Author: Ashlynn Bouldin

The foundation for long-term growth: Insights from the DRC’s State of Talent and Workforce

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By Ashlynn Bouldin, Coordinator, Communications & Marketing 

Estimated reading time: 2.5 minutes 

On Wednesday, May 13, business and hiring leaders gathered at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center for the DRC’s State of Talent and Workforce, presented by INSPYR Solutions and Texas Mutual Insurance. 

At the event, attendees received exclusive insights from Scotiabank on their recent Dallas expansion and heard from a panel of talent leaders discussing regional talent challenges and solutions. Below are key takeaways from the event’s speakers. 

Mike Rosa, SVP, Economic Development, DRC; G.A. Pivik, Managing Director, Scotiabank

Education and workforce development systems attract corporate expansion and sustain regional growth 

DRC President and CEO Brad Cheves emphasized education and workforce development as the keys to building a talent pipeline that can support the Dallas Region’s growth. 

“Our region’s talent and workforce determine the sustainability of our success,” said Cheves. “If our growth outpaces our education and workforce development systems, we lose our advantage and slow our momentum.” 

During his fireside chat, G.A. Pivik, Managing Director at Scotiabank, praised the region’s education systems as a driving factor in Scotiabank’s decision to establish a new U.S. regional hub in Dallas. 

“One of the major pieces that sold us on North Texas was the density of the education,” said Pivik. “We wanted to be in a place where we had access to a pool of talent.” 

Scotiabank cited the Dallas Region’s exponential growth and renowned talent pipeline as pivotal to expanding their global impact. The bank’s Dallas hub will create approximately 1,020 new jobs and more than $60 million in capital investment for the region. 

Cole Brown, Chief People Officer, American Airlines; Suzanne Myers, Chief Human Resources Officer, Arcosa; Maruchy Cantu, EVP & Chief Administrative Officer, DFW International Airport; Ollie Chandhok, Market President & Publisher, Dallas Business Journal

Businesses can build a specialized workforce and broaden their talent pipelines to meet specific needs 

During the panel, Suzanne Myers, Chief Human Resources Officer at Arcosa, discussed how regional partnerships can help businesses meet workforce needs, as exemplified by Arcosa’s work with Dallas College. 

“What’s nice about our partnership with Dallas College is that we are creating the opportunity to expose individuals to [trade skills],” said Myers. “Welding is the top skill that we need. … So, we sponsored the welding lab at Dallas College.” 

Cole Brown, Chief People Officer at American Airlines, encouraged employers to broaden their talent pipelines, highlighting the company’s hiring of former doctors and retirees as flight attendants. 

“What we’ve found is it’s not just the traditional places in which we are building [talent] relationships and connections,” said Brown. “People think of schools, they think of certain governmental regulatory agencies, but it’s also just about being really active in the communities in which we operate.” 

Involving employees in AI application enables the workforce to scale with innovation 

Maruchy Cantu, EVP and Chief Administrative Officer at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, emphasized involving employees in AI-driven projects, citing her team’s solution for the parkway congestion during Thanksgiving in 2024 as a prime example. 

“We brought a cross-functional group of people to brainstorm solving the problem of what happened [in 2024]. … AI has helped us implement a solution to that,” she said. “It’s not always perfect, but we can implement a solution while bringing our employees along because they’re seeing how the technology is actually solving a legitimate business problem and how they—at every level—can come together to create a solution with a consulting group.” 

Regional collaboration is the key to a robust talent pipeline 

Brad Cheves, President & CEO, DRC

“Dallas-Fort Worth stands out as one of the most dynamic markets in the country, and if we want to continue standing out, we must reinforce the foundation that brought us here: our talent and workforce,” said Darcy Anderson, Vice Chairman of Hillwood and 2026 DRC Board Chair. 

Cheves encouraged business and education leaders to work together to sustain the Dallas Region’s momentum by creating alignment between what employers need, what the region’s education and training systems produce and what opportunities are available to the workforce. 

“We need to foster connections between the business community, educational institutions and jobseekers to identify proactive, innovative solutions that will enable our talent and workforce to scale with our growth,” said Cheves. 

To learn more about the DRC’s Talent and Workforce efforts, visit our website. To get involved and see how your business can benefit from these efforts, join the DRC’s Talent Labs and attend the next DRC Talent Talk. 

Three Reasons to Join DRC Talent Labs

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By Tyler Files, Director, Talent Strategies

Estimated reading time: 1.5 minutes

Applications are open for the 2026 DRC Talent Labs, a five-month cohort experience designed to build solutions for talent challenges facing organizations today. Presented by Bank of America, the program equips participants with evidence-based strategies, subject experts, peer insights, education credits and tangible action plans.

Here are three reasons to apply today:

1. Build peer connections with DFW’s top talent leaders

Participants will join talent professionals from various regional organizations, like 2025 program participants McKesson, Children’s Health, KPMG, DFW Airport and JE Dunn Construction and more, to develop  unique strategies and solutions for shared challenges. These relationships extend beyond the five-month program and create lasting resource networks for talent leaders.

2. Learn evidence-based talent strategies that actually work

Talent Labs participants will learn evidence-based strategies from market leaders and industry experts.

Across five monthly sessions, participants dive deep into practices that drive measurable talent outcomes, aligning organizational goals with employee engagement, building internal pipelines through succession planning and upskilling and leveraging AI responsibly to scale impact. Participants will hear from expert practitioners, participate in case study discussions and explore real-world examples during a Bank of America site visit, where they will see market-leading talent practices in action.

Each session is designed to provide immediately actionable frameworks. As participants build their expertise, they can earn continuing education credits toward SHRM or HRCI recertification, making Talent Labs an investment in both an organization’s success and one’s professional credentials.

3. Leave with a ready-to-implement Capstone Talent Plan

Through Talent Labs, leaders don’t just learn—they build.

Throughout the program, participants develop a Capstone Talent Plan tailored to their organization’s biggest talent challenge. Whether it’s reducing frontline turnover, building a leadership development pipeline or designing an AI-powered upskilling program, the Capstone Talent Plan becomes a roadmap for defining SMART goals, identifying stakeholders, planning implementation steps and determining how to measure success.

Participants will work alongside their peer group, refining their approach through each session with feedback from the cohort and program facilitators. By December, participants will present their plan—not as a theoretical exercise, but as a ready-to-execute strategy they can take back to their leadership team.

Ready to take the next step?

Applications for the 2026 DRC Talent Labs are open until Friday, June 12. The program runs August-December 2026, with five monthly sessions at the DRC office in downtown Dallas.

Ready to turn strategy into action? Visit our Talent Labs webpage to learn more and apply today. Contact talent@dallaschamber.org with any questions or comments.

DRC luncheon celebrates Leadership Dallas’ regional impact

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By Ashlynn Bouldin, Coordinator, Communications & Marketing

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

On Wednesday, May 6, Leadership Dallas (LD) alumni and upcoming graduates gathered at the Las Colinas Country Club for the program’s Annual Leadership Luncheon, where attendees reconnected and celebrated the upcoming graduation of the LD Class of 2026.

“From tackling education and workforce disparities to fostering economic growth, the collective efforts of Leadership Dallas alumni have left a lasting mark on our region,” said Darcy Anderson, Chairman of Hillwood Management and 2026 DRC Board Chair.

The annual luncheon provides an opportunity for the DRC to celebrate those efforts. At the event, the DRC awarded the LD Distinguished Alumni Award to Jennifer Bartkowski, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) and graduate of the LD Class of 2016. Below are key insights Bartkowski shared about her LD experience and its impact on her leadership.

LD is a platform for leadership development

Brad Cheves, President & CEO, DRC; Jennifer Bartkowski, CEO, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas

As the Dallas Region’s premier leadership program, LD helps executives assess how they can leverage their expertise to address challenges and opportunities within the Dallas Region through 10 months of hands-on curriculum. Each year, 55 participants are selected based on proven leadership potential within their organization and community. Over 2,300 leaders have participated in the program, and 23% of the DRC’s board members are LD alumni.

“Leadership Dallas introduced me to the very best of what’s happening in the North Texas region and in the Dallas community,” said Bartkowski. “It introduced me to the [region’s] potential, its challenges and the things that could be in the city of Dallas. It helped me be a better leader, and I don’t know that I could’ve learned that anywhere else.”

Bartkowski’s leadership—both before and after her LD graduation—are testaments to the caliber of LD alumni. Throughout her 17-year career at GSNETX, she has elevated issues impacting young girls in Texas and pioneered programs that platform and enable them to thrive in STEM, like the first two DreamLabs in Texas and the STEM Center of Excellence—the first of its kind in the nation.

“Dallas is a community that thrives with innovation and is generous enough to invest in it,” said Bartkowski. “I don’t think we could have done something like [the STEM Center of Excellence] anywhere else across the country.”

LD builds a foundation of collaboration and engagement

Bartkowski also emphasized how surprised and excited she was by the enthusiastic leaders she worked with when she joined LD in 2016.

“I wanted to meet different people—people who shared values with me, who wanted to build a better place, lead, contribute and invest back into the community. I was so honored to be surrounded by those people who, now, are lifting others up.”

Hellen Oduor, Director of Quality, Methodist System, ’27 LDA Chair; Renda Mathews, Dallas Market President, Truist Bank, ’26 LDA Chair; Brad Cheves, President & CEO, DRC; Darcy Anderson, Vice Chairman, Hillwood Management, ’26 DRC Board Chair; Jennifer Bartkowski, CEO, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas; Peter Brodsky, CEO, Reimagine Redbird; Meghan Kelley Wehner, EVP, DRC

While discussing her journey with GSNETX, Bartkowski noted the impact LD had on her leadership and ability to create change, encouraging the LD Class of 2026 to maintain their community engagement beyond graduation and get involved as LD alumni.

“It’s easy to graduate and go out in the world, go back to work and your families and not be involved in anything. If I had done that, I would not be sitting here,” she said. “I encourage and invite you to find the places you want to lean into and to do those things. Sit in the meetings and invest the money. Tell the stories of the people who can’t tell them themselves. This community needs you to do it.”

Renda Mathews, Dallas Market President at Truist Bank and Chair to the LD Alumni Council, echoed a similar sentiment, noting the unique opportunities LD alumni have to create scaling regional impact.

“That’s what makes this program special—our ability to expand it beyond graduation and create impact that will, one day, grow beyond ourselves,” said Mathews.

To learn more about Leadership Dallas, visit our website. Alumni looking to get involved in the LDA Council can contact Cecilia Villa, DRC Senior Vice President of Member Engagement, at cvilla@dallaschamber.org.

DFW on Wall Street: Insights on DRC marketing trips

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By Elizabeth Koestler, Vice President, Economic Development 

Estimated reading time: 1.5 minutes 

Of the many ways the DRC team works to attract companies to DFW, one of our least-publicized efforts is often the most promising: going straight to companies and building relationships in person. Sometimes, planting those seeds years in advance is exactly how a prospective business eventually becomes a corporate neighbor. That’s the idea behind our marketing trips—and why we make them a regular part of our work. 

Planting the seeds: Why the DRC travels for DFW 

A few times each year, we travel to major U.S. markets to bring the DFW story directly to the companies writing the next chapter of their own. Our most recent trip took us to New York City. 

We met with businesses considering relocations or expansions, some that already have a presence in DFW—and are weighing whether to grow it—and others that haven’t yet planted roots in our region at all. Our goal is to make DFW impossible to overlook when those decisions get made. 

Most of the meetings we take are confidential. Companies exploring location decisions aren’t ready to go public with that process, so our role is to be a trusted resource in those conversations and help them navigate the entire DFW region from their current home. 

When we have the opportunity to bring along DRC investors and regional economic development partners, the impact multiplies. There’s a meaningful difference made when a DFW business leader shares what our region has to offer right alongside us. These peer-to-peer moments give prospective companies a real peek into the DFW business community—and for the companies that aren’t yet familiar with our region, that perspective can be comforting and persuasive. 

Forging partnerships from Wall Street to Y’all Street 

On this trip, our meetings covered a wide range of industries—from financial services to life sciences—to reflect DFW’s diverse economy. We also took part in two iconic moments: closing a day with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and kicking off another with Nasdaq. 

DFW has become a major hub for financial services activity, and the region is now home to three stock exchanges: the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), NYSE Texas and Nasdaq Texas. Getting to see two of them up close in their home bases was an exciting reminder of what’s to come and already happening in our region. 

NYSE Texas hosted our group for the NYSE closing bell at their headquarters on Wall Street, and the following morning, we headed to Nasdaq for their opening bell. Coincidentally, the company ringing the bell that day was YESWAY, a Fort Worth-based company marking its Initial Public Offering (IPO)—a powerful testimony to the scale and success of businesses across DFW. 

Fostering DFW’s growth, both within and outside regional bounds 

By keeping DFW on the radar of business decision-makers, we’re building a foundation for long-term relationships that could pay off in a major announcement years later. 

While our region’s growth speaks for itself, that growth doesn’t happen on its own—it’s forged through dedicated partnerships and collective efforts. And we’re grateful to the partners who help us maintain and further our region’s growth by supporting our work—both within DFW and beyond. 

We’ll be back on the road before long, and we’ll keep bringing the DFW story with us so that our region can continue to grow together. Visit our Prosperity & Economic Development webpage to learn more.