today, in this economic and political climate?

First and foremost, the traditional economic environment here is very conducive to business. Companies have an opportunity to come here and be successful. The second reason I think Texas is great for businesses: we have established a tax and regulatory structure here that lets a business focus on their product and their people. You’re not going to have a lot of burdensome, unnecessary regulations.

Do we have regulations? Yes. Most CEOs will tell you they’re not burdensome, and they’re easy to underin a row that Texas stand. No personal income tax, no corporate income tax, we have what we call a margins tax; we cut it by has been the Best Place 25 percent last session. We have a property tax and a to Do Business sales tax, both of which are straightforward.

(CEO Magazine) The third thing I would say for “why come to Texas?” is “You really want to take advantage of this workforce.” The state’s population is growing, and our schools are doing a terrific job of educating these in a row that Texas folks to be adaptable to different industries. We hear has been the top from CEOs directly who say, “I really started looking here because of your tax structure and regulatory exporting state structure, but when I got here I found this workforce that is absolutely unbelievable.”

Those three things in combination are a very potent formula. It’s this combination of things that in a row Texas has lets businesses come here and be successful. It’s not just multinational corporations, this is true for small been awarded the businesses, for entrepreneurs - they take advantage Governor’s Cup of the very same things that benefit a Fortune 500 (Site Selection Magazine) company.

12 years

14 years 4 years

Are there certain industries that you are looking at harder than others?

There are certain industries we look at because we have a core of those industries here. As you mentioned earlier—energy and aerospace. Both are very firmly affixed to the Texas landscape; both are successful here. What people may not appreciate about our economy is how other sectors such as financial services or datacenters have found the same footing and have been able to make the same type of impact on the economy.

What is your primary goal for your time in this position?

The Governor has said on multiple occasions that when Texans succeed, Texas succeeds. If I boil it down to one thing, I want to make sure that when my time is up, I did everything I could to make sure we had the maximum number of opportunities for every Texan to participate in this red-hot economy. If we can do the things necessary to get that done, then Texas will have another success and as Texans we’ll all brag about that. Then the next generation will have something to build on.

Sports and Medicine Meet in Dynamic Frisco Maher Maso, Mayor, Frisco Can you give us a brief introduction to Frisco as a diverse and dynamic community?

I moved here in ‘92 and it was about 6500 people. To jump forward, in 2010 the official US census was at about 116,000. Today we are close to 158,000. Culturally this is a very diverse community for many reasons. One of the top reasons is education. People recognize that the Frisco Independent School District is one of the top school districts in the country. We also have the presence of every professional team in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Frisco. Of course, the number one sports brand in the world, the Dallas Cowboys’ new world headquarters is here We already now too. know that we’re a

sports capital, but what’s newer is our leadership in sports medicine and research.”

What’s bringing people here in terms of employment?

We have a well-educated work force and that’s why so many companies are moving here. We already know that we’re a sports capital, but what’s newer is our leadership in sports medicine and research. Scottish Rite is the foremost authority on children’s orthopedics. We now have Baylor, Scott & White under construction with the Cowboys —specifically a sports medicine research and rehab hospital. We are a Smart Sports City. I see an epicenter of innovation forming here.

Explain to me why Frisco is different in terms of the collaboration among the city entities.

My term is up next year so I can say things very bluntly. It amazes environmental sustainability. We include all of the above. We always me that the norm is to have no working work on our foundational things. We threw all relationship between the entities that develop our efforts into retail with the Stonebriar mall a community. We are an exception and we and it paid off. shouldn’t be. As an example, the first thing we Best Place to What do you envision the brand of Frisco did with the Cowboys was bring them in and Raise an Athlete will be 10-20 years from now? have a dialogue about the stadium. The deal (Men’s Journal) At buildout we will have many of the was easy to put together. Now we have a 12,000 same components just more of them: more seat high school stadium with a closed dome destinations, more retail, more conferences, operated by the Dallas Cowboys. And more more youth programs. I also want to strengthen importantly, it’s not just a sport stadium but an some areas, like the arts. HALL Park has helped educational facility. us with active outdoor sculpture gardens and You ask me what the key to success is in Best Mid-Sized an amphitheater. I see us on the leading edge of Frisco and I would have to say continuity. The innovation and healthcare. city manager got here in ‘87 when we were just City to Move to (Movoto) 4000 people. The fire chief was here for over 30 What would be your final message for years. They were community people first and other Mayors around the country? they weren’t hired from outside. They worked Share information, share best practices. If together hand in hand and built trust. someone has something better, learn from We’re the model in Texas. One of our them and improve on it. We hope that others core goals of the city is to be sustainable, Frisco Park 25 coming will learn from us because we are new and yet but everybody says that right? And it means we were able to choose the best things to work different things to different people. There’s online in 2018 for us. financial sustainability, structural sustainability,

#1

#1

216 acres

America’s Team Bets Big on Frisco Stephen Jones, COO, Dallas Cowboys What does this facility mean in the evolution of the Cowboys as an organization?

Because of our involvement in North Texas, we bought in early and often to the fact that the Metroplex was growing northward.

The most unique offer we received for the new practice facility was from Frisco. Because of our relationship with George Purefoy, the City Manager, Jim Gandy, in Economic Development, and of course Mayor Maso, we were shown this unique opportunity. As Jerry has said in the past—“You don’t own the University of Texas, you don’t own Texas A&M, and you don’t even own the Cowboys, you just buy the right to drive the bus for a while.”

Jerry has always challenged our family to make the most out of our ownership of the Cowboys to hopefully leave it in a better place than when it started. Obviously the Cowboys are bigger than life and over time the leaders have The most created America’s Team. unique offer we One of our major priorities received for the is to continue to educate and new practice inform mothers that children facility was from can be safe playing football. We understand that if boys are not Frisco.” out there playing football, they are going to be doing something risky, and we want them to be using that energy to play football and doing it safely. To say this is all about football is very misguided and misplaced. This will also be a huge soccer venue, a lacrosse venue, and there will be other groups focusing their energies on positive things rather than being on the streets. We are accomplishing huge things with this.

This piece of property would have been great whether we came here or not.

We super-sized it, though. We want to put in an office building and make it 400,000 is the size square feet. There is also 200,000 square of the Dallas Cowboys feet of restaurants and specialty retail and World Headquarters entertainment. The largest grossing mall in Texas is right across the street, so we in Frisco would not compete with them for retail, but they have a huge clientele there. We want to provide places to eat for the people on this side.

There is a medical center built by Baylor Scott & White who are building in the Ford Center 300,000 square feet there, not only to help at The Star the young athlete but the professional as well. We also have a Cowboys fitness center by Mark Mastrov, who did 24 Hour Fitness, a state-of-the-art fitness center so that people can come and experience is the size of the Cowboys Cowboys workout programs. We want to Fit gym at The Star draw in the YMCAs, the boy’s clubs and the youth football leagues.

91 acres

12,000 seats 60,000sq ft

What is your vision of the game into the future?

The biggest challenge of all for us today is winning, and this is hard to control because of the way the league is now structured. At some point, people get disenchanted when a team doesn’t win. We have built a great stadium and facilities, but we are always most dedicated to winning.

We also need to keep our players safe.

We are the ones accountable for providing the resources to make the game safe. It won’t happen overnight and there is always going to be risk but the first thing is to take care of our players and make sure they are good role models for the people in the community.

At the same time, it’s also important to give people second chances. The other part is to be committed to our fans and reach out to people who are taking in information in a different way than their parents did. It is on us to come up with ways to make that group interested in what we do.

Major League Soccer and Frisco—Growing Fast Together Dan Hunt, President, FC Dallas Would you tell us the fun story of your father, Mr. Lamar Hunt, bringing soccer to the US? My mother was a Rotary scholar who went to study at University College Dublin. So, my father’s first soccer match was actually a Shamrock Rovers game in Ireland. That is not a well-known fact. Then, he went to the 1966 World Cup, and became a fan. Typically, he jumped in with both feet and started the Dallas Tornado in 1967. That is how we wound up in the soccer business: Shamrock Rovers, ’66 World Cup, and Dallas Tornado.

What is the FC Dallas model that people are admiring, and how does it work?

For us, it is simple: we develop homegrown talent. Texans love Texans and love to cheer for them. If we are going spend money on players, we are more apt to sign young, talented players that we feel like we can nurture and grow.

Texans love to cheer for their homegrown athletes.”

Tell me a little bit about your history in Frisco and your decision to bet early and big on Frisco?

There was a story in the Dallas Morning News about George Purefoy, the city manager, and the baseball team—the Rough Riders. My dad read the story, said he would go meet with George and by the end of lunch- they actually met at La Hacienda Ranch Restaurant - they shook hands and agreed to try and build a soccer stadium with a youth complex. I guess I would say that at the core of it is the honesty and integrity of George Purefoy. I can say the same of Jim Dandy, at the EDC and Mayor Maso, who is just a remarkable man.

He is always on the go and he is a cheerleader for this city, but he is also a dealmaker. He is able to get companies here to buy into it. Also the continuity of the council is key: if you are going to take one thing away when I talk about the city, take this: continuity.

have a rehab facility here which is now full. Not only are they doing well with the rehab facility but they are using innovation and growing. Everyone has their eyes set on Frisco because it is such a dynamic and growing community. Concussions are an issue number of people that that all leagues, all sports, are concerned about. go through FC Dallas Player safety must be paramount, whether it’s a 5-year-old child or a 25-year-old adult. Frisco, facilities each year again, has attracted all of this. I am excited for the community.

1.9 million

How is forward-thinking innovation driving your team and the sport?

There is one thing that is unique to the sport of soccer, and that is that physical attributes may not necessarily correlate to success. As we develop the US talent player pool, we need to come together on methodology, to help better identify the players on the right path. We do not necessarily have key indicators besides watching players on the field, and then the bar we are watching them on may not be comparable to success in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Tell me a little bit about the collaboration and cooperation between the entities moving into Frisco?

Texas Health Resources is our partner here; they

113 million

economic impact of FC Dallas on the Frisco area

20 teams

in Major League Soccer

What is the next series of challenges?

There are a lot of things to think about, but if you have the right people, a lot of it becomes easier.

We are building the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

We are competing against the world for players, and against our region for recognition. This CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal we are now going to play in February is important to the club. If we can advance to the semifinal, it will be a gigantic deal. An MLS club really needs to win that tournament too.

Providing Comfort and Care to Children in Need Robert L. Walker, President/CEO, Scottish Rite Hospital for Children Could you provide us with an introduction to Scottish Rite Hospital for Children?

I think the hospital is a place of hope for families. Many families that have been referred here have gone other places and are still trying to figure out a diagnosis. When they get here, it is a place where they can get answers. It is a place where we have treated many other children with conditions similar to theirs, so it gives them a sense of assurI think the hospital is ance that they are in the right place. We are a place of hope a Masonic institution, which means we value giving back to others and providing service for families.� to those in need.

In what ways are you using technology to get more children more care?

One example is our expansion to Frisco. We are taking the innovations and accomplishments developed from our main campus over the last 95 years and advancing them at the new campus. The North Campus will include a state of the art facility and technology which will play an integral role in how we grow our patient population.

Besides genetic research, what other research initiatives have you undertaken or are you undertaking?

Another example is our Sports Medicine Center for Excellence. We are involved in a wide range of research studies that focus on preventing injuries and treating sports injuries, like concussions. There are so many organized sports at early ages, and one of the most common problems is overuse. We have been working with school districts and various sports groups to develop an understanding of what is practical for a child of 5 or 6 years old and giving proper instruction. A lot of these injuries are preventable through education the number of children for families and those involved in sports. treated by Scottish Rite Our research efforts also include the Centers since its inception for Excellence in: spine, hip, hand differences, foot differences, and limb length differences. Each center is led by an orthopedic surgeon who is committed to providing patient care, and trying to determine what causes the conditions we see and ways to provide better care.

250,000

800

Tell me how you fit into this ecosystem of sports that seems to be taking shape in Frisco?

Our focus is on the skeletally immature child, those less than 14 years of age. Injuries are different for someone who is finished growing.

If you have injuries related to growth plates, when the bone is still growing, a child can have problems for life if it is not treated properly. We predominantly treat younger kids, and there are thousands involved in sports that have injuries.

Beyond sports medicine, our new Frisco

the number of volunteers who make the Hospital especially friendly

5th edition

of the definitive textbook on pediatric orthopedics, authored by Scottish Rite Medical Staff

Ambulatory Surgery Center will provide general orthopedic care including day surgeries and follow up clinic appointments and urgent care for children who might have a fracture as a result of the common daily activities that all children are involved in. These services are currently available at our North Campus location in Plano. Due to the tremendous population growth in the greater North Dallas area we have expanded our services to meet the needs of the community. Additionally, the new facility will be built for potential expansion to accommodate inpatient beds for overnight stays if the need arises. We do not currently see the need for in-patient beds, but we have designed the facility for future growth.

We have talked about some of our training programs, but we have not talked about our fellowship program. Our one-year fellowship program is world renowned. It is the oldest, largest and is recognized as the gold standard in providing training and learning for those that have decided to specialize in pediatric orthopedics. We have over 160 fellows practicing across the country. Our program is over 35 years old and is another way for us to have impact around the world.

Quality of Life and Youthful Energy Bring People to Texas Michael K. Berry, President, Hillwood Properties To what would you attribute the success of the Texan economy?

Strip away the quality of life aspect, and geography has a lot to do with it, enhanced by DFW airport, and a business-friendly atmosphere. I think the other thing goes back to what we were talking about before: there are cool, unique places to live.

Can you talk to me more specifically about Alliance?

Alliance was first built as a public/private partner for an industrial airport that expanded into an integrated logistics hub with rail, air, highway, intermodal, and an inland port. Along with Tarrant County College we built a dedicated training center, called the Center for Excellence for Aviation, Logistics, and Transportation. There is on-site dedicated training and the curriculum is written by the companies, not the academics.

I don’t know that the data storage industry is as exciting as what Amazon is doing or the driverless car, but data storage is growing fast.

One of our last big deals was with Facebook; they are doing a $1 billion dollar data center.

I think baby

boomers and millennials want the same things: they want to be connected and socially aware, and we offer that here in Texas.”

Compare and contrast your Alliance project with Frisco Station?

Frisco Station is 242 acres and Alliance is 18,000 acres. Alliance Town Center is knit together by this greenbelt system and we’ve apartment business—urban living—started at Alliance and now we done the same thing at Frisco are going to build urban living units at Frisco Station with our mixedStation, but on a much more use concepts, with parks and open spaces. Our Hillwood urban compact and urban scale. That’s platform, which we just launched and what I am responsible for is truly an urban development strategy. important now because people want green space and outdoor/active space. They want programWhat would you highlight as the strengths ming, events, and activities. I need to tell you of the economy here, today, 2017? about one other thing with Alliance and it goes The Hub: Frisco Station’s I would point out that the economy of Texas back to innovation. Ross Perot Jr., who is our dining, shopping, is much more diverse than people realize. The chairman, is known for Hillwood and the Perot Dallas Fort Worth area is becoming a huge family, but he is also an active venture capital entertainment district financial services center. We just announced a investor-entrepreneur-technology-guy and he is deal with Charles Schwab, which is moving a doing a lot of work in that space. We are looking big part of their operation here from California for companies who have creative ideas, mostly and consolidating. Toyota is moving their North in the tech sector, who can use our platform at of corporate campus American headquarters to Plano.

Alliance to help incubate. We have a micro econThere is also great quality of life. If you come omy. You have all these people and infrastructure in Frisco Station here anytime of the year you have choices for so if we can find companies to test a new idea, professional sports, you have great museums, they don’t have to go try and set-up on the street performing arts, and music. The schools in the corner. suburban markets are great. There is an energy of open space, connected here that people are attracted to, particularly What are the next steps that you are going to take at Hillwood? by trail, and anchored by the next generation. I think baby boomers and Alliance is our foundation. Our industrial millennials want the same things: they want to a 15-acre park business started Alliance and now it is national be connected and socially aware, and we offer and in Europe. It is all tied to logistics. Our that here in Texas.

39 acres

1 million sq ft 29 acres

Nature, Art and Fitness Characterize an Iconic Development in Frisco Craig Hall, Chairman and Founder, HALL Group How are you continuing to promote sustainable development in this competitive business climate?

As a company, we have embraced the Green Building Council. In Frisco we have about 1/3 of our property in park land, which is unusual for expensive land. This also increases the quality of life of the people working there. We also developed the first Leed Gold certified winery in California at HALL St. Helena.

How did you get involved in Frisco and where do you envision it is headed?

We got involved in the late 1980s buying land. Our view was that Frisco was strategically located and would be a great growth city. What has happened has been much more than we ever expected. The current Mayor, Mayor Maso, is as good of a human being, and a leader, as you could ask for. If I had to pick one reason why Frisco I got into real estate has been so successful, I would say it is as a result to prove a point: I am of the leadership. The a bottom-line business other hidden but equally person who is also important element in the passionate about ideas. development of Frisco is I think that is typical of George Purefoy, the City Manager. I have worked in many entrepreneurs.”

43 different states, well over 100 different communities and I have never seen a place like Frisco. In this country, we desperately need leadership that space in that environment. We are oriented toward being unique and works with, instead of against, the private sector.

Part of what Frisco’s done is that they have built a family-friendly combining art and interesting architecture in everything we develop.

One of the businesses that we are growing system. If you are a company looking for a place a lot right now is our lending business, HALL to recruit and retain talent, Frisco is ideal. As Structured Finance. I love entrepreneurs, so we millennials get older and have kids, a place like are helping people get things done that might not Frisco is great because you can buy an affordable size of the HALL Park be able to get started otherwise. house and put your kids in a excellent school. office space in Frisco This makes that an attractive labor force for How do you identify the skills that will companies which are looking to move here. I make other entrepreneurs successful? think that’s the main thing that, as builders, we You want to find the people that will go the extra look for. We are also trying to encourage Frisco mile. You want to invest in someone’s dreams, but to be bigger in the arts for kids and they are very you want to deal with people who have enough receptive. Frisco has a small-town community total space of HALL sensibility that they are likely to be able to carry feel but is also growing and using their resources Park including walking it out. Entrepreneurship is actually more difficult wisely. trails, park land and art today because most industries are becoming so installations Where is the next big step for you and your consolidated. In the structured finance business, companies?

I am amazed at the lengths that people will go For the companies—we are enjoying quality to work hard for something they believe in. over quantity. We were a much larger company Entrepreneurship is mostly about surviving until in the past, but we are happy with the situation you thrive, not getting rich quick. now: we own all the properties in HALL Park and I got into real estate to prove a point: I am don’t have to negotiate working with partners. I a bottom-line business person who is also adorn HALL Park really want to step it up and do more exciting passionate about ideas. I think that is typical of things for people who are going to be using the many entrepreneurs.

2.5 million sq ft 162 acres

200 pieces of art

Fun and Fit Living Provide the Perfect Environment for Growth David A. Pace, President & CEO, Jamba Inc. How would you say this region of Texas—and Frisco in particular—is setting itself apart?

Frisco has become one of the fastest growing communities in America in this decade through a thoughtful and strategic approach to expansion. It boasts a highly skilled workforce, strong infrastructure and is a highly desirable place to work and live. It has also taken a targeted approach to attracting organizations and businesses that align with their vision for the community. Jamba is invested in inspiring fun and fit living and the City of Frisco embodies those things. Frisco continues to be a leading hotspot for business development and is a community committed to success for its businesses and residents.

their home. Since arriving in Frisco, Jamba has already been in discussions with the city to offer ideas for how to attract other companies to the community.

Please elaborate on how innovation is at work in Jamba?

Innovation is at the heart of one of the 5 key strategic pillars I outlined in March when I took over the role as CEO. We will innovate with purpose, ensuring new menu innovations are aligned with consumer needs and deliver Jamba’s partnership with expanded reach. We will innovate through the City of Frisco will further digital innovation, ensuring we meet consumer needs related to convenience and I’m challenging strengthen our culture.” our team to lead through innovation in strategy, allowing Jamba to deliver our distinctive How is the City Council working with its partners in the business products while improving restaurant level profitability. community to bring change about?

Frisco is a learning community. They don’t stop at attracting businesses. What would you highlight to potential investors in Texas right now?

They continue the dialogue to understand why organizations are Our new leadership team has rallied to build a thoughtful approach choosing Frisco and what they can do even better to attract more high to our 2017 operating plan and with Frisco being one of the fastest quality organizations. This commitment to learn and grow means that growing communities in Texas, we are optimistic about the future they are getting stronger with every new organization that makes Frisco of Jamba.

Rich in German Culture and Full of Texas Fun Barron Casteel, Mayor, New Braunfels What differentiates New Braunfels from the cities in the area?

New Braunfels is unique because of the immigrants who first settled here. We will be celebrating the 175th anniversary of the founding of our city in 2020. The heritage that we have as a city founded by prosperous German immigrants makes New Braunfels very distinct from other cities along the corridor from San Antonio to Austin. There were citizens of New Braunfels born as late as the 1950s whose first language was German, so that makes it unique as well.

Located in a river basin between the Comal River, the smallest river in Texas, and the Guadalupe River, our city was an ideal site for industry. The textile mills dominated our community until the 1980s. Then in the 1990’s our community transitioned to focus We are getting on tourism because of our rivers.

As personal incomes increased ready to start a across Texas, recreation became comprehensive a bigger part in many Texans’ community plan and budgets. New Braunfels is a will appoint a steering welcoming place for visitors to committee, which will come and stay for the weekend and enjoy all the amenities our require the input of many citizens over the city has to offer. The boost in tourism has been beneficial next year-and-a-half.” for our residents because the increased sales tax has lessened the tax burden on our residents.

New Braunfels is able to support city services in a way that is not reliant on property taxes. Our largest source of revenue in the city budget is sales tax. That is unique when compared to other communities on the IH-35 corridor. And the tourism element is a big part of that revenue.

Why did CGT (Canadian General-Tower) decide to settle in New Braunfels?

CGT had expanded in China and wanted to expand operations here in the US as opposed to further outsourcing. We were in competition with a city in Louisiana. One of the factors that worked for New Braunfels was the fact that we have the right sized airport near their site. We have worked very hard as a community in making strategic investments in our airport. Another factor in New Braunfels’ favor was the proximity to IH-35. The CGT site is located just off the interstate which is a benefit because a portion of their customer base is south of the border. Also, they will be able to bring raw materials from the nearby Houston area.

We are very proud that CGT choose to locate in our community. CGT will be the largest business located in New Braunfels since 1985 when WalMart opened a distribution center here. This represents an $86 million investment in the New

Braunfels community. They are at the forefront of innovation when it comes to the materials they produce. The faster they move towards operation, the quicker they will hire employees and make investments on the ground that will be on our tax rolls.

175th anniversary of the city in 2020

$86 million

investment by CGT in New Braunfels

10-acre

redevelopment site in downtown area

How is New Braunfels served in terms of human resources?

The fact that we are in a highly-populated area is important. Both Austin and San Antonio have large labor forces that we are able to access. Our work force is local and from all the communities surrounding New Braunfels.

The city has done a good job in attracting primary employers and now is fortunate to have employment opportunities for local residents as well as residents of neighboring communities.

Through our strategic planning and partnering with The Alamo Colleges and the City of Seguin, we have created the Central Texas Technology Center, or CTTC. The center is a place where local businesses can train their employees.

Also, the CTTC offers programs that allow individuals to work towards a Bachelor’s Degree.

It is a great asset and benefits both businesses and area residents.

America’s Second Fastest Growing City Michael Meek, President and CEO, The Greater New Braunfels Economic Development Foundation What can you tell us about New Braunfels and its economic development strategy?

We have around 70,000 residents now and are America’s 2nd fastest growing city. We have a comprehensive economic development program and we are not just going after one industry. We know that wealth creation also comes from tourism and are blessed to have great tourism here. The Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce runs the Convention and Visitors Bureau for the city. As long as we have low taxes, good climate, adequate transportation systems and a good quality of life, people will move here. Especially the retirees though New Braunfels is a great place to raise a family too.

Who do you want to be interested in New Braunfels?

Most communities that are like ours have targeted industries. We try not to do shotgun marketing. Instead, we take rifle shots. We know it is a very competitive business. Companies have choices about where to invest their capital and expand their operations or relocate.

People are not We all have certain strengths. just moving here because We are located directly on of incentives. They Interstate 35, between two major relocate to New Braunfels metropolitan areas, Austin and because of the public San Antonio, just minutes east education system, good of Interstate 10. We are a natural climate, job availability location for distribution firms.

That is why Walmart chose and central location.”

New Braunfels in the mid ‘80s.

We were the first distribution center. That was a big deal for us and it remains so today.

The Chamber does not decide which companies are allowed to come two major hospitals. Healthcare is the fastest-growing sector that we in and which are not. We do not pick the targeted industries. We made have. This happened 19 years later so we took that prediction to heart. a conscious decision in 2000 to say, “We are not What about education? elected by the citizens. We are a private, non-profit When the city held a conference to update its organization. The City Council is elected.” Thus, developmental plan in the middle of the 1990’s, the Council sets the goals. Our role lies in recruiting fastest growing one of the goals was to bring post-secondary and marketing. The governance and incentives city in America education. Since that time, the Central Texas aspects are the responsibility of the city staff and Technology Center has been established. Their council. We handle the marketing and relationships, expansion opened on September 9. It has doubled New Braunfels is very well-positioned in in size. Wayland Baptist University also offers terms of location and transportation. What classes here. They are moving their nursing school about healthcare? to New Braunfels. That is huge for healthcare workforce increase In 1997, the Federal Reserve talked to our fairly recruitment. Howard Payne University has chosen in the past 9 years new Economic Development Foundation. They New Braunfels as well. Their headquarters are in said, “We have run some numbers and your Brownwood in West Texas. largest growth industry will be healthcare.” We So, our post-secondary education opportuniall looked at each other thinking, “What are they ties have increased. I’d also like to think that we talking about?” They continued, “We have looked have helped start-ups throughout my tenure. One at the population trends and we see that you will of the changes in the industry of economic decreation of The Greater experience great population growth. You will need velopment is that we no longer only go after the New Braunfels Economic big fish. We also help home-grown businesses get more medical facilities and personnel.”

Development Foundation started and grow. We have a comprehensive sysAt the time, New Braunfels had a communityowned little hospital. That was it. Today, we have tem here of helping someone start their business.

2nd

46%

2005

America’s First Family of Waterparks Gary Henry, President, Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts What made the family start the company? Where did the idea come from?

Part of the reason my dad moved the family from Houston to New Braunfels was he wanted to have his own business where he could build things and work with his hands, and he also wanted all the family working together. Back in the 60s and early 70s, as we were growing up, we built the campground, which eventually evolved into the resort.

It was a true family-run small business and my dad wanted to keep everyone involved and close. But at that point, my dad knew that the resort aspect of the business wasn’t enough to keep five people busy. My mom ran the resort and my dad did the construction, so there wasn’t anything for my brother, sister, and myself.

At the end of 1976, my brother sold his business and People within headed to Key West with a buddy to go scuba diving. They the state have a took off and along the way they “can do” attitude, saw some mounds of dirt with whether you are concrete slides carved into them. talking about an It was like a carnival ride, he rode them a few times and thought it entrepreneur, was fun. Then they hit Orlando subcontractor, and saw Disney World, which or a tradesman.” was relatively new at that time.

We opened the original park in 1979 and ran it until 1990. In 1990 Disney World had an attraction called River Country, which was we bought Camp Warnecke, another campground here in New Braunfels their vision of an old time swimming hole. It was built on Lake Buena now known as Schlitterbahn East. In 1991 we opened Surfenburg and Vista with a children’s play area, a couple of slides, and some theming in 1996 we opened Blastenhoff so by 1997 we had pretty much built elements. My brother thought it was a neat idea to market to families. out New Braunfels as far as capacity of land for new attractions. Then, Then my brother drove down International Drive in Orlando where Wet we started looking elsewhere. We opened South Padre in 2001. That ‘n Wild had just opened up. They basically poured a big concrete slab, was a success so we followed that up and decided to do it again in built some steel towers, and hung some pretty fiberglass off the steel Galveston, which opened in 2006. All three parks were doing very well so we thought we’d try some place very different so towers. They also had a lazy river and a wave pool. we went to Kansas.

He then called the family and said we should go We started the Kansas project, a very large mixedto Florida and check those things out. That’s how used development that not only had the water the seed was germinated for the water park. We park and lodging, but also had commercial retail were looking at one model, which was very family in the world for 19 mixed in. We have automotive dealers opening on friendly low-tech and the second model, which was consecutive years site, restaurants, hotels, and we even convinced a very polished. Wet ‘n Wild became what we called Fortune 500 company to relocate there. It’s now the the first generation water park model, which was: world headquarters for Dairy Farmers of America. go in, scrap the land flat, pour a big slab, and throw We also did a deal with the Major League Soccer some towers into the air. team in Kansas and we are the national training site height of MASSIV, So you can set up a water park anywhere? for the US National Soccer Federation. the world’s tallest You can do it anywhere and it doesn’t necessarily Our most recent park in Corpus Christi is one of water coaster utilize the environment or the natural beauty that our more ambitious projects with a complex river you may have. But here in New Braunfels we had system, resort, and country club. the natural spring-fed river system next to us, we Innovation is at the heart of what we do. For had the huge beautiful oak and pecan trees, we had years rides invented at Schlitterbahn were then the elevation of the hillside, and we had the resort turned around and manufactured and sold through opening of the park with units scattered around, as opposed to a hotel my brother’s company. Those rides were put in in Corpus Christi where everything is contained in a large block. That waterparks around the world, so there are bits of was the genesis.

Schlitterbahn innovation everywhere.

#1 waterpark 81 feet, 6 3/4” 2016

Working with Business to Provide Tailored Training Chester Jenke, Director, Central Texas Technology Center – Alamo Colleges Can you give me a bit of background on the CTTC and how it got started?

We just completed the new center, which is beautiful inside. The CTTC came out of the New Braunfels Mayor’s higher education taskforce.

The premise of it was to attract businesses with a local training facility. When I came on board 7 years ago they wanted me to figure out a path forward, which I did through communicating with the community. Seven years ago we had about 125 people, and now we have 1100. This growth put such demands on the programs that it really forced us forward in a positive way.

Even though the demographics and needs have changed, we have been able to address those needs as a result of our five community colleges in San Antonio.

Looking forward, we are going to be adding more arts and sciences classes. We are also looking at manufacturing labs, and trying to bring technology that manufacturers will be using in 2020. Though our I-BEST programs—Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training—we take people who may need a GED and prepare them for further study. So looking

to the horizon, there are many things we can do to address any kind of business practice or manufacturing facility.

96% of Alamo

Colleges students stay and contribute to the local economy

19.4%

individual rate of return for every dollar Alamo colleges’ students spend on college

Can you describe how the community around New Braunfels and Seguin made this possible?

We are very lucky to have a close collaborative process. All of our schools are very open to recruiting and working with their students to get them college ready. Our number one asset is this cooperative environment—our ability to work together in order to address any needs.

Can this system be a model for other communities?

At our ribbon cutting we had Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Jay Williams, here and he made the comment that this facility can be a model for many communities around the country to follow. We are thrilled to be able to respond to the needs of the community and help students find their own way forward to succeed.

Grand Prairie is Reaching for the Sky Christopher Emerson, President of Airbus Helicopters Inc. and Head of North America Region How would you say Grand Prairie is setting itself apart?

Texas, the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and North Texas in general are business-friendly, with low taxes, a good transportation network, low cost of living for employees, and outstanding colleges and universities from which to recruit welleducated and trained employees.

Grand Prairie officials have always welcomed Airbus Helicopters with open arms and provided assistance with expanding and improving facilities. The city has obtained funding to improve the municipal airport, at which Airbus Helicopters is based. Airbus Helicopters has its own fire department, but it also trains and works closely with the Grand Prairie Fire Department. When called upon, city officials reach out to other federal, state and local elected and appointed officials to assist Airbus Helicopters.

The Dallas-Fort Worth region has long been a thriving aviation industry regional center, with two major airlines (American and Southwest) based here, Lockheed Martin, Bell Helicopter, and numerous suppliers employing tens of thousands of people, many who have skills readily transferable to another segment of aviation. So from a human

4,000

estimated demand for aerospace engineers in North Texas

51,000

certified pilots in Texas

capital standpoint, Grand Prairie is smack in the middle of an aviation talent Mother Lode.

What makes the community unique from your perspective?

Grand Prairie still has small town charm but with the benefits of being part of a larger metropolitan area. The city has an enormous ethnic and cultural diversity. It also has a city government that is willing to go to bat for its citizens and works with neighboring cities in the DallasFort Worth region. Grand Prairie continues to attract new housing and businesses with its lower costs of housing and development than even surrounding cities and has room to grow.

How is your company constantly innovating to compete more effectively?

Airbus Helicopters is pushing the boundaries of rotarywing aviation capabilities. It has produced some of the quietest helicopters in the world and the H160 now being developed will cut noise even further with a revolutionary “Blue Edge” blade design. Airbus Helicopters has long been an industry leader in research and development of new technology and systems to enhance civil helicopters, rather than military aircraft.

Grand Entertainment and Location in the Metroplex Ron Jensen, Mayor, Grand Prairie What are your priorities in Grand Prairie?

When I became Mayor, I wanted us to have a bigger brand. So I actively pursued leadership roles outside the community. I’m the Chair of the Regional Transportation Council (RTC)—our budget is bigger than 27 other states in the Union—because I want people to see that the Mayor of Grand Prairie is the RTC Chair. We’re the 15th largest city in the State of Texas, 127th largest city in the US.

How are you making Grand Prairie a place where people can spend their whole lives in a day and age when people move around a lot?

We did surveys about four years ago and we found that people outside our city felt better about our city than people inside the city.

So we actively pursued educating our own citizens. As far as keeping young people in town, Grand Prairie has something for every age.

We are building the EPIC all–age life changing life center to complement If you come our very successful Summit active adult center. The EPIC will also three years from now, we’ll take you have EPIC Waters, an indoor water park, and an adjacent all-accessible out there and show playground for people of all abilities. you a new city.”

Our housing ranges from affordable to affluent, our schools offer campuses of choice and outstanding academies, our parks system is one of the best in the nation. With our ideal location and easy access, people are born and raised here, stay here and can work anywhere in the Metroplex.

In terms of investors what kinds of companies do you think would fit into your culture?

I would love more high technology companies.

Of course, the Dallas-Fort Worth area was built on aerospace and it’s still huge. Look at who we have here: Bell, Airbus, Lockheed, all three in our city. But what I also did not realize until I got on the council is how positioned we are for distribution companies. Take Restoration Hardware (RH), their distribution center is in Grand Prairie. We have a huge distribution area for Office Depot.

When I sell Grand Prairie, I sell location: we’re 20 minutes from Dallas/ Fort Worth International - and I sell the amenities of the Metroplex. From right here, I can get to every major sporting event in 15 minutes except soccer, which is 35 minutes away in Frisco. Once you’re size of the IKEA store over 50, we also have the Summit, we’re fixing to being built on 161 in build you an indoor-outdoor waterpark open year round, and we have the PlayGrand Adventures, an Grand Prairie all-inclusive park that we’re building right here in the center of the Metroplex. We also have one of my favorite lakes around, Joe Pool, where you can ski almost any day even when the winds are up because there’s nice wind protection.

293,000 sq ft

120,000 sq ft

Describe the citizens of Grand Prairie for our readers.

The EPIC—“life changing center” being constructed for arts, fitness and entertainment

They haven’t all grown up here but it’s a good, hardworking, family-oriented community.

But we don’t only count on the workforce of Grand Prairie. You can get a workforce if you pay competitive wages and have good benefits because people don’t mind driving 45 minutes to work.

PlayGrand Adventures, outdoor playround for all ages and abilities

10 acres

What drove you to be Mayor?

Real simple, and I go back to my upbringing. I want the people of Grand Prairie that live, work and play here to feel better about living, working and playing here when I leave than when I came, very simple. How do you do that? You work it a day at a time. I’m going to get up and I’m going to go talk to people today, tell them we’re a great place and we need them to help. If you come three years from now, we’ll take you out there and show you a new city.

A Diverse, Friendly, Strategically Located City in the Metroplex Marty Wieder, Director, Economic Development Department, Grand Prairie What projects will make Grand Prairie more of a destination?

One of the best things that you heard the Mayor say earlier is that State Highway 161, the President George Bush Turnpike, is a game changer.

We were already at a regional crossroads, since Grand Prairie has two interstates, Interstate Highway 20 to the south and Interstate Highway 30 to the north, connected by State Highway 360 and now as well with 161. All that had already helped facilitate Grand Prairie’s attraction as a location for distribution centers.

What we’re going to have with the EPIC is not only an indoor-outdoor We’re going to waterpark—that will provide service have this collection almost 365 days per year— but also of amenities geared a recreational facility that’s completely unique. In addition to these two new to our citizens—that EPIC facilities, GrandCentral Park will will also attract a also eventually include PlayGrand lot of other people Adventures, which will total about 10 acres of totally accessible park space. from outside our It will provide opportunities for chilcommunity.” dren with some sort of accessibility need to come and play, as well as wounded warriors to be able to interact with their children and families.

We’re going to have this collection of amenities geared to our citizens— that will also attract a lot of other people from outside our community.

What are some of the challenges that you have and how are you addressing them?

Our challenge, in a region with so many dynamic corridors and foster some iconic types of mid to high rise development that will be so communities, is to get information out to the public. Educating, strategic because it’s only 7 minutes from downtown Dallas and about communicating, and demonstrating that our brand 7 minutes from AT&T Stadium and Globe Life is different. People may not know that we’re home Park in Arlington. to Airbus Helicopters or that Lockheed Martin What do you think Grand Prairie is going has such a huge presence in this community. to look like in the future? population change In addition to IKEA, we have others such as Our council, management team and my predeRestoration Hardware—and HelloFresh USA. since 2000 cessor (Bob O’Neal) set the stage and did the Perhaps people aren’t aware that Grand Prairie things we needed in the way of investment and has created three tax increment reinvestment infrastructure. They also made an effort to highzones over the history of the city to help foster light the investment that’s taking place downthis development. Don’t forget that we have phetown—and continued to think about how we can nomenal places, with a lake, an historic downpreserve what we had, by virtue of the historic town—and we already have a farmer’s market Bankhead Highway, which is our Main Street. We here on Main Street. Grand Prairie already has median household want to maintain that to also make it a magnet— great quality of life, and the community is being income in 2013 an authentic area where people can come and see entrepreneurial in the ways we go about deliverthe historic types of signage and facilities. That ing services. kind of thing will be very positive.

What kinds of companies do you think I think this is our time to say “Hey, take a look would fit here? over here!” I want to see that day come, where We just released a request for development people recognize the excitement of FnG Eats, people living in proposals last week for a 55-acre site. There that’s preparing to go into our old fire station Grand Prairie who couldn’t be a better site—I-30 and Belt Line.We downtown. I want to hear people saying, “Ooh, were born abroad believe that’s one of our best opportunities to let’s go there before or after we go to the Verizon.”

+45.5%

$55,290 21.42%

Infrastructure and a Welcoming Attitude Make Grand Prairie Attractive Joseph Roth, US Expansion/Property Public Affairs Manager, IKEA How would you say this region of Texas— and Grand Prairie in particular—is setting itself apart?

The large and fast-growing population base in the Dallas-Fort Worth area makes it a dynamic marketplace for retailers with endless potential as land is developed, people move and businesses expand. Additionally, the coordinated regional approach and foresight in planning highway infrastructure in North Texas really allows for connectivity between the different cities and parts of the Metroplex.

In fact, the opening of SH161 through the heart of Grand Prairie created an additional northsouth artery that facilitates a potential retail corridor which IKEA can help drive.

Grand Prairie is unique because it held onto some of its historical charm and roots while paving the way for a prosperous future. The city deftly embraces, and benefits from, change while actually helping to shape it. Grand Prairie’s central location in the Metroplex makes it strategically positioned for drawing customers from the west as well as from the east.

The City of Grand Prairie has proven to be a flexible and openminded, business friendly city focused on creating a full-service and responsive local government for their residents and businesses.

is essentially a vertically-integrated company, we strive to utilize innovative materials in our product design and production, as well as a variety of sustainability initiatives reflecting our Swedish heritage.

Innovation is always looking for ways to evaluate and tweak one’s products, services or shopping experience to improve or to be more efficient.

As its US presence expanded, IKEA—through the years—has furthered Please elaborate with a few words about IKEA’s philosophy its customer services in response to customer needs. From the supervised on dependability, innovation and customer service. children’s play area to a product selection featuring country and traditional One of the unique aspects of the IKEA business model styles in addition to the well-known modern and is the consistency of the shopping experience we ofScandinavian designs, we have consistently rolled-out fer from store to store, country to country, worldwide. new conveniences for our customers, including home One of the challenges from a dependability standpoint delivery, assembly service, a pick & delivery service for visits to IKEA stores is that—with such a limcustomers who do not want to pull products from the worldwide ited US presence—it can warehouse themselves and most recently—a 365-day return policy.

The City of be hard for customers to Grand Prairie depend on us when we What would you highlight to potential has proven to be might not as conveniently investors in Texas right now? located to them be as we a very flexible, would like. For this reaThe Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is an expansive is the brand value openminded metropolitan area with a fast-growing population and son, we are expanding our of IKEA plenty of land. We are fortunate to have such a strong US footprint—growing and business customer base in North Texas to warrant a 2nd IKEA (statista.com) friendly city.” our presence in metro arstore in the area. We cannot wait to open IKEA Grand eas where we already have Prairie in Fall 2017 to complement our North Texas stores as well as entering presence established with IKEA Frisco in 2005, and markets where we do not yet have a store. Customers our two other Lone Star stores—in Houston and in also depend on IKEA for our unique product selecRound Rock. tion—which is known for marrying the values of funcAdditionally, with newly announced plans for tion, design and affordability; they want stylish and of annual donations a San Antonio-area store in Live Oak, we continue practical home furnishings without breaking the bank.

by IKEA Foundation to experience a receptive business climate in Texas In order to survive in an evolving retail worldwide as well with very straightforward governmental marketplace, it is essential to incorporate approval processes. innovation into a business model. Since IKEA

771 million

$18 billion

$104 million

The Energy Capital of West Texas is Still Bustling Jerry Morales, Mayor, Midland What is it that sets Midland apart from other areas of Texas?

What makes it a unique community?

Midland is in the desert. It is 300 miles from El Paso, 300 miles from Dallas. So, we have to develop our own business climate, our own culture; we have to sustain ourselves. We have had tremendous success with that. The oil and gas industry has really put Midland on the map worldwide. When I say “oil and gas”, I mean the technology, expertise, and advancement they have been able to do on their own Infrastructure out here. That is what has set has been growing by Midland apart from other areas— 1.5 to 2 % in the last the oil and gas infrastructure and the people. The people here couple of years.” are down-to-earth and a giving group—very loving and caring.

Growing up, we always talked about how friendly everyone in the neighborhood was. We all played in the streets, and walking to school was fun. We have a strong faith base. The churches and non-profits and foundations are very strong here. We talk very highly about our United Way Midland. Each year they raise over 3$ million dollars for non-profits. That is unheard of in a city this size.

Cities across the nation are having to adapt their growth and urban development strategies to accommodate for the tastes of the millennials. What kinds of projects are you considering to accommodate for this generation?

Midland has been very successful in recruiting and retaining young Where is Midland going in terms of its economy? professionals and families. Downtown revitalization is probably our We need to diversify our community. Oil and gas is our backbone, number one project. We have attracted several restaurants, lounges, a and will continue to be strong because of technology. But there are new boutique hotel and will construct a new park and renovate one other commodities too. Water is a strong commodity out here in West Texas, and we have been very successful that already exists. It will be exciting to develop at attaining and retaining water. Our former downtown more into a family-oriented outdoor mayor was very aggressive in making sure activity center.

Midland had water and people are going to go We will also put up a 42$ million Midland height of Bank of to communities that have water. That is what Center that allows us to hold more church America Building we call the “blue gold”. That is another selling and school activities, sports, events for our tallest in the city point for Midland, a strong one. community, which then begins to bring the We are today working with Odessa, Abilene, heartbeat back to downtown. and San Angelo and the four mayors are Prior to all of that happening, the property working together to bring a 100-year water holders downtown put in over $ 125 million of supply to the Permian Basin. We are talking, their own funds to improve their facilities. So looking, searching, and putting our resources this public-private partnership really brought unemployment in together. We are really looking way down the some life back to the downtown.

October 2016 road to ensure the economics of Midland are The Council is also trying to bring in more going to sustain us with the water. Water is a apartments with better amenities. We have also big component. done a good job over the years to improve on We are also the only international airport our sports complex. We also work with our to have the spaceport in the nation. We have malls and try to bring in more retail outlets in passengers annually a jewel of an airport already, and we need to general. So, Midland has evolved from this ultraat Midland International promote our airport. We are proud to own it conservative town to a more family-friendly Air & Space Port and invest in it. We are proud of everything it town with more amenities and opportunities for has done for the West Texas community. people to enjoy.

24-story

3.9%

900,000

Diversifying the Strength and Stability of the Midland Economy Pam Welch, Executive Director, Midland Development Corporation Midland is known for the oil and gas sector, yet your organization undertook a concerted effort to diversify.

The citizens of Midland set up the Midland Development Corporation, which is a type A sales tax corporation, using sales tax money to entice businesses to expand or relocate here. In doing that, we looked at what our assets were. Our airport was one of our largest assets. We have one of the fastest growing regional airports in the state of Texas. It is a beautiful facility.

Working with the aerospace industry was one of our main targets, but the industry is so large and covers a huge amount of companies. So, we narrowed it down. We had received a lead for a commercial space company. When NASA privatized, it opened the door for the private sector to get into the space industry. That is why you see Elon Musk, for example, going into commercial space. That made it much easier for us to target a smaller section of the aerospace industry. It also is much easier to get in the door of the Boeings and the Lockheeds if you have worked with them on the commercial space Midland side. It is not easy to call up Boeing has one of the largest numbers of and ask to meet with them to talk about Midland, but if you can build engineers per capita relationships by working in the comin the nation.� mercial space industry, then the opportunities become more available.

We do work with the smaller commercial space industry companies, but we also constantly get to meet with the big guys who will hopefully have something that they can put out in this area in the future.

Is the aerospace industry your primary target then?

Yes. We market to the commercial space and the aerospace industry on a daily basis. We participate and exhibit in many of the commercial space shows offered in the nation. One of the largest ones is the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, and we have been exhibiting there for the last 4 years now. Also SpaceCom in Houston.

We are marketing our talented pool of engineers.

Midland has one of the largest numbers of engineers per capita in the nation. We work very diligently with our community college, Midland College, on workforce training. We have just partnered with the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and helped fund their aeronautical engineering program, which is part of their mechanical engineering program. It is a new program which just started in September. They hired an aeronautical engineering professor to run that. We wanted to build our talent for the aerospace industry so that we could grow our own aeronautical engineers and hopefully the UT system can help us grow into other aviationrelated and aerospace-related programs.

What other sectors are you looking at?

We also look at advanced manufacturing. Our workforce out here is extremely talented with their hands. Being in the oil industry, we have a tremendous amount of machining skills. Some of the top machinists in the world are in the Permian Basin. Precision machining is crucial to the oil and gas industry. We have people who are used to using a lot of electronics and highly highest per capita sophisticated equipment in the oil and gas industry, personal income and we have a lot of manufacturing for the oil and county in Texas gas industry. We want to grow on that too. I think there is more manufacturing that can be done inland rather than on the coast. Hopefully people will start to do a lot of manufacturing closer to where the raw product is instead of having to ship it here.

#3

37%

of families are considered upper-income

1923

discovery of oil in Midland

How do you describe Midland to the people you meet?

Midland is very arid as we are in the desert. We do not have a lot of rolling hills in Midland, but that makes for a lot better bicycling. It is a lot easier to motorcycle, too. It is very easy for us to go to lakes, to the mountains, toward New Mexico. It is very easy to get to all of those different terrains.

Midlanders like to be outdoors and love to travel.

We are world travelers because the oil and gas industry is a worldwide industry.

Wildcatter Mentality Meets Space Exploration J. Ross Lacy, Councilman, City of Midland What were the initial steps taken to decide on how to diversify the economy in Midland?

It started back in 2012 when our former Director of Airports saw that we could make a splash in the aerospace industry by becoming a spaceport. We were officially awarded that designation on 17 September 2014. We looked for an industry with a synergy with oil and gas because that is our primary industry. The skilled labor force that we already have here is a helpful recruiting tool when we explain the benefits of moving to the Midland spaceport. We are also working with UTPB by developing the aerospace engineering program.

How did you make the aerospace industry fit in Midland?

I attribute that to the entrepreneurial spirit of Midland. Our area was developed and became successful because of “wildcatters,” people willing to take a risk. There are many individuals in this community who have been successful because they have taken risks. The space industry seemed like the most viable option for the city, community and the Permian Basin as a whole to move forward with because it not only benefits the city of Midland but the surrounding communities as This is the place well. This year has been one of huge success as we have brought where hard work two more companies to associate is rewarded. You with the spaceport with the can come here with Sierra Nevada Corporation and two cents in your then with LeoLabs Inc., who are building their radar facility pocket and become at our T-Bar ranch in Winkler a millionaire or go County. We are hopeful that in bankrupt.” the beginning of 2017 we will be able to form an international partnership with the Prestwick Scotland Spaceport, forming the very first international spaceport partnership largest bond issue in between two spaceports. The City of Midland the city’s history, to has been thinking outside the box in making this improve schools significant investment in our pursuit to have a large presence in the commercial space industry.

$163.1 million

Tell us about how the city is making itself more attractive as a place to live and work?

We are one of the top ten cities for millennials due mostly to job opportunities and the good pay scale. We have the 4B sales tax incentive, which built our beautiful football and baseball facilities.

I ran on the platform that there was not enough young representation on the City Council and that it was time to turn Midland back to what it was when I was a child. Millennials want quality of life for their children. We are revitalizing downtown because that is what millennials want. The millennials that live here do so for the opportunity—they love freedom combined

17

of the world’s largest aerospace companies have operations in Texas

#3

Midland County ranks 3rd in Texas for per capita personal incomes at $106,588

with direction, guidance and a clear vision of where things are going. What the entrepreneurs like about being here is that they can actually do something on their own without a lot of capital and make money, whether it is flipping a lease or starting a small company and selling it. This is the only place you can come to that would allow a young person like that to go out and be a winner.

What will Midland look like in 25 years?

We are going to see a vibrant spaceport in 25 years. That will be the golden gem for our city and will be one of our greatest success stories.

There are going to be over 200,000 people. Right now, our average population is under the age of 40. There is oil here for the next 100 years.

There will be an unbelievably vibrant downtown.

There has been $34 billion worth of investment in this area in just this year. In 25 years, the opportunity is going to continue, the spaceport will be vibrant and it will look completely different than it does today.

Encouraging Quality Growth and Development Brent Hilliard, Chairman, Midland Economic Development Corporation Tell us about how government and the private sector work together in Midland?

That is driven at the state level. What makes Texas unique is that it is the primary producer of oil and gas in the United States. Texas is a dominant mineral state, which means that if I own the minerals and you own the surface, I have the right to use as much of the surface as is reasonably necessary to mine and produce oil and gas. So, as you can see, from the very early stages of our state, we have empowered industry. As a result, Texas is very proactive when it comes to business, and that goes back to the very founding of the state.

The way oil and gas was founded was by independents drilling wells and then majors coming up and buying large If we are amounts of acreage. For a successful as the diversification arm for long time, much of what occurred here was that small Midland, we will find independents would come in industries that will and pick up the crumbs. That is something that is a good complement the oil and gas industry, not example for millennials who are entrepreneurial. If millennials replace it.” have an oil and gas background or an affinity to be in the oil and gas business, then this is the place to be because we are the oil and gas capital of the US. We are the only area left in the US. that can still produce oil profitably at its current pricing level.

Fracking, for us, is diversification. Without fracking, we would be like any other oil play, but because of fracking, the last bust was not really a bust. You can have diversification just by having better technology. From January to October of 2016 we have had $34 billion of investment injected into the Permian Basin, and that is just the beginning. The people who are the stewards of that money would not be investing here if they did not see that there was going to be some outcome from it.

How do you describe Midland’s future to those who are not from Texas?

From the Midland Development Corporation’s (MDC) perspective, our economy will probably always be overshadowed by the oil and gas industry. Anything else we will do pales in comparison to that. We will find more industries that will complement the oil and gas industry, not replace it, and allow us some level of diversification. The space industry could come close to competing with it in a very vibrant environment. The space industry is a $330 billion per year business. As it grows, whoever is fortunate enough to get a piece of that business on a state level will have

23,000 jobs

added in Midland County since January 2010

1st airport

in the US to be co-located next to a spaceport

60%

of Texas crude production is from the Permian Basin

a nice tax base and a vehicle to grow their state economically. There will be satellites and supersonic spacecraft that will fly and make our world more quickly traversable. In the next 25 years there will be manned space travel in at least low-earth orbit, and I am sure there will be supersonic travel even below low-earth orbit. The goal is to try and capture some of that, not only for Midland but for our state. We have to take our conservative mentality—saving money and then investing it in something that is going to make us money—and invest it for the future. Our job at the Midland Development Corporation is to take calculated risks that allow us to continue to diversify without losing track of our fundamentals.

Immigration Brings Investment, Trade and Prosperity to El Paso Beto O’Rourke, Member of Congress, Sixteenth District – Texas Are people aware of what El Paso offers?

In a well-intentioned but ill-informed way, people think of El Paso—and the border itself—as a very dangerous place. In a positive way, those conversations afford me the opportunity to share the truth and the real story about El Paso. When somebody comes here, it absolutely blows them away that it’s beautiful and safe. When they think Texas, they don’t think of the Chihuahuan desert or the Rocky Mountains, which run right through the middle of our city.

Describe the relationship between El Paso and Juárez, Mexico?

It’s a fundamental, foundational part of who we are. This site that we are on now would not be here but for Juárez, which preceded us in terms of its official founding and organization by at least 200 years. The Missión de Guadeloupe is 350 years old.

What issues do you anticipate will follow on from the 2016 elections?

I think that you’ll see people paying more attention to this region. We have 90 billion dollars in trade passing through our ports of entry. In El Paso one out of every four jobs is dependent on that activity. There are 6 million jobs in the US, half a million in the state of Texas, that depend on that.

Unfortunately, negative perceptions drive the dialogue. Currently, By any objective, the conversation is driven by secuobservable fact, the rity, despite the fact that the border border is as safe as it has never been more secure. Northbound apprehensions are at record has ever been.” lows. By any objective, observable fact, the border is as safe as it has ever been. And yet the rhetoric of needing to secure the border persists and makes it very hard to address other aspects of our connection with Mexico, like trade, ports of entry, mobility—lawful, purposeful, legitimate travel. There were 32 million crossings between El Paso and Juárez last year.

6 million

How would you describe the renaissance of the city?

El Paso has been going through a process of rediscovery. El Paso, 100 years ago, was a leading American city. Conrad Hilton came here in the late 1920s.

Twenty years later his son Nicky lived here with Elizabeth Taylor, the most popular movie star of that generation. Now we want to do something far better and sustain it: not just “El Paso from 1900 to 1950 was this amazing place,” but “El Paso from 2010 to 2500 was the dominant city of the Americas.”

To what extent do you feel that El Paso can be a model city for how the US is changing demographically?

I tell people that we’re the safest city in America not in spite of our connection to Mexico but because of

number of US jobs that depend on US - Mexico trade

$90 billion

value of trade that passes through the area

1 of 4

number of jobs in El Paso that depend on cross-border trade

it. Economists have measured the safety of US border cities and found that they’re far safer than interior cities and that safety is correlated to the number of immigrants who are living in these cities. We’ve got to share that with folks and say, “Look. Not only is there nothing to be afraid of as the demographics of your community begin to look more like mine, but there’s a lot to be excited about. Your communities will become safer. You’ll have new entrepreneurs who bring new perspective who are going to be reaching new markets who bring new energy into communities that need it.”

What would be your final message about El Paso?

Cormac McCarthy, who lived here for a while and took inspiration from El Paso, called this one of the last real American cities. I certainly hope that more people get a chance to see it for themselves because that will do wonders to dispel some of these unfortunate myths about border communities like ours.

Transparency Plus Enthusiastic Philanthropy, Driving El Paso Forward Veronica Escobar, El Paso County Judge How do you describe El Paso?

El Paso is one of the greatest cities in America. It is an interesting combination of two worlds: old world in many respects as you see our beautiful historical architecture; a modern Texas city in other ways such as our ports of entry, cross-border trade and commerce. We are a complex community in that respect. We are also a melding of two worlds: Mexico and the US, Spanish and English, old and new. Although we lost the manufacturing industry, the beautiful story that followed was that the business community and the public sector came together and said—we have to do something. We have always struggled with lack of access to health care. We determined, therefore, to grow our own doctors and to do that we were going to fight for our own This Medical School. It started with strong renaissance of El Paso has inspired leadership and great philanthropy and we now have a four-year medical a new generational school, Paul L. Foster School of commitment to Medicine at Texas Tech University civic and political Health Sciences Center, a recently announced dental school and three life as well as entrepreneurship.� nursing schools. That, to me, is very much the story of El Paso and symbolic of our work ethic and our heart.

One of our challenges is the perception that our city is not safe. It is a pity that politicians at the state and national level treat the border as unsafe, when it is simply not true.

Tell me more about your efforts at administrative reform?

It has been an incredible journey. I am very fortunate to have played a role in it. This has been about letting go of the past and looking to the future. County government in Texas is very antiquated. Urban counties like El Paso or Dallas County deal with very different issues from the rural areas and need to be much more modern organizations. I was sworn in as county commissioner in 2007 and was shocked and dismayed by how outdated the organization was. I ran for county judge after that first term, determined to change that. I am the chief executive of the organization and the first of five equals, so there was a lot of arm-twisting and coalition building but we were able to transform the organization. We now have a progressive, young, commissioners court. We had to create ethics rules, and policies, and more transparent processes.

How sustainable are the plans for the development of the city?

This trajectory that we have been on for the last 15-20 years, with improving healthcare,

$2.5 million

endowment for TTUHSC

by Paul L. Foster, Chairman of Western Refining

$10 million

Hunt Family Foundation donation to TTUHSC for the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing

$25 million

gift from the Hunt Family Foundation for the School of Dental Medicine

reinvigorating the downtown, improving our quality of life and raising wages, have continued even as councils come and go, leaders come and go, and businesses engage and disengage. Now, even if we tried, we could not undo the hard work that has come before. It feels as though now people want to come join the party. The hard part was getting to the tipping point because it could have derailed, but we are past that point and we are now finally able to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Give me an image of how you think El Paso will look in 10-15 years.

I think that it will look very similar to how it looked in our heyday when it was one of the most vibrant cities in the southwest. Phoenix had to compete against us. We had a trolley that took people back and forth across the border. We had beautiful architecture, and a bustling downtown and a high standard of living. Then it declined and bottomed out. But now we are headed back to what we were in our prime. We are working on even more quality of life amenities than we have now. All while retaining the warmth and beauty of what El Paso is all about.

Safety, Security, Opportunity and Fun Wait for You in El Paso Oscar Leeser, Mayor, El Paso Each city has its own character, what is it that makes El Paso special?

One of the things we talk about when we go around the country is the Quality of Life Bond that the citizens voted on in 2012 for $473 million dollars. That shows the city wanting to reinvest in itself to enhance the quality of life options. We also talk about safety since El Paso is one of the safest cities of over 500,000 people in the country.

We also talk about our unique climate. I would say that we have 400 days of sunshine every year! Also, the people are key to the charm of the city. We’ve talked to companies that have come to El Paso and invested and they talk about the people and their willingness to go to the next level in their career. We’ve always said that we’re not looking for jobs in El Paso, we’re looking for caOne of reers. It’s exciting to see that in 2014 our biggest challenges is the and 2015 the medium income for El Paso went up 8.7%, where the medium misperception of income in Texas only went up 4.8%, El Paso. However, and that of the US, 5.2%.

once visitors see it for themselves, they become huge ambassadors to our community.”

Businesses are looking for highly skilled workers. What have you been doing to address that issue?

I just got back from a meeting with the El Paso Community College and they’re willing to have a curriculum that will adapt to each company. Dr. Diana Natalicio, at UTEP, is an incredible individual who we’ve been able to work with. We have a medical school in El Paso and we’ve just announced that we’re going to have a dental school and that UTEP is going to have a pharmacy school.

When we talk to companies, we talk about how to create a partnership for their needs and wants. So we need to make sure that we’re all good in the US for partners and that we have the end goal in common.

Lowest Crime Rate

a population of 500,000 and over

How do public-private partnerships work in the unique context of El Paso?

We’ve come up with what’s called a FAM tour, which is when we bring site consultants and CEOs of companies to visit El Paso and actually look and see how we do business, how the investments of the community are paying off and how the quality of life items are improving and expanding. That’s at zero cost to the taxpayers. Really, it’s been the companies that have become our partners and have donated 100% to invite them so they can look at El Paso and see how we best fit each other. We’ve had well over a 100-150 companies or CEOs come to our city that actually get to witness the relationship, and we’ve had the Mayor of Juárez be one of our guest speakers at a FAM

(CQ Press, January 2014)

#11

2015 National Tourism Quality Performance Rankings list

(Resonance Report, Aug. 2015)

#2

in Top 25 Foreign Trade Zones

tour. Our visitors go to Fort Bliss, Texas Tech, Lucchese Boots. Col. Westin is correct that one of our biggest challenges is the misperception of El Paso. However, once visitors see it for themselves, they become huge ambassadors to our community.

What goals have you achieved that have rewarded your decision to serve as Mayor?

When the unemployment rate was 9.1%, our primary concern was to lower the unemployment rate by attracting new companies. This year our unemployment rate got as low as 4.1%.

To see the medium income of El Paso almost double that of the State of Texas has been very important.

I also started traveling the US with the Mayor of Juárez and meeting with companies that had invested in Juárez and El Paso. We talked with them about how to continue to work as a group, addressing their needs and wants. Every company we walked into said they’ve never seen a Mayor, much less two from different countries. Once they do get here they see record-breaking performances.

Retail Development and Quality of Life Improvements Bring People to El Paso Tommy Gonzalez, City Manager, El Paso What changes have you put in place and how are those delivering results?

The Mayor and City Council had a vision for our organization to be a well-organized, efficient, and effective operation. They know our customers expect that from their government, which is why we have put such an emphasis on streamlining processes and procedures. For example we went from an outdoor recreational permit taking 21 days to process, to taking five minutes. Our process improvements have also allowed us to go from four weeks to issue a commercial permit to a commercial developer to just four days; that is something that people can see and appreciate. Our take on being “business friendly” means aligning communication and processes to be effective in order to have better outcomes for those we serve.

What are the unique attributes of El Paso that you boast about when you travel?

I love to talk about the mountains. I also like the fact that it is a border city and we enjoy a tremendous relationship with Mexico which you don’t get everywhere else.

Then, I think the downtown is one Everything of the best downtowns in Texas.

I think you tell people “quality of that comes life” and I don’t think they really into El Paso is understand that the quality of life record-breaking here is tremendous. It was named which is causing Top 10 Quality of Life Places in the the retail market to United States for a reason.

The fact that we’re kind of react.” separated and far from other places records. So everything that comes into El Paso is record-breaking in Texas can actually be an advantage. which is causing the retail market to react.

By offering no-cost, quality of life In terms of innovation, I think we’ve been able to: 1) partner attractions here that you don’t have within a 6-hour radius we become with the state; 2) innovate with the data and articulate the data even more of a mecca for the surrounding more effectively; and 3) execute based on the areas. We already form a 2.5 million combined Mayor and council’s vision with respect to our statistical area (CSA) and we want to grow that economic development focus. That’s been the number. As we get to 3 million, 3.5 million, Mayor’s number one focus. visitors to outlet malls then all of a sudden revenues grow and new What would you point to as your biggest opportunities arise. challenge moving forward?

With regard to retail development, which I would really like to get the destination retail is also important, our top four have been the done because that would not have happened largest outfitters—Bass Pro, Cabela’s, Topgolf in Nationwide without us. To me, the biggest challenge is because we don’t have that in this area. The Well-Being Index 2014 growing that 2.5 million CSA. That’s one that other one we’re working on is a Main Event (Gallup-Healthways Well-Being will bear fruit in so many ways. It’ll point to so with a climbing wall and a zipline, and then Index, April 2015) many metrics and you’ll be able to demonstrate right next to that, an iFLY, and then next to it the value of focusing on a vision, which is that water surfing.

El Paso will be a model for safe and beautiful We’ve been able to formalize a lot of the neighborhoods, a vibrant regional economy, anecdotal information which existed. The between Top 20 with exceptional recreational, cultural and outlet malls have 8.5 million visitors a year, education opportunities. So if we’re able 3.9 million are Mexican nationals and we know Metro Areas to Start a to grow that and then make that vision that because of the manifesto, which tracks the Business in America happen, there’ll be more people that see the sales tax, on which they get a rebate. Places like (CNBC .com, August 2016) value of El Paso.

Ruth’s Chris and La Madeleine, they’re breaking

8.5 million #5

#16

Infrastructure and Quality of Place Make El Paso Attractive Cary S. Westin, Deputy City Manager, Economic Development and Tourism What are some of the unique attributes of El Paso?

We had a panel here last year of all the senior enlisted leaders from each branch of the service, and we talked about how we were formally incorporating very tangible things into our city’s incentive policy to promote hiring veterans. We proposed that a business would get a fairly substantial bonus incentive not just for hiring veterans but also for setting up programs with our university in order to tie the veteran to the job, and to the university. We’ve incorporated that into our overall incentive policy and, as far as I know, it’s the first of its kind in the United States.

We were very fortunate, through a lot of hard work and good partnership with Fort Bliss, that in 2005 we were a large recipient of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round. Because of our partnership and putting the investment into the community and infrastructure, we had the greatest growth of any military installation in the country since We are really World War II. So from 2005 to at the geographic center of the country 2012, we added approximately 20,000 soldiers that came from when it comes to European bases to El Paso. If moving products.” you couple that with family members, we grew during that time by about 60,000+ people.

Can you speak to the diversification of the economy?

Companies come to us for varied reasons: the Mountain time zone, location, diverse workforce, a stable, comfortable climate. Therefore, we have many different industry clusters. We are very fortunate that right across our border we have 300+ manufacturing facilities make El Paso such an attractive place, especially coupled with the in Mexico and that relates to a lot of direct and ancillary kinds of money that is being invested from the Quality of Life bond. businesses. Besides manufacturing and cross-border manufacturing, Safety is also crucial. CQ press used to do a study in which they in El Paso we have the capacity in advanced used FBI crime data to rank large and mid-sized logistics to move product more efficiently. We cities across the nation. El Paso, over the last are very fortunate in our geographic positioning. four years, ranked as the safest city in the nation We may seem, as you’ve heard others in Texas with a population in excess of 500,000. In the regional population say, far away from the rest of Texas, but we are last decade it has consistently ranked in the top really at the geographic center of the country three. when it comes to moving products.

2.5 million

How do you attract people to El Paso?

The target demographic, if you want to attract and retain workforce, is the millennials. They want to have options, lifestyle, and amenities.

It’s one thing to bring businesses in, but if you don’t have the elements to enhance overall quality of place, you are going to lose the people.

Activating the downtown is very important, and the more we do that, the more we drive residential living to the downtown area.

Layering the attractions of the place is key.

Having the amenities that the Mayor and City Manager describe is the catalyst that is going to

Largest

US City on the US/Mexico Border

#7

Best City for Veterans in the United States 2015 (WalletHub, November 2015)

What are the next big steps to be taken?

I think there are some big catalyst moves. One of the biggest transformational moves will be the redevelopment of our convention center hotel. We also have the infrastructure in place for a science and technology park right next to our airport and adjacent to Fort Bliss. The city manager has also made our processes more business friendly and we are seeing the positive feedback on that from the business community.

The challenge is for us to continue to keep ourselves in a place where a company comes here because we are head and shoulders above our competitors.

Nature, Culture and Sunshine in the Warmest City on the Border Bryan Crowe, CEO, Destination El Paso What are you doing to innovate the visitor’s experience?

Our app is an example of the innovation that we are using; it’s literally like having a Visitor Information Specialist in your pocket. We have guided tours with built-in audio recordings - our Downtown Historic Walking Tour; art tours; biking tours; and driving tours, all using the technology you already have on your device. On the Apple platform you can push a button which opens a FaceTime connection and connects you to a Visitor Information Specialist who can answer all of your questions. We are the first Destination Marketing Organization to have Face Time with a Visitor Information Specialist.

This is a city where we are very fortunate that we’re in a trajectory of renaissance. The pace at which we are accomplishing this would take a generation in another community.

I think a lot of destinations I think what’s really exciting here want to be unique in El Paso is that all of our growth and development is locally led, but the level of whether it be by someone like authenticity Mr. Foster who bought and renovated the downtown properties, then here is like partnered with another family to nowhere else.” bring the baseball team here or other local owners of properties such as the DoubleTree or the Marriott. One project here that we’re very excited about is the convention hotel that will be a $75 million renovation, under, again, locally-tied ownership.

The other thing is that there’s something about El Paso that really gets in your soul a little bit and so I think this is a community like none other. I think a lot of destinations want to be unique but the level of authenticity here is like nowhere else, whether it be our mountains, our food, our culture, or our people. I think a lot of destinations are looking for mega attractions in these corporate controlled environments. Those are great but El Paso has so much to offer that is truly unique to El Paso and largest urban state those are the things that draw people back in. You could literally leave a meeting and within the hour park in the US be rock climbing at the largest urban park in the United States, Franklin Mountains State Park.

After rock climbing you could go to the El Paso Museum of Art, which has a fantastic collection, jumpstarted by the Kress Family Foundation and donated with the requirement that the City would of multicultural build and open a Museum of Art, which they did history in the late 50s.

Our job, in terms of attracting people to the destination, is getting you to experience the destination for the first time, the community takes care of everything after that and it delivers on the days of sun per year sale that we make. I don’t have to worry about anyone coming here and having a bad experience.

24,000 acres

400 years 300+

What are some of the misperceptions or the challenges that are out there?

I think when we’re selling a convention, oftentimes we’re focused on our state professional associations or state associations, so we’re competing with other Texas cities and this is a huge state. We are the 19th largest city in the country but we are the 6th largest city in Texas. Sometimes we’re forgotten in the state as we are 600 miles from 80% of the state’s population. Our average hotel room night is considerably lower and the cost of producing an event here is less, which counters the cost of travel.

Oftentimes it’s getting the association here the first time and once we get them here, they decide to come back on a rotation.

We have a great story to tell and our community believes in it enough to continue to make these investments. In this city, everyone from the private sector and the public sector has taken on the challenge to make our vision a reality. What lies on the horizon for this community is tremendous.

Sunny Skies Provide a Soft Landing in El Paso Monica Lombraña, Director of Aviation, El Paso International Airport In September of 2013, El Paso airport celebrated its 85th anniversary. Throughout its history, the airport has been at the forefront of aviation technology. What current examples of innovative changes or strategies would you highlight?

One of our main priorities right now is updating technology equipment at our airport, such as our flight information display system and paging system. Additionally, we are in the midst of developing an interactive wall that will be located in our meeter-greeter area. In addition to providing information regarding the fun and interesting things to do in El Paso, it will feature videos on the history of our region as well as economic development data, all presented in a fun, interactive way to the public. This project is scheduled to be completed in late Spring, early Summer of 2017.

We focus on what we have the capability to control and what we can provide to make a passenger’s experience as pleasant as possible.”

What role does the airport play in the economy of El Paso and the region?

An airport plays a vital role in the local economy. Airport contributions to the local economy extend beyond passenger travel, cargo, and general aviation services to the many businesses and employees that benefit from the airport and its day-to-day operations, such as businesses that base corporate aircraft at the airport, commercial and industrial businesses whose shipments arrive or depart via the airport, area hotels, restaurants, and tourism-related activities whose patrons arrive via the airport.

revenue bonds. What are challenges that you currently face and how do you plan to confront them?

Maintaining existing air service and attracting new non-stop destinations is a challenge, as it is for most small and medium hub airports in the nation. In order to keep ourselves competitive with How are you balancing the ever-increasing needs of security other airports and attractive to airlines, we maintain low operating costs with passenger comfort? without impacting service to airline passengers.

We work closely with our local Transportation What helps our airport to keep costs low, Security Administration (TSA) staff and assist as aside from being fiscally responsible, is that El needed, such as providing guard service during Paso International Airport is fairly unique in that commercial airport peak travel times at the checkpoint to help regulate we are situated on 6,800 acres of land, which in West Texas passenger flow, in order to ensure that the security leaves a substantial amount of land available for lines move as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, non-aviation development. El Paso International the security process can be a cumbersome and Airport is one of the nation’s leading airports in often-times frustrating experience for many, but pioneering non-aeronautical land development, it is a necessary process and when all of us at the supporting over 200 commercial businesses and carriers airport work as partners—the airport, TSA, and the industrial operations within the Airport’s Butterfield airlines—the process goes a lot smoother.

Trail Industrial Park, Butterfield Trail Air Cargo Additionally, we focus on what we have the Center and other sites adjacent to the airport. capability to control and what we can provide Butterfield Trail Golf Club and Lone Star Golf Club to make a passenger’s experience as pleasant as are included within more than 900 acres of fully daily departures possible, especially once they are post-security, developed industrial and retail property supporting such as ensuring that we have clean and plentiful light manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and restrooms, free wi-fi, a variety of restaurants at transportation operations, as well as call centers, which to eat at and retail stores at which to shop. hotels, retail, and restaurants. hotel occupancy We continue to market our non-aviation in 2015 In November, 2016, Fitch ratings affirmed development opportunities every chance we get in the “A” rating on 16.3 million of airport order to maximize our revenues.

Largest 6

49

67.8%

The Talent Pool of the Hispanic Population Gives El Paso an Extra Edge Richard Castro, Founder, RMHC HACER Scholarships / CommUnity en Acción / CREEED You went from school teacher to self-made entrepreneur.

Can you elaborate on this trajectory?

I think for most people, the story doesn’t begin in your adult years, but when you are a child, when you start developing your personality and character. My grandmother relocated as a single mom from Puebla to Del Rio. She had a neighborhood school in the house. Education was essentially her business, as well as her passion. My first job was as a school teacher, and I became first assistant city manager and then city manager in Del Rio. There I had two great role models that influenced my professional character. When I announced that I was leaving city hall, the McDonald’s owner, who had become a good friend—Frank Mendoza— caught me and said “I have a great idea for you—McDonald’s!”

What do you think has been the secret behind your success and the rapid growth of your business?

The key to having any successful business is always the people. In every single one of my McD restaurants, shift managers, assistant managers, restaurant managers and directors of operations started as crew people. That model has worked extremely well because We get outstanding, during that process they learn my business philosophy and well-educated individuals with terrific they grow into the operating standards that we have. social skills.”

One advantage of being Additionally, we started a scholarship program for teachers. on the border is that you have We encouraged them to go back to school, to a Master’s Program, to get access to some terrific talent that comes from the Mexican side. Clearly dual-credit certification. As we move forward, now, we are looking at these are individuals who are legally in El Paso. We get outstanding, well- choice. So we are specifically looking at charter schools. educated individuals with terrific social skills, If you could choose one thing that you although their education is in Spanish. We may wish people knew about El Paso what have lawyers, accountants, teachers, who will would it be? work as crew members. These are people who are purchasing power of the That when we talk about the Hispanic motivated and ambitious and they jump at the chance to move up the management ladder. More Hispanic community, the largest community we are talking about Americans. I employers should take advantage of these talented of any minority group in the wish that people would understand and accept employees! This can be a very strong selling point country and larger than all but that. The legal and American-born Hispanics make up somewhere around 17% of the nation’s for the community.

13 countries in the world population and 85% of the population of El Paso.

Having grown up in education and worked my way through college, I was very aware of Could you explain the roots of Community the challenge to Hispanic students trying to en Acción please? get an education after high school. One of the The idea of CEA was to bring successful Hispanic biggest barriers is financial and I wanted to help the Hispanic community is bridge the gap so we started the RMHC HACER the largest minority group in businesspeople together to focus on education, scholarship. The stories of these individuals are the US, approximately 17% culture and having a positive impact on the El Paso region. One program which is now in its extraordinary—their perseverance and desire are 5th year is called YAF—or Young Achievers inspirational.

Forum. I want people to be working to be That led me to get involved with CREEED, mentally strong from a leadership perspective, of which I am a founder. We realize that public education is not where it needs to be and we need projected representation of not just from a hard-working perspective. In business, you have to be assertive and positive, more college-ready, career-ready and life-ready Hispanics in the general strong and persistent. Role models are key for students graduating from high school. Life-ready population by 2050 this and for promoting confidence in the young is the most important; people need character Hispanic community. building.

$1.6 trillion (est.)

55 million (est.)

30%

Buzzing City Welcomes All—Diversity is Celebrated Here!

Aliana Apodaca, Chair, CommUnity en Acción Can you tell me how CommUnity en Acción (CEA) got started?

In 2009, local businessman Richard Castro decided that we needed to form a group of Hispanic business people who could influence decisions that affected the city. Hispanics are the majority in El Paso but there is a perception of separation between who’s got the power and who doesn’t. This was a group of people that wanted to come together to be able to give their input on various issues—economic development, arts and culture and education.

What issues are you focused on?

We’ve landed on promoting arts and culture in addition to education.

CEA produces the Young Achievers Forum, a project which brings 1,000 6th graders annually to experience college and hear from successful Hispanics. We also have another project, PASOS2, which The group is very is a mentoring project. We just giving and we want to finished with Mariachi Craze, make an impact on our where we integrate education with culture, to perpetuate and community. We want continue the legacy of Mariachi to spread the word: music. We’re going to continue Latinos are a group of to grow that in the years to come.

In the past, we’ve undertaken hard working people activities such as sponsoring the and major contributors premiere of the movie Bless Me in the US.” Ultima. Cheech Marin has an extensive art collection and we sponsored that exhibit here in El Paso. We have efforts to make sure that the talent that we do have in El Paso is recognized and exposed at national venues like the Smithsonian.

Did anything like this exist before?

I have not been exposed to a group like this before, where the only intention is to perpetuate positive images to help the community. The group is very giving and wants to make an impact on the community. It’s really become a conduit for us to get to know each other and be able to work through our different perspectives on politics, economic development, education and the border.

We don’t agree on everything but we do agree that we want to make sure that people know that Latinos are contributors to our country.

What are the perceptions of El Paso outside of the region?

Last year, I was in a Leadership Program. They take about 100 women from throughout the state of Texas and choose different cities every year in which to meet. When it was time to come to El Paso, some of the ladies were hesitant. We’re one of the safest cities in the country but they were afraid because of the negative things that they hear. I took

them for a tour of this area and of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and by the end one lady said that her paradigm of El Paso had completely changed. I actually took them to a place out here where you can walk up to the fence and asked them “Do you really want to alienate this neighbor?”

People don’t understand how much business we amount contributed

by Hispanic households get from Mexico and how our economies are so intertwined. It’s not just across the border. They’re to US tax revenues coming from the interior of Mexico. The outlet in 2013 stores here are one of the highest producing in the country because of Mexican tourists spending money.

$190 billion

$1.6 trillion

buying power controlled

by Hispanics in 2015

1.5 times

Hispanics are 1.5 times more likely than the general population to be entrepreneurs

What would you like people to associate with El Paso?

El Paso is about “warmth”—not just the weather with sunshine 363 days of the year, but its people as well. This what I hear from newcomers to El Paso. The people here are so friendly. “Bustling” brings to mind the jam-packed international bridges. We have Americans here that go and work in Mexico and vice versa. There is commerce here.

The other image that comes to my mind is the growth in El Paso. Downtown El Paso has been revitalized and there is a buzz of activity here.

A Unique Competitive Edge Supplied by Binational Employees Miguel Fernandez, CEO, Transtelco Will the new generation of business leadership in El Paso be different?

I believe we’re more pragmatic about issues, so we tend to not be corralled within a certain ideological framework. In the future, as this new group takes a bigger leadership role, we’ll be able to be more aggressive in instilling change because we’re more comfortable with change.

I’m an El Pasoan del Norte—I don’t identify more strongly with one or the other. I believe there are many people like this in El Paso—with a more global outlook. People should be looking to us to see the value of a binational community.

What are going to be the future drivers of the economy of El Paso?

Advanced manufacturing is a big opportunity and it’s where a true regional transformation can happen. I believe the coming age of artificial intelligence and automation are going to change the way we live, work and play, and are going to redefine us as a species. I think we’re People should at the cusp of advanced manufacturing be looking to us in Juárez, where there are over 300,000 labor workers and all these companies to see the value looking to automate their processes. of a binational In this microcosm we call the Paso del community.”

Norte region, we have an opportunity to define and lead that change.

Transtelco is a company that is providing solutions on both sides of the border?

I believe Transtelco’s competitive advantage is this region and I’ll give because of the region not in spite of the region. When this model you a very clear example. Say you’re an automotive company, with came together, we realized this was a big opportunity, not in trying to headquarters in Detroit, offices in El Paso and facilities all over Mexico. separate things but in trying to bridge the gaps and simplify it for other Because of the cultural barriers and the lack of infrapeople to take advantage of it. structure that existed prior to Transtelco, you would What’s the next stage for the company? contract with different providers wherever your faWe’re aggressively growing organically, right now cilities are. You would have companies that aren’t of Transtelco fiber we’re in 18 cities and we’re growing at a rate of two accustomed to talking to each other having to creoptic network or three cities per year. I believe we’ll be operating ate the solution to interconnect those points. When in over 30 cities in the next three to five years and there’s a problem the finger-pointing begins. we’re always looking for strategic opportunities that To solve this issue, we created a true binational fit our business model. culture where the C-level executives are completely binational/bicultural, the rest of the organization is projected operations What do you tell people about El Paso and fully bilingual, and we sell you a service we control in 3-5 years Juárez when you are traveling? from Juárez end-to-end all the way to Dallas or from I challenge you to pick a spot that, in one day, you LA all the way to Mexico City. can visit two very different countries and cultures.

We do it on a single network, within a single There’s a richness to that. We need to start acting organization; the customer support that answers a like the global community we are. When I travel, customer call in LA is the same support that answers that’s what I tell people, you come down and we’ll a call from Mexico City. So we’ve been able to show you. We’ll go to a baseball game one day culturally bridge the gap between the two countries of the areas with and then we walk to the Kentucky Club in Juárez to create a seamless solution, thus simplifying Transtelco fiber the next day. Tell me where you could find that your communications. It’s really two nations, one optic network anywhere else. network. It’s a pretty unique organization, and it’s

12,000km 30 cities

197 million inhabitants

Citizen Participation is Bringing Positive Change to an Important Neighbor Miguel A. Fernandez, Executive Committee, Plan Estratégico de Juárez What is the background of your binational identity?

This started when my grandfather, who was from Spain, was chased out of Mexico by Pancho Villa. I have relatives who have never left the US. Our family has always worked on the border, building businesses.

My mother was from Chihuahua, and her mother sent her to Las Cruces to study, so she, too, was raised in both countries. My sons were born and live in Texas and have Mexican wives, so we are all completely binational.

My impression is that the governments of Juárez and El Paso are beginning to work together. What has driven that change?

Remember that when I was young there were still signs on restaurants here in El Paso that said “No Dogs, No Mexicans” but we paid little attention to that. Now 80% of El Pasoans are of Mexican descent.

The leadership in Juárez was If you’re a US company trying previously very fragmented, even to test the Mexican the business community was not working together. That left the city market, El Paso without real leadership. I think that is the best place globalization and the changes in communication have made people for you, it’s a soft think differently. landing and you We had a study done in the have access to the early 2000’s for a strategic plan in fifth largest city in Juárez. We did not want to depend Mexico.” on the one economic generator—the maquilas. The consultants told us that we could not improve the city depending only on the economic side, we had to incorporate social changes as well.

We wanted Juárez to be a community which takes leadership for the border region.

In El Paso, it was the same, until people who the population of cared about the development of the city began to Juárez, Mexico take the lead as well. When they learned that we were working on a strategic plan, they reached out to us and we began to talk about the development together.

It is not easy. Businesspeople in Juárez feel like they are not able to compete with businesses in El the fall in violent Paso, so they do not want to come to the table. I crime in Juárez from believe that older people in Juárez had an insecurity 2010 to 2015 complex. That is a problem and the educational system doesn’t help; education in Juárez is our worst problem and is the greatest fraud perpetuated on the Mexican people.

1.5 million 90%

How do you feel about the new political leadership in Juárez?

We are very happy to finally have people with whom we can work. We are confident that with the programs that we have designed, we finally have people who will actually implement them. Ninety

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interactive exhibitions at La Rodadora, the new Children’s Museum in Juárez

percent of my time is spent on community programs, improving city government and fighting corruption.

This is the only way to improve the future prospects for our people.

One of the main issues is citizen participation.

We need people to come together and get involved.

When we started the Strategic Plan, we identified three main issues: get rid of impunity; get the people to work together and improve local government.

One example of something that we have accomplished recently was that we could convince the city council to open to the citizens. This will be the first city in all of Mexico that has the Mayor, secretary and all the council physically face the public, who can for the first time attend the proceedings. These are very basic, but important, advances.

Do you feel like you are now gaining momentum with these changes?

Yes. Now with my children’s generation, there seems to be a more global outlook, with a more sophisticated approach to doing business. The most important thing is to continue to promote citizen participation.

The Borderplex: Separating Myth from Reality Woody Hunt, Executive Chairman, Hunt Companies Tell me how you would describe the Borderplex to an executive living in New York.

We have a unique geography as well as a unique culture. The Borderplex is the historical meeting place of Latino and Anglo cultures.

The OECD published a report about the Borderplex in 2010. Their analysis found that we are unique because our region is composed of two countries—the US and Mexico—and even within those two countries there are three states—Texas, New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico. All of these political boundaries can be challenging. We are lucky to have significant assets on the Mexican side, where some of the largest international companies in the world have facilities. Those companies employ about 280,000 people, are part of the world supply chain, and help support probably one out of three jobs on the US side. We are thus very well connected to world competitiveness.

El Paso is an As you move away from the opportunity, the Borderplex, even within the state of US-Mexico border Texas, the gap between perception and reality broadens quickly. Once you get is an opportunity, outside of the state, you get a totally US-Mexico distorted view of the border. relationships are For example, when Juárez went an opportunity.” through a period of violence from 2008 to 2010, even people in Dallas thought that Juárez’s security issues and violence were crossing over to El Paso. The truth was that there communication is much higher now than it was before. We have a was no crossover—there were 3,500 murders in 2010 in Juárez and soccer team, for example, in Juárez, but it’s a cross-border ownership team of myself, Paul Foster and some Juárez something like 12 in El Paso. And today Juárez is families as well. That is one example of increasing safer than Chicago or Cleveland or Baltimore or cross-border investment and cooperation and New Orleans, but the image is still there. communication. We all recognize that we’re This negative image persists despite the amount employees in the only going to escape the gap between reality and of trade that takes place across this border. Over manufacturing perception about the Borderplex region through half a million jobs in Texas are tied to trade with our own ability to rebrand ourselves to the rest of Mexico; more opportunities exist to be competitive facilities in Juárez the world. The whole idea around NAFTA changes because of Mexico; opportunities for our energy and building a wall is just wrong, that’s the only firms exist now that Mexico has deregulated their way to describe it. energy sector - all of these things are very positive, yet sometimes get lost on our political leaders who What would your message be to people want to gain a vote. who read about El Paso as a destination for The future for El Paso relates to international, jobs in Texas tied to business and quality of life? north-south trade and advanced manufacturing. cross-border trade That El Paso is an opportunity, that the USWe certainly have that capability, the capacity in with Mexico Mexico border is an opportunity, that US-Mexico Northern Mexico and the distribution channels. relationships are an opportunity. That doesn’t mean There is a labor force in both Northern Mexico that there are not challenges here, but all represent and El Paso. Our future is in linking ourselves to opportunities for creating a more competitive El globalization.

Paso, which contributes to a more competitive growth in What are the stories you highlight that Texas, which contributes to a more competitive the Borderplex demonstrate to a potentially skeptical US. When you consider the global economy, a (1995-2010, nearly readership that Juárez and El Paso are really more competitive U.S.-Mexico border region and twice US growth) good neighbors to each other? a more competitive Mexico, both contribute to a The level of cross-border cooperation and more competitive Texas. It’s a win-win situation.

280,000

500,000+ 30%

Connecting Minds across Borders Ricardo Mora, CEO & Founder, Technology Hub Can you give us an introduction to the Technology Hub? Technology Hub is an innovation, entrepreneur and business center. We have offices in both El Paso and in Juárez.

For those businesses with which we work, it´s ONE community and things are coming alive on both sides of the border.

Technology Hub in Ciudad Juárez is permanently housed on the site of the old US Consulate. There, we run programs related to our work in innovation and technology. For instance, we are involved in the program KIDS TO CODE. We begin teaching kids ages 7-15 coding and robotics. Additionally, we are currently working on entrepreneurship and innovation programs for several top manufacturing plants, of which there are 340 located in Ciudad Juárez.

also believe we are located in the center of gravity in North America. We are the facilitators—our region´s specialty—we build relationships and connect people to get things done.

Is this particular moment unique?

Many changes are happening on both sides of the border. We have a synergy here that allows us to be left alone because we are out here in far West Texas. We´re going to be able to help people develop better manufacturing solutions, land better skilled El Paso is the jobs and improve economic development based on center of gravity in innovation. I truly believe that everyone here is on that same path, on both sides of the border.

North America.”

I perceive El Paso as a gateway. Manufacturing companies are not interested in leaving our area; on What elements of the culture here make you think that people can the contrary, they are here to stay and looking to the future with a thirst succeed with their business ideas? for automation. I envision El Paso and Juárez shining together in the People from the border are resilient and passionate; given an opportu- future of innovation. Everybody is going to say “What happened in El nity, we seize it wholeheartedly. I recognize the border gives us a unique Paso? I thought it was in the middle of nowhere, why didn´t I jump on type of entrepreneurial spirit, one most people don’t even know exists. I that wagon?”

Opportunities in Manufacturing Shine on the Border Lane Gaddy, CEO, W Silver Recycling You have business on both sides of the border?

We now have two facilities in Monterrey. I moved here in 2005 to take over what was a very traditional metals recycling company.

It soon became very clear to me that this was a scalable opportunity. We shifted our focus away from demolition-type recycling and started focusing on the large, mostly automotive manufacturing companies that have Tier I and Tier II suppliers.

As manufacturing evolves, do you think that the city should continue to tap into that?

Absolutely. We have better logistics, rail, proximity to Texas and the West Coast, we’re perfectly situated. We have a great engineering school we should be tapping into, we have lots of cheap land, we have everything you need except water, and we can figure that out. We’ve had 20 years of that sector thrown at us with the mentality that it will always be there, but if we don’t nurture those businesses there are a lot of other border cities, even interior cities in Mexico and Texas, that would love to have a piece of that business.

70

Fortune 500 firms operating production facilities in Ciudad Juárez

300,000

employees in the assembly plants of Ciudad Juárez

Why did you also get involved in the downtown renovation?

That’s where the opportunity is; in El Paso people have been so close for so long that a lot of them don’t understand what a gem and an opportunity it is.

Are you focusing on engagement at the level of boards?

“Seeding” is probably the right word to use for that. I don’t want to come across like there’s a problem with the succession plan. I think we have an advantage, because we don’t have such a gap between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials as you see elsewhere; we are a bit ahead of the curve.

Our generation agrees, too, that the relationship with Juárez is a very strong positive that is part of El Paso’s soul and is vital to our success. We’re sister cities.

Why would you tell people to come to El Paso?

It’s just large enough to get all the creature comforts, the big-city amenities, but small enough that you get ease of lifestyle and low wages.

Record Breaking Results and Warm Smiles in El Paso Richard E. Dayoub, President and CEO, Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce What does El Paso mean to you?

This is a unique community; unique on so many different levels.

When I travel across the country, there is nowhere in Texas that has a friendlier community than El Paso. If you walk downtown in Dallas or Houston people don’t greet you and say hello to you.

People move here and they are blown away by how gracious and nice El Pasoans are to them. I consider El Paso truly a melting pot.

Separation doesn’t exist here and that’s one of the things you’re going to learn to love about us.

When I describe El Paso, what I try to convey to people, is that this is not a dangerous city. Even in the south part of the city, the socalled segundo barrio, I have no problem walking in the evening.

There is nowhere You can’t do that in Chicago or even DC. This is the safest in Texas that has a friendlier community metropolitan area in America five years running. than El Paso.”

I can explain why that is. You cannot use a three-letter acronym for a government agency that doesn’t exist in El Paso. We have the Army, which is not involved in the border but they’re there in the middle of the city. DEA, CIA, FBI, ATF, Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security, just for starters.

What sectors would you like to see come here?

We work with the city and have established industry clusters with healthcare near the top of the list. Healthcare is exploding in El Paso. Tenet Healthcare is making an unparalleled investment in this community. Now HCA, the Hospital Corporation of America, is making big plans to expand into El Paso. Other healthcare providers income was higher, our educational attainment was higher and then are starting to come toward this marketplace. Defense is another we fell asleep at the wheel. One in every five jobs in El Paso has a direct correlation with manufacturing jobs big industry. Every weapons system that the in Ciudad Juárez. It’s a very important part Army, Air Force, of our economy.

Navy, Marines, have in their arsenals It takes that first frontiersman to come is tested at Ft. Bliss. This is the only other median travel in and say - oh wow look what you’ve got place in America where the air space is not time to work here. Then their competitors suddenly see controlled by the FAA, it’s controlled by the the value and start coming. It’s like that Department of Defense. That’s another reason on the retail side as well. They said Apple why it’s the safest major city in America. would never come here. The first day they Education is also a huge sector. UTEP is were open we broke every record for a new becoming a center of excellence in a number Apple store in the nation. People are coming of fields. Homeland security has designated from everywhere in the region to shop at UTEP as a center of excellence because median selected monthly they are starting to develop language skills owner costs with a mortgage our outlet stores.

Look at what’s happened to downtown here, Arabic being one of them for obvious because of the ball park and how it spurred reasons. development. Camino Real, which is a Do you anticipate El Paso going historic site, has been bought by a new through a renaissance? owner. This is a city that is transforming Not only do I anticipate it, I expect it. In itself. My only disappointment is that I’m annual retail sales the 50s and 60s, we were more dynamic on the back half of my life so I won’t be here than the Phoenix and Dallas markets. Our to see it blossom to its full potential.

20 minutes

$1,150 USD

$7.9 billion

Driving the Community Forward One Mile at a Time Ted Houghton, Houghton Financial Partners People here do complain that it can be difficult to get attention in Austin. How is that evolving?

About seventeen years ago a group of us got together and decided we needed to be involved in politics at the state level in order to make a difference in El Paso. We made financial investments in the leadership of the state and that continues today. Since we embarked on that strategy, El Pasoans have been appointed to the University of Texas Board of Regents, Texas Tech Board of Regents, Texas State University Board of Regents, We are Texas Higher Education Board, Texas Department of Transportation, Texas a gateway Finance Commission, Texas Parks city between & Wildlife Board and many other various different governing boards in the state. communities.�

Having access to the leadership of Texas allowed us to present our case regarding the expansion of the two-year Texas Tech Medical School to a four-year institution.

The results include: the four-year medical school; the nursing School; and the bio-science school.The next initiative for the 2017 legislative session is a dental school.

Why had you decided on the Texas Tech Medical School?

Well, we had a very small 2-year medical school. What we were looking for were high-paying permanent jobs - jobs that would not be affected by a downturn in the economy. The business leadership in a community drives what a community should be and presents the desired initiatives to elected officials. The difference between Dallas, San Antonio, or Fort Worth is that they are fractured. They have got competing interests. In El Paso, we are not fractured.

What are the unique characteristics of the business community in El Paso that made this possible?

El Paso is a community of about 850,000 residents. We are a large city with a very focused and unified agenda. On most high level issues we generally have the support of the City and County. Downtown redevelopment has been a focus of the private sector, which has also driven executing the plan.

As someone who has advocated for El Paso how would you like for people to see this city?

We are the gateway to Mexico, or alternatively the gateway to the USA if you come from the south.

I would say we are actually the gateway city to various different communities, whether it is New Mexico, Texas, or Mexico.

It is a very friendly environment. The weather is a lot better here than in most parts of the world.

There is a very regulatory-friendly environment

here as opposed to California. You have people here who are willing to help, wanting to work, and proud of what they do.

There is a sense of community. In the southwest, in general, people are more accommodating.

$60 billion

amount spent on transportation projects in Texas over 10 years

$2 billion investment in transportation infrastructure in El Paso

81,000 miles of roads in Texas—the largest in the nation

If you were recruiting businesses to come here, which sectors would you approach?

I think healthcare, technology and research will always have tremendous opportunities.

Have you thought about going back into representative government?

I have thought about it. We are talking about the second leg of the trolley going out to the medical center and tying it to downtown. The new system will go to UTEP and back, and then you would have one from the medical center and back. If you want a project to succeed, it has got to have a champion. You can look at anything around this town, and it has had a champion. That is why, going back to your question, sure, I want to see things continue and interface with the new generation coming up. I want to get involved with them and see how we perpetuate all of this for the future.

UTEP: Where Access + Excellence = Student Success Diana Natalicio, President, The University of Texas at El Paso UTEP is getting a lot of attention because of honors that are being bestowed on you as a leader in education. Can you explain why that is happening now?

We’re at a real crisis in our country with respect to the education of individuals of modest financial means. The gap between the college educated and the non-college educated has grown dramatically over the past 40 years. In El Paso, we work very hard to educate many young people in the lowest socioeconomic quartile. We are atWe are tempting to provide educational attempting to opportunities for students who provide educational for the past 40 years have been opportunities for absent from the pathway to sostudents who for the cial mobility—higher education.

We took that on as a chalpast 40 years have lenge for our region because it’s been absent from the pathway to social very clear that if so few of us hold university degrees, then mobility—higher very few of us—through the taxeducation.” es we pay and activities that we engage in—will carry a heavier burden to compensate for people who don’t have the same capacity to contribute. If we don’t educate the portion of the population at the lowest end of the socioeconomic spectrum, who’s going to do it?

And your faculty, don’t these students need role models?

Can you explain to me what kind of an ecosystem exists here

The national supply of doctoral-level Hispanic faculty continues to be for innovation? extremely small. One of the primary reasons that UTEP worked very I think some of the pioneering work in demonstrating the power of hard over the past 25 years to gain authorization to offer doctoral pro- collaboration occurred 25 years ago when UTEP, EPCC, school districts grams has been to play a growing role in the preparation of a more and civic leaders came together to increase educational aspirations diverse future professoriate. In science and engineering, for example, and attainment across the region. Pulling together with community UTEP’s success in recruiting Hispanic faculty means that every day in partners around areas of common interest is the likeliest way to ensure that we all enjoy the benefits. their laboratories, our mostly first-generation, When we visited with high schools in the late Latino undergraduate students see Latino faculty 1980s, we’d ask why so few of their graduates role models, who are accomplished researchers were continuing their education at UTEP or competing successfully for major grants, and portion of tenure-track elsewhere. The reply was often that the students they can say to themselves “that could be me.” faculty at UTEP who weren’t “college material.” Translated, that meant I talk often about UTEP’s mission of access that they lacked financial resources to attend and excellence. Access is about being welcomare Hispanic college or needed to get jobs to help support ing and affordable, and making sure students their families. UTEP then worked closely with are academically well prepared when they arthe schools and community organizations to rive on the campus, which obviously involves emphasize that students’ financial challenges ensuring college readiness through our collabportion of students at shouldn’t serve as a barrier to their pursuit of orative work with schools and the community higher education. college. But, access must be accompanied by UTEP who are Hispanic What’s changed in El Paso—and I think UTEP an equally strong commitment to excellence. deserves some credit for leading the way—is Students must be assured that the degree that that we’ve begun to think seriously about how they worked so hard to earn is going to be valuto define ourselves rather than allow others able to them. That must be our promise to all UTEP’s ranking in to define us. That’s exactly what UTEP did in our students, but especially our first-generation, transforming itself. All of us at UTEP know and low-resourced students who work so hard, unWashington Monthly’s are proud of exactly who we are and whom we der often highly daunting circumstances, to top national universities serve. achieve their aspirations.

30%

80%

Top 10

Binational Healthcare Breaking Boundaries Dr. Richard A. Lange, President, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, Dean, Paul L. Foster SOM Can you please give us an introduction to the Center?

What the city leaders realized is that this is a large city and the health care needs are very different than they are anywhere else. So in 2009 the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine started, joined by the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing in 2011. Then we added the graduate school in 2015 and now plan to add the dental school over the next three to four years. This allows us to engage El Pasoans with health care professions. By enrolling students who are from El Paso and West Texas, we know they are more likely to stay here.

The philanthropists and the community support have allowed us to accelerate the process. There’s not another health science centre in the US that has initiated a dental school within seven or eight years of starting their medical school.

When you are recruiting, what are some of the biggest objections you run into?

The biggest issue is simply that people have not been here before. If you’ve never been to El Paso you don’t realise what a gem it is. I’ve lived in Texas for 40 years and had never been We’ve to El Paso. Texas is a very big state. already

established what I think is going to be the most innovative medical curriculum in the US.”

What will this institution look like in 5 years?

We’ve already established what I think is going to be the most innovative medical curriculum in the US. It’s going to be incredibly important for health professionals to speak Spanish.

Here, they are immersed in the culture early on; it’s not just more likely that language but cultural sensitivity. Over the next Hispanic women die from 10 to 15 years we’re going to invest in health care disparities, because we have the perfect diagnosed breast cancer incubator to do that. We sit on the border than white women and we have a population that goes back and forth. Some of my employees live in Juárez but they work here. Many El Pasoans work at the maquiladoras as well. We have centers of emphasis to highlight how diseases manifest portion of the US themselves, what their prognoses are and how they differ across different cultures. There are population that will be very few places where you can do that.

Spanish speaking by 2030 If you live in this area—and 80 percent of our population is Hispanic—and you develop breast cancer, your prognosis is worse than that of a Caucasian because you are more likely to be what is called a triple negative: it’s not likely land mass of Texas that to be hormonally responsive, so as a result you don’t respond to the same chemotherapy. So we is served by hospitals in have to have novel ways of treating breast cancer Lubbock and El Paso in these individuals.

20%

30%

60%

Again, I would like to see us, our communities more involved with research & development and incubator technology. A lot of our medical device companies have manufacturing plants right across the border. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be doing research and development with those companies and the border should be invisible.

What lessons can other urban areas draw from the work you’re doing?

From an education standpoint, I think that the curriculum needs to be culturally sensitive and relevant. We should be an example of how you can do that across the US, especially for border cities. The question is not how do you build a bigger, taller, thicker wall, but how do you open it up to take advantage?

When you are traveling and you say that you’re from El Paso, how do people react?

What people don’t seem to grasp is that everyone here has a more inclusive worldview, because they live in two countries, with two languages and two histories.

Regional Strengths Boost Healthcare Research Emma Schwartz, CEO, Medical Center of the Americas (MCA) Foundation Could you tell us the El Paso story?

Over the past 15 years, our region will have seen over $2.5 billion in capital investments in healthcare education, research and delivery.

We are creating a robust innovation ecosystem around life sciences including healthcare and biomedical that will also provide great quality of life.

The MCA Foundation has two big divisions: infrastructure and programs, based on lots of planning. We analyzed other metroplexes with significant life science industries, then created our own model based on our capabilities. We started with campus land planning, leading to a 440-acre academic medical campus, which we rezoned into SmartCode and created a taxincrement reinvestment zone, aimed at improving 79905, one of the poorest zip codes in the country. Our planning efforts also helped us put our fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in the life sciences industry, regionally and nationally. TTUHSC El Paso, NMSU, UTEP and the universities in Juárez are doing a great job at

60,000 sq ft

Cardwell Collaborative’s biomedical research and technology commercialization building

expanding their life sciences and bioengineering programs. Thus, we decided to focus on creating a biomedical industry with all this investment and accelerating it.

The MCA’ s Cardwell Collaborative biomedical incubator building is part of both our infrastructure and biomedical program development. Since the City was very involved in all our planning efforts, they allocated 75 percent of their new economic development Impact Fund, resulting in $2.7 to 3 million a year on an 18-year contract, giving us the ability to execute on our projects. We also raised over $8 million in a capital campaign and obtained financing for our projects.

We’re trying to create this ecosystem as an asset not only to our region, but also for other communities such as Austin and Houston, enhancing what they are doing in cancer research and innovation by providing a piece of the puzzle they may not have—medical device product development and manufacturing, which usually go to places like Minnesota. We can do it in Texas, keeping those dollars here.

The Healthcare Sector is Booming in the Border Region Nicholas Tejeda, CEO, The Hospitals of Providence Transmountain Campus Can we please start with an introduction to this new teaching hospital?

This hospital will be a training site for medical students, residents, and nurses. This training will occur across a variety of specialties including Internal Medicine, Family Practice, OB-GYN, Pediatrics, General Surgery and Psychiatry.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC) is our partner in delivering this medical education. Together, we are recruiting world-class faculty who will train the next generation of healthcare providers, elbow-to-elbow.

A key strategy for improving access to physicians in our community is to increase the number of physicians who are trained in El Paso.

Why decide to move to El Paso?

In El Paso, someone has the chance to be successful while making an exceedingly meaningful impact on the larger community. On a personal level, you won’t find a friendlier community. The second time you meet anyone in El Paso you better plan on getting a hug— because it is coming! I love it because it is a physical

form of the inherent character that exists in El Paso.

From your perspective, how are local city policies helping to make the city more attractive?

7%

of hospitals nationally are defined as teaching hospitals

2.8 jobs

created in the community for every hospital job (American Hospital Association)

Over the next few years, our hospital—in collaboration with TTUHSC—will be recruiting at least 50 physicians, many of whom are millennials.

These individuals are evaluating the city in much the same way I did 18 months ago to decide if it makes sense for their personal and professional aspirations. I believe this community has developed into a wonderful place in both aspects. What I find fascinating is the heritage that has existed here for centuries.

We give a lot of attention to the history of Ellis Island in New York - for good reason; it’s a symbol of what makes America great. But El Paso has a similar story of generations of families arriving to the United States through our border with Juárez.

The El Paso-Juárez region is the largest binational metropolitan in the Western Hemisphere. Civic leadership has embraced policies that enable our community to flourish.

A Community Working Together to Change Health Outcomes Tracy Yellen, CEO, Paso del Norte Health Foundation Within the context of innovation and the Borderplex, could you explain the role of the Foundation?

The Paso del Norte Health Foundation was set up a little over 20 years ago, when Tenet Corporation bought Providence Memorial Hospital, a non-profit hospital. Our leaders at the time looked at best practices with these health conversion foundations around the country and determined that a free-standing foundation dedicated to disease prevention and health education was really important. When you look at what contributes to our health: 50 percent is determined by our behavior; 20 percent by our We want to environment; 20 percent by geensure that the residents of the Paso netics; 10 percent by access to healthcare. Yet we spend almost del Norte region 90 percent of resources in our have the knowledge, country on treatment and cure, and about four percent on preresources, and environment needed to vention. The Health Foundation has chosen to be in the prevenlive healthy lives.” tion space to tackle prevalent health issues in the region.

Tobacco is one of our best success stories. We were one of the first adopters of a smoke-free policy, which is now standard, and smoking went from 24 percent to about 13. It’s declining across the country but we are ahead of the state of Texas and other cities.

Where is the future bringing for the Foundation?

What are some of the issues you are working on right now?

We need to stay focused on our kids. We want to create a generation We’re about to embark on a study looking at the services and gaps of healthy kids, working with the schools and after-school programs. in this region around diabetes. The Health Foundation focuses on We’ve established with UTEP the Institute for Healthy Living. We are healthy eating and active living. We know if you have a better diet, working with our new partner foundations (Fundación Paso del Norte maintain a healthy weight, and have a certain level of physical activity, para la Salud y Bienestar in Cd. Juárez and Paso del Norte Charitable you are less likely to have diabetes. We want to Foundation in El Paso) to leverage grantmaking. collaborate with multiple partners to address the My hope is that when people think about our spectrum of diabetes prevention, awareness, and community and our region, they think about management. a place they want to come because they know amount invested in the mission of the Foundation that amenities are available to support a healthy El Paso and Juárez are developing a lifestyle. Our updated vision statement is to comprehensive healthcare system. Do you improve the quality of life in our region through anticipate that this will be part of what El healthy living. This is what we can contribute, Paso is known for? making the Borderplex a place where health is That’s the vision. We want to be a center of embedded into our values as a region. excellence for healthcare services, including recipient of Foundation Where do you think the biggest challenge the treatment of diabetes. There has also grants throughout lies? been discussion over the years about making the Borderplex Statistically, diabetes is going to be the biggest medical tourism a component of our economic health condition in our community that will development. We’re proud, as a foundation, affect the future health of our population. We to be able to facilitate the development of also have higher levels of poverty and other health initiatives. We’ve just made a leadership issues that are correlated to health outcomes. commitment to support the development of people served by We want to ensure that the residents of the Paso the new Texas Tech Woody L. Hunt School of the Paso del Norte del Norte region have the knowledge, resources, Dental Medicine. It’s a wonderful thing about and environment needed to live healthy lives, our community—people here are willing to work Health Foundation especially for kids and future generations. together, committed to the Borderplex.

$152 million

300 organizations 2.4 million

Renaissance in the Jewel of the Southwest Paul Foster, Chairman, Western Refining Give us a sense of how this community is changing.

Woody Hunt and I are partners in the baseball team. Some time ago we started asking the question: what would really make a difference for our city? How do we keep up with Albuquerque, Phoenix, Oklahoma City? We started looking around and one common theme was that they all had professional sports of some kind. In most cases they were even downtown, and that was driving development. Everyone thinks we must be baseball fans but baseball is really the result of our desire to create quality of life and to improve the downtown.

I have always felt an obligation to give back to the community that gave me so much. That’s what honestly inspired me to give the money for the medical school. What could we do to really change things for everyone here? The conclusion was to get a medical school.

I would like for people to have a positive impression of a binational community without a wall in between.”

How is the perception of the city evolving?

I think that the impression of downtown is already changing.

This hotel is going to be redone and we’re going to be rebuilding the Plaza Hotel as well. Conrad Hilton lived here in the high-rise that he built in 1931 and when Nicky Hilton was married to Elizabeth Taylor they lived in the penthouse. El Paso used to be the jewel of the Southwest and this was where you came for entertainment improvement because you have fewer low-skilled jobs and more need from Phoenix or Dallas.

People outside of Texas know very little about El Paso, but inside for high-skilled jobs.

Texas they have the impression that because we How did the Presidential campaign influence are a border town we must have security issues. the business climate here in El Paso?

They don’t know about the commerce back and Obviously, immigration is a big issue here. Not forth and the social mobility. just the movement of people, but goods. People The relationship with Juárez has changed over trade between the are concerned that we are going to do something the years. Without question the biggest asset we US and Mexico to make it more difficult for goods to travel back have here is Juárez. and forth. Most people living on the border think What kinds of businesses would you like to that NAFTA is good for the US and it has certainly see come here? been good for manufacturing on both sides of I think research and high-tech; and also the the border. What I keep telling people is that you military is a very important part of this process. can say what you want on the campaign trail, but total value of goods It makes sense to have industry related to you still have to pass laws and get them through and services sold to manufacturing or research related to the military Congress. Even if you say “I’m going to get rid Mexico annually or to medicine. Additionally, the city is wellof NAFTA” it’s not that easy. You have to know (Brookings Institute) positioned as a logistics hub and with all of the what the alternative is. We are actually trying to manufacturing, automotive is always attractive. reduce barriers, such as through a new initiative to conduct pre-inspection of goods, allowing for As manufacturing becomes more advanced, more efficient passage through the border.

$1 billion/day $2.3 trillion

people may be moved out of the process.

How will this influence this economy?

As any industry evolves it becomes more automated, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it needs fewer employees, it just changes what employees are doing. It is actually an

11 million

US jobs supported by supplier relationship with Mexican manufacturing

How would you brand El Paso?

I want El Paso to be a destination again, and we are working to achieve that. I would like for people to have a positive impression of a binational community without a wall in between.

Commerce, Family and Camaraderie on Both Sides of the Border K. Alan Russell, President and CEO, TECMA Could you start with an introduction to what Tecma is and how you got started?

I left a career of being an airline pilot and wanted to pursue a new career. The idea was that I would provide the tenacity and driving force and my partners would provide the wisdom and capital. Together, we created this company. We started as a contract manufacturing company with the goal of competing against the China model. The maquila industry had evolved to where almost every company that was here was cost-centered and owned by a big company that was placed here to provide assembly labor and not a lot of manufacturing.

That industry used to be called the Twin Plant industry. Later, it started evolving to where companies were getting more comfortable to have capital and equipment in Mexico.

How have the challenges of this business model evolved over time?

We were not popular for many years because China was the giant and maintained its dominance in the manufacturing world. The Chinese government was supporting their infrastructure and suppliers and doing a great job of it, so Mexico did not have the reputation of being able to deliver the goods.

There is a Then NAFTA came and created phenomenon of an immigrant mentality a lot of publicity about Mexico.

Competitively, it was still where they work difficult because the cost was harder, are more higher in Mexico than it was productive and strive in China. For the first time in modern history, over these past harder to make an few years the lines have crossed impression.� and today, a product coming from Mexico can be landed in the US for less cost than it can be landed from China. We see Chinese companies now realizing that, to compete in the North American market, they need to be in Mexico.

What would you point to as some of the most unique and attractive elements of life here in El Paso?

This community has a warmth and camaraderie that you do not find in other places in the country. A tremendous number of people in the community do business on both sides of the border. They also have friends and families across the border. One Tecma in 1985—in 2016 it of the busiest international bridges in the world occupies 3 million sq. ft. is our downtown bridge.

8,500 sq ft

How have you have managed to continue caring for your employees?

Manufacturing can be very cruel. We recruited a gentleman that was educated both in Guatemala and the US and had gone to seminary to become our communication link between industry and the people. If there was ever a place in the world that needed a missionary, it was where you have these colliding cultures of the US North American manufacturing tenacity colliding with the more laid-back Mexican. His work stabilized our workforce tremendously. Many companies will not give credit to that, but some do understand that if you can keep your workforce stable and loyal, it creates quality and productivity.

7,000

Tecma employees in Mexico and the US

75

Global and US based manufacturing clients

Why should someone come here and set a business up in El Paso or JuĂĄrez?

El Paso is a growing community and has a high immigrant population because this is the entrance point into the US for many of our Mexican friends. There is a phenomenon of an immigrant mentality that they are going to work harder and be more productive and strive harder to make an impression. We saw this when the US industrialized with immigrants from Europe. You have a good quality of life and a hungry population that is looking for work.

The Hispanic culture historically is a very loyal, nurturing and dedicated workforce.

The Arts Lead Downtown Development Eric Pearson, President and CEO, El Paso Community Foundation Can you introduce us to the role the Foundation plays in El Paso?

The El Paso Community Foundation restored a theater in 2006. It was a 20-year process, but at the end of the day we knew that it would ignite the interest in Downtown. In following years, the theater was listed as one of the 31 best performing arts centers worldwide in terms of capabilities. Tom Waits came and told us, “Oh my gosh, this is the greatest theater.” The foundation also helped build low-income housing for artists just right up the street; that is another $13 million project that we are doing.

The idea was that we could do amazing things here. We’ve instilled a sense of pride in this community that we hadn’t had since the 1960s. We are all going in the same general direction for the first time in my professional life and I love that. I love We have the that we are all thinking about perfect blend of a safe innovation and aspects of our and stable American community to build. city with a huge The best thing that we can vibrant cosmopolitan do is be ourselves and take pride in ourselves. I don’t population in three want to be like that “insert states and two name here” city. We are so countries.” unique; this is the epicenter of North America. We have the perfect blend of a safe and stable American city with a huge vibrant cosmopolitan population in three states and two countries. For us to deny that and to not be ourselves is a travesty. There is a flavor here that is unique to the entire world.

The danger is if we grow too fast we become strangers who don’t have a sense of our history and our character. One of the things I love about economic impact of the El Paso is that there is no sense of snarky irony.

Plaza Theater on People are beautiful and earnest and they really El Paso’s downtown care about who you are.

$300 million

Where is this steady trajectory of growth headed?

There are a couple ways to look at that. One is that we want to build up the workforce to be able to accommodate higher tech. We need a higher level of education. We want people to be more upwardly mobile.

At the Foundation, we stepped back and thought, what is needed to support art? You support the artists because they are going to make things—they create culture. We are hoping that the property values in Downtown shoot up over time. We built this theater and we know that in 20 years we are going to have $300 million dollars of positive economic impact and

$13 million

what the Foundation is contributing to build housing for artists downtown

$175 million

total amount given to the El Paso community by the Foundation since 1977

people are going to start looking back into Downtown.

Are there particular sectors that you think would fit best in El Paso?

We have manufacturing hubs that we can build upon and we need to attract more than just call centers; we need to create businesses that grow from within. I’m glad that we have the technology hubs and I’m glad that we are looking at both sides of the border and New Mexico. The best thing that we can do is get people who are committed to this city to stay here.

I want us to have an educated workforce working for high-tech, high-volume companies and raise our quality of life. I want us to be thoughtful about how we grow without losing our heart because that is the single most important thing in this community. We are this huge cosmopolitan community that understands that we need to get along and that we can only prosper together.

Neighbors on the Border, Growing Together Juan Carlos Sapien de Anda, President, Desarrollo Económico de Juárez In October of 2016 you took over as President of Economic Development in Ciudad Juárez. What are your goals in this position?

At Economic Development, we strongly believe that we have to improve people’s lives through better jobs with higher wages in valueadded industries. If we succeed in improving our citizen’s financial situation, then it will be easier to attack social problems in areas such as education.

What are the immediate challenges that you are taking on?

Actually, my primary responsibility is to provide continuity. In Mexico one problem that we have is that each new leader of an organization tries to change everything and put their own stamp on it. My goal is to recognize the work of Benito Fernandez, who was the President before me, and build on his work on the projects that are strategically important for Juárez.

We have a great opportunity now because we had a change of government at the state and city level and the new people are saying that they want to attack

430,000

formal jobs in Juárez

583.6 billion trade between the US and Mexico in 2015

corruption and provide greater transparency.

They are inviting greater participation in the government and we need to make sure that we grab that opportunity.

One of the specific programs that we want to highlight is the Center for Research and Integration of Advanced Technologies (CIITA).

This program aims to develop the value chain in manufacturing and design. These are businesspeople who want simple things: just in time deliveries, qualified employees, easy to understand regulations. They want to be productive and efficient. Our new Secretary of Economic Development and Innovation for the state of Chihuahua is Alejandra de la Vega. She has strong ties on both sides of the border.

What brand would you like to see Juárez have?

I think that we want people to see and understand the value of Juárez—we want them to see Juárez as an asset. We want to encourage innovative companies, adapting to the changing needs of the marketplace, to provide opportunities to our workers to grow and improve as well.

The Borderplex Culture - Driving Innovation in Tech Ebetuel (Beto) Pallares, Founder, Joseph Advisory / Cowork Oasis /Somos Capital You immigrated to the US, maintain links on newcomers easy access to corporate partners and both sides of the border and work in tech. pilot programs for new products and services, Are you meeting more people with a similar a supportive infrastructure at accessible prices, profile? and top-notch universities with the disposition to Absolutely, in fact there is qualitative data showing nurture entrepreneurs. Unique to this community that immigrants contributed heavily to building are the cross-border partnerships that facilitate Silicon Valley, both from the founder and the market exploration for young companies looking investor side. You can say the same about the tech for diverse and attractive opportunities that they and financial communities in New York. What we can capitalize on regionally and beyond. are learning is that cities with fluid immigration What steps are you taking to help more young benefit from this influx of talent. Not only that, people succeed in the tech industry? but immigrants tend to be particularly patriotic I travel frequently to both coasts so I try to provide and appreciative of their adopted country. a bridge between young entrepreneurs in Silicon In the Borderplex, talent easily flows in and Unique to this community Valley as well as New York and elsewhere. My connects through our tech hubs to other like- are the cross-border partnerships role is to facilitate introductions and relationships minded people. The cultural appreciation and that facilitate market exploration for start-ups with corporate partners as well as understanding that come with that gives the providing mentorship through my leadership in for young companies.” region the ability to build bridges to best of breed the Kauffman Fellows. I also work to support communities. venture funding like the Arrowhead Innovation What characteristics of the Borderplex region would you highlight?

Fund and Somos Capital and in capacity building via mentorship, financing We really do have a friendly business and social community, with a deep and infrastructure like accelerator programs, strong relationships with appreciation for ingenuity and a history of entrepreneurship. On the universities and coworking spaces. In El Paso I have also started the Cowork practical side, our tightknit and welcoming business community allows Oasis (www.coworkoasis.com) and Somos Capital (www.somoscapital.com).

A Safe and Secure Gateway of Trade for the Americas Jon Barela, CEO, The Borderplex Alliance Could you give us an introduction to the role of The Borderplex Alliance (BA) in the region?

The BA is the region’s economic development and public policy organization which tries to align public policy with transportation, healthcare, workforce development and education. Our role is unique in that we work with three states, two countries and one region with the overarching knowledge that we share a common history, a common border, and, most importantly, a common future.

How do you plan to communicate about the border moving forward?

In light of the election, we have to regain control of our narrative. The myth that the border is a lawless, dangerous, unsophisticated place in which to live or do business is totally false. The latest FBI crime statistics, which came out in 2008, reconfirmed that violent crime is astoundingly low in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. Ciudad Juárez is no longer one of the 50 Most Dangerous Cities in the world, whereas five American cities are. The border is a safe, competitive, sophisticated place in which to do business and The border is the value proposition of doing a safe, competitive, sophisticated place in business here is unparalleled.

Our area has a history which to do business.” that is defined by centuries of commerce and cultural interaction. There is a soul and a sense of place and history here.

Other places with which we compete have no history and no soul and their histories are defined in decades. Once people come here, they see it immediately: genuine people, incomparable quality of life, and, most importantly for businesspeople, an unparalleled value proposition.

When you market this region to businesses, what kinds of sectors are you targeting?

The sectors we are looking at attracting to the area are advanced manufacturing, advanced logistics, certainly the bio-sciences, and R&D; research into the growing Hispanic population and some of the illnesses that afflict disproportionately Hispanics, is a perfect niche for that. We will be heavily pursuing aviation and aerospace, and we will also be looking at high technology as well.

What role does the military installation play?

Fort Bliss is the largest military base in the country with almost 40,000 soldiers. From an economic development and impact standpoint, you cannot underestimate the importance of our military installations.

How do you see the rhetoric about the wall and border security affecting The Borderplex?

The notion that one can simply place physical

barriers between two countries and make a country more secure is full of folly. The way you create more security along the border is bilateral dialogue, engagement, discussion and planning. You can try and build walls, but that will not stop what is inevitable, which is trade. Many families in this area have feet on both sides of the border. Just because there are artificial boundaries that were created 150 years ago does not stop that binational culture.

5 international crossings 14 universities 40 industrial parks 5 airports

3 states 2 nations 1 region

Largest

inland military complex in the world

You’ve only recently joined The Borderplex Alliance. What do you most hope to accomplish in this new role?

I want to rewrite the narrative about this area.

We miss out on opportunities because of the false narrative and image that has been created about this area. Contrary to what is said about this area being a violent, unsophisticated, lawless place, we are very safe, sophisticated and productive. It is a great place to do business. We miss out on opportunities, but businesses that are looking to become more competitive also miss out on the opportunity of coming here. We are blessed geographically; we are right in the middle of the 2000-mile East-West border and we are right in the middle of the NAFTA countries North-South.

We have converging rail and surface transportation links. The vision is to make this area the gateway of trade for the Americas.

The Biggest Small Town in America Betsy Price, Mayor, Fort Worth Can you please tell us a little bit about the origin and character of Fort Worth?

Fort Worth started as an agricultural town and, obviously, as a fort on the river to protect the settlers. The city then grew along the Chisholm Trail. Many of the people that came here originally were from West Texas, and we still have a very strong work ethic that has remained as part of our culture. When I was growing up it was a quaint town of 300,000-350,000. Now it’s 830,000, and one of the fastest-growing large cities in the nation, but still holds that To keep this city small-town feel.

with the same feel that we love is one of our biggest challenges.”

Can you tell us about the safety of Fort Worth?

We have a very low crime rate, but that hasn’t always been the case. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, we had a pretty significant gang problem that we addressed in partnership with our citizens by passing a half-cent sales tax that funds crime prevention. It has put a lot more officers on the streets. Plus, we have very involved citizens-on-patrol groups all over the city. So, our eyes and ears for our officers are doubled.

What kinds of companies you are trying to attract to do business in Fort Worth?

We are much more diverse now; the largest inland port in the nation is Alliance, which is part of Fort Worth and where Burlington Northern’s headquarters is located. For Alliance, the land was donated by Hillwood, the Perot Group and the city built it.

We just brought Facebook in, which is a huge deal. It is a billion-dollar investment for data centers. What they wanted was an innovative way to use wind power and redundant water sources because all their servers are water cooled. Fort Worth was very attractive because we have a lot of water and redundancies downtown residents in supply. who rated their area as Our healthcare industry is also expanding: “safe” or “very safe” Texas Health Resources has expanded and we now have 38,000 jobs in the healthcare industry.

Galderma is here, Smith & Nephew, Alcon—the world’s largest manufacturer of eye products— which was founded by a Fort Worth family.

97.3%

339

What are some of the challenges that you face today?

One of them is managing our growth. The city includes 352 square miles with an additional 300 square miles of ETJ to be annexed. We are big geographically and we are in four different counties. So managing that growth, the transportation options, the diversity we talked about, all in order to keep this city with the same feel that we love is one of our biggest challenges.

square miles of land area

Are you looking at innovative projects on which you can work with your businesses?

Absolutely. In fact, we just kicked-off a major taskforce for education driven by Matt Rose from Burlington Northern, a local school superintendent and myself. We are targeting early childhood, with the goal of increasing third grade literacy rates. This is critical for us because, the business community understands that if they don’t step in and start partnering, they won’t have the workforce they need. And we know that without community involvement, the quality of life and crime related issues would only mount.

What is your legacy going to be as a mayor?

11 million sq ft of office space in downtown Fort Worth

I am working to make Fort Worth the most engaged, fiscally best-managed, most educated and healthy community in the nation. I don’t think you can govern very well behind a desk, but instead need to be out in the community talking and listening to people.

Healthy Living with a Vibrant Downtown Make Fort Worth Unique Robert Sturns, Director, Economic Development Department, Fort Worth Can you tell us about the evolution of the brand of Fort Worth?

Obviously the city is well known for its western heritage, which is positive, but doesn’t reflect all that we are. We are working to communicate more about our culture, the film commission, our museums. We don’t want to get rid of the stockyards, but we want to emphasize the Trinity River Vision projects activating a healthy lifestyle along the river, and the downtown entertainment offerings.

What is the availability for companies looking to relocate their headquarters?

We have room to develop both in the downtown and up in the AllianceTexas area. Our challenge is competing with Dallas for company HQs. We are a strong manufacturing community and Dallas has financial services, so companies tend to look at Dallas first. However, once they do We don’t come over here they fall in love with want to get rid of our city. I think we can expand on what we have been doing in our centhe stockyards, tral business district and diversify the but we want to downtown offering further. The Frost emphasize the Tower will help with this too.

Trinity River Vision projects activating a healthy lifestyle along the river, and the downtown entertainment offerings.”

How are you leveraging that manufacturing base to bring in new companies?

We do have opportunities presented by investments by GE and Facebook, and the expansion of Bell Helicopter.

The suppliers associated with these companies contribute to growth as well. The great thing about the Facebook investment is that it is the first of our big tech footprints in this area. Attracting other companies like them will help us to diversify our tax base as a community.

place to have a business, it’s a great community in which to raise your family. We are blessed with a young educated work force, with educational institutions nearby.

What are goals that you would like to highlight?

I have been here for 13 years total and we have a great team involved in economic development. They have done a lot of creative things for the city. The Alliance Hillwood development is a great example of people making a long-term investment, and then having the length of the Trinity River patience to allow it to mature into the amazing Vision with parks and place that it is today. We want to focus on conwaterfront communities tinued growth in the downtown area. Sundance Square and the Bass family have done a spectacular job and we want to improve on connectivity for the different areas. We do want to continue to diversify, attracting companies like Facebook, or bio-tech companies. The sky is really the limit because we still have a lot of land out there to available in and around develop. We also want to get development into the walkable downtown the difference areas of the city that did not have area a lot of it before. Finally, working with our partners at Tech Fort Worth and IdeaWorks for entrepreneurial development and small businesses is key. The small business development aspect is really the backbone of employment and we want located in Fort Worth to make sure we have a vibrant small business community.

88 miles

What is it that you would really like people to think of when they think of Fort Worth?

Our first challenge is indeed to get people to Texas and then to the Metroplex. We have a great relationship with our neighbors in Dallas and the other cities of the area. When competing, the things that we sell are primarily people-focused: our friendly people, a very proactive council and our Mayor. Our Mayor is a great Ambassador for healthy living and physical activity. The friendliness of the community, the cultural offering, the creative spaces and the walkability of the city continue to be great selling points. We have managed to do all of that while maintaining the history of the city and the feel of a small town. We also have great neighborhoods with strong partners and family friendly environments. It’s not just a great

75 dining options

9 urban parks

A City of Cowboys, Culture, Commerce and Community Bill Thornton, President, Fort Worth Chamber What kind of a relationship do businesses have here with the local community?

It goes without saying in this community that you are expected to be engaged. The patriarchs and matriarchs in this community have set the example. It has been part of the fabric of this community for many, many years. Examples are the late Ruth Carter Stevenson who built the Amon Carter Museum of American Art with art from her father’s private collection, and which is free to the community; the Bass Family, which has developed our downtown Sundance Square area, provide a giant Christmas tree every year, built a world-renowned performance hall, and subsidized free parking garages after 6 p.m.; and Bob Simpson, co-owner of the Texas Rangers, who has meticulously restored several historic skyscrapers downtown.

You do have a diverse group of companies.

Where do you see the mix headed?

There are definitely trends, especially toward logistics. AllianceTexas is a one-of-a-kind industrial development for far north Fort Worth. In 1989 it was corn fields and prairie, and now there are 45,000

jobs. GE Manufacturing’s largest customer is Burlington Northern Santa Fe and they make locomotives there. They expanded here.

With the new Facebook data center and their $1 billion investment, we’re seeing more data center prospects. And we’re seeing companies relocating here from California and Illinois because of our business-friendly environment.

What would be your message to the rest of the country about Fort Worth?

Fort Worth is fortunate to be enjoying the benefit of decades of collaborative community leadership that has forged productive publicprivate partnerships and carried through with smart planning. We also possess a rare combination of generous business and cultural benefactors and involved residents who are proud to call Fort Worth home. With available land for expansion, proximity to DFW International Airport, a talented and abundant labor pool and sensible state regulatory and tax policies, we’re not only one of the nation’s most business-friendly cities, but also a genuinely friendly Texas community.

813,319

population of Fort Worth, the 16th largest city in the nation

82,000 companies in Fort Worth

BNSF—Warren Buffett’s All-in Bet on America Carl Ice, CEO, BNSF Railway Why should companies look to come to this area?

When BNSF was created in 1995 (BNSF was formed after the merger of Burlington Northern Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway), we chose the former Burlington Northern’s facilities in Fort Worth as our home.

We are glad to be in Fort Worth and in Texas, in part, because of its central location within our rail network. It is an affordable place that offers a good lifestyle making it a desirable place for our people to want to locate as relocation opportunities occur.

of dollars every year to make sure we have an infrastructure that is in excellent operating condition. We also invest heavily in training and certification programs for our employees to help ensure they stay safe while operating on the railroad and follow a comprehensive set of rules and processes that helps give the public confidence that we are doing our best to be safe when operating in their communities.

45,000

How does Fort Worth set itself apart?

We find that the City of Fort Worth is willing to work with businesses to further our shared interests. Mayor Price is always available and views working with the business community as very important to a thriving city.

BNSF employees

Why is safety important to your company?

Safety is the most important thing we do. We have made massive investments in our railroad and spend billions

miles of railroad that BNSF operates

32,500

What’s the next challenge for your company?

When I was named the 2016 Railroader of the Year by Railway Age, I accepted the honor on behalf of everybody at BNSF. This is a great company with great people who do great things. In terms of the company and the next challenge for us, it will continue to involve safety because it is the most important thing we do. Then, there is making sure we serve our customers well because together we our serving the needs of our great country. When Warren Buffett bought us in 2010, he said that it was an all-in bet on America. That was a powerful endorsement of our work.

A Sophisticated Cultural Downtown with Authenticity Johnny Campbell, President & CEO, Sundance Square Can you describe this unique phenomenon that is Sundance Square?

This is something that is unique in America: one private organization that has assembled 35 square blocks straddling Main St. between the courthouse and the convention center, and has determined to revitalize a real, authentic, genuine central business district. There are 42 buildings and we have 10 blocks yet to develop on the east side.

It so happens that the city and the benefactors worked hand-inglove with the idea of developing a master plan. I talked to various people in the organization when I was interviewing and pretty quickly I realized that I could do a merchandising plan, a master plan, a pedestrian plan, and execute all of them, because guess what? It’s all owned by one entity.

I am not aware of anything of this size and position anywhere. A downtown is a living organism; it will tell you what it needs through what the people are doing, their habits. The city itself, the downtown improvement district, the Chamber of Commerce, Sundance Square, all work together in a collabThese people orative fashion like no place I are genuine, have ever seen. These people transparent and are genuine, transparent and seriserious about ous about continuing to improve continuing to improve downtown and the city. That I downtown and the city. will say is the true secret potion for Ft. Worth.

That I will say is the When you walk into a place; true secret potion you’re subconsciously affected for Ft. Worth.” by your surroundings. Sundance hired a private security force that is still today one of the biggest you’ll see around. This is a highly won the ULI’s International Award for Excellence, winning against cities all over the world. trained private security force on Segways and Ft. Worth has not forsaken its heritage; Ft. bikes and—aside from securing all the private Worth is genuine and very real. That guy walking properties of Sundance Square—collaborate behind you could be a cowboy or a billionaire heavily with the city police department for the people who travel and you would not know. sidewalks and the public right of way in the through Sundance area. It’s probably the strongest relationship I’ve Square each year What are the next challenges? ever seen between a private security company At Sundance we talk about balance and blend. and a police department.

I’m a musician so I use that term in my business I read you have a friend, a street dweller, world as well; when I say that I am talking about who was part of the urban scene? office, retail, residential and hospitality. We are Charlie Joyner? Charlie sat on the corner of Third very organic growth-oriented urbanists. Our owned by and Houston for years. If you go out there today objective is always for each development to be Sundance Square there is a bronze plaque with his name and life very healthy, and never to create that situation dates on it. Charlie knew everyone in town, and where development gets out over its tees. would usually say “Have a blessed day”—that’s We’ve understood for a long time at the quote on the plaque at Third and Houston in Sundance Square that people are not interested front of Reata. in a contrived Potemkin village. Millennials don’t In Ft. Worth there is this idea of being very want contrived things; they want simple things. people working in transparent and genuine and down-to-earth. It’s They’re harkening back to something that is two downtown Fort Worth easy to think of Ft. Worth as a Western town generations removed from them. They’re going because of the stockyards. But downtown has back to real, authentic, genuine.

10 million

42 buildings 42,000

Location and Workforce Make Temple Special Drayton McLane Jr., Chairman, McLane Group Why did you establish McLane Company in Temple?

McLane Company was initially an old family business set up by my grandfather in Cameron in 1894. There came a time when we needed to build a new distribution center. I wanted to establish the distribution center in a small town, but I did not think we could attract executive leadership there. We needed enough people to run the center, drive the trucks and provide various services.

Temple was in the Interstate 35 district. That was its key advantage.

We wanted to sell our services to supermarkets and convenience stores all over Texas.

What is Temple’s most attractive feature for businesses?

It is definitely the geographic location. It has good highway systems.

The city is in the middle of Texas, which makes it easy to reach any area in the state from Temple.

We were the first distribution I believe the company to establish our business here. Now the city is a tax regime and the entrepreneurial spirit distribution point for Walmart, H-E-B and other businesses. It in Texas are our main is a good central location. attractions.”

The workforce here is great and has a lot of educated people. Temple is close to universities. The city is located only 35 miles away from Baylor University. We are 60 miles away from the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. It is easy to recruit college graduates and entry-level executives in Temple. In this city, you get to know the civic leadership and the mayor. You get to be a part of the local community.

How does Temple encourage entrepreneurship?

When we came here in 1966, the city had just bought an industrial park area. It was very small, and we were the first customers. The initial area of 30 acres now encompasses over 1,000 acres of land. Temple’s government understood what it takes to attract distribution businesses to the city. They developed the industrial area and offered various incentives along with tax abatements. I have been a part of the city for 20 years and they have served me honourably.

The workforce here is also very good. Fort Hood is about 30 miles away. It discharges approximately 500-1,000 soldiers every month that have finished their career in the military.

Many of them enjoy living in the surrounding area. It is easy to attract them to Temple.

Do you think Texas is often misperceived?

I have been all over the world with my business.

Our state citizens always say they are from Texas during introductions. People from other places

in the US simply say, “I am an American.” Texas has a ring of its own.

It has pride. It is its own brand.

I believe the tax regime and the entrepreneurial spirit in Texas are our main attractions. There is no personal income tax here. Corporate taxes are also low.

Texas is a non-union state. All of these things encourage people to move here. population

80%

of Texas is within 180 miles of Temple

10

major healthcare systems and 3 medical schools

175 miles 4 major airports

What is your welcoming message for businesses looking to move to Texas?

Texas provides many great opportunities for entrepreneurs. When you come here, it is not your degree that matters. It is who you are that counts.

I bought the Houston Astros in 1993.

Nobody in Houston had ever heard of me at that time. Nevertheless, I was quickly accepted into Houston’s leadership, political and business groups. I was accepted for who I was and for the substance of my life.

We are still cowboys in Texas. I do not mean this in the literal sense. If there is value in what you are trying do, and you have great personal integrity with a bit of charisma, Texas is definitely the place to be.

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