Economic excellence

Dallas-Fort Worth economy declared one of the U.S.' most dynamic

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is one of the most dynamic metro areas in the country.

A new report hails Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington as one of the most economically dynamic metro areas in the country.

The report, published by the nonprofit Walton Family Foundation (yes, the Waltons of Walmart), ranks Dallas as the 27th most dynamic metro area in the United States and puts it at No. 6 among major metro areas.

Researchers graded each U.S. metro area, large and small, based on performance-related metrics in categories such as job growth, economic growth, and income growth. In DFW's case, the researchers were particularly struck by the region's creation of jobs " at a prodigious pace," pointing to its 116,400 new jobs in 2018 alone.

"It is a remarkable accomplishment for a metro the size of Dallas to grow at such a rapid rate," the report proclaims. "The blended recipe for economic success leans heavily on company recruitment as it takes advantage of its attractive business climate with lower regulatory burdens and costs, along with its central location and excellent airline connections."

DFW is a home to major employers in the financial services, telecommunications, and manufacturing industries: AT&T, Verizon, Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung Telecommunications America; American Airlines and Southwest; and Texas Instruments, to name a few.

The region also has the University of Texas-Dallas to thank for supplying "much of the local engineering talent," Raytheon brings diversity, Lockheed offers a "gearing up operations for its F-35 Joint Strike Force program," and the Metroplex is "a logistics hub and a key location for international trade," the report adds.

Overall, the report found that knowledge-based economies fare better than metro areas lacking much-needed investments in tech, education, entrepreneurship, and commercialization.

“The data show that a knowledge-based economy is key to unlocking economic potential in metropolitan areas across the United States,” Ross DeVol, the report’s lead researcher, says in a release. “Cities making investments in a knowledge-based economy have performed better economically than those that have not.”

Somewhat surprisingly, the oil-rich metro area of Midland, Texas, tops the ranking, largely thanks to the region’s explosive economic and population growth.

“Besides oil, ranching, agriculture, healthcare and transportation remain economic pillars; however, focused efforts on diversifying its economy are underway in Midland,” the report says.

Austin ranks the seventh most dynamic metro area in the U.S. and second among major metro areas (behind Silicon Valley but ahead of huge economic hot spots like San Francisco and Seattle).

Neither Houston nor San Antonio appears in the ranking.

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Coworking News

New coworking space to open in Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood

Office Evolution

A coworking space is opening in Dallas in a central location: Office Evolution, a Louisville-based coworking chain, will open what a release says is a "state-of-the-art coworking space" at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. #360 in Dallas at the southeast corner of Lemmon Avenue.

No details on what makes it state-of-the-art, but construction is ongoing and an opening is anticipated in mid-October.

Office Evolution was founded in 2003 as a shared workspace-coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of "Ohana," the Hawaiian tradition that references family working toward a common goal. (The founder was from Hawaii.)

The company started out in Boulder, Colorado, then relocated its headquarters to Louisville. It's an affiliated brand of United Franchise Group, and is part of The Vast Coworking Group, which specializes in franchising within the coworking industry. All of their locations are franchised.

The Dallas location is owned by franchisee Michael Pickering, a Dallas native who runs a family-owned indoor soccer facility in Dallas. (There are two other Office Evolution locations in the DFW area in McKinney and Southlake, owned by different franchisees.)

They're describing the Dallas location at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. as "Turtle Creek," although its location at Oak Lawn and Lemmon really puts it at the epicenter of Oak Lawn. (To further complicate matters, the building previously and incorrectly described its address as "Uptown.")

It's a seven-story building in which the majority of tenants are doctor and medical offices.

Office Evolution rates include a coworking day pass for $25, plus "flex" office options starting at $200 a month for 20 hours, up to $550 a month for 80 hours.

Amenities of the building that are also accessible to Office Evolution customers include a front desk; a 1,000-square-foot fitness center; covered parking; and on-site security six days a week.

According to a spokesperson, Pickering and his team put $1.2 million into the renovation to transform the space, which occupies most of the fourth floor where it will span 9,240 square feet of space with 41 total offices — one of which is earmarked as an "on-demand office" for the professional on the go.

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