Collin County suburbs seek to carve out a niche as North Texas booms

Collin County is home to the nation’s fastest-growing cities. As those cities grapple with the tensions of attracting big developments while maintaining their family-friendly reputations, they are each pursuing a slightly different playbook.

At a conference in McKinney last week, economic development directors from Anna, Celina, McKinney and Prosper shared their visions with residents.

The panelists noted that the cities are on different trajectories of growth. For example, McKinney is approaching build-out while cities like Anna are in the early throes of a population boom.

“We’re all in different seasons of development,” Michael Kowski, president and CEO of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation (EDC), said.

McKinney’s economic development corporation focuses on pursuing “quality job creators” rather than retail. Kowski said that stores often want to set up shop in McKinney once big employers move in.

“It’s counterintuitive [because] we get our money from retail,” Kowski said. “But we don’t go after Walmart and Costco.”

McKinney also gives a portion of EDC funding to start-ups in the city that generate jobs. Kowski said the city wanted to help grow companies locally as opposed to the typical playbook of using incentives to attract established companies.

“Let’s grow the next billion dollar company in McKinney,” Kowski said.

Kowski said McKinney’s EDC is focused on creating “intergenerational” amenities for families of all ages such as District 121, a mixed-use district with parks and restaurants and Cannon Beach, a surf resort planned for the city. These amenities are often a factor in companies’ decisions to relocate.

Anthony Satarino, executive director of Celina’s economic development corporation, said the growing city faces tensions between embracing rapid development and maintaining the community’s “small-town feel.”

Unlike McKinney, Celina leaders are focused on attracting retail along the 10-mile stretch of Preston Road that runs through the city. An internal report found that Celina residents spend about $700 million outside of Celina annually. Satarino said he hopes retail projects will help the city recoup some of that business, which will translate to revenue for the city.

“That sales tax component is … critical to help diversify local city budgets,” Satarino said. “Right now Celina has an over reliance on property tax.”

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Natasha Roach, interim director of economic development for the city of Anna, said the city has been able to attract commercial developments organically along U.S. Highway 75. Roach said that Anna, which has the smallest population of the four cities represented on the panel, is trying to create an identity for itself starting with a downtown redevelopment project.

“[Residents] are hungry for a heart of the downtown,” Roach said. “A place where the kids can run around while they’re … drinking and eating at the restaurant.”

The city is also looking to develop its workforce since Anna doesn’t currently have many industrial or manufacturing jobs. Roach touted a partnership between Anna ISD and HOLT CAT, the construction equipment company that set up shop in the city last year, which helps high schoolers get internships.

Chad Gilliland, vice president of the Prosper economic development corporation board, said that the city is focused on developing along the three-mile extension to the Dallas North Tollway that is currently under construction. The city plans to attract life sciences, medical and corporate jobs to the area so that Prosper residents won’t have to commute to neighboring suburbs for work.

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Gilliland struck a unifying tone, saying Prosper and other Collin County suburbs “feed off” each other and collaborate especially when it comes to school districts that often fall within the boundaries of various municipalities. He said with AT&T’s planned move from downtown Dallas to Plano, there would be more chances for cities to work together.

“That will drive more people to move to our communities, because they want to get away from Dallas County,” Gilliland said. “There’s an opportunity for us to complement each other.”