By Matthew Berger, Director of Communications
As other markets across the country are returning to normal post pandemic, the Dallas Region is growing at a rapid pace. Through October 2022, the Dallas Region has exceeded its pre-pandemic employment numbers by 9%. Since March of 2020, 66 companies have moved their headquarters from 17 different states and eight countries to the Dallas Region. This growth was the key topic of conversation at the Dallas Regional Chamber’s Q4 Tomorrow Fund Breakfast, presented by Holmes Murphy, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at Southwest Airlines’ Freedom Hall.
DRC Senior Vice President of Economic Development Mike Rosa sat down with Brad Selner, JLL President of the South Central Region, to discuss why the Dallas Region is growing so rapidly.
What project comes to mind as one during which DFW’s assets really came together and impressed for the win?
“The Dallas Region has been a big business community for a long time,” Selner said. “Toyota was the big company that comes to mind that is a great evaluator of this area. More recently, Goldman Sachs coming here is a game changer. Our access to talent and our secondary and higher education is one of the reasons they wanted to come here.”
What do your clients focus on when evaluating talent in finalist locations? How do we improve?
“To boil it down, they really want consistency and security, availability of labor, and good living costs,” Selner said. “People come here because they believe they can hire the best talent. That is what is separating us from the rest of the world. It is a night and day difference between different areas and the Dallas Region economic development teams. We have learned from our losses to become better.”
How can we better leverage that hot streak, and other Southern Dallas County strengths such as Redbird, UNT Dallas, and great sites, to transition into diverse job opportunities, such as corporate offices?
“Sixty-two-million-square-feet of industrial warehouses are under construction in the Dallas Region, with one-third of that under construction in Southern Dallas County,” Selner said. “Things are happening there, success breeds success, and the offices will come. It is all for the right reasons. It is a good time for the people there and witnessing the revitalization.”
What markets are competing with the Dallas Region?
“We compete with Atlanta, Denver, Nashville, Phoenix – who are two of our newest competitors – and Austin,” Selner said. “None of them are close to the size and scale and momentum that we do here in the Dallas Region. It is remarkable the land mass and density of business we can fit in our area. We stand out because we support our businesses, low cost of living, and a great quality of life.”
Before the discussion, Holmes Murphy Vice President and Shareholder Steve Gwinn presented the Q4 Building Tomorrow Together award to UT Southwestern Medical Center at RedBird and UT Southwestern Vice President of Community and Corporate Relations Ruben Esquivel.