{"id":219051,"date":"2025-09-11T20:26:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T20:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/219051\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T20:26:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T20:26:25","slug":"davos-in-dallas-at-tomorrow-summit-speakers-see-a-robust-dfw-economy-today-and-in-2035-dallas-innovates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/219051\/","title":{"rendered":"Davos in Dallas? At Tomorrow Summit, Speakers See a Robust DFW Economy Today\u2014and in 2035 \u00bb Dallas Innovates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hiring and other business metrics in Dallas-Fort Worth continue bucking national trends, helping make the region an economic \u201cpowerhouse\u201d underscored by the budding Y\u2019all Street phenomenom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That was the word from speakers at the Dallas Regional Chamber\u2019s Tomorrow Summit, held Tuesday, Sept. 9, at the Hall Park Hotel in Frisco. The DRC\u2019s first-ever gathering of its kind\u2014presented by Hillwood and PNC Bank\u2014was focused on ensuring DFW\u2019s future prosperity, according to Dale Petroskey, the chamber\u2019s president and CEO.<\/p>\n

\"CEO<\/p>\n

Dale Petrosky [Photo: DRC]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dallas region has become a global powerhouse with seemingly endless possibilities from an economic standpoint. There\u2019s no place any of us would rather be,\u201d Petroskey told the event\u2019s 200-plus attendees. \u201cMore than 300 companies have moved to this region in the last 15 years, 1.5 million new jobs have been created here, and it\u2019s not slowing down. This is the most dynamic business market in America, by far. That\u2019s exciting, but it also comes with a responsibility to work together to help make this region even better tomorrow than it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

DFW\u2019s exceptionalism was stressed during a kick-off presentation by Karin Kimbrough, Ph.D., chief economist at professional social network LinkedIn<\/a>. The site has more than a billion users and proprietary data on 500 occupations and 41,000 different job skills.<\/p>\n

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LinkedIn Chief Economist Karin Kimbrough, Ph.D. (left), discusses national hiring trends and Dallas-Fort Worth\u2019s economic resilience with Nichole Jordan, regional managing principal for Grant Thornton\u2019s Texoma region, at the Dallas Regional Chamber\u2019s Tomorrow Summit. [Photo: DRC]<\/p>\n

Kimbrough said that despite a sluggish labor market nationally\u2014and even in other parts of Texas\u2014hiring in Dallas is continuing to grow. \u201cIt is, however, starting to slow in Austin, where hiring is down 18% by our measure from a year ago,\u201d she said. \u201cHiring is down by [about] 4% in Houston. So, Houston is slowing a little bit, Austin is slowing a lot. Dallas is still cruising ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

In contrast, Kimbrough said, the national job market has \u201cdone a complete 180\u201d since 2021 and 2022\u2014\u201cif you had a pulse, you could get hired\u201d at that time\u2014and become much tougher. There\u2019s been a 20% increase since then in the number of applicants for every open job, and a 20% decrease in entry-level hiring.<\/p>\n

The latter isn\u2019t due to the rise of artificial intelligence, but to the \u201cover-hiring\u201d that occurred in \u201821 and \u201822, which nationally has led to \u201ca little bit of a hiring recession\u201d today, she said. Hiring is 5% slower this year than in the same month last year, and confidence about getting and keeping a job is down\u2014especially for Gen Z applicants.<\/p>\n

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Linkedin Chief Economist Karin Kimbrough, left, said, \u201cOver a billion users. I think in just the time that we ve been talking, easily 10 people have been hired.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cEmployers have been very cautious and choosy about who they want to hire, and they don\u2019t necessarily back-fill open roles when people leave,\u201d Kimbrough said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, there\u2019s been a six-fold increase in the number of job postings asking for applicants with AI skills nationally. Becoming AI-literate will be \u201ctable stakes\u201d for every job applicant sooner rather than later, added Kimbrough, who called herself a \u201cbig believer in the human future of work. I believe jobs are going to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, AI \u201cis happening. It is here,\u201d she said. \u201cIt probably gets overhyped sometimes, but it is absolutely a tool for productivity, and it\u2019s actually a tool for more enjoyment of your work. Because you spend more time doing the things you like to do and less time on the routine, kind of more boring stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018What is it about Texas?!\u2019<\/p>\n

One industry that\u2019s outpacing most others in adopting AI is finance, which recently has grown its footprint in North Texas so substantially, DFW may be challenging New York as a leading financial hub. In addition to attracting major finance firms like Goldman Sachs, Dallas is home to the upstart Texas Stock Exchange<\/a>, a national stock exchange that aims to begin trading and host its first listings next year.<\/p>\n

Plans for TXSE in DFW gave rise to the area\u2019s playful nickname, Y\u2019all Street\u2014and to countermoves by the two big rival exchanges, Nasdaq<\/a> and the New York Stock Exchange<\/a>. Earlier this year, Nasdaq announced it will open a new regional headquarters in Dallas. And the New York Stock Exchange is planning to launch NYSE Texas, reincorporating its NYSE Chicago here.<\/p>\n

In a summit panel called \u201cWall Street to Y\u2019all Street,\u201d representatives from all three exchanges explained Texas\u2019 allure: the chance to connect capital with opportunity in a business-friendly environment\u2014and the number of listed public companies in the Lone Star State. Nasdaq, for example, is home to more than 200 listed Texas companies with nearly $2 trillion in market cap. Texas has the largest number of NYSE listings, representing a market cap of $3.7 trillion.<\/p>\n

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Moderator Sonal Shah, CEO of Texas Tribune (far right), leads discussion with (from left) Texas Stock Exchange\u2019s Nicole Chambers, NYSE\u2019s Liz Hocker, and Nasdaq\u2019s Kate Speight. [Photo: DRC]<\/p>\n

The Texas Stock Exchange, meantime, is expecting approval of its registration by the Securities and Exchange Commission \u201cany day now,\u201d said Nicole Chambers, TXSE\u2019s global managing director for listings. \u201cSo, everybody keep your fingers crossed here,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing a new exchange, the key piece of [approval as a national exchange] is trading. So, we have really focused on staffing up and creating a premier technology team. I think there are seven coders alive that can create a new stock exchange, and we have four of them working for the Texas Stock Exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate Speight, Nasdaq\u2019s senior managing director for capital markets, pointed out that Nasdaq recently filed with the SEC to create a structured regulatory opportunity to trade tokens tied to equity securities. \u201cOne thing I think is extremely exciting to look forward to is, how are we going to bring new pools of capital, new pools of liquidity, to the state\u2014whether it be through indexing, through tokenization,\u201d Speight said.<\/p>\n

The NYSE\u2019s regional head for capital markets, Liz Hocker, said the new Texas venture by her exchange had been met with open arms. \u201cI\u2019ve lived in Austin since 2000, and there\u2019s been a tremendous response to it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe get calls every day, not just from issuers around the state, but also across the country and globally. I was in London a few months ago for South by Southwest London, and we actually got a tremendous number of people coming up to me, saying, \u2018What is it about Texas?!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, what I found is that there has been a big appetite for more support, more focus\u2014for us to show that we\u2019re leaning in and providing great tools, resources, and advocacy for issuers every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Near the end of their presentation, the panelists were asked what\u2019s needed to make Dallas a true \u201cglobal financial center\u201d alongside New York and London by 2035.<\/p>\n

Texas will have to maintain its pro-growth, pro-business mindset, they agreed. It will need to keep up with its water, energy, and housing needs, and bring new pools of liquidity to the state. It also will have to continue innovating technologically, balancing its industry mix, and attracting key decision-makers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think with all of that combined, it won\u2019t surprise me that we\u2019re doing a Davos in Dallas,\u201d Chambers said. \u201cYou know, I think that might be the next thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

New alliances for DEA<\/p>\n

Supporting the next generation of that economic growth, Chris Gannett, president of the Dallas-based DOC Cares nonprofit, outlined the group\u2019s flagship education initiative, the DRC-backed Dreams Experience Academy<\/a>, to business leaders in the audience.<\/p>\n

The initiative is the brainchild of Dallas resident and hip-hop legend Tracy \u201cThe D.O.C.\u201d Curry, who was in the summit audience.<\/p>\n

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Chris Gannett, president of Dallas-based DOC Cares nonprofit, presents the Dreams Experience Academy education initiative to business leaders and investors at the Dallas Regional Chamber\u2019s Tomorrow Summit. [Photo: DRC]<\/p>\n

The DEA, Gannett said, is aimed at giving seventh through 12th grade students in under-championed communities free access to creative and entrepreneurial training in areas such as gaming, music, media, advertising, and technology.<\/p>\n

He announced that the initiative, which needs to raise $6 million over five years to become self-sustaining, has just forged public alliances with leadership and faculty of Howard University and New York University\u2019s Tisch School of the Arts, which boasts \u201cthe country\u2019s No. 1-ranked game design undergraduate program.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chris Gannett displays performance metrics from the Dreams Experience Academy pilot program, showing student engagement and success rates in creative and entrepreneurial training for middle and high school students. [Photo: DRC]<\/p>\n

In addition, the summit program included presentation of the chamber\u2019s Building Tomorrow Together awards, which honor companies that recently moved to DFW or are expanding here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s winners were John Paul Mitchell Systems in Wilmer and Dallas\u2019 Koya Medical<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss what\u2019s next. Subscribe\u00a0to\u00a0Dallas\u00a0Innovates.<\/p>\n

Track Dallas-Fort Worth\u2019s business and innovation landscape with our curated news in your inbox Tuesday-Thursday.<\/p>\n

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\tR E A D\u00a0\u00a0 N E X T\t<\/p>\n