BY THE NUMBERS

Dallas-Fort Worth punches in at No. 2 among top U.S. metros that best attract business

Though the rise of remote work does "hollow out" downtowns, they're not "all doomed," experts say.

Photo courtesy of Fort Worth CVB

The companies, the jobs, and the people keep moving to North Texas. According to a recent report, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ranks No. 2 among U.S. metropolitan areas for attracting new companies.

The ranking, which was researched and published by Site Selection Magazine, found that DFW attracted 426 business projects last year. This put the metro in second place of the list that analyzed larger regions.

It's the third year in a row that DFW has landed in second place, and the metro had a year-over-year improvement in number of deals; 2021 reported 389 new business projects in the area.

In fact, the top three metros – Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston, respectively — have remained the same for all three years. For 2022, the Chicago metro garnered 448 projects, while Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land reportedly had 293 projects. Farther down the list, Austin-Round Rock had 132 projects, putting them at No. 7.

Site Selection's report focused on how companies can manage increasing economy digitization, and retain in-office workers while balancing skyrocketing telework opportunities.

Tracy Hadden Loh, a fellow at the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings Metro, said though the rise of remote work does "hollow out" downtowns, they're not "all doomed."

“Telework is here to stay, but it is not clear levels of telework have stabilized for the near or long term," she said. "There is also evidence that work agglomeration increases productivity. There is good reason to expect more RTO [return to office] than there has been so far.”

When discussing large, business-centered metros like DFW, Brookings Metro senior fellow Mark Muro says the city is powered by "huge professional services, businesses, and health sectors that continue to become increasingly digital." Muro and his colleague Sifan Liu are studying highly digitized economies and their place in modern society.

“Across the nation’s 56 biggest metros, as much as 30% of all jobs were highly digital as of 2020, while low-digital jobs encompassed just 22% of the workforce,” they said in the report. “By contrast, highly digital occupations account for only 20% of the workforce in the nation’s more than 500 micropolitan areas, where low digital jobs account for 26% of the total. And pay gaps reflect those divides.”

The full report can be found on siteselection.com.

Business projects Site Selection Magazine rankings

Police News

Fort Worth police officer fired for unjustified use of force

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A Fort Worth police officer has been terminated following his involvement in a use of force incident. According to a release, Officer Matthew Krueger was let go on December 18, following an investigation into an incident involving someone who was videotaping his actions while he was on duty.

On Sunday, June 23, Fort Worth police officers responded to a hit-and-run collision near 1000 Foch St. The incident involved a suspected intoxicated driver who crashed into another vehicle and a structure before fleeing the scene on foot.

While officers were investigating, a woman approached them and used her cell phone to record their actions. Krueger asked and advised her multiple times to move across the street. When she failed to comply, she was placed under arrest.

During the arrest, Krueger used force to take the woman into custody, resulting in injuries that required medical care at an area hospital.

After being treated, the woman was released from the hospital, booked into jail, and charged with interference with public duties, resisting arrest and/or detention, evading arrest, and making a false alarm or report.

Krueger had been with the department for just under eight years and was assigned to the Patrol Bureau at the time of the incident.

The Fort Worth Police Major Case and Internal Affairs Units began immediate and congruent investigations. Krueger was transferred from Patrol to a unit with no public interaction, pending the outcome of the investigation.

After a review of the Internal Affairs investigation, Krueger’s chain of command determined that the level of force used was unjustified and violated departmental policy. Police Chief Neil Noakes concurred and terminated Krueger’s employment.

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