For more than 20 years, Jeff Wiley worked in the private sector—a job that brought him and his family to Fort Bend County in 2003. Shortly after relocating to the area, his company asked if he would move to Lincoln, Neb., but Wiley said he fell in love with his community. One morning Wiley spoke with Herb Appel, the former president of the Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council, and after some deliberation, Wiley decided to leave his career in communications to become executive vice president with the Fort Bend EDC.

For more than 20 years, Wiley worked with the ALLTEL Corporation—a communication holding company that owned local telephone, wireless and information service businesses, including the former Sugar Land Telephone Company before he joined the Fort Bend EDC. He earned a bachelor's in economics from Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.

Today, Wiley serves as the president and CEO of the council where he and his team focus on business recruitment and retention, business climate, infrastructure improvements, and finding solutions to the challenge of quality growth.

What has allowed Fort Bend to flourish economically?

Most of [Fort Bend's] growth has been master planned so that development has occurred with forethought to produce quality of place. This has resulted in the fastest-growing population growth rate in the Greater Houston region for more than a decade. At the same time, the quality of our communities has attracted high-caliber residents. Fort Bend County has the highest educated, most diverse residents in the region with a high percentage of the population living as families and owning their own homes. In terms of safety, Fort Bend cities consistently rank among the safest in the region, based on crime statistics.

What has caused the population to grow in Fort Bend County?

Jobs and a vibrant economy are the basis for economic prosperity. We are the undisputed leader in quality master-planned communities in the region. Fort Bend County is home to five of the top 20 best-selling master-planned communities in 2013, as reported by John Burns Real Estate Consulting in January. To have 25 percent of the top-selling master-planned communities in the country located in one county speaks highly of the confidence developers have in our market.

What are the benefits of serving a diverse population?

Having a diverse population not only provides a welcoming population for employees with differing cultures but also provides a basis for exploration of international partnerships that can benefit Fort Bend County's economic future. Affordability, economic prosperity, reasonable governance, low taxes—these are the economic reasons that make Fort Bend attractive. Our diverse and highly educated workforce will increase our chances to attract [businesses].

What about Fort Bend County's future are you excited about?

Make no mistake, our future rises and falls with the future of the Houston region. However, it is the past that makes me excited about the future. At the depths of the 1980s oil bust, Fort Bend County's public and private leaders came together and embraced a spirit of teamwork that created a common vision for quality and growth. That vision and cooperation has held strong over the last 30 years and resulted in our country being built into one of the most successful economic stories in the county. We are stewards of this vision, and I am confident that our future success rests in our ability to work together to meet challenges, always focusing on continued enhancement of quality of development and growth.