On Wednesday, August 24, the Dallas City Council nominated 15 candidates to the board of directors of the new Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
The creation of the new entity was one of the city’s six strategies to make Dallas a hotbed of business attraction, as stated in Mayor Johnson’s November 2021 address to the city. We need to start acting like that,” Johnson said at the time.
In his 2021 city address, Mayor Johnson said Dallas needs to recognize that it competes with other cities, not just on a national level. Mr Johnson said: “The cities we used to call bedroom communities have taken naps over the years.” Crime and tax rates.
“Dallas is a financial success story, but we have work to do,” Johnson continued. “We can do more to ensure a fair share of new workers, new businesses and new developments coming to the region.”
This is where the importance of creating EDC comes into play. Its goal is to support business development and serve as a public developer for the City of Dallas. Economic Development Corporations are established to fund new and expanded businesses in local communities. Typically, this is done through a performance contract with a company, which must also meet certain criteria to qualify for financial assistance.
As for Johnson’s concerns about neighborhood competitors, many smaller cities in North Texas already have EDCs at work. Frisco said he founded EDC in 1991, and McKinney did the same in 1993. Since then, both entities have been involved in major economic and community development. Dallas has a few things to do.
The city’s Economic Development Board has been working on the project since it was first briefed on November 1, 2021. Affordable housing, diversity, equity and inclusion, education, innovation, real estate, economic development and more. Over 100 candidates applied for him on the 15 board.
Candidates were nominated to the EDC Board of Directors based on their business background and expertise. “This is a great group of candidates,” Alderman Tennell Atkins, chairman of the city’s economic development committee, said in an official statement. “I am excited to see how they run the City of Dallas Economic Development Authority and how they support Dallas businesses and his community.”
Candidate Introduction:
- Alan Dorantes, Senior Corporate Counsel, T-Mobile USA Inc.
- Ardo Fuentes, Senior Vice President of Investments, Stifel
- Chris Bradshaw, Director of Business Services Support, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business
- Cynthia Figueroa, Managing Attorney, The Figueroa Law Group, PLLC
- Dania Duncan Moreno, Partner at Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP
- Debra Hunter Johnson, Founder, President and Principal Consultant of Reciprocity Consulting Group, LLC
- Gilbert Gerst, Senior Vice President and Corporate Manager, Community Development Banking, BOK Financial Corporation
- Holly Reed, Current Principal and Advocacy Practice Leader, Ryan, LLC
- Jimmy Tran, Owner and Area Developer, Code Ninjas
- John Stephens, MJ Lupton Partners LP General Partner
- Johnny King, President, KG Concessions DFW, LP
- Dallas Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Kim Noltemy
- Linda McMahon, President and CEO, The Real Estate Council
- Michon Fulgham, CRA Director, Community Development Lending Principal Advisor, CRA Community Development Director
