DFW at work

This North Texas county clocks in as top U.S. spot for workforce talent

Attracting top talent is important for long-term success.

10'000 Hours/Getty Images

Collin County reigns as a burgeoning corporate hub. It’s already home to heavyweight employers like FedEx Office, Frito-Lay, J.C. Penney, and Toyota, and it continues to draw thousands of new workers each year.

The county could attract even more employers and residents once they pore over this year’s Talent Attraction Scorecard from mapping software company Esri. The scorecard, released December 8, ranks Collin County third among the country’s top large counties for the ability to recruit and develop workforce talent. That’s up from a No. 4 ranking in 2019.

The government website for Collin County brags that the county is “one of the nation’s best places for employers and employees.”

“We aren’t just the Metroplex’s country cousin anymore. In just a few years, we have grown into a destination county for individuals, families, and corporations alike,” the county website says.

Esri relied on six data points to come up with its rankings:

Net migration
Overall job growth
Growth of skilled jobs
Level of education
Regional competitiveness
Annual job openings per capita

Among large counties, Collin appears at No. 7 for net migration, No. 10 for regional competitiveness, No. 13 for growth of skilled jobs, No. 14 for level of education, No. 20 for overall job growth, and No. 176 for annual job openings per capita.

Supporting the No. 7 ranking for net migration, the county's population rose 3 percent from 2018 to 2019 to surpass 1 million. It is projected to be home to 1.6 million to 1.7 million residents by 2030. Collin County cities like Allen, Frisco, McKinney, and Plano are consistently ranked among the best places to live and work. For example:

Plano: Named America's best city for a staycation (May 2020).
Frisco: No. 6 among fastest-growing cities in U.S. (October 2020).
McKinney: Named one of the top U.S. cities for growth. (January 2020).

Collin County isn’t the only North Texas county to score well in Esri’s ranking. At No. 6, Denton County sits three spots behind it on the list of large counties (those with at least 100,000 residents). Denton County fares particularly well in these four categories: net migration (No. 6), level of education (No. 6), growth of skilled jobs (No. 17), and overall job growth (No. 18). On last year’s scorecard, it earned the No. 10 ranking among large counties.

Elsewhere in Texas:

Williamson County (Austin area) ranks fourth among large counties.
Montgomery County (Houston area) ranks ninth among large counties.
Fort Bend County (Houston area) ranks 11th among large counties.
Travis County (Austin area) ranks 17th among large counties.
Kendall County (San Antonio area) ranks ninth among small counties.

Overall, four Texas counties are in the top 10 among large counties. “While they rank well across the index, the common theme with all of them is they are suburbs of major metros, and are seeing a migration from those metros,” the report says.

rankings lists

Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

politics