A local leader who has been instrumental in developing startup density in the northern part of the region is leaving to implement his strategies on the East Coast.
Danny Chavez, the senior vice president of McKinney’s Economic Development Corporation and architect of the organization’s Innovation Fund, is taking on a new role as the chief business recruitment officer for the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance in North Carolina.
“It's a booming market right now… not only from a real estate standpoint, but from a corporate relocation standpoint,” Chavez said. “This is a regional play, leading all the business development team for that region in the economic development practice for this organization. It was just an opportunity that I just couldn't really pass up… to help the organization build that out.”
Chavez joined the McKinney EDC in spring 2019. A past founder and C-suite exec for a couple of Texas startups, Chavez has also held leadership roles at the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
Chavez said the highlight of his time in McKinney was the creation of the EDC’s Innovation Fund. Launched at the beginning of 2020, the fund is aimed aiding the growth, expansion and recruitment of early-stage startups and tech firms. In that time, the fund has attracted 21 deals to relocate or help expand companies in McKinney. That translates to 565 planned new jobs and a real estate demand of 70,300 square feet.
“It was just an outstanding opportunity to really hone in on what economic development groups can do to get creative around focusing on the innovation economy,” Chavez said. “I think you'll start to see groups really focus on that… treating startups on a scale that's practical for them to scale. That was the backbone of the Innovation Fund.”
Work on the Innovation Fund will continue, Chavez said, adding that nearly 90 companies have applied and hinting at new announcements in the near future. He said that he would also like to see McKinney’s work developing the “121 Corridor” along State Highway 121 and the Sam Rayburn Tollway.
North Texas and Charlotte have competed for tech businesses in the past. Both regions made attempts to attract Amazon’s HQ2 and Lowe’s 200-employee tech hub, the latter of which ultimately chose Charlotte. Outside of the Charlotte area, Durham, N.C beat out Dallas for local biotech Taysha Gene Therapies 160,000 square-foot manufacturing facility last year.
“DFW continues to compete, and I think we're going to see the same thing in Charlotte – another tier-two city that is really coming into their own right now around technology,” Chavez said.
Chavez shared more about his work and future plans in an interview.
What do you view your roles as in your new position?
Building out a regional identity will be key to success, as they seek to enter into the 21st century with the recruitment efforts, like a lot of communities are doing right now. That means looking at traditional targets versus what the aspirational goals are and what the data says will be the future of those industries. Focusing on the life sciences and the fintech industries, as well as other innovative industries, will be key to… support the communities that are making up that region.
What do you feel you take from the McKinney EDC into your new role?
One of the benefits of my economic development career, I've worked at the regional level before and now that I've worked at the city level in McKinney, I have a practitioner viewpoint and that’s going to help me in this role. The goal is to do lead generation for the region. You have a lot of communities that make up that alliance, where I can see both sides of the coin. We’ll be able to adopt a lot of those practices and create our own. Just having both of those vantage points, I think will help me be really successful in this role.
On a personal level, what are your goals or aspirations?
One of my goals has always just been to be a builder. I like building things that help communities grow and identifying growth opportunities that potentially have never been looked at before. A lot of the strategy that's around economic development, it's honed in… on big corporate investments. I think it's important to diversify your recruitment portfolios around a lot of different industries and a lot of different opportunities. That's something that I've always aspired to do and something that I will continue to do throughout any position or region that I focus on.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
