City economic development staff told the Economic Development Partnership Board on Oct. 8 that the department currently has 30 active projects in its pipeline and notable recent outreach and events.

Staff reported the pipeline includes roughly 4,200 potential jobs and about $6.5 billion in potential capital investment across 30 active projects. Of those projects, 24 were listed in a lead stage, two were awaiting applications, one in qualification, and three were in incentive negotiations. Staff said six new leads were received in the reported month and seven leads were lost (one did not qualify for incentives, one moved to business support, and five were moved to cold status).

Staff also recapped the second Denton Job Fair of the year, held Sept. 24: 50 Denton County businesses attended, offering more than 1,200 job openings; 561 job seekers attended. Staff credited targeted outreach and a preparatory email to attendees for a high level of preparedness. Staff noted ongoing outreach to roughly 90 businesses via email and said follow-up meetings with prospects were generating responses.

Staff also said they submitted 51 RFIs this year to regional partners and the Governor’s Office, and that six requests submitted in the most recent period represented a potential $127 million in capital investment and more than 1,800 potential jobs. The department is tracking recruitment leads, downtown grant leads, and hopes to begin tracking non-incentive business assistance as part of outreach metrics.