Arlington Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) interim director Lyndsay Mitchell told council members Tuesday they’re focused on more community and business outreach this year.
“Visibility and community and business engagement are key to our success, so it’s kind of like when raffles and those types of contests say you must be present to win, that’s a theme for us going forward,” Mitchell said during Arlington City Council’s Tuesday afternoon meeting.
The AEDC and the city have awarded over $128 million in grants for projects, $34.5 million of which came from AEDC grants. Corporation-approved funding has gone towards the following projects:
- Bell Textron’s creation of a Systems Integration Lab.
- Redevelopment of Town North Shopping Center.
- Redevelopment of Six Flags Southeast near Interstate 30 and State Highway 360.
- Acquisition of property on Center Street near Lincoln Square to bring activity along Interstate 30.
- Funding for wealth tech accelerator Founders Arena located at First Rate Campus
- Sportec Solutions.
- A new hotel, convention center and parking garage in place of Sheraton Arlington Hotel (in conjunction with the city).
- Funding for a year-long grant program through TMAC Strategic Solutions Fund.
- Small Business initiatives.
The corporation funding has leveraged $118 million in capital investments in Arlington and currently has 15 prospects for partnerships.
The city established its economic development corporation in 2015, though did not operate until 2021, after voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax in 2020 to fund it. The AEDC has three goals: to make Arlington a competitor for “high-wage, high-impact growth,” redevelopment and community development to bring attractions to town.
State law limits the types of projects or companies economic development corporations can fund. Within those categories, AEDC targets aerospace products and manufacturing, industrial machinery, automotive manufacturing, professional and business services and medical equipment and supplies.
Mojy Haddad, a corporation board member, told council members the AEDC is focused on attracting “meaningful” jobs to the city.
“We’re not so much interested in bringing entry-level jobs, funding those, and I think we’ve had among ourselves discussions that that’s what we’re going to focus on,” Haddad said.
Haddad said the corporation will continue to work on getting information to the community and businesses on what the AEDC can do for them.
“We need to get the word out, we need to make sure that developers and companies that they’re looking at Arlington, know that there are tools available to them that we can provide for the move to bring their headquarters, their research facilities here,” he said.
City Manager Trey Yelverton told city council members the AEDC presentation is part of the city’s preparations to update its Comprehensive Plan. The plan, which was last updated in 2015, outlines city leaders’ approaches to planning and development. Conversations about plan updates will begin in earnest this fall.
