Wise County Economic Development Insights
on October 08, 2026
https://www.wcmessenger.com/articles/wise-county-economic-development-insights/
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Leah Clark and Matt Runnels of the Decatur and Bridgeport EDCs participated in a Q&A on the state and future of the local economy for the Messenger’s Wise County Progress Magazine. Their full responses are below. This new magazine comes out Oct. 29, 2026. Look for it in the newspaper and on area magazine racks
Matt Runnels, Director, Decatur Economic Development Corp.
1. How would you describe the current state of economic development in Decatur?
Economic development in Decatur is very strong, but I think the more important word is intentional. We know growth is coming to Wise County. With the new growth in northwest side of Fort Worth and Denton to our East, we will continue to grow. Our job is not simply to grow — it is to help Decatur grow in a way that strengthens the community for the long term.
We are seeing activity across industrial development, business expansion, retail, housing and infrastructure. At the same time, we are placing greater emphasis on supporting the businesses already here, developing our local workforce and making sure Decatur remains positioned for the next generation of investment.
2. Has your approach to recruiting businesses changed as Wise County and the DFW metroplex have grown?
Absolutely. Ten years ago, the conversation was often about convincing companies to look this far northwest of Fort Worth. Back then, Decatur was “to far of a drive”. The Alliance development in Fort Worth has been a significant factor in metroplex growth. And Denton County has exceeded one million in population. Today, companies are increasingly finding us.
That changes our responsibility. Recruitment is becoming less about simply attracting a project and more about determining whether the project is a good long-term fit for Decatur. We look closely at job creation, wages, infrastructure demands, capital investment, community impact and whether a company complements the businesses already here.
3. How does the influx of new housing and population growth affect the types of businesses your community is able to attract?
Population growth changes the conversation considerably. Decatur’s estimated population has grown significantly since 2020, and Wise County continues to experience substantial growth as the DFW region expands northwest.
More rooftops create demand for restaurants, retail, healthcare, professional services, entertainment and other amenities. Just as importantly, population growth expands the workforce available to our industrial employers.
Retailers generally follow customers, and employers follow workforce and infrastructure. As those pieces continue to grow together, Decatur becomes viable for businesses that may not have considered our market five or ten years ago.
4. What types of industries are showing the most interest in your community right now? What types do you see becoming more interested in the future?
Advanced manufacturing and industrial projects remain an important part of our pipeline. We also see interest related to aerospace, construction-related manufacturing and other technology-driven industrial uses.
Looking forward, I expect Decatur to see more opportunities connected to advanced manufacturing, technology-related industries, aerospace and defense, energy and power infrastructure. Our goal is to pursue projects that provide strong capital investment while creating sustainable, skilled jobs.
5. What are your community’s greatest advantages when competing for businesses and development?
Location – Decatur provides access to U.S. 287 and U.S. 380, proximity to I-35, Alliance and DFW International Airport, while still offering the advantages of a smaller community.
Product – Eagles Landing Business Park is another major advantage. The approximately 530-acre park offers heavy industrial zoning, utilities, regional drainage, highway frontage, BNSF Railway frontage and access to multiple power providers. Eagles Landing Business Park is unique in many ways.
Synergy – One of our strongest advantages is something harder to put on a site-selection spreadsheet: our ability to work together. The EDC, City of Decatur, Decatur ISD, healthcare providers, banks, businesses and community organizations can get people around the same table quickly. Companies notice that because it’s not normal!
6. What is the biggest challenge your community faces as it continues to grow?
Great question. It’s all about keeping infrastructure and workforce development ahead of growth. There is an element of balance involved with healthy sustained growth.
Growth creates tremendous opportunity, but roads, water, wastewater, power, housing and workforce capacity all have to keep pace. Economic development isn’t just about the next announcement. It is about making investments today that allow the community to accommodate opportunities five, ten and twenty years from now.
We also want to make sure growth does not come at the expense of what makes Decatur special. Maintaining our identity while embracing economic opportunity will be one of the most important challenges we face.
7. Are there any EDC projects, past, present or future, that you think will have the biggest economic impact on your community over the next few years?
I think you have to start with the vision of the people who came before us. Decatur has a long history of community and business leaders who understand that economic development is generational work. The early leaders and patriarchs of the Decatur EDC had the foresight to invest in land, infrastructure and industrial development long before they knew exactly which companies would eventually call Decatur home.
Eagles Landing Business Park is perhaps the best example of that vision. Those leaders understood that if Decatur controlled quality industrial property and had the patience to develop it correctly, future generations would have opportunities that otherwise might pass our community by. Today, we are benefiting from decisions made years—and in some cases decades—ago.
Their vision is now becoming reality. Companies such as Cardinal Paint & Powder, Industrial Diesel, Landmark Fabrication, Onyx Specialty Processing and others have invested and grown in Decatur. Cardinal is expanding its operations and relocating its corporate headquarters here. C2C Power Solutions recently broke ground on its new facility at Eagles Landing.
I also believe our workforce initiatives will have a significant long-term impact. Programs such as Manufacturing Day and our partnerships with manufacturers and area school districts are about introducing students to career opportunities that already exist in their own community. Economic development is ultimately about people, not just buildings.
8. How does infrastructure affect economic development in your community, and have any recent projects opened the door to different types of businesses or development?
Infrastructure is often the difference between being considered for a project and never making the list.
Industrial prospects increasingly require significant electrical capacity, water and wastewater service, transportation access, broadband, drainage and, depending on the operation, rail or natural gas. Having appropriately zoned land without the infrastructure to serve it does not make a site truly development ready.
That is why we continue looking ahead at the infrastructure needs of Eagles Landing and the broader community. Every infrastructure improvement increases the range of projects Decatur can realistically compete for. The goal is not to build infrastructure for one prospect — it is to create capacity that supports decades of economic development.
9. What makes a business a good fit for Decatur?
A good fit creates value on both sides.
We look for businesses that provide quality jobs, competitive wages, meaningful capital investment and opportunities for long-term growth. We also consider infrastructure demands, environmental impacts, compatibility with surrounding development and whether the company will become an active member of the community.
We want companies that don’t simply locate in Decatur — we want companies that partner with the EDC and the City that weave into our community and become part of the Decatur fabric.
That philosophy applies to our existing businesses as well. Some of our best economic-development opportunities come from helping companies already here expand, hire additional employees and reach new customers.
10. Where do you see your community — and Wise County as a whole — 25 years from now?
I believe Wise County will become increasingly integrated into the economic footprint of the DFW region while maintaining a distinct identity of its own.
Decatur is well positioned to remain the employment, healthcare, government, retail and service center for a growing portion of the county. Over the next 25 years, I expect significantly more residential development in Decatur and throughout Wise County, accompanied by additional retail, industrial and professional employment opportunities.
The decisions we make today about infrastructure, land use, workforce and economic development will determine what that growth looks like. Twenty-five years from now, I hope people can look back and say Decatur didn’t simply experience growth — we managed it well.
11. What type of business, restaurant or national brand do residents ask you to “bring” most often? And, while we’re asking: when are H-E-B and Chick-fil-A coming to Decatur?
LOL, yes, those are definitely two names we hear frequently, along with requests for additional restaurants, entertainment and retail options. If the EDC received a dollar every time someone asked about H-E-B or Chick-fil-A, we might have an entirely new economic development incentive program!
The important thing for residents to understand is that the EDC cannot simply choose a restaurant and bring it to town. National retailers (like H-E-B or Chick-fil-A) make location decisions based on many factors like population, household income, traffic counts, rooftops, daytime population, access points, trade-area demographics, available real estate and their own expansion strategies. Think about it like this – we don’t choose them, they choose us!
What we can do is help make Decatur increasingly difficult for them to overlook. As our population and rooftops grow, our retail story gets stronger. We actively communicate Decatur’s growth and opportunities to retailers, developers and brokers.