{"id":156970,"date":"2025-08-18T23:45:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T23:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/156970\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T23:45:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T23:45:11","slug":"fort-worth-names-new-director-for-economic-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/156970\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth names new director for economic development"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The former assistant city manager for Tomball will be Fort Worth\u2019s new director of its economic development department, officials announced Monday. She begins her new role Sept. 15.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jessica Rogers, who has been assistant city manager for Tomball since 2021, also was director of economic development for the city of Denton from 2019 to 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rogers succeeds Robert Sturns, who left the city to become the<a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/02\/13\/fort-worth-city-economic-leader-to-leave-for-new-role-with-workforce-solutions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> executive director<\/a> of Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County in March. Sturns had been director of economic development since 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rogers brings extensive experience in fostering business growth, attracting new investment and enhancing community vitality, according to a news release from the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJessica\u2019s proven leadership and track record in economic development make her the ideal choice to help Fort Worth achieve its ambitious goals,\u201d Jay Chapa, city manager, said. \u201cWe look forward to seeing the impact she will have in growing our economy and supporting our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In her new role, Rogers will lead Fort Worth\u2019s economic development strategy, focusing on business recruitment and retention, workforce development, small business development and creating a vibrant and diverse economy. She will work closely with the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, the privately funded, nonprofit organization focused on attracting new businesses to the city. The economic development partnership was formed in 2023 as a separate entity from the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce to lead business recruitment efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to joining the outstanding team at the city of Fort Worth and I\u2019m excited to begin collaborating with the Economic Development Partnership and others to bolster business growth, attract new investment to Fort Worth and build economic vitality,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cFort Worth already has an excellent track record in creating economic development and smart growth, and I am ready to get started to further that vital work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the city of Denton, Rogers developed innovative incentive programs, established an economic development strategic plan and strengthened public-private partnerships as economic development director there, according to the news release.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rogers has also held roles with the city of Dickinson, Texas, and the Bloomington Economic Development Corp. in Indiana.<\/p>\n<p>She holds a master of public affairs degree from Indiana University\u2019s Paul H. O\u2019Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a bachelor\u2019s degree from Texas A&amp;M University. She is an active member of the International City\/County Management Association and the Texas City Management Association.<\/p>\n<p>Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/08\/18\/fort-worth-names-new-director-for-economic-development\/mailto:bob.francis@fortworthreport.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">bob.francis@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/about\/fort-worth-report-editorial-independence-policy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n<p>Fort Worth Report is <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2024\/08\/25\/fort-worth-report-achieves-global-trust-certification-heres-what-it-means-for-our-community\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n<p>Republish This Story<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"license\" rel=\"noreferrer license nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"88\" height=\"31\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" style=\"border-width:0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1750614464_36_cc-by-nd-4.0.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former assistant city manager for Tomball will be Fort Worth\u2019s new director of its economic development department,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":156971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,7372,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-156970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fortworth","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tx","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115052434354853658","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}