With the increased search for talented workers and affordable space, high-tech in the Dallas -- Fort Worth area is growing in new places. "We want to send a message to the community that the southern sector of Dallas is a good place to do business," says Paul Cardarella, vice president for external affairs, Southwestern Bell Telephone. SBC Communications, the parent company of Southwestern Bell, announced in 2000 the firm's expansion into the Oak Cliff area of the city. Oak Cliff has not been a haven for high-tech investment in Dallas. But SBC leased a US$24 million high-tech facility in Pinnacle Park and Dallas city leaders negotiated a development incentive package for the company. SBC will employ 1,200 workers at the site. The area is located in Enterprise Zone One of the city, and development officials are confident business and industry will move into an area that has previously seen better days. The Oak Cliff section of the city, located in south Dallas, has previously seen little economic development.
Good news tends to be the norm in the big D lately. Even with Boeing's selection as its new headquarters location, Chicago over Dallas, city leaders believe Dallas' appeal still shines. "The publicity about the Boeing move was tremendous," says Bill Sproull, vice president of Economic Development for the Greater Dallas Chamber. "We immediately started getting calls from various prospects saying, 'We're thinking about doing the same thing.' "
JP Morgan Chase announced in February it would move its global investor services unit from New York and London to the north Dallas area. The bank announced it would lease 405,000 sq. ft. (37,624 sq. m.) of space along the Dallas North Tollway. Company officials plan to employ 3,000 workers by the end of the year. JP Morgan Chase already has a presence in the area. With the additional space the firm plans to develop a cafeteria, fitness center and childcare facility onsite.
"The primary driver for the JP Morgan move was the labor force," adds Sproull. "They recognized that the quality and supply of information technology workers just can't be beat in Dallas."
Even with the economic downturn, the Dallas--Fort Worth metroplex continues to post job growth figures. The high-tech shakeout has pushed many IT workers back into the marketplace. Development officials cite the availability of quality labor as a key draw to new and expanding industries into the Dallas area.
Siemens Fuel Cell
Plant to DFW area?
"We have seen, particularly after the Boeing announcement, that a lot of companies had pent-up demand for IT workers," says Sproull. "They had put their expansions plans on hold in 1999 and 2000 because the labor market was too tight. Now they are reevaluating those plans, because they're hearing the labor markets have loosened up, and they know that real estate is relatively inexpensive."
Siemens officials seem to be following that trend. The company is rumored to be looking at a 9,600-acre (3,888-hectare) spot in the Alliance industrial park, located in the Fort Worth area, as the site for a $125 million fuel cell manufacturing facility. Siemens Dematic currently has its headquarters located in the DFW area in Arlington. The average salary at the new plant would be around $50,000 per year, and the company will begin operations with 150 to 175 employees. Siemens has not made a formal announcement, but development officials say the move would be a huge boon for the entire metroplex and have a significant economic impact on the area.
The DFW area is also a major logistics hub, located at the strategic center of the continental United States, and it is a major shipping point for goods to Latin American markets. "People don't realize Dallas is a massive distribution center," says John Gates, vice president of The Staubach Co. in Dallas. Gates says access to the DFW airport and the intersection of main interstate highways makes the area an ideal hub for businesses shipping products all over the globe.
Aeroxchange, a consortium of the world's largest cargo carriers, has moved their corporate headquarters into the Los Colinas area of the metroplex. The firm expects to hire 150 local workers. Sysco Food Services, formerly located in Farmer's Branch, is building a 557,000-sq.-ft. (51,745-sq.-m.) distribution warehouse in Lewisville, north of Dallas. Company officials expect to hire 800 employees and plan to expand the facility and hire up to 1,400 within the next eight years. Sysco officials claim the move made sense because of the ease of highway access and the available work force in the Lewisville area.
Dallas development officials also are looking to position the area as a possible site of a biotech incubator near the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. City officials know they are facing an uphill battle against other large biotech facilities within the Lone Star State such as those located in Houston and San Antonio. Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk says the proposed incubator will jump-start the fledgling biotech industry in the area. "The biotech initiative is very much on our minds. The good news is that we are 50 percent there, because we have a major worldwide, respected research institution in UT Southwestern." City officials claim they may be as close as nine to 18 months away from establishing the facility.
--by Ginny Deal
