Sarah Carabias-Rush, Senior Vice President, International Engagement
International economic development is a long-term strategy for growing the Dallas Region. Generally, a conversation with a client doesn’t lead to the celebration of a win 12 months later. Occasionally though, that does happen.
In June 2017, our team organized the business pillar of a Dallas Fort Worth International Airport mission to Canada – led by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, DFW Airport board members and staff, and our partners at the Fort Worth Chamber, VisitDallas, and Visit Fort Worth. These missions are a whirlwind.
In Montreal, our partners at the Quebec Government and Montreal International supported an “Invest in DFW” seminar, attracting a large audience of companies interested in moving or expanding to the Dallas Region. At that event, our team met with a member of the local BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) team. BRP was just finalizing a plan to spinoff from its parent and open a new North American headquarters to drive growth in to the business. The meetings in Montreal resulted in a casual discussion at a hotel in Texas that encouraged BRP to set up its new headquarters at Legacy in the city of Plano. The space can accommodate up to 140 staff, and BRP expects to grow from 50 at the opening in July 2018, to 100 in the 12-18 months that follow.
Building on that momentum, the DRC again joined with our partners at the Quebec Government to travel to Montreal and Quebec City last week, to promote the region as a destination for investment. While some of the plans were derailed due to a major winter storm producing more than two feet of snow, the Texas visitors, including myself, were able to tout the many reasons Quebec companies should look to Texas for growth and expansion to several Canadian businesses. Here’s hoping we get to announce another big Canadian win in 12 months!
Upcoming missions abroad for the DRC international team include:
- Australia – June 3-12;
- Europe – TBD, late September/early October; and
- Japan – TBD, late October/early November.
To learn more about how to participate, please contact Melissa Maguire at mmaguire@dallaschamber.org. We will provide additional details as finalized.