Jim Gandy has helped facilitate many major projects in the city, including The Star in Frisco, which is seen in the background.[/caption]

While working in Seguin, Texas, in the mid-1990s, Jim Gandy received a newsletter that said a city in North Texas called Frisco was hiring for its economic development corporation.

“I look at that, and I’m like, ‘Where in the heck is Frisco, Texas?’” Gandy said. “Thinking back on it, I’m a little bit embarrassed because I’m a native Texan, and I’ve never even heard of it.”

Gandy said he had to get out a map to locate Frisco and saw that it was adjacent to the city of Plano. He said he was familiar with Plano and what was happening there.

“It just raised a question: Knowing Plano’s growth and success, what could possibly happen in Frisco because they’re next door?” Gandy said.

Gandy applied for the job and was interviewed in Frisco by then Mayor Bob Warren; Sam Roach, the then Frisco Economic Development Corp. board president; and City Manager George Purefoy. They later traveled to Seguin to offer Gandy the job.

“The EDC has gone from [La Hacienda Ranch] to doing numerous game changer projects in Frisco that have facilitated all kinds of commercial development in the city.”

—Jim Gandy, Frisco Economic Development Corp. president

Gandy was hired in 1995 to be the city’s first president of the FEDC. He started the job in January 1996, making 2016 the 20th year he has been the FEDC president.

Frisco was still very much a rural town in 1996 with a population slightly less than that of Seguin and very few restaurants and shops. The city did not have room to give Gandy an office at City Hall, so the city leased a two-room office for him at the Collin College Preston Ridge campus.

Because Frisco was still considered a small town, Gandy said it was difficult to attract retailers, which fund the FEDC through sales tax revenue.

“A lot of people who would drive here from Dallas thought they were in Oklahoma,” he said. “Frisco was way out in the country, and it was a pretty good drive to get out here. There wasn’t a toll road for them to get here in 20 minutes.”

Gandy said the city needed to create infrastructure to attract businesses. The FEDC’s first project was extending a water line on Preston Road so La Hacienda Ranch could build a restaurant. Though the city was happy to have the restaurant, Gandy said city leaders had their sights set on something bigger.

When Gandy first applied for the job, he was told the city was pursuing a mall. Gandy continued that pursuit after being hired, but Frisco was in competition with surrounding cities.

Still, Frisco won out in the end, and Stonebriar Centre opened in 2000.

“That was the first big game-changer for Frisco,” Gandy said. “That started bringing in people near and far shopping in our city.”

From there, sales tax revenue skyrocketed, and the FEDC had more resources to work on other projects. Soon, sports venues, such as Dr Pepper Ballpark, Dr Pepper Arena and Toyota Stadium started being built. The FEDC also helped attract IKEA and Hall Office Park.

Gandy said the major shopping destinations and sports venues have made the city a prime location for tourism.

“Looking back 20 years ago, Frisco didn’t have any visitor or tourism industry,” he said. “Today it is a major part of our economy.”

With another one of the FEDC’s projects—The Star in Frisco—opening this year, Gandy said the city’s growth has been incredible.

“The EDC has gone from [La Hacienda Ranch] to doing numerous game-changer projects in Frisco that have facilitated all kinds of commercial development in the city,” he said.

The FEDC still has its sights set on big projects, Gandy said. Some things the FEDC is looking to attract include a Fortune 100 company, a four-year university, a large hotel and an indoor/outdoor water park.

Gandy said he is excited to see what sort of projects come up in the next few years.

“As a community, we’re reaching about 60 percent developed,” he said. “With 40 percent of the city’s land area left, there’s still a lifetime of development opportunity in Frisco.”

As Gandy celebrates his 20th anniversary with the FEDC, he said he hopes to do his job for at least a few more years. When he retires, he said he would like to work with his son at his Frisco landscape company.

Gandy said he is thankful and blessed to be able to work in Frisco.

“You just couldn’t have dreamed what’s happened in Frisco since 1996,” he said. “But when you look at the location of the community and the fact that it had Preston Road—The Golden Corridor—as an economic corridor for the city and future plans for the Dallas North Tollway, it was just inevitable that the community was going to grow.”