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The holiday season means more in Grapevine, the state legislature’s designated Christmas Capitol of Texas, and not just because the air is filled with festive spirit. Every year, the final six weeks of the calendar contribute a meaningful boost to foot traffic and revenue generation in the visitor-driven local economy...
Soccer fans across the globe have eagerly awaited the 2026 FIFA World Cup and have filled hotels across the United States. Nearly 28 million rooms were sold in the first week alone, with thousands of fans surging into host cities – including the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.Arlington was already bathed in...
Families searching for affordable, outdoor fun close to the ArkLaTex can find plenty of activities just a short road trip away in North Texas.Lake Grapevine offers a variety of options for those who love the water. The 8,000-acre lake is a destination for boating, water-skiing, windsurfing, and fishing. The shoreline...
The World Cup is already happening, and while the stadiums are the main focus, other venues offer alternatives for enjoying the games — not just with friends or coworkers, but with the whole family. Dallas-Fort Worth is full of restaurants and patios that have set up giant screens to broadcast...
In the two decades since Area Development first started its State Shovel Awards, the economic development landscape has been remade several times over. We’ve watched the rise and partial retreat of the EV gigaplant era, the return of semiconductor fabrication to American soil, the explosive buildout of data center infrastructure,...
Texas has built one of the most resilient and diversified economies in the United States. With a gross state product exceeding $2.6 trillion, Texas ranks as the second-largest state economy in the nation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.What makes that scale especially notable is how broadly it...
Something big is coming to North Texas this summer. A monumental occurrence in the world of sports, synonymous with international culture and somehow instantly recognizable to any American while striking most of us as foreign. One game, played almost exclusively with your feet, that may be the closest the world...
The Grapevine economy is built on family-friendly entertainment, quality dining, and a retail market with room for everyone. That's been the goal for roughly half a century now, and it's hard to imagine there being much room for improvement at this point… but making great things even better is the...
GLOBAL BEST TO INVEST 2026
Jun 1 2026Anyone engaged in regional investment attraction knows an essential truth: Things seem to go much better when your area’s economy and policies align with your country’s.Judging by the results of this year’s Global Best to Invest index, things could not be more united anywhere in the world than in the...
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Defined by Grapevine Mills and Bass Pro Shops, this region benefits from family-friendly attractions and the wealth of complementary uses they attract.Visitor Pattern: Reliably Strong (YOY visits up 0.2%)Best Month in Last 12 (based on sales tax collected): Dec 2025Worst Month in Last 12 (based on sales tax collected): Jan...
What Happens in Vegas… Benefits Grapevine?
May 29 2026Every year, tens of thousands of Commercial Real Estate professionals travel to Nevada for ICSC Las Vegas. The trade show, billed as “the world’s largest meet event” in the industry, has birthed countless development deals, lease agreements, and public-private partnerships. Kubota’s North American headquarters landed in Grapevine as a direct...
How Tariffs Are Rewiring Logistics
May 28 2026Over a year on from “Liberation Day,” trading partners and trade routes have changed, propelled by a shift by firms toward importing from countries with more favorable tariff terms. While the effects have not been immediate on industrial commercial real estate, they are starting to cycle through, proving to be...
Visitors to Grapevine, Texas, have several lodging options, but more people than you may expect are packing their tents or rolling up in RVs to stay at one of its campsites. Specifically, the Vineyards Campground and Cabins on Grapevine Lake, managed by the Parks and Recreation Department, offers a unique...
If you don’t think officially designated U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones literally energize the economy, you haven’t looked at the energy industry profile in the nation’s top FTZs.Using data sets found in the 86th Annual Report of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to the Congress of the United States, Site Selection here presents...
If you want to know how Texas put together a corporate facility deal-making dynasty, it pays to look at the numbers.That’s what we did in assembling the annual Site Selection tally of the top-performing states in the Prosperity Cup rankings. For the second straight year, Texas takes the crown for...
There are no bad months to open any kind of business in Grapevine, but every now and then, the City sees a surge of companies from a specific industry. This month, medical users and supply chain boosters dominated the Certificate of Occupancy list… and the local economy remains powerfully diverse...
There’s never a shortage of things to do in the Historic Central District, even when it isn’t being activated for a major festival. While vacationers and event-based travel are certainly the leading source of foot traffic in the area, it’s worth noting that seven of the top ten destinations in...
For many communities, the biggest barrier to airport development isn’t vision — it’s funding. City leaders worry about local match requirements. Airport managers feel overwhelmed by federal processes. Economic developers see opportunity but struggle to connect aviation investments to broader growth goals.The reality is, the funding is out there for...
Governor Greg Abbott today celebrated Texas’ skilled workforce as a magnet for business investment as the state set a new record of 14,403,500 total nonfarm jobs with a gain of 46,800 jobs over the month of March and a gain of 117,200 jobs from March 2025 to March 2026.“Texas is...
How Forward-Thinking Companies Are Redefining Workplace Wellness — and Winning Because of It
May 1 2026I remember the exact moment I knew something had to change. I was answering emails at midnight, physically present but mentally checked out, running on caffeine and the vague promise of a weekend that never felt restful. I wasn’t alone.According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace Report, declining engagement...
At 19, Jim Smith decided not to relocate to Georgia with his family. He was happy here in North Texas, even if his budget was a little tight sometimes. When his father suggested picking up a job as a NAPA delivery driver, the referral looked like a straightforward way to...
Governor Abbott, THECB Announce 17 Million In Grants To Support Workforce Education And Training Programs
Apr 30 2026Governor Greg Abbott today announced that applications are opening for nearly $17 million in state grants to support new, redesigned, or expanded short-term workforce education and training programs geared toward high-demand occupations.“The success of our state stems from higher education institutions who educate and train the future of our workforce...
As the retail real estate industry enters 2026, one conclusion is no longer debatable: reports of brick-and-mortar retail’s demise were not only premature—they were fundamentally wrong. Physical retail has not vanished; it has recalibrated. Today’s retail market is leaner, more data-driven, and far more selective about where and how it...
The New Geography of Mobility
Apr 28 2026The iconic movie starring John Candy and Steve Martin ‒ Planes, Trains and Automobiles ‒ the classic 1987 John Hughes-written and directed Thanksgiving comedy about an uptight ad exec (Steve Martin) and a cheerful but clumsy shower curtain ring salesman (John Candy) makes for a convenient and fun template for...
