Prosperity For All

by Gabriella Colurciello, Greater Waco Chamber

Kris Collins is the Greater Waco Chamber’s Executive Vice President. Her career has paralleled the Chamber’s economic development strategy, beginning with the Challenge Greater Waco Economic Development Strategic Plan. Now, nearly 20 years after local leaders committed to a reimagined vision for the delivery of economic development, the Chamber is moving toward implementation of the next chapter of strategic development for the community with its Build Greater Waco strategy. Collins and her team are committed to fostering enduring relationships with both individuals and businesses. She finds great energy in engaging with business owners and representatives, learning about their unique motivations and processes. In her role, Collins serves as a connector, facilitating opportunities for collaboration and growth, within the Greater Waco community and beyond.

Prosperity for All

Collins describes economic development as creating prosperity for all. “While the work of economic development can be complex and far reaching,” she says, “ultimately the effort is to create opportunities for communities, individuals and companies alike.”

Formally, the Greater Waco Chamber’s economic development mission is to create a globally recognized community of choice and a place with abundant opportunities for all through the attraction and growth of vibrant businesses and high quality jobs.

The Greater Waco Chamber works collaboratively with many other organizations across the Greater Waco region, and state-wide, in pursuit of prosperity, including the Waco Industrial Foundation (WIF) and Waco McLennan County Economic Development Corporation (WMCEDC), a partnership between the City of Waco and McLennan County to support business and job growth for the area.

The WIF’s mission is to promote industrial growth by developing land to expand the tax base and create high quality jobs. Correspondingly, the WMCEDC’s mission is to catalyze the growth of high skilled jobs and expand the tax base through business attraction and expansion. These entities and others work proactively to grow the community in ways that meet the needs of the evolving business climate and provide opportunities for area residents. The Greater Waco region is rapidly growing. Working together, area officials and community leaders are implementing strategies to accommodate growth while maintaining the unique assets, character, and culture of Waco.

“It’s important that our community think proactively about growth,” Collins said. “This ensures our community will have long term, sustainable success.”

Continued Growth in Key Industries

The Greater Waco Chamber focuses on creating primary sector jobs in six key strategic industries: advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, supply chain and logistics, professional services, healthcare and the innovation economy. These industries are intentional; they create primary sector jobs, those that mainly send goods and services outside the community and bring new investment dollars into to McLennan County. The goal of these focused efforts is to increase and expand the overall tax base of the County.

In addition, the Greater Waco Chamber strives to have an eye on the future, intentionally exploring new advances in industry and technology to ensure the Greater Waco community remains a center for business excellence.

“Economic development, much like community development, never stops,” says Collins. “As technology continues to advance and the operations of businesses evolve, our community is adapting to meet the needs of its residential and corporate citizens.”

Greater Waco’s Opportunities

Collins says that many influences are contributing to Greater Waco’s accelerated growth and evolution.

One factor is the strength of the Texas economy. The state of Texas is a driving force for economic growth in the United States and across the globe. With Waco’s central location within the fast-growing Texas Triangle, there is energy and growth happening in and around the region that is fueling local growth.

“We’ve recently announced projects that will serve as suppliers for the growing electric vehicle industry as well as the semiconductor industry, which are direct results of those industries growing in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin Metro areas,” said Collins. In 2024, EFC Gases & Advanced Materials, an integral part of the semiconductor supply chain, selected the City of McGregor for a new facility; also in 2024, Metal Finishing Solutions, a supplier for Tesla, selected the Robinson Business Park for a new facility.

Greater Waco also capitalizes on its location and ensures that prospective companies understand the value of it. Products created in Greater Waco can be easily transported through

multiple transportation avenues, including rail, air or over the road. With the area’s central location within Texas and the United States, 80% of the Texas population is within a 200-mile drivetime and most of the continental United States is accessible within three transit days. Greater Waco also continues to see strong population growth, which is crucial for companies considering an expansion or location into the community. As the economy grows, so grows the need for a workforce to fill those open positions. With state-of-the-art higher education facilities, the community boasts a strong workforce pipeline.

Process for Attracting Growth in the Region

Attracting businesses to the community is a process that varies for every project. The source of opportunities can derive from a variety of places, ranging from the State of Texas’ Office of Economic Development and Tourism, real estate professionals, site location consultants, direct business inquires to a community partner with a personal relationship willing to connect the Chamber’s team for additional discussion and exploration. Regardless of the source, each opportunity is analyzed to understand the needs of the client, assess the fit for the community and evaluate the resources available to support the operation. Not every prospective business is the right fit for Greater Waco.

“If it’s not the right opportunity for our community,” Collins says, “we try to help them identify other locations in the broader region and across Texas that provide a better match. Our goal with all engagement is to create positive relationships. A win for Texas is a win for us all.”

Public-Partnership

Economic development is delivered through a public-private partnership in Greater Waco since 2005 with the development and implementation of the Challenge Greater Waco Economic Development Strategic Plan. The Challenge Greater Waco strategy asked the private business sector to join the public sector, including the City of Waco and McLennan County, in supporting opportunities for economic growth for the community. For 20 years, the Greater Waco Chamber has asked the business community to invest in the future of Greater Waco, and the business community has participated enthusiastically.

Growth and investment by private businesses directly generates new taxes and creates employment opportunities and that can provide an overall positive benefit to the community. Dollars generated by tax revenues help maintain the high quality of the community’s infrastructure and support public amenities that are valued and enjoyed by many. Likewise, the payroll generated by employers and earned by local employees gets spent throughout the community, creating a secondary benefit that fuels other parts of the economy, including retailers, financial services, restaurants, real estate development and beyond, further expanding opportunities for economic growth, new business development and job creation.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?

Active Community Engagement: Join the Chamber and participate in local events and initiatives.

Serve in Leadership

Roles: Consider serving on boards or public office to influence economic policy and decision-making.

Support Local Growth: Engage in efforts to attract new businesses and foster economic expansion.

Collaboration with Partners

The Greater Waco Chamber’s role is to be a convener and connector, bringing the right people together to have conversations and identify opportunities for collaboration. For example, workforce and talent is a broad topic with important ties to economic development. Understanding the needs of the business community for a continued vibrant, well-trained talent pipeline and the desire of education partners to be more engaged with industry, the Greater Waco Chamber has established a dedicated workforce and talent team.

“Our community has a deep talent pool of skilled individuals that has benefited our business partners for many years and helped to keep Greater Waco as a top location for industrial business development,” said Collins. “In order to maintain that position and evolve to accommodate the changing world of business, it’s important for our labor force to adapt. Our community leaders understand that and are investing in Greater Waco’s future workforce.”

Greater Waco is unique in its spirit of collaboration. Not every place has community and business leaders working together toward a common goal. The Greater

Waco Chamber convenes and engages leaders from across McLennan County on a monthly basis through our Area Economic Development Committee. During these meetings, leaders are encouraged to share what is happening in their communities and engage with each other to build relationships. These strategies create comradery and a willingness to work together in partnership, which is essential to successful economic development and community building. The work is paying off as companies have noted on numerous occasions the spirit of collaboration that exists in Greater Waco.

Mystery Acres

The property originally called “Mystery Acres” is now home to the 2,000-acre Texas Central Park, originally Texas Central Industrial District, and has been crucial to Greater Waco’s industrial success.

In 1945, a retired Kansas City real estate agent began accumulating a 2,100-acre block of land paralleling Highway 84 on the railroad. As each portion was acquired, it was registered in the name of a woman employee of a Kansas City Law firm and the only local person who was connected with this operation was D.M. Wilson, a Waco attorney, who served as their local agent and professed complete ignorance as to the actual ownership and the intended use. The property quickly became known as “Mystery Acres”, the rumored next major site of Ford Motor Co. or General Motors, depending on which barbershop was the source of your information.

A real estate agent, Sam Appell, believed that the size and location of “Mystery Acres” would provide Waco with an unparalleled highly competitive location for an industrial park if it were to be acquired by the Waco Industrial Districts, which would eventually become the Waco Industrial Foundation. Appell implored D.M. Wilson to negotiate with the still unidentified owners to put the property on the market. In 1957, the owners finally agreed that they would sell the entire property for $450 an acre, provided that no one know that the property was for sale. Appell took this information to Harlon Fentress, Stanton Brown, Sr., Walter Lacy, Howard Hambleton and V.M. Cox, Sr., to apprise them of this great opportunity. After much deliberation, in August 1958, the group secured funding to purchase the 2,066 “Mystery Acres” block of land from the still (and to this day still) unknown owners for $1,000,000.