Increasing office space may draw additional employers

Frisco has for years experienced a mismatch between its highly educated residents and the jobs available in the city, according to a TIP Strategies report, but the city and Frisco Economic Development Corp. are working to bridge that gap.

More than half of employees who worked in Frisco in 2013 held service-sector jobs, which are often low-wage, the report shows. Yet nearly 59 percent of Frisco residents have at least a bachelor's degree, according to the city of Frisco.

The labor market report shows that of the more than 60,000 employed Frisco residents in 2011, about 88 percent commuted to jobs in other cities.

However, the city has taken steps to provide more high-skilled jobs for its residents since the report was published last summer, such as focusing on attracting top employers and constructing more office space.

Attracting top employers

The City Council approved Frisco's top 10 priorities for 2015 in March. One of those priorities is to attract a Fortune 100 employer, which is a company ranked by Fortune Magazine as one of the top 100 in the nation based on total revenue.

Councilman Tim Nelson said many companies are looking to move to Texas because of the state's friendly business environment, and Frisco wants to land a company of the Fortune 100 caliber. Frisco leadership—including the City Council and FEDC—has to collaborate to come up with solutions to draw these companies to the city, he said.

"We have been on the cusp of landing this type of company several times within the last year," Nelson said. "We were finalists even with Toyota, and we have some deals in the works. I would not be surprised if there were some type of announcement during this year."

John Lettelleir, Frisco director of development services, said these top employers, such as a Fortune 100 company, want to be located near major thoroughfares, which is where the city is concentrating office development.

"Looking at [development] long-term, we are going to have three main nodes along the DNT—along [SH] 121, here at Main Street, then at [US] 380—that's where we really see the Fortune 100 companies locating," Lettelleir said.

Besides a Fortune 100 company, the city has attracted other companies that could provide high-skilled jobs to Frisco residents. The city recently gave Paycor Inc., a cloud-based human resources and payroll software company, an economic incentive in part because of the company's commitment to hiring highly skilled workers.

Building more office space

FEDC President Jim Gandy said the lack of vacant office space can make it difficult to attract employers.

New office space is planned in several development clusters throughout Frisco and along the $5 billion mile, which is the term the FEDC has coined for major developments along the Dallas North Tollway.

However, many companies do not have time to wait for a new building to be constructed, Gandy said. "It's a challenge when you don't have the product availability that the market is demanding," he said. "That significantly influences your ability to relocate and create new jobs in the community."

Once the planned developments that include office space are built, they will help attract new companies, Gandy said.

Much of the planned office space will be within mixed-use developments, which is attractive to many corporations, Gandy said.

"This means there could be some assortment of restaurants and maybe a hotel and some small retail that's in walkable distance from the company's location," he said.

For instance, Gearbox Software chose to relocate to Frisco Square where its headquarters are under construction, largely because employees will have the option to work, shop, dine and live in Frisco Square, Gearbox officials have said.

Frisco is competing with other cities that already have several mixed-use developments, Gandy said.

However, companies have expressed interest in the office space within the $5 billion mile, he said.

"We're looking forward to that happening in Frisco in the very near future," he said. "When you look at just the four projects that have been announced in the $5 billion mile, they'll make us extremely competitive in that area with office product with walkable amenities."

Job market balance

Like much of the region, Frisco's largest job sector is in retail and trade, according to the labor market report. Although many jobs in this industry do not lend themselves to Frisco's highly educated residents, it is still an important part of Frisco's economy, said Stefanie Wagoner, FEDC's director of business retention and expansion.

Retail generates sales tax revenue that Frisco uses to grow the city, Wagoner said. It also gives residents options to buy goods and services within the city, she said.

Before much of the retail came to Frisco, the city experienced retail leakage, which is when residents leave their city to shop in another city, Gandy said.

Today, Frisco is drawing in residents from other cities because of its destination retail, he said.

"Frisco has been fortunate and successful in creating a significant cluster, a critical mass of retail around Stonebriar Centre mall, which is recognized as one of the greatest concentrations of retail in the Southwest," he said. "We have approximately 4.5 million square feet of retail within 1 square mile at Stonebriar Centre mall. It is an industry in itself because it attracts visitors and tourists to our city for shopping."

Tony Felker, Frisco Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, said the city needs to maintain a balance between the service sector jobs and the higher-skilled jobs.

Large businesses can support small businesses, but large businesses also like to have small businesses in place to have somewhere to shop and work, he said.

"You want to have that support, not only for the immediate employees that a new company might be hiring, but you also want to make sure that there are jobs out there for their spouse, for students that might be coming in. It takes a balance of all of that," Felker said.

By maintaining a balance, Frisco will be successful in attracting large employers that can draw from the city's highly skilled workforce, Felker said.

It will also allow the city to continue attracting employees from outside the city, he said.

"Rather than leaving Frisco, people are going to be coming into Frisco, and we truly will develop as an employment center for the North Dallas area," Felker said.