Hey there! I wanted to share a quick, behind-the-scenes look at my experience attending the Economic Development Partnership Board meeting this past Wednesday, March 11, 2026. It was a solid session that really highlighted how Denton’s economic development efforts are moving forward, and I’d love to walk you through how it all unfolded.
I arrived at the Development Service Center on North Elm Street just before 11 a.m., finding a quiet, professional crowd settling into Training Rooms 3, 4, and 5. We officially got rolling at 11:06 a.m. once a quorum was confirmed. Right off the bat, the chair took a moment to warmly welcome two new board members to the table: Lucy Hadari from Medical City Denton and Kim Garza-Turner from UNT State. It was a nice touch to bring the new faces in early, and you could feel a collaborative energy in the room.
We quickly moved to public comments, but since no one had submitted a request to speak, we skipped straight to the first formal item. Approving the minutes from the January 14 meeting was smooth sailing: Rick made the motion, Jill seconded, and it passed without any discussion.
The real meat of the open session came during the work session, where a guest speaker gave us a grounded, practical look at local economic development. They spent a good chunk of time emphasizing how vital the partnership between the city and the Chamber of Commerce is, noting that both groups need to be rowing in the same direction. What really stood out to me was the reality check on financial incentives. The speaker shared that money is rarely the deciding factor when companies consider relocating. In fact, out of all the businesses they’ve worked with, only one had ever cited a bigger financial offer as a reason to leave Denton. Instead, workforce ties and employee zip codes are the real anchors. The speaker stressed that keeping an established workforce intact matters far more than chasing incentive packages, and overall, business turnover in the city is minimal—there are consistently more companies coming in than leaving.
After that, staff took the floor for their reports. Jamie Adams walked us through the Economic Development Partnership Report, and Brittany Sotelo covered the Annual Report before looking ahead to the future agenda. The late-March calendar is packed! Brittany mentioned that “Project Cloud” should be submitting its incentive application next week, with the goal of taking it to a City Council closed session on March 24 and circling back to the EDPB on April 8. She also ran down a busy schedule: the EDP retreat on the 23rd and 24th, the Stulls ribbon-cutting on the 25th (where a quorum will be posted, just in case), the UNT Mobility Summit on the 26th, and City Manager Sarah Hensley’s going-away party on the 27th. There was also a brief teaser about a possible drone company announcement that’s still in the works.
During the open discussion, a board member brought up an article about Texas being selected for a drone taxi pilot program starting in Houston, noting it’s the kind of infrastructure and market shift we should keep on our radar. Another member suggested we revisit utility expansion updates in the third quarter to see how those projects align with future development corridors, and staff agreed to add it to the agenda for later this year.
Around 12:12 p.m., the chair called for a recess to move into a closed meeting. Under Texas Government Code Section 551.087, the board will be deliberating on “Project Orange,” which involves reviewing a potential financial or other incentive package for a business prospect the city is actively negotiating with. As is standard procedure, the public and non-essential staff were asked to step out so the board could discuss the confidential commercial and financial details.
All in all, it was a focused, forward-looking session that really underscored Denton’s steady economic momentum and the community-driven approach keeping it on track. Thanks for letting me share the recap—I’ll catch you at the next one!