On the verge of greatness

Sometimes when a big project is completed, someone on the team will give credit to a single person. In response, that person may use the expression, “It takes a village…” to remind the speaker that the best outcomes are almost always the result of collaboration between many contributors.

In the future, the expression could change to “It takes a Fort Worth.”

Fort Worth, Texas is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States and it has been a magnet for businesses for several years. The city’s population has grown almost six percent since 2020, more than any other metropolitan area in the country.

Moody’s Analytics ranks Fort Worth’s cost of doing business as three percent lower than the national average, taking into account things like taxes, labor, rent and energy costs, which helps explain why it has attracted more than US$3.2 billion in capital investment for business attraction, expansion and relocation projects in the past year.

Robert Sturns, Economic Development Director for the City of Fort Worth, would be the first to say that the city’s explosive growth is the result of collaboration by many local business and community leaders. But Sturns has played an instrumental role in fostering an environment where business and community can thrive.

“I’ve seen Fort Worth change. When I started in the city, we were about half the population we are today,” he recalls. “But it still has a laid-back, small-town feel to it. There are very few communities this size where you can walk down the street, wave hello and people will wave back to you and be very kind and pleasant.

“In many ways, the attitude that we have in Fort Worth is kind of our secret sauce, which I think attracts a lot of people to come here.”

Sturns has spent most of his life in Fort Worth, moving to the city when he was a child. He has been working in the city’s economic development arena for more than 20 years and has been its Director for Economic Development for the past eight years.

“What drew me to economic development to start with was the ability to impact the community that I grew up in,” he says.

A business powerhouse

Over the past two decades, Fort Worth has grown from an oil and gas-focused economy to a modern business powerhouse, with leading companies in defense, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, life sciences and technology basing their operations in the city. American Airlines, BNSF Railway, Bell Textron and GM Financial are all headquartered there, while Facebook and Amazon have major operations in the area.

“The things that excite me today are still the same things that excited me when I first started the job,” Sturns tells The CEO Magazine.

“It is working to build investment and job creation, working with our various partners, whether that’s the Chambers of Commerce, our economic development partners, our business community, our educational institutions and so many other groups and leaders who share a commitment to Fort Worth’s continued growth.”

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“Hillwood’s 27,000-acre [10,900 hectare] AllianceTexas development was born from a successful public-private partnership with the City of Fort Worth. Working with Robert Sturns for the past 15 years, along with the city’s Economic Development Department, is a further continuation and testament to what can be accomplished together. Through this collaboration, Fort Worth continues to rank among the top locations for leading businesses.” – Mike Berry, President, Hillwood, A Perot Company

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When Sturns discusses the City’s approach to sustained growth, partnership is a consistent theme. However, he believes Fort Worth’s focus on interpersonal relationships and its leaders’ comfort with debate set its business community apart.

“Our city manager once called the way our city works ‘full-contact local government,’” Sturns says. “What he meant by that was that if you’re in an environment where no-one’s questioning things, you tend to fall into this kind of rut and you’re not thinking creatively.

“Full-contact local government can be challenging sometimes, but at the end of the day, it really brings out critical thinking and discussions about how you move the city forward.”

Strategic vision

Sturns notes that over the next few years, he and other local leaders will focus on channeling growth efforts in support of Fort Worth’s economic development strategic plan – the city’s first.

He points to several major initiatives already supporting the plan’s objectives, including a US$2 billion investment in the southern portion of downtown Fort Worth and Texas A&M, a Tier-1 research university, whose nationally ranked law school will anchor the first building of an expanding urban campus in the heart of the city.

Sturns also highlights the city’s long-standing partnership with Hillwood, a multinational real estate developer responsible for creating the AllianceTexas corridor in Fort Worth, as an example of what the city can do with partners to turn vacant land into thriving communities.

He says land development projects at Panther Island and work on 5,261 hectares of vacant land on the city’s west side are signs that Fort Worth’s rapid growth should continue for years to come.

“Our community is willing to roll up its sleeves collectively and move toward a common objective,” Sturns explains. “We are a city open to new ideas, new ventures and new technology. Fort Worth is a city that I think is on the verge of greatness.”