Mr. Pitstick has been with the McKinney Economic Development Corporation (MDEC) for about 7½ years. Prior to McKinney, he held related positions in Allen, Denton and Austin. Both his father and brother have been City Managers in cities around Texas.- In the late 80’s Texas experienced its problems with banking and finance. That was the time of the savings and loan collapse. Texas began an effort to diversify and focus on economic growth. Texas laws & regulations were passed which allowed a local ½¢ sales tax to fund economic and business development. McKinney formed the MEDC, funded by this ½¢ sales tax. In the first year, this generated about $600K. Currently, this tax is generating about $9M.- The MEDC is staffed with Mr. Pitstick and three employees. They are governed by a Board of Directors (5-persons) appointed by the City Council. However, they do not take direction from the Council; they follow the guidelines of using their tax funding to bring the most economic benefit possible to McKinney.- There are approximately 500 other EDCs within Texas, Amarillo being the largest City having one.- The EDCs in McKinney, Allen and Frisco all have the same structure. Richardson and Plano have different structures, since they are members of DART, which requires the ½¢ sales tax revenue.- Recent and current major projects include:o The relocation of Torchmark from Birmingham, where it had been located for 100 years, and its 600 employees. It is located in Stonebridge Ranch and located here with assistance from both the MEDC and the Texas Governor’s Office.o Experian (Credit Reporting Agency) build a large office here in Stonebridge Ranch.o Encore Wire is located here and has approximately 100M sqft of floorspace.o Raytheon is located here on Highway 380. It is McKinney’s largest employer with approximately 3000 employees and approximately 1M sqft of floorspace. Raytheon recently added approximately 500 new jobs.- Very important to the MEDC is high value employment positions and tax revenue generation.- Recent ‘wins’ for McKinney were the relocation of corporate aircraft for both Texas Instruments and EDS to the Collin County Regional Airport. Each aircraft costs approximately $50M, generating significant tax revenue for McKinney and Collin County. Further, this win is ‘magnified’ by the fact that the relocation of these aircraft requires very little in City cost to support this tax base.- A major current development is Bridge Street, located on MEDC land (purchased 8 years ago) at the NE corner of Highways 75 and 121. Located there (south end) will be an 8-story, 230-room, full-service Weston Hotel. Also, located here will be a 50K sqft, 2000-seat Convention Center and Collin County Community College District (Collin College) campus. The college HQ will relocate to this campus from the Plano campus. At this time, Collin College will be offering 4-year degrees. An 8-9 story office building will also locate on the south end of this tract.- At the north end of Bridge Street will be located a hi-end shopping center much like The Shops at Legacy.- Bridge Street will employ modern architectural design with lots of stone, multi-levels, outdoor dining, water, fountains, greenery, etc. Located there will be several hi-end restaurants similar to III-Forks, Dolce (Italian) and Landry’s Sea Food.- There are BIG plans for our airport. We will someday (8-10 years??) have commercial air service. Envision flights from McKinney to Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, etc. Infrastructure changes are underway to accommodate this service. We now have a runway long enough to handle most jets flying commercial service. In a year or so, we will build another runway which will handle any jet flying commercial service. No other city in the county will ever have such an airport.- Another major project has been and is at Craig Ranch. Locate there are many businesses including Sports Medicine (soon to be built Cirrus Hospital), Tournament Players Club (TPC) Golf Course, Michael Johnson Olympic Training Center, Cooper Clinic & Wellness Center, etc. There are currently over 1M sqft of floorspace under construction in Craig Ranch, both residential and commercial.- McKinney’s downtown is getting a long-needed infrastructure ‘face lift.’ A slow shift has been occurring from ‘antiques’ to dining and entertainment.- Other assisted projects include:o $1M toward a parking structure in Adriaticao Target, Lowe’s and Circuit City at Highways 75 & 380o A $50M expansion of the Collin College campus just west of the intersection of Highways 75 & 380o Over 10M sqft of new floorspace construction- Over 50 major companies have relocated to McKinney since the inception of the MEDC. There are 100’s of companies located northeast of the intersection of Highways 75 and 380.- McKinney has three new hospitals in work:o Methodist McKinney Hospital broke ground this week. It will be located at the NW corner of Eldorado Pkwy and Stonebridge Dr. It is initially a 30-bed, $40M boutique hospital.o Baylor McKinney Hospital will begin about June 2008. It is at the NW corner of Highway 380 and Lake Forest Dr. It will be a 200-bed, $300M, full-service hospital with fully-operating emergency room. It can grow up to 12-stories in height.o The Cirrus Boutique Hospital will be located in Craig Ranch to treat sports-related injuries. It is a 30-bed, $40M project- David strongly suggested citizens drive around a look. Drive the four corners of McKinney and you will be amazed at what is happening (and has happened). Much of our development cannot be seen from the roadways we normally travel.- The MEDC has retained a national consulting firm to assist in directing our actions here in McKinney. The future will require more skilled jobs than we have applicants. The aging ‘baby boomers’ will be leaving the workforce and will leave an employment deficiency for about 20 years. In McKinney, there will be plenty of high-paying jobs and the MEDC is prioritizing efforts to make our city attractive to young, educated and employable people that choose to move here.- The consultant’s data says we need focus in these areas:o Medicalo Aerospaceo Green Technologyo Building Supplies & Materialso Education- David offered his candid observations:o We need to make our city very attractive to young people.o A priority is transportation. In the past we did not properly prioritize transportation and there is today a huge gap between needs and capabilities. We need to focus not only inward but both inward and outward. We must employ regional participation and seek both State and Federal assistance.o McKinney will be transformed within the next 3-4 years. We are about to upgrade all major roadways including Highway 75, Highway 121, Highway 380, Custer Road, Eldorado Parkway and major interchanges on Highway 75 at Highway 121, Eldorado Pkwy, Virginia Pkwy and Highway 380. McKinney’s leadership will change with a new mayor and several City Council positions. Mr. Frank Ragan has just joined our team as City Manager.- McKinney is approaching 130K population, on our way to an estimated 350K.- Competition for available funding is intense and will become more so. Mentioned was $20M or so for the Collin County Arts Center, $30-50M for Craig Ranch Sports Center (Ice, Sports, Sports Medicine) and $12-15M for an Adriatica Performing Arts Center and Plaza.- Q: Will McKinney be joining the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)?- A: In 1983, 13 cities joined together on the DART project. They levied a ½% sales tax to fund it. McKinney did not join in. These cities have been paying since then and, for example, Plano has invested approximately $600M to date and got its first DART service two years ago. Irving has been a member since 1983 and has invested approximately $500M. There is not sufficient funding (at this time) to extend DART service to Irving. It will be almost impossible for McKinney to buy in. McKinney used its ½% sales tax to fund the MEDC. The only apparent solution to the issue of extending DART to McKinney is if and when congestion and pollution get so bad that the State and Federal governments get involved. DART currently costs about $60M per mile to place it in service.- Q: Is there a high-level presentation for common citizens to understand more fully what has been presented today?- A: There is no such presentation. This is a rapidly changing environment and many sources need to monitored for this changing picture. Suggested sources include the McKinney Web Site, MEDC Web Site, MEDC quarterly newsletters, State Web Site, North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) Web Site, attendance at McKinney and Collin County Council government meetings, the cable public access channel, etc.- Q: What development is planned on the east side, east of the East Fork of the Trinity River?- A: First priorities are to build infrastructure, particularly roadways. No businesses are willing to move there without these necessities. A new roadway is being planned to drop south of Highway 380 about 5-miles east of Highway 75. We need $Ms of road construction in this area. This is being addressed in the City’s and County’s long-range planning efforts. The MEDC is charged with looking closer-in.- Q: Have we identified any Fortune 500 or Fortune 1000 corporations to relocate here within the next 3-5 years?- A: We have ‘shots’ at those corporations every so often, but not every day. Local news often addresses major companies relocating to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metro Area. McKinney does not have a business park to compete, we have no full-service hotels (although we will.), large spec offices with much floorspace, etc. Dallas does. Fort Worth does. Los Colinas does. Plano does. For a corporation to entertain moving to McKinney, they must like the ‘atmosphere’ here. We made a match recently with Torchmark and there may be others. Having a full-service hotel will be attractive to corporate executives as will high-end dining. Bridge Street is very important to our commercial growth.- Q: Does MEDC plan any land acquisition around Meyers Park?- A: MEDC has not purchased any land out there.- Q: A few years ago, McKinney had a shot at getting professional soccer here. Is Frisco running a race with us? What happened?- A: There’s a lot more to the story – there always is. Businesses, and sports teams are businesses, most always want to leverage municipalities for their benefit. They always portray another alternative deal (city) in order to ‘play poker’ and win. Allen and Plano are built out so they are not requiring significant expenditures for infrastructure costs, allowing them to entertain sports, the arts, etc. Frisco is driven by its major economic engine; Stonebriar Mall. Frisco is also a terminus for the Dallas North Tollway and Plano Road. This feeds Frisco. McKinney is larger than those other cities and not nearly built-out. McKinney requires a significant portion of funds to be directed to infrastructure. McKinney’s time will come, but not just now.McKinney’s current needs are streets, sewers, water, water towers, police stations and fire stations. McKinney’s competitive edge for sports, entertainment, arts, etc. will come later.- Q: What about gridlock vs. population growth in McKinney. Is anyone looking at this?- A: Yes, City, County and State governments are closely monitoring this. Do you know that historically, only about 5% of McKinney’s voter-age citizens actually vote? Get Involved. I do agree with you that transportation is our #1 issue.