By: Kelly Cloud, Vice President, Economic Development – Life Sciences
The Dallas Regional Chamber’s (DRC) economic development team launched a campaign in early 2023 to expand its focus on recruiting more companies and jobs in the life science and biotech industries to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). DRC Vice President of Economic Development, Life Sciences Kelly Cloud has been coordinating this effort and shares her perspective on the DRC’s recent trip to the BIO International Convention and key takeaways.
It has been a year since the DRC’s last visit to the BIO International Convention, and this year was bigger and busier than ever. BIO is the largest, comprehensive event for biotechnology, with over 20,000 participants from the United States and more than 30 other countries. With this being our second year in a row representing the DFW region with a presence in two exhibit booths—one with a “DFW Corner” at the Texas Pavilion and our own DRC booth—it was the ideal time to reflect on how much has been accomplished in DFW Life Sciences in one short year both as a region and at BIO itself.
The Texas Pavilion was supported by the Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute and included other State partners, such as the Texas Governor’s Office and the Cancer and Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). In addition to the DRC, the DFW Corner of the Pavilion featured regional partners, including BioNTX and BioLabs at Pegasus Park.
The DRC’s booth featured our economic development partners from various cities across the region to promote Life Sciences and the specific assets of their unique communities . These collaborations of shared convention real estate are an opportunity I looked forward to, so I could catch up with and learn from our busy Regional and State partners. However, this year, we did not have much time to visit, and here are just a few reasons why:
Every year, BIO acts as a platform for companies to make announcements on a global stage, with 45% of attendees traveling internationally for the convention. Life Science companies are not the only ones to take advantage of this opportunity. Dallas-based CBRE released its U.S. Life Sciences Talent Trends 2024 with some exciting news for DFW Life Science Talent:
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- Dallas-Fort Worth’s talent is showcased, landing in the Top 25 category for talent in Research and Development, Life Science Manufacturing, and MedTech;
- In the past five years, the number of biomedical sciences degrees completed in the region has grown by 29%.
With over 500 individual interactions through the DRC and its partners, the message was received: Life Science is converging in DFW. The convention was non-stop, and there was a distinct buzz of interest surrounding Texas and DFW. This does not surprise me. Since BIO 2023, the year has been packed with Life Science Announcements, including:
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- ARPA-H launched the Customer Experience Hub, which landed here through a Texas bid and opened its offices at Pegasus Park in Dallas.
- The Biotechnology and Healthcare Industry Alliance of North Texas was created and launched a website, a continuation of the work coming out of the $8.8M Good Jobs Grant (which has already seen over 120 graduates from the program).
- Prop 10, supported by the DRC’s “Good for Texans” Campaign, was passed by popular vote to approve a constitutional amendment allowing property tax exemption for equipment and inventory.
- Large Fundraising and Acquisitions for local companies, such as Reata’s $7.3 billion acquisition by Biogen.
BIO attendees were curious about Texas’ Life Science ecosystem last year. With this year’s data and series of announcements, it is clear to see why that curiosity gave way to genuine interest and fielding requests for information. The DRC is looking forward to the BIO International Convention in 2025, as we have already started a new list of exciting updates to share, most recently being Verily’s headquarters relocation to our region.
Thank you to all our partners who joined us at BIO: BioNTX and BioLabs at Pegasus Park, Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute (THBI), the Texas Governor’s Office, the Cancer and Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the City of Dallas, the DeSoto Development Corporation, the City of Fort Worth, the Frisco Economic Development Council, the Irving Economic Development Partnership, the City of Plano, and Midlothian Economic Development.
To learn more about the DRC’s Life Sciences and Biotech work, visit our Life Sciences website.