Carrollton Director of Economic Development: Business is Booming

Brad Mink, City of Carrollton Director of Economic Development, spoke to the Club at the April 11th lunch meeting.

The third and final off-site lunch meeting for this Rotary year took place on April 11th, as CFB Rotary Club members converged on the hallowed Babe's Chicken Dinner House in downtown Carrollton.  The guest speaker for the meeting was Mr. Brad Mink, Director of Economic Development for the City of Carrollton.  As members enjoyed delicious fried chicken, catfish and chicken-fried steak, Mink spoke a bit about the favorable business climate in Carrollton.

When Mink began his career with the city, some two hundred businesses called Carrollton home.  That number has since ballooned to over five thousand, ranking Carrollton among the top cities in the region in creating the highest number of new jobs and total new-development square footage.  The number of businesses moving to Carrollton, including the expansion of current businesses, has grown exponentially over the years, and as Mr. Mink is quick to point out, the City has given out very few tax-incentives to accomplish this.  In fact, this momentum in commercial/industrial development continues, and the economic cornerstone is, indeed, the well-balanced residential and business tax base.  Mr. Mink also credited the growing ethnic influence in the area -- primarily Asian -- with a substantial influx of money to the government's coffers.  The city currently has both the largest Korean spa and grocery store in the United States.

A Q&A session followed Mink's prepared remarks, covering topics from working with neighboring municipalities and infrastructure to the perceived excess of empty retail space in the area.