DEC has $130M Impact on DFW, Report Shows

IF COUNTED AS ONE BUSINESS, THE IMPACT WOULD MAKE THE DALLAS ENTREPRENEUR CENTER A TOP-200 DALLAS-FORT WORTH COMPANY

The Dallas Entrepreneur Center has a $130 million annual impact on Dallas-Fort Worth, according to figures released Wednesday evening in The DEC Impact Report.

Trey Bowles

DEC co-founder and CEO Trey Bowles said the economic impact report prepared by Axianomics LLC, a third-party economic development consultant, showed that companies who have officed at the DEC support 1,350 full-time equivalents in jobs in the Dallas-Fort Worth MSA.

The data represents 66 different companies that have made their homes at the DEC, which was founded in 2013.

Bowles said that if one company contributed that impact to a region, it would be one of the top 200 largest companies in Dallas-Fort Worth, based on Census Bureau County Business Patterns data.

“It validates the entrepreneur center model.”
Trey Bowles

“It validates the entrepreneur center model,” Bowles said.

The release of the economic impact figures came at the DEC ReLaunch Party at the center’s offices in the West End area of downtown Dallas. At the party, the DEC also announced that it was officially opening its Innovation Hub to the community, touted its offerings as Coworking+, and talked about the success of ProjectEDU announced recently by the center.

Bowles said the economic impact report showed that the DEC is “actually helping” startups and entrepreneurs to succeed.

IMPACT SHOWS WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON IN NORTH TEXAS

It shows that “grant makers should give us grants,” and investors should take notice of the DEC’s companies.

Bowles said the DEC’s large impact also shows what is actually going on in North Texas, particularly if you added in the impact of things such as incubators and other entrepreneurial endeavors.

“This shows a huge indicator, in a small sample, of what’s going on across the region,” Bowles said.

“This shows a huge indicator, in a small sample, of what’s going on across the region.”
Trey Bowles

He said the numbers change the perception of the DEC from being a “cute” entity that assists entrepreneurs, to an economic driver.

“It means we’re helping create jobs,” Bowles said. “Those companies are living in Dallas, and spending dollars in Dallas.”

Building those businesses is good for the whole region, he said.

“That makes the ecosystem grow,” Bowles said. “This is the first story coming out of the DEC that I thought should be a national story.”

On the Innovation Hub, Bowles said it is similar to the DEC.

The Hub is on the third floor of the Dallas Entrepreneur Center, and is dedicated to companies that are little further along in their growth — ones that are generating revenue, have raised money, or would like to move into an office setting, according to the DEC.

By adopting the Coworking+ theme, the DEC is trying to show that while it does is coworking, there is much more to the concept.

“We have all the amenities and benefits of coworking space, plus a lot more,” Bowles said in a release. “We are working to help our companies start, build, and grow their businesses.”

The update of the ProjectEDU comes on the educational series’ third week and was intended to show how the series is a different type of educational offering.