Southlake's new economic development director said he sees interesting possibilities for the future of the community such as utilizing SH 114 and enhancing the city's retail environment.

Shannon Hamons, who hails from Columbus, Ohio, began in the director's post this month. Before joining Southlake's staff, he served as vice president of Pizzuti Companies, a real estate development firm in Ohio. He has previously served as economic development director for Grove City, Upper Arlington and Westerville, Ohio. He comes to Southlake with 14 years of public economic development experience and eight years in private development work.

"One of the things we want to look at is how SH 114 continues to become an important part of the growth in the community," Hamons said. "We have a chance to develop SH 114 in a way that is perhaps unlike what you see in the rest of the DFW area."

Hamons said it was premature to go into too great of detail, but said a balanced mix of "Class A office space, retail development and residential development" is a possible path for the area.

In a broader sense, Hamons will focus on bringing in new companies and retaining those currently in Southlake. He said the community's "retail experience" plays a big role in the local business scene and he wants to keep that area growing.

"My job is really to attract and keep companies here so that our tax base continues to grow so that we have to rely less on the homeowner," Hamons said. "Another part of my job is tourism: Getting people to come here, enjoy themselves, spend their money and increase tax revenue locally."

He said a key concern is making sure his work is in agreement with the city's master plan.

"Anything you come up with is going to have to relate back to the master plan," Hamons said.

Hamons said he respects Southlake's strength as a community.

"The job in Southlake specifically was attractive because it is such a very quality community," Hamons said. "I like the fact people take great pride in the community, and from what I was able to learn about the administration and the council, everybody is really dedicated to making it the best community possible."