Fort Bend County recently hosted six site selectors from around the country for our very first familiarization tour! The site selectors came from companies including Newmark, Atlas Insight, Rodl & Partner, Cushman & Wakefield, and Mohr Partners. The Fort Bend Economic Development Council and area cities collaborated to showcase Fort Bend County and our regional assets.
During the two-day tour, site selectors were divided into two tracts to best showcase the assets across the county. The western side of the county focused on showcasing manufacturing, logistics, and boutique offices, while the east side targeted life sciences, corporate headquarters, and advanced manufacturing. The tour wrapped up with a dinner at the George Ranch, which is owned by one of Fort Bend county’s most philanthropic foundations and biggest supporters of workforce and education.
Many of our county’s CEOs including Ben E Keith, Frito Lay and Hope Bio Sciences, participated in panel discussions and shared their stories of "Why Fort Bend?". Throughout the duration of the tour, county leaders, cities, and leaders in education shared how Fort Bend is growing the region's workforce and adding value to the community. The site selectors, county business and community leaders engaged in open and honest dialogue about how to grow the commercial base in Fort Bend County and how to maximize our community assets.
Various panel discussions focused on areas of strength that attract businesses to the region and encourage companies to stay and expand in Fort Bend. The supply chain opportunities panel demonstrated the county's strategic advantages for the logistics/supply chain sector on the west side of the county that supports regional supply chain solutions/inland ports/ intermodal solutions. The Workforce advantages panel distinguished Fort Bend as the most diverse, well-trained, best educated,and employable workforce in the region, and demonstrated the interconnectivity between the workforce pipeline, educational institutions, and local industry. The reinvestment panel composed of a national industrial developer, a regional retail developer, and a local large employer who expanded multiple times within the county shared their stories of commercial expansion and reinvestment in our community. Additional panels focused innovation and entrepreneurialism, quality of life, and city spotlights. Each panel built off the next to provide a comprehensive story of “Why Fort Bend.”