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Local representatives take California trip with governor to lure businesses
By Anthony Tosie, atosie@starlocalnews.com, @anthonytosie on Twitter
When Gov. Rick Perry flew to California on Sunday in an attempt to get businesses to relocate or expand to Texas, some Collin County economic officials went along for the ride.
Representatives from economic development corporations in Allen, Frisco and McKinney traveled to the west coast for the multi-day trip to promote the benefits of operating a company in Texas.
The trip was paid for by TexasOne, a membership program that schedules similar trips across the world every year in an effort to entice businesses to relocate to or establish an office or plant in Texas. In exchange for membership dues, officials from economic development corporations have an opportunity to participate in recruitment missions such as the California trip.
“We’ve been very successful [with trips like this] in the past – it’s been a benefit to be a member of TexasOne for a lot of reasons,” she said. “This gets us in front of site locators around the world. Frisco is attracting international companies, and this trip gives us a platform to get in front of companies with a show of strength from the state. When [business] prospects can meet face-to-face with someone like the secretary of state or governor, it’s a bigger invitation.”
Besides Allen, Frisco and McKinney, 13 other Texas businesses and economic development corporations had officials who took part in the trip.
Windham said she had private meetings set up with representatives from several California businesses that are considering either moving or expanding to the city. Site locators – paid consultants who find potential business locations for businesses – met with Windham to consider a mutual fit between their clients and the city.
“Not every project is best for Frisco – we take time and effort to make sure it’s the kind of company and jobs we feel is the best fit,” she said. “We run an analysis [for companies] to see what incentives they qualify for. We want to do everything we can to help them relocate to Frisco.”
Harry Whalen, the executive director and CEO of the Allen Economic Development Corporation, said the trip is all about using Perry’s reputation as an economic-development governor to reach out to businesses.
“With Gov. Perry there with us, we plan on using his presence as a benefit,” he said. “The governor is essentially the lead salesman for the state of Texas. With him there, we can discuss Texas’ pro-business climate for companies that may be interested in expanding out of California, and obviously I want to promote Allen as an investment location.”
Whalen added that some of the industries he was targeting included aerospace, defense, financial services and technology.
“This event [was] all about selling Allen for me,” he said. “I’m networking and making connections that will benefit the city.”
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