fDi Magazine
has just released the names of the “North American
Cities of the Future 2007/08” Award winners and
Plano, Texas won in the category of North
American Small Cities of the Future – Best Human
Resources. This is the fifth year of Foreign
Direct Investment (fDi) Magazine’s competition to
select and promote cities, large and small, with the
best prospects for inward investment, economic
development, business expansion, and quality of
life.
From British Columbia, Canada to Chetumal, Mexico –
and all cities, states and provinces in between – a
total of 108 applications were submitted and
categorized into four “long and short lists”: Major
(pop. over 2 million), Large (pop. 500,000 – 2
million), Small (pop. 100,000 – 500,000), and Micro
(pop. under 100,000). All nominees are scored by an
independent panel of nine judges on over 60 criteria
designed to assess each cities’ potential to attract
business investment projects.
The selection process involved seven major “factors”
of consideration:
Best Economic Potential Most Cost Effective
Best Human Resources Best Quality of Life
Best Infrastructure Most Business
Friendly
Best FDI Promotion
Plano, Texas was chosen one of the “Top 5 Small
Cities” in the ‘Human Resources’ factor along with
Albany, New York; Waterloo and Windsor, Ontario; and
Greenville, South Carolina. Very few cities scored
in the Top 5 on more than four of the seven
selection factors in their size range, making this
distinction all the more special.
“It was a lot of work coordinating and researching
the information for fDi’s nomination process.
However, it was worth the effort to provide Plano
some international exposure. Plano has the quality
of life factors – such as affordable housing,
entertainment and cultural amenities, along with
corporate business facilities and access to a well
educated, diverse and highly skilled workforce,”
said Plano Senior Planner Stephen M. Sims, AICP.
The City of the Future competition by fDi Magazine
was established over the last five years in many
regions of the world. The intense global
competition for foreign direct investment projects,
which is the editorial focus of the fDi financial
publication, is reflected in the effort that goes
into the City of the Future Awards worldwide.
Sally Bane, Executive Director of the Plano Economic
Development Board said, “The Plano Economic
Development Board is pleased that Plano, Texas was
selected as a leading North American community for
Foreign Direct Investment. This designation lends
additional credibility to Plano as a solid
destination for global investment.”
In the “Best Human Resources Top 5” category, Plano
excelled by aptly answering questions dealing with:
• how many university-level educational
institutions (including technical colleges) in your
state/area;
• average composite 2005 Act and SAT scores;
• details on government-sponsored worker training
programs in area – including information on size,
level of funding, etc.;
• how many students will graduate from
university-level institutions in your city this year
(or last year);
• and the percentage of the city population
holding a university-level degree.
This is the first time that cities in the United
States, Canada and Mexico have competed directly
against one another in fDi’s Cities of the Future
research. Competitions are held in each region of
the world every two years. For more information
contact Sally Bane at 972-208-8300 or email at
sallyb@plano.gov.
