The Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership is gearing up to play offense.
The 2½-year-old nonprofit organization that was formed out of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce to provide a more focused approach to economic development is preparing to target Fortune 500 companies in key Fort Worth target industries such as aerospace, mobility, energy, life sciences, corporate and financial services, and film.
That effort is the result of the organization’s success over the past two years, said Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership.
“In early 2026, we’ll take that momentum to the next level with the launch of a targeted lead generation campaign built around the key factors companies care about most,” Allen told attendees at the organization’s annual meeting on Oct. 29 at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.
“We’re going to be proactive, strategic and relentless making Fort Worth’s case,” Allen said.
Allen said the partnership has helped bring 11,000 jobs and $9.7 billion in capital investment to Fort Worth. That outpaces similar-sized cities such as Jacksonville, Florida, and Nashville, Tennessee.
The organization is continuing to see interest, he said.
“Our inbound pipeline is strong, processing nearly 200 projects with nearly 50% of those in a target industry for the city of Fort Worth,” Allen said.
Allen highlighted three projects that were key wins for the city: Siemens, which opened a new $190 million electrical equipment plant in south Fort Worth; Bell, a longtime Fort Worth-based defense and aerospace company that is building a $600 million-plus plant for a future military aircraft; and Wistron, which is building two plants to manufacture artificial intelligence chips, a project valued at $687 million expected to create 888 jobs.
Those announcements “demonstrate what’s possible when Fort Worth competes to win,” said Allen.
Mayor Mattie Parker said she was pleased that Fort Worth has gone from trying to figure out how to do economic development effectively, to actually doing it.
“We’ve got solutions. We know what works,” she said. “We know that this team is effective in partnership with the city of Fort Worth, and we just have to keep doing more of this.”
The Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership annual meeting included a fireside chat between Hillwood President Mike Berry, who is also president of the board of the partnership, and James Litinsky, chairman and CEO of MP Materials, the company that built a plant to manufacture permanent magnets from rare earth materials. MP Materials magnets are essential components in vehicles, drones, robotics, electronics, and aerospace and defense systems, yet for decades, the U.S. has relied almost entirely on foreign sources for these critical inputs.
The Fort Worth plant, which opened in 2022 with a commitment from General Motors to purchase its magnets, is the only domestic producer of those critical components. In July, the U.S. Department of Defense invested $400 million in the company to shore up the country’s domestic supply of rare earth minerals and magnets. A week later, computer giant Apple made a $500 million commitment to purchase materials from the company.
As a result of those deals, MP Materials is expanding production at its Fort Worth plant and is in the process of developing a second plant to meet demand, said Lipinski.
Lipinski said Fort Worth was not at the top of the list when they were first making a decision on where to build their magnet plant.
“The key thing at that time was meeting with Ross (Perot Jr.) and it was very clear … that this was a place that not only wanted our business, but believed in our business,” he said.
Perot was clear that MP Materials would have the full support of not just Hillwood, but from Fort Worth, beyond just tax incentives, Lipinski said.
“Knowing that the leadership believed in us, that was the determinant factor,” he said. “My belief was we should just partner with great people in a place that wants to do business and believes in our business.”
Allen came to Fort Worth in 2023 from the Texas Economic Development Corp. in Austin, where he had served as president and CEO since 2017, leading the state’s economic development efforts. Prior to that role, he served as deputy chief of staff to Gov. Greg Abbott.
Economic Development Partnership leader Allen said the community has been supportive of the organization’s efforts, funding 93% of their $5 million ambitious fundraising goal.
“The founders of this city dug the deep wells of innovation and progress we still draw from today,” Allen said. “They transformed a small town on the edge of the prairie into a global destination—and it’s on us to keep that spirit alive and push it forward.”
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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