Natalie Weber
The Fort Bend Financial Improvement Council will type a brand new group underneath the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, after a yr of uncertainty in regards to the council’s future.
The council operated as a public-private partnership for roughly 40 years, functioning as an unofficial financial growth division for the county.
Nevertheless, in 2022, the county began its personal financial growth division. The county and the council employed a consulting agency to draft a strategic plan for financial growth within the area and make strategies for the council’s new position.
In the end, the agency supplied two suggestions for the council’s future, each of which concerned dismissing the council’s board and employees. In January, the event council laid off its workers.
Below an settlement introduced this month, the council will transfer its management, members and main applications to the chamber of commerce, underneath a brand new initiative often called the Fort Bend Enterprise Partnership.
“It is an integration of EDC management into a really sound enterprise affiliation in Fort Bend County,” stated Jeff Wiley, the president and CEO of the council.
Two of the council’s initiatives, together with the Fort Bend Levee Coalition and the Fort Bend Legislative Convention, have already been moved over to the chamber. The council is within the strategy of bringing different applications underneath the chamber’s management.
With the creation of the brand new partnership, 5 of the council’s government officers will be part of the chamber’s board of administrators in January. The council’s chairman, Jared Jameson, may even function the chair of the Fort Bend Enterprise Partnership.
Previously, the council helped recruit builders and new industrial companies to Fort Bend, aiding the county in its negotiation course of. It additionally ran a advertising and marketing program, funded by each the personal sector and the federal government. Below the brand new partnership, the council’s position in these recruitment and advertising and marketing efforts will come to an finish.
“Any incentives, any recruitment initiatives, any advertising and marketing to the location selector, brokerage or growth group to return to Fort Bend County goes to be dealt with by in all probability a mixture of the county’s financial growth division and the cities in some capability,” Wiley stated.
The council will proceed its public coverage initiatives underneath the brand new partnership and assist the chamber develop its efforts to advocate for the enterprise group’s pursuits “on the native, state and federal stage,” in line with a chamber press launch.
Keri Schmidt, the chamber’s president and CEO, stated the partnership was born from discussions between each teams after the chamber started to tackle among the council’s initiatives because it started to disband.
“I believe this can be a actually optimistic step and I believe it is an excellent alternative for Fort Bend County to make sure that companies are represented and that it’s a reflection of everything of the group,” she stated. “Our chamber is extraordinarily proud to be engaged on this effort.”
