The Plano Economic Development Department recommends approval of the award for economic development strategic planning services to Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc. DBA Newmark, to conduct and deliver an economic development strategic plan in the amount of $300,000.

Plano has experienced multiple decades of successful economic growth.  Today, the city is approaching build-out, and economic growth via rapid expansion has naturally slowed.  Additionally, the impact of COVID-19 has changed the office market, and corporate preferences place a higher emphasis on the "quality" and "experiences" of office space.  The city recognizes the need to be proactive in evaluating and expanding its approach for continued economic growth while simultaneously maintaining the robust economic environment that presently exists in Plano.

To accomplish this, the Plano Economic Development Department is seeking to develop a comprehensive economic development strategic plan that addresses the city’s changing needs while allowing Plano to remain competitive with peer cities.  This initiative directly supports the Diverse and Resilient Economy Policy, action DRE2, as outlined in the Comprehensive Plan:

DRE2: Create and implement an Economic Development Strategic Plan, with a focus on identifying emerging business clusters within the city and supporting the continued growth and expansion of a variety of industry sectors.

While this will be Plano’s first economic development strategic plan, its creation reflects a widely recognized best practice in the field.

The project was solicited as a competitive, sealed request for qualifications (“RFQ”) to secure a qualified economic development strategic planning firm.  The department received submittals from 13 different economic development strategy firms.  After a selection committee reviewed and scored all 13 submissions, the top four finalists were selected for virtual interviews with the selection committee.  The criteria to score these finalists were:

All proposals were reviewed and evaluated according to the published criteria.  Newmark received the highest score in all categories of the evaluation criteria, and Newmark has relevant experience in economic strategic planning, site selection, target industry analysis, peer city review, and establishing implementation plans with measurable outcomes.

The contract fee is $300,000, which is inclusive of all facets of this plan, including, but not limited to, travel, meeting attendance, stakeholder evaluation, site visits and evaluation, and the final strategic plan.  This contract fee was encumbered in the Economic Development budget for FY 2025.

If approved, we anticipate the strategic plan to take approximately one year to complete.  The benefits of this strategic plan will provide the Plano Economic Development Department with invaluable insight and provide the department with the knowledge and tools necessary to ensure Plano remains an impactful and vital economic engine for DFW.

If the contract is not approved, the department will postpone the development of the strategic plan, delaying the opportunity to assess emerging market drivers and develop new resilient strategies to ensure Plano remains competitive with peer cities.

Funding for this item is available in the Economic Development Budget. The contract for development of an Economic Development Strategic Plan has a total expenditure amount of $300,000 ($150,000 in FY 2024-25 and $150,000 in FY 2025-26) and will begin May 2025 with an expected completion date of March 2026.  All future year expenditures will be made within the annually approved budget appropriations. 

Approval of this item supports the City's Strategic Plan Critical Success Factors of Residential and Commercial Economic Vitality and Excellent, Innovative, and Accountable City Government.